A Perfect Dinner

Did you know I adore my husband? Well, I do. He is simply grand! Since today is a special day for him, I thought I would make him his favorite food in the world. He is a blueberry fiend! I am not exaggerating on that, he would live on blueberries alone if he could. I think he would be happy to have Violet Beauregarde's fate he loves them so much. So, to honor this big bluberry lover I call my husband, I am going to make him a fresh blueberry pie (well, I am going to use some fresh and some frozen blueberries) and surprise him with it when he gets home from work. A blueberry pie and a fresh lasagna... could life get any better? I submit that it cannot! I may even throw a lemonaid in there to, just to finish things off. It will be a very special dinner for my studious Darling!

To start off with, we will have a delectable lasagna with a side of veggies (made last night).

Miracle Lasagna

What You Need:

1 jar prego spaghetti sauce )any flavor you prefer)
6 uncooked lasagna noodles
16 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

What To Do:

In a 2 qt baking dish, spread 1 cup sauce around to cover the bottom of the dish. Top the sauce with 3 uncooked noodles, ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Cover with 1 cup sauce. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Cover dish and bake at 375*F for 1 hour. After it is done baking, top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Let stand for 5 minutes.

*My lasagna will look a lot tastier than this... still having camera problems*

We will enjoy this dish and the veggies with a little garlic bread, and some sparkling lemonaid (or juice, whatever I can find). Then, on to the dessert!

Fresh Blueberry Pie
recipe found here

What You Need:

1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
juice and grated zest from 1/2 medium lemon
5 cups fresh or frozen thawed blueberries, rinsed well
pastry for 2 crust pie
1 T butter, cut in small pieces

What To Do:

In a large bowl combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, lemon juice and grated rind, and blueberries. Roll out half of the pastry; line an 9-inch pie pan and trim edges. Pour berry mixture into pie crust and dot with small pieces of butter. Roll out remaining pastry to about 1/8 inch thick. Cover pie; trim, turn edge under and crimp. Cut a few vents in top of crust to allow steam to escape (didn’t think about it in time or I would have used one of my pie birds). Bake at 425° for 40 minutes, or until crust is nicely browned. For best slicing results, let the pie cool before slicing.

*This looks a lot better than my pie will because I don't know how to do the lattice crust.*

What a great way to end a long day of work, and to rev up the brain for all that studying that is
coming, don't you think? My sentiments exactly!

Buen Provecho!

Mixed Vegetables with Garlic and Herbs

Last night I made the Mixed Veggies with Garlic and Herbs... and I learned something about myself.

Pregnant body does NOT like sauteed veggies of any kind. I especially hate olive oil. So, that cuts down on a huge portion of our menu, but what can you do. Maybe once the baby is born I can try it again.

See note below next picture

Jeffrey, on the other hand loved it and would like me to make it again, so that is always a good sign. Again, I am not sure how it tasted, because after one bite my body yelled "No more unless you want us to reverse gears and send all the food you have ever eaten up." So I listened and ate no more. We also had some Bruschetta, which was delicious. I didn't have any mozzerella cheese, so I made it with cheddar, and it still tasted great nor did we have mushrooms. The great thing about Bruschetta is you can play around with it a lot and come up with many variations, so long as you have cheese, garlic, and tomatoes. Gotta love tomatoes this time of year. I can't wait for my tomato plant to start bearing some fruit so I can have a summer time tomato sandwich. Ahh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! In the meantime, enjoy this recipe as Jeffrey said it was great and a definite make again. I got this recipe off recipegirl.com

MIXED VEGETABLE SAUTE W/ HERBS & GARLIC

What you need:

3 large carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, then cut on diagonal into ¼-inch-thick slices
2 Tbs olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1½ Tbs chopped fresh tarragon
1 Tbs chopped fresh thyme
4 large red bell peppers, cut lengthwise into ½-inch-wide strips
4 large zucchini, halved lengthwise, then cut on diagonal into ½-inch slices
4 large yellow crookneck squash, halved lengthwise, then cut on diagonal into ½-inch-thick slices

What to do:

1. Cook carrot in pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain.

2. Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic, tarragon, and thyme; sauté about 30 seconds. Add carrots and remaining vegetables; sauté until just tender, tossing often, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Not actually what I made, but it looks very similar. This one I roasted on the grill, and had much the same reaction.

Servings: 8

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per ServingCalories 118
Calories From Fat (31%) 37
Total Fat 4.29g
Saturated Fat 0.64g
Sodium 53.13mg
Potassium 1118.94mg
Carbohydrates 19.20g
Dietary Fiber 6.04g
Sugar 10.28g
Net Carbohydrates 13.16g
Protein 5.15g

Weight Watchers points 3.5

Buen Provecho!

Spinach Soup and Sauteed Mushrooms

I just found this recipe from Sister's Cafe and am so excited to try it. It is Garlic Sauteed Mushrooms
I decided to try this for dinner along with some spinach soup. Delicious! I can't wait to try it, and I am sure it will be good. I will let you know for sure tomorrow.

Spicy Sauteed Mushrooms

submitted by Brittany

1+ lb large white mushrooms, quartered (be sure to use very fresh mushrooms)

2/3 c butter (~3/4 cube)

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 Tb Worcestershire sauce

Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to coat mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms turn brown and start to caramelize, stirring occasionally. Takes approximately 10-15 minutes. Drain excess butter and serve immediately.

Spinach Soup

What You Need:

1 T olive oil
1 onion halved and thinly sliced
1 leek, split lengthways and thinly sliced
1 potato finley diced
4 cups water
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
14 oz young spinach, washed
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
4 T single cream, to serve

What To Do:

Heat the olil in a heavy based saucepan over a medium heat. Add onion and leek and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft. Add potato, water, marjoram, thyme and bay leaf, along with a large pinch of salt. Bring to boil reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for about 25 minutes until the veggies are tender. Remove the bay leaf and the herb stems. Add the spinach and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, just until it is completely wilted. Allow the soup to cool slightly, the transfer to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth, working in batches if necessary. (If using a food processor, strain off the cooking liquid and reserve. Pure the soup solids with enough cooking liquid to moisten them, then combine with the remaining liquid.) Return the soup to the saucepand and thin with a little more water, if wished. Season with salt, a good grinding of pepper and a generous grating of nutmeg. Place over a low heat and simmer until reheated. Ladle the soup into warm bowls and swirl a tablespoonful of cream into each serving.


Buen Provecho!

Help! I am drawing a blank.

I am running out of recipes that I like to make. I am getting tired of the same old, so I have been going through a few cookbooks looking for new ideas. If any of you have good recipes, please send them to me. They must be vegetarian. That is the only stipulation. Thanks a ton!

Also, I am going to be posting some of those recipes here. Once I have made them, I will then post them on this blog with a picture. Thanks for your patience. You all are the best!

Rhubarb Pie

Isn't it funny how you can acquier a taste for something that most people don't like? I think it has something to do with being brought up with said thing. For example, when you say Rhubarb Pie most people run for the nearest exit. When someone says rhubarb pie around my family, we immediately flock to the nearest table with the pie on it, our mouths watering, anxiously waiting for that delectable food.

I can't speak for the rest of my family, but I am a rhubarb purist. I don't like strawberry rhubarb pie because the strawberries drown out the wonderfully tart taste of the rhubarb. I have never liked a store bought rhubarb pie, either. It has to be fresh and homemade and I can (shouldn't but can) eat the whole thing by myself in one sitting.
I think everyone should try it at least once, and so, to give you the opportunity, I will give you yet another of my grandmother's recipes with my own adaptation to it. Enjoy!

What you need:
3-4 cups chopped rhubarb
1- 1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon mace
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter

What to do:
First you want to sprinkle the bottom of your pie crust with flour to help it keep from getting soggy.
Distribute evenly your rhubarb into the pie shell.
Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl until evenly combined.
Pour mixture over rhubarb coating it evenly.
Cut the tablespoon of butter up into tiny sections. Drop on top of rhubarb mixture spreading it out all over the pie.
Trim and moisten the edge of the crust with water.
Add the top crust and trim leaving about 1 inch of crust over the edge. Fold edge under creating 1/2 inch edging. Shape to your desire.
Spread a mixture of equal parts water and milk all across the top and in the crevices of the top pie crust. This helps it brown nicely.
Bake at 425 for 15 minutes
Turn heat down to 325 and continue to bake for 30 minutes.
Take out, let the smell permeate your home, cool, and enjoy! Tastes delightful with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the side.

And as always
Buen Provecho!

Best Flakey Pie Crust Ever

Yesterday Jeffrey was walking around the house pleading for pie. I didn't have any. Nor did his parents when we went there for dinner. As a result he got me to promise to make him pie today. Which is fine, because I love pie. In my family we would much rather have a pie than a cake any day.
I guess the reason we all love pies is because of my grandmother. Grandma was famous for her pies. And if she wasn't really, she should have been. Her crusts were always perfect. I have rarely tasted a better crust than hers. She always put so much love and care into each pie that was made, and you could taste it. Because of her, I can't abide store bought pies. They taste so fake, and sadly, the art of pie making is disappearing. In an effort to bring it back to a few more people than just my family, I am giving you all the very best pie crust I have ever had. Grandma's pie crust recipe.

What you need
3 cups flour
1 rounded cup crisco
1 scant tsp salt
1/2 cup ice water

What you do

Mix the flour and crisco with a pastry blender. If you don't have a pastry blender, a knife works as well, just cut the crisco into the flour.
Once your crisco and flour are combined slowly add ice water (to different parts of dough) and stir with a fork until all the dough has formed into small pea sized clumps.
Separate into 4 equal sized balls.
You are now ready to make two pies with tops, or four pies without tops. Fill with your favorite filling and cook as directed. Enjoy.
Just a note, if you are planning on doing a pudding pie you should probably bake the crust first.

And as always

Buen Provecho!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

I have had a few requests for me to post my whole wheat pizza crust recipe.

well, I can't, because it isn't mine.

I can post Nienie's recipe, though.

It is simply deluctable.

Whole Wheat Pizza

2-¾ whole-wheat flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-teaspoon salt
2 1/4 tsp of yeast

Dissolve packet of yeast into 1-cup warm water with ¼ teaspoon sugar, let sit for 7 minutes (or until risen)
Mix flour, olive oil and yeast mixture with dough hook. For about 5 minutes.
Place in oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap in warm spot for about 1 hour (or desired risen state)
Roll out and add toppings. Cook for 17-18 minutes on 475 (those are my oven settings anyway)
I usually make 2 rectangle (cookie sheet) pizzas.

Enjoy!

And as always

Buen Provecho!