Culinary 101: Leftover Roast Beef, Onion Dicing and Garlic Mincing.

WOW! What a crazy week! And holy smokes the views on that random "what the heck" Facebook Live Video last Monday of me unveiling that roast! I have gotten so much feedback from friends encouraging me to "go with this" that....well... I'm going. So... if you want to come along for the ride.... here we GO!!!!

First the Recipe:  Food blogs that post the recipes they will be using at the end of their ramblings stresses me out!  It just frustrates me when I'm in a hurry to cook supper. LOVE to read their ramblings (and I hope you'll read mine) but when I want to make supper... I want that recipe top and center of the page the link took me to! We have enough stress in our lives to not have to have more of it on a food blog!

Beef and Noodles

Banana Cake with Browned Butter Frosting This is NOT my recipe. I have made it several times. It ALWAYS turns out! I linked to the page I originally found it on.

This is all about taking what you think is NEVER going to be anything, and gets sent to the TRASH because it looks dried out and well... not so great, into something DELISH!!!! ENJOY!

Culinary 101: Leftover Roast Beef, Onion Dicing and Garlic Mincing.

WOW! What a crazy week! And holy smokes the views on that random "what the heck" Facebook Live Video last Monday of me unveiling that roast! I have gotten so much feedback from friends encouraging me to "go with this" that....well... I'm going. So... if you want to come along for the ride.... here we GO!!!!

First the Recipe:  Food blogs that post the recipes they will be using at the end of their ramblings stresses me out!  It just frustrates me when I'm in a hurry to cook supper. LOVE to read their ramblings (and I hope you'll read mine) but when I want to make supper... I want that recipe top and center of the page the link took me to! We have enough stress in our lives to not have to have more of it on a food blog!

Beef and Noodles

Banana Cake with Browned Butter Frosting This is NOT my recipe. I have made it several times. It ALWAYS turns out! I linked to the page I originally found it on.

This is all about taking what you think is NEVER going to be anything, and gets sent to the TRASH because it looks dried out and well... not so great, into something DELISH!!!! ENJOY!

Culinary 101: Leftover Roast Beef, Onion Dicing and Garlic Mincing.

WOW! What a crazy week! And holy smokes the views on that random "what the heck" Facebook Live Video last Monday of me unveiling that roast! I have gotten so much feedback from friends encouraging me to "go with this" that....well... I'm going. So... if you want to come along for the ride.... here we GO!!!!

First the Recipe:  Food blogs that post the recipes they will be using at the end of their ramblings stresses me out!  It just frustrates me when I'm in a hurry to cook supper. LOVE to read their ramblings (and I hope you'll read mine) but when I want to make supper... I want that recipe top and center of the page the link took me to! We have enough stress in our lives to not have to have more of it on a food blog!

Beef and Noodles

Banana Cake with Browned Butter Frosting This is NOT my recipe. I have made it several times. It ALWAYS turns out! I linked to the page I originally found it on.

This is all about taking what you think is NEVER going to be anything, and gets sent to the TRASH because it looks dried out and well... not so great, into something DELISH!!!! ENJOY!

Long time no post.... but maybe it's time.

So it's been 2 years since I've posted. I guess it's about time. I want to write more about what I'm eating, thinking, feeling, doing, praying about. I thought about starting, yet another, blog, but no.... this one is just fine. The focus will still be on foods. But.... also about wellness. FULL wellness. Not just nutrition. Emotional, Spiritual, Physical, everything. So.... those of you who follow me... YEA!!!! Come back around. More posts coming soon! (I'm working on a "real post" right now even!)

This Week's Menu

First of all... I know I have a few people who have "missed me".... the blog has had to take a back seat to going back to work full time. I always forget just how 100% draining the first couple of weeks of school are. It probably doesn't help that Kyson starts school too (duh huh?) and football. And well... we go from lazy hazy days of summer to BAM Full speed ahead! Couple that with trying to squeeze every moment of "summer" out of our weekends... I haven't been doing any writing.

I have however taken pictures of some great recipes I've made. And I will blog them soon. No promises... this is just "week 2" of school. However, it is also the last week of "every day football pracitices" for Kyson.

Until then... I thought it would be fun to share my week's menu. Even though I'm busy, I am committed to making time for a family dinner. Oh, and I'm back to working really hard to eat "clean". For me that means very limited grains, dairy and no processed sugar.

Momday: Grilled Asian Short Ribs, Veggie Stir Fry, Brown Rice (for the boys) I will skip the rice.

Tuesday: Grilled Pesto Chicken, Mushroom/Spinach Rissoto (this is why I will skip the Rice on Monday, I LOVE this rissoto). Sauted zucchini, yellow squash and onions.

Wednesday: Grilled Burgers, Fresh sliced tomatoes, Corn on the Cob (the season is coming to an end!!! BOO!) and the boys will have Baked Beans.

Thursday: LEFTOVERS. If no leftovers (and with the way Kyson is eating these days... there might not be!!!) I will thaw out and make a pork tenderloin in the Covered Deep Dish Baker. (Pampered Chef!) I LOVE LOVE LOVE this product! W the pork we will have veggies from our CSA (we get that box on Wednesday... so not sure yet!) and mashed sweet potatoes.

Friday: Pizza on the Grill! One of my favorite fall foods!!!! I buy Mostly baked crusts from a local bakery (LaQuartier) and pull out any veggies left in the fridge from the week. Fresh Mozzarella. Panchetta. And do them on the grill. Great for an easy supper after a long week!

Saturday: I'm hoping we are going to the lake..... so "Boat food!"

Sunday: I'm hoping its as gorgeous of a day as today is, and I am going to fire up the smoker and make some smoked meats for the week ahead!!!

Share your menu plans for the week in the commnets!!! I'd love to read what eveyrone is making!!!!

Sweet Sweet Summertime

Summer is bliss at it's finest. Lazy days to do whatever, whenever, with whomever. This summer was very restufl. Which is just what the doctor ordered. No, really, I started summer with a broken rib (from puking), mono, a UTI, and a huge batch of bloodwork showing numerous vitamin defencies. I did what the doctor told me to.... NOTHING. I rested. A lot. So much so, in fact, that I sacrificed pool time. But....the good news is, I feel better than I have felt in a very long time. And, I did manage a few trips to the pool, and lake! I am mentally ready to roll for a fanatstic school year ahead. Kyson is looking forward to being the "big guy on campus" as a 5th grader, I'm teaching a new culinary class, and even Bentley is looking forward to the fact that somehow, over summer, his crate became non-existant.

Today was the last day for "our" pool to be open. And realistically, the last day of outdoor swimming in a chlorinated pool for us until next summer. It looked as though it was going to be grey and cloudy, but the sun came out, friends came to the pool, and a lot of fun was had.

To wrap up the "last day of summer" I made one of my favorite suppers. "Pesto Pizza". My basil is in over-drive this summer. I have frozen numerous bags for the long winter, and we have eaten a lot of basil infused foods. This one, however, is my favorite. I simply took leftover buns (from the burgers we had earlier this weekend), and spread some fresh pesto on them, sliced a few mushrooms, tomatoes, and some panchetta. Then put some fresh mozzarella on top. Broiled for a couple of minutes, and served with.... you guessed it.... red wine (for me) and lemonade (for Kyson.)

Enjoy the lingering days of warmth, the monarchs on their annual migration, sweet corn (blog post on this coming soon!), and the smell of fresh cut grass.... because all too soon, we will be eating Potato Soup and talking about homemade pasta (a snow day tradition at this house!)

Cheers!

Sunday Funday!

I'm very much looking forward to this afternoon. On kind of a spur of the moment I decided to include inviting my friends to join me on my cook-a-thon. I thought there would be one or two who would be interested, turns out, there are a lot more! So... today from about 4pm-7pm there will be a group of crazy women cooking between 7 and 13 meals for their freezers and families. How cool is that! Actually it will probably be really hot, but alas... we are going to knock out some cooking, and take care of the "what's for dinner" stress for several weeks!!!YEA!!! I bet there will be some laughter also!

I do want to share one of my favorite easy summer grilling recipes on this post though. Grilled Potato Packets. First of all if you CAN have a grill, you NEED a grill. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but a propane grill that you can fire up on a moment's notice is truly worth the investment. I'm certain that they are on clearance at places like Sears, Lowes, Home Deopt etc. Or check Craig's list (but be careful... if someone is getting rid of a grill it likely needs repairs, and many times the item that needs repaired on the grill, costs just about as much as a new grill.) LADIES.... do not be scared of the grill!!! It will not blow up or singe your eyebrows off. You can do this!

Grilled Potato Packets are so simple, and taste so yuumy. Great with steaks, pork chops, bbq chicken. Whatever.

Ingredients:

1 potato per person, plus 1-2 more (so, I was making packets for 4 the other night, I used 6 potatoes).
Diced Yellow Onion (for 6 potatoes I used about 1/2 of a large one)
3-4 cloves minced garlic, or garlic seasoning
1 T. oil per packet
1 T. Butter per packet
Salt and Pepper
2-3 ice cubes per packet
Aluminum Foil

Directions
1. Lay out a long length of foil. I used about 18-22" of foil. Don't skimp here!
2. Cube potatoes. I cut in half the long way, and then half again (so you end up with 4 long pieces of potato) then cut into about 1/2 " pieces.
3. Lay potatoes and onion on foil.
4. Sprinkle with seasonings.
5. Drizzle with oil.
6. Add butter. (not melted)
7. Add ice (not melted)
8. Put another piece of foil on top. Roll edges up. To make a packet.
9. IF YOU ARE NOT USING HEAVY DUTY FOIL wrap with a 2nd layer of foil. This helps so it doesn't tear, and also helps it not burn.
10. Put packets on an ALREADY HOT GRILL. I heat my grill before I start. On "High". Then turn down to about medium for this.
11. CLOSE THE LID. Let them cook, don't peek, for about 8-10 minutes.
12. Flip. CLOSE THE LID. Let them cook for another 8-10 minutes.
13. Then I move them to the "top rack" while I grill whatever meat I'm grilling.
14. CAREFULLY remove from grill (grilling tongs are pretty essentil here).
15. VERY CAREFULLY open. There will be steam (from the ice). It is VERY HOT.

ENJOY!!!!! And best yet, no dishes, no hot kitchen from making potatoes in the oven. YUM!

(Ps this works with sweet potatoes also!)  Also. I know someone will ask... nope, I don't peel the potatoes.