Pepperoni Pizza Bites

These are a great bite sized snack perfect for a get together with friends. I am making these to bring with me to a New Years Eve gathering. It's also a great easy recipe to have on hand for football season.

Ingredients: ( makes 24 bites)

3/4 cup of flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flake ( optional to taste)
1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup chopped pepperoni
1/2 cup pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24 cup mini muffin pan. In large bowl mix together dry ingredients. Next mix milk and egg. Stir in cheeses. Mix in pepperoni.

Spoon into prepared muffin pan. Bake until puffed and golden about 20-25 minutes.

Serve bites with warmed pizza sauce.

Adapted from Everyday with Rachel Ray

Pea and Mushroom Side

My husband has expressed to me on numerous occasions that a vegetable side dish he likes is peas with mushrooms. I would typically brush him off and make something else. The combo just did not entice me enough to make it, until tonight when all I had on hand were mushrooms and peas! And I have to say they turned out fantastic.

Ingredients:
Half carton of baby portabello mushrooms sliced
Cup frozen peas thawed
1 shallot thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons of chicken broth

In a medium skillet over medium heat melt butter sauté shallot and garlic until golden. Add peas and mushrooms. Cook until softened. Add soy sauce and broth. Let mixture simmer a few minutes. Serve and enjoy.

DIY Magnets

This Christmas one of my gifts was a big magnetic chalkboard from Pottery Barn.  I love it!  I cannot wait to hang it in my kitchen and use it as a message center.  And as a person who plans weekly menus this will also be a great spot to post what is for dinner each night.  This has led me a quest to find unique magnets to use with my new chalkboard.  After browsing online I realized I had all the materials  mostly on hand to make my own. From other projects I had a bunch of clothespins laying around, being a scrapbooker I also had stamps, perfect for a set of weekly magnets.  For some smaller round magnets I decided to use some foreign currency I had laying around from previous travels.  All I needed was some magnets. After a quick trip to Michael's I was set.  And this being a cold rainy/snowy afternoon I found it the perfect opportunity to get crafty.  Now I just need to get the chalkboard hung!

Materials Used:

Clothespins (bought at the dollar store)
Self adhesive magnet strips
Round glue able magnets
Old foreign Coins
Stamps
ink pad

Using smaller alphabets stamps I placed the days of the week on the clean clothespins.  Then added magnetic strips onto the backs.

These will now be a great place to hang my weekly menu or reminders about appointments.

For the coin magnets I made sure to first clean the coins to help the glue stick better.  After they were thoroughly dried I used some quick drying tacky glue to connect the magnet and the coins together.  Allow the glue to dry and set completely before trying to use.

A great use for a few coins from trips rolling around.  A unique souvenir that will now be seen on a daily basis

I decided to stamp a few more clothespins with a few other ideas: To Get, To Do, Reminder.

A quick, easy, inexpensive afternoon project!

Three Bean Chili

Nothing beats a hearty chili on a cold evening. In trying to eat healthier I did not want the beef to take center stage, I found this recipe on a few websites with slightly varying ingredients so this is what I took away from it. I never thought to put carrots in chili until now, and I love them. A plentiful selection if beans really makes this chili satisfying.

Ingredients:

1 small onion chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 yellow pepper chopped
2-3 carrots chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon ancho chili pepper
1 seeded chopped adobe pepper in adobe sauce
1-2 tablespoons adobe sauce
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 can rinsed drained kidney beans
1 can rinsed drained black beans
1 can rinsed drained pinto beans

Optional toppings:

Avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips.

Recipe:

Heat oil in a Dutch oven. Cook pepper, onion, carrots until soft, roughly 5-8 minutes. Add ground beef, breaking with wooden spoon. Cook until no longer pink about 6-8 minutes. Add cumin and ancho chili powder cook 1-2 minutes until aromatic add adobe pepper and sauce . Add can of crushed tomato. Simmer 20 minutes with lid slightly ajar. Add beans and simmer another 25 minutes. Add favorite toppings and enjoy.

Almond Crusted French Toast

So on a whim this morning I decided to change up our usual french toast.  And as usual my husband was a little skeptical at first.  Just as he was when he arrived home to other evening to the kitchen table in a new position.  I guess you can say that although I like routine every now and again you just have to shake things up. I had used some sliced almonds the night before when cooking some green beans to go with dinner and the leftover bag of them was still on the counter, you can say it inspired this breakfast.  After one bite my husband was now longer in doubt that this was going to be a good meal!

French Toast: (serves 2)

6 slices of pepperidge farm cinnamon raisin bread
2 eggs
2-3 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of almond extract
dash of cinnamon (more is plain bread)
cup of sliced almonds

In a medium shallow bowl whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and almond extract.  Heat a grill pan over medium heat and melt butter on pan.  Dip bread one piece at a time into egg mixture, let excess drip back into bowl.  place almonds on a plate and dip one side of egg coated bread onto almonds.  Place bread on grill pan and cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden.Careful with almond side not to leave too long or almond will burn.  Cook french toast in batches as to not overcrowd the pan. Add more butter to pan in between each batch.

Roasted Veggie Sandwich

I love a good sandwich. With the right blend of ingredients placed between two warm anything between toasty slices of bread is delightful. I know I have already posted a grilled veggie sandwich so this is just a variation on that same concept. It was changed up this week to give my husband and I a meatless night plus use up what was in the fridge. And as always I am a brown bag type of lunch person so the vegetable are fantastic in a wrap with some fresh spinach for the next day.  They taste great cold no need to reheat!

Sandwich:

Ciabatta bread cut to desired sandwich size ( or a baguette)
2 zucchini sliced lengthwise
2 portobello mushrooms sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon garlic powder

For Spread:

1cup ricotta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 375. Place zucchini and mushroom into ziplock bag. Next pour in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Toss to coat evenly. Place in a shallow roasting pan. Roast for about 15-20 minutes until vegetables are soft. Turn once about halfway through.

For the spread mix all ingredients together. Spread onto toasted ciabatta and top with vegetables. Munch and enjoy!

Moroccan Inspired Lentil Soup

 

The inspiration for this soup came with the desire for a hearty soup that would warm us on a chilly night.  Another need for this soup came from our desire to eat a meatless meal at least once a week.  We get extra points since we had two meatless meals this week, had the roasted vegetable sandwiches earlier.  My husband has always let me know he enjoys lentils, however it was not a food that was served in my house growing up.  So I hesitated a little but I have come to enjoy them.  Plus they are so healthy.  I looked through a few recipes to gather some ideas. I started chopping my vegetables for the soup when I started to think about what spices to include.  After staring at my spice rack for awhile, I decided a blend of cinnamon and cumin would work well.  During our honeymoon we had eaten at a Moroccan restaurant and fell in love with the flavors and use of spices.  This combination made my kitchen smell wonderful! I look forward to enjoying my leftovers for lunch today.

 

 

 

 

Lentil Soup:

1 1/2 cups lentils
2 cups baby portaballo mushrooms sliced
1 chopped sweet potato
3 carrots, chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1-2 stalk of celery chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon thyme
2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot heat olive oil.  Cook carrot, celery, onion, and garlic about 5-6 minutes until soft.  Add mushrooms and cook until soft about 4 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add cumin, thyme, and cinnamon.  Add chopped sweet potato.  Cook for a few minutes.  Add broth and four cups of water.  Toss in the lentils.  Simmer for about 25 minutes or until lentils are cooked and sweet potato soft.

Top with croutons or a dollop of greek yogurt.

 

 

Money Saving: a Short List

I have certainly become a person who coupons.  It's a far different state then I was in from my 20's and early 30's.  The person I was in my earlier days would barely look at a price tag before making a purchase, now I comparison shop and looks for deals.  Even though my husband and I have yet to have a child or a mortgage we are definitely trying to live a little more frugal.  Trying to save for a house is not easy when we are basically living on one salary.  With my husband as a full time college student it's a necessity.  My husband and I rarely go out to dinner and usually if we do it is with some kind of coupon or discount. I try not to shop in department stores with a coupon and I belong to every saving club I can. I think I amazed my husband one day while he accompanied me to Macy's that a purchased that should have cost nearly $100 only cost us about $20 with the purchases being on sale and of course I had a coupon!  To save on groceries I sit and plan our menu for the week before I go grocery shopping.  This way there are not mutiple trips to the store during the week, where extra impulse buys might happen.  I also can then plan my purchases around what is on sale or what coupons I have. So it is within this post that I will share the coupon websites and apps that help me to save!

Coupon websites:

couponsuzy and coupons.com both of these websites update often and allow you to print coupons at home.  These are good if you donot get newspapers with the inserts to clip the coupons weekly.

zavers works in conjuntion with some local grocery stores to either print or send digitial coupons to your store card.

Website and Apps: (these are both a website and avialable as an app)

cellfire works in conjuntion with local grocery stores and allows you to print coupons or send digitial coupons to your store card.

savingstar with this site/app you can digitially clip coupons and connect them to numerous store cards.  You accumulate money in a digitial account where you can later select how to get your payout.  The payout can be sent to your bank account, paypal account or you can select to donate the money or take it in the form of a amazon gift card.

LivingSocial.com, groupon.com, and amazonlocal These three websites have become a places for me to find deals for nights out with my husband from diner deals to wine and cheese tasting events.  All three offer deals for goods, trips, and local services.

cardstar is an app that has lightened my load in my wallet. I no longer have to card around all those loyalty cards.  With this app I loaded all the cards and now they can be scanned or the number used at the store.  And there are deals attached to some of the cards on the app.

I hope this was helpful and you have websites or apps that you are using please share with us!
Happy saving!

Couple Photos-

I am forever finding wonderful couple pictures on Pinterest.  These inspire me to convince my husband time and time again to pose and take milestone pictures.  We always wind up using the timer on my little canon powershot camera.  One if these days I will have to invest in a tripod so we can stop balancing the camera on furniture or tree stumps! Our first attempt at one of these photos came before we were even married, it was with our Save the Date postcards.

Our Save the Dates- all the information on the back of the postcard

First Anniversary Picture- Montauk, NY

The camera is balancing on a broken post....we also stopped a few people this day to take our picture.

We have continued with taking our own picture for our Christmas card this year. 

I will have to keep finding new ideas to commemorate special moments in our life together.  I also need to keep my fingers crossed that my husband keeps appeasing me and being a good sport about all the photos and ideas I come up with.