Dec 31, 2010

Cleanin' out the kitchen

We have now moved into November, the month that starts the seasonal over indulgence. The pantry was starting to overflow, so turkey chili with lots of beans was a must:

There were 2 carrots leftover from when Mike made lobster bisque and some onions from who knows how long ago.
Besides soup, all I could think of was a roast, so chuck roast it was. Considering I really haven't used chuck roast before, I did a pretty good job.

Mike had a work party and asked me to make something for it. After searching through my cookbooks I settled on this:
In the Better Homes and Gardens magazine these are called Spinach and Feta Phyllo Triangles but after research I found out these are called Spanakopita. They took some time to make, but they were really good! Everyone was surprised I made it. I was surprised too.

Cleaning out the freezer, I found lots of fish. We still had some that Mike had caught as well as some that my neighbor gave me.
If I recall correctly, the fish on the left is jack and the fish on the right is whiting. And the side is spinach and mushroom risotto (not homemade, from a box). Everything was very good.

We finally got some lemons from the tree Mike got last year, yay!
I haven't really made anything exciting from them yet. I know, sad.

Still in the theme of cleaning out the kitchen, we had 4 frozen turkey burgers left and no buns. So what did I make, poppy seed buns (because I had no sesame seeds!):
 My finished burger with fresh tomato:
Turkey burgers are always pretty bland, but these buns really helped liven things up!

Bone-in, chicken leg quarters have been the cheapest chicken (besides a whole chicken)  you can buy at Aldi. Unfortunately I haven't found too many recipes using chicken leg quarters that I like or have time to make. My old stand by : roast chicken legs (with garlic, lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper):
Simple and easy.

Half a bag of frozen corn as been staring at me from the freezer door for quite some time.
I am still not good at pairing dishes, so just breaded, pan fried, thin cut pork chops to go with it.

And finally, for today, my pretty dish. My friend had a holiday party and I had to work all day so the easiest, fanciest thing I could think of (and since I had stocked up on puff pastry dough from Adi....3 boxes in the freezer to be exact) was brie wrapped in puff pastry dough with a little poinsettia on top:
It was soooo good! Next time I do want to try topping the brie with something before I wrap and bake it.

Your overload for today is done. I hope everyone has a wonderful new year and until next time, please enjoy this photo of my babies (because I am in Ohio without them and I miss them):

Dec 30, 2010

Back in the sadle again

A quick up date for those that I have left sadly hanging for the past few months.... I ran a half marathon (yes 13.1 miles after never really being a runner before) back in November with my Dad. At the end of November, I switched jobs. I now work at a private veterinary clinic closer to my home than where I was working before. Mike and I are also working on a mini renovation of the house involving new flooring in one of the rooms and lot of new stuff from Ikea! I am currently on "vacation" in Ohio which is where this blog all began. Instead of bombarding you will a super huge post, I think spreading the various curiosities over the next few days might be good for everyone involved.

Lets go back to October....now I really can't remember what recipes I used or what else the dinner/meal was that went with it, but I will try my best! 

This was my three legged chicken. I pulled it out to wash it and was like "What is wrong with this thing? Something is wrong" and for some reason it took me 5 minutes to figure out that it was missing one of the front legs! Ha ha. I felt so stupid that it took me so long. Anyway, this was just a roasted chicken, nothing new.

I got a great deal on pork chops at, where else, Aldis sometime back in October. Thus, a pork chop dinner:
 Pan-seared pork cops with sauteed onions and corn. Simple and delicious.

Remember that roast chicken from like 2 seconds ago? Well of course we had leftovers so I made chicken tacos later in the week:
That avocado looks so yummy! I want some now :(

At the very end of October I came home from a 12 hour day at work to a wonderful surprise:
 While I was at work, Mike went to the store and got a brand new table cloth and some lovely glass votives, but the real surprise was that he made homemade lobster bisque and sangria for me! (no he did not make the bread, but he would of if he had time). He was all dressed up in his suit, looking as handsome as ever. It was a wonderful meal and of course we finished every bite:


One thing that I have made a lot in the past year but have never taken pictures of before are my homemade granola bars. I know this picture sucks but I almost forgot to take one again:

At some point in time, I made cookies. I really don't remember what kind or what they were for. They were probably chocolate chip, but you can decide:

And lastly, for today, our new kitchen appliance:
A Belgium waffle maker from, of course, Aldi. And it makes wonderful waffles:


That's your overload for today. Enjoy. Until tomorrow, please enjoy this photo of Mike and I from Halloween this year. He was Rodger Sterling and I was Joan Holloway from Mad Men: