Goodbyes are a little easier with good food...

This weekend was my friend Jess's last weekend at work. Therefore, we had a potluck Saturday and Sunday night. When we focus on the good food that everyone has brought, we don't have to think about being sad that one of our team is leaving :/

I had a recipe in mind for Saturday night (Kahlua Brown Sugar Baked Brie), but I would have to buy most of the ingredients and bake it before work. We usually don't pull out snacks until 11pm or later, not so good for brie baked at 530pm.

I had some fillo dough in my freezer that I wanted to use up, and thought that I could find a recipe for brie, brown sugar, and fillo dough. 'Googled' a few key words and found several recipes that were similar to what I was picturing in my head. I took pieces from each recipe and came up with these delicious bites!

Brown Sugar and Pecan Brie Bites

- Fillo dough sheets
- Brie, cubed into 1/2 in. pieces
- Pecans
- Brown sugar
- Strawberry jam, optional

 

1. Roll out fillo dough and cut into 1.5"-2" squares.

 

 

2. Form into mini muffin tins. Spray with olive oil if you have it. 

 

3. Place cubed Brie into each cup.

4. Top with 1/2 tsp brown sugar.

 

5. Top each with a pecan half.



 

6. Bake at 350* for 4-5 minutes, until cheese is melted and filo toasted.

 



 Optional spin- add strawberry or raspberry jam! I remembered the homemade strawberry jam in my refrigerator for my last batch :/ But if you add 1/2 tsp of jam instead of brown sugar, they may be even more delicious! It's a toss up, I ate many of both!

Sunday night. Again trying to use things I had. The farmer's market this week had great blueberries and Ina Garten has a blueberry crumb cake that I had been waiting to try- perfect! I used this recipe- Blueberry Crumb Cake!

                                                             

 

 

 

Picnic- sort of :)

This week, my evenings were full- with babysitting, high school bible study, work, and eating at Cheesecake Factory. So a new recipe for dinner wasn't going to happen. On Tuesday, Virginia had time to meet for lunch before she headed to work, but instead of going out to lunch, we decided to have a picnic!

We ended up just meeting at my apartment and eating on the porch, since it was really hot and there wasn't a great picnicking spot nearby. But it was great! My new recipe for the week was Flying Farmer Chicken Salad. This was a recipe from my mom that she had made for a lunch at sometime in my past, that I remembered being delicious. We also had hummus, carrots, grapes, and fresh whole grain sourdough bread from a local bakery.

Flying Farmer Chicken Salad

- 3 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 2 Tbs orange juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 C cooked rice
- 1 1/2 C green grapes, halved
- 1 1/2 C sliced celery
- 1 C pineapple chunks (or 12 oz can pineapple tidbits, drained)
- 1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges, drained
- 1 1/2 C mayonnaise

1. Boil or roast chicken until cooked through. I roasted mine in aluminum foil, seasoned with salt and pepper, for 40 minutes at 350*.

2. Shred or cut chicken into chunks. In a separate bowl, combine oil, orange juice, vinegar, and salt.

3. Add cooked rice, chicken, fruit, and celery. Gently toss together.

This tastes best when made the night before and allowed to marinate together overnight!

Favorites

One of my projects at work has been creating a PICU Cookbook, where everyone submits their favorite recipes, and we sold them as a little fundraiser.

 

  

Last Friday, we had our "Cookbook Reveal" party. Everyone made a dish that they submitted to the cookbook and brought it! It was a night full of good friends and delicious foods! I have some new favorites! The best thing was that every time you tried something you liked, you didn't have to ask for the recipe!

 

 

It also gave me the chance to make a couple of my favorites that I can share! (remember the moment last week about not getting to share favorites on here?) Well here they are!

 

Tomato- Sausage Risotto adapted from Martha Stewart Living

- 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes (I use garlic basil or fire-roasted)

- 3 C water

- 1 Tbs olive oil

- 3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

- 1 small onion, finely chopped

- 1 C Arborio rice

- 1/2 C dry white wine (or chicken broth)

- 1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese

- 2 Tbs butter
 

1. In a small saucepan, combine tomatoes (with their juice) and 3 cups water. Bring just to a simmer; keep warm over low heat.
 

 

 

2. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add sausage and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until sausage is cooked through and onion has softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

 

 

3. Add rice; cook, stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine or chicken broth and cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.

 

 

4. Add about 2 cups hot tomato mixture to rice; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue adding tomato mixture, 1 cup at a time, waiting for one cup to be absorbed before adding the next, stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes total (you may not have to use all the liquid).

 

5. Remove pan from heat. Stir in Parmesan and butter. Serve immediately (risotto will thicken as it cools), and sprinkle with additional Parmesan.

This is actually an easy recipe, just takes a little patience to consistently stir for a bit! The result is worth it.

 

 

 

I really debated which dessert to bring to the party. I had a can of pumpkin in my cabinets and I wanted to try to use things that I already had. But pumpkin is a fall food. It took me forever to get over the notion that 'pumpkin is only for fall.' However, the cake was a hit so I think it can be an any season food :)

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

This is what happens when you are rushing to 'throw'
pumpkin into the mixing bowl!

Cake
- 1/3 C water
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbs vanilla
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 tsp baking soda






1. Combine in a mixing bowl and pour into a buttered 9 x 13 in. pan.

Topping
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1/2 C flour
- 4 Tbs melted butter

2. Mix and crumble over top of cake.

3. Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes.

Glaze

- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1/4 C white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 C heavy cream




4. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat, and stir until sugar is dissolved.

 

5. Poke holes in warm cake and spread glaze evenly over top of cake.

 

6. Allow to cool and serve!

Marsala Chicken and Mushroom Casserole

Last week, I was really frustrated with this food blogging and the recipes I had been trying. I didn't think that I had tried anything really great and worth sharing lately. I found my list of all the recipes I had tried last year though, when I also tried at new recipe every week, and realized that there were lots of recipes that tasted great and are worth repeating and sharing! I'm trying to figure out how I want to share these/ store these for myself. Do I keep them as tabs on Pinterest? Do I write them in my recipe book? Do I print them and put them in my recipe scrapbook? Do I share them on here? My life is full of hard decisions.

I haven't figured out exactly what I want to do yet, but I may start sharing the really good ones on here :)

I also realized that I hadn't cooked in over a week. And when I cooked last night, I enjoyed myself. So I shouldn't go so long without cooking- it's relaxing and fun for me.

And last night's recipe was so good. So good. Worth sharing. And worth you making. You should- easy and delicious!

This is from EveryDay with Rachel Ray magazine. My friend Jess and I were babysitting overnight for a friend from work and needed something good to make. Frozen chicken fingers and french fries just weren't going to cut it for us! This recipe can be adapted many ways- with or without wine, with or without mushrooms (or just mushrooms over half, how I will make it for my family at home!), whatever kind of rice you like. And it will be delicious!

Marsala Chicken and Mushroom Casserole courtesy of EveryDay with Rachel Ray

- 2 Tbs butter
- 10 oz sliced mushrooms
- 1 1/2 Tbs flour
- 1/2 C marsala wine or white wine
- 1/2 C heavy cream (I used light cream)
- 2 C water
- 2 Tbs chopped parsley (or dried parsley)
- salt and pepper
- 1 C long-grain rice
- 2 C chopped rotisserie chicken
- 2 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350*. In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat until just melted.

2. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.

3. Sprinkle flour on top and stir in.

4. Stir in the marsala and cream and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in 2 C water, the parsley, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper.

 

 

 

5. In a greased 9 x 13 in casserole dish, spread the rice in an even layer; top with the chicken.

6. Pour the mushroom gravy on top. Cover snugly with foil and bake until bubbly, about 35 minutes. Discard the foil, sprinkle the Parmesan on top and bake for 5 minutes more.

 Eating dinner next to a sunset like this with a great friend, no better way to end a day!

Quinoa Salad with Lemon-Basil Dressing

After a long day of traveling -complete with beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and torential downpours of rain- back to Charlottesville, I wanted something quick and easy for dinner.

I had pinned this recipe on Pinterest several days ago, I had most of the ingredients, and it would be a good salad to snack on for the week!

Quinoa Salad with Lemon-Basil Dressing

- 1 C uncooked quinoa
- 15 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1-3 Roma tomatoes (to taste)
- 1 bell pepper (I used part of red/green/yellow)
- 1 1/2 C corn
- green onions (optional)

dressing
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 2 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp basil

1. Rinse quinoa and add to boiling water. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until all liquid is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy.

2. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, and basil together in the bottom of a bowl.

3. Add chickpeas, diced peppers, onions, corn, and tomatoes.

4. When quinoa is done cooking, let cool; then add to salad.

 

5. Mix dressing thoroughly into salad. Eat immediately or chill before serving!

Drunken Shrimp and Buttery Lemon Parsley Noodles

I read a blog on "10 ways you are killing your blog without even knowing it" yesterday. The fact that my blog has a whole 5 readers is irrelevant. One of the ways to kill your blog's popularity is to not post pictures. Which I am beginning to excel at. Thus, another post without pictures.

Being a full time blogger has to be much harder than I give those people credit for. First, you have to cook all the time. Many weeks, cooking dinner just for myself if a challenge! Last week I was very thankful for frozen leftovers. And then you have to take pictures when you are cooking. Often I just forget to do this, but other times it is hard to stop your rhythm of cooking to snap a photo. Or taking that extra minute to grab my camera and get a good photo means food a little more "well-done." My amateur photography and blogging problems.

Today mom and I went antiquing in downtown Sweetwater, TN- a cute little town with tons of cute antique shops. And good ice cream too :) We found of neat stuff!

Dinner was two new recipes. One was Drunken Shrimp from the PICU cookbook. When I needed a quick side pasta, PW was there for me with Buttery Lemon Parsley Noodles.

Drunken Shrimp

- 2 lbs shrimp
- 2 C white wine
- 2 C mozzarella
- squeeze of lemon juice
- tarragon- or any herb (I used parsley)
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute the shrimp in the white wine until no longer pink.

2. Pour into a glass casserole dish, add herbs, and cover with mozzarella.

3. Bake at 350* until cheese is melted.

The family gave it good reviews, well there were no leftovers so, as always, I'm taking that as a good sign!