Just another Sunday night

Finally, I have accumulated enough photos for a blog (well I guess I could have done multiple posts but I was lazy).

My days off now are Wednesday and Sunday, so that puts a slight limit on how complicated or long my recipes can be. I sorta feel like I am outta practice! But 2 Friday's ago, after arriving home from work, Mike and I decided to head to WalMart to pick up a few essentials. Having no dinner plans and not wanting to spend money on going out, I browsed their food section and found day old Cubano bread. Cuban sandwiches tonight! Now granted they were not like my Grandma made them (rest her soul), but they had the basics all Cuban sandwiches should have:

I do not have a flat press, so I had to use my indoor grill (what do you call those things? They look like George Foreman grills, but they are a different brand). They were so good!! I didn't realize how much the bread makes the sandwich. I have had "Cuban" sandwiches in the past that didn't use Cubano bread and they pale in comparison. Next time I will make them just like Grandma did.

6 cans of pumpkin fill my cupboards and I was trying to use them in ways that weren't pumpkin pies. I found this recipe and decided to try it:

Sorry the picture is blurry. It was quite good and an interesting take on coffee cake. To top the whole pumpkin day off I made pumpkin spice lattes in the slow cooker (sorry the pictures of it did not come out very good). I am still apprehensive about trying a recipe with pumpkin that isn't sweet, but I need to since I still have 5 cans left!

With all these decadent foods I need to be running (well I am, I am training for another half marathon). While Mike and I were out running one night we were talking about chocolate chips cookies his mother used to make paired with ice cream. All the talking about cookies made us hungry so when we got home I started the ice cream maker (sorry, no pictures) and made some chocolate/butterscotch/white chocolate chip cookies:

They were so-so. I am still not used to butterscotch chips in cookies, maybe I need to try them in a different cookie recipe.

Like I have said before, chicken leg quarters are really cheap at Aldi. So after removing the skin from some pieces, I decided to make chicken and dumplings from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook:

Oh, it was so good! Homemade gravy and homemade dumplings, so delicious! And I made it lower calorie than what the original recipe called for, so seconds aren't too bad for you.

While I was at the grocery store I thought to myself "We haven't had homemade pizza in a while". So I picked up some fresh tomatoes and some mushrooms. I even made dough with yeast it in (unlike my yeast- free, quick dough) and then I realized, I forgot to buy mozzarella at Aldi. Fudge! Here's what happened:

My half had no cheese, but Mike decided to take what was left of the Havarti cheese in the fridge and covered his half in it. It was still pretty decent without the cheese, but next time I won't forget!

After working a open to close shift on Thursday, I came home to Mike making dinner:

I had purchased potatoes, celery, and carrots at the store the day before, so Mike wanted a bisque of some sort. He make potato bisque with chicken. It was really good! He thinks I didn't like it since I added a little Molly McButter to mine to add a little more butter flavor, but I really did. And I am always happy when he makes dinner!

Tonight's dinner was nothing fancy. I just mixed some steamer clams I got at Aldis with some vermicelli, but it looked pretty with the clam shells:

The lime garlic sauce the clams came in was really good too! And believe it or not, the sauce (per the package label) only had lime juice, garlic, corn starch, salt and spices in it. Not too bad.

Until next time, please enjoy this photo of one of my babies Charlie wearing all the "booty" we got at Gasparilla yesterday:

Full time

I have only been back in Florida for 6 days and only worked 3, but I have already worked 40 hours! I don't know how I am going to make time write my blog, let alone train for my half marathon coming up in less than 2 months! But I digress....

The first night I was home it was just simple pot-stickers:

Not homemade, just made at home. I just wanted to show off my pretty plates and napkins :)

Sunday morning is waffle morning, but I thought I would be cool and throw some fruit into the mix:

Why am I taking full tablescapes now? Well we got a new table from Ikea. It is smaller than our old table, but it has neat hidden leaves. Plus it gives us more room in the kitchen and we actually sit down for meals now since it's no longer our desk (we got little fold out desks for the walls in the back room). Just maximizing our space!

The one night this week I got out semi on time I was able to make some pork shoulder steak tacos:

I got the idea from this recipe, used what I had in the cupboard, and a paired it with homemade cilantro lime rice and warmed, corn tortillas. Delicious! The one thing it was missing was some dairy, either sour cream or shredded cheese would have been nice, but we need to crack down on our budget again so I used what we had on hand!

I enjoy following some crafting websites (as you might have noticed from my Blog roll). After enjoying Craft Fail, I decided I would share my one Christmas present this year I would consider a craft fail. I had a pattern for how to spruce up dish/hand towels. To start, I did not have any towels to spruce up, so I had to make my own out of scrap terry cloth I had on hand. Reading the instructions also proved to be to challenging for me....granted it was Christmas morning and I had to have the present ready to take to my Grandma's by lunch time. Here is my first towel:

Note the bad stitching and the un-matched ends. After doing it wrong once, I got it right the second time:

By this time, I was so frustrated that I just decided to give my Aunt both towels (like the original plan) and just apologized for my crappy work. I guess she still loves me :)

Until next time.....well I got nothing for ya......sorry.....my bad.

Renovations

Not only are we renovating the house, but it's the new year and it's time to renovate my new years resolutions. Like everyone on the planet, of course I want to get in shape and eat healthier. I am pretty much forced to because I am running another half marathon and I don't want to die! But one resolution I never think of is to strengthen all of the meaningful relationships in my life. If losing my Grandma has taught me one thing, it's to cherish the things that you love. And the side resolutions that aren't as important revolve around making more homemade goods (food and presents alike) and sticking with my budget (since obtaining a job I have let it get a little out of control!).

Our back room (the guest, reptile, junk, workout room) was covered in carpet when we moved in. Now carpet isn't so bad except for the fact that I think the carpet was 20 years old and the only way to the backyard was through the back room. The issue was a lot of mold building up under carpet between the concrete and the degrading carpet padding. The carpet was also off white and the area near the back entrance was starting to look a little brown. After much research, Mike decided on natural slate tile. My Aunt and Mike hard at work:

The floor is now finished, but the room finishing touches (fixing and painting the moldings, painting the walls, and fixing the thresholds) are not done yet. It will all look amazing once everything is cleaned up and put back together. More to come in the future....

Even with my hectic schedule from switching jobs I managed (barely) to make some Christmas presents. Granted, everyone got the same things, but they were each different. The gathered clutch:

I got the pattern from Noodlehead's blog site. Only 2 of the 6 I made had this inside pocket style, the other 4 just had a single credit card pocket.

And the final four:

Yes, two were the same pattern, but I liked that style a lot (plus I had a lot of the fabric). They weren't very complicated, they just took a little while since it was a lot of small pieces. Hopefully they people who got them will use them at least once!

No food today, sorry :(  Until next time, please enjoy this photo of Pineapple I took with my new camera (yes, after 6 years I finally got a new digital camera!):

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):

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:

Catch of Yesterday

Yes, I know. I skipped a baking Sunday. Shame on me. Come to think of it, what was I doing last Sunday? Uh, I think I slept most of the day :) Oh well. Let's back it up to Sept. 29th. A dish you have seen many times before, but never gets old. Whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce and fresh basil, courtesy of Mike:

Do I really need to describe this dish again to you? It's pretty self explanatory.

Last Monday we finally used up the last of the fish we had in the freezer (only for me to be summoned next door by my neighbor who gave me a bag of frozen tilapia as well as a bunch of other food). Another night of Mike cooking. He grilled up the swai along with some potato fries:

We had never done potato fries on the grill before and I have to say I am quite impressed. They had the nice smokiness of the grill that went really well with the fish (which I now forgot what Mike cooked it in).

2 days later it was finally my turn to make dinner. I opted for something really easy since I was meeting my friend later that evening. This is what I came up with:

Sauteed onions and italian sausage with white rice. Mike very much enjoyed it. The onions were really good, but I haven't been a real big fan of sausage. I think it has alot to do with spending part of my childhood in Bucyrus, OH, the bratwurst capital of the US. Since then I have to really be in the mood for sausage to actually enjoy in.

I did actually do some baking this past Sunday while Mike spent the day fishing. I made ranger cookies from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook:

They have oatmeal, raisins, and coconut in them. They are actually a little too sweet for my liking and I think that's because I used sweetened coconut. Oh well. At least they are edible.

After his finishing adventures yesterday, Mike returned with some flounder, grouper, and red snapper. We did not cook any yesterday since I had plans in the evening, but we made up for it tonight. We used the crispy flounder fillets recipe from the fish cookbook Mike got for me. I prepared everything, and Mike cooked it. Pineapple was all about the free smells:

We made quite a bit, but we wanted to use the flounder while it was still fresh. Paired with some steamed broccoli, and dinner is served:

The flounder was so good. It just melted in your mouth and it wasn't fishy at all. I think I am sending Mike out again this weekend to catch some more.

Something else I have been meaning to share. My mother's birthday was a few weeks ago and I made her a very late birthday present, but I was waiting to share it until she got it so I wouldn't ruin the surprise.

I made potholders :)  She seemed to like them, so I am glad I made them.

Until next time, please enjoy this photo of  me from back in 2007 when Mike and I took a spring break vacation down to Florida to visit my Aunts. This is when I used to dye my hair black and when I was very impressed with my lizard catching skills: