Saturday, April 30, 2011

What you should know about making Tea

I love Iced Tea in the summer.  And I love it with some sugar and fresh squeezed lemons.  Since the weather in IL has been rainy for the last month I haven't been able to make sun tea.  So instead I heat up water for tea in my cheery red tea kettle. I like having the tea bags in the kettle while it boils so I get every last drop o' tea out of the tea bag.  Frugal yes....smart....well I thought so, until this happened.  
While cooking a lovely dinner I asked Sweet Husband, "Do you smell that?  Does it smell like something is burning?"  Sweet Husband sniffed the air and agreed something was burning.  I checked the oven.  Negative.  I checked the pasta I was boiling.  Negative.  Then I looked at the tea kettle....the papers on the tea bag were on fire.  Sweet Husband came to the rescue and put out the fire for me.  Lesson Learned:  keep a shorter string on the tea bags. 

Jake's Bed - Made with Love

As Sweet Husband and I were perusing the aisles at Pet's Smart we realized that dog beds are incredibly overpriced.  As I looked at the pillows my domestic side kicked into full gear and out flowed from my mouth, "You know honey, I bet I can make Jake a pillow just like that."  And so, that is what I did.  I made our silly boy Jake a huge dog pillow!!!  In the store the large pillows were priced starting at $80.00 - which is a bit ridiculous.  I was able to make this pillow for $39.00.  My fabric ranged from $5 a yard for the Navy and White and $9 a yard for the Navy Canvas.  I got 2 yards of each, heavy duty needles, thread for denim (it is really strong) and I also bought 3 bags of stuffing.  This bed is for a dog that is about 70 lbs and 3 feet long. 
Material - Navy and White stripes and the bottom is Navy canvas
Sewing the sides together! 

Stuffing

Fill er' up

FILLED! 

Jake approved =)

Jake's Crate

Sweet Husband and I now have a dog!!!!!!!  Big smiles and squeals!!!!!!!  Our dog's name is Jake and he is the sweetest sweetie ever!  Sweet Husband and I put the dog crate together the other night.  Here is our teamwork =)  

Sweet Husband is super sexy when he is hard at work  =)  

Here is the massive crate  =) 

Tortilla Soup

Last week I made Tortilla Soup.  Sweet Husband said it best "Honey, this is amazing."   =)  I recommend you make this recipe for the sweet man in your life....

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Improvisation - a key ingredient for cooking

I was inspired by Kara to make yummy BLT's for dinner tonight - with Duke's Mayonnaise - thank you Kara for bringing this to my attention!  Let me just say that Duke's Mayonnaise really tastes different than any other mayo I have had - so you should get some. 

We started off cooking turkey bacon.  I was looking for our tongs and realized we didn't have them anymore - who knows where they ended up.  A friend of mine as some tiny bamboo tongs that she uses when she cooks bacon, so I looked around my kitchen for something similar - and this is what I found: 

A wood close pin  =) It worked perfectly!

I cut up some tomatoes, fruit, and pulled out Duke's Mayonnaise.......
Yum....dinner.....

A Lovely Day

I spent the afternoon with Laura sipping on tea while I learned how to make a yummy Mediterranean meal for Sweet Husband and I.  Laura talked about ways we can make dinner beautiful - not just putting a good meal on the table but how you can make it look really beautiful with garnishes and pretty dishes - and fresh flowers! My mom and dad always made yummy meals and made them look beautiful too.  Dinner was always a wonderful time for my family to get together and just talk and enjoy one another and some yummy food.  

When I got home that night I put some fresh cut strawberries and apples on a pretty plate so Sweet Husband would have a healthy snack when he got home from a 14 hour work day.  I don't really do appetizers because I am trying to finish the main course up.  But I like to have something for Sweet Husband to eat as dinner finishes up.  So Laura suggested fresh fruit and veggies as an appetizer.  She said you might have fruit and veggies in the fridge but it takes time to cut them up - if you already have them sliced and laid out nice on a plate you can just dig right in until diner is ready =)


This was our dinner table - Water with clementine slices and a garnish for the glasses (Sweet Husband's glass is missing because he was drinking out of it!) Lilacs on the table and then in the middle I had the fruit.  I also put the flowers that Laura gave me from her garden on our ottoman in the living room - I just love fresh flowers! 

On the Menu:
Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Chicken Breasts, Salt/Pepper, Olive Oil, 
Lemon Pepper, Lemon Juice, Fresh Rosemary
Bake for about 40 min on 400 degrees

Tabbouleh 
See Recipe Below
This is DELISH you will want to make this!!
2 ¾ c. water

1 1/2 C. bulgar (cracked wheat) or couscous (we used couscous)

½ tsp. salt


Bring water to boil and put in the grain.  Turn off heat, cover and let sit on burner for 10 min until liquid is absorbed.  Cool and place in large bowl.

Add to grain in large bowl: 
1 medium cucumber, diced
3 medium green onions, coarsely chopped
1 - 2 (15 oz) cans of kidney beans, rinsed, drained (You can make this without beans if you choose)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup chopped parsley
½ cup chopped basil
¼ - 1/3 C. fresh dill, finely chopped, (or 1 tsp. dried dill weed)
1/3 - ½ cup lemon juice (2 – 3 lemons)
¼ cup olive oil, (start with less and add more as needed)
freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped, (add just before serving so that tomatoes stay fresh)

Chill in fridge for a few hours and let herbs meld together for most flavor.


 

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Worst Dinner - to date

I came up with a snazzy little recipe for Baked Ginger Lemon Chicken:
  • Chicken Breast
  • 2 Inches Ginger
  • Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon
  • Olive Oil
  • Bake at 400
I let the chicken marinate all day and then baked it.  The chicken wasn't dry, but it was as bland as a room without some hot pink.  Dinner ended up in the trash - there was no reviving it.  Sweet Husband was, well, very sweet.  He hugged me as I was near tears and said, "Babe, it's OK, you worked really hard and I am really thankful for your hard work."   

Sweet Husband always makes me feel good even when dinner is an epic failure - he has had a lot of practice encouraging me through many less than delish meals!  =)  So instead for dinner we had PB and J with veggies. 



First round of Try Outs

Here are some new recipes I will be trying out - I will keep you posted on how they go! 
PS - many of the recipes call for heavy cream -you can substitute non-flavored coffee creamer or you can also use Silk creamer.  That is what I will be using =)


Chicken Tortilla Soup





Vote Yes for Pig Cake

I just love The Pioneer Woman's Blog.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your dedication to snapping photos every step of the way to show me exactly what ingredients I need and what to do with them! OK, back to the Pig Cake - I got the recipe for Pig Cake from The Pioneer Woman's Blog.   I am going to love this cake! You are going to love this cake!!!   

I say we make it this weekend =)

Monday, April 11, 2011

Homemade Pizza

On The Menu Tonight - Homemade Pizza!

I am not certain how this will turn out.  I cooked the dough but it tastes a little bitter, hopefully the sauce will help cover that up  =/  Here is the dough ball: 


Baking the dough

Sweet Husband will be home soon - I can't wait to serve him homemade pizza for the first time!!

Project: Storm Windows

 My sweet husband and I spotted two of these storm windows for trash pick up outside a gorgeous home in Edwardsville.  We double checked with the owner that the windows were intended to be 'trash' (although our treasure).  We loaded them up in the truck and headed home! Sweet Husband is going to show me how to clean them up and hinge them together to create a screen  =) 
I will put up a new post when they are done!


Here is the finished project!!!  We have it in the corner by our couch.  I have Christmas decorations on it - cinnamon scented pine cones =) 

Sunday, April 10, 2011

10 Reasons to L-O-V-E- Aldi's

1.  Pina Colada fruit bars - cool and refreshing for summer
2.  Yummy Guacamole in individual packets - In a rush? Just pop some in a pretty dish and it looks like you sliced and smashed your own homemade guac! 
3. Shopping at Aldi cuts your grocery bill in half....seriously. 
4. The cart system - Attention all Grocery Stores:  You should use the Quarter Cart System - put in your quarter, take a cart, shop till you drop, fill up your car, return your cart, get your quarter back.  Genius.
5. Older folks tend to shop at Aldi - and lets face it older married couples are the sweetest thing  =) 
6. Spinach is .99 a bag!
7. Juicy pears and pineapples!
8. The hodgepodge of kitchen, home, office, outdoor, and camping equipment that you can find at the end of this one aisle.
9. Delish take and bake pizza in the deli section
10. There is no choice for paper or plastic - so be Green and bring your reusable bags

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Gettin' my Domestic On - Chicken Lemon Soup

Alright, tonight is a serious test of my cooking abilities.  I am making Chicken Lemon Soup.  This soup takes 12 hours to make and requires 4 inches of ginger of which I have no clue what to do with the 4 inches of ginger.  However, this recipe brings a lot of excitement as I needed to buy some additional cooking tools.  The first is a lemon zester - the name alone is awesome so I am excited to see what some zest can do for my cooking.  The second tool is a lemon squeezer thing that gets the juice out of the lemons without letting seeds get into the soup.  My sweet husband said, "I bet you could just use your pretty hands for that" to which I replied, "I am pretty sure I could just use my hands, but I can't resist the chefy feeling I get when I hold that shiny, yellow lemon squeezer thing!"  He smiled - I love this.  

And now it begins - my domestic is on and we are cookin some Chicken Lemon Soup =)  I will keep you posted....

Here are all the yummies cooking up together - this is my first time cooking with ginger...it smells delish  =) 


 My handy dandy yellow lemon squeezer thingy  =) It squeezes the lemons and also gives your arms a nice work out - as if we really needed it though  =)




Deceiving Snow Peas

Last night I dusted off the rice cooker and made some yummy Chinese stir fry.  A tip about rice cookers - if you have not purchased one you should!  When you buy one make sure it has a veggie steamer tray on top - this makes dinner a cinch.  I cooked up some rice and steamed the veggies as it all was cooking.   I plated our dinner and was excited to see my husband's reaction.......I was pretty certain that this would be a hit! Little did I know that snow peas need to be popped out of the hard, bitter covering before you eat them.  Next time, I will know.