the one meat recipe i will actually eat

as you know, i am a vegetarian.  i was never a big meat eater to begin with and i definitely didnt eat seafood.  i found this recipe though as i was looking for something easy and quick that richard could take for lunch.  turns out, i like this a lot and found myself snacking on it too :)


ingredients are...

• 1 loaf french bread
• 1 small sweet onion, peeled and diced
• 1 (12 ounce) can tuna, drained
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup mayonnaise (which of course i made from my own recipe)

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. in a mixing bowl, combine sweet onion, drained tuna, mozzarella, and mayonnaise. mix well.
3. spread tuna mixture on slices of french bread.
4. bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

super simple and quite delicious.  

mary mary quite contrary, how does amanda's garden grow?

After a weeks of alternating between peanut butter and strawberry sandwiches and peanut butter and cheese sandwiches, I think it's safe to say, I'm sure not cooking a damn thing. So here's what's happening in the garden.

The lettuce is still alive and thriving. I keep trying to convince people to pluck one of those little guys and let me know if it tastes like lettuce, but not takers.

There's a fungus among us! In this container we have one random green bean sprout and a heck of a lot of okra. And what's that, fungus, how'd that get there?


Green beans!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure they're smiling.


And look at those dancing snap pea plants tango-ing with the tomatoes.


And last, but not least my peppers.

Cooking, Crafting, and Cropping with Cocktails? Hmmm...

I guess we'll have to call it Cooking, Crafting, and Cropping with Cocktails. Or perhaps just Amanda and Megan drink and do cool things.

Well, as part of my spring resolution to eat healthier, I've started a tiny container garden on my tiny back deck, with the added fun of pumpkins in the front yard (don't tell my landlord this).



This past weekend I invited my handy father to drive to Louisville to construct my garden while my mom and I shopped. It was a great plan and he fell hook, line, and sinker. We started out at the Home Depot and purchased some seeds, pots, dirt, screws, twine, and some tools that he was sure he needed and constructed this beauty!

I have lettuce, basil, rosemary, sage, parsley, peas, green beans, okra, tomatoes, and peppers. So far I've only planted up to the peas in that list. Just 5 days later and I've got sprouts! I feel like I've birthed my first child (it's obvious I have none, nor the intention of having any). I'm just that excited to see their new faces.

For their first debut, my peas.

And the little lettuces. How cute are they? Of course the next step is thinning the lettuce out, which will make me severely sad. What if I pluck the wrong ones?




And last but not least, the herbs. I bought these as plants so I could begin using them asap.



If you too would like to start a garden, or just pretend to share mine if your Megan, I suggest you check out the book "The Bountiful Container" by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey. It's packed full of tips and tricks of the trade.

Pea Parley Pesto Pasta....Please

(Pictures to be added soon)

After a weekend spent gardening and running a gorgeous 10K, I should be finishing up the work I was too mindless to finish Friday afternoon, proofreading, oy. If it’s waited this long, why not let it sit til morning, I’m sure my boss will understand I was busy cooking and blogging.


Before my love for Martha Stewart turned into pure hate after botching batch after batch of her dainty little delicious looking cookies, I subscribed to Everyday Food. 2 months after said incident, I have finally decided to give some of her recipes a try, today’s being: Pea and Parley Pesto with Pasta (Linguine to be exact but wanted to continue with alliteration of P). So I gathered my ingredients, put on my apron, cranked up my Pandora (an entire station dedicated to the sound of Harper Valley PTA) and got to work.

After processing the Pesto ingredients in my Magic Bullet I took a big heaping spoonful and remembered what it was like to be a child of one eating that jarred mush for the first time. Man oh man did I cringe.

Pea and Parsley Pesto with Linguine: From Everyday Food
I halved this recipe because one can only eat so many leftovers, the recipe shown has not been halved

-2 cups frozen peas
- 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
- ½ cup walnuts, toasted (I didn’t see the toasted part until just now, mine weren’t toasted)
- 2/3 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for later
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper
-1 package Linguine

1. Cook 1 cup of peas according to directions on package. In food processor, or Magic Bullet if you’re lucky enough to own one, combine cooked peas, parsley, walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, and 1 tbs water (not listed in the ingredients, I assume you do have water). Pulse until a paste forms, add oil, salt, and pepper until you’re satisfied with texture and taste.

2. This is where I forgot I even had instructions to begin with, so yours will no doubt turn out that much better than mine, although mine was pretty darn good. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to direction on package, unless you’re Jeralyn from Glorified Lunch Lady and you’ve made your own pasta. Add 1 cup of peas 20 seconds before end of cooking. Drain pasta and peas reserving 1 cup water. Return pasta and peas to pot, toss ¾ cup pesto adding enough to pasta water to create a sauce that coats the pasta. Top with more Parmesan.

Eat up, remembering to pour yourself a glass of wine first.

Since I wasn’t in the mood to work or watch the boilermakers get destroyed and my bracket fall to pieces, I decided to go ahead and roast some garlic and whip up the ingredients to make pizza. Now that I’ve finally begun the art of freezing, it’s super easy to make the dough and sauce ahead of time, place it in the freezer, and have it ready for any pizza craving that may pop up.

Roasted Garlic:
- Chop heads of garlic off, sprinkle with salt, pepper, your favorite Italian seasoning and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place in roasting pan and top with foil. Roast at 400 for about an hour. Store in fridge for up to 2 weeks. Use on toasted french bread, crackers, or eat it by the spoon. I just might.

Pizza:
- Scroll down and read previous pizza blogging. Both Megan and I have some good, easy recipes.

Winter Crafts, Spring Produce

Cooking...and Crafting with Cocktails, I'm so happy to be back. Winter was a rough one in the cooking world, but boy oh boy did I bust out some crafts. Megan did also. I guess we could official change the name of this blog because like cooking, the crafting was indeed done with cocktails in hand. Shouldn't everything be like that?

I've been hibernating all winter long not cooking one lick of wholesome goodness. Instead, I've been knitting and sewing up a storm. Not one, but two sets of pillows.

It all came to an end Thursday, when Megan and I needed a cooking/crafting night. Since Easter is right around the corner, what's more cheerful than grilling and coloring Easter eggs. No real recipes on this one, just thrown together delights.

Bruchetta:

Spray bread with oil and place on grill being careful not to get sidetracked. It took two tries. The first was so blackened the birds turned their noses, err beaks, up. Top with tomato, basil, garlic, and feta. In this case, lots of feta.

Grilled Vegetables:

Drizzle your choice of fresh produce with olive oil and basil. In this case, I chose broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and red pepper. Wrap in foil and place on grill for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and continue to grill for 5 more minutes. Enjoy.

Grilled Pineapple:

My favorite and a last minute addition to the dinner. Slice and grill. We were going to add brown sugar but it's sweat enough on it's own.

Post grilling, color eggs!

I've been pondering the idea of using nothing but items which can be purchased from local farmers this spring/summer/fall. I think it would make for some challenging eating, but with the abundance of local markets held various days of the week, it can easily be conquered. Expect many many more posts.

If you're feeling up to a real cooking challenge, check out my friend Jeralyn's blog, Glorified Lunch Lady. She too is quite funny, although not quite as funny as Megan and I, but man can that girl cook.

mexican + italian = taco pizza!!

after i finished knitting my fingerless gloves, sunday i stuck in the house with nothing to do.  i wasnt about to go out in the snow and didnt really feel like getting dressed to do so anyway.  i was hungry and pizza always sounds good.  after amanda and i's thursday night mexican adventure didnt live up to its expectations, i was still craving mexican food.  i remember having taco pizza from pizza hut when i was a kid and though... what the hell?  why not give it a shot!

before i get started... have i mentioned the newest addition to the family?  this is eleanor rigby!!  she is a maltese and the cutest damn thing i have seen in awhile.  sometimes i think she might be retarded since she runs into stuff a lot and the house training thing isnt all that great but she is lovable and cuddly... even her puppy breath kisses make me all warm and fuzzy inside.  hahah.  :)



ok, so pizza.  i made the crust from the cookbook that came with my kitchen aid mixer.  what?  i didnt mention her either?!  geez... im really slacking on this blog thing huh?

here she is... mean, green and an absolute beauty!  she fits in quite nicely in my andy warhol kitchen :)







crust

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cups flour

1.  dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixing bowl.  add salt, olive oil and 2 cups flour.  attach bowl and dough hook to mixer and mix at speed 2 for about a minute.
2.  continue on speed 2.  add the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time.  mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of the bowl.  kneed about 2 minutes longer.
3.  place dough in oiled bowl, turning to grease top.  cover and let rise in a warm place free from draft for an hour or until doubled in bulk.  punch dough down.

while the dough was rising, i prepared everything else for the pizza.  there are 3 different recipes i used in making this.  the first one is for the actual taco pizza itself.  the second one is for the taco sauce and the third is for the pizza sauce.  i sure am glad i had everything needed in making my own sauces from scratch.  its so much better that way :)

im not going to walk you through every single step but ill walk you through how i put the pizza together.

after punching the dough down, i spread it out on a greased cookie sheet.  i like square pizza and i didnt have a round pizza pan.  i followed the directions from the recipe above pretty much exactly.  i combined the pizza sauce, the taco sauce and the refried beans.  i added more than 1/4 cup because 1/4 cup didnt seem like enough.  (it wasnt and im glad i added almost a cup instead of 1/4)  after mixing all of that together, i spread it on the dough.  i of course didnt use real meat, i used the morningstar ground beef crumbles instead.  i didnt even have to cook them, i just added the taco seasoning and water in a bowl and mixed it all together.  i spread that on top of the sauce mixture and then added a generous amount of pizza cheese and chopped onion.  i put it in the oven at 475 for about 20 minutes.  once i let it cool a little and cut it into squares, i topped it with a little lettuce and tomato.

not the greatest picture in the world since i took it with my camera phone but it will have to do.

the pizza turned out excellent and i will be making it again at some point.  :)

just the best party dip ever

i'd been wanting to make this dip for awhile now and finally had an excuse to!  now, there arent any pictures but trust me... the recipe alone speaks volumes!

blt dip

1 cup mayo (my recipe)
1 cup sour cream (low fat)
4 ounces cream cheese (neufchatel cheese)
bacon (morning star)
lettuce (pre shredded)
tomato (cherry tomatoes)

so, i used my own mayo recipe (made in my new artisan kitchen aid mixer) once the mayo was done, i added the sour cream and cream cheese into the mixer and mixed well.  i (of course) used fake bacon and i used about 2 packages of morning stars brand.  the first time i made this, i cut up the bacon using a pizza cutter thinking that was the simplest way.... no.  it wasnt.  the second time i used my ninja.  duh... i dont know why i didnt think of this the first time!!  once the bacon was chopped up, i added it to the mayo/cheese/sour cream mixture and mixed well.  i also used the ninja to chop up the tomatoes.  i didnt drain them after chopping, and now i wish i would have.  once those are chopped up, layer those along with the shredded lettuce on top of the bacon mixture.

viola!  yumminess!!!  i wasnt expecting this great of a dip but it really really was!  i used triscuits for the crackers and when those ran out, i just used saltines.

i plan on making this dip again this weekend.  this will be the third time in 2 weeks.  this time, i am thinking about mashing an avocado in with the mayo.  :)

because everyone loves cupcakes

just a little reminder to be fabulous at all times... :)

hello!!

wow, it sure has been awhile since ive posted something worthwhile on here.  i apologize for neglecting this blog for so long.... let me try and make it up to you! :)

ok, lets see.  its 2010 (crazy) so that means the holidays are over!  woo hoo!!  im not a big fan of the holidays.  i hate cold weather.  i dont like the crazed shopping (or shoppers) and all the typical holiday stress that comes along with this time of year.  but i will say, the past few months havent been too bad and i have actually enjoyed it.  so, whats been going on you ask?

... lets start with thanksgiving.  i stayed in town instead of going to my moms like i usually do.  richards bff, bobby, came down from cleveland and stayed with us for awhile.  there was a massive amount of cooking going on and it was awesome!!  bobby is a chef so it was a lot of fun.

this is most of the food that was made for thanksgiving dinner.

i made a very excellent pot pie-ish type dish.  it was basically a pot pie that wasnt pie shaped and i used biscuits for the crust.  it was awesome.  so awesome in fact, i made it again for christmas :)

not the greatest picture in the world but i promise you... looks are deceiving.  it was sooo yummy!!

i used a recipe from my friend johanna and made my own modifications.  this such a simple dish and it is so versatile.  and simple and versatile are two of my favorite words in cooking :)

so, i cut up green, yellow and red bell peppers.  (nicer dicer style)  i also used some frozen veggies i had like green beans, corn, broccoli, carrots... probably some other stuff that i cant remember. i put all of that in a baking dish and threw some olive oil and a little seasoning on them.  i roasted them for about 15 mins or so.  now, the sauce is really the best part.  i think there are a million ways to make a sauce/gravy but this is how i made mine.

i melted a little over a half a stick of butter in a cast iron skillet.  i added some flour until it was kinda pasty.  i added about 2 cups chicken broth (veggie) and some shredded cheddar cheese.  after mixing all of that i added quite a few different seasonings and that is what made it so good.  a little salt, black pepper, oregano, rosemary, basil, garlic, thyme... no set amounts, just adding a little here and a little there.  once you have that all mixed in you have to make sure it is a good consistency.  i usually add more flour or broth depending on how thick it is.

i like pot pies with a crust on top and bottom.  so on this one i used biscuit dough in the can.  i had to stretch those out to cover the pan and honestly, that was probably the worst part about making this dish.  next time i will know better...

so, once i had the dough spread out i covered it with the veggies and then covered those with the sauce.  i threw some cheddar cheese on top and then once again, stretched out more dough to cover the top.

i did make two of these but only because i had too much to put into one dish.  (i froze the smaller one for later)

i put them in the oven for about an hour at 350.  just check on them every once in awhile to make sure the "crust" isnt getting too brown.

well... there you have it!!  i guess it is a pot pie casserole :)  i also made a pumpkin roll, blueberry lemon cheesecake bars, mashed potatoes and gravy and a few other goodies.  but, those will have to wait until another time... i feel the wii calling my name :)

well... i must have drank too much.

i had a great blog.  really... i did.

i cant figure out how to post everything i want, in the order i want without going crazy.  i tried using the new editor but its just not working out for me.

i promise i will try again soon.  i am sorry i have been gone so long... i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!