Blog Archives

On Top Of Spaghetti All Covered With Cheesy Chicken Meatballs

1/24/2012

Cheesy Chicken Meatballs

Go ahead, eat one.

You know you want to.

Did your mouth just start drooling?
(Oh my gosh, I originally typed did your mom just start drooling.)

Shall we tell our bosses we're leaving work to go home and gorge on Cheesy Chicken Meatballs but first we have to stop at the store and pick up some Pepsi to wash this goodness down with?

Or shall we just watch this

hilarious video from the 80's?

On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball,
When somebody sneezed. It rolled off the table,
And on to the floor,
And then my poor meatball,
Rolled out of the door.

It rolled in the garden,
And under a bush,
And then my poor meatball,
Was nothing but mush.

The mush was as tasty
As tasty could be,
And then the next summer,
It grew into a tree.

The tree was all covered,
All covered with moss,
And on it grew meatballs,
And tomato sauce.

So if you eat spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
Hold on to your meatball,
Whenever you sneeze.

Oh my! Do you remember singing this a thousand times in a row?

I don't know WHY I got such a kick out of this and sang it over and over when I was
twenty five.

Did I just say twenty five?? I meant eight!
Eight! I was eight! Years old.

Not twenty five.
Sheeeez

*slinking away*

Okay, here's all the fixins for these easy, easy, easy and super savory Cheesy Chicken Meatballs.
It calls for ground chicken breast. More than likely, you will need to ask the meat guy to go in the back freezer and get it for you.

OH!!! Before I forget, these would make a

great party appetizer too!

Now the recipe calls for roasted garlic cream cheese.
I did not have that flavor of cream cheese on hand so I roasted my own garlic and mixed it into the regular cream cheese and it worked great.
The garlic really does bring the flavor up a notch!

You can click on the right side embedded document down below to print out this recipe.
The left side is for those folks who are unable to see the embedded recipe.

Cheesy Chicken Meatballs
From allrecipes.com posted by Raquel
Courtesy of turnkeyqualitycars.com
Angie’s Note: I did not have garlic cream cheese, just regular, so I roasted up some minced garlic in olive oil and added it to my cream cheese.

Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup roasted garlic light cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with cooking spray.
2. Combine the chicken, eggs, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, vegetable oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; mix well. Form mixture into 20 meatballs; place on prepared pan.
3. Bake in center of preheated oven until juices run clear, 17 to 18 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

So let's get this meatball party started!

We're going to start with the ground chicken in a bowl.

Add the eggs, cream cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Then add the bread crumbs, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, vegetable oil and salt and pepper

Ahem, don't lick the bowl, this is raw meat! It looks pretty enough to lick though, doesn't it?

I knew you weren't thinking of licking the bowl.

I was though.

So anyhoo, mix all

ingredients well.
Using a spoon is recommended; this isn't meatloaf we're making here :)

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Form mixture into twenty meatballs. these are easy to form by the way, a little sticky but not too bad.

And the mixture did form right at 20 meatballs I think.

Next time, I may make them a little bigger just for a visual effect, otherwise this size was nice to stack, snack, and cut with a fork.

In the meantime, I was whippin' up some whole wheat pasta and homemade marinara sauce to eat with the meatballs.

Bake until juices run clear.

I used a meat thermometer and took them out at 160 degrees.

I knew I definitely did NOT want to overcook these meaty morsels.

Don't they look tasty?

Mmmmmmm,
these were savory, flavorful meatballs.
You don't miss the traditional beef at all.

And so easy to whip up to!

Plating these babies up with some pasta and marinara, with a little Parmesan on...
pure bliss!

These meatballs were especially good the next day too.
I even made a meatball sandwich out of them, sliced them thin, layered them on whole wheat bread and slapped a slice of provolone on top and stuck it in the panini maker.

Mmmmm, so good!

I admit that I did make a batch of turkey bacon meatballs a couple nights later. They were okay, and I will be sharing that recipe, but this Cheesy Chicken Meatball recipe was quite a bit more flavorful and lip smackin' than the turkey bacon meatballs.

Don't overcook these though!!
Follow the baking time, it was pretty on target.

Hey, have a great Tuesday....see ya soon!!!

Laundry and Things

1/20/2012

Why Oh Why does my

laundry pile up so much!

Why????

Why??????

Taken this morning Friday January 20th, although it hasn't changed for a week.

It may not look that bad.
It doesn't look that bad. Does it really?
What's that kitty hiding up there?

CRAP!

He's hiding a crap-o-load of clothes!
And a bunch of junk on that shelf!

I don't like folding laundry.
Clearly Tim doesn't either.

Why can't cats learn how to fold clothes?

Uh, picture taken sometime in 2010.

My laundry room wasn't always a pig sty.
Is that how you spell sty?

See.
So not a pig sty here.

And the shelf was kind of cute too.

Oh hey look. My washer and dryer look nice! I seriously never noticed that before. I mean they're cheap, but they're nice and white and clean. Hmmm.

Probably because there's always clothes piled on top of them. *sigh*

Well, that's pretty much all I got for laundry right now.
Ima go see if I can get Tim to fold those clothes.

In the meantime, here's a video of Tim's and my favorite band The Avett Brothers. They're kind of a bluegrassy rock band. And here's my favorite song of theirs, titled appropriately enough "Laundry Room." Who doesn't love a song titled Laundry Room, c'mon now!

Oh Hi! Guess what. I'm back.
I see I titled this here post "Laundry and Things" so I figured I better talk about some other riveting things.
Other than laundry.

Riveting Thingie #1

So I picked up a framed vintage movie poster a few months ago at an antique shop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin and it's going in my bathroom.

Kirk Douglas has his name nice and big but where is the woman's name?
Have you noticed a lot of vintage movie posters have the woman's names smaller or not listed at all?

Riveting Thingie #2

Oh, disgusting food picture
alert.

I have so much still to learn about taking appetizing pictures.

What is my problem?!?!

!Blech!

Speaking of disgusting pictures. Oh! my! gosh!
If you could only see my hideous driver's license photo.
I am not kidding you.

EVERYONE but one person agrees that my driver's license photo is the worst they've ever seen.
Don't think I'm gonna show you my drivers license here though.
I'm not stoopid.

much

In fact, when I hand my license to cashiers,
I always say to the female clerks, "Now don't hate on me because I'm so beautiful. Don't be jealous now."

The female clerks look at my picture and always laugh.

With the male clerks, I always say,
"Now don't go asking me out and everything when you see how beautiful I am. I'm a married woman." (And I point to my ring finger.)

Fortunately they all laugh too... after they look at the picture.

Only one person ever told me they've seen worse.
It was some younger Gothic looking girl working the cash register at Hobby Lobby about five months ago.

Here's how it went down.
Angie (handing drivers license to cashier): Okay, I'll show my ID but don't hate on me cuz I'm so beautiful.

Clerk: (looks at me, then looks at picture) (shrugs her shoulders).

Angie: Isn't that the most hideous divers license picture you've ever seen? I look like a thug. Even 85 year-old women look like thugs, now that you can't smile for those pictures anymore.

Clerk: (grabs my license again and looks at it intently). Nope, I've seen worse.

Angie: (Incredulously and indignant) No you haven't.

Clerk: Yes I have.

Angie: What?? I've never had ANYBODY say they've seen worse.(Pausing, trying to soak in this information)...................(confused)

Angie:(Still confused.)Was it a dude or something?

Clerk: No, it was a chick.

Angie: Well, what was so bad about it?

Clerk: She looked like a corpse.

Angie: Whoooaa??? (laughing hard) What??? Really???

Clerk: Yup, a corpse.

Angie: I guess I shouldn't feel so bad then.

Clerk: (shrugs her shoulders, hands me my receipt and starts ringing up the next person).

True Story.
No lie.
Although, I wish it was.

Riveting Thingie #3

That chicken up above actually didn't turn out too bad, once I trussed up the legs.

With
floral wire.

Riveting Thingie #4

Tim hangs out in the kitchen when I cook,

which is cool.

Except it's on the floor!!!!!!
Hey Stud Muffin, Is it too much to ask for you to put away some of those groceries on the counter?
And wash those pans?

Riveting Thingie #5

This is the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at New Year's Eve this year in Hermann, Missouri.

Been there several times!

LOVE IT!

Angie and Timmy likey this place *sigh*

Little Boy

Blue
discovering his cute little hands

Baby

Alert!!!

Why is is having a Grandchild sooooo much funner than having regular kids?

Chill out girls. I'm JUST kidding. Geeez.

NO I'M NOT!!!!

IT'S SOOOOOO MUCH MORE AWESOME THAN PARENTING!!!!

Okay, so that's about it for my Hodge Podge post.

I must tell you though, I have made a couple of meatball recipes lately that do not include beef.

And ONE was pretty fantastic!

See ya next time!!!! Stay warm!
Unless you're in a warm climate, then stay comfy!!

Have a great Friday/Saturday!

Vegetarian Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms That Tasted Just Like Pizza...NO KIDDING!!!

1/19/2012

This Vegetarian Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Portobello Mushroom tastes just like a big old delicious slice of pizza...NO KIDDING!!!

Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Portobellos from the Eating Well magazine.

I was shocked!
I thought I was just making a nice vegetarian option for supper.

Oh my gosh, that ricotta??!! To die for!!!

And then I took a bite.
I hollered upstairs to my daughter Sweetness, "Get down here! You will never believe it, these mushrooms

TASTE LIKE PIZZA!"

Immediately
Sweetness came barreling down the stairs. Mouth drooling.
Practically holding a knife and fork in both hands.

But I shouted,

"STOP

STOP!"

DO NOT touch those mushrooms!!! I have to take crappy, blurry pictures first for my blog!"

And for the next fifteen minutes, my grad student daughter Sweetness breathed down my neck...
Saying things like,
"I'm starving!"
and
"Are you done yet?"
and
"When are you going to be done?"
and
"Do you really need to take that many pictures?"
and
"I'm hungry, the food's getting cold."
Whine, whine, whine.

Which then moved to eye rolling, harumphing and then a fork getting awful dang close to the MUSHROOM I WAS THISCLOSE PHOTOGRAPHING!

Because Sweetness is a literary person
(and for Pete's sake, I highly doubt she was absolutely, completely, 100% starving like she and her sister always make out to be),
I asked her to answer the following questions:
Angie's Note: I gave her these questions after the Hungry Bear that is Sweetness had eaten.

Question #1
Angie aka Mom: Sweetness, were you really starving?
Sweetness: Yes Mother, I was, I get the sense that you were trying to starve me-combine that with the fact that I couldn't leave the house today as a result of the snow-it was a real Mommy Dearest situation.

Question #2
Really? When was the last time you had eaten?
Sweetness: The last time you allowed me to eat some of the cat food (it felt like it, anyways!!)

Question #3
Why are you and your sister so impatient with food?
Sweetness: Bad genes I guess. One time we were watching you as you cut the pot roast on a calm Christmas Eve and she without thought or care literally smacked my hand down and pushed me away as I was trying to grab a piece of meat, and then took it herself. This was about a month ago.

Question #4
What is the hardest thing about being home on Christmas break?
Sweetness: Cat.

Question #5
What is the easiest?
Sweetness: Purple flower.

Question #6
Will you vacuum the carpets tonight?
Sweetness: Sure, let me pull out my stockings and get on a train that will take me back to the 18th century.

Question #7
Angie aka Mom (clearly exasperated): How old are you?
Sweetness: Slowly encroaching upon my mid-twenties, and then death.

Question #8
Would it have killed you to have waited five minutes for the mushrooms while I took the pictures?
Sweetness: Food was getting cold and so was I.

Question #9
Angie aka Mom: Do you know how to do dishes?
Sweetness: Refer to my response in #6.

Question #10
Do you EVER want me to cook for you again?!?!
Oh, by the way, how were the stuffed mushroom caps?
Sweetness: YES!!!!!!
THEY WERE DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!

Question #11
Angie aka Mom: Let me ask one more time....will you vacuum the carpets tonight?
*crickets*
*crickets*
*crickets*
*crickets*
Sweetness, you didn't answer the last question. Sweetness! Sweetness!! Sweetness!!! SWEEEEEEETNNNNNEEEEEESS!!!!!

The fixins for this tasty Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Portobellos

Okay,
in all seriousness, this stuffed mushroom recipe is easy and tasty and a super nice alternative to meat night.

The portobellos really are like eating meat.
By the way, get the big portobellos, try not to get the Grillers.
The Grillers seem smaller and you want as much mushroom as you can get to hold this thick hunk-O-hunk-O creamy filling.

Cheese-&-Spinach-Stuffed Portobellos
From Eating Well Magazine: March/April 2009
www.eatingwell.com (This is an excellent magazine with recipes anyone can make)
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com
Eating Well says, “Here we take the elements of a vegetarian lasagna filling—ricotta, spinach and Parmesan cheese—and nestle them into roasted portobello mushroom caps. The recipe works best with very large portobello caps; if you can only find smaller ones, buy one or two extra and divide the filling among all the caps. Serve with a tossed salad and a whole-wheat dinner roll or spaghetti tossed with marinara sauce.
Angie’s note: I also added three cloves of chopped garlic for an extra layer of flavor.
Ingredients
· 4 large portobello mushroom caps
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
· 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
· 1 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
· 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
· 2 tablespoons finely chopped kalamata olives…(Angie used black olives instead)
· 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
· 3/4 cup prepared marinara sauce

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Place mushroom caps, gill-side up, on the prepared pan. Sprinkle with salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes
3. Meanwhile, mash ricotta, spinach, 1/4 cup Parmesan, olives, Italian seasoning and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Place marinara sauce in a small bowl, cover and microwave on High until hot, 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes.
4. When the mushrooms are tender, carefully pour out any liquid accumulated in the caps. Return the caps to the pan gill-side up. Spread 1 tablespoon marinara into each cap; cover the remaining sauce to keep warm.
5. Mound a generous 1/3 cup ricotta filling into each cap and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
6. Bake until hot, about 10 minutes. Serve with the remaining marinara sauce.

So we start by scraping those gill things out of the inside of the mushroom caps.
By the way, apparently you should not run your portobellos under water to clean them because they absorb the water. Apparently you are to take like a towel and wipe them down. I've done both and definitely using a paper towel worked better than having soggy portobellos.

Preheat oven to 450. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
Place the mushrooms on the sheet, gill side up.
(Does the word "gill" make you gross out too when talking about mushrooms?)
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender 20-25 minutes.
RED ALERT, RED ALERT, DO NOT roast too long.
They will become flimsy and soggy. These mushrooms really only took 17 minutes and look how done they look even..

Meanwhile, chop your spinach and olives.
I used black olives because I am not a fan of kalamata olives.
Mash the ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, olives, Italian seasoning, and pepper.
By the way, I did add in three cloves of chopped garlic.

The brown spots on the cookie sheet are tiny liquid drops from roasting the mushrooms.

Warm up your marinara...I made mine instead of using jarred but jarred works great too.
When mushrooms are tender, pour out any liquid that might be on them.
Spread 1 tablespoon marinara (I spooned in about 2-3 tablespoons myself) into each cap...Actually Sweetness didn't want marinara on her two, so I left the marinara off two of them and it made a huge flavor difference.

Mound a generous 1/3 cup ricotta filling into each cap.

Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.

Bake until hot; about 10 minutes.

Platter these babies up and bring to the table.

Man, these are delicious!
It's like biting into a gorgeous piece of veggie pizza!
So not kidding you!

Try this out!
Oh, they are great the next day too believe it or not!

Have a great Thursday!!! Chat at ya soon!

By the way, I've been making chicken and turkey meatballs and steak, I'm sorry to say.

NO I'M NOT!
I'M NOT SORRY!
:):):)
See you next time :):):)

One Hundred Years Later I Share With You Blackened Chicken, Jalapeno Rosemary Alfredo and Pasta Salad

1/16/2012

So,
remember back about a hundred years ago when I shared my birthday meal with you that included a Twice Baked Sweet Potato recipe?

Well, the other dishes I made and served up that night were Blackened Chicken served with a
Jalapeno Rosemary Alfredo and
a Pasta Salad that I threw together on my own.

I'll be sharing the recipes for that Blackened Chicken, the Alredo Sauce and that Pasta Salad today....here's a quick peak at the meal...

Remember, that Jalapeno Rosemary Alfredo sauce isn't just a sauce for pasta, Ima tell ya, this makes a great dipping sauce too.
I used it as a dipping sauce so-to-speak for the Blackened Chicken Breast.

This alfredo recipe is so easy!

And the Blackened Chicken recipe is soooo easy too!!

And real tasty, not too spicy even.
Works great on fish too, we used this recipe for tilapia and it was fantastic as well.

Here are these easy Blackened Chicken and Alfredo sauce recipes embedded below.
The recipes are also listed at the end of the blog too.

These two recipes are so easy in fact,

I feel like I want to

shout it from the
rooftop.

I'm going up right now to the rooftop to shout the ease of these tasty dishes.

Image: opentravelinfo.com

HEY!!!
Wait a minute!
Who are these people on.my. rooftop?!?!!!!

In.my.pools!!!

What the heck???
Hey you guys, GET OUT!
You're tresspassing!
That's illegal!

Okay.
So that picture up above isn't necessarily my rooftop.

Mine's a bit more, uh, scaled down shall we say.

I'm a little embarrassed actually how crappy my rooftop is but I still want to shout how easy the recipes are.
So here's my real rooftop I'll be shouting the news from.

Image: unstitchedblog.com...a very pretty blog actually

WHAT?????

How do YOU KNOW that's not where Tim

and I dine every night?

Out on our roof.
top.
By the ocean.

Okay FINE! I'll come clean.

Unfortunately this picture really DOES seems to be most reminiscent of our roof.
*Sigh*

Yup. I'm B-U-S-T-E-D.

Oh well.
Shall we move on?

Fixins for the Blackened Chicken

So these are the fixins for the Blackened Chicken...not a lot of ingredients huh?

And yet the chicken is moist and tasty when completed!

I went ahead and fileted (is that what it's called?) or sliced the breasts lenghtwise in half so they would cook quicker and be a more even size all around.

Smokin' hot skillet. Doesn't look like it, but it is. Sizzzzle.

Now grease a baking sheet and heat up the skillet until smoking hot.

The terrible lighting in this picture is strategy, that way you don't notice the dirty counter top.

Mix together the
paprika, salt, cayenne, cumin, thyme, white pepper and onion powder.

Oil the chicken breasts with cooking spray on both sides, then coat evenly with spice mixture.
Place the chicken in the hot pan and cook for 1 minute. Turn and cook for another minute on the other side.

Place the breasts on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the oven until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
And wallah!!!

Still moving along quickly...
See how easy that was?

I made the Jalapeno Rosemary Alfredo while I waited for the chicken...

Fixins for the Jalapeno Rosemary Alfredo.

Fixins for the best sauce recipe you will ever eat in your whole entire life you will like it so much you will want to pay me but I am a kindly person and say just keep the money yourself and buy a nice new skillet or spatula or pretty dress or something.

T'aint much for ingredients here, is there?

Heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat.
Cook and stir the garlic and jalapeno pepper in the hot oil until fragrant.

Add the heavy cream, reduce the heat to low.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese and rosemary.
Continue cooking until the cheese is completely melted, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Okay,
so the alfredo sauce is staying warm, let's start on that

Pasta Salad.
Uh, I did not use a recipe, I just kind of threw stuff in that I knew were the basics.

Looks like these are the fixins for the pasta salad.
I sort of just winged it and added ingredients used in a basic, tasty pasta salad.

Before you prepare to make the salad, be sure to slice off a piece or two of that fresh mozzarella. And then eat it.

You don't have to use ALL of it in the salad.
After all, the cook's gotta keep their energy up.

Cube up your mozzarella and halve the cherry or grape tomatoes and throw them in the bowl with the cooked whole wheat pasta.

Toss in some chopped basil, pepper and salt, red wine vinegar, a tablespoon or so of capers and freshly minced garlic. Finally, drizzle with olive oil to taste.

Now, doesn't it look yummy?
And because I used whole wheat pasta, so very healthy.

And the full meal once again just in case you haven't been bored to death already!

OH!!!

By the way,
the next day,
I made up a chicken sandwich with the leftover Blackened Chicken and Alfredo sauce...

And stuck it in the new panini griddler....

Hello Loverly!

And now I will include the recipes down here so certain people (hey Ma!) can access them and write or print them off...

Blackened Chicken
From www.allrecipes.com submitted by Karena
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Karena says, “Take the bait and try this spicy charred chicken-a Cajun favorite.”

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes until it is smoking hot
2.Mix together the paprika, salt, cayenne, cumin, thyme, white pepper, and onion powder. Oil the chicken breasts with cooking spray on both sides, then coat the chicken breasts evenly with the spice mixture.
3.Place the chicken in the hot pan, and cook for 1 minute. Turn, and cook 1 minute on other side. Place the breasts on the prepared baking sheet.
4.Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 minutes.

Jalapeno Rosemary Alfredo
From www.allrecipes.com submitted by: MsDo
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

MsDo says, "This Alfredo sauce recipe is given a bit of a kick with the addition of fresh jalapeno pepper, as well as the herbal deliciousness of rosemary."

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the garlic and jalapeno pepper in the hot oil until fragrant, about 5 minutes; add the heavy cream and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Stir the Parmesan cheese and rosemary through the mixture; continue cooking until the cheese is completely melted, about 5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to serve.

And finally the pasta salad.

If you read all the way through this post,
you have much patience.
And I salute you!

The Pasta Salad That Angie Made That Tasted Good But She Can’t Remember All The Ingredients and Amounts
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
8 oz. whole wheat fusili or spiral pasta, cooked to al dente (I sound so knowledgeable when I say “al dente”) al dente, al dente, al dente.
Package of cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved (not the package, the tomatoes)
Fresh Mozzarella, I think 8 oz., cubed
About 1 Tbsp. fresh garlic, minced
Maybe 1 Tbsp. capers
A spot of red wine vinegar (maybe a Tbsp. but “a spot” sounds so much hoitier)
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to taste
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. Cook the pasta.
2. Cut up the mozzarella and tomatoes. Eat a bit of each.
3. Mince the garlic cloves.
4. Scour the pantry for that jar of capers that you know is there and get disgusted by how a pantry can get so out-of-control so quickly after Christmas.
5. Look in the fridge for the capers and find them stuck way in back. Opened.
6. Throw everything together in a too small bowl and have lots of the spiral pasta spill out on the counter. Put all the stuff in a larger bowl and curse because now you’ve dirtied two bowls and it’s still not big enough.
7. Get out the third, more appropriate size bowl.
8. Toss the overflowing pasta, mozzarella, tomatoes, capers, and garlic from the too-small bowl in the appropriate size bowl.
9. Splash your red wine vinegar in there with the salt and pepper and olive oil.
10. Look at the floor and hope the dog will eat the pasta that spilled off the counter.
11. Wash hands, take off apron, grab a plate, take lots of boring pictures to bore readers even more so than normal.
12. Eat up!
Yum! This really is an excellent, basic, pasta salad guideline.
Enjoy!

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Leeks and Sausage

1/11/2012

Does this Twice Baked Sweet Potato with Leeks and Sausage look yummy to you?

As you can see,
I made several of them.

These Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes were part of my birthday meal.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANGIE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANGIE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ANGIEEEEEE
NOW GO OUT AND MAKE WHATEVER MEAL YOU WANT AND DIRTY UP THE KITCHEN AND MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CLEAN UP

Actually, that last part is called every day of the week.

And this is the menu I wanted to make. I'd been eyeballing these recipes for a month and finally took time to make them.
1. Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Leeks and Sausage
2. Whole Wheat Pasta Salad
3. Blackened Chicken with Jalapeno Rosemary Alfredo Sauce

Doesn't the meal look scrumptious below?
Initially I accidentally typed scumtious. I hope it does NOT look scumtious but instead looks scrumptious to you.
It doesn't look scumtious does it? *cocks head to the right* Nope, scrumptious!
Whew.

And this meal was gooooooooooooood!!!
See that Jalapeno Rosemary Alfredo on the Blackened Chicken?
Finger-lickin' good is what that is.
That alfredo also made a great sauce on a panini sandwich the next day too!
I could actually drink the stuff, it was that good.
Must stop talking about that alfredo sauce now, people will think I'm a freak(ier).

Ima share the Sweet Potato recipe today and later today or tomorrow, I will share the Blackened Chicken, Jalapeno Rosemary Alfredo and the pasta recipes. Will try to do this quicker than normal.

I cute. I adorable. I can't help it; I a babeee.

OH! OH! OH!
Human Baby Sweet Potato Alert! Human Baby Sweet Potato Alert!!

Doesn't Little Boy Blue look like a
little sweet potato in this picture?
I just want to eat him up, he's so adorable.
Look at those cheeks! Look at those socks!

Someone looks like they're a big eater.

NO! NOT ME!

The cute little sweet potato baby! Sheez.

So these are the fixins for the Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Leeks and Sausage.

By the way, this recipe is from the Dec11/Jan12 issue of Fine Cooking magazine.

This recipe is simply fantastic. It's a nice option to regular twice baked potatoes but more importantly they are so much healthier and packed full of flavor.
The sweetness of the potatoes, the savory Italian sausage, and the creamy Gruyere cheese, OH MY GOSH, these are so fantastic!
No kidding, I ate these potatoes for three days straight. You can eat a whole potato as a meal or a half as a side dish.

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Leeks and Sausage
by Martha Holmberg from Fine Cooking Magazine Dec11/Jan12 issue
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com
Fine Cooking magazine tips: In these comforting stuffed sweet potatoes, fresh herbs, salty sausage, Gruyère, and sour cream are delicious, savory counterpoints to the sweet potatoes and leeks. Serve them as a main dish or as an accompaniment to seared steak or roast chicken. Serves 4 as a main course; 8 as a side dish

Ingredients
4 small sweet potatoes (about 8 oz. each)
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 lb. bulk sweet Italian sausage (or link sausage, casings removed)
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 lb. leeks, white and light-green parts only, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1 tsp. chopped fresh sage
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
Kosher salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Gruyère

Magazine tip: Sweet potatoes have thin, delicate skin that tears easily, so don’t scrape too hard when scooping them out. Leaving 1/8 inch of flesh in each shell will keep it from flopping closed.

Directions
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F. Line a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with parchment or foil. Poke the sweet potatoes a few times with the tip of a knife and arrange them on the baking sheet. Bake until completely tender when pierced in the fattest part with a skewer, 35 to 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, breaking it into small bits with the edge of a slotted spoon, until no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Pour off all but 1 Tbs. of the fat and add the butter. When it melts, add the leeks, sage, thyme, and 1-1/2 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring stirring, until the mixture just starts to sizzle. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the leeks are very soft and starting to turn golden, 10 to 15 minutes.

When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, carefully cut them in half lengthwise and gently scoop the flesh into a medium bowl, leaving about 1/8 inch of flesh in the shells. Mash the scooped flesh with a fork or potato masher until smooth. Stir in the sour cream and 1 tsp. salt. Fold the sausage and leeks into the mashed sweet potato and season to taste with salt.

Position a rack 6 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler on high. Mound the filling into the potato skins and top with the cheese. Put the potatoes in a 9x13-inch baking dish and broil until the cheese is golden, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

So bake up yer sweet potatoes.

A suggestion, oil the outsides of the sweet potatoes with olive oil before baking, it makes the skin a bit crisper for holding the inside goodness that gets whipped up.
Too bad I didn't know this before I made these, but it works fine even if you don't oil them.

Bake until tender.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and cook the sa-weeeet Italian sausage. Once cooked, transfer sausage to a plate and set aside. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. oil.
Look at that skillet full of good stuff left after the sausage was transferred.
This will be part of your base for sauteing the leeks. Along with butter.
Need I elaborate more?

Add the butter, let it melt, then add the leeks, sage, thyme and salt.
Cook until sizzling, then turn down heat and saute until the leeks turn golden, about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, after the potatoes have cooled, cut in half lengthwise and gently scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl.
Make certain to leave a layer of flesh surrounding the skin thick enough to sturdy the shell.

Mash the scooped out potatoes with a fork or potato masher.
(The masher works way better than a fork, the fork was futile. I would have been better off using a toothpick than a fork, that's how frustrating using a fork was.)

Anyhoo add the sour cream and fold in the leeks and sausage mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

So here's the filling all mixed up together, ready to go in the potato shells.

If you must, go ahead, grab a spoon and begin eating the filling because IT TASTES SO DARN GOOD! No one will blame or judge you. If they do, just give them a clean spoon and share.

Also do not pick out all the sausage out of the mixture and eat it.
That would be rude.

Mound the filling into the potato skins and top with the Gruyere cheese.

Please give me a minute right now so I can daydream about my friend Gruyere.

Angie is opening up the tub of shredded Gruyere. Angie is looking around to make sure no one is looking. Angie is now shoveling out a heaping handful of Gruyere and stuffs the whole entire handful of cheese in her mouth like a rabid coon, picking up the few morsels off the floor using the 3 second rule. Angie tosses head back slyly and sinisterly exclaims hahahahahahahahahahah.

Okay, I'm done. Moving on.

Broil the potatoes under the broiler until the cheese is golden brown,
about 4 minutes.

Plate it up and taste creamy yumminess like you've never tasted before.

Then go back into the kitchen where the other Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes are sitting on the tray. Find all those tasty little sausage morsels in each potato and pull them out and pat the cheese back down on top like they were never touched.

What?!?!?!

Is that gross?

Don't worry, I don't REALLY do that.

Much.

:):):) See ya soon!

Angie And Her Skillet Are Flying High Now

1/6/2012

I am in love with a skillet.....

Remember Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show band from the 1970's?!?!

They sang
"When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman."

Well, I sang this song several nights ago after I had just gotten my NEW AWESOME CAST IRON SKILLET from my sister-in-law for Christmas.

Except I sang out loud and proud, "WHEN YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL SKILLET."

Does that seem weird to you?
Don't answer.

Just for kicks,

and because I have just learned how to embed You Tube videos here...(YAY),

I embedded Dr. Hooks video from 1978 of the band singing that Beautiful Woman song.

Here, take a little peek...
I guess you need to use like Mozilla to see this video. If you are using Internet Explorer (Hi Mom!) you may need to go to another computer to enjoy all the fineness of Dr. Hook's music.
I also took some liberties with the written lyrics below.

When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
It's hard .
When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
You know it's hard .
Everybody wants your skillet
Everybody loves your skillet
Everybody wants to take your skillet home .
When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
You watch your friends
When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
It never ends .
You know that it's crazy
You want to trust the skillet
then somebody hangs up when you answer the 'phone .
When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
You go it alone .
Maybe it's just that ego problem .
Problem is I've been fooled before
My fair weatherfriends
and faint hearted lovers
but every time it happens
it just convinces me more .
When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
you watch your eyes .
When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
You look for lies .
Everybody tempts the skillet
Everybody tells the skillet
She's the most beautiful skillet they know .
When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
You go it alone
When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
You watch your friends
When you're in love with a beautiful skillet
It never ends .

I think I'll name my skillet "Sylvia" after
Dr. Hook's other song,
"Sylvia's Mother".
Remember Sylvia's Mother Mrs. Avery?
What a witch!
Just kidding.

"....and the operator said 40 cents more for the next three minutes, PLEEEAAASSSEE Mrs. Avery, I, just gotta talk to her, I'll only keep her a while...."

And just to keep things interesting, I'm embedding Jon
"say what the what?" Bon Jovi singing "Sylvia's Mother."

Don't hate me!

Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's busy, too busy to come to the phone
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's tryin' to start a new life of her own
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's happy so why don't you leave her alone
And the operator says forty cents more for the next three minutes

Please Mrs. Avery, I just gotta talk to her,
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs. Avery, I just wanna tell her goodbye

Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's packin' she's gonna be leavin' today
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's marryin' a fella down Galveston way
Sylvia's mother says please don't say nothin' to make her start cryin' and stay
And the operator says forty cents more for the next three minutes

Please Mrs. Avery, I just gotta talk to her,
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs. Avery, I just wanna tell her goodbye

Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's hurryin' she's catchin' the nine o'clock train
Sylvia's mother says take your umbrella cause Sylvie, it's startin' to rain
And Sylvia's mother says thank you for callin' and sir won't you call back again
And the operator says forty cents more for the next three minutes

Please Mrs. Avery, I just gotta talk to her,
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs. Avery, I just wanna tell her goodbye

Tell her goodbye...
Please... tell her goodbye..

Well crap.
Those lyrics were depressing.

Ima not name my skillet Sylvia after all.

Ima name her Rocky.

Because one day we may run

up the steps of the Philly Art

Museum together.

Don't laugh. It could happen!

Okay fine,
I won't bore you with any more videos.

But I will be showcasing Rocky quite a bit on this here blog in the future.
The skillet, not the actor.
Duh.
Sheeeezzzz....

Happy Friday!!!!
By the way, I want to paint my bathroom this color coral; isn't it pretty?
Pretty 80's probably, but still.

Blushing Over Spicy White Bean Chili

1/5/2012

Super yummy, super healthy SPICY WHITE BEAN CHILI

Oh stop it!
I'm blushing now.

I know. I know.
This recipe is a winner because it is clean, healthy and the spices rev up your metabolism.

Yes, it's true...this Spicy White Bean Chili won't vacuum all the pet hair up in your house.
Or add to your 401k.
Or even facilitate World Peace.
Gosh, I wish there was World Peace.

But this Spicy White Bean Chili recipe will make you feel good after eating it, I think even little kiddos will like it, and it makes more than what you think.
There will probably be some left over for lunch the next day.

And here's the fixin's for this belly nourishing, metabolism revving soup.

Below is the recipe and directions.
Now if you are reading this on a computer or I-Pad (Hi Mom!) and can not see the full recipe, go to another computer that allows for you to see this embedded document.
I'm betting my mom won't do this, so I will cut and paste here too as well. *sigh*

By the way, this is not a complicated recipe at all.
It comes together verrrrry quickly!!!

Spicy White Bean Chili
From the New Pioneer Coop website www.newpi.com
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

New Mexican flavors like corn, tomatillos, and smoky chipotle also brighten this slightly spicy, easy-to-prepre vegetarian meal in a bowl. Serve it with your favorite southwest toppings such as lime juice, cheese, cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, or tortilla chips. Meat eaters can add chicken or sausage.

Ingredients
2 T vegetable oil
1 C. yellow onion, chopped
1 T. garlic, minced
½ t. dried oregano
½ t. ground cumin
½ t. chipotle chili powder (I just use chili powder)
½ t. ground coriander
2 C. vegetable broth
8 oz. prepared salsa verde
1 15 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilis
3 15 oz. cans cooked beans (great northern or your choice)
2 C. cooked corn kernals, drained

Directions
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a medium size heavy pot.
Add the onions and garlic and cook until limp, not browned.
Add cumin, chili powder, coriander and oregano to the onions and sauté one more minute.
Add the broth, diced tomatoes, and salsa verde.
Bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes.
Add the beans* and corn and simmer 10 minutes more until desired thickness. Salt and pepper to taste.
*Meat eaters can add up to 2 cups chicken or sausage to the beans

Okay,
we start by sauteing the onions and garlic but don't let the onions get too brown, saute just until soft.

Add the spices and saute one minute more.

Add the broth, diced tomatoes and salsa verde. Bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes.
(Oops, guess who can see NOW that I forgot to add the salsa verde in. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Don't forget it though!)

By the way, definitley use Fire-roasted diced tomatoes for this soup. I have used regular diced tomatoes and regular diced tomatoes create far less flavor. The Fire-roasted is what makes this recipe have that sumpin' special special.

Add the beans and corn and simmer 10 minutes more until desired thickness.

I usually make up some cheese quesadillas in a pan to eat with this New Mexican style soup.

Guess who eats all those nice crusty melted cheese things off the quesadillas before serving?

Is that bad?

Or SMART?

And then I plate the soup and quesadillas up,
and then I look all over the place for my camera, blaming the missing camera on Tim, the dog, the cats, my visiting niece, you know, everybody but myself.

And then I find the camera in my coat pocket, take a quick snapshot and act like it's not my fault how the camera ended up in my coat pocket.

And then I devour the meal.

And it is good!

And inexpensive!! Yoo Hoo!!

Try it out!

Next up is my birthday meal I made for myself, using a couple recipes I've wanted to make for a long time..including twice baked sweet potatoes with sweet Italian sausage. YUM! Will try to get this posted tonight or tomorrow, I'm so excited to share! Now watch, it'll be this weekend and I'll come off like I was lyin'. Crap.

Have a great Thursday!!!!

NEW PANINI MAKER and it just ain't for rich folks...YAY!!!

1/1/2012

Happy New Year everybody!!!

Hope it was a good one!

I'm SO EXCITED!!!
I must tell you about my new

PANINI MAKER GRILL THING.

It's AWESOME!

It looks like a crab here,
making it's way across my kitchen counter,
but in actuality it is a stationery electrical appliance.

See, it won't hurt you.

But it will make you LOVE sandwiches better.

At least it did me.

Look, it's opening it's mouth and telling you to feed it.

"GIVE ME YOUR CRAPPY, BORING SANDWICH AND I WILL MAKE IT EXCITING"

is what it is saying.

Okay,
so I took the bait and ponied up two slices of boring Wonder 100% whole wheat bread.

*Yawn*

I slapped some deli sliced turkey on the bread.

*Sheez, can someone wake me up when this boring blog post is over?!?!?!*

OH MY GOSH, I CAN'T STAND IT...Pepper jack cheese????

NO!!!

Well, NOW things are really hoppin'!!

Throw the other slice of bread on top and you have...ahhh...hmmm....
well, uh, yeah, a boring old turkey and cheese sandwich.

*What? Is it like midnight or something, cuz I'm dying of boredom of my own words and pictures here.*

Wait!

Hold the presses!

What is this? Pam Olive Oil spray?

What do I do with this?

Why is this important to this blog post? Much less this sandwich?

Say what the what?!?!

You want me to spray both sides of the sandwich with Pam cooking spray?

Why?

Whatever good can become of spraying bread with olive oil? I'm confused! That's just WEIRD!!!

Well, after getting over my initial shock of spraying bread, I sprayed both sides and
placed the sandwich on the panini press.
And closed the lid.

Now if you haven't passed out or clicked away of boredom yet,
hang in there please.....

Cuz wait a couple minutes and then open up the fancy dancy panini press and

LOOK

WHAT

YOU

HAVE!

A non-boring, warm,
tasty,
oozy
turkey and pepper jack cheese extraordinaire sandwich!

On a really messy, crumb-filled plate no less!

Dear Mr. Boring Turkey Sandwich,

You don't look boring at all now.

Love,
Angie

In fact, you look even better up close....my stomach is gurgling noises, saying feed me, feed me.

Oh, and the best part?

The panini press is easy to clean...

Triple YAY!!!

I know this is not clean yet, I took the picture immediately after taking the sandwich off the griddler, but all the crumbs wiped away very handily.

Okay, I lied. I haven't cleaned it yet but I can tell by the non-stick surface it's easy to clean.

So I learned a couple things today:
1. Panini makers aren't just for hoity, rich folk. Mine was a Christmas gift from my Mother-in-law. The press is a Cuisinart brand, I think original price around $100 on sale for $50.
2. Paninis elevate the taste of a sandwich and are verrrrry easy to make. Even a monkey could make a panini. As you witnessed above.

Photo courtesy of photoshoppix.com

Angie aka Bubbles the Monkey
says

HAPPY

NEW

YEAR
and go out and buy a panini press, you won't be disappointed

and the next post will be all about an exciting Spicy White Bean Chili!

Hold yer hats on for that one :)!!!

Have a great Monday!!

Hope everybody's Holidays

were awesome!