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.

C25K With A Side Of Corny Rice

This post was written late Thursday night only didn't get posted till now.


No bike or Jeep today thanks to the rain last night. However, by the time 7pm rolled around Paul & I were off to do our Couch to 5K, Week 1 Day 2 routine. We took a different route today, turns out there's hills no matter which way you head out of our driveway. Our stats were: 2.04 miles at 14.41 per mile. So, about the same as last time. I had one if those 'little engine that could' moments on this jaunt. It took all the emotional coaxing to not walk up this hill, but I did it!
Oh, and thanks to all the lunges I've done this week I almost was stuck on a toilet this morning. You know those really low sitting ones, & my muscles couldn't' take a squat that early in the morning.

For dinner we tried a new Pinterest recipe: chicken rice bake. It was really easy to make only it was slightly bland. Here's the recipe, maybe y'all have any suggestions into what to add.
2 chicken breasts
4 cups brown rice (I used that pre made stuff in the bags-uncle bens).
3/4 cups frozen corn
15 ounces (1can) black beans (drained & Rinsed)
1 cup Greek plain yogurt (or sour cream)
4 ounce can fluid chilies
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup low fat cheddar plus a little extra for topping.
Cilantro

Preheat oven: 350. Cook chicken. Add all except cilantro. Season with salt & pepper. Transfer to oven safe dish. Top with some cheddar. Bake 20-25 minutes until heated all the way through. Garnish with cilantro.

P.S. weighed in this morning at 200lbs. NOT happy with that at all. I REALLY need to work on my eating habits! I just love food ... Any tips???

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.