In A Hurry? Newman’s Own Pizza with Arugula – Delicious!

Paul Newman's Cheese Pizza with Arugula

What a delight! Newman’s Own Four Cheese (frozen) Pizza (Multigrain crust with flaxseed) is a fabulous option when you’re in a hurry. Just pull it out of the freezer, put it into the oven to bake (10 minutes), then pull it out, top it with baby arugula, a light drizzle of olive oil and a dusting of parmesan.

The arugula adds the nicest flavor!

Newman’s Own pizza does not taste like frozen. I never bought frozen pizza until a friend (thank you Heather!) suggested this one. WOW! Was she ever right! Our local Harris Teeter carried the (uncured) pepperoni, which is tasty, but we just wanted plain cheese, so they have started to carry (thank you Harris Teeter!).

For a thin crust, this one is perfect, not too thin, but not thick and doughy… A fabulous treat!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

How to Make Avocado Toast!

AVOCADO TOAST

One of my favorite things in the world… AVOCADO TOAST! (Pictured above with red pepper flakes – YUM!)

There are so many renditions of avocado toast, each as wonderful as the next, but a few of my favorites are the avocado toast from The Daily in Charleston, SC –  Last summer it had a slice of an AH-mazing heirloom tomato on top of the avocado- WOW! Lately it’s been avocado on grilled crusty bread with za’atar spices (OH MY GOSH!) and a drizzle of olive oil.

I had some good crusty bread from the bakery and thought I would give it a whirl. I didn’t have the Za’atar spices (will buy for next time, they sell them at The Daily), so I toasted the bread (I didn’t grill), then spread avocado, a drizzle of olive oil and S&P. I took a bite, hmmm, good but missing something, so I sliced a small lemon wedge, gave a little drizzle. BINGO! That was all it needed to brighten the flavor and take it from good to GREAT in a second or two!

Avocado Toast

Soooo good with or without the red pepper flakes! What’s your favorite rendition? Do you like the avocados smushed (YES!) or simply sliced (I think they slide off the toast like this, but it’s pretty!)

Catch you back here tomorrow!

A healthier version of a cheese toast – so wonderful!

Grilled Cheese & Arugula with Balsamic

I could eat this Every. Single. Day. I always keep baby arugula in the fridge, I love it in omelets, on sandwiches, pizza and all by itself!

This looks very decadent, but these pieces of bread are small (wonderful bread from a local bakery. Very rustic, bread with substance).

Cheese Toast

I lightly toast the bread first, then add some grated sharp cheddar, put it on a baking pan and put it under the broiler for just a minute or two (HAVE TO WATCH IT – Don’t walk away!) Once the cheese starts to bubble, pull it out, cut it in half and put a heaping bunch of arugula dressed in olive oil & balsamic (you can even add to the dressing a tiny bit of honey, but not much). Then eat the rest of the arugula on the side.

This is a FABULOUS LUNCH!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Chocolate Biscotti Recipe! A KEEPER!

Chocolate Biscotti!

Chocolate Biscotti… this is such a wonderful recipe. Truly your eyes will roll back into your head with delight! This is a great recipe to make and leave a few out and freeze the rest. Then when you need that chocolate treat pull out a few. You will be so glad you did! Wonderful depth of chocolate flavor from the cocoa powder, white chocolate baking bar, and semi sweet chocolate.

One BIG change. In the recipe below where it says Butter or MARGARINE… BUTTER! BUTTER! BUTTER! NO MARGARINE!

Another hot tip (thanks Mom!) is to use mini semisweet chocolate chips and mini white chocolate chips, doing so eliminates the chopping of the baking bar. Quick and easy!

This recipe came from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine years ago. Click HERE to print the recipe from their website – it’s one to file away to keep forever and ever! (Note: I do not add the optional glaze (omitted from the recipe as shown below) – it doesn’t need it, and freezes better without it!

Chocolate Biscotti!

Directions look long, but really it’s not that time consuming. Biscotti dough is thick, so if you have a heavy duty mixer, that will help immensely… When I first started making this recipe I didn’t have a Kitchen Aid mixer. So you have to use some major elbow grease to get things mixed up. The Kitchen Aid does it with no effort at all… love that mixer!

After baking, and flipping - PERFECTION!

Can you imagine a more fitting treat for your day? Can you believe this recipe has been reviewed 21,000 times? Amazing. A definite favorite!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Roasted Cauliflower – Quick, Easy & SO WONDERFUL!

Roasted Cauliflower | Art Food Home

Roasted Cauliflower. I love it! It gets nice and sweet and the flavor profile changes completely when you roast it. It’s so quick and easy to do.

Did you realize there are different colors of cauliflower? Green, purple and plain white. I chose a purple cauliflower this time (they all taste the same) – it was fun! I break into fairly small florets, they take less time to roast. If you have the time you can leave them in larger pieces. We were having this with grilled chicken, so I didn’t have a lot of time, therefore the small pieces.

Break the cauliflower into florets and drizzle with a little olive oil in a large bowl. Swirl the cauliflower around with your hands to coat it thoroughly. Then lightly grease (I always use olive oil or organic canola oil) a cookie sheet (this one I use for roasting). Turn the oven on 400 degrees F. Once the oven has preheated, place the cauliflower on the cookie sheet and space the florets out a bit, a little sprinkle of S&P. This will roast for 25-45 minutes (depending upon thickness). Flip about halfway through, you will see that the cauliflower is browning, this is GOOD, this is TASTY STUFF! Once it passes the fork test (fork easily goes through a thicker piece of cauliflower), it’s ready to eat! You can eat just like it is, or a quick little sprinkle of parmesan.

Speaking of parmesan… not the brands that apparently have wood filler in them, sigh…

Purple Cauliflower | Art Food Home

Portrait of my cauliflower – Hee.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe: Ham & Cheese Noodle Casserole – The ultimate in comfort food!

Ham & Cheese Casserole

A friend sent me this recipe. Oh. My. Word! I changed up only a few things, I used less butter, substituted low-fat sour cream, used a little more cheese, and a wonderful noodle I found, I also thinned with milk because Fred likes a thinner sauce – I included the original recipe, and then my version below. This casserole is comfort food at its very finest. There are no cream soups with unknown ingredients, good ingredients = a healthier meal for sure!

You can make this as healthy as you like. Less cheese, no problem, I think I’m going to try using Greek yogurt in place of sour cream. One day. So afraid to mess it up. But I have substituted Greek yogurt in recipes in the past with good results. I will update this post if I do!

Click to print (both) the recipes (minus all my words)!

The original recipe (from a friend, thank you Heather Locke!!):

HAM & CHEESE NOODLE CASSEROLE

4 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese

1 ½ cups finely chopped cooked ham

Salt

½ pound noodles, ¼ inch wide, cooked.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 2 quart casserole dish. Melt the butter in a skillet and cook onion over medium heat until soft.

In a small bowl: Mix the eggs and sour cream together, then add onion, cheese and ham. Add salt to taste. Put the noodles in the casserole dish, then add the sauce and toss gently. Bake for 45 minutes or until a straw inserted in the middle comes out clean.

_________________________________________________________

My variation (was more clear to re-write, even though there are only a few changes)

1-2 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup low fat sour cream

~1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1 ½ cups cooked finely chopped ham

8 oz (½#) egg noodles (I used Amish Country), cooked and drained

Milk to your taste – I thinned it a bit using probably ⅓ – ½ cup 2% milk.

Follow above directions, I also topped mine with a little cheese. I baked it covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Valentine’s Day…

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Happy Valentine’s Day to each and every one of you!

What do you normally do on Valentine’s Day? Go to a nice restaurant? Stay in and make a nice dinner? Read a good book? Do nothing special?

There are a lot of nice restaurants to visit in Charleston, that’s for sure! This weekend is also SEWE (Southeastern Wildlife Expo) – so the city will be crazy busy.

I think we’ll find something nice to make ourselves… or maybe something from Goat Sheep Cow? Enjoy your day!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

How to make corn muffins that taste like JIFFY…

Jiffy-Like Corn Muffins

Trying to come up with different menu items for dinner can sometimes be a challenge. I wanted to make the Garden Chowder recipe, minus the chicken, and make a slightly larger batch. To go along with it I thought corn muffins sounded good. I grew up with Jiffy corn muffins. You can’t beat them! Until you read the list of ingredients. I’m trying really hard to limit ingredients, and to make everything from scratch. You wouldn’t believe how easy it can be. This is the perfect example. This recipe (from Food.com) is so fabulous. You’ve got to try it. I mistakenly bought WHITE cornmeal. It calls for YELLOW cornmeal. The only difference is the type of corn it comes from, and obviously, yellow cornmeal will result in better looking muffins, but they taste just as good!

Click HERE to print the recipe from Food.com!

This recipe has flour, yellow cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, canola oil, egg, and milk. That’s it. Nothing you cannot pronounce!

INGREDIENTS in the Jiffy mix: WHEAT FLOUR, DEGERMINATED YELLOW CORN MEAL, SUGAR, ANIMAL SHORTENING (CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: LARD, HYDROGENATED LARD, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED LARD), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SALT, WHEAT STARCH, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, BHT PRESERVATIVE, TOCOPHEROL PRESERVATIVE, CITRIC ACID PRESERVATIVE, BHA PRESERVATIVE, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID, SILICON DIOXIDE.

Jiffy-Like Corn Muffins from Food.com

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin tin (makes 6 muffins) with cooking spray (I just used olive oil).

In medium bowl mix 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons canola oil.

Whisk together, then add:

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

Fill muffin tin 1/2 full. Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F.

I know, I know! What a treasure!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe: Scalloped Potatoes – Woohoo!

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This recipe is adapted from the Scalloped Potato recipe in Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book 12th Edition – I’ve made a few changes, but the basic recipe is fabulous as well!

This is also a great dish to make if you have leftover ham… sprinkle diced ham pieces into the casserole and it’s a full meal – can’t beat that!

Hmmm, why is this photo only showing half of the scalloped potato dish? It came out of the oven… we dug in… OOPS!  P H O T O ! !  I’m only human, ha ha.

Click HERE to print the recipe without the extra babble.

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Catch you back here tomorrow!

Farmer’s Chowder – what a recipe!

Farmer's Chowder!

Two versions of chowder below. One with chicken, and one a bit different, with no meat. I  served both with the Jiffy-Like Corn Muffins.

OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD.

Recipes from a friend, is there anything better? It’s so nice to hear of other things to make for dinner rather than being in a rut with the same old thing.

I was excited to try this, it sounded delicious to me. I found the perfect time when we had a bit of rotisserie chicken left over. That worked perfectly! These are guidelines, but use what you like! I happened to use 4 cups of chicken broth, so mine may have been more “brothy” than what is normal, but I had two very large potatoes, and I also supplemented with frozen sweet white corn.

What I forgot… the bacon crumbled on top! We had it the next day, when we heated up what was left (be sure to heat on low and DO NOT LET IT COME TO A BOIL or it will curdle). So DAY 2 had crumbled bacon, which I was so excited about I forgot to take a photo. Story of my life!

This recipe was heavenly! Give it a whirl!

Click HERE to print just the recipe!

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Version two, I like to call Garden Chowder, click HERE to print the recipe! One hint is to warm the thawed corn in the microwave just a bit, just so it’s not cold when adding to the soup…

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Catch you back here tomorrow!

Restaurant: Four Ninety Two (492) – Charleston, SC

Four Ninety Two - Charleston, SC

*FEATURING PHOTOS THIS WEEK; WILL RESUME REGULAR POSTS NEXT WEEK!

492 is a beautiful restaurant located on King Street in Charleston, SC. What a classy looking building. Kudos to a restaurant that takes an building that sat vacant since Hurricane Hugo in the early 90’s!

Check out their website for the current menu offerings (eyes roll back in head). Cannot wait to try this place!

Read a little about the history of Four Ninety Two, from their website:

During the renovation of 492 King Street, historical significance and attention to detail played a large role in creating the new space. The building dates back to the late 1800s when clothiers such as Reuben’s, Leon’s and Bluestein’s were a large part of the economy in Charleston, especially in the Upper King Street district. The button wall art installation in the main dining room, an interpretation of Chef Whiting’s photograph of sous vide leeks, pays homage to that history. Additionally, the fabric ceiling in the downstairs dining area is a replica of a 1902 city map.

The gates that enclose the courtyard were inspired by 30” x 40” Sanborn street maps of different colors, patterns and scale found while researching the building’s origins. As executed, the red rectangles show the 492 King location in an abstracted version of the 1884 map, noted by the circle. All the other lines represent the surrounding streets.

The building sat abandoned since Hurricane Hugo until it being purchased by the Relish Restaurant Group. During renovations, spearheaded by local architect Reggie Gibson, as much of the original building was left intact as possible. The red color in the dining room, called “eating room red,” and the “piazza blue” on the upstairs hall ceiling are both historic paint colors. The base of the bar is paneled in old tin that served as the ground floor ceiling of the existing building, reflecting a dedication to preserving and restoring this unique piece of Charleston’s history.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Flashback: Best Christmas Cookies in the World!

Decorate however you like, neat, messy, in whatever colors you create!
Decorate however you like, neat, messy, in whatever colors you create!

This is a Christmas Cookie recipe that our family has made since I was a little kid. It’s become a tradition. It’s fun because everyone can partake in the festivities. Especially if you bake the cookies ahead and then have a decorating party! We just put the frosting into zip-top baggies and cut a hole. Some years we have more colors than others. As you can see, this particular year, I was only loving my Christmas Tree cookie cutter, so that’s the only one I used. Recipe below as well as a link to print recipe only.

Enjoy!

The fun part is the decorating!
The fun part is the decorating!

Click here for a recipe to print (minus all the words and blah, blah, blah)!

Best Christmas Cookies EVER!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Out shopping and need a quick bite?

Panera!
*FEATURING PHOTOS THIS WEEK; WILL RESUME REGULAR POSTS NEXT WEEK!

Don’t shop until you drop – stop at Panera and get a quick and healthy lunch. You have the power to control how healthy since they list the calorie content for everything. This particular day I was famished… so, I got a cup of Broccoli Cheddar soup (HEAVENS!), a sprouted grain roll and a half of Chicken Cobb Salad with Avocado, dressing on the side. This is called a PICK TWO. Pick two of whatever combination of soups, salads and sandwiches.

I do like that Panera lists the calories, it helps you say NO a lot easier, also that they use clean ingredients and are transitioning to have even more very soon! All of this AND you can earn rewards when you eat there by signing up for a free Panera card.

So… don’t shop till ya drop! Stop and get a quick bite!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe: Kale, Sausage & White Bean Soup with Potato… Easy!

Kale Sausage & White Bean Soup with Potato

This soup is so wonderful during chilly weather. It is incredibly quick and easy to make, yet tastes like something you worked on all day! I ran across the original recipe on the 100 Days of Real Food website. I made a few changes, just because I had an extra large bunch of kale to use and because I wanted to add thinly sliced potato which really added quite nicely, reminiscent of a soup at Olive Garden restaurant.

Here is my version of the 100 Days of Real Food recipe for Kale, Sausage and White Bean Soup, (click HERE to print):

Kale, Sausage, White Bean Soup with Potato

Olive Oil

½-1 Onion, peeled and diced

2 cloves Garlic (I use microplane, but you can mince)

1 pound Chicken Italian Sausage links, cut into ¼” slices

6 cups Chicken Stock/Broth (48 oz)

1 bunch of Lacinato Kale, washed stalks removed, and chopped

2 cans Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed (or other white bean)

1-2 Yukon Gold potatoes (large), quartered and sliced thin.

Pepper, taste before adding Salt.

Note: If you have a large bunch of kale, you can add more chicken broth, I added 4 cups (32 oz.), I also added one more can of cannellini beans (rinsed and drained).

Instructions

Heat oil in large soup pot over medium heat. Cook the onion for 2-3 minutes. Remove onion and put in small dish to add back later.

Add sausage (in batches so that it browns slightly) – cook for 5 minutes (if sliced rather thin, or 10 minutes if thicker).

When sausage is almost done add the garlic and stir while it cooks about 30 seconds or until fragrant (if pan is dry use a little olive oil before adding garlic).

Add onions back into the pot with sausage and garlic.

Add chicken broth, and stir to loosen browned bits on bottom of pan.

Add the sliced potato, and cook until you can pierce with a fork.

Now add the chopped kale, beans, Salt (if you need it) and Pepper. Cook 10-20 minutes, until beans are hot and kale is wilted.

Original soup recipe from 100daysofrealfood.com!

Catch you back here tomorrow!