BOURSIN PASTA RECIPE – So easy! 5⭐️

TRY THIS! If you haven’t jumped on the Boursin pasta train yet, here’s a great opportunity to do so. I’ve tried many renditions, one I’ve shared (with spinach and tomatoes) but I wanted one quicker to make but every bit as tasty. Bingo! This fit the bill. It was perfection in every bite. This make enough for two good portions with a little leftover. So adjust the amounts for more people. It reheats well!

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A Fabulous & Quick Chicken Stir Fry!

stir fry with white rice, broccoli florets, napa cabbage, bok choy and snow peas in a pretty bowl

Is there anything more comforting than a quick stir fry, with crunchy veggies that melt your heart? I think not. This was quick, and so good, especially with the already washed stir fry veg bag from Trader Joe’s (and the rice too!) I would like this dish just as much with no chicken. The veggies were that good!

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Homemade Pimiento Cheese – EASY!

homemade pimiento cheese in a glass bowl

I think it’s safe to say that I will never be a food blogger – internet sensation – or whatever you want to call it. I cook, I bake, I make delicious food, but we’re waiting to eat and as soon as it’s made *poof* and then I think… PHOTO! 😬 This was so easy and so delicious I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. My only tool was a box grater and a hand mixer (stand mixer is fine, but I didn’t want to drag mine out).

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Caprese Salad – So Fresh (and so fast!)

Have you tried a Caprese salad? Decades ago we vistited NYC and ate at Carmine’s (I wanted to eat every single meal there!) – we ordered a Caprese salad (among other things) and ohmygosh. I had never tasted such a fabulous salad in all my life. We just had zucchini, Vidalia onions and parmesan on thin pasta and it was heavenly – this was the perfect accompaniment!

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Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix Is the Best!

Photo of hot chocolate mix (homemade) in glass container, tin of starbucks hot cocoa mix on top of container, view out the window, snowy day in charleston, sc

The day I wrote this post was a snow day (woot! woot!) and the grocery store was out of the hot cocoa mix that we like which prompted an investigation. Good grief, I’ve come to find I’ve been paying for the tin! It’s inexpensive to make, comes together quickly and is every bit as tasty as the other brands. TWO ingredients and an optional two more… Whip this together in a few minutes and have it ready to make a nice mug of hot chocolate in the time it takes to heat the milk! FYI, as cold as it was last week, it’s near 70 and sunny today. Crazy🤪! ❄️☀️

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LEMON SQUARES – to.die.for.

I last made these lemon squares back in 1999. Yes, the year I was born! I remember them because they were so ama-zing. I made them for a small dinner party and we ate them all. I’ve been thinking about these lately and wondered if they would still be good to me. Oh, WOW! Less butter and sugar than other recipes yet divine as can be. You’ll want to make this recipe! #perfectforsummer

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Sourdough Cheese Cracker Recipe | Read at your own risk!

Do you make sourdough bread? If so, you’re familiar with the term ‘discard’ – the amount that you take out when you feed your start. You hate to throw away the start, but you really only want so many pancakes, etc. Well, let me solve the dilemma of what to do with your extra start (discard) – because once you have these cheese crackers there is NO GOING BACK. So read at your own risk!

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Recipe… Tyler Florence’s Roasted Sweet Potatoes… QUICK, EASY & IMPRESSIVE!

Sweet Potatoes ready to eat!

EYES-ROLL-BACK-IN-YOUR-HEAD-GOOD! A fabulous recipe from Tyler Florence… just gotta love that guy! After you make these sweet potatoes the first time this will be in your stack of favorites forever. Healthy sweet potatoes, olive oil, honey, a wee bit of salt and that’s it! Who doesn’t love a recipe that’s quick, easy and tastes like you spent some time?! We used to have baked sweet potatoes, but they take a good hour to bake, and sometimes it’s too hard to wait that long. I wanted something that would be done by the time the chicken came off the grill… so it had to be a little snappier than an hour. Tyler cuts his sweet potatoes into 1″ chunks, and it takes about 30 minutes. If I put the oven on convection it’s even quicker. And if I need it even quicker than that I cut them up a little smaller. This recipe never disappoints. One thing I do, that Tyler doesn’t mention is to lightly toss (to coat) before putting in the oven, and flipping once about halfway through the roasting process. they get gooey and brown and just fabulous! I also didn’t drizzle with olive oil at the end, I didn’t think it needed it, and didn’t want to add the extra fat/calories… My photos… and Tyler’s recipe with a link to the Food Network (for easy printing) below…

Scrub and peel… (clearly these aren’t peeled)

Scrub and peel

Cut into 1″ pieces. I cut in half longways, then each half cut in half longways, then cut into 1″ chunks

Cut in even 1" pieces

Drizzle the honey…

Drizzle honey oh la la

Drizzle the olive oil… then sprinkle a little cinnamon and pop it into a hot oven! TADA! Look at the first photo again… Heaven, right?

Drizzle olive oil

Here’s the recipe from the Food Network (click to get the printable version):

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey and Cinnamon

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence – Prep Time: 15 minInactive Prep Time: — Cook Time: 30 min  Level: Easy

Serves:

4 servings

Ingredients
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling potatoes after cooked
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Lay the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on a roasting tray. Drizzle the oil, honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper over the potatoes. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes in oven or until tender.

Take sweet potatoes out of the oven and transfer them to a serving platter. Drizzle with more extra-virgin olive oil.

SERVES: 4 (SIDE); Calories: 304; Total Fat: 15 grams; Saturated Fat: 2 grams; Protein: 2 grams; Total carbohydrates: 41 grams; Sugar: 24 grams; Fiber: 5 grams; Cholesterol: 0 milligrams; Sodium: 216 milligrams

Copyright 2012 Television Food Network G.P.
All Rights Reserved

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_34948_RECIPE-PRINT-FULL-PAGE-FORMATTER,00.html?oc=linkback

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe: How To Make Beef Stew: Quick & Easy!

Beef Stew...

For those of you out there who have never made a beef stew, I’m going to show you a quick and easy recipe… In the photo above… I look like I have control with one tiny piece of bread (whole wheat at that!), right? Truth is, I took all these photos while cooking (which is similar to juggling in my opinion), by the time it was ready, LETS EAT is what came to mind… and we did. I think I had two bites left and said HHHHHHIIIIIIIIEEEEGGGGHHHHH! I forgot to take a PHOTO! Poor Fred. Every time I make a recipe that ends up on this blog he watches a tornado with a camera in the kitchen, then a crisis afterwards because I FORGET TO SHOOT THE LAST PHOTO, good grief, the most important one! Lo and behold, there was one slice of bread left… enough to make me look dainty. Ha.

Ok, on to the recipe… click HERE for the printable recipe (minus all the photos)…

Ingredients

Ingredients: 1 # stew beef, carrots (4-6 should be good), 4-6 medium potatoes (I used red and did not peel, but that’s up to you), 1 onion, chopped (I used slices to try, but it cooks down so you really can’t tell), salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, olive oil and beef broth.

DSCN1546

Start by chopping the carrots, potatoes and onions, I usually cook this for a few hours so the veggies will be done and the meat will be tender.

DSCN1548

In a plastic zip bag or on a plate, add a few spoonfuls of all purpose flour (I always use unbleached), add salt and pepper.

Coat with flour

Roll the pieces of stew beef around so that they’re coated in flour, this will help thicken the stew slightly.

DSCN1551

Heat some olive oil (or canola oil) in a heavy bottom pan.

Drop em in the oil

Drop the flour coated beef stew pieces into the hot oil to brown (not cook all the way through).

Once browned, move to the side

Once the meat has browned, move it off to the side…

add onions

Now, toss in the onions. stir them around until they’re translucent…

Stir together

Once onions are translucent, stir to combine.

Time to add some broth

Now is the time to add some beef broth and Worcestershire Sauce (at this point you can also add some red wine if you like). You can use all beef broth or part beef broth and part water. The amount will depend on how many veggies you added… you’ll want to almost cover it… Stir it around and loosen up all those tasty brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of your pot. They add some heavenly flavor!

Add potatoes and carrots

Now add the potatoes and carrots, salt and pepper and any other seasonings you might like…

Now it's ready to cook!

Now it’s ready to cook! Turn the heat on medium high until it comes to a slight boil (where you see bubbles), then turn it down to low and simmer. I usually do this with the lid off most of the time… or I’ll crack it so steam can escape if I don’t want the liquid to reduce any more…

Can toss in the center of the celery

Something that gives soups and stew some nice flavor are the center pieces of celery, you know, the ones with all the leaves… toss them in whole, and you can pull them out when it’s done. It adds a nice flavor.

And that’s it! This is a great dish to make on a cold day, keeps the kitchen nice and warm. You can serve this with warm bread and a salad… or all by itself! Enjoy!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe!

Owieeeee, isn’t this beautiful! So much more appetizing than the stuff that comes out of the can, don’t you think? Well, this is going to be one of my small contributions towards Thanksgiving dinner! Thank you to Martha Stewart for the photo and the recipe (Everyday Food, November 2008). I am probably most excited about this recipe! I guess I never thought to MAKE cranberry sauce when you can just open a can. But it’s quick, easy and it’s GOT to taste much better! So I’ll be making it along with you this year! Hope you enjoy. Can you believe Thanksgiving is Thursday??! Wow… time flies!

Basic Cranberry Sauce

Yield Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 bag (12 ounces) cranberries
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1 cup water

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, lemon zest, and water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook until cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and let cool to room temperature.

UPDATE!! (11/21/12): I just made this cranberry sauce and it is the best I have ever tasted in my life! It couldn’t be easier! I will never buy canned again, especially after I looked at the ingredients (cranberries, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water… ugh!). I was surprised at how easy it came together. After it cools completely refrigerate until you serve it! Simply divine!

Catch you back here tomorrow!