Turkey Tettrazini

This is a wonderful recipe from Matt's mom. We have made it using both chicken and turkey. With the little blast of cold weather we have had around here lately, a nice casserole always helps warm you up! This freezes really well and makes a good amount (so you can have it for leftovers or lunches).

Cook and drain a box of pasta (we prefer bow tie but you can use any kind)

-see note on cooking the pasta below

Have ready the equivalent of 4 chicken breast halves cooked and cut into bite size pieces

-remember you can use either turkey or chicken

-about the amount that you would want in a typical casserole pan

Saute these ingredients together:

butter or olive oil for sauteing

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped bell pepper

1 cup chopped onion

minced garlic

Add:

1/2 cup chopped or sliced black olives (we usually add more)

small can of mushrooms (drained)- although fresh would probably be great

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 box of Velveeta cheese cut into cubes (we have also used the reduced fat and it turns out fine)

Stir and cook until melted.

At this point we usually add frozen peas or other veggies to add extra texture and nutrition.

Combine veggies/sauce, meat, and pasta. Mix well. Pour into a 9x13 casserole dish.

Top with 1 cup grated Parmesan.

Bake for 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until hot and bubbly.

Note: I usually do not cook pasta al dente. I like my pasta on the softer side. The one exception to that is when I am cooking the pasta further in a pasta bake or casserole. The pasta will get incredibly mushy and soft if you cook it too far. So...under cook the pasta just a bit!

Blackberry Cobbler

I didn't get any pictures of the cobbler I made which is too bad...it was lovely. Here is the method/recipe anyways...

You need a double pie crust. I simply used the Pillsbury pre-made roll out crust...I have an infant so I am allowed to take shortcuts...it is just as good anyways.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix 4 containers of fresh blackberries (approx 5 cups or so) with 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar, two teaspoons of cinnamon, two tablespoons of flour (I used tapioca flour for extra thickening), and 1/4 cup of Brandy (you could also use orange liqueur or orange juice if you are averse to alcohol). In a 9x9 baking dish place the bottom pie crust, scoop in berry mixture, dot with half a stick of butter, and cover with other crust (I cut and wove into a lattice top). Sprinkle a bit of sugar over the crust. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the mixture is hot and bubbly.

This cobbler was very easy and took no time to assemble. It tasted as good as the frozen cobblers and had the benefit of being mostly homemade. I wish I had a picture of it, but alas...no dice.

Pico!

One of my favorite things to indulge on is chips and some sort of dip. Since I was in middle school, Dad and Mom would throw a Christmas party for all of their business associates. I always enjoyed the party, but really enjoyed the days after when I got to indulge in all of the leftover food, especially the dip. There are very few dips that I do not like...spinach, green onion, regular onion, bean, 7 layer...the list is endless. The possibilities only get better when you breach the Mexican food "dip-age". My mom ate endless amounts of chips and salsa when pregnant with me and this is a tradition of sorts that has continued. In fact, we often have to laugh at Mexican food restaurants when they bring those teeny tiny little saucers of salsa because we need so much more for our mexican food.

I will first post about the "easiest" of the Mexican dips...pico de gallo. It is a simple method.

Chop and seed roma tomatoes (you can use whatever tomatoes you have, but Romas are cheap)

Chop red onion and cilantro

Cut a jalapeno in half and take out the seeds and most of the white "ribs" (this is where the heat is...so proceed with caution in using it...and wash your hands)...dice the jalapeno.

Throw all produce together.

Add lime juice, red wine vinegar (just a splash), and salt to taste.

This is simply the basics...adjust levels of the ingredients to your own particular desires.

Enjoy with tortilla chips!

I will try to do a "series" of posts about salsa and guacamole next!

might be a while

It might be a bit before I can post anything new and inspiring. We had our baby girl a week ago and are trying to manage that. I did have two great food experiences in the hospital...

First I learned that a midnight snack of peanut butter and honey graham crackers is AMAZING. Big kudos to Nurse Molly who brought that little bit of protein packed deliciousness into my life.

Second, if you have to order off the menu at Methodist Willowbrook, trust me when I say to go for the chicken fajitas. They were really good and fresh tasting and the tortilla rocked. It was the perfect amount of chewiness and would have been easy to make into a good taco. Top off the meal with their oatmeal cookie. It was the perfect balance of oat/cinnamon/raisin flavor and the consistency was soft with just enough give to make you feel like you are enjoying a nice dessert.

I will get back to better food posts soon!

Urge to Bake

I have recently had a strong urge to bake. I, however, have been unable to do so because of doctor's orders to stay off my feet for another few days to avoid pre-term labor. So I decided to post a few of the wedding cake pictures from the past to hold my urge over.

This was actually for a wedding shower...it is not the prettiest picture, but it is a brownie cut into a circle, topped with chocolate mousse, and surrounded by strawberries...delicious!

This cake was not the prettiest, but easily the heaviest. The bride requested a cheesecake grooms cake. I made half the cheesecake regular and half chocolate. We then doused the entire thing in raspberry sauce, covered it in chocolate ganache, added chocolate shavings, and covered in chocolate covered strawberries. I like the bride and groom strawberries in the middle! This cake was large, rich, and GONE in about 5 minutes once they began to cut the cakes!

This cake was for our friends Crystal and Darren when they got married almost exactly two years ago. They met and fell in love while studying abroad in Italy, so they found it fitting to get married at a vineyard in Austin. They gave me a color sample and asked me to match the icing to the cake and cover it in fruit. The flavor was a hybrid of a spice cake and a red velvet cake with a fruit filling.

This was the first stacked cake I made for my mom when she married my step father. It is a plain white cake with raspberry filling. The sides are made from sheets of white chocolate.

This cake was for my sister--in-law's shower. We actually used the shower to test out the flavors of filling she liked best. We ended up with three different kinds of cakes...raspberry and pineapple filled and Italian cream cake. Her husband came up with the idea for the grooms cake which I agreed to do (and also made my original idea for his cake as well). I made the chocolate raspberry truffle cake for me and for him I made a cake consisting of a layer of brownie, layer of fudge icing, layer of chocolate chip cookie, layer of fudge icing, layer of brownie, all covered in fudge icing. It was also a rich cake that disappeared quite quickly. All in all, because they love desserts and wanted a multitude of them they had 9 brides cakes (normal size round cakes), the chocolate raspberry truffle cake, brownie/cookie/brownie cake, two plates of chocolate chip cookies, and two plates of brownies. It was a tiring, but rewarding affair to remember!

I hope to get a chance to bake some goodies again soon!

Cuban/ Puerto Rican Stir Fry

A few years ago Mattie and I enjoyed a trip to Puerto Vallarta. Much to the surprise of the people at the resort we were staying at we took public transportation to actually go visit the town of Puerto Vallarta. It was a grand little adventure and along the way we found the most amazing Cuban restaurant. This is the us at our table:

So while we enjoyed the balmy breeze and beautiful view, we had some wonderful food. We enjoyed ropa vieja, black beans and rice, delicious crusty bread, and killer mojitos. I really enjoy mojitos in general, but nothing can beat the one I enjoyed along the beach here (until I get to go to Cuba as an educator).

Recently I decided to try my own version of a Cuban/ Puerto Rican concoction by taking leftovers we had and throwing them together into a Caribbean influenced stir fry.

Ingredients:

Saffron/ Yellow rice

Spiced Pork chopped or sliced

Sauteed Onions

Sauteed Bell Peppers

Green Olives (a must)

Black beans

Peas

There is not much spice involved...a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but one of the great things about Cuban and Puerto Rican food is that it allows for depth of flavor to come from the ingredients of the dish itself.

Deep Freeze

We have just acquired a deep freeze to make meals ahead of the Baby T-Rex coming to join our foodie family. If you have any great recipes or ideas for meals that freeze well please send them our way. You can leave them in the comment section for all to enjoy or email me!

Thanks!

Your resident foodie