Blueberry-Licious!

 This post was supposed to be up yesterday but I was too busy going all 'Office Space' on my computer. Dang technology sometimes!
This weekend I put together my very first home-made pie...AND CRUST!!! Emphasis on crust as I love making pies but I normally buy frozen crusts. So I finally found a recipe to try & it turned out AMAAAZING!
Originally, I planned on a blackberry one but blueberries were on sale. This was also my first lattice & it looks pretty darn good!

 

Had some major issues w/crust sticking to my rolling pin. So I used my brain & rolled it out between two pieces of parchment paper... Who woulda thought, right!? :)

Oh & this is my rolling pin... a tequila bottle. Hoping for a real one for the wedding.

 

yum yum!

Yes, I know this pie with a scoop of ice cream isn't the ideal healthy dessert but .... oh how I LOVE pie!
Here's some blueberry facts:

• Grown on bushes
• 80 calories per cup
• Packed vitamin C 
• Feeling down, they're high in antioxidants
• Improve memory
• Michigan & Maine are top producers
• More blueberry facts here.

Blueberry Pie Filling Recipe - super easy!
1 1/2 cups White Sugar
4 T Corn Starch  next time I'm adding one more to thicken it up a little more
1/4 t Salt
1/2 t Ground Cinnamon
5 cups Fresh Blueberries
Pie crust
1 T Butter
1 Egg

Preheat Oven 375
Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon & sprinkle over blueberries. Line pie dish with pie crust, then I brushed egg over the bottom to prevent sogginess. Pour berry mixture into the curst & dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into strips & make lattice top. Crimp & flute the edges. I also brushed with butter & egg & sprinkled sugar on top. Bake for about 50 minutes or until crust is golden.

Basic Flaky Pie Crust
 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 t Salt
1/2 cup Chilled Shortening
3 T Ice Water

Whisk flour & salt together in medium bowl.  With pastry blender (I used a fork b/c I don't have a 'pastry blender') cut in cold shortening until mixture is coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2-3 T of ice water over flour. Toss mixture with fork to moisten adding more water a few drops at a time until dough come together. Gently gather dough particles together into a ball. Wrap in plastic & chill 30 minutes. Roll out dough & put in pie plate, fill, & bake.

Everyone's Talkin Enchiladas

Everyday when I log-on to Pinterest someone has pinned...

 Including me.

Every week I try a new Pinterest recipe & last week it was this one.

Originally, this recipe came from Budget Savvy Diva's Blog (click for recipe). In it she calls for 2 cups shredded chicken only she doesn't mention how she got to the shredded stage. Luckily, I new how or I would've had to Google that too. For those of you who don't know, just throw some chicken (breasts, thighs, etc) into the crock pot with seasoning of your choice. I used a bullion cube, pepper, chili powder, garlic & onion seasoning. Then I put it on low & left it for the day. When you get home from work the chicken will fall apart with a fork & be ready to be cheesed & rolled.

I grew up with canned red sauce (which I love), so I wasn't used to this home made white stuff.

After stirring it up on the stove-top it wasn't hard to make at all!

25 minutes later.....

OH. MY. WORD.

Delicious, white sauce & all! I will definitely be watching & trying those popular pins. These enchiladas will make our 'regular dinner menu' for sure.

And, kudos to Budget Savvy Diva for spreading this excellent & easy recipe for all of us to enjoy!

04.24.12 National Pigs in a Blanket Day!!!

As soon as I read this I was excited!!
 I LOVE pigs in a blanket & they always take me back to a much more simple time in my life.
Plus, they're easy to make!
I hope all of you go out & celebrate by fixin' up your favorite piggy in a blanket. 

There are many varieties here in the States from Oscar Mayer to Kielbasa to adding cheese & jam to turning it healthy with a turkey dog.

Across the world there are many styles of  the 'Pig in a Blanket'

• United Kingdom: little sausages wrapped in bacon (um...YUM!).  
• German style: Wieners wrapped in a puff pastry (like a pancake) accompanied by cheese & bacon. 
• Czech style: Kolache (pasty with dough edges that hold in the filling) filled with sausage & ham slices. 
• Polish style: Ground meat & rice wrapped in cabbage leaves and braised, usually in a tomato sauce.
• Israel style: Hot dog rolled in a ketchup-covered sheet phyllo dough (paper thin sheets of flour dough). 
• Netherlands style:  Puff pastry dough that's made with shortening then filled with a pork sausage.

~ EAT PORK ~

Greek Pot Zucchini

Nope not all together...
...Greek in the yogurt for the chicken, Pot of the crock pork chops, & zucchini flavored boats!

I've been on a new recipe kick this week, which also helps out the 'By 12/31/13' list.

The first night was salad, zucchini boats, & Melt in your Mouth Chicken. Of coarse I got the ideas from Pinterest but the Zucchini boats originally came from Proud Italian Cook blog. & the Melt in you Mouth Chicken came from Food.com. I re-posted their recipes in my De-lish Dishes page because they are both ones that I plan on visiting again!

Another new dinner I tried was 3 ingredient crock pot pork chops. I first heard about this idea from Lori but I have also seen it's caught onto the Pinterest world as well. It is super easy!
All you need is:
- Pork chops
- Can of Cream of Mushroom (could use any 'cream of' soup)
- Packet of Ranch seasoning
Toss it the crock pot for the day, and by 6 add a veggie to the plate and whalla! yummy tender pork!

I think Paul is loving me & this 'cooking Alicia' character....

..... haha we'll see how long it lasts :)

Le Cordon Bleu

Last Friday night, I decided to finally use one of my dinner recipes off of Pinterest. It was Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll-Ups which came from Cinnamon Girl Recipes: Modern Comfort Food's blog.
Once I collected the ingredients I realized this recipe wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. The full recipe can be found in my De-Lish Dishes tab or by clicking here.

The chicken breasts are easier to roll up if they are thinner... ha! This was my version of a meat pounder.

Worked just as good too!

After my chicken was pounded out, I had my ham, cheese, & dipping mixtures all ready to roll! (haha, no pun intended :)

I used just a Virginia ham from the deli, which I had them slice thicker then a normal sandwich slice. You want to be able to taste the ham & cheese! I also tried out two different cheeses, Swiss & provolone. I know traditional cordon bleu calls for Swiss, but I LOVE me some provolone!

 After I tightly rolled it up, I shoved some toothpicks in it to secure the roll while baking.

 What they looked like before hand.

 

The final, melted cheesy goodness!

This recipe I would have to say was a huge success to me and my taste tester ... Paul.

Birthday Dinner!

Yesterday, Monday, September 12th, was Paul's 31st birthday. I bugged him for a week what he wanted to do... bars, BWW, movies, etc. He never replied & didn't seem to enthuzed, me, I LOVE birthdays!
So, I decided to make him a fabulous dinner.

The menu:

 - Fresh tossed salad

 - Martha Stewart's Creamy Macaroni & Cheese

 - KC Strips with sauteed mushrooms

 - Apple pie with ice cream

 - Disaster cake with cream cheese frosting

*note: we didn't make it to the desserts, we were stuffed!

 I don't know about the rest of you but making dinner & some delishious desserts work up quite the thirst... plus I need to work on getting this out of the fridge ;)

First, the salad I just cut up some fresh leafy lettuce & added some carrots, red peppers (they're Paul's favorite), & tomatoes & called it good.

Martha Stewart's Creamy Macaroni & Cheese on the otherhand took a little more work. I found the recipe on Pinterest, my new web love. However I have posted the recipe on my new 'De-Lish Dishes' page (follow the recipe title link). I recommend it, especially if you absolutly LOVE cheese. I made the version with the Guyere instead of the Romano. When I first tried the Guyere out of the package I thought it was going to be too salty & too smokey, but after it was finished it didn't have any of those issues. The recipe was lacking a little bacon so I sprinkle some on top with the bread :). I would also like to note Paul & I will be eating Mac-N-Cheese for the rest of the week - it makes A LOT!

The KC Strips were amazing! So much so I didn't even get a final picture. Just imagine grilled, juicy, medium rare, yummyness topped with some shrooms! YUM! I heart Beef!

Paul LOVEs my Apple Pie so of coarse I had to make it for him. This recipe is one that my mom & my grandma both use, only I am specific with the types of apples. I like to do half red delicious & half granny smith. Once we finally serve it, it will be accompied by some vanilla ice cream.

Paul also LOVEs chocolate cake. So, I decided to make him my Disaster Cake. I had him pick out the frosting from the store because I was too tired to make any last night. He chose only the best stuff, CREAM CHEESE icing! Disaster cake is something I stumbled on at a friends house, it is delicious & has lots of ingredients (like sour cream & Guiness). This cake is also very moist & you have to make sure to follow the directions, unlike me yesterday who ended up wasting like 4cups of sugar, some cocoa, baking soda.... oops. A hit in the end though. I had Paul take some of the cupcakes to work so they weren't laying around here for me to devoure.



Project 365 catch up

 PHOTO #2/365 my mardi gras/st. patty's day cookies

 PHOTO #3/365 My skates finally got to come home with me! :)

 PHOTO #4/365 The look of being left out all day in their newly built fence

 PHOTO #5/365 My very first engagement pictures... thank you Misty & Brad

 PHOTO #6/365 An awesome bruise/skate scrape... the picture doesn't do it justice

 PHOTO #7/365 Paul picking me up from the airport

 PHOTO #8/365 Cooper & I hanging with the piggies at my parents

 PHOTO #9/365 Up in Steamboat chillin at Taphouse with Brewskies & fake mustachies

 PHOTO #10/365 A little bit of green on our hike to some waterfalls

 PHOTO #11/365 After an awesome day of boarding, at one of my favorite places, representin my ladies... Go CrusHERS!

 PHOTO #12/365 We all showed up seperate, yet you can't tell what we all love... ;)

 PHOTO #13/365 Strawberry park hot springs!

 PHOTO #14/354 Hangin with Cooper before we have to leave :(

 PHOTO #15/365 At my 1st CrusHER Bout & Paul at his first Bout ever!

 PHOTO #16/365 Just love this photo so I had to squeeze it in... one from the slopes

 PHOTO #17/365 Also another photo I had to squeeze in!

PHOTO #18/365 Paul's first day at his new job!

PHOTO #19 This is all I have been able to get down today... thank you acid reflux!

Themed Three Thursday

Last night the common number to my "training" was 3. Monday, I was supposed to do my endurance walk, only after my chiropractic appointment I was just too sore to race pace 3 miles. Tuesday, I was also too sore. Wednesday, had a headache all day, would've walked but slacked off. Finally, Thursday I had my follow-up chiro appt. Not so much fun (whole different story), but I HAD to do my walk! At 7:58pm I headed North with Cooper. Warmed up, tried a fast pace, up hill. My feet felt hot, and if anyone knows the cure or tips please share. I get a mile and half out, turn around, let Cooper off his leash, and head back. Kind of got a side ache; which is sad, but just kept truckin. Cooper was doing really well too! Finally, get back to the house, 53 minutes! Then I grabbed the other two dogs and took the 3 down the road about a third of a mile for a cool down. After putting them in the house I did 3 sets of push ups and 3 sets of lunges. Once inside I was mixin up some banana bread, it called for 3 bananas. I used 5! Yum! And then for dinner we watched prison break; disc 3. Finally retired for the evening. Hopefully, I'll get the pace picked up, but for those of you who think it sounds easy, try it...up hill too :) who knows what was up with all the threes.....