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You know how when you are shopping for a new or used car, and you've got it narrowed down to a couple of makes and models, and then you start seeing those cars on the road everywhere. Have you ever had that experience with recipes? I don't know where in the world I've been that I haven't tried baked eggs until now. I'm sure I've perused many baked egg recipes before I took notice them. Now I
My husband and I had the privilege to vacation in Costa Rica a couple of months ago. One of many activities that we enjoyed was going to Rainforest Spices. Of all the things people can do on vacation you probably wouldn't think that going to a large spice garden would be an the top of the list. However, I'm happy to say that my husband was more than willing to do this with me, and we both ha
I have to confess that I've made this guacamole recipe a few times. The problem is that I'm usually whipping it up so fast I forget to take pictures of all the steps. Now, I think I have enough pictures to piece together for a blog post. I just made this for a Cinco de Mayo potluck and quadrupled the recipe. I rarely have leftovers. I remember one time that I was making batches a
After making "Homemade Beef Stock" I ended up with some leftover beef that was perfect for soup. It's a good thing my cravings go with what I have in the pantry: pearl barley, carrots, celery, onions, diced tomatoes, and homemade beef stock. Soup's on! One thing I've discovered recently in my foodie journey is a conversation about the benefits of soaking grains. You can find out about the be
Soup is still on the menu at our house since the weather has been running hot and cold for the past six weeks. I've made plenty of chicken stock based soups but I was craving something hearty with beef. The first time I attempted homemade beef stock it turned out weak and watery. I didn't use enough beef bones. I was not going to let that happen this time. This year my husband an
As soon as I saw a recipe for roasted shrimp in the January/February 2013 edition of Cook's Illustrated I knew that I needed to make it. After reading the recipe carefully and mulling it over, I knew exactly how I needed to change it up. I tinkered not because I doubted the folks at Cook's Illustrated; I trust them implicitly. I changed up the recipe based on the "zip-sauce" I had in t
When the itch for comfort food strikes, this "scratch-recipe" for Salisbury steak will provide the relief you're looking for without completely blowing your diet. "Scratch" - "itch" - get it? Eh em. Oh well, I'm known for my cooking abilities not my jokes. Anyway, if you serve the Salisbury steak with "Smashed 'Cauliflower' Potatoes," instead of regular potatoes or egg noodles then this dinn
When recently volunteering to prepare fresh fruit for 50 people, at first I thought I would create a couple of extra large fruit salad bowls similar to my "Strawberry, Orange, and Grape Salad with Basil" post. After doing some shopping and seeing what looked fresh, I decided that it would be better to have a fresh fruit platter. My reasoning was that preparing a fruit platt
It was the day before Easter and I still didn't know what to make for our Easter dinner. This year it was going to be dinner for two, my husband and me. This was good news since "life" had been busy lately. I had already done quite a bit of food preparation on Saturday for our church's Easter morning pancake breakfast, so I wanted to make something simple but tasty. My husband thought
I was craving shrimp cocktail. I bought a huge bag of frozen precooked shrimp. The shrimp cocktail I made in my last post was just for my husband and I. What was I thinking? I kept wondering what I would do with all the extra shrimp. Internet research lead me to consider: garlic shrimp and pasta, shrimp quesadillas, shrimp and grits, and shrimp gumbo. Shrimp gumbo won! Exce
One of my favorite appetizers is a classic shrimp cocktail. If shrimp cocktail is on our menu, it's probably a special occasion. To be honest, I've always bought frozen precooked shrimp; I have yet to buy raw shrimp and boil it myself for shrimp cocktail. I'm not afraid of boiling raw shrimp for shrimp cocktail. The reason I haven't so far in my foodie journey is one of convenien
Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Martha Stewart's Popovers, and Mimosas has become my family's go-to menu for holiday breakfasts. Whether it is Thanksgiving morning, Christmas morning, or Easter morning there is a good chance that my Mom is making this breakfast. Even though my husband and I are over 1,000 miles apart from our parents this Christmas, keeping the same traditions, making the same food,
I'm finally getting around to my last left-over turkey recipe for the year. We've had so much turkey over the last month we are definitely not having turkey for Christmas. I've had something similar to this recipe except it was made with chicken. I've wanted to learn how to make it ever since. After some Internet research, combining other's recipes with my own hunches, I created
I'm so excited for another Foodie Journey first. I just made my own homemade oven roasted green chilies. I love certain convenience foods. Don't get me wrong. Canned soups, beans, and green chilies out of a can are certainly convenient. However, part of my foodie journey is to learn how to make food items found in grocery store cans from scratch. Now I can cross off roasted
This is not your Mom's turkey salad sandwich (so-to-speak). No offense to my mom's cooking intended! It's just a turn of phrase. This turkey salad sandwich has a unique cast of characters - far from average - and the flavors create an explosion in your mouth. I said something similar about the "Not-Your-Ordinary Fruit Salad" post, I know. I can't help it. It's true. You have the
Even though I loved the Spinach, Turkey and Cheese Panini with Mayonnaise that I posted a few days ago - my husband doesn't want to eat it. Yes, this is a shocker. I know. He loves my cooking as long as it doesn't contain any condiments besides ketchup or barbecue sauce. That means no mayonnaise, mustard, or cranberry sauce - all of which appear in my last panini. My challenge, unbeknownst t
I don't know about you but after a couple of days of leftover turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, casseroles, and gravy - I want a salad. I crave salad. I need a salad. I created this colorful and refreshing concoction from items in my refrigerator. This salad scratched the itch so-to-speak.Spinach Salad with Turkey and Pomegranate Seeds3 oz of baby spinach leaves3 oz leftover
The best part about paninis is that they can be made with just about anything you have on hand. This is a great time of year for these warm grilled sandwiches. Just think of all those Thanksgiving leftovers in the refrigerator right now! It doesn't take long to start dreaming about all the possible combinations. I made this one the other day and it turned out to be a keeper.Turkey
As promised in my Thanksgiving 2012 post, I was able to record my recipe for homemade turkey gravy. This is one of those recipes that I've been making for several years, but I'm normally a tad too busy cooking other things on Thanksgiving day to take the pictures I need for a blog post. This year I had so much help from my husband that my kitchen was cleaner when we were done cooking than wh
The day after Thanksgiving means that people are out shopping, putting up Christmas decorations, working on Christmas cards, looking for leftover turkey recipes, or all of the above. I typically make soup with my leftovers, but I was in the mood for something different this year. Don't get me wrong I still have two extra large jars of turkey stock which will go into the freezer for ano
There are a hundred and one ways to orchestrate your Thanksgiving dinner. How do you decide what to cook and how to cook it?Determining factors for my husband and I are the family traditions with which we grew up, and our personal likes and dislikes. More to consider is one's experience and comfort level. I remember being extremely nervous the first time I cooked a turkey let alone th
In my early dating years, I dated a young man who came from a Greek background. His Mom made an awesome baked Greek lemon chicken that I've never forgotten. She cut up the chicken into into their usual individual pieces, except she cut the breast and wing portion into two equal pieces. This recipe reminds me of the first time I had her baked chicken except I'm referring to it a
This is not your ordinary fruit salad because tomatoes, olives, and avocados are not often thought of as fruits. Before I named this salad and blog post I felt the need to double check. Sure enough, according to a variety of internet sources tomatoes, olives, and avocados are indeed fruits. Add apples to the ingredient list and that makes four fruits in this salad. Th
Salmon was an acquired taste for me. I finally started liking it in my twenties. Up to that point the only salmon I ate was my Mom's salmon patties with ketchup (not that there is anything wrong with those). One night when I was out to dinner with a few coworkers on a business trip in Chicago I ordered the salmon special. I loved it. From that moment I could order blackened salmon with barbecue
When I was a kid I loved when my Mom made her recipe for wax beans with buttered bread crumbs. She often served them with pork. As I got older, I even remember begging her to make bigger batches. My Mom made these with canned wax beans which is actually more readily available than frozen or fresh. However, our friends planted their garden early this year and got lucky with no frost, so last week
My husband and I have been having 4th of July open house parties for the last five years. Now that we live on a golf course with an excellent view of our local fireworks the party is better than ever. For the last two years I've served the makings for pulled pork sandwiches. I love making pulled pork because it is easy, tastes great, and relatively inexpensive. Our invitation states th
I've been meaning to publish this post for a while now. You have to understand that writing about this recipe is a little surreal because I didn't know this Grandma. I never met her. I think she died before I was even born. You see, my dad is the youngest of ten kids and he loved this meal so much that he described it to my mom so she could make it for him. I "stuck
I never had corn pudding before, until my husband and I were invited to a friend's house for dinner. Our hostess served corn pudding with spiral sliced ham. I can hardly believe that I haven't experienced this combination before. I'm very grateful to have received the following recipe, and will likely serve corn pudding with my spiral hams in the future. Recently, I doubled
I fell in love with spinach dip over twenty years ago at a Greek restaurant called Telly's Place. Serving the dip warm so the cheese is oh-so gooey is only one secret to a great spinach dip. There are at least two other secrets to this recipe: feta cheese and chicken bouillon. Whether you serve this dip with toasted baguettes or tortilla chips your guests will love it. &nbs
One of the most popular posts on this blog is for a steakhouse baked potato. Of course, there is more than one kind of potato that you can get at most steakhouses. Let's not forget the sweet potato! Recently, I actually had a craving for a sweet potato (which is unusual). Then, I remembered how my brother, who taught me how to make this amazing whole wheat linguini wit
I always make more soup in the winter than at any other time of year. I try to give into my cravings, but in a healthy way. If that isn't possible, (thinking hamburger and fries, or macaroni and cheese) then that craving becomes a scheduled "cheat" day of which there may only be 2 or 3 per month depending on my goals. This is my new approach to "dieting" as a life-style. It's working! When try
My husband and I don't eat a lot of desserts, but when we have dinner parties we always serve dessert. Even so, most of the time I don't make a dessert, because the majority of my efforts go into the main course. In these situations I buy a good quality ice cream, and serve it with a Pepperidge Farm pirourette wafer. It is a simple dessert that never fails to please. Since
For our Christmas dinner this year we decided to make prime rib. This is a relatively new tradition started by my parents, so I was excited to continue the tradition (so was Chuck who made the request:-). This year Christmas dinner was just my husband and I which was unusual, but I loved it. We ended up with two slices of leftover prime rib. Now this posed a challenge
A few weeks ago my husband and I were invited to a friend's house for dinner. Dinner turned out to be one of my husbands favorite meals, (lucky Chuck) a real meat-and-potatoes kind of meal. To top it all off, they made homemade bread. It was so good I asked for the recipe, or was it Chuck that asked them to give me the recipe? Hmm, funny, I don't quite remember;-). Wi
Recently, my husband and I entertained another family for dinner. Our guests were unexpectedly surprised with a menu that was Thanksgiving part II. We did the whole thing all over again: roaster turkey, crock pot mashed potatoes, classic turkey stuffing, etc. We were all happily full. I love the challenge of using leftovers. Sometimes reheating them is the best solution. &
Some friends invited my husband and I to a party recently. Their menu was what I would call heavy hors 'doeuvres. That is one of my favorite kind of party menus because you can usually get many different kinds of small bites in one evening. That makes my taste buds very happy (said in the voice of Marvin the Martian) tee hee hee. I wanted to contribute to the small bite menu so I deci
I really love Mediterranean food. I might go as far as saying that it is my favorite type of food. However, I would need to travel extensively all over the Mediterranean just to make sure ;-) I hope that in my continued "foodie journey," I will acquire more and more healthy Mediterranean recipes for my online recipe box. Is "healthy Mediterranean" an oxymoron? My understanding is
I bought Mahi-Mahi from the store without having any clue what I was going to do with it. I threw the frozen package in my shopping cart feeling good about myself that I would cook something healthy;-) So, even though I had visions of "deep fried" fish tacos resembling something that you would get from Rubio's (a lunch I miss since moving from Escondido, CA to Loveland, CO) I was dete
The nick name for this recipe in my house is "Saturday Chicken" because it does take a little advanced planning. Saturday is a perfect day for preparing this recipe. Since I buy mostly organic now, I chose not to purchase ready-made rotisserie chicken from the grocery store anymore. That's okay because I have a Showtime Rotisserie on my kitchen counter. I don't have an outd
I'm not sure where this tradition started, but I'm glad for it. I was introduced to "ham buns" around the first of February last year. The youth group in our church sold them for $2.50 each (and they freeze well). Until that point in my life the closest thing to a "ham bun" I ever had was a ham and cheese sandwich. These are way better than a simple ham sandwich because of the "secret
Now I know what the fuss is all about. I think everyone knew about kale chips except for me. Several months ago I saw an episode of Down Home with the Neely's on Food Network. When I finally got around to making these and tasting my first kale chip, I was hooked! I've made them using Emeril's Bayou Blast, garam masala, and just plain plain salt. However, I think
If you have ever been to a potluck, chances are you have tasted some version of this recipe. I probably only make this about once a year. (Um, read the ingredients). Here is my family's version. I recently made this for a potluck. Let's just say, I didn't bring home any leftovers!Potatoes Deluxe2 lbs. frozen shredded hash browns, thawed for 30 minutes (I used a 1 lb. 14 oz. bag - they
I have made some version of this recipe at least a dozen times in the past 6 months. I'm not even sure if I've made it the same way twice. The original Chicken Capri recipe is on page 214 of The South Beach Diet Cookbook. Made as is, the recipe is great, but of course I have the need to tinker;-) My tinkering has included substituting an Italian spice blend, basil, dic
Everyone loves my Mom's potato salad, even when I make it:-) I have been making my mom's potato salad for the last several years, mostly for large gatherings. My husband and I have been known to throw big "Open House" parties on the 4th of July. That's just what we did this year so, of course, I had to make a big batch of potato salad. This is one of those recipes that my m
When invited to someone's house for dinner, or a party, my Mom taught me to always ask if there was anything I could bring. So, when my husband and I were invited to an impromptu barbeque at a friend's house, and asked what we could bring, the answer was fruit salad. Of course, fresh fruit can be found already cut up and ready to go in the produce section of most grocery stores, b
Boy, I can tell when I'm busy at work because I'm too exhausted to blog at night. However, I have still been reading cooking magazines, cookbooks, and eating out on my travels, and now I have some new recipes to show for it. One in particular is Pollo Nevado. I ordered this at a restaurant called Hacienda de Vega in Escondido, California. This restaurant has the best outdoo
What happens when you put the last three posts together? You get a delicious and elegant "Warm Salmon and Roasted Asparagus Salad." A few weeks ago my husband and I decided to go on The South Beach Diet in order to get back on a healthy eating track. When our lives get busy we have a tendency to not think about what we eat. We had derailed - throwing all dietary guidelines o
This was the best salmon I ever made! I've mentioned in some previous seafood posts that cooking fish is not my forte, but I'm making a concerted effort to learn. I think I might be on to something with this salmon preparation. I would even serve this to guests!Broiled Salmon1 large fillet (about 2 pounds)3 tablespoons of mayonnaise2 tablespoons of garlic-butter zip sauce (the same gar
I love roasted vegetables: roasted potatoes, carrots, (or any root vegetable for that matter - as in my roasted vegetable salad), peppers, and onions, to name a few. However, roasted asparagus is my absolute favorite. They are quick and easy enough to make for a week night dinner, and elegant enough to serve to guests. This time of year you can find tender thin asparagus spears,
If you are trying to reduce the amount of your sugar intake in your daily diet be sure to check the ingredient list of your salad dressing. I've read the back of a few bottles of dressing, and not recognized an ingredient or two. Now, I'm on a quest to make tasty, good-for-you salad dressings with fresh ingredients. Most of my favorite homemade dressings (that are blog worthy) are listed in
