Christmas!!!

Here's a recap of my LONG Christmas weekend...

Day 1 (Sunday): Me and Greg had our own lil Christmas Eve since he was flying down to see his parents on Monday. He liked his presents and I loved mine!

Day 2 (Christmas Eve): My famliy came over my place in the afternoon and we had lots of Yi's Cooking!

Dips (Spinach, Roasted Peppers, Guacamole and Salsa), Baked Shrimp, Italian Green Beans, Chicken Tenders and Teriyaki Salmon. YUM!

Here's Dani, Sydney, Me and my Mommy.

Day 3 (Christmas Day): This was a special day reserved just for Mommy and me. I gave her a tour of my work (The Pyramid) and then we walked to the Westfield Shopping Center to watch Enchanted.
That night we walked over to the Embarcadero Center and took some pictures with the pretty decorations. It was SO cold but SO worth it!

I had WONDERFUL Christmas weekend filled with everything I could ever hope for and I don't just mean the presents! :)

Pulled Pork Sandwich at Home?

Gosh I love my slow cooker! I made another awesome dish tonight...Pulled Pork Sandwiches! They were tender and juicy and SO good!

Ingredients: (4 servings)

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 ½ lbs pork shoulder roast
½ c water
1 c BBQ sauce, divided (I used Bullseye)
4 hamburger buns
Shredded lettuce

Preparations:

1. Place half the onion slices in bottom of slow cooker or crock pot; add pork, water, half the barbecue sauce and remaining onion slices.
2. Cover and cook on medium 8-10 hours.
3. Remove pork from slow cooker. Use 2 forks to pull pork into shreds.
4. Place pork back in slow cooker. Stir in remaining BBQ sauce. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook 30 to 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
5. Spoon filling onto warmed buns. Top with shredded lettuce.

Holiday Pretzel Treats

I found this really cute and easy recipe on Hersheys.com. It's a wonderful holiday treat with salty and sweet flavors and only takes 10 minutes to make!

Ingredients:

Bite-size pretzels
Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug
M&M's candy

Preparation:

1. Heat the oven to 170º. Set a number of bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug.
2. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolates feel soft when touched with a wooden spoon. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M's candy into the center of each Kiss.
3. Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place them in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes.

More Slow Cooking

I love Sundays. They're so relaxing when I get to stay home and do laundry while some good football games are on. Today after making my gourmet Eggs Benedict breakfast and Bloody Mary, I decided to take on a new crockpot recipe...Pizza Porkchops! I jazzed it up with some potatoes and carrots on the bottom and it turned out awesome!

Ingredients: (2 servings)

2 pork loin chops, 1 inch thick (about 2 1/4 lb)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 c)

1 c carrot slices

6 baby potatoes, chopped
2 c tomato pasta sauce
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese (2 oz)

Preparations:
1. Remove excess fat from pork. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook about 5 minutes, turning once, until brown.
2. Place veggies on the bottom and pork on top in 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. Add pasta sauce.
3. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 4 to 6 hours.
4. Place pork on platter. Top with sauce. Sprinkle with cheese.

Mini Muffin Swirls for the Party

Tonight we were invited to Greg's friend Dan's house for another holiday party. I didn't want us to show up empty-handed (and I just bought my mini-muffin pan!) so I made some Mini Muffin Cookies with my holiday swirled morsels. Look how cute they are! And SO semi-homemade! hehe

Ingredients: (24 cookies)

1 pkg (16 oz) refrigerated chocolate chip or 1 pkg (16.5 oz) Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Dough
1 c (6 oz) SWIRLED Morsels, any flavor

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.
2. Place squares of dough into prepared muffin cups; press down to make a deep well.
3. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are set. Remove from oven to wire rack(s). While still warm, fill cookie cups with morsels. Morsels will soften and retain their shape. Cool completely. With tip of knife, remove cookie cups from muffin pan(s).

I LOVE my new crockpot!

I tested out my new crockpot today with slow cooked chicken. Quote from Greg, "This is the best meal I've ever had!" All it took was some chicken broth, garlice, butter and thyme, and 8 hours later...TA DA!

Ingredients: (6 servings)

1 pkg (1 lb 4 oz) bone-in skinless chicken thighs
1 ½ c chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ tsp dried thyme leaves
2 Tbsp butter or margarine

Preparations:

1. Place chicken in 3- to 4-quart slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients except parsley.
2. Cover and cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours.
3. Remove chicken from cooker. Spoon any remaining juices over chicken. Garnish with parsley.

Healthy and Fast

I made some healthy tuna pasta salad for dinner. It was really yummy AND almost fat free!

Ingredients: (4 servings)

¼ c mayonnaise
¼ tsp celery salt
1 c elbow macaroni, cooked, drained
1 c frozen peas, thawed
½ c chopped red onion
1 can (6 oz) white tuna in water, drained, flaked

Preparations:

1. Mix mayo and salt in large bowl.
2. Add remaining ingredients; mix lightly. Cover.
3. Serve warm or refrigerate to serve chilled.

Weekend with the Parents

Greg's parents came to visit us this weekend and we had an AWESOME time! It was so nice to get away from our normal routine and have 3 days of yummy food! Here's the recap:

Thursday - We had dinner at Foreign Cinema. It was raining and I wished we could've sat outside and watched a movie. The food was very gourment and we had a really nice time.

Friday - We took Greg's recommendation and had dinner at Farmer Brown. Nothing beats fried chicken and beer for the guys!

Saturday - The weather was beautiful and we walked around the Ferry Building before showing off our new apartment. Greg's parents loved the view and our new couch! Afterwards we drove to Tiburon and had a late lunch at Guaymas.

Sunday was Greg's big day. I woke up early to get him a balloon, some Champagne and cake. He looks happy, doesn't he? hehe

Afterwards we had brunch at Hotel Monaco and finally here's a non-food related picture of the happy couple. :)