Wowzers

Well today is November 1st (I didn't really realize that when I decided to do a new post, FINALLY!!).  I have not done a new post in MONTHS!!  I cannot believe it has been so long.  I am so sorry that I am such a slacker.  I will try to do better.

The first thing I want to address is where in the world have I been the last few months?!?  Well I have been here the whole time, just being lazy.  It started out with missing just a few days, then a couple of weeks, and then a month, and now it's November.  The "snowball affect" is very a real thing.  And just so everyone knows I have been cooking, and taking lots of pictures just not necessarily following through with the "whole put pictures of food and recipes on the internet" thing.

Next, what's new in my life?  Well, nothing.  I work, just as much if not more.  Spend time with my husband.  Visit my family whenever I can.  Deal with lots of drama. All that fun stuff.

One exciting thing, Nic and I celebrated our one year anniversary.  It was an amazing weekend filled with spending lots of time with each other.  We went to a football game and an apple orchard, it was a great time.  I am very fortunate to have such an amazing husband.  This past year was filled with really amazing moments and incredibly heart breaking moments.  We have gotten each other through some of the hardest things that an adult deals with, and because of that I know that out love will continue to grow.  I can truly say that I fall deeper and deeper in love with my husband everyday.  Does that mean I love him more today than I did yesterday? Not necessarily.  Today probably, but Saturday, when we were fighting all day, while trying to get the garage cleaned and organized, and then driving all around town for almost an hour to find a recycling bin, I wanted to punch him in the face!  There are days when that man drives me absolutely crazy.  There are days when I drive him crazy.  But thats a relationship, not just a marriage.

I also made a list of 20 things to accomplish before I turn 30, so I have plenty of time to complete it.  I am actually very excited to work on it.  And then to eventually complete it.

Well, I think I am going to call it a night.  To be continued soon...

Pasta Salad

Ahhh, it's summertime which means good food time!  One of my favorite things about summer is all the different kinds of salads I get to make/eat.  This is a recipe I got from my mom and depending on what I have in the pantry I will slightly change the recipe.  The base is always the same but I add things as I see fit, it also depends on the crowd and what they like.  Very easy to make, and delicious!








Ingredients:
1 box tri-color rotini pasta
1 cucumber diced
1/2 red onion diced
1 packed grape tomatoes, halved
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
Pepperoni, sliced in half or quarters and how ever much you would like
Kraft Greek Vinagrette, to taste I use just about the whole bottle
Cheddar Cheese, again how ever mush you would like


Directions:
1.  Prepare pasta as instructed on box, rinse in cold water.
2.  Add veggies, pepperoni, and cheese.  Mix.  Add vinaigrette, stir.  I always use about 1/2 the bottle and then let it set for a a few hours and add some more.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with a Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.... YUMMM!

Carrot Cake was the type of cake Nic and I shoved in each others faces at our wedding, (we had 5 different kinds of cake!!!)  that means that carrot cake has a very special place in my heart.  You would think that would also mean I know how to make carrot cake, right?? Well, that assumption would be wrong.  I have never made carrot cake, I didn't even have a carrot cake recipe in my recipe box.  To be perfectly honest I don't recall ever having carrot cake prior to wedding cake tasting!  I decided I really wanted to make cupcakes, which gave me the perfect reason to buy a new cupcake pan!  And I found this great recipe online.  So, Carrot Cake cupcakes it was!!  Very easy recipe to follow!  And super yummy!


Cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrot
1 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line 24 cupcake molds with papers, or butter and flour them.
3. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and raisins, if using them. Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.
4. Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing.


Frosting:
Ingredients:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup


Directions:
In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Chill the frosting for about an hour, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly.  I made the frosting the night before.

I made a double batch of these.  Nic and I both took 2 dozen to work.  They were delicious.  Everyone who had one kept telling us how good they were.  Very moist, and very easy to make.  I grated the carrots with a cheese grater, that was the most tedious part.  This has been added to the recipe box and will be made time and time again!

Salisbury Steak

I recently had a cookout and bought WAY to much ground beef.  We had a whole 5 pound package left!  Which means this week is all about ground beef recipes!  I have never made, or even had that I can recall, Salisbury steak.  Nic seemed really excited about it so I decided to give it a shot.  I googled some recipes and found a couple of different ones from allrecipes.com






Ingredients:
1 egg
1 10.5 oz can of condensed French Onion Soup
1/2 c dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/4 c water
1/4 c ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tbsp flour

Directions:

1.  In a large bowl mix 1/3 c of the soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper.  Form into 6 oval shaped patties.
2.  In a large skillet, brown both sides of patties.  Our off excess fat.
3.  In a small bowl blend flour and remaining soup until smooth.  Hand mix in ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard powder.  Pour over meat in skillet.  Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir Fry Vegetables

We had Asian night recently in my house.  I made Peanut Sauce, rice, soy sauce marinaded chicken skewers, and these great vegetables.  I had never had bok choy, let alone cooked with it, before this.  It is very good.  These vegetables were very filling, and very good for you!  The most time consuming part is cutting up all the veggies, but other than that very easy and super fast!

Ingredients:

1/4 c chicken broth

1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger

2 tsp canola oil

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch squares

2 cups chopped bok choy

1 c snow peas, trimmed

1/2 carrot thinly sliced

1/4 c drained canned sliced bamboo shoots

1/4 c drained canned sliced water chestnuts

Directions:

1.  In a small bowl, combine the broth, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger.

2.  In a large nonstick skillet, or a wok, heat the oil.  

3.  Add the bok choy and bell pepper, stir fry for 3 minutes.  Add the broth mixture, snow peas, and carrot.  Reduce heat and cook, stirring frequently for about 3-4 minutes.

4.  Stir in the bamboo shoots and water chest nuts.  Cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Peanut Sauce

I recently got a Weight Watchers cookbook to get some healthier ideas for dinner.  I saw this sauce and thought "Oh my goodness this sounds so amazing!!!"  I made this sauce with a vegetable stir fry and grilled chicken skewers.  This sauce was very easy to make and very good.











Ingredients:
3 tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp water
1 1/4 tbsp rice vinegar

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, sugar, and garlic until smooth.
2.  Add the soy sauce, water, and vinegar stir until combined.

Grandma's Famous Meatballs aka Bavarian Meatballs

This is by far my favorite dish ever!  Whenever I go home my grandma makes these for me.  I believe they are called Bavarian meatballs.  I started out by making some homemade meatballs, let them cool over night, and the next day mix all the sauce ingredients with meatballs in a crock pot and let it cook together.  The ingredients seem really weird but when you combine them it is delicious!!








Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger
1 egg
2 tbsp water
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/4 c finely chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
splash of Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine all ingredients, form into 1 inch balls.  Place on a a cookie pan, or a sheet cake pan.
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Sauce

Ingredients:
12 oz jar of Chili sauce
1 can (16 oz) cranberry sauce
1 16 oz can Sauerkraut, un-drained


1.  Combine all ingredients in a crock pot.  Fill chill sauce jar 1/2 up with water, shake to get excess chili sauce, add to crock pot.
2.  Add meatballs.  Cook in crock pot for 2-3 hours or until meatballs are hot.