Late Fall / Early Spring Recipe Round Up

I've actually collected some really good recipes over the last few months that I'm finally getting to share.  And I've been continuing my monthly chocolate baking project so check out the desserts from March, April, and May at the end!

Halibut w/Crispy Shallots and Beet/Goat Cheese Salad - and a yummy green tea/lemonade cocktaile

Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon

Finally got the hang of my slow-cooker ribs

Fried Pork Chops and Peach Sauce

And to satisfy your sweet tooth..........

March - Double Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

April - White Chocolate Cake

May - Mexican Chocolate Brownie Sundaes

Top 10 Favorite Things - February

TOP ROW
1. A few much needed days alone at the Mohegan Sun...bonus - I won $26 at the penny slots
2. The Panera in Quakertown has a DRIVE THRU!!! This is going to be dangerous
3. This picture of my niece celebrating her big girl bed - VICTORY
4. No more bottles for this silly guy
5. The way my bathroom is shaping up

BOTTOM ROW
6. My new impulse buy - I found a 100 year old window frame from an old barn;  plan is to eventually turn it into a mirror for above the fireplace
7. My great husband who took me to the antique store by our house for Valentines day (he said it wasn't as bad as he thought...for some reason he thought the whole things would be full of lamps)
8.  Thank you to my friend Allison for showing us the awesome indoor playground/coffee shop by our house
9. Blake starting to get through the night dry - almost there
10. The Sprint Narwhal commercial - those 10 seconds make my day



Also - I found more pictures of yummy food that we've tried out over the last few months....no idea why I didn't look in this folder my last go around but enjoy:

Ruben Dip - awesome for football watching

Grits and Crawfish

Parmesean Chicken with Potato/Pancetta Hash

Roasted Apple Napoleons

Happy New Year!! (Yeah I know it's February)

I wish I could say the Holiday Season in our house was extra Merry - but our entire household has been going through rotating cases of the plague since before Christmas (starting Xmas Eve, all 4 of us were diagnosed with Strep Throat so it was a bit sad to have to spend those days in quarantine).  I also wish I could say that we made it through with flying colors, but right now I am on the mend from my 2nd case of Strep, and Blake is just getting over some unknown variety of overall runny nose/coughing/fever.  Antibiotics for all!!!!

In the midst of all of this, we did manage to have some good times.  I decided to put some of my favorite memories (and meals) into this one post and then hope for nothing but good things for the rest of 2015 - or at least no more Strep Throat!!

TOP ROW
1. Christmas Parties at the boys school - Mimi and Pappy joined us for the festivities
2. Addie's Xmas Show - her snowman costume was the cutest thing I have ever seen...although the "Here Comes Santa" song is still perpetually in my head
3. New Year's Eve at Sesame Place - despite it being a bit chilly, this was a great way to spend a family New Year's together
4. Getting some house updates done btw. sicknesses - the under the sink drawer is one of my new favorite things
5. Lots of new tools underneath the Christmas Tree

BOTTOM ROW
6. Xmas day with my boys - we missed Daddy who was home in bed, but at least I had my monsters to keep me company
7. Luckily Blake and I were well enough to still get to see FROZEN on Ice
8. Pre-Christmas trip to Hershey....poor Blake was absolutely miserable for most of the time, but he was a little trooper
9. Sledding!!!!  We found the perfect hill right across the street....I get a little teary thinking that this will be the hill that I watch my boys sled on for years to come
10. Both boys feeling MUCH better by the New Year....nothing worse then seeing your kids sick


And in case anyone missed it - this video of GOB falling out of the sled is probably my FAVORITE THING EVER...he was completely fine and went down the hill plenty of times afterwards

I actually thought I had taken more pictures of our yummy winter fare - but I guess that was a bit too much for me to remember to do.   But I did grab pics my absolute favorite new recipes that I tried out

First - Chicken Milanese with Cherry Tomato and Fennel Sauce....honestly this is the BOMB!!!  I cannot wait to make it again

  
Second - For 2015, Food Network Magazine came up with one chocolate dessert for each month of the year and my New Year's Resolution is to make them ALL.  I posted a pic of the February one in my Valentines Day Post...but here is a pick of the January recipe that I made for Superbowl Sunday - Chocolate Blackout Crunch cake.  It was so good that even my husband, not the world's biggest chocolate fan, went back for seconds

Third - Homemade Marshmallows that Blake and I made.  I always wanted to try making marshmallows, and it was super easy.  GOB was obsessed and pointed to them at every single meal....so we will be breaking varieties of these out again come birthday party time

So Happy Late New Year Everyone...here's to our first full year in our New House and to exploring all that our new area has to offer

What's For Dinner - Late Summer / Early Fall Roundup

Here's a few of my favorite bites from the last few months....going to be cooking Thanksgiving for me and the boys next week and very excited to try out a things I've never made before (+ the most amazing Pumpkin Pie ever)

Spinach and Artichoke Rollatini	Slow Cooker Hoisin Ribs w/Bacon Cornbread
Chick and Biscuit "Pigs in a Blanket"	Ruben Dip
Crawfish and Grits	Roasted Apple Pies
Chicken Milanese w/Bacon and Pancetta Potatoes

Early Summer Recipe Round Up

I am absolutely LOVING my new kitchen!!! The splurge to get the updated layout was completely worth it for me, and makes putting together big meals so much more manageable!  Been collecting pics of some of the best meals I've cooked since we've been in the new house so here's a round-up of what's been cooking:

Crab Cake Sliders

Father's Day Dinner: Asian BBQ Ribs, Stuffed Potato Skins, Soy Broccoli w/Chili Peppers

Lemon Ziti and Balsamic Asparagus

Three Pepper Linguini w Burrata Cheese

Fried Egg Open Face BLTs (These are now one of my staples)

Greek Pizza

Cheese Fry Topped Burgers

Pie, Pumpkin, Pizza, Polenta.....and Lots of Lamb!

Yummy food pics from the last few weeks!  Since most of my dishes will soon be packed away and we'll be relegated to paper plates and leftover soon, this may be the last food post for a while (but just you wait...my double ovens and gas stove are just waiting to be installed!!!)

Brownie Pie....Proud of my walnut spacing proportions

Jon's Favorite Bday dinner...Braised Lamb Tacos

Also snuck in this reallly good Quinoa and Hearts of Palm Salad

Easy kids recipe..Cheese Tortellini w/Creamy Pumpkin Sauce

Getting close to having the perfect pizza crust timing figured out...

...but FINALLY mastered the perfect Fried Polenta!! Been living on leftover triangles and goat cheese for breakfast

Chicken, Spaghetti Squash, Lots of Pork, and Grilled Cheese

Have had a lot of last minute showing pop up over the last few weeks so been forgetting to take a lot of food pics, but here's a few that I managed to snag before we started eating.....

Chicken w/Mushrooms and Whipped Parsnips

Perfect dinner for a Rainy Monday!!!

Tried to trick Blake and use Spaghetti Squash instead of pasta....didn't work

Slow Cooker Pork ragu......awesome and made enough for LOTS of sandwiches

What's for Dinner (Steak, Tostadas, and Chicken)

Instead of writing individual posts for my adventures in cooking (that was turning out to be a little too ambitious for my jam-packed life) I decided just writing one blog for a week's worth of food would be a much better way to go! As you can see, I'm already falling behind so this may turn into a semi-weekly, maybe sometimes monthly thing....but I really do like sharing some of the really yummy food we've been enjoying.  Feel free to skip these blogs if food ain't yo' thing

Blue Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Roasted Brussel Sprouts (my new obsession) and potatoes...first time stuffing a chicken breast...will be doing that again!

So I didn't quite get a pic of this one before I started eating it...Instituting Meatless Monday's in our house so this was our first installment - Tostadas with Spaghetti Squash, Roasted Veggies, and Black Beans

Flank Steak with Soy Dijon Sauce and Roasted Asparagus w/Blue Cheese and Balsamic Onions....might be my favorite from last week...could go for some of that steak right now!

What's for dinner tonight......

I've been slowwwwly starting to get back into cooking some great dinners, in between the heartburn/nausea/exhaustion, but have been less successful at getting these up on the blog....so here's a few of my favorites from over the last few weeks!

Seared Scallops w/Bacon Vinaigrette and Sauteed Spinach

Grilled Shrimp Cobb Salad

Cornbread Salad (perfect compliment to spicy BBQ on hot summer days!)

Chicken w/Balsamic Shallot Sauce, Roasted Potatoes and Beets w/Jalapeno Cream

What's for Dinner.....Blush Mac & Cheese

Really easy, healthy, and tasty Mac and Cheese recipe with roasted cherry tomatoes and spinach.  Perfect weekday night dinner.  Too bad the little man wasn't feeling too good...toast and applesauce for him, but Jon and I enjoyed!

What's for Dinner...Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Broccolini

Decided to make a slightly fancy dinner on Friday night and break out some nice filets.  But the best thing that I made was the Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Broccolini.  I love sweet potatoes but it always seems to take so long to cook them to get them soft, but cutting them into easy little rounds cut that time down dramatically!  Halfway through cooking the potatoes, I added some Broccolini....and now I don't think I will ever eat Broccoli any other way except roasted.  The tops became perfectly crunchy and with a little bit of salt it was like eating healthy popcorn.  Blake even tried a little bit, and he HATES broccoli.  Definitely something I will be making many times in the future.