Favorite Food Friday: Unstuffed Cabbage

I really like stuffed cabbage, but I don't like all the prep work. Having to make meatballs, precook cabbage, wrap the meatballs with the precooked cabbage... I like easy. These meatballs remind me of the flavor of stuffed cabbage and are delish. To me they were begging to have cabbage wrapped around them. So, to satisfy my yearning for stuffed cabbage I always serve these meatballs with sauteed cabbage. It's just like having stuffed cabbage - just unstuffed!



what you put in it:

1 lb. ground beef

2 cups cooked long grain rice (I use Jasmine)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper, divided

1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, divided

1 - 28oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 head of cabbage, shredded

how you make it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine ground beef, cooked rice, onion, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Shape mixture into eight meatballs and place into a 7 x 11 inch baking pan.

Pour crushed tomatoes over the meatballs, sprinkle with the remaining salt and pepper, and add the bay leaf.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

While the meatballs are baking, shred the cabbage and saute in a large skillet until soft, about twenty minutes.

Enjoy!

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Favorite Food Friday: Chicken Chilaquiles with Broccoli Slaw

We love Mexican food in our house, so when I stumbled upon this on the pages of Cooking Light magazine, I knew I would have to make it. We really liked it and I have made it several times. It's not spicy at all and we like spice, so I always serve it with a side of Salsa Verde.

The picture in the magazine showed it being served with coleslaw and watermelon. I also like broccoli slaw (and my store doesn't carry coleslaw, but they do carry broccoli slaw) so I whipped some up to serve along with it.

Both recipes are easy, although the Chilaquiles does take some time to prepare.

Chicken Chilaquiles

(adapted from Cooking Light)

what you put in it:
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 - 12-ounce can tomatillos, drained
12 6-inch corn tortillas



how you make it:
Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine chicken, green onions, 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese, Parmesan, chili powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Place milk, cilantro and tomatillos blender; process until smooth.

Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel and heat in the microwave for forty-five seconds.

Pour 1/3 cup tomatillo mixture into bottom of an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 corn tortillas in dish, and top with half of chicken mixture, top with 1/3 cup of tomatillo mixture. Repeat layers with remaining tortillas, chicken mixture, tomatillo mixture, ending with tortillas.

Pour the remaining tomatillo mixture over tortillas; sprinkle with 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Broccoli Slaw

(my own recipe)


what you put in it:
12oz. bag broccoli slaw
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup dry-roasted, salted peanuts
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt




how you make it:
Place broccoli slaw, cilantro, green onions and peanuts in a medium bowl. Set aside.


In a small bowl combine lime juice, olive oil, sugar and salt, stirring well with a whisk.


Drizzle over broccoli mixture and toss to coat.






Enjoy!

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Favorite Food Friday: Split Pea Soup

We love soup in our house and one of our favorites is Split Pea. I have tried many different recipes from crock pot ones to stove top ones. And while they are all very similar, I could never find "the one." So I took a good look at different recipes and put this one together. One recipe I tried had like a teaspoon of salt and then combined with my ham hock, it tasted like salt-rock soup. Due to the varying salt levels in ham, I only add a tiny bit of salt to the recipe, but you can always add more or use less when you make it.

what you put in it:

2 cups dried split peas
2 quarts water
1-2 pounds ham hock
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small handful parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 fresh bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced



how you make it:
Bring the peas and water to a boil in a large dutch oven. Boil for two minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for at least one hour.
Add ham hock, onion, celery, parsley, garlic, bay, pepper and salt. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for an hour and a half.

Add carrots, cover and simmer for thirty minutes.

Remove ham hock and bay leaf from soup. Take the meat off of the bone and return meat to the soup. Discard bay leaf. Simmer for five minutes.

Serve with warm crusty bread. Enjoy!

(To play along with Favorite Food Friday click here!)

Favorite Food Friday

I love cooking and trying new recipes. But I also LOVE tried and true recipes. So I came up with and starting today will be having Favorite Food Fridays. Each Friday I will be posting a recipe that I make again and again. Some will be my own recipes, some will be ones that I have adapted to my liking and others will be recipes from other sources. If it is a recipe from another person, I will let you know where the recipe came from.

Feel free to grab the Favorite Food Friday banner and play along. If you play along and post a recipe on your blog I ask that 1. you link back to my blog and 2. that you leave a comment on my blog letting me know that you are playing along and provide a direct link to the recipe. This way, I (and my readers) can check out your yummiest recipes.

Enjoy!

Christmas Cookies

One of my favorite things about the holidays is baking (and eating) Christmas cookies. It is so much fun, but so much work. This year I invited Tiffany and Kara to bake them with me. We made chocolate marshmallow peppermint sticks, eggnog cookies, snickerdoodles, peppermint cracker candy, caramel meltaways, macaroons, kiss and drizzle cookies, and a few more that are escaping my memory. I always forget just how long it takes to make Christmas cookies and I was beyond exhausted by the time all was said and done. They may have been tiring to make, but they were so good to eat!

my slaves:

Orange County Fair

Yesterday Jason, Dillon and I went to the Orange County fair. It was the first time I have been in four years and the last time we went I swore up and down that I hated the fair and would never ever, ever go back. It's not that I didn't enjoy the fair four years ago, it's that some rude hooligan decided to key the side and hood of my new car. I know that it's not the Fair's fault, but still, I was never going back.

Well, Tuesday, Tiffany was over and told us that they were going to the fair and Jason said that he really wanted some of the Australian Battered Potatoes that they have there and decided that we were going to the fair. We ended up having a really good time. Dillon rode on a bunch of rides and visited the petting zoo, I got to look at all the artsy exhibits (I especially enjoyed the themed table settings), Jason ate a ton of food (and I ate a little bit, too), and best of all, this time the car didn't get keyed (I wasn't taking any chances of it happening to my new car and instead made Jason drive his car.)

Wordless Wednesday: Ice Cream

Wordless Wednesday

Celebrate!

Not only was today Saint Patrick's Day, but it was also my niece, Jordan's, tenth birthday. So, to celebrate both occasions, we had them all over for corned beef and cabbage boxtys and birthday cupcakes.

Great Birthday

So I'm still not sure about this whole turning thirty thing. I woke up this morning feeling no different than I did yesterday. Maybe it takes awhile to sink in? But, I do know that it was a great birthday!

Jason had been planning a surprise for my birthday and didn't tell me where we were going. It turns out that he had made reservations for us at The Melting Pot. I have really been wanting to try it for quite a while so I was totally excited that he chose to take me there! And I was totally impressed by the fact that he actually made reservations (which is pretty much a must) - he always makes me make reservations for us when necessary. And not only did he make the reservations, but he did some research on their website so he already had in mind what we would order. The menu is a tad bit overwhelming so I am happy that he had already looked it over! We ended up getting the "Big Night Out" which is a four course meal. Oh, it was so yummy! We picked the Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue for our cheese course. It was so heavenly - I could have eaten just that over and over! Jason had the Spinach Mushroom salad and I had the California Salad. My salad was really good - but next time I'm ordering the one Jason had. For our main course we selected the Fondue Fusion which included two of my favorite things - lobster and Filet Mignon. The dessert was out of this world - dark chocolate, marshmallow, and crushed Oreo's. To. Die. For. Good!

He also got me an awesome present - a Disneyland pass. We had them before for a few years, but didn't renew them when I was pregnant with Dillon. I have been begging him for one again because it's so perfect to go now since Dillon is free. So, now it gives me the perfect place to take him when we just need to get out of the house - we tend to go stir crazy being home. I want to go today (right now it's actually two thirty in the morning - I think I drank too much iced tea at dinner because I can't sleep) because I am so excited! I guess that thirty year old's can still have fun after all!

So, like I said: Fantastic birthday - yummy food, cool gift and being thirty doesn't totally suck! Now if I could just get some sleep...

Happy Valentine's Day

A few years back, Jason and I started a Valentine's Day tradition. Tired of going out and dealing with the crowded restaurants, I decided that I would make us a fancier than usual dinner. The dinner menu is always a surprise to Jason and always something new. Last year we had fondue, the year before that it was a braised roast and homemade french onion soup. This Valentine's Day we are feasting on salad, prosciutto wrapped scallops, filet mignon with mushrooms and sauce pinot noir plus we are having mashed potatoes and green beans. I have not decided on a dessert yet - I'm hoping inspiration strikes when I head to the store in a few.

What are some traditions everyone else has?

My New Years Goals

OK, so I'm really not into the whole "resolution" thing - does anyone ever stick to them? So this year, instead of a resolution, I decided to set myself some attainable weekly cooking goals.

1. Cook at least one meal per week in the Crock-pot.

2. Cook at least one meal from Cooking Light.

3. Try a new meal.

4. Make something tried and true.

Jason is forever complaining to me that I make something for a while and then it seems to disappear and is never seen again. So, I have also decided that when we come across something that we really like, I will type it up, print it and then put it in a three ring binder so that it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

I'm In Love...

...with a salad. We have no food and I couldn't decide where I wanted to go for lunch. I had narrowed it down to KFC or McDonalds (I know, so healthy) and Jason suggested that I go to Panera Bread. I love their food, but it's kind of far and they don't have a drive thru, so it always escapes my mind. At his suggestion, my mind was made up - Panera it is. I always get the Turkey Artichoke Panini which is so yummy. So I walked in with Dillon in tow and fully intended to order my normal sandwich, that is until I saw the sign promoting their new Orchard Harvest Salad. It sounded so good and looked even better: field greens, romaine lettuce, fresh pears, dried cherries, toasted pecans and Gorgonzola cheese with a cherry balsamic vinaigrette. There wasn't one thing in the salad that I didn't love! So I veered from the normal "safe choice" and ordered a combo with half my sandwich (just in case) and the tempting salad. Boy am I glad that I tried something new! I am now dieing to go back and get a full salad... maybe I'll just have to go again tomorrow.

Home Cooked Heaven

Jason and I are so tired of eating microwaved food, barbecued food and eating out. So today I pulled out the crock pot and made a roast - complete with carrots, onion and a potato. It will be interesting to see how it tastes because the only decent spices that I could dig out of the boxes were oregano and pepper. Oh well... I guess a bad home cooked meal is better than no home cooked meal.

Food Fight

Dillon loves to throw things. And he has perfect aim. It started out with balls. Then moved to blocks and other toys. Now it has progressed to food. He used to drop food on the floor when he was full, but now he throws food that he doesn't want. Yesterday, Tiffany was feeding him some apple wedges. He walked up to me, signed more and tried to take a bite of my apple. I looked in his mouth and he had a mouth full of peels. I told him he had to swallow the peels before I would give him a bite. He promptly pulled them out of his mouth with his hand and threw them on the floor. Then, last night at dinner, he threw a fortune cookie at Jason and hit him on the side of the head. How do you not laugh because it's pretty darn funny? But, if you do laugh, it's just enforcing his bad behavior. Well, we did laugh and so did everyone at the table next to us. Maybe next time we will not find it as funny. But, hopefully this phase will pass us quickly and there won't be a next time.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a very interesting weekend... But, I'm too lazy to write about everything that happened, so here is a list of highlights (and the not so great things)

Top Five Fun Things:

1. Hung out with Derek and Susan all weekend.
2. Had our Fantasy Football draft (here's hoping that the reigning champ - A.K.A. me - wins again.
3. Tried a new Mexican restaurant (well, actually, two - but the first one was only new to me).
4. Bought Dillon his first pair of "real" shoes.
5. Had an awesome guest worship leader at church -Justin Fox.

Top Strange Thing:

1. Had an Earthquake during church - it was as if God himself was saying "here I am." The worship leader was singing a song from God's point of view!

Top Four Sucky Things:

1. It was hot! Actually, it was beyond hot - 115 degrees!
2. It was so hot that on Monday the power went out - for several hours. By the time we left to come home, it was almost as hot inside as it was outside.
3. Did I mention that it was hot?
4. I didn't have my camera so no pictures - Boo!

Hope everyone had a happy (and cool) Labor Day!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Today is Jason's birthday. I gave him the option to do whatever he wanted to do. His choice was to drive to Malibu Beach and then walk around the Santa Monica Pier. We went to Bubba Gump's on the pier for lunch and then went to Buca Di Beppo for dinner. While we were walking on the pier, Jason played a dart game and won Dillon a stuffed shark. We think he really liked it because he didn't throw it - he throws EVERYTHING! I hope he had a great day and a very happy birthday!