BLT Pasta Salad

I found this recipe in the Woman’s Day Magazine. I knew that it would be a hit in our house because I love tomatoes and onion and B loves bacon and noodles! Win…win…



The recipe:
Found Here

Ingredients

• 12 oz small rigatoni or other short pasta

• 1/2 lb sliced bacon (about 9 slices)

• 1 medium red onion, sliced

• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 bunch arugula, thick stems discarded, torn into pieces

Recipe Preparation

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain and return it to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a paper towel–lined plate. Break into pieces.

3. Discard all but 2 Tbsp of the drippings and return the skillet to medium heat. Add the onion, season with 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes and arugula and cook, tossing, for 1 minute.


4. Toss the onion-tomato mixture with the pasta and fold in the bacon. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare the recipe without the bacon (substitute 2 Tbsp oil for the drippings) and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Before serving, bring the pasta to room temperature. Cook the bacon, break into pieces and fold it into the pasta.

I added Goat Cheese and it was DELICIOUS

YUM

relaxing and fun in the sun

The past few days have been great. My youngest sister is here for the week and I have two days off work! WOO.

I have details on my activities since Annie has been here, but for now I am going to continue realaxing and enjoying my time away from the office.

Sitting in the sunshine with a glass of this yummy summer drink that I love right now...

a minty twist on an Arnold Palmer
half lemonade
half iced tea
mint leaves

we made the tea, sun tea style and then before adding the ice and liquid, we mashed up the mint leaves in the bottom of the glass... add ice and pour half tea, half lemonade... enjoy!

mexican monday at our house

I made chicken enchiladas and a yummy black bean dip for dinner ! YUMM.... not sure how healthy this was because both use a lot of Sour Cream and Cheese!

The Dip was sent to me by a fellow blog friend and she found it on this blog... The Farmer Family

Ingredients:


3/4 package of taco seasoning
1 can of black beans
8 ounces sour cream
4 ounces of cream cheese
1 lime
1 can of rotel
1/2 bunch or cilantro

Place cream cheese, sour cream, cilantro, taco seasoning, half of the black beans and half of the Rotel in a food processor or blender and pulse a few times. Don't blend too much, you just want to mix all the ingredients while keeping the mixture chunky.After you have mixed it in the food processor transfer the dip into a mixing bowl add the remaining half of black beans, Rotel and fresh squeezed lime juice and mix to incorporate.



The Enchiladas I found here

I used a Rotisserie chicken from the grocey! Best thing ever because it is pre made and delicious! Pull the meat off the bones and shred! Then follow recipe as directed

Top with Salsa and enjoy!



- sorry for lack of photos...-

Summer Preview

Last week it was like the month of July had arrived! We managed to survive the 85 degree weather by not turning the AC on and sitting outside with cold beverages and delicious meals.

I got to enter this preview of summer with my favorite combination: Tomato Mozzarella Salad

YUM!

Fresh Tomatoes
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Fresh Basil
Balsamic Vinegar drizzled on top!!!

Cheers to summer!

Y.U.M

Asian Cabbage Salad
4 1/2 ounces of rice stick noodles
4 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons chopped peeled ginger
1 1/4 teaspoons hot chili paste
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 cups shredded napa cabbage
1 cup red bell pepper (optional)
1/2 cup thinkly sliced red onmion (optional)

Prep:
Cook noodles in a small pot of boiling water until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain.  Cut noodles and run under cold water.

Puree next 7 ingredients on list in blender. With maching running gradually add oil and blend until dressing is smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Combine the rest of the ingredients and toss dressing to coat.


Not only is this recipe delicious it is great because it can be altered. I was craving it this week, but did not have all the ingredients in the house, I used spaghetti noodles instead of the rice noodle, I added carrots with the cabbage... I used more peanut butter and less soy... still all delicious!

This is a great side dish for warm nights!

kefir- and I am not talking about that Sutherland guy

 KEFIR.... have you heard of it?

A few weeks ago I attended a class on Yogurt/Butter making and also Kefir. The class was hosted by Snowville Creamery, the main reason that I went. I love butter and yogurt, so altogether, the class made sense.
The missing link was the education on Kefir, something I had never heard of.

Here is a brief about Kefir
Kefir is an ancient natural tart, yogurt-like beverage made from fermented milk.

One of the richest sources of probiotics, kefir is prepared and made from kefir grains. It takes more than 24 hours to make kefir from kefir grains. Then the grains have to be strained out before drinking the kefir. The strained out grains can then be used to make new kefir.


You can learn more here, here and here.



Here is a picture of the drained kefir.... this is early on so the grains are very small....

Then I added whole milk and I let it grow....

 

I am letting it ferment for 48 hours before I drain and drink it. Then I add more milk and let it ferment 48 more hours. It is on its third round at my home!

I did not drink the first batch.

I drank my first Kefir Smoothie this week (from batch #2)! I mixed the Kefir liquid with strawberries and bananas and then added some ice- BLEND and Drink! It was delicious.

I was a little scared of drinking the Kefir, I don't even like Milk! But, it just tastes like liquid plain yogurt!

On the days that I do not have the Kefir Smoothie for breakfast, I eat Plain Yogurt with Fruit and Granola! YUM...

shrimp n grits

In September, B and I traveled to Savannah Georgia for our Honeymoon. We had such a great time and really loved the south! One of the things that we loved was that they served grits with every meal! Have you ever had grits?? They are yummy!

As soon as we left Savannah I said "I am going to start making grits at home"... well... here it is February and I had not made any grits. So... last night I made Shrimp n Grits, a southern favorite!!

It was YUMMY and super easy.

I bought instant grits at the grocery


Boil 2 cups of water
Add in 1/2 cup of grits
Simmer until thick (it takes about 5 minutes)
Add 3 tablespoons of butter
Add 1 cup cheddar cheese

Shrimp:
( i used pre cooked shrimp, however, I would recommend using raw shrimp and cooking it...the pre cooked can not cook for very long they start to shrink)
Heat 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Add onion and garlic (minced)
Add shrimp
let simmer
add 1 tablesppon butter

Spoon Grits into bowl

Add shrimp to grits and then pour pan mixture (butter, onions etc) over the shrimp

I added some Cheddar on top and WA LA- Shrimp n Grits

Creme Brulee- YUM

At last!! I got to use my mini blow torch to make Creme Brulee at home!

Believe it or not, this is not a difficult dessert to make.

I got the recipe here- before I realized that the creme brulee box set I had came with a recipe... needless to say I made enough for about 12 servings.

Here are some snap shots of my yummy dessert.

How to cook a chicken

Cooking a whole chicken sounds like a simple task... right? Well, I thought so too... when I bought this raw bird. When I took it out to cook it, I realized... I had no idea what I was doing.

I googled "how to cook a chicken"! Here is what I learned:

1) Thaw thaw thaw that bird! I thought by leaving it out for 5 hours, it would be thawed enough... when I got the step 2... I was wrong
2) Rinse the chicken and pull out the insides... this is when you really need the chicken to be thawed!!! Otherwise you will not get those guts out of there. Dry off the chicken then stuff it with onion and anything else you would like, I used onion and apples.
3) Heat oven to 400 degrees
4) Place chicken in a buttered baking dish (one with a lid is great)
5) Coat the chicken in olive oil or butter and seasoning of your choice. I used salt pepper and Garlic Garlic from Tastefully Simple
6) Put the baking dish covered into the oven. If you don't have a lid, use Foil
7) Cook for 60 minutes
8) un cover and cook for 30 more minutes until Golden Brown (this might take longer depending on how big your Chick is)
9) Serve or cut and save for future use. I plan to save and use for meals through out the week.

WOW... what a task. But it turned out pretty good!

YuM

One thing I have not talked about in my wedding posts is the wedding "diet". The pressure is on to look great and feel great at the wedding. My dress fits, so that is a bonus, but I still do not want to look back at pictures and think "if only I had lost that extra 5 lbs"

B and I have been watching calories and working out (he works out way more then me!)

This week I realized my love for roasted veggies! So good! I picked up some zucchini and sweet potatoes at the local farmers market and decided to make them into roasted veg.

It is easy to make and delicious to eat. Good food that is good for you!

• Heat oven to 400
• Place baking sheet in oven for 10 minutes to warm (this helps keep the food from sticking)
• Cut up your favorite vegetables into thick slices or chunks.
• spread veggies onto baking sheet  and drizzle with olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Bake for 30 minutes. (note:some veggies like zucchini do not take as long to cook, just keep an eye on it)

Enjoy!