cool packaging

Love this packaging for Alexa Lixfeld. Very modern.

Inexpensive and so cute!

I've fallen in love with Eos products. I first tried their lip balm and it was the smoothest balm I'd ever tried before. Now they've expanded their line to include this wonderful hand cream. (see left) It contains vitamins C and E, shea butter and oat extract. It's paraben-free, phthalate-free, lanolin- free, dye- free and hypoallergenic. Wonderful for a highly allergic girl like me. Available at Walgreens.

Thanksgiving for the first time...

Yes, I finally hosted Thanksgiving and I think it came off without a hitch! I was thankful for finding recipes that I could make the day before to help me put the entire menu together effortlessly. I'd been watching Food Network and seen chefs stuff turkey breasts. It was something I'd never done before but seemed not too hard. - and it wasn't


Roasted Turkey Roulade with Cranberry and Fig Stuffing (Barefoot Contessa)


Ingredients
3/4 cup large-diced dried figs, stems removed
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup brandy
4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups diced onions
1 cup celery chopped
3/4 pound pork sausage casings removed (sweet and hot mixed)
1 1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves
3 tbsp. pine nuts, toasted
3 cups herb seasoned stuffing mix
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 extra large egg
salt & pepper
1 whole turkey breast, boned and butterflied (about 5 pounds)
3 tbsp. unsalted butter melted


Directions
Place figs and cranberries in small saucepan and pour in brandy and 1/2 c. water. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat and lower heat and simmer for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside
Melt butter and large 12 inch skillet over medium heat. Add in onions and celery and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, crumbling it into smaller pieces- for 10 minutes until browned. Add fig mixture with liquid, rosemary and pine nuts and cook for about 2 minutes. 
Place stuffing mix in large bowl and add in sausage mixture, chicken stock, egg, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper and stir well. (can be stored over night)
Preheat over to 325 degrees.
Lay turkey breast skin down on a cutting board. Season meat with salt and pepper. Spread stuffing on top of turkey about 1/2 inch thick leaving about 1/2 inch border around all sides.  Place leftover stuffing in baking dish and bake for last 45 minutes of roasting alongside the turkey. Starting at one end, roll turkey like a jelly roll and tuck in any stuffing that tried to escape on the sides. Tie the roast firmly with butcher twine every 2 inches (see video below) until it makes a compact cylinder.

Place stuffed turkey breast on baking rack on sheet pan seam side down. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. roast for 1 3/4-2 hours, until instant thermometer reads 160 degrees.


------


If you're cooking 2 breasts as I did you can double the stuffing mix and cook at same temp and time just make sure the breasts have space between them on same rack or if on two racks you need to rotate them halfway between baking.


I replaced the pork sausage with turkey sausage-- and it was just as good but a lot less fatty.

Practice Round: Chicken 101

This year I'm doing the family Thanksgiving Dinner and there is a little pressure. I have never cooked a whole turkey before so I thought I would practice on a chicken.  I made a roast chicken and I'm proud to say it was moist and scrumptious.
I found the recipe in a Cooking Light cookbook and it was super easy and here's how you do it.

Roasted Chicken with Lemons and Thyme

Ingredients
1- 6 lb. roasting chicken
2 tsp. paprika
2 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped, divided
1 tsp. salt, divided
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper divided
2 lemons

Cooking Spray
1 tsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. all purpose flour
1/2 c. dry white wine
1 c. fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. sugar

preheat oven to 425 degrees

Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken, trim excess fat. Loosen skin from breast and drumsticks.

Combine paprika, 1 tbsp. thyme, 1/2 tsp. salt,and 1/4 tsp. pepper- rub under skin.
Thinly slice one lemon and slip slices under loosened skin. Cut remaining lemon into quarters and put into cavity with remaining tbsp. thyme.

Place chicken on roasting pan coated with cooking spray, brush olive oil over chicken cover with aluminum foil. bake for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake another 50 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees--meat thermometer goes into thigh of bird (see above picture).

Let chicken rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.

Take pan with left over drippings and place it over a stovetop and heat up with flour and wine.
Whisk so lumps are removed. Mix together with broth, juice, sugar and remaining 3/4 tsp. pepper and 1/2 tsp. salt stirring until thickened and smooth.

8 servings of 3 oz. chicken and 3 tbsp. gravy = 4 weight watcher points.

Decalicious

Perhaps this isn't anything new but I think these wall decals from whatisblik.co are so neat. You can take a very small space and make it look bigger by "faux" lights, chairs and plants or even a headboard for your bed! It's instant art that adds color and style to your space. Super cute and well worth the money. 

They even have them for floors too! 

Grape tomatoes galore...

So, I was trying to figure out how to use all of the grape tomatoes I've grown so far and found this wonderful Cooking Light recipe which was pretty good.

Angel Hair with Herbed Goat Cheese and Grape Tomatoes

Ingredients

12 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta (I use high fiber kind)

1 tbsp. olive oil

1.5 tsp. bottles minced garlic

2 c. grape tomatoes- halved

2/3c.fat-free, less sodium chicken broth

6 tbsp. crumbled garlic and herb flavored goat cheese

1/3 c. chopped fresh basil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Cook pasta according to package directions without extra fat and salt. Drain and keep warm.

While pasta cooks, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet-high/med heat.

Add, garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Then add tomatoes and cook for about 2 minutes. Add broth and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add cheese, basil, salt and pepper to pasta stir until well blended. Add tomato mixture to pasta mixture tossing gently. Yields 4 servings.

What to do with grape tomatoes

I started a small container garden on my back deck not that long ago with mostly herbs and tomatoes planted. And this is the first time I've ever planted grape tomatoes. This particular tomato has turned out to be the best yet! I've also planted heirloom and plum tomatoes. The grape tomatoes are doing wonderfully in a large container and I've got an abundance of them to use every day so far.
Here are a few pictures of them. Recipe to come...

Crochet yet again.

I'm not sure why I'm fascinated with all things crocheted. Perhaps it's because I keep seeing it everywhere these days. Now, I found a crocheted rubber bowl on Gretel Home's website. Who thought such a practical thing could be so beautiful.

Oh endive, how I've never used you...

Looking through one of my Cooking Light cookbooks I found a recipe that I thought I would try. It was a simple appetizer/salad option that included endive leaves which I'd never used before. If you want a small bite sized dish with tons of flavor this is it!

Endive Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Walnuts


Ingredients:
1/2 c. coarsely chopped walnuts
2 tbsp. honey (divided)
Cooking Spray
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp. orange juice
16 Belgian endive leaves (about 2 heads)
16 small orange sections (about 2 naval oranges)
1/3 c. crumbled goat cheese
1 tbsp. minced fresh chives
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper


Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine walnuts and 1 tbsp. honey - spread onto cooking spray coated baking sheet and bake for 10 min. stirring after 5 minutes.
3. Combine 1 tbsp. honey, vinegar and orange juice in small saucepan. Bring to boil and cook until thickened.
4. Fill each endive leaf with 1 orange section. Top with 1 tsp. cheese and 1 tsp. walnuts. Drizzle vinegar mixture evenly over leaves and sprinkle with chives and pepper. 
8 servings of 2 leaves each.


FYI: Endive only has a shelf life of 2 or 3 days after you purchase then it starts to get dark and even more bitter. So, it's something that you buy the day of or day before you need to use it.

Fun earrings to make

I recently went through my files and came across a pattern that I printed out years ago. The pattern is from jewelry maker/designer/teacher, Tammy Powley, who is on About.com.  So, I thought I would try to make them --And it's super easy!
The pattern/directions for these earrings are here. Below are some of the pairs I made. All of them incorporate three stitching techniques: the ladder stitch, the brick stitch and fringing.

Vodka Sauce --revisited

Tonight I'm attempting my first vodka sauce. Which normally is a rich creamy sauce made with vodka (of course). This recipe is a little more figure friendly- being a Weight Watcher recipe.

Ingredients


1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 medium shallots; minced (about 1/2 c.)
2 medium garlic cloves minced
2 tbsp. parsley, fresh minced
1/2 tsp. sea salt, or other course salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
3 tbsp. canned tomato paste
2 oz vodka
12 oz uncooked penne
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
20 leaves basil, fresh, cut into ribbons


Instructions


Add butter, garlic and shallots to large heated skillet (med/low heat)- sauté until shallots start to carmelize, about 3-5 minutes. Add parsley, sea salt and pepper stirring once or twice. Add tomato paste and mix to form paste. Cook for about 5 minutes, moving paste around pan occasionally; add vodka. Scrap bottom of pan with a wooden spoon and cook for about 5 minutes more.


Cook pasta according to directions; drain.


Add cream to tomato sauce; reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Add pasta to sauce and mix to coat and absorb; top with basil and season to taste with salt and pepper.


1 cup per serving.

Pizza dough 101

My husband and I are on a tight budget these days as is probably most of the country. So, I thought I would share my pizza dough recipe with you. It's really inexpensive to make pizza dough and it keeps for about 3 months in the freezer after you make it. The dough can be used from everything to breadsticks to calzones. It's super easy and here is the recipe.


Ingredients:
3 cups of warm water
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. honey
4 cups unbleached flour (all purpose)
1/2 tsp. salt


Instructions:
In a stand mixer combine the water, yeast, honey and 4 teaspoons of the flour. Stir it gently to combine. Cover with a damp towel and let stand for 30 minutes in a warm place until foamy.-- this is also testing the yeast if it does not foam your yeast may not be fresh or good anymore.


Add the remaining flour and salt then with the dough hook knead for about 10 minutes until dough is well combined and smooth. You may need to add small amounts of flour if the dough is sticky. Transfer  dough to a large bowl and cover with a damp towel and let rise (45 minutes) dough should double in volume. Punch dough down and cut into 2 or 4 sections depending on how big you'd like your pizzas. I usually cut my dough into 4 sections because we make smaller pizzas with very thin crusts. At this time you can proceed to making pizzas or whatever you'd like or put the dough in air tight baggies and freeze them until you need to use. I usually freeze a good bit of them and if I need to make pizza I pull out the dough and defrost on the counter. Dough should be room temperature when you use it.

You can buy yeast in bulk at the grocery store. It comes in freeze dried packs -- they look like a small brick. Once you've opened the yeast it will keep in the freezer for quite a long long time. 


If you'd like to make whole wheat dough simply change the flour measurement to 2 cups white flour and 1 & 1/2 cups wheat flour.

Lemon pasta with roasted shrimp

This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe that has been leaned up a bit. Simple ingredients and very light and fresh. Enjoy.


Ingredients:
about 18 shrimp
3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
12 oz. of whole wheat pasta (angel hair preferred but you can use spaghetti or linguini)
4 tbsp (1/2 stick light butter)
2 lemons, zested and juiced


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix shrimp with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to season-- mix and spread out on cookie sheet.
Roasted shrimp for about 6-8 min or until pink- cooked through.
Meanwhile cook pasta according to directions save some of the pasta water before draining. Toss together pasta, 2 tbsp olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice-- salt and pepper to taste. Add reserved pasta water (if needed) to make more of a sauce for pasta... cook slighty... and then add roasted shrimp. 


I usually chop some fresh parsley and sprinkle on top before serving.


makes about six servings

Grilltastic asparagus.

I've been grilling up asparagus for awhile in my grill pan but never really got those great grill marks that can make them not only look good but have that nice smoky taste. I've found a solution: grill press it!

Faux risotto.

My husband is allergic to rice so I can't necessarily make risotto the traditional way. So I decided to try out a new dish. This fake-out risotto is made with quick cooking pearl barley, asparagus and balsamic vinegar. It's not as labor intensive as making risotto the proper way and it's not half bad either! This Weight Watcher recipe counts for 3 pts per cup.

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion(s), minced
1 cup(s) uncooked barley, use quick-cooking pearl variety
3 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth, or vegetable broth
3 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth, or vegetable broth
1/2 pound(s) asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup(s) chives, fresh, sliced
1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese Instructions: Warm oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until onion is tender, about 6 minutes. Stir in barley and cook, stirring, about 1 minute more. Add broth, cover and simmer over low heat for 8 minutes; stir in asparagus and simmer 2 minutes more. Remove from heat, stir in chives and vinegar; season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese and serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Cool crochet rug.

I came across this wonderful hand crocheted rug from ladiesandgentlemenstudio.com. Artist Jean Lee calls it the "megadoily". It's made from cotton rope. I just think it's the neatest thing! Wondering to myself how I could perhaps stitch one of these babies up? Of course, I need to learn to crochet first. haha They sell them online through their shop at etsy.com or you can order a custom made version through their website.


I love this rug!

Drink it up!

I've recently discovered the Dr. Oz Green Drink. It actually looks worse than it tastes. Loaded with vitamins and fiber this drink can get a ton of veggies in your body in very little time. And they're not cooked or processed in any way so it's completely natural. When picking out produce for this mixture I usually go with fresh produce --whatever is cheapest at the farmer's market. No need for special cucumbers or fancy apples... it's whatever is on sale because it's all pulverized in the juicer. I've made adjustments to the original recipe to accommodate just one glass/one serving. Enjoy!


Ingredients:


1 bunch spinach
1 cucumber
3-4 stalks celery
1/2 inch ginger root
1/4 bunch parsley
1 apple
1/2 lime
1/4 lemon

I'm here!

Hello all: this is my second blog strictly dedicated to fun artsy things that intrigue me and peak my creative juices. Right now I'm trying to edit HTML so I can design the layout more to my liking. It's not as easy as it seems --I'm not a computer geek by any means-- but I'm determined. Hopefully I will have the final blog finished soon.