Antipasto Kebabs

I made some antipasto kebabs one day, just to change things up a bit in the salad department and they were really good!  Definitely will make again.  I used an online recipe as a guideline only, and used my own stuff & dressing.

For the marinade/dressing, I used Good Seasons Italian dressing.  I also used salami, mozzarella balls, grape tomatoes cut in half, extra large black olives, red onion, cucumber and cooked cheese tortellini.  If I could have found canned button mushrooms, those would have been used too but the grocery store didn't have any.  Next time I make this I'll also add artichoke hearts and red bell peppers. 

Another Hot Mess

I have been threatening, for YEARS, to type up all the scraps of paper with recipes scrawled on them.  It was my intent to do it in 2013 and I'd gathered them all together, then jammed them into a cubby space near my printer. I never 'got a round tuit', and it made searching for recipes quite challenging.  Since I had finally cleaned and organized my craft room, that mess in the cubby really stood out.  I got the craft table cleaned off and decided it was now or never.  The computer takes up so much room that my incentive to get it done quickly is great, because I can't craft.  

So many scraps of paper.  I ended up throwing out a lot of the recipes too....like the 20 different recipes for apple pie.  It's just easier to buy it.  I will make apple crisp, but not pie.  I threw away a lot of sugary baking recipes simply because I cannot be tempted to bake that stuff and leave it around the house because neither of us needs to be stuffing our face with it.  

Some of  my notations amused me.  Apparently writing out 'chicken breasts' took too much time, even though I started writing 'breasts', so I shortened it to 'chix boobs'.

I was thumbing through this cookbook and was about to transcribe this recipe when I read the pink note.  It looks like a good recipe but I guess it 'bums me out'.

I went through all my old vegetarian cookbooks and transcribed all of the recipes I used to make.  I am giving the books to a friend because I never made 85% or more of the ones in there.  I'm sorry but I wish people would stop making recipes that include curry, nuts, fruit, raisins and other really weird combos.  Gross.

I got about 50+ pages typed the first day, and I just have that small stack left to do.  I'd even made handwritten recipe cards and laminated them and all those are being transcribed as well.  My intent after they are printed is to put them in page protectors in a 3 ring binder and keep it readily at hand in the kitchen.  

Glad to have that project finally done!  I've only been meaning to do it for the past 10 years!

Worst. Cookies. EVER!!!!!

We are both trying to make some healthier choices when it comes to food.  I saw a cookie recipe on Facebook that looked like it could be good, even though it lacked eggs, flour, sugar and butter.  

The ingredients are seen here, but for the 3 mashed bananas that are in the bowl already.  I had my doubts about a vegan, gluten free, sugar free recipe but what the heck right?  Bananas, apple sauce and raisins are sweet....well, OK I bought unsweetened apple sauce, but still!  I wasn't sure about the coconut milk as I'd never had it, however in my mind I'd always assumed it was sweet, like condensed milk.  The original recipe called for almond milk but I'm allergic to almonds.  Then oats, cinnamon, vanilla and raisins.  

I combined all the measurements and then popped them into the oven.  I had my doubts.  After I shut the oven door, I tried a little of the batter and it was pretty gross, but I thought maybe once they cooked, the oats would fluff up more.

Fresh out of the oven, I took a bite of one.  OMG soooooooo GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  No sweetness unless you hit a raisin, still very mealy and bland. I gave one to Russell and he said, 'Well.....it's.....interesting anyway.'  Such a kind hearted man....doesn't want to hurt my feelings. But I told him that it was OK to say they were horrid because I already admitted it.  Surprisingly he got a couple more and asked me to finish baking the rest of the dough because he'd eat them.  My friend Chip saw this pic on FB and said that even the spatula looks defeated.  lol

Maybe this recipe would have turned out better with the almond milk and sweetened apple sauce. I am never making them again though. My friend Angie said, 'Sweetie, life is short.  Eat real cookies'. Good advice!  

Cooking N Crafting

Note: This post was prepared on approx 10/14, but was scheduled to publish after the predicted storm

Spinach & Feta Cheese Quiche

Preheat oven to 375*

Bag of fresh spinach
Onion, chopped
4 eggs
1-1/2 cups whole milk
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 lb feta cheese
Salt & Pepper
Pie shell

Saute' the spinach and onions in butter till spinach is wilted.

Mix the eggs and milk together.  Add the lemon juice and mix.  Stir in the spinach & onions, feta cheese, salt and pepper and mix well.

Pour into pie shell and bake for an hour or till knife comes out of the center clean.

Glitter:  A way of life.  Just tried this new technique from The Ornament Girl of swirling around Pledge floor cleaner inside the ornament then pouring the glitter in.  I also used a straw that I cut into a little scoop shape so that I could get the glitter at the top.  I also added some red crystals to the top silver part and around the center.

Then I did one in blue glitter

And purple.

Did a little bit more leaf stamping.  Better results this time.

I thought I was pretty much done for the day, cooking-wise, till my friend Averie posted a link for Baked Cheddar Broccoli Rice Cups, at Fountain Avenue Kitchen.  I'd just cooked up some fresh broccoli and was surprised to find I had the rest of the ingredients in the house!  Just had to try them!

Preheat oven to 350*.  Grease a muffin tin.  This recipe will fill 8 of the 12 cups.

1 cup quick cooking rice
1 cup chicken broth/stock (can also use vegetable broth or just plain water)
Cooked broccoli crowns (or a 10 oz. package of frozen, thawed & then drained)
1 cup cheddar cheese, divided in half
1/4 cup ranch dressing
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper.

Prep the rice according to the directions, substituting broth for water.  Place cooked rice in a bowl to cool off.  Add remaining ingredients but using only 1/2 cup of the cheese.  Stir until combined.  Scoop into the muffin tin cups and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Bake 25 minutes until tops brown a little and edges get crispy.  

Weekend Social

This Saturday's Weekend Social topic is:  Kitchen Duty.

Veggie Pizza


Served cold!

2 packages of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, unrolled side by side on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 375* for 10 minutes. Let cool on the cookie tray.

Whip together: 

2 packages low fat cream cheese (leave out on counter till soft prior to use)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp dill

1 TBSP dry ranch dressing mix (Hidden Valley Ranch)

Evenly spread whipped cheese ingredients on top of cool crust.  I find it's also much easier to cut the crust and cheese into serving size pieces prior to topping it with vegetables.  

Top with raw veggies of your choice!  I use chopped scallions (aka green onions), chopped red peppers, chopped black olives, diced tomatoes, small, raw broccoli florets.

Sprinkle shredded chedder cheese on top of veggies.  

Stormy Day

We had a very stormy day at the end of June, which, fortunately, ushered out a period of very hot & humid weather we'd had the week earlier.  The skies grew dark by 10:00 a.m. and I had to shut down my computer as the thunder and lightning started.  Pepper and Sagan were keyed into it, so I tried to do my best to act like there was nothing out of the ordinary going on, even though I don't like thunderstorms either.  It was the perfect opportunity to finally clean the fridge and give the kitchen a good cleaning too.  And vacuum.  And dust.  Both puppies stayed glued to me and were somewhat underfoot as I was back and forth to the sink as it stormed outside.

It was raining so hard that water leaked over the top of the kitchen a/c unit, hence the towels.

After I finished cleaning by about Noon, I logged back onto the internet, only to hear more storms headed into the area, so off went the computer again.  I tried to watch TV, but Bean and Boo were so terrified that they were trying to climb on me, whilst panting and drooling.  I thought about heading into my craft room but the last time we had thunderbumpers, they were jockeying for positions under the craft table, which wasn't optimum and I knew would be difficult, at best, for me to craft with them under the table.  I'd thought about colouring, but I was too busy trying to keep them out of my lap, so that wouldn't work either.  At this point, there was a very bright flash and immediately thereafter, a thunderclap so loud and so long that all the window crystals rattled against the windows.  It scared the crap out of me, and it sent Boo and Bea right over the edge.  I remembered that I had Rescue Remedy  so I put some on biscuits and gave them to the pups, in the hopes that it would work.  

I decided to cook, since that would keep me busy and keep them from climbing on me.  I made my new fave chicken recipe, (which doesn't include the vanilla icing also seen in this photo).

Spread mayo on boneless chicken breast tenders.

Cover them in panko bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.

I cook them for 25 minutes in the NuWave Oven.  I assume the cooking time would be the same in a conventional oven.

While the chicken cooked, I also mixed up a batch of Suddenly [Pasta] Salad.

Added my own veggies to the pasta and dressing mix.  Yum!

While all that stuff was cooking, I also decided to make funfetti cake.  I split the batter between a cupcake tin and a small cake pan.

The thunderstorm finally moved on and the rain was stopping too.  Pepper went into the livingroom to have a snooze, but Sagan was still assisting as my Sous Chef.

"Kiss the Cook"

YUMMMMMMM!!!!!  I like my chicken nice n crispy!

A delicious late lunch!!!  I added some feta cheese to the pasta salad on my plate, but not to the main batch in the fridge because Russell's not a huge fan of cheese and I want him to be able to eat it too!

And for dessert.......cupcakes!!!  (Left a few unfrosted for my honey bunny).

Have I mentioned how much I love being a domestic goddess and stay at home "wife"?

Chick Pea Salad & More Awards!

I saw a wonderful looking chick pea (aka garbanzo beans) salad on Pinterest and decided to alter it to suit my own personal taste.  It's perfect for the summer months!

Chick peas
Black olives
Sliced grape tomatoes
Chopped scallions, green part
Cucumbers sliced then quartered
Sunflower seeds
Croutons
Feta cheese

I prefer Italian dressing and nothing beats Good Seasons mix, so I drizzled that on all the veggies, but you can use a vinaigrette or some such dressing.

Enjoy!

On a different note, I'd like to thank Nikki at Inspire Nordic for the Stylish Blogger Award and One Lovely Blog Award!!

And Meredith at The Southern Northerner put the Reader Appreciation Award up for grabs as well!

AND Anne over at Is Anyone There? gave me the Inspirational Blogger Award!  Thank you sooo much Anne! 

The support and love mean a lot to me.  THANK YOU!!!!  Please feel free to grab these for yourselves, because I would end up listing everyone on my blog roll again!!   Also, I don't have any more factoids to share about myself, that I haven't already shared.  

Tie Dyed Cupcakes, Part 2

Now that the cupcakes are baked and cooled, it's time to do the icing.  I got the step-by-step instructions HERE, and it was a lot easier than I expected it would be.  You will use gel or paste food colouring for the icing, rather than the liquid dye used for the cupcakes.  However, they are MUCH harder to mix to obtain a good orange, and purple was out of the question.  I could not find a good mix of red and blue that worked at all, even when I used the tiniest dot of blue with the red (applied on the point of a toothpick, no less). The blue was just way too overpowering, so I didn't use purple and didn't really miss it.

I found a decorating kit with tips and disposable bags.  Disposable icing bags are a must for this project.  I ended up using 4 of them.

I got 2 cans, 'just in case', but only ended up using one.

Use a glass to hold the empty icing bag upright.

Using a stiff-bristle paintbrush, paint the gel dyes into stripes on the inside walls of the icing bag. Then scoop the icing into the bag and squeeze it from the top down to the tip. Don't push the icing down with the spoon because that might mess up the colour stripes. Squeeze out the first bit of icing into a bowl till the colours start coming out.

That's what the icing looks like with the colour streaks.

My "palette".  The smudges on the left was the attempt at purple.

VOILA!!!!  The first two uses of the icing is the most vibrant.  Then it starts to get a little more pastel as you go.  I used 4 disposable icing bags for 1 batch of 12 muffins, to keep the colours as rich as possible.

I know my icing technique isn't terribly good, but I'm pretty pleased with the final results!!!  I was so excited that I was dancing around the kitchen, squealing and saying, 'COME LOOK! COME LOOK!" to the squeeze.  He took one look at the plate and said, "Boy those sure have 'hippie' written aaaallll over them...."   

He said  these looked like "Heat Miser Hair", which is funny because I thought the same thing.  lol

I used one bag with just green and blue dye for a couple of them.  Not sure what I was going for with that green and blue design...sorta looks like a sea anemone.  

And sampling the final result!!!  Nom nom nom nom

I can't emphasize enough how much fun this baking project was.  Easier than I thought, but definitely time consuming. So worth the end results though!