Laura's Home Kitchen

Simple Baby Shower Invitations

2012-04-24T10:48:00.003-05:00

Seems like everyone in my office is having a baby! I got to help throw a shower for one of my co-workers recently and I wanted to craft a simple yet modern/elegant invitation. Here were the results!

The small onsie was cut out using my Cricut and the New Arrival cartridge I borrowed from a friend. The invitations were a big hit! Simple to make, but cute and modern.

Best Shower Cleaner Ever!

2012-04-24T10:44:00.003-05:00

Simple! Simple! Simple!

I keep seeing blog posts and pinterest posts with a version of this shower cleaner. Everyone claims that it is the BEST. Well, I'm here to tell you that it is! I hate using smelly, chemical filled shower cleaners in our poorly ventelated bathroom, so I was eagar to give this a try.

Just mix equal parts vinegar and dish soap in a spray bottle (I used a funnel to prevent spilling). Spray on your shower and tub and after about 10 minutes wipe clean. It worked so well! No harsh chemicals, no smell and a fraction of the cost of most shower cleaning products!!

Wedding Shower: Orange and Green Cupcakes and Cookies

2012-04-24T10:39:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from the wedding shower I just helped throw for one of my best friends! We have known each other since my freshman year of college, and I am so excited to be celebrating her wedding day with her!

The colors for the wedding are green and orange, so I had to make sure that the cupcakes and favors (decorated sugar cookies) fit right in!

I decorated the cupcakes with buttercream frosting tinted with Wilton's leaf green coloring. I used a medium sized star tip to decorate. Then I topped each cupcake with a simple orange flower that I pipped using orange tinted royal icing.

I felt like there were cupcakes everywhere in my kitchen that day!!!

The favors were simple sugar cookies decorated to again match the green and orange theme.

Again, I felt like my kitchen was taken over! But these cookies were really simple. I used royal icing to pipe a boarder on the edges of the cookies and a simple sugar cookie frosting to fill in the rest. The white flowers in the middle were also made by pipping royal icing.

All in all the shower was a success and everyone loved the treats! I can't wait to celebrate with the bride and groom at the wedding!

Simple DIY Cupcake Stand

2012-04-24T10:29:00.001-05:00

My friend is getting married! And we just threw her a lovely shower to celebrate. I was put in charge of the desserts and favors.

To give the dessert table just a little some extra, I decied to make matching cake stands using the wedding colors (green and orange).

The project was simple, I purchased two chargers (one round and one square) and a bud vase from Michaels and then used a strong adhesive to bond them together!

In total, this project cost $6 for each stand! So simple and it really added something to the overall presentation.

Cars Cake: 2nd Birthday Cake

2012-04-24T10:23:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I got to make a birthday cake for a cute 2 years old. After talking with his mom, I found out that he was really into toy cars and trucks. Searching around online, I found some excellent inspiration and quickly put this cake together.

I used a yellow cake mix in a 8x3 pan, which I torted and filled with frosting. The majority of the cake is covered in Wilton's Leaf Green tinted butter cream and the black fondant I purchased as a precut sheet. The "tunnel" on the front of the cake was made from a square of cake that was cut off the top when I was leveling.

I hope that Caden enjoyed his cake! I can't wait to see pictures!

Creamy Meat Sauce

2012-04-01T18:57:00.001-05:00

The other night, I realized that I had a partial carton of cream left in the fridge from making whipped cream. I wasn't exactly sure what I could do with it, but I did not want it to go to waste.

Looking around in my freezer and pantry, I was able to come up with some ingredients for a creamy meaty pasta sauce. The end result was delectable....even if it wasn't very healthy.....but I won't tell anyone if you won't!

First, I started off by boiling an entire box of pasta. Then, I cooked 2 small onions that had been chopped and 4 minced garlic cloves in some olive oil in a large skillet. Next, I added in a pound of ground beef and cooked it thoroughly, until it was no longer pink.

Next, I added a large can on crushed tomatoes to the meat mixture. I allowed the mixture to come up to a boil and then reduced the heat as low as it could go. By this time, the pasta was finished, so I drained the water and returned the pasta to the pot. I went back to the sauce and with the heat still on very low, I slowly stirred in a cup of cream. I then poured the sauce on top of the pasta and stirred in about a cup of mozzarella cheese.

This easy and quick meal comes together in less than 30 minutes and makes a rich and tasty meal!

Recipe Recap

1 Tsp olive oil

2 small onions/1 medium onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic minced

1 pound ground beef

1 large can crushed tomatoes

1 cup cream

1 pound pasta cooked

1 cup mozzarella cheese

Cook the onions and garlic in the oil until translucent. Then add the beef to the pan and cook until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and stir in the cream. Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta, stir in the cheese and serve.

Perfect Pot Roast

2012-04-01T18:42:00.001-05:00

Looking for an easy and simple pot roast recipe?? To start, you will need any sort of beef roast and some simple root vegetables.

Start off by browning the meat on all sides in some vegetable oil until it is brown. Use a large, heavy bottomed pot. While you are doing this, chop up your veggies. I used carrots, celery and onions, but you could add potatoes, turnips, anything that can stand up to a long cook time.

When the meat is browned, take it out of the pot at brown the onions for a few minutes by themselves. Once the onions have a little color, add in the rest of the veggies and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir the veggies a few times, allowing them to pick up some of the bits and pieces of brown form the bottom of the pot.

Put the meat on top of the veggies and then add 4-6 cups of water (enough to cover veggies and come up to the sides of the beef) and some beef stock base/bullion cubes. If you want you can also add some herbs, I added 1 bay leaf and some oregano. Allow the water to come up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover the pot and allow the meat to cook for 3-4 hours, turning the meat every 30 minutes.

I like to serve the pot roast with crusty bread. Ymmmm!!!

Recipe Recap:

3-4 lb beef roast

3 medium onions

4 carrots

5 stalks celery

4 cups water

2 tsp beef base

1 bay leaf

1 Tsp oregano

Brown the meat in 2 Tsp of oil, then remove the meat and brown the onions and other veggies. Put the meat back in the pan, add the water, herbs and beef base and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 3-4 hours, turning the meat every 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Quick Cheesy Grits

2012-03-21T19:55:00.004-05:00

These grits make a great side dish for any meaty/saucy meal, but also taste great on their own. I made these grits to go along with my BBQ Chipotle Ribs and they were the perfect side!

First, cook a cup of grits according to the package directions. In this case it was 3 1/2 cups of water for one cup of grits. Once the water was boiling, I slowly stirred in the grits. The the entire mixture cooked in a covered pot for 20 minutes on a low heat.

When the grits are done, mix in 1 cup of cheddar cheese (I used fat free cheese and it turned out great!) and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Recover the grits and let it sit off the heat for an additional 10 minutes and then serve!!

Recpie Recap
1 cup of grits cooked according to the package directions
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook the grits and stir in the cheese. Let sit off the heat for 10 minutes and serve.

3 Ingredient Chipotle BBQ Ribs

2012-03-21T19:48:00.001-05:00

These ribs are delicious and so easy to make! You will need a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce, a rack of ribs and 2-3 chipotle peppers. You can find these peppers in a can in the ethnic aisle of your grocery store.

To make this recipe, I used my pressure cooker, but you could just as easily make these in your crock pot or in the oven after marinating in the sauce.

First, cut up the ribs into 2-3 bone sections.

Second put the ribs into your pressure cooker, pour the BBQ sauce on top and top it all with the peppers. Then you will need to add a cup of water, I used the BBQ sauce bottle in order to get all the last drops of the sauce out at the same time.

Then just set your pressure cooker to high and cook for 25 minutes.

Serve on top of some Easy Cheesy Grits and enjoy! The sauce from the ribs goes great with the grits!

Recipe Recap
1 bottle BBQ sauce
2-3 chipolte peppers (depending on your heat tolerance)
1 rack of ribs cut into smaller sections
1 cup of water

Save $$, Buy a Rotisserie Chicken

2012-03-15T18:05:00.002-05:00

I have a friend who says that she won't buy the precooked rotisserie chickens at the grocery stores because they cost too much money. I disagree, I think that they actually help me save money!

After the hubby and I eat a meal from the chicken, I then pick the rest of the chicken for meat. Do people pick chicken anymore? My mom would always do this growing up to make sure that all of the meat was used.....people just aren't frugal anymore!

To prove my point, while picking this particular chicken I got out my 1 cup measuring cup to see how much extra meat I was able to get. This time I was able to get 4 cups!!!!!!!! of extra meat. I sectioned this off into plastic bags and stuck them in the freezer, perfect for adding to salads, chicken quesadillas and other meals at a later time.

For $5.99, I would say we got our money's worth!!

Antioxidant Rich Chiliquiles

2012-03-15T17:56:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard of chiliquiles? They are like a yummy Mexican casserole, but this version is lighter and packed full of antioxidants. Its also meat free, but you would never never know it....I promise, just give it a try.

First, gather your ingredients. Most of this you will already have in your pantry/fridge. You will need eggs (1 per person), 2 cups cheddar cheese (low or fat free if you want), 1 can of black beans, 1 can of rotel, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 6-10 corn tortillas, 1 onion, some garlic, 1 can green chilies, cumin, chili powder, oil, cooking spray, an avocado and a lime.

Cut the tortilla using a pair of scissors and spray them with a good amount of cooking spray. Put them in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes until the get some color and crisp. In the meantime, begin cooking an onion (red, white, whatever you have) and a few cloves of garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil.

When the onion is cooked through, add the spices, chilies, rotel, tomatoes, and drained beans. Do not drain the tomatoes. Allow the mixture to warm through and let the flavor meld. If you want at this point you can add some more liquid (like chicken stock or beer) and then allow the liquid to cook down, concentrating the flavor. If you have time, this will give the dish more depth of flavor. You can get creative here and add anything that you might have around the house.....bacon comes to mind.....

Next, you are going to pour this mixture on top of the tortillas and layer is with the cheese. This dish goes back into the oven to melt the cheese, it will take about 10 minutes.

While this is baking, use the same dish that you used to cook the tomato and bean mixture to cook up a few eggs. Also, cut up the lime and avocado. Squeeze some of the lime juice onto the avocado to stop it from becoming brown. Also, if you happen to have anything that would make a good garnish, chop it up. We happened to have cherry tomatoes and black olives.

When the cheese is melted, take the baking dish out of the oven. Serve a generous amount of the casserole with one of the eggs and plenty of the garnishes. Enjoy!

Yes, its actually vegetarian (minus the egg)....but shhhhhh, don't tell anyone and they will never know....trust me. This is a hearty and comforting dinner, they will never miss the meat!

Recipe Recap:

6-10 corn tortillas
Cooking Spray
Olive Oil
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 can rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans (drained)
1/8 cup canned green chilies
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 small can black olives
1 avocado
Cherry tomatoes
1 lime
1 egg per person

Cut up the tortillas and spray with cooking spray. Cook in 350 degree for 5-10 minutes. Using 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cook the onion and garlic. Add in the rotel, diced tomatoes, black beans, spices and chilies. Cook for about 10 minutes until all of the ingredients are warm. Pour this mixture on top of tortillas and cover with the cheese. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the cheese melts. Finally, top with any garnishes you have, as well as an egg any style.

Hanging Photo Display

2012-03-04T19:55:00.000-06:00

After seeing something similar to this on Pinterest, I had to give it a try! The origional poster offered kits for purchase, but since they were out of stock, I had to take matters into my own hands!

Supplies: 4- 4x4 canvases, 1 long thin piece of wood, modgepodge, ribbon in the color of your choice, strong glue to attach the ribbon to the wood, pictures of your choice cut just smaller than 4x4, 3M strips to attach canvases to the ribbon

Use the ModgePodge to attach the pictures to the canvases.

Use the glue to attach the ribbon to the wood.

Use the 3M strips to attach the dried canvases to the ribbon.

Tie a ribbon to the top.

Make sure to give the glue pleanty of time to dry.

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

2012-03-02T20:32:00.000-06:00

Simple Simple Simple!!

Chop the garlic thin and be careful not the slice through the potato!! Use your knife to cut thin slices into the potato without cutting all of the way through.

Carefully stuff the garlic slices into the potato. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a coarse salt.

Bake at 400 degrees to an hour, until they are roasted all of the way through!

Recipe Recap:
6 potatoes
1 head of garlic sliced thin
Olive Oil
Salt

Wash and cut the potatoes. Thinly slice the garlic and place within the potato slices. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 400 degrees for an hour.

Grandma's Beef Stew (with Dumplings)

2012-03-02T20:21:00.003-06:00

The perfect dinner for a cold, snowy winter night.....Grandma's Beef Stew with Dumplings! Here is my version of my grandmothers beef stew recipe along with my mothers drop dumplings. Whenever I make this my husband eats seconds, thirds, fourths, you get the idea!

This recipe couldn't be more simple. First I gathered the ingredients: carrots, beef stock base, an onion, salt/pepper, oil and some stew meat.

I chopped up the onion and cooked it in a heavy bottom pot until it was translucent.

Then I added the meat (that had been salt and peppered) to the pan and browned it on all sides.

Next I added in the pealed and chopped carrots for a few minutes, just to coat them in the onion and meat mixture.

Finally I added 2 teaspoons of the beef stock base and 4 cups of water. I let this come to a rapid boil for 5 minutes and then covered and cooked the stew on a medium low heat for an hour. At this point, salt and pepper to taste. At the end of the hour I brought the stew back up to a rapid boil to make the dumplings.

To make the dumplings I mixed flour, milk and an egg into a thick dough.

I then poured the dough into the boiling stew, put the lid back on the pot and cooked for 5 more minutes until the dumplings were cooked through.

Recipe Recap:
1 lb stew meat
Carrots (peeled and chopped)
1 medium onion chopped
1 tbsp Beef Stock Base
4 cups water
1 Tsp Vegetable Oil
1 cup flour
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
Salt/Pepper

Cook the onions in a heavy bottom pot. Add the meat to brown. Add in the carrots, water and stock base. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes and then cover and simmer for an hour. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring the stew back to a boil. Mix together the flour, egg and milk and pour into boiling stew. Cover and allow the dumplings to cook.

Filling a Cake: Step by step

2012-02-25T18:41:00.001-06:00

Buy a leveler....they are cheap (!) and it will make the job sooooo much easier!

Fill a piping or ziploc bag with frosting, jam, pudding, or any other filling. Cut a wide opening in the bag.

Put a thick ring of the filling at the edge of the bottom layer.

Continue in circles, filling in the rest of the cake.

Smooth out the filling.

Add the top layer!

Quick and Easy: How to Fill a Piping Bag without making a mess

2012-02-25T18:37:00.002-06:00

Use the tallest glass jar that you have to support the piping bag....then fill!

1st Birthday Cake for a cute birthday boy

2012-02-25T18:33:00.002-06:00

Do you know what a smash cake is? Recently I have been to a lot of 1st birthday parties and one of the new trends is to have a special cake for the birthday boy or girl to "smash" apart and eat.

When my friend asked me to make a jungle themed birthday cake for her son's first birthday, I put together this fun cake and also made a small smash cake for the birthday boy!

The assembly of this cake was easy. The bottom layer was made by stacking two 8 inch rounds. The top layer was made by stacking two 6 inch rounds.I did use dowels in the bottom layer for some extra support since the cakes were so dense. The smash cake was a single 6 inch cake. The filling was chocolate buttercream and the frosting was regular buttercream tinted with wilton gel food coloring.

Easy Garlic Chicken (for Pressure Cooker or Crock Pot)

2012-02-23T08:37:00.001-06:00

This might not be the prettiest recipe, but it was certainly one of the tastiest and easiest!

My mom used to make 40 cloves garlic chicken in a clay baker in the oven, it was delicious! But I don't have a clay baker and I usually don't remember to defrost the chicken far enough in advance to make this for a weeknight meal.

Well, that's the beauty of pressure cooking and cooking in my crock pot.....you can use a whole frozen chicken and it comes out great every time in about an hour from start to finish!

Here is a picture of the ingredients beforehand:

I cut up potatoes, carrots and celery (mostly because this is what I happened to have in the house). I then pealed 1 large head of garlic. All of this was thrown into the bottom of the pressure cooker. (Don't know why I only took a picture of the potatoes and not everything else, sorry!).

Over all of the veggies I poured a cup of water mixed with a tablespoon of chicken stock base and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. I also sprinkled in a teaspoon each of rosemary and thyme. Finally, I placed the frozen chicken on top (JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU BUY A CHICKEN THAT DOES NOT HAVE THE NECK AND ORGANS IN THAT LITTLE BAG ON THE INSIDE, IF YOU THINK THAT THIS MIGHT BE THERE, YOU MUST LET THE CHICKEN DEFROST FIRST AND REMOVE THE BAG BEFORE COOKING!)

Over the top of the chicken I poured a little olive oil and then salt and peppered the bird liberally.

Now, here is the beauty of pressure cooking....I set the pressure cook at its highest setting for 1 hour and then walked away. In that short amount of time, the frozen chicken cooked away and the veggies melted into a yummy, garlicky sauce that was perfect for dipping some crusty bread into.

Like I said....not the prettiest dish ever, but it was sooo good. The chicken comes out perfect every time.

Don't have a pressure cooker. You could do this same thing using your cock pot. Just make sure that your chicken is cooked all of the way through before eating (165 degrees and the juices running clear)!

Recipe Recap:
1 chicken
3 carrots
5 stalks of celery
2 medium potatoes
1 cup water
1 Tbs Chicken Stock Base
3 Tbs Lemon Juice
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper
Crusty Bread for Dipping in the Juices

Throw it all in the pressure cooker or crock pot and cook until the chicken is no longer pink and has reached a safe internal temperature.

Memory Jar 2012

2012-02-22T17:56:00.003-06:00

I have been meaning to work on this project for the last 2 months, ever since I saw it on pinterest. Oh well, better late than never!

I thought that this would be a great way to capture memorable events and happy memories throughout the year. The plan is to jot things down on small pieces of paper and then put them into the jar for the next 12 (ok...I know its almost March....10) months of the year. Then on New Years Eve we will open the jar and read all of the messages.

Hopefully this will be a great way to remember the happiness that we experience throughout 2012!

This jar has been sitting around my house for a long time, in fact I think that my hubby used it to collect change back in college. It has been sitting unused for awhile now. To make the sign for the front I just cut three different pieces of scrap booking paper (2 into squares and 1 into the scalloped shape) using my paper cutter and my Sizzix cutter. Then I attached the metal piece using two brads (this was a remnant from an old Stampin Up set of metal scrap booking pieces). I used a black fine tipped marker to write the year. Finally I added the ribbon of raffia on the jar's lid.

DIY Spring Wreath

2012-02-19T12:13:00.000-06:00

About a month ago, I put together my first DIY wreath for Valentines Day (see that story here). Well, when I was putting away my V-Day decorations this week I decided to try putting together a spring wreath and this is what I ended up with. I bought all of the materials at my local crafting store for about $20 and assembled the whole thing in less than an hour. I ended up deciding to not use the C monogram in the final wreath even though you see it in the first picture. Hope you enjoy!

Since the flowers are just clipped on, I will be able to easily modify this wreath for Easter or other spring holidays in the future!

Chocolate and Raspberry Goodness

2012-02-16T20:56:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I made this yummy and delicious treat (cake?? torte??) to bring with to dinner at our friends home. This deliciousness was inspired by the cover photo on The Best of America's Test Kitchen magazine last month. When I saw it, I knew I had to give it a try!

I'm not much of a baker, I really prefer making savory dishes where I don't have to be as exact with my measurements, but it just looked so darn good that I had to give this a try (adding in a few changes to make it my own!). I think that everyone agreed that it tasted pretty good (in fact both of the guys had seconds!). I think that this is the perfect dessert for a dinner with friends or celebrating Valentines Day!

Here is how I tackled the recipe.....

First I gathered all of my ingredients:

Those are toasted sliced almonds (just put them in a dry pan for a few minutes to toast them up).

Then I melted the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (just a glass bowl set over a pot of boiling water). I did this step first because the chocolate had to cool off before being mixed with the eggs and other ingredients. Also, if you attempt this recipe make sure to use your largest glass bowl for this step, because you will mix the rest of your ingredients into this bowl towards the end of the recipe. When the mixture was melted, it was smooth and glossy.

While this mixture was cooling off I cut parchment paper for the bottom of my cake pans:

Do you know the little trick that you can use to make perfect rounds? Just fold the paper in half and then in half again (it should be a square). Then fold the two loose edges of the square together to make a triangle and fold a second time to make a smaller triangle. Then trim the end of the triangle until you have the right size circles for your pan.

After setting aside some of the almonds for decorating the cake, I put the rest of the almonds into the food processor and ground them into a fine powder.

I then mixed in the rest of the dry ingredients (flour and salt) in a small bowl. I took a picture of the unprocessed almonds next to the almond-flour mixture so that you could see the difference in consistency.

Next, I whipped the eggs in the same food processor bowl (don't worry about cleaning it out, if a few bits of almond get left behind in the bowl, it won't matter!). To the egg mixture I added in the sugar until the two were mixed together well.

Around this time, the chocolate mixture was cool (it had been off the heat about 25 minutes), and I added in a small amount of espresso powder and some vanilla. Then I mixed in the egg mixture and finally, I mixed in the almond mixture. The resulting batter was pretty thin and had a course texture from the ground almonds.

I split the batter between the two cake pans and baked them for 15 minutes at 325.

When the cakes came out of the oven, they looked dry and a toothpick came out cleanly. I let the cakes cool for about 90 minutes and then removed them from the pan.

When the cakes were cooled, I made a filling by mixing some raspberry jam and fresh berries. I also melted some additional chocolate, cream and sugar in the double boiler to make a coating for the top of the cake.

I finished off by filling the cake, pouring the glaze on top and decorating with the extra almonds and some berries.

Ymm......let me just take a moment here......

........

As I said, I don't typically make a lot of desserts, and this was a big undertaking, but well worth the time that it took!

Recipe Recap:

Batter

8 oz bakers chocolate

12 Tbs butter

3/4 cup toasted almonds processed fine

1/4 cup flour

pinch salt

5 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp espresso powder (if you don't want to purchase this item since you only need a little bit, you can skip it, but chocolate desserts usually taste more chocolaty when you add some coffee flavor in the background)

Filling:

1/2 cup jam

1 cup berries

Decorations

1 cup toasted almonds

Whole Berries

Glaze

5 oz bakers chocolate

1/2 heavy cream

2 tsp sugar

Melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler. Process the almonds into a fine powder, mixing in the flour and salt. Whip the eggs in the food processor and then add in the sugar. Mix the cooled chocolate mixture with the vanilla and espresso powder. Then mix in the egg and almond mixtures. Divide the batter into two 8 inch bake pans and bake for 15 minutes at 325 degrees Fill the cake with the jam and berry mixture. Melt the glaze ingredients in the double boiler and pour over the cake. Decorate!

Spaetzle from Scratch

2012-02-15T20:44:00.000-06:00

Everyone has had spaetzle as a side dish at a German restaurant, but it always seemed to me that it was something that I could not make at home (which if funny considering my very German family). I had purchased boxed of dried spaetzle at the grocery store, but they weren't as good and they were pretty expensive.

So a few years ago I started asking my mother and grandmother how I could make spaetzle at home. They told me about my great aunt and memories of her making spaetzle from scratch. After doing a little more research online (and ordering one of these) I found a quick and easy way to make spaetzle at home.

Here is what you have to do:

First you will need to make the dough. Mix 1 cup of flour, a pinch of salt and some pepper in a large bowl.

Then add in 2 eggs and 1/4 cup of milk and mix together everything with a fork.

When the dough comes together add a dash of nutmeg to the top of the mixture. Combine thoroughly and let the dough sit in your fridge for about an hour.

At this point, you need to extrude the dough that you have made into hot water so it can cook. You can use anything that has lots of little holes in it, like a colander or ricer. I decided to purchase a spaetzle maker because I love kitchen gadgets. But if you are short on space or don't want to invest the money, the colander or ricer would do just fine. This is what my spaetzle looks like, see how it sits right on the pot......love it....did I mention that I love kitchen gadgets.....

This part is simple; using a spatula, push the dough through into the boiling water.

Once all of the dough has been pushed through to the water, let the spaetlze boil for 3-4 minutes, until they are all floating.

Drain the pasta and melt some butter into the same pot.

Put the spaetzle back into pot and cook with the butter until the noodles are golden brown. Add in any herbs that compliment the rest of the meal. Here I added in parsley and basil.

Recap of the Recipe:
1 cup flour
pinch of salt and pepper
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
dash of nutmeg
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp parsley or basil (or a combination)

Valentines Dinner at Home: Orzo with Grilled Asparagus

2012-02-11T11:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday it was snowing (finally!) and although my hubby and I had plans to go out for an early Valentine's Day dinner we decided to stay in and enjoy a cozy winter evening at home. This winter hasn't been much of a winter and it was actually a welcome surprise to have a night where all we wanted to do was hole up on the couch and watch movies.

We were both in the mood for steak, but were too hungry to wait for potatoes to bake, so I decided to make a pasta salad using the asparagus I found at the store today.

Here are the ingredients that I used in the pasta salad:

Sun-dried tomatoes, orzo, oil olive, balsamic vinegar (not shown), feta, garlic (not shown), basil (not shown), asparagus and an onion. Sorry for missing so many of the ingredients, but that's what happens when I decide to add things in along the way :)

I started by boiling some salted water and adding the orzo (this took about 9 minutes to cook). While the water was heating up, I chopped up the onion and garlic and cooked them over medium heat.

While that was cooking I chopped up the asparagus and tomatoes.

Once the onions were cooked, I added the asparagus to the pan along with a few generous drizzles of balsamic. I left this cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes so that the balsamic could reduce and get all syrupy. It looked something like this:

When the pasta was done, I drained and rinsed it under cold water.

Then I threw the orzo, asparagus mixture, tomatoes and cheese into a big bowl and drizzled it all with olive oil.

I finished up by tossing everything together and adding some basil, salt and pepper until it tasted right.

Served alongside the steak that my hubby had been preparing, this made for a perfect cozy valentines dinner night in!

Recipe Recap:
8 oz orzo
3 oz sun-dried tomatoes
5 oz feta cheese

1 bunch asparagus cleaned and chopped

1 medium onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup balsamic

1/4 olive oil

2 tablespoons basil

salt and pepper

Cook the pasta. In the meantime, cook the onion and garlic over medium heat until translucent. Add the chopped asparagus and balsamic to the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the balsamic reduces and becomes syrupy. Drain and rinse the pasta in cold water. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Throw the pasta, asparagus mixture, cheese and tomatoes into a large bowl. Mix with the olive oil, basil, salt and pepper. Serve.

Creative Ways to use up Leftovers

2012-02-10T19:32:00.002-06:00

Looking inside my fridge on Tuesday, I realized that I had a lot of Superbowl leftovers. Most of a veggie tray, half a jar of pasta sauce, pepperoni slices and half block of cheese. I hate wasting food, so I decided to figure out a way to use all of this.

The simple first fix was to roast the veggies in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. I just drizzled olive oil over the veggies and tossed on some salt.

Since the rest of the ingredients had me halfway to pepperoni pizza I decided to pull out some chicken tenders and bread crumbs and make some Pizza Chicken Roll Ups.

To start I pounded out the chicken tenders and rolled pepperoni and mozzarella into each one.

I rolled each one in bread crumbs, egg wash (one egg and a little water) and then back in the bread crumbs.

The rolls went into a baking dish:

and then I topped the rolls with the rest of the cheese and the pasta sauce.

These went into the 350 degree oven for 35 minutes alongside the carrots. When they came out, they looked like this:

Served with the carrots, this made a pretty tasty dinner and used up the rest of the Superbowl leftovers!

Recap of Recipe:
1/2 block of mozzarella, shredded
6 chicken tenders
1/2 jar of pasta sauce
24 slices of pepperoni
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
Leftover veggies
Salt/Olive oil

Pound out the chicken and roll with pepperoni and cheese. Roll in bread crumbs and egg wash, top with more cheese and pasta sauce. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. At the same time, toss the veggies in oil and salt and cook for 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Pizza Pull Apart Bread

2012-02-08T18:11:00.000-06:00

This is actually a recipe from my sister. She made it for Superbowl and it was yummy!

This recipe is really more of a method to make a yummy stuffed pull apart bread, and you could change it up by using different types of cheese, meat and other filling.

To start she defrosted 3 loaves of frozen bread dough overnight in a Ziploc bag. This gave the dough a chance to rise. She tore the dough into small pieces (a little smaller than the palm of her hand and placed a small piece of mozzarella cheese and a slice of pepperoni inside the dough.

She repeated this step until she ran out dough. She ended up using a block and a half of cheese and about half of a package of pepperoni.

In a small bowl, she melted a stick of butter with 2 tablespoons of garlic powder. She use this mixture to coat the bottom of a bundt pan and then started stacking the balls of dough into the pan, coating each ball in the butter mixture (I said it was yummy....I didn't say it was healthy!).

After placing all of the dough balls into the pan, she baked the entire thing at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. After taking it out of the oven, she let it cool for about 10 minutes and then served it with some pasta sauce for dipping.

As you can see, the bread did get rather dark. It tasted perfect, but I think that next time I would lower the over temperature to 350 and bake for a little longer.

Here is the overview (remember you could swap out any/all of the fillings below for something that you already have in the house to make a fun new combination):

3 loaves of frozen bread dough (or use dough made from scratch)

2 blocks of Mozzarella cheese cut into small cubes

Pepperoni Slices

1 stick butter

2 tablespoons garlic powder

Pasta sauce

Wrap the cheese and pepperoni into small balls of dough. Coat the dough in the butter and garlic mixture and bake in a bundt pan for 35-45 minutes at 350. Serve with pasta sauce for dipping.