“One man’s poison ivy is another man’s spinach.” ~ George Ade

February 19, 20133 Comments

Ok, so I’ve been MIA for a little bit.

I have a good excuse – I was out of town for close to a week and as I’ve explained before I am not one of those people who claims to be able to do it all.

I can’t and I know it.

So what is takes to get everything taken care of to get out of town and everything it takes to get it all straightened out when you get back has kept me busy.

I’m pretty much back in the swing of things so tonight I am making Shrimp Scampi with Roasted Peppers and Spinach.

This is a Publix Apron Meal that I ran across while making this weeks grocery list.

Shrimp Scampi with Roasted Red Peppers and Spinach

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 oz parmesan cheese, shredded
8 oz linguene
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup Gia Russa sweet pepper bruschetta topping
12 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp pepper, divided
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 Tbs butter
6 oz baby spinach

Cook and drain pasta.

Saute garlic in oil until it slightly browns.

Add shrimp, topping, pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. Cook and stir for 1 minute.

Add broth and cook for 2-3 minutes or until reduced by half and shrimp are pink and opaque.

Reduce heat to low and add in butter, spinach, cheese and remaining salt and pepper. Cook and stir until butter and cheese is melted and spinach is wilted.

Add in pasta, stir to coat and heat through.

Serve and spinkle with a little extra cheese.

I found it odd that this shrimp scampi did not have lemon in it and to be honest, I missed it. I would add a couple tablespoons of lemon juice to the next batch.

Hope everyone’s week has started out well!

-abp

“There’s nothing more romantic than Italian food.” ~ Elisha Cuthbert

January 30, 20132 Comments

One of our favorite dishes we had on our honeymoon trip to Italy was Saltimbocca. Saltimbocca means “jump in your mouth” and that it does! I knew it would be a meal that I must try back at home and I finally got around to it.

Saltimbocca is a very popular Italian dish that is traditionally made with veal but can be made with chicken (which is what I had on hand).

Chicken Saltimbocca

4 (4-ounce) chicken cutlets
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 fresh sage leaves
2 ounces very thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 8 thin strips
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Sprinkle the chicken evenly with salt. Place 3 sage leaves on each cutlet.

Wrap 2 prosciutto slices around each cutlet, securing sage leaves in place.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan; cook for 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

Combine broth, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a small bowl; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture and the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil to pan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.

Place chicken on bed of fettuccine and top with sauce.

Love, love, love this dish! It’s simple too!

abp

“Who do you think would win in a fight between a grilled cheese sandwich and a taco?” ~ Andy Samberg

January 24, 20131 Comment

I love Mexican food and I really like making tacos at home – you know, the kind in the cardboard box. Old El Paso, Taco Bell……I usually buy which ever one is “buy one, get one free” at Publix. They do that quite often so I had started to build up a collection in the pantry and I knew I needed to be making tacos soon.

A few days ago, I saw where Lindsay from normalcooking.com had made Oven Tacos and I thought that would be a great way to change up my normal tacos from a box.

So that’s what I did!

Oven Tacos

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 small onion diced
1/2 small can diced green chilies
3/4 pkg taco seasoning
1/2 (8 ounce) can low sodium tomato sauce
1/2 (16 ounce) can fat free refried beans
1 cup mexican blend cheese
10-12 hard taco shells
your favorite taco toppings

Preheat oven to 400°.

Brown meat and onions, drain.

Add chilies, seasoning, tomato sauce and beans to meat mixture. Cook until moisture is absorbed. (I accidentally dumped the whole can of tomato sauce and started to stir before I remembered it was suppose to be only half – I scooped some of it back out so mine is a little more tomato-y than it should be. oops.)

Spoon mixture into shells, top with cheese and place (standing up) in a baking dish. (Lindsay commented the shells with the flat bottoms would be great – and they would – but I didn’t have those).

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and tacos are heated through.

Top with your favorite taco toppings.

There you have it – a new swing to an old favorite!

abp

“Going to the gym wouldn’t be on my list of favorite things to do.” ~ Kate Moss

January 21, 2013Leave a comment

After lots of eating out, take out and a few crockpot dinners I decided I might put a little more effort into tonight’s dinner. But not too much, I don’t want to over exert myself considering I already went to the gym today. 😉

Tell me – will it ever not be a chore to go to the gym???

I’m thinking no.

I just don’t get all those people who love working out.

It’s weird. (no offense to my working out friends)

I wish I were weird.

Sorry – back to dinner. So tonight I’m making Baked Shrimp Scampi. Nice and simple.

Baked Shrimp Scampi

1 cup butter
2 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (I used dry because it’s what I had)
1.5 – 2 pounds raw shrimp, shelled and deveined

Preheat oven to 450º.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley. When the butter melts completely, remove from heat.

Arrange shrimp in a shallow baking dish. Pour the butter mixture over the shrimp. Stir to coat.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and opaque.

Serve over angel hair pasta. Top with parsley and squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Like I said. Nice and easy. Not to mention quite tasty! I very much enjoyed this meal! To make it even better we finished dinner off with an old fashioned Strawberry Shortcake!

Nothing beats a childhood favorite!

abp

“A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.” ~ Pat Riley

January 8, 201360 Comments

It’s a good day to be an Alabama fan! Whoot, Whoot! Rooooolllll Tide!

BACK to BACK championships! The 3rd in 4 years! And being the wife of an Auburn fan, I must add it is the 4th in a row for the state of Alabama with AU taking the other of the four.

We are the football state if you ask me.

But I am pooped – I was up way past my bedtime watching that game. So tonight is an easy dinner night, which usually means a crockpot dinner. And tonight that crockpot dinner is a very flavorful pork roast I found on allrecipes.com.

Yummo Pork Roast

1 (2 pound) pork roast
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
3/4 cup beef stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons minced garlic

Place pork roast in slow cooker and top with onion soup and water.

Add in beef stock and soy sauce. Mix well and turn to coat.

Top with minced garlic. Spread over top of roast.

Cook on high for 5 hours. (about 4 hours in start basting a little with the sauce and with with about 10 minutes left flip and mix in the garlic)

Remove roast from cooker. Slice pork and serve with sauce.

I served it with refrigerated mashed pototoes (I like Bob Evans) and a bagged salad.

Doesn’t get much easier than that!

Roll Tide.

abp

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

December 31, 2012January 1, 20132 Comments

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Whew, what a year it has been!

Oh! have I ever enjoyed the holidays! So much so that is why I sit here working on my blog at 9:00 p.m. on New Years Eve. I am exhausted. I have had 3 dinners for 6-10 people in the past month and am preparing for 2 parties at my house in the next 10 days. Because of this I have spent the last two days ridding my house of all things Christmas, along with trying to get this place back into an organized state.

That is why at 8:00 tonight I was already in my pj’s cleaning out the pantry.

I am ONE WILD WOMAN.

3 years ago I could not have even imagined such a New Years Eve but tonight I am very happy. And very blessed.

You would think with all the entertaining I have been doing I would have had lots to blog about – I did – but I was lucky just to get it all cooked and on the table. There was no time to take pictures and even less time to get them uploaded.

But tonight I did cook and actually had time to take a few pictures so hopefully this will get me back in the swing of things.

It was also my very first time to prepare Cornish Hens. All in all they turned out very well considering I made a blunder that I did not even notice until we started to eat. 🙂

That I will explain later.

Cornish Hens

4 Cornish Hens
6 Tablespoons melted butter, divided
¼ cup beef consomme
¼ cup light corn syrup
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare roasting pan with a rack sprayed with cooking spray. Rinse hens and pat dry. Place breast side up on rack. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter and season with salt and pepper. (Ok, this is where I messed up – I thought I had them breast side up but I did not – so yours should be flipped upside down compared to these pictures.)

Mix together remaining butter, consomme and corn syrup.

Roast hens for 30 minutes. Baste with mixture.

Roast for 15 more minutes. Baste with mixture.

Roast for 10 more minutes. Baste with mixture.

Roast for 5 more minutes.

Remove from oven and serve on a bed of seasoned rice and your choice of green vegetable.

Very easy but makes a very nice presentation.

I hope everyone has a very safe and happy new year!!!!

abp

“You knew when you married me I’m more Coco Chanel than coq au vin” ~ Carrie Bradshaw

October 12, 2012October 12, 20122 Comments

My stupid, stupid cold is back. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

I have no idea why this year has been so bad. The DH is threatening to take me to the doctor to see if they will take my tonsils out…….I believe this is mainly because he’s a big ol’ chicken about catching it from me. Although – if it will help me feel better on a regular basis – I’m all for it! I’ll just think about all the gelato I would have to eat while I recuperated.

I’d like to make my own gelato – does anyone have one of those electric counter-top ice cream/yogurt/gelato makers? I think I want one…….

Oh well, hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. On to brighter topics…….

DINNER!

On the menu tonight is the less fussy Coq au vin. Everybody loves a good Coq au Vin but is not always up for the work it can sometimes require. So I say this is Coq au Vin’s country cousin.

Country Style Coq Au Vin