dinner

A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

October 17, 2013

This is my current favorite picture. We took it about 2 weeks ago at sunrise-ish while we were walking Kemper on the beach.

Had a Petty Melt yesterday for lunch (well half of one yesterday and leftovers today) and it might be my new current favorite food.

The ham and cheese squares from Starbucks might just be my new favorite food. Oh, and Patty Melts too. Can’t forget about those.

I have no real desire to blog right now. I’m at a real loss without our desktop computer which died on the 6th and took with it EVERYTHING- all my files, all my pictures- personal and blog. I feel like crying at any moment when I think about it. Hoping something can be figured out and they can be recovered.

I want to make these Oreo Brownies ASAP. And eat them all when I think about the thousands upon thousands of photos I’ve lost (see above).

I’m slipping back into zombie mode. I’m still not as bad as I was early on in the pregnancy when I would get home, absent mindedly eat dinner, and stumble into bed but I’m getting close to that some nights.

We are hardcore attacking The Bean’s room this weekend so we can get on to clearing it out and on to painting it next weekend. But of course, this is all around my weekend napping schedule.

38 more days until the baby arrives!

10.11-13: Weekend Recap

October 14, 2013

{Friday Night} work a bit late | home | mom at the house to surprise me for the baby shower | dinner at Red Lantern | bed

{Saturday} up early with Kemper | go to Haymarket | Bread and Butter for Breakfast sandwiches | clean up the fridge and kitchen | lounge around watching Food Network and nap | get ready | baby shower | Kris came to the house for about an hr | relax and organize gifts | bed

{Sunday} up early with Kemper | lounge around and sort baby shower stuff | long brunch at local 149 with mom | naps | assemble the bouncy seat and sort clothing by size | pizza dinner at Prince’s Pizzeria | blogging & mom knitting while we watch TV | bed

8.23-25: Weekend Recap

August 26, 2013

{Friday Night} leave work early | Price gets home late | get take out pizza | dinner | work on Project Life | relax & watch TV | bed

{Saturday} Kemper was up early | shower & get ready | pack up the car | left over pizza for breafast | leave around 7am | sleep in the car | Greenwich at 10.15am | hang at the boat waiting for family to come | boat ride to The Cove, lunch, newphews swimming around, ride around the islands in the Sound | last minute grocery shopping | dinner- hamburgers, sausage, salads, lobsters, ice cream cake | play around for hours | get towels and talk with my sister | back to the boat | bed

{Sunday} up early | lounge around | breakfast sandwiches from The Firehouse Deli | leave Greenwich at 10am | Sonic for drinks | get rabbit pellets at Sweet Meadow Farm | Price gets workboots | home & unpack the car | drop Price off at work | grocery shopping for the week | lounge/nap time | laundry | work on Project Life | make pumpkin roll | pick up Price from work | blogging | MTV VMA’s | redline drawings | bed

Open Faced Summertime Tomato Sandwich {& a Nasoya Nayonaise Review}

July 16, 2013

I haven’t been into cooking during the week. I try to do all my ‘big’ cooking done over the weekend and then just make something simple like boxed mac and cheese during the week. It’s too hot. I’m too tired. I don’t care.

But since I can’t live on boxed mac and cheese alone (or can I?), I’ve been trying to make some simple salads or sandwiches, besides PBJ. One that I have been turning to is a summer time favorite… a tomato sandwich.

I just feel that you can’t beat fresh summer produce so you should take every opportunity you can to enjoy it. And don’t mess around with it too much. Some bread, your favorite mayo, fresh greens, and slices of juice ripe tomato. Plus don’t forget the fresh cracked salt and pepper. Really, enjoy the best of every ingredient since there are only 4.

I recently received some Vegan Nayonsise from Nasoya to try. I’ve really been enjoying it on sandwiches, in dips for fries, and on burgers. Yes, I know. Dumb Dumb puts vegan mayo on a meaty burger. I’m pregnant. That’s my free card to do whatever. But really, because it is so good I’ve been putting it on and in all different things. I think that’s really impressive since I ONLY use Hellmann’s. Don’t try to give me Cain’s or Miracle Whip.

So naturally, I was hesitant to try the Original Nayonaise. But I was really pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it. No, this is not your typical mayo since it is Dairy and Egg Free, which means it is not going to taste the same or look the same as a ‘normal’ mayo but it really is very good. I think it is a great solution for someone to enjoy if they are vegetarian, vegan, or have a food allergy.

I had done some side by side comparisons while playing around with the Nayonaise by making some foods with it and some with regular mayo and mixing them up. If you were not really looking out for the difference I think you would not really notice it. The taste is subtually tangier than Hellmann’s, but I don’t think that is a bad thing. I never experienced a funny after taste with the Nayonaise either. I think the biggest difference I noticed was that it has a different texture compared to mayo. When mayo is pretty smooth, it is rather gummy, but I didn’t notice any problems mixing it up or spreading it on my sandwich.

Besides it being a great product for vegetarians, vegans, or people with food allergies, I think it would be great for people who are watching their figure. Compared to the average mayo that has 90 calories, 10 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat per serving, the Nayonaise has only 40 calries, 3 grams of fat, and .5 grams of saturdated fat per serving. The Nayonaise has slightly more sodium with 115 grams compared to 90 grams but overall a very healthy mayo alternative.

For real… look at this amazing perfect summertime sandwich.

Nom, Nom, Nom!!!

Open Faced Summertime Tomato Sandwich

Makes 4 ‘sandwiches’

Ingredients

1 boule of sourdough bread
your favorite mayo, such as Nasoya’s Vegan Nayonaise
2-4 super fresh tomatoes, depends on size
4 leaves of romaine lettuce
salt and pepper

Process

Slice the sourdough into 1/4″ thick slices. Lightly toast, if desired.
Slather on a generous amount of mayo.
Lay on torn pieces of romaine lettuce. Top with 1/4″ thick slices of tomatoes.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

*While I did receive this complimentary jar of Nayoniase from Nasoya, these opinions are entirely my own.

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Spanakopita Stuffed Chicken Breasts

February 20, 2013

When we first got Kemper I took most of the next week off so I could run outside with him every hour-ish so we could get him trained quickly. Well in hopes of that. Also in making wrong assumptiongs… I thought I would get so much blogging, scrapbooking, cleaning done while he sleep but that is a big fat no since I just ooed and awwed over him while he slept. Seriously. Hopeless.

At least I did manage to make some great meals for my lunches and for our dinners that week. I’ve been looking all around at the mass quantities of cookbooks I have and I’ve decided that I need to actually crack them open and make some recipes from them. The first one I grabbed was The Ultimate Casseroles Book: More than 400 Heartwarming Dishes from Dips to Desserts. This is such a fantastic Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. There are so many great recipes in there that I’ve flagged. The book is so full of post-it’s now it’s a bit crazy.

I suggest that you try the Spanakopita Stuffed Chicken Breasts because they were just fantastic. I love spanakopita with it’s puff pastry pockets stuffed with spinach, salty feta, and fresh lemon. Stuffing the chicken breasts with that mixture was a great way to spice up some chicken for dinner. I love Greek inspired dishes and this is one that I will make again.

I made some changes along the way but it still worked out just a planned. Mainly, I used boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. My preparation of the chicken differed as I didn’t stuff the spinach mixture between the skin and breasts, but created a pocket myself. Also, the recipe called for 3 tablespoons snipped fresh dill added to the spinach mixture, but I didn’t have it around so I didn’t want to buy it just for this as I don’t really like dill anyway.

Spanakopita Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
10oz box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1/3 cup crumbled feta
1/4 ground nutmeg
1 medium sized lemon
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 skinless chicken breasts (approximately 2 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium sized lemon, cut into wedges

Process

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 3 quart casserole dish by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium skillet, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent (about 4-6 minutes). Remove from heat then add the spinach, feta, nutmeg, pepper, and the juice from 1 lemon. Combine all the ingredients and then divide into 4 equal portions.
Cut large pockets into the chicken breasts. Put 1/4 of the spinach mixture into each open chicken breast. Close the chicken breasts as much as possible and place in the casserole dish. Add the lemon wedges to the casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (170 degrees).

Monday Munchies: OSAKA Japanese Sushi & Steak House- Brookline, MA

February 18, 2013

As part of my Monday Munchies series, I will feature a different eatery for a review on the first and third Monday of every month. Hope you enjoy!

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Are you looking for a great place for date night?

Then go to OSAKA Japanese Sushi & Steak House in Brookline. I am going to guarantee that you enjoy anything from the Dinner Menu but I have to admit that I stick with the hibachi. I love getting to enjoy fresh food with a little show right in front of you.

Hibachi starts with a salad. I love the ginger salad dressing. Creamy with a nice gingery spice to it.

I think I could eat their fried rice every single day. EVERY DAY. But probably not since there is a generous amount of butter and soy sauce in there. It is just so creamy, flavorful, and garlicky.

Volcano!!!!!!

During our most recent visit we enjoyed the Osaka Supreme which is over the top and includes chicken, fillet mignon, shrimp, scallop, and lobster for 2 people all for $59.95. Yeah, reread that… chicken, fillet mignon, shrimp, scallop, and lobster… it’s no joke! Everything is cooked and flavored to perfection. The steak was a tender medium rare. If you love filet and can’t get enough of that then just get that entree but if you love it all then the Osaka Supreme would be great for the 2 of you.

And Pricer got a great treat from our realty friendly and talented chef with some sake! ha!

Give Osaka a try to enjoy everything from sushi to Japanese entrees to hibachi or some killer drinks!

OSAKA Japanese Sushi & Steak House

14 Green Street

Brookline, MA 02446

617.732.0088

Sausage, Lentil, and Kale Soup

December 12, 2012

Sausage, Lentil, and Kale Soup is a healthy, hearty soup that will leave you satisfied inside & out. You’ll love the flavors and textures from the lentils and kale. A sprinkling of cheese and a drizzle of olive oil will make each bite a perfect 10!

Post from 12/12/12, pictures updated 7/7/18

I’ve been in this crazy cooking and baking mode lately. It feels inspiring and fun. I love it so much!!

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(Almost) No Baste Bacon Covered Turkey

November 21, 2012

I love 4 things about Thanksgiving: the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the National Dog Show after it, booze, and my mom’s turkey. I don’t actually eat much turkey because I’m poor at planning and self control and get too eager with the appetizers and all of the sides. By the time dessert comes I’m just thinking of P-jams and how those pies need to get away from me!!

Okay, back to the turkey… So while I don’t eat a lot of turkey on Thanksgiving I could not imagine not making a turkey when home for the holiday and eating it the days following Thanksgiving. And since I’ve learned from my parents, the way I make turkey is that it is covered in bacon. Yep, bacon.

Covering the turkey gives it a great taste from the bacon, plus your house smells extra awesome. Also, since the bacon is continually rendering on top of the turkey you basically don’t need to baste it. This allows you to put your turkey in & just about forget about it while you watch the parade or freak out at every cute dog in the dog show. You turn the temp down once and later on check on the wings to give them a tine foil cover so they don’t burn, which is when I typically give it a thorough basting and then back in the oven it goes.

Now truth be told, if you love crunchy skin this might not be the turkey for you. This is all about sealing in the juices with the bacon so the skin doesn’t really get any exposure in the oven. If you want to give this a try and want a crispy skin then I suggest you might remove the bacon and then put the turkey back in with a broiler in low.

(Almost) No Baste Bacon Covered Turkey

Ingredients

1 whole turkey
1 pound of bacon
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-2″ long pieces
3 onions, cut into wedges
4 stalks of celery, peeled and cut into 1-2″ pieces
6 cloves of garlic
2 lemons, cut into 8 pieces
1 orange, cut into 8 pieces
bunch of parsley
1 stick of butter
4 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper

Process

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Remove the giblets from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse then dry the turkey completely. Place turkey onto rack in large roasting pan.
Combine the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, lemons, orange, and parsley. Put the mixture into the cavity of the bird and the remaining mixture goes into the bottom of the pan with the chicken stock.
Cut the butter into small pieces and place between the breast and the skin.
Place the strips of bacon over the breast of the turkey and wrap the legs with bacon.
Put turkey in oven. After 45 minutes turn the temperature down to 350. After 2 hours, put foil on the wing tips. Continue cooking until the thigh meat reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees. When testing, be sure that your thermometer is not touching the bone. Rule of thumb is that it will take approximately 15-20 minutes per pound.
When turkey is done, let stand 20-30 minutes prior to carving. to allow the juices to redistribute throughout the bird.

Extra Cheesy Brussels Sprout Gratin

November 20, 2012

Dinner will never be the same when you make this Extra Cheesy Brussels Sprout Gratin. You’ll love all this cheesy goodness!

Post from 11/20/12, Pictures Updated 11/15/18

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

I was recently going through old cooking magazines to organize them into a usefully system. Since a pile of cut up recipes from magazines tossed in a box isn’t much of a system…. no?

Well, my system is still getting tweaked but at least I can more easily find some fun things to try. In that process, I dug up recipes from December ’11 from Martha Stewart Living and one of the things that jumped out of me was the Smokey Brussels Sprout Gratin. Cheese! Brussels Sprouts! More Cheese! Winner!!!!

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Dinner in 20: Pasta with Veggies and Cream Sauce

June 28, 2012

I have not been the mood to do anything lately. Well, that is not true. I want to scrapbook all day, every day. I just don’t feel right not being able to be creative. Thinking about how far behind I am working on Project Life makes me want to break out in hives. I left off at week 12… it is now week 26. kill me. And no, I don’t have to continue, but I want to. When I work at it I feel good, I really enjoy it. So I just need to get set up for it, and find some time, and I’ll feel like myself again.

Being so disinterested in cooking I have been gravitating towards quick fix dinners. Salads have been gracing our table a lot lately but this Pasta with Veggies and Cream Sauce dish was a big winner. I had just restocked the fridge and pantry from moving so I didn’t have to run out last minute to grab something. I love when that happens. I also love Philadelphia Cooking Cream. We use a lot of this to add to pasta dishes, casseroles, or on eggs. It adds a lot of flavor to dishes easily. I’m not singing their praises because they are sponsoring me, I just really like the cooking creams. Man I would love to be sponsored by them, that would be so cool since we go through so much of this stuff. Ha!

Pasta with Veggies and Cream Sauce

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 lb farfalle pasta
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced into 1″ pieces
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 (10oz) Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Cream
1 bunch scallions

Process

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to directions for al dente pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, saute the red pepper and mushrooms together in the olive oil. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
Add the cooking cream to the vegetables and mix together until fully incorporated.
Add the cooking cream onto the pasta when you serve it.

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Garlic Butter Noodles with Scallions and Sambal

June 18, 2012

When the cat’s away the mice will play. Or in this case, when Price is away, Nicole will eat garlic noodles. And Price was just in Vegas for a guys trip so I obviously made these!

Years ago I saw a post on White on Rice Couple for Garlic Butter Noodles. They were sharing a recipe they adapted from Jaden’s new The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. Umm, big whoop! I’m Italian so I grew up on pasta with butter and a bit of garlic. Well, shutthefrontdoor this is totally different and amazing. I knew I would have to immediately make this recipe. The noodles, garlic, butter, some sugar, and fish sauce were all calling out to me.

I was hooked from the start. Price, not so much. So this is now a dish that I make when he is working late or away. When he works late the second he opens the door he exclaims ‘YOU MADE GARLIC NOODLES!!! NOOOOO!!!” Why does he protest so much? Because no matter how many times I brush my teeth I still stink of garlic. I don’t mind but I’m not on other end of it. So you have been warned, but I swear it is worth it.

The combination of the butter, garlic, and brown sugar is out of this world. The garlic is slowly cooked in the butter just enough to bring out the flavors. (Don’t burn it! If you do, start over!) Then when you add the brown sugar it becomes caramel-y with the butter. That alone is great but then you add the fish sauce and soy sauce and the whole thing get a 1-2 punch with umami flavors. The scallions are a nice touch for flavor and texture. I add the sambal bajak for some some heat and spice, which I can’t get enough of in this. The recipe is quick, addicting, and will be a favorite in no time!

Garlic Butter Noodles with Scallions and Sambal

serves 1

Ingredients

4-6 oz spaghetti pasta
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1-2 tablespoons of sambal bajak

Process

Bring water to a boil in a medium size pot. Cook the pasta until al dente. Before straining set aside a 1/4 cup of pasta water.
In the empty pot that you cooked the pasta in, melt the butter over medium- low heat. Add the garlic. Stir constantly to prevent the garlic from burning. Once the garlic is golden brown add the brown sugar in. Constantly mix the sugar until is starts to bubble. Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, and pasta water. Turn up the heat to cook until it just comes to a boil. Remove from the heat.
Add the pasta back to the pot with the scallions and mix until all the noodles are evenly coated. Enjoy with some sambal bajak (and a breath mint!)

What do you make when your significant other is away? Seafood? Wine and cereal? Dinner becomes eating cake while standing over the sink.

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Garlic Lemon Shrimp

May 3, 2012

When Price and I first met ages ago he did not like seafood. At all. Well, with the exception of the fried fish dinner from Doug’s Fish Fry from back home. And I think that was only because they have the best cole slaw there. Over the years he has been more adventitious and has expanded his pallet so every now and then we had seafood for dinner. Shrimp was on sale one day so whipped up this super simple, flavorful dinner for us on a whim.

This was so easy to prepare. The prep time was so fast as most of the work was done for me has the shrimp had been de-veined and de-shelled. I only needed to remove the tails before tossing together the rest of the mixture. This could be served with rice or pasta but I decided to not dirty another pot and just enjoy it with french bread. Normally, I would drizzle the bread with extra virgin olive oil but the rest of the dish was so indulgent with butter, oil, and wine so I keep it basic. Besides, the bread would just be dipped into the ‘broth’ anyway. This is very garlicky so this is not a first date kind of meal, enjoy it with someone you love and some wine!

Garlic Lemon Shrimp

Serves 2 as an entree, 4 as an appetizer

Ingredients

1 pound shrimp, medium sized (31-35)
4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 large lemons
salt and pepper
1 loaf of french bread

Process

Preheat oven to 425. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Rinse and remove the shell and tails from the shrimp.
In a bowl, mix together the shrimp, garlic, butter, olive oil, wine, oregano, red pepper flake, and the juice of 1 lemon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Lay out the shrimp mixture on half of the lined baking sheet. Cut the remaining 1/2 lemon into thin slices and lay onto the shrimp.
Slice the french bread into 1/2 thick pieces and lay out on the other half of the baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, it is done when the shrimp have all turned pink.
First remove the toasted bread, then carefully pick up the aluminium foil to transfer the shrimp and it’s cooking liquid to a serving dish.