Old Bedding, New Trick!

Ahh... the fateful "Blizzard of 2015" Ha!  I was home and decided if my husband had to snow blow I had to be productive.  So I started cleaning from the ground up, literally.  Started in the basement and worked my way up to the 2nd floor.  The hall closet.  The-Hall-Closet that I put off re-organizing because I never know what to do.  So I emptied everything out on the floor and went to town.  I had bins, so I organized everything to keep, toss, and donate.

For some reason A. I bought the said bedding I am about to show you and B. held on to it after I realized MAN - this is UGLY!  Anyways, I was torn between donate and toss.  It sat in the hall for about a week downstairs.  For some reason I was taking my donating of this bedding seriously.  Then I had that AH-ha moment.  The I can do something with that ugly bedding.  And, I did!

What you need to make the cutest dog bed ever:

One comforter (mine was a queen)
2 large shams (mine are the big square ones)

How to make a cute god bed out of old bedding you were gonna toss away:

Cut the bed spread in half on the vertical (Clearly my pup supervising)

 

Fold it into a square

Stuff it (put the cut side in the far side)

Seal it with no sew permanent tape

Seriously, the no sew tape is a life saver! 

And... Sofi has not left her bed yet.  Well except to go on the other one.  Cutting the comforter in half allowed me to make 2.  She's spoiled one for the living room and one for the upstairs.  

Wallah - the cutest dog bed, thats machine washable, didn't cost a penny and I didn't throw something into our already overfull landfills!

French Onion Soup 1.12.14

Funny Story, when I was single, living on my own, I used to grocery shop, and buy things to make and pretend I could cook.  I thought I could, really, I thought I could.  But, then I met my husband and realized, he had his work cut out for him!  Back to the story... So during Lent I was bored of the plain old no meat Fridays, so I thought I would whip up some French Onion Soup.   So, off to the store I went, bought all the ingredients came home, made the soup, took my first sip and realized, beef broth, is beef, which is meat, and it is Friday.  Ya, whoops!  Religion aside, because this is just a 'light funny story' - that's just a total Melissa moment.  Needless to say I just had wine that night. 

At 10:30 this morning I decided we needed soup for lunch.  But I didn't want a pasta soup, but rather a strong flavor.  That is when I realized we have a dozen onions in the house.  Funny story again - if you say we need onions and both you and your husband grab them at the store, you then have a dozen onions... The thing about French Onion Soup is it is so simple, but you have to be patient.  For those of you who do not know me - I am not patient.... But I was determined.

Ingredients:
3 Large Sweet Onions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons butter
1 box beef broth, or your own homeade
1 tsp thyme
French Bread
Gruyere or Swiss Cheese

Instructions:
Add the sliced onions to the butter in the pan, and allow them to sweat out with the lid on.  Then, and now comes the patience, allow the onions to brown and caramelize.  This takes a good 1/2 hour.  In the meantime if you are like me, start a project, anything... Just do not rush it.  Then add in the thyme and stir it in the pan to wake up the flavors, last add the stock and bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. 

Poor the soup in a mini crock with a piece of toasted french bread at the bottom, top with cheese and broil. 

Enjoy,
Melissa

Tenderloin Tips with Horseradish Cream, Brussel Slaw & Spaghetti Squash Gratins 1.11.14

For Christmas we always serve tenderloin wrapped in bacon.  In order to get the best cut, and most bang for my buck I get the whole tenderloins and we cut our own steaks.  To add to the savings you also get the 'end' of the tenderloin also called the 'tips'.  So I froze the tips for another meal. 

Today - marks that day.  Normally I make mini potato gratins and that would be perfect, I have heavy cream that has to be used by the 16th.  But, then I thought, heavy cream, potatoes, butter...  No.  The Holidays are over.  Then I saw the spaghetti squash on the counter which has been sitting there because I wanted to do something different.  I thought, if I can swap the squash for pasta, can I swap it for potato?  Answer, Yes!  Then on to sprouts.  Now, you can disagree with me - but I think sprouts are totes magotes - and if you add bacon - say no more!  But... Really, a goal of mine is to try and cut a little fat, calories etc, without losing taste. 

Here is my trick for healthier bacon.  Yep, you heard me, healthier bacon.
First, buy local bacon.  Go to your farmers market and buy it.  If after reading any of my blogs and you take only one tip, this is it.  It is simply amazing.  I cook it the same way I cook 'grocery store' bacon, but with local bacon there is something special about it.  The grease seems to just melt away from it and, because of this, it is leaner.  So what I do is buy a pound of it and cook it all at once.  Next I let it cool over paper towels to remove even more of the grease.  Then I store it in an air tight container and pull out only what I need, when I need it.  In this case - I only needed one slice.  See that is not so bad!


So how did I pull this all together:

Tenderloin Tips with Horseradish Cream, Brussel Slaw & Spaghetti Squash Gratins

Tenderloin tips:
Let rest for 20 minutes before grilling
Season with s&p
Grill to medium

Horseradish Cream Sauce:
1/4 cup light sour cream
horseradish to taste - I go 50/50 so I used 1/4 cup
cracked black pepper
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve

Brussel Slaw:
Slice the sprouts so they are so thin, they look like you shaved them
Toss in a pan on medium heat and add one slice of bacon (crumbled) that is already cooked
Stir in pan until the sprouts are tender and bacon is crispy

Spaghetti Squash Gratins:
Roast the spaghetti squash - cut it in half length wise - season with s&p put cut side down and roast for about 45 minutes.  Let cool until you can handle it and then with a fork, pull apart and place in a bowl, then ring out the squash in a kitchen towel to pull out the water.   You could boil it, but I am a fan of never, ever, boiling a vegetable.  Ever. 

The line up for the gratins - literally it takes 5 minutes to do this, super simple. 
Squash
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Chives, diced
Pepper
Heavy Cream

Layer the above (except cream) in muffin tins (sprayed with non stick spray) ending with pouring a tablespoon of cream in each muffin tin, place in 350 degree oven until bubbly and brown - about 25 minutes

Before:

After:

So, what did I save, well I saved $ on the tenderloin and got another meal out of it, used some of the heavy cream I need to use before it goes bad and I saved by precooking bacon and using just the one slice I needed.  That's a double duty because A, I only used one piece of bacon and B, that means that is all we ate.  Hooray on the calories saved.  My favorite part about this dish is that it is still a little rich, I did use a little heavy cream & cheese, but I pulled out potato and bacon fat which is pretty fantastic. 

Enjoy,
Melissa

New Post - Sunday Supper with a little Mediterranean Sass 1.5.14

Over the Holidays I tend to stock up on staples like garlic.  And now I am in overload.  Today also happens to be Sunday, and on Sunday, I always cook a whole chicken.  But, I am tired of the same chicken in the crock pot, make stock, pick apart the carcass and portion out for meals for the week.  Sure I get a lot of bang for my buck, but I have been on vacation all week and was looking for the easy way out.  I also wanted a light chicken dish that was carb free, healthy but also uber tasty. 

Then I opened the fridge and saw I had a quarter of a jar of capers and I thought Mediterranean. So syanara crock pot hello oven!

I came up with:

Roasted Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, Onions, Artichoke and Capers

Note - you can switch up/omit what you do not like if needed!

Now for the recipe:

*Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

Ingredients:
One whole chicken - cut into portions, thigh, breast, wing...
2 lemons -  cut into wedges
1 onion -  cut into wedges leaving on the root (so the onion doesn't break apart in the roasting process)
1 head of garlic - I broke apart each clove but you can simply cut the head in half if you wish
1/2 cup capers - I added in the juice from the capers as well
2 cans artichoke hearts - I rinse the artichokes but I also add in the juice from the can
Drizzle of EVOO
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp thyme
S & P to taste

Instructions:
In the order above place the ingredients in a roasting pan sprayed with a non stick cooking spray - it will then look like this:

Roast for 1.5 hours at 300 degrees, then raise the temperature to 425 to crisp the chicken and veggies.

*Every oven is different, so your timing may vary, I use a meat thermometer to ensure my food is at the correct temperature.

After it is cooked it should look something like the picture below.  I added a simple side salad of greens, diced plum tomato and local feta from Crooked Creek Farm, drizzled with the roasted lemon wedge and EVOO.

I mean - not to brag - but this was delish - and pretty freakin healthy, too!


Before you 86 that! (what to do with leftovers)

• The breast meat and veggies made 4 lunches for me and the hubs
• The rest of the dark meat will be saved for a chicken and mushroom risotto on Tuesday night

Enjoy,
Melissa

New Year - New Freezer Meals

A new year is a great time to either start up freezer meals, or do the old check of what is in the freezer.  I have a much shorter rule than many - 3 months in the freezer or it is gone.  I know, you are already writing me telling me I can go longer.  That is totally a personal choice.  I am a family of 2 and honestly a 3 month stockpile of meals is plenty.  Especially living in New England.  Remember that October storm... I lost so much food/money/time so now - 3 months.  Simple.

So today I was back at it, with a storm outside (kinda funny after what I typed above) I went into freezer mode.  Lasagne, Stuffed Shells, and Mexican Stuffed Shells.  My tips when making freezer meals, use up what is in the house, or stock up on an on sale item and build around it.  Make it your own and have fun.  I had plenty of stuff to make a basic sauce and also some Mexican items, so... Italian and Mexican it was. 

My most important tips...

I use the 'toss' easy foil pans - I work long hours and I also hate having my good casserole dishes taken up in the freezer

Saran Wrap + Tin Foil

Label and Date Everything you put in the freezer.  Your method doesn't have to be pretty, just be consistent.  I use a sharpie and write directly on the tin foil.  Simple. Easy. Effective.

Happy Freezing! 

Back at Blogging after a 2 year hiatus!

I have been trying to make the time to get back into blogging for almost 2 years!  A few big great things have happened which have hindered my getting back into it. 

I got engaged - April 2012

Together with my fiance we bought our 1st home together - December 2012

And last, but not least, we got married - September 2013

So now, things have settled in, and I am ready to blog!  All things food!

It all started with a lemon! 1.2.14

This morning is the 2nd day in January... Crap, is it seriously 2014!  Wow.

This means, a new year, new organizing, you know, out with the old, in with the new etc... As I was doing dishes I saw that I had 4 lemons that were at that 'use it or loose it' stage.  As I looked out the window still doing dishes I thought - Lemon Poppy Bread in the bread maker.  I. Heart. My. Bread Maker.  So, 4 lemons meant 2 loafs!I have a Cuisinart Bread Maker and it is a gem!  Great for breads, jams, doughs - you name it!  More to come on that in later blogs. 

So 2 loafs later... One posted below resting on the counter where I had the epiphany - gazing into the snow!  Snow days make for great bread making days. 

Link to the recipe:
http://www.cuisinart.com/recipes/breads/6780.html

So... A lemon, really isn't just a lemon.  Be creative with items, I say it all the time, citrus of any kind is so versatile, from savory to sweet!
Enjoy,
Melissa