Shepherds Pie in My New Kitchen

 Finished shepherds pie, made in my new cast iron dutch oven

 Always be sure to check inside the oven before you pre-heat. This used to be a spatula 

My parents and Shane sharing our first meal in our new apartment 

 On Father's day Shane and I invited our parents over to celebrate. Like you saw in the picture above, I melted a spatula. I try to be real and honest about my mistakes on this blog and this is one of the most foolish I have made so far. Shane had a leftover cookie cake and spatula in the oven, which he told me was there but I had obviously forgotten. Needless to say, we are one spatula short. Fortunately the shepherds pie turned out flavorful and delicious. I found the recipe in my new Dutch Oven Cookbook by Sharon Kramis and Julie Kramis Hearne. Let me know if anyone wants it. It is relatively labor intensive but worth the results!  Later that night Al, Tammy and Sindy joined us and we all looked at our wedding pictures together. It was a great night.

Married Life

We are married!!! This is just a quick post to showcase my new kitchen! Shane and I love our apartment, it is small but already feels like home. More to come soon :)

Humble Homemade Hamburgers & Chocolate Crisps

Hamburger on homemade bun with provolone, ketchup, sweet pineapple mustard, pickles and spinach. 

Crispy chocolate chip ice cream sandwich

Apparently I am stressed out about the wedding and did not even realize it. Shane came over tonight so I wanted to make dinner for him. I decided on hamburgers, but did not want to just use regular bread, so I made homemade buns. I am not the most patient person when it comes to cooking. It is an unfortunate trait, but one that I have to come clean about. I did not wait long enough for the dough to rise, so the buns were very dense. I looked past that and pressed on towards the goal. When I moved on to the hamburger patties, I made them with egg, bread crumbs, milk and other spices. Our beef is incredibly lean, so they did not hold together well while I cooked them. Another unfortunate mishap. I was able to put the rest of the meal together with a smile and laugh off the mistakes. Shane was very gracious and ate what I gave him. After dinner I wanted to make some warm gooey chocolate chip cookies and some how I messed those up too! They ended up completely flat and crispy. At this point I fell apart and told my mom and Shane that I am a terrible cook and baker. Once I got past the self pity I realized that I probably messed up so many times because I am so distracted by thoughts of the wedding. I also realized that even when you make mistakes in cooking, you can almost always turn them into something else. And no one will no the difference, unless of course, you write it about it in a blog :) Until next time. 

Homemade Steak Fajitas

Cooking the steak and red and orange peppers with taco seasoning

the "innards"

Steak Fajitas with avocado, tomato, cheddar cheese and sour cream

My dad made dinner tonight. He made ribs and mashed potatoes since my mom wasn't home. I looked at the ribs and thought that it was the quintessential "man meal." I crave color, texture and taste in my meals, and most men are completely satisfied with meat and potatoes. So I looked in the fridge to see what I could do, using the steak he had already made. I found half an avocado, cheese, red and orange peppers, tortillas and sour cream. The perfect ingredients for a fajita. I chopped up the steak and put it in a sizzling hot pan with taco seasoning and the peppers. Occasionally I would splash some water on it so the flavors would combine nicely together. While the meat was cooking I chopped the avocado and tomato and grated the cheese. Once all of this was done I assembled them, topping them with sour cream. For the side dish I used the left over tomatoes and avocado topped with the rest of the cheese for a veggie salad. It was delicious. The only down side was that I only needed to make it for me so I didn't get to share it, and half the fun in cooking is making food for other people. I am really looking forward to being married so I can make food for Shane and at times entertain for our friends and have them over for dinner. So if you want to try anything from this blog, let me know. We would love to have you over. :)

French Toast w/ Nutella Syrup

Homemade Cinnamon French toast topped with nutella syrup

I have had a love for nutella ever since I spent time in Europe. It's a great excuse to have chocolate for breakfast. The french toast was made with Dave's Killer Bread, a wonderful hearty choice. The egg mixture included eggs, cinnamon and lactose free milk. We did not have any syrup and the nutella we did have left was a little dry. I reconstituted it with so Corn syrup and put it in the microwave for about a minute to give it a smoother texture. It was a simple and filling meal and I will definitely be making this syrup again:)

Baked Salmon with a Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Sauce

Baked salmon with a homemade pesto sauce, topped with sun dried tomatoes. Sides include quinoa with chopped vegetables and a salad

It has been a while since my last post. Mostly due to the insane amount of wedding planning we have successfully executed thus far. Anyway, This dish is an idea I got from a friend. I love pesto sauce and found a pretty simple recipe for it.

Pesto Recipe

2 cloves garlic

2 cups basil

1/4 TB pine nuts

3 TB parmesan

1/2 cup olive oil

dash of salt and pepper

(quantities can vary, depending on how many you are cooking for)

Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor. Once combined, slowly pour in the olive oil. Set aside.

Take the frozen salmon and lay them on a baking sheet. Cover them with the pesto sauce and top with chopped sun dried tomatoes. Place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

The side dish is quinoa with chopped carrots and okra and the salad is covered in a balsamic vinaigrette, let me know if anyone wants directions for the quinoa. It is a great alternative to rice and has a lot better nutritional value.

Something Out of Nothing

Exhibit A: The nearly empty refrigerator

Exhibit B: A light dinner, created from the ingredients in the nearly empty refrigerator

So, I haven't posted in a while. Mostly because Shane and I got engaged last month and I have been working on things for the wedding. Besides that fact, the other day my mom and I both worked all day and were both really hungry. The only problem was that we had not been to the store in a while and didn't want to go out. Our fridge was pretty bare and at first I thought there was no way I could create a meal out of anything in there, but then I looked closer. I found three small bell peppers, spring mix lettuce, home made garlic dill salad dressing, pumpernickel bread, a soft french cheese, cottage cheese, peaches, and a liver pate (can't make the correct symbol for that lol,). For the salad I chopped up the peppers, shredded the cheese, dressed it and had a unique entree. Then I cut slices of the pumpernickel, buttered them and placed the liver pate on top. I finished the dish with the cottage cheese and peach side dish. While eating it I realized that I had nearly every food group accounted for on my plate. I had a meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and grains. It may not have been the most extravagant meal but I take pride in creating something out of nothing. So next time your fridge is bare, take a closer look and see if you can create something new:).