Ravioli to the Rescue!

I picked up a package of fresh Ravioli a while ago and decided to make them with some left over sausage and mushrooms. It was really quick and easy but the sauce REALLY took the dish over the top! This was a Gorgonzola sauce made by simmering heavy cream with melted butter and then stirring in chunks of cheese at the end. The Gorgonzola melts wonderfully and thickens the sauce so that it coats each Ravioli and sausage chunks. What a yummy weeknight meal!

Grilled Roast Beef w/Horseradish Mayo

We had some prepared Horseradish from the last time we made Bloody Mary so I decided to use some in sammies.  I added them to mayo and sour cream and they turned out SO yummy with the roast beef!

Ingredients:


1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 c sour cream
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish
1/8 tsp pepper
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 slices sourdough bread
4 slices Monterey Jack cheese
4 slices deli roast beef
2 slices of tomato
2 Tbsp butter, softened


Prep:


1. In a small bowl, combine the mayo, sour cream, horseradish and pepper; set aside. In a small skillet, saute onion in oil until tender, about 10 minutes.


2. Spread butter on the outside of each slice of bread, then the mayo mixture on the other side. Layer 2 slices of cheese, the roast beef, tomato, the sauteed onion and 2 more slices of cheese; top with remaining bread.


3. Cook on a panini maker or indoor grill for 2-3 minutes or until bread is browned and cheese is melted.

The Reason I Haven't Been Blogging...

Last Thursday was probably THE most horrifying day I've EVER had in the kitchen! So...I went home to start baking this lovely Apple Bread in my Pyrex Pan for Cookie Friday. Everything went well and the bread came out of the oven looking and smelling yummy. I set the hot pan on one of my stove burners to cool and moved on to make Panini for dinner. I had just received my Cast Iron Panini Press and was anxious to test it out. I started heating my grill pan and preparing the ingredients when I smelled something burning. Apparently, I had turned on the WRONG burner and was actually heating the cooling Pyrex Pan. I immediately turned it off and you know what happened? The Pyrex Pan EXPLODED! Literally...it EXPLODED into a billion pieces! I think I must've stood there for a good 5 minutes in shock. Thankfully, Greg came home right then and was so sweet to clean up everything. I think he realized that I was about to cry so he asked me to just sit down and took care of everything. It must've taken him over an hour to get rid of all the tiny pieces of broken glass. It's times like these that I'm so grateful to have him in my life! (Not to sound too soppy or anything but seriously...Thanks Honey!) The next day I went online and found that this exploding Pyrex ordeal has actually happened to more than a few people. (Which, doesn't exactly make me feel any better!) The lesson learned here? Go and purchase a good pot holder so that I'll never place any baking dishes on the stove top again!

Oh and on the exact same night, my camera, which I've had for about 4 years now, completely died on me.  I guess after all the drops and food splatters, it finally couldn't take it anymore!  So I ordered a new camera the other day and it finally arrived!  It's a Canon PowerShot SD1200IS (pink of course!) and I love it!  I'll be posting again very soon, I promise!

Rice A Roni to the Rescue!

This is my second time using Rice A Roni. The first time didn't disappoint but this time the result was even better! I followed this recipe from their website and we have some left over in the fridge that I'm sure won't last long! A few changes I made were using a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies and omitting the green peppers cuz I didn't have any. The chicken I used was a bag of Tyson's Southwest Chicken Strips and the sausage were 3 left over beef franks we had in the fridge which I don't recall the brand. I also added some Canyene peppers for a lil more kick and some fresh green onions sprinkled on top. Doesn't it look so pretty?

Yucky Weather = Gormet Brunch at Home

It's been a while since I made my honey Eggs Benedict! We had originally planned on going out to brunch but the weather made a 180 turn overnight (from sunny 80's to thunder storm!) so we decided we'd go next weekend instead. I know what we would've ordered anyway so why not make it at home? It's WAY cheaper anyway and Greg can drench his plate in ketchup without anyone looking at us weird!

Baking for my Mommy!

My mommy finally came to visit our new place and I decided to bake some muffins for an afternoon snack. I found this new cup of Peach Chunks in Pomegranate Juice on sale at Safeway and just had to try them. They were SO juicy and yummy and totally beats having to skin and cut up a fresh peach! I also picked up some Yoplait Thick and Creamy Vanilla Yogurt cuz I know my mom ALWAYS has yogurt in the afternoons. I wanted to put those 2 items together and found this Peachy Moist Muffins recipe on the Taste of Home website. The only change I made was substituting 1 c of whole wheat flour to make them even healthier! They turned out SO good and my mommy and I thoroughly enjoyed them even after a big lunch at Paragon!

Making Good Use of that Left-Over Brie!

We had half a chunk of President Brie left over from when the future in-laws visited.  I know cheese lasts forever but I didn't wanna risk having it get moldy on me. I haven't baked anything savory for a while and decided that Brie would be the perfect addition.  These muffins turned out SO yummy and filled the entire kitchen with a wonderful cheesy smell!  Greg even had 2 of them and he rarely ever eats my baked goods! 

  

Ingredients: (6 muffins)


2 Tbsp butter
1/4 c chopped bell peppers
1/4 c finely chopped green onions
2 Tbsp grated parmesan
1 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/4 c milk
1 egg
1/4 c diced ham
4 oz chopped brie


Prep:


1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease or line a 6-cup muffin pan.


2. In a small skillet, melt the 2 Tbsp of butter. Add onions and peppers; saute until tender. Remove from the heat; cool for 5 minutes.


3. Mix together the flour, salt, sugar, parmesan and baking powder in a mixing bowl. In another bowl whisk butter with eggs and milk. Pour in the flour mixture and stir.


4. Stir in onions, peppers, brie and ham. Fill muffin cups with a large ice cream scoop and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.