Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients:

• About 4 red skin potatoes, chopped up
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cubes chicken bullion
• 1 cube vegetable bullion
• Splash of french onion soup broth
• 1/2 package of sweet Italian turkey sausage
• 2 handfuls of kale
• 3 glugs of olive oil
• 2 T margarine
• 1 or so T of chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup of light cream
• Salt, pepper

Directions:

1. Take sausage of of casings and break apart
2. Bring the chopped potatoes to a boil in a pot with enough water to cover the potatoes and add in the bullion cubes and french onion soup broth
3. In a saute pan, add olive oil, butter, and onions and saute for about 2 minutes
4. Add in garlic, saute for about 30 seconds
5. Add in sausage (plus salt and pepper to taste) and cook until just about done
6. Once potatoes are just about done, add in sausage and light cream
7. Cook until sausage is done
8. Add in kale as well as salt/pepper to taste
9. Serve :)

Chocolate Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins and Marble Loaf

Half me, half box.
Muffins:

Ingredients:

• Packet of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
• About 3/4ths C of butter
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• Sprinkle or two of pumpkin pie spice
• Half can of pumpkin

Directions:

• Mix cookie mix, butter, sugar, brown sugar, and pumpkin together
• Put into cupcake pan
• Bake for about 10-15 min

Marble Loaf:

Ingredients:

• Packet of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
• About 3/4ths C of butter
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• Sprinkle or two of pumpkin pie spice
• Half can of pumpkin
• Hershey's syrup

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients except for the hershey's syrup
• Put mix into a loaf pan
• Pour out lines of hershey's syrup
• Take a knife and swirl the syrup perpendicularly
• Bake on 375 for about 20 minutes

Jewish Penicillin (i.e. Matzo Ball Soup)

This was about half me, half box, but damn it; those boxes know what's up.

Ingredients:

• Box of matzo ball soup mix (w/ bullion)
• 2 eggs (I used egg beaters)
• 2 T vegetable oil
• Half bag of baby carrots (chopped)
• Small red skinned potatoes (chopped)
• Small onion (chopped)
• 1/4th a ready-made roasted chicken (shredded into bite-sized pieces)

Directions:

• Make matzo balls as directed (using mix, eggs, and vegetable oil); set aside
• Boil water with chicken bullion, then add in carrots, potatoes, and onions; cook for about 7-8 minutes
• Add in matzo balls, cover immediately and reduce heat to low, then allow to simmer for about 15 minutes
• Add in shredded chicken and continue to simmer with lid on for another 5 minutes

Ta da

Jewish penicillin. Easy as...pie? Not quite sure pie is actually easy come to think of it, but whatevs; this is.

Meatball Eggplant Pesto Sub

This was pretty amazing. Not sure why I haven't done it before.

Ingredients:

• 3 frozen turkey meatballs, sliced in thirds
• 3 small pieces of frozen breaded eggplant
• slices of fresh mozzerella
• 2 dollops of ricotta cheese
• Sprinkle of parmesan cheese
• 1-2 T pesto sauce
• 3 T tomato sauce
• 1 sub roll

Directions:

• Pre-heat toaster oven to about 425
• In a small bowl, heat frozen turkey meatballs in microwave on high for 1 min
• Cut the meatballs in thirds, add tomato sauce, stir, and heat again on high for another 30 seconds; set aside
• Put about 3 small pieces of frozen breaded eggplant on a lightly oiled baking sheet then into the toaster oven for about 8-10 minutes (or until crispy)
• Slice fresh mozzarella
  
• Open up the roll, add the meatballs and eggplant, layering with mozzarella cheese
• Pre-heat a george foreman (if you have one...which I highly recommend)
• Add dollops of ricotta cheese and spread. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese
• On opposite side of roll, spread pesto
• Put together the half of the subs, then cut in half
• Put halves into george foreman and close as much as possible; heat for about 30 seconds-1 min or until toasted

The end. If you don't have a george foreman, it's not the end of the world, but it does make the sub more panini-like and also easier to eat (since it's thinner and you just stacked this thing up)

Pumpkin Dip and Nutella Pumpkin Dip

First of all, kudos for the idea goes to my friend Kristen Schnibbe.

This dip goes great with a lot of things, many of which I'm still discovering. Some of those include apples, crackers, pretzels, mixed in with pancakes, etc.

Straight Up Pumpkin Dip:

Ingredients:

• 1 can pumpkin
• About 3/4ths an 8 ounce container of whipped cream cheese (I like Philadelphia)
• About 1/4th to 1/3rd a cup of brown sugar
• About 2-3 T cinnamon-sugar
• About 1-2 teas. vanilla extract
• A shake or two of nutmeg

Directions:

• Mix it all up

Nutella Pumpkin Dip:

Ingredients:

• All the same as the above
• Add in a couple T of nutella

Directions:

• Mix it up; eat
  

Pretty simple so...the end! You might want to try mixing some of either into pancake batter, then spread some caramel and apples between layers, top with some maple syrup and whipped cream. Just a thought. There are kind of a thousand different things you could do with this stuff that would be equally good. Ideas?

Bacon Avocado Breakfast Burritos

They will make your day better.

Ingredients:

• Tortilla (burrito size)
• Shredded cheese (Mexican or "taco" varieties work fine)
• 1 egg (or you can use egg beaters as I did)
• 2 strips bacon (I used turkey bacon)
  
• Salsa
  
• Half an avocado, sliced up
  
• Milk (I used skim)
• Butter/Margarine (or veggie oil)
• Sour cream
  

Directions:

• In a pan, add about a T of butter or olive oil
• Break bacon into smaller pieces and put in pan
• Bring pan to about medium heat and cook that bacon up til it's just about crispy
• Add in the egg, milk, and salsa and mix
• After about 2 minutes, add in the avocado and mix
• Let it sit on medium heat until it's done enough for you
• Separately, run your tortilla under some water to dampen on both sides, then pop in the microwave for about 30 seconds to steam (and make it more pliable)
• Add cheese to the bottom 1/4th of the tortilla, leaving about 1-2 inches from the edge free
• Add the egg mixture to the tortilla just above the cheese area
• Add on some sour cream if you'd like
• Roll your burrito up (I recommend pulling the bottom up and over until it covers the contents of the burrito with one hand, and with the other fold over and tuck in the left side, then the right side (until both left and right sides are touching), then roll up
• You're done; consume

I don't have a picture right now, sorry. Perhaps sometime in the near future that will happen. Mine's already in foil waiting for tomorrow to be a better day!

More posts coming soon...

Hey All,

More posts coming soon, I promise. I just moved to Brooklyn, started a new job, have generally been pretty busy and have had spotty internet. HOWEVER, that has not stopped me from whipping up some good stuff to share.

To be continued...

Pesto Eggplant Parm on Rosemary and Sea Salt Bread

Ingredients:

• Wegman's rosemary, olive oil, and sea salt bread (pre-sliced!)
• Pesto (Wegman's has the best)
• Marinara
• Fresh buffalo mozzarella
• Fresh basil leaves
• Breaded eggplant cutlets (frozen works fine)

Directions:
Basically, get some breaded eggplant cutlets, bake as directed, add some fresh buffalo mozzarella at the end and let melt, put on some rosemary/olive oil/sea salt bread (courtesy of Wegmans) with some marinara and pesto (also courtesy of Wegmans), add some fresh leaves of basil, toast a bit, and you get this:


= what I've happily been eating for about a week straight.

Tri-Colored Fettuccine and Veggies in a Pesto Cream Sauce

Basically the same as the last post except I used "garden delight" fettuccine and added zucchini, yellow squash, diced tomatoes, and fresh basil to the sauce.

The result was fantastic.

Best Nachos Ever

Ingredients:

• Chips (Tostidos little bowl shaped chips recommended)
• Diced tomatoes
• Corn salsa (fresh or canned works fine)
• Handful or two of fresh cilantro
• Lots of shredded cheese ("mexican" or "taco" pre-shredded varieties work well)
• Can of black beans

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to about 350
• Spread chips out on a baking sheet and add all the toppings
• Heat until cheese is melted

Serve with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and re-fried beans. Sangria also recommended.

=Vegetarian heaven. It was glorious.

PS- Thanks to Morgan for helping me make them!

Chicken Cheese Steak...Philly Style

It's hard to find a good version of a chicken cheese steak out there, so I figured for my non-red-meat-eaters out there (or those who generally avoid it), I'd throw you a bone.

As previously stated, I will make this basic.

Ingredients:
(Standard):
Ground chicken or some other cut of chicken (if the latter, frozen)
Cheese (I maintain that in Philly, only whiz or American are acceptable options)
A glug or two of vegetable oil
Fresh sub roll

Optional (but recommended):
About 1/4th a small onion, chopped (yellow's a decent option)
Salt/pepper
Condiments

Directions:
Lightly toast the roll
If using whiz, coat the roll
Add vegetable oil to the pan and fry up the onions for about 3-4 minutes
If using ground chicken,add to the pan and cook as usual, adding salt/pepper to taste (don't drain). Mince the ground chicken.
If using another cut of chicken, let slightly defrost, then cut VERY thin slices (shaved basically) and mince (you want a greater surface area to contact the cheese and other good stuff/not be dry)
Take the roll, open faced and put face down over the meat/onion mixture to enclose it in the roll (true philly style, if you're that daring)
If using American, apply last (along with ketchup if you're smart)

I recognize this picture doesn't do the cheese steak justice, but it really was GOOD.

Not a repeat, I swear...Tri-colored rotini in a pesto cream sauce

For the next few posts I will probably post the bare minimum to get across what I did and how it was made. Trying to catch up here; my apologies in advance. Let me know if you want more details and I'll post 'em.

Ingredients:

• About 1/2 box of tri-colored rotini (I think it's "garden delight" brand or something that actually uses vegetables and not just food coloring...those who know me well should be commending me about now)
• 3-4 T butter/margarine (I used margarine)
• 4-5 T pesto (Wegmans has the best, I maintain)
• A few splashes of light cream
• A few spashes of skim milk
• About 1/3 C or so of grated parmesan
• Pinches of sea salt, white pepper and ground black pepper
• 3 T or so of onion and chive cream cheese (if it's not Philadelphia brand, I don't know what to tell ya...good luck)
• About 1/4 a small yellow onion, chopped
• A few splashes of olive oil

Directions:

• Make the pasta, then toss with olive oil and set to the side
  
• In a separate pan, add the butter and melt, then add the onion for a few minutes stirring
• Add the pesto, cream, milk, cream cheese, and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 5 minutes or so
• Add in the parmesan
• Add in the salt/pepper to taste
• Stir it all up and keep simmering until the desired consistency is reached
• Add however much sauce to however much pasta you want...and you're golden

I actually think this was one of the best sauces I've made. Were I less lazy I would have chopped up the zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots I got, too. Next time.

Tri-Colored Penne in a Zucchini Paremesan Cream Sauce

Ingredients: (don't scoff, I like things easy)

• Sliced Zucchini
• Chopped sweet yellow onion
• Dallop of garlic paste
• Handful of basil leaves
• Handful of chopped scallions
• About 1/3 C light cream
• About 1/2 C skim milk
• About 2-3 T "Italian cheeses and herbs" Philadelphia cream cheese cooking sauce (new item)
• About 2 good glugs of olive oil
• About 2 T margarine or butter
• Half package of tri-colored penne (I used Garden Delight brand...2 full servings of veggies on its own or some jam like that)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parsley if you like extra green things to make your pasta more pretty
• About 1/3rd C of grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Cook half your pasta according to the box, leave the rest for later, set aside
• In a sauteing pan, add olive oil and margarine and put on medium low heat for about 2 min
• Add the onions and garlic, some salt and pepper, stir and allow to cook for about 1 minute
• Add in the zucchini and stir around while cooking for about 4 minutes
• Add in the "cooking sauce", a splash of light cream and a slightly larger splash of milk. Stir and allow to thicken for about 1 min
• Add in parmesan cheese and stirr...after about 1 minute determine if you need to thin out the sauce at all by adding more milk (taste to test...could use more salt or pepper too)
• Toss in the basil and parsley and stir it up
• Spoon sauce over pasta and serve. Add more parmesan and parsley if you want to get fancy.

Black Bean Tacos

Short and...well not sweet, but definitely good!

Ingredients:

• Taco Filling:
• 1 15.5 oz can of black beans, drained
• 1 15.5 oz can of diced tomatoes w/ green chilies (if you like your tacos hot)
• 1 package taco seasoning of your choice
• About 1/2 C of water

Other Taco Materials:

• Other taco toppings (shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream, etc.)
• Flour or corn tortillas, hard or soft

Directions:

1. Dump first four ingredients into a medium sized pot and mix while bringing to medium high heat
2. Use a hand masher to mash the mixture up a bit
3. Reduce heat to medium low and allow to simmer until desired consistency (I would let it bit a little liquidy because once you let it cool off to serve it'll thicken on its own)
4. You know the rest
5. Eat

This was SUPER easy and really good. Almost no prep or cook time. In fact, it was so good that I ate all my tacos before stopping to take a picture!

More posts to come. Sorry for the lack of posting! Yes, I do still exist.