I discovered a new blog last night… My friends Seth and Bianca Palmer own A Moment Like This Photo and Video. They are absolutely wonderful. I would have scheduled my wedding any day of the year, as long as they were available. Check out their blog and website!
http://amomentlikethis.net/wordpress/
Today we took our preschool class to the zoo.
Field trips are always a struggle of mine. I think that they are of wonderful educational benefit and a great way to give children experiences that they may not otherwise have. That being said, they STRESS ME OUT. Being responsible for 13 children who aren’t mine in a public place with many other adults and children is stressful. I count non-stop. Emily and I always joke that as soon as we finish counting the kids and come up with the right number, we start counting again. Losing a chlid would be my worst nightmare come true. Today, losing a child wasn’t so much a concern. We were at the NC Zoo and it absolutely poured all day long. This morning, I thought it would be the perfect day for a zoo trip… slightly overcast with a drizzle here and there. All of the animals would be out playing. Well, the slight drizzle in the forecast was a little off. As Emily put it, there weren’t showerS, there was A shower – one non-stop shower all day long. And it was freezing. So, the kids stayed huddled close to us to keep warm and there wasn’t so much a fear of losing one of them, just the need to console them and promise them we were trying to get them somewhere warm and dry.
After having the children safe and sound in the arms of their own families, I was looking forward to coming home to a warm shower (I also got peed on somehow today, which I sadly didn’t realize seeing as though I was already soaking wet. My clue was my own stench on the ride home. Nice.). So, dinner tonight was something fast and easy… the old chicken and rice standby. Just put the chicken in a pan, dump cream of mushroom soup over it, bake and serve on rice. I don’t know why it always tastes so good when you need a warm meal, but it just does. And besides tasting good and warming you up, comfort food always reminds me of home and growing up, which just puts a smile on my face. Just what I needed at the end of a long day!
**Side note: Last year’s zoo trip ended with me being brought back to the center in a police car. That’s 2 strikes. Not so sure I’m going for a third next year. Town and Country down the street is lookin’ pretty good for any future animal viewing.
We had Greek pitas tonight, one of our favorites. When my Mom came to visit a few weeks ago, she brought me some of my favorite marinade, Lemon Garlic from Wegmans. If you aren’t from the Upstate NY area, you may not know about Wonderful Wegmans - and if that is the case – I am sorry for you! Wegmans is pretty much the best place in the world. It is a grocery store, but SO much more. They have a dry cleaner, a video store, photo lab, pharmacy, pizza shop, Chinese restaurant, Olive Bar, Chese Bar, sub shop, the most amazing bakery ever (nothing like a “grocery store bakery”, but more along the lines of a fine bakery you would drive miles to get to). My Mom told me they have even added a spot where you can get your makeup done or a massage. It is a beautiful store and they are great to their employees. I can’t even tell you what the level of my excitement would be if Wegmans came to NC. I keep my fingers crossed all the time. So, when family comes to visit, Kara and I put together a list of things we need from Wegmans, and my list this time included this marinade!
My Dad always used this marinade with chicken and it was the best. Ross came home from the grocery store yesterday with a pork tenderloin and suggested putting the marinade on that. I spotted feta and yogurt in the car and got really excited… we were going to have pitas! We marinated and grilled the pork. Ross made Tzatziki sauce, a Greek yogurt based sauce that is so delicious, either as a dressing or just as a dip with pitas. Kara used to work in a Greek restaurant and I was introduced to this sauce then. Ross found this recipe for it http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_15500,00.html which tastes very authentic and it’s great. Make sure you either use Greek yogurt or buy regular yogurt and drain the water out either through a cheesecloth or through a coffee filter covered strainer. We do the same with the cucumber, shred it and chop it and drain all of the water out of it. The sauce is a MILLION times better without all of the water in it. Emeril’s essence recipe is listed, which is great, but if you don’t feel like making that just sprinkle in some of the spices. Put the meat in the pitas, top with Tzatziki and crumbled feta, lettuce, tomatoes and onion and you will have a delicious, healthy meal!
We had a great day Saturday. We spent most of the early part of the day being lazy, and then headed to San Lee Park in the afternoon for a hike. It was perfect weather and we had a great time. Since I hadn’t done much all day, I wanted to make something good for dinner. We had already started marinating chicken to grill. We had some broccoli that we needed to use so I was planning on roasting that, so we just needed some sort of a potato to go with it all. We went back and forth for quite some time about what to make (we aren’t the best at making decisions, especially when it comes to food). We had discussed baked potatoes, twice baked potatoes, cheesy potatoes, potato skins, etc. So, I finally decided to make my own invention of a combination of all of them. Here’s what I came up with:
Twice Baked Potato Skins
4 whole potatoes
4-6 slices of bacon
1 small head of broccoli florets
1 cup shredded cheddar
4 oz sour cream
2 T butter or margarine
splash of milk
salt and pepper
green onion
Pierce potatoes with a fork. Bake in oven at 375 for about an hour or until soft.
While potatoes are cooking, steam broccoli until very soft. Let dry, reserve in medium sized mixing bowl.
Cook bacon and let cool to get crispy. Crumble bacon.
Let potatoes cool. Slice in half and scoop out pulp, add to mixing bowl with the broccoli. Add butter, sour cream, and milk. Mash with fork until mixed well and most of the potato lumps are out. Add 1/2 c. cheese, crumbled bacon and salt and pepper. Mix well.
Place empty potato shells under broiler until golden brown. Remove from oven. Sprinkle a little bit of cheese in the bottom of each shell. Add potato mixture back to shells. Top with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Garnish with green onion.
We thought they turned out great, tasting 1/2 like a potato skin and 1/2 like a twice baked potato! We plan on making them again soon.
The chicken was probably the best grilled chicken I’ve had in a long time. Ross is a master griller. He marinated it in Thomas’ sauce and grilled it to perfection. We also tried the new Bush’s Grillin’ Beans. We had the whiskey and brown sugar flavor and they were good, but I think I still prefer the ol’ doctored up baked beans.
I hope everyone had a great Saturday, too and continues to enjoy the rest of this long weekend. What a treat!
This cold spaghetti salad is one of my favorite summer salads. It’s like a pasta salad, but with a twist!
1 lb spaghetti
1 green pepper
2 cucumbers
1 onion
3 carrots (or dump in a bunch of the matchsticks, I used about 1/2 bag)
2 tomatoes
1 jar chili sauce
1 c. Italian dressing
pepper, salt and garlic powder to taste
Boil pasta. Toss with chili sauce and dressing. Dice vegetables and add to pasta mixture. Add seasonings to your liking. Chill and serve.
Ross made burgers last night on the gril and they were the BEST burgers EVER. He cut up a piece of really good steak into tiny pieces and tucked them into the middle of the burger before grilling. I am not sure, but I think he brushed a mixture of worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar on them while they were grilling. They were so incredibly good. It tasted like a burger made out of fine steak. Delicious. Even Sully knew they were something special, he was going so crazy that we had to put him in the other room while we ate! We had them with fresh tomatoes and corn on the cob.
Ross made dinner tonight, and it was delicious! This recipe came from the cookbook Our Town, Act II which was put together by The Woman’s Club of Broadway. This cookbook was one of the first gifts given to me by Ross’ parents. It has a ton of great recipes in it. Let me know if you are interested in a copy and I could probably direct you to the right person!
2 c. chopped cooked chicken (Ross bought a Rotisserie chicken at Lowes and used the meat from that)
1 to 2 c. chopped celery
1 c. slivered almonds
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. mayonnaise
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 T. grated onion
2 tsp. lemon juice
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 can Chinese noodles
Mix all ingredients. Top with Chinese noodles. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
This to me tasted like a great alternative to Fettuccine Alfredo. While I love the taste of Alfredo, it is a little too heavy for me and I always feel sick after I eat it. This had a cheesy taste and a lot of flavor, but wasn’t heavy at all. It was quick and easy to make and could take on lots of different variations, too!
from allrecipes.com
12 oz dry fettuccine pasta
2 red bell peppers, julienned
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 t cayenne pepper (less if you don’t like spicy food)
1 c reduced fat sour cream
3/4 c chicken broth
3/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Boil fettuccine, drain.
Spray cooking oil in large skillet and saute red bell peppers, garlic and cayenne pepper over medium heat 3-5 minutes.
Stir in sour cream and broth; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.
Toss hot pasta with sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste; serve.
We served this with grilled chicken marinated in Italian dressing and grilled asparagus. It was super delicious!
I have no recollection of this recipe. I found it on a recipe card in my box and it is in my writing, so I apparently copied it down at some point. I have no idea where it came from, though! I made it for the veggies in the family on Mother’s Day, but we all enjoyed it.
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 bag fresh spinach
4 T water
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1 onion, chopped
2 T butter
5 eggs
1 c. cottage cheese
1 c. shredded cheddar
salt and pepper to taste
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
Preheat oven to 400. Spray pie dish with cooking spray. Line dish with puff pastry, press into place and trim away excess.
Cook spinach with water in large skillet, drain well. Add nutmeg and puree.
Sautee onion in butter until soft.
In medium bowl, beat eggs. Stir in cottage cheese, spinach and 1/2 c. of cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange onions in bottom of dish, place tomatoes on top. Pour egg mixture on top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake 45-50 min. or until set. Serve hot or cold.
I was rushing and totally forgot to puree the spinach with the nutmeg, but I might do it again (on purpose) next time. I really liked it the way it was. Could be good either way!
My Mom came to visit from NY this weekend to celebrate Mother’s Day with us. As always when my parents visit, we ate out a lot! Here are some highlights of the meals we ate.
Thursday night: Kara, Elizabeth and I ate at South in North Hills in Raleigh. It is Kara’s favorite restaurant. I hadn’t been there since it became South (used to be Restaurant Savannah). It has a great trendy atmosphere and a great menu to go with it. I chose Shrimp and Grits. I love shrimp but can’t make it. I don’t know what I do or don’t do, but it never comes out well. I had Shrimp and Grits for the first time at Bella last November. I am not sure if this beat it or not (might need to go back to Bella so I can compare!) but it was great either way. I highly recommend South as well as this dish!
Friday lunch: Mom and I went to Twisted Fork at Triangle Town Center while we were doing wedding errands. We both had crab cakes and they were excellent, better than I expected at a mall restaurant.
Friday dinner: Lucky 32 in Cary. This is one of the restaurants that I forget about a lot and am always glad when I remember it. I had Shrimp and Grits again! I guess I had a serious craving this weekend. It was great again, this one was spicier with some andouille sausage and the grits had a different texture (as a Yankee I admit I know nothing about grits, but these ones were firmer it seemed). Kara had black bean cakes which she couldn’t finish so I had to help her out. They were excellent. Ross had meatloaf which I also had to try and it had lots of spices in it that made it different from any other I’ve tasted. I would order it on a future visit!
Saurday Lunch: After a trip to Southern Pines to do more wedding errands, we ate lunch at the Dairy Bar. This was my Mom’s one request for her trip here. Last time she came, we stopped there for lunch and she had her first serving of warm banana pudding. She told me she had been dreaming about it since and needed more! We all had a great meal and of course, a great dessert!
Saturday dinner: Kara treated Mom and I to dinner at The Mint on Fayetteville Street Mall. The Mint is a super swanky restaurant, they even brought Mom and Kara black linen napkins to replace the white ones since they had more dark colors in their outfits. I had grilled tuna which was excellent. It was cooked just right. For a fancier restaurant, I was impressed with the portion. I have a big appetite and fully expected to leave there starving, but I didn’t. After dinner we took Mom to Napper Tandy’s to see 80z Enuff, our favorite band. They were great as always!
Sunday was Mother’s Day dinner here at our house. We had a great time with my Mom, my sister and Ross’ parents. Ross’ sister, Lara couldn’t make it due to not feeling well and we missed her. I’m exhausted after a long day, so I’ll post some recipes from our dinner tomorrow. It was a great weekend filled with lots of great food and company. Luckily with lots of wedding events coming up this summer I know I will see Mom again soon. It’s always easier to say goodbye when I know it won’t be another 6 months before I see her again. We missed Dad and wish he could have been here, too. Next time!
Tonight’s dinner was from a recipe Ross found on allrecipes.com. It was great for many reasons.
Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced (I used 2 containers)
2 T flour
2 T olive oil
6 cloves of garlic (I used 4)
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
3/4 c. chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 t. thyme
1 T butter
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Season flour with salt and pepper, coat chicken breasts in flour mixture. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute the chicken until it is nicely browned on one side (about 3 minutes).
Add the garlic. Turn the chicken breasts and scatter the mushrooms over them. Continue frying, shaking the skillet and stirring the mushrooms. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add the vinegar, chicken broth, bay leaf and thyme. Cover and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Continue simmering the sauce, uncovered, over medium heat for about 7 minutes. Swirl in the butter or margarine and discard the bay leaf. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.
I also had to make a dessert for our Teacher and Staff Appreciation Luncheon for work tomorrow. I made
English Toffee Cake. It’s one of my favorites and tastes like it is harder to make than it really is.
2 eggs, separated
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 c. whipped topping
1 c. toffee bits
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
3 T. light cream
5 T. butter
Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 9″ round pans. Beat egg whites in small bowl until foamy. Gradually add 1/2 c. sugar, beating well until stiff peaks form.
Combine remaining 1 c. sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add oil, buttermilk and egg yolks, beat until smooth. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Pour into prepared pans, bake 23-28 minutes.
Icing:
Combine 1/2 c. sugar and 1/4 c. cocoa in small saucepan. Stir in 3 T light cream and 5 T butter. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute, remove from heat and cool.
Frost one layer with whipped topping. Top with 1/2 c. toffee bits. Place second layer on top. Drizzle glaze over top of cake. Top with other 1/2 c. of toffee.
Next time I will post something without mushrooms!
