Rice Noodle Stir Fry

I bought some tofu the other day and I thought it would be fun to see if I could make a delicious meal with it. I made this tofu stir fry with rice noodles and although it turned out pretty good, I would have to say that tofu is not for me. I think it would be better if maybe it was more of a soup and I didn't have to chew the tofu, so yeah for me this dish would've been much better without the tofu. So include tofu if you like it or eliminate it if you don't because the noodles and stir fry veggies were perfect on their own.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1-2 onions, chopped (I used 1 red onion and 1/2 white onion)
1 cup chopped cremini mushrooms
1 8-12 oz package of rice noodles (I used the flat skinny kind)
1 tbsp chili paste (more or less depending on your spice tolerance)
1 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup green snap peas
1 lb package of extra firm tofu, chopped into bite size squares (optional)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a wok to medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and saute until tender, about 5-10 minutes. Reduce heat if onions begin to burn.
2. Meanwhile, cook your rice noodles and set aside.
3. Add the mushrooms to garlic onion mix. Saute, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the chili paste, Hoisin, and broth. Stir until all ingredients are combined within the wok.
5. Add the broccoli, carrots, and snap peas. Mix all together and cook/steam with the lid on for about 5-10 minutes until those veggies meet your favorite consistency. I like mine cooked pretty well.
6. (If you are not using tofu then skip step 6 and 7) Meanwhile, in a separate skillet. Remove some of the liquid from the wok and put into the skillet. Heat the skillet to medium heat. Add the tofu and cook on each side so that the tofu gets a grilled texture to it. Do not overcook.
7. Add the tofu to the wok and combine ingredients, being careful to not mush the tofu.
8. Add the cooked rice noodles to the wok and combine everything so that all the ingredients are spread around evenly. Serve and enjoy!

Pico de Gallo

This is the ultimate Mexican side, whether it's for on top of your tacos; inside your burritos; mixed in with some rice; or paired with your favorite tortilla chips, this truly is the simplest yummiest side to any Mexican dish.

Ingredients:
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch of cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped*
*you can add more or less jalapenos depending on your spice tolerance

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Use accordingly, enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Blondies

I wanted to bake something different, not just another cookie and even though these blondies are very similar to cookies it was nice to not have to separate them into separate cookie shapes. Plus these have a different taste. I would say this recipe is like a hybrid of a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie...very good.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted & cooled
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 13 by 9 inch baking pan with two pieces of foil. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
4. Whisk the melted butter and brown sugar together in a medium bowl until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
5. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined. Do not over-mix. Fold in the chocolate chips and the nuts and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula.
6. Bake until the top is shiny and cracked and feels firm to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Place the pan on a rack and cool completely. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from http://joelens.blogspot.com/2008/05/blondies-have-so-much-fun.html

Pesto Panini

A simple yet delectable choice for any meal is a panini. Paninis are so easy to make and you don't even need that many ingredients to make it turn out delicious. This panini recipe includes our favorite sauce, pesto.

Ingredients per one panini:

2 slices of sourdough bread
1 tsp of room temperature butter
garlic salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp pesto
2 tbsp cooked chicken meat, I use canned chicken
4 slices of cheddar cheese, enough to cover a slice of bread.

Directions:
1. Turn on panini maker or personal grill.
2. While panini maker is warming up, spread butter on one side of each piece of bread and then sprinkle the buttered sides with with garlic salt and pepper.
3. Combine the pesto and chicken together and blend well.
3.Place the cheese and pesto chicken mix in between the two slices of bread, buttered sides on the outside of the sandwich.
4. Place sandwich on panini maker until cheese is melted and bread is toasty brown.
5. Remove from panini maker, cut in half and enjoy!

Bread Pudding

We had some leftover stale bread and I didn't want to throw it away because I knew I could find something to make with it and here it is, thanks Megan

Ingredients:
6 slices day-old bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.
5. Serve hot and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken

I had bought a whole chicken on sale at the market and since slow cooker recipes are the best, I found this recipe to make. Like usual, I altered the original recipe and in the end even though the chicken turned out perfect I found that the lemons made the potatoes too lemony. The recipe I posted below has half the amount of lemons that I used and I think that is necessary if you are going to add potatoes to the crock pot like I did. If you go sans potatoes then feel free to use as many lemons as you would like.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 whole chicken (3 pounds)
½ cup dry white wine
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 potatoes, largely chopped (optional)
¼ cup, chopped green onions
1 lemon, sliced and divided (can be edited for your liking)
1 tbsp dried thyme
cracked pepper and garlic salt to taste
1 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, minced


Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet to medium heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then place the chicken in the skillet to brown the sides of the chicken.
2. Meanwhile, place the wine, onions, garlic, potatoes, green onions, half of the sliced lemon, thyme, parsley, and the cracked pepper and garlic salt into the crock pot. Combine all together so that everything is coated in the wine and other seasonings.
3. Place the other half of the sliced lemon into the cavity of the chicken.
4. Place the whole chicken, breast side down, on top of the lemon onion potato mixture in the crock pot.
5. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours, or for 3 hours on High. Chicken is done when the legs move easily in their sockets and the internal temperature of the breast has reached 160 degrees F.
6. Serve warm with onions and potatoes on the side. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from http:// allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Lemon-and-Thyme-Chicken/Detail.aspx

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

I had some leftover turkey meat from my Sloppy Joe's the other night and so I decided to make some lettuce wraps. My most favorite lettuce wraps are from cheesecake factory and are made with chicken tenders, I opted for something different but it resulted in something equally as tasty.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp peanut oil
1/3 cup green onions, chopped

1/3 cup red onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp ginger, freshly grated

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sake wine

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 3oz can of water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/3 cup carrots, shredded

1 tsp of crushed red pepper

1 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Chopped roasted peanuts, to sprinkle on top

1/2 cup cucumber, chopped and set aside
1 head of lettuce, each leaf individually removed and separated

Dipping Sauce:
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp sriracha sauce
1 tsp peanut oil

Directions:
1. Heat up the oil to medium heat in a large skillet. Add onions, garlic, ginger, and mushrooms. Saute for 10 minutes until onions are tender.
2. Add the turkey meat to the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes until mostly cooked. Make sure to break meat apart with your spatula while meat cooks.
3. Add the soy sauce, hoisin, and wine to turkey skillet. Stir to cover everything evenly and bring to a boil and continue to cook until turkey is thoroughly cooked.

4. Add the water chestnuts, bean sprouts, carrots, red pepper and cilantro to turkey mixture. Cook on medium for another 5 minutes, making sure to combine ingredients.
5. Place turkey mix in a serving bowl and sprinkle with peanuts.
6. Serve by placing a spoonful of mixture in a lettuce leaf, top off with dipping sauce and cucumbers and enjoy!

Sloppy Joe's

We had Nicks family over for lunch the other day, so I had to make something simple with few vegetables, since his father and his brother's don't like them. I decided on making sloppy joe's from scratch, they turned out great and we topped them with some special pickled jalapenos for the perfect kick.

Serving size: 8

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 4oz cans of diced green chilies
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
2 14oz cans diced tomatoes
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 2.5oz can tomato paste

2 tbsp of spicy brown mustard

2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp each of onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper

8 buns, toasted

Directions:
1. Warm the oil in a large saute pan. Add the onions, chilies, and garlic. Saute for 5-10 minutes until onions are tender.
2. Add the ground beef and ground turkey to the saute pan to cook. Make sure to separate the meat with a spatula as it cooks. Cook thoroughly, about 10 minutes.
3. Pour onion meat mixture into a large saucepan. Add remaining ingredients (BBQ sauce, diced tomatoes, ketchup, vinegar, tomato paste, spicy brown mustard, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper) to saucepan and combine well.
4. Bring entire mixture to a boil and then simmer for another 20 minutes.
5. Place a spoonful of sloppy joe mix between a toasted bun and enjoy!

Apple and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Nick made this for us for dinner the other night, it was surprisingly delicious. I would've never guessed cheddar cheese and apples as a good cooked mixture, but apparently it is.


Serving Size: 2

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, flattened (or 1 large one)
1/2 cup green apples, chopped
2 tbsp cheddar cheese, grated
1 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tsp Italian seasoning
4 toothpicks
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup rice wine or dry white wine
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp corn starch

Directions:
1. Combine apple, cheese, Italian seasoning, and bread crumbs. Set aside.
2. Flatten chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper to 1/4 inch thickness. Divide apple mixture between the two chicken breasts, and roll up each breast. Secure with toothpicks.
3. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Brown stuffed chicken breasts on each side. Add wine and water and any remaining apple mixture to skillet. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until chicken is no longer pink.
4. Transfer chicken to serving platter. Add corn starch to remaining juices in pan. Cook and stir consistently until thickened.
5. Plate the chicken and pour sauce over top. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Stuffed-Chicken-Breast/Detail.aspx

Garlic Cheese Biscuits

This is a recipe I found written on the pages of my Babbi's cook book for biscuits. I decided to make them New Years Eve with dinner. They turned out really good and what I love about this recipe is that it is so simple to make.

Ingredients:
2 cups buttermilk baking mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions (optional)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup melted butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Combine baking mix and milk, blending well. Add cheese and green onions and mix well to make sure all ingredients are evenly spread.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter and the garlic powder, set aside.
4. Spoon out spoonfuls of mix and drop dough on an greased cookie sheet.
5. Brush butter garlic mix over all uncooked drops of dough.
6. Bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes, until the dough becomes firm, but not browned. Enjoy!

Pizookie

Best dessert ever! This is a group favorite for all my friends and I.
If you ever feel like making cookies a tad more interesting then they already are then just make a pizookie (a name stolen from BJ's restaurant). This is achieved by filling a pie pan with your most favorite cookie dough and baking it at 300 degrees F for 20 minutes (do not let the cookie get hard.) Serve the giant warm cookie immediately and top with your most favorite ice cream. Enjoy!!!!

P.S. The picture above is a pizookie made with coffee liqueur chocolate chip cookie dough and mint chip ice cream.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Nothing like some good 'ol mashed potatoes to make any meal great.

Serving Size: 4 people

Ingredients:
6 potatoes, cleaned and chopped into eighths
5 garlic cloves
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped green onions
salt and pepper to taste (feel free to substitute garlic salt for salt)

Directions:
1. Fill a large saucepan 2/3rds full of water. Add the potatoes and garlic and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and cook for for 30 minutes or until potatoes are easy to poke with a fork.
2. Remove water from pan with a strainer.
3. Mash potatoes and garlic together, add the remaining ingredients: milk, butter, green onions, and salt and pepper. Mash together until it reaches right consistency.
4. Serve alongside your favorite foods, enjoy!

Babbi's Cook Book

The Anniversary Slovak-American Cook Book

Edited by The Catholic Slovak Ladies Association

One of my most favorite gifts this Christmas was a Slovakian cook book that my mother gave to me. The cook book belonged to my grandmother Babbi and she had set it aside to gift to me this Christmas but due to her passing my mother wrapped it up for me. It is an amazing gift that really touched me emotionally since I still and always will miss my lovely Babbi. My grandmother has used this same cook book for as long as I can remember, it includes many of our traditional Czechoslovakian recipes that my Babbi had used throughout the years. I am so glad that I am now a holder of this cook book so that I can keep our family's food traditions alive.

Miss you Babbi

Merry Christmas 2010

Hello Everyone

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Nick and I had quite a busy but fun one this year. We got back from New York on Monday, worked Tuesday thru Thursday, Christmas Eve with the parents, Christmas with the Sakamotos' and the day after with the Metz-Hansen-Browns'. It was great to spend time with everybody and to see everyone open their gifts.

I have decided that Christmas truly is my most favorite holiday, maybe because the weather is so great or maybe because of all the love people show one another but also because it is a clear reminder of how great our God is to send his only Son to live on Earth to experience the daily struggles like we all do everyday. It truly is a great time and even though it has been over commercialized as a gift giving holiday... I really don't mind giving gifts and spending the money, doing the shopping, the wrapping, the cooking, etc. etc. I actually love giving gifts and what better reason to give gifts to people then Christmas time as a reminder of the gift God gave to us. Plus I love spending time with family and friends while sipping on hot cocoa and enjoying everyone's Christmas decor. It truly is a wonderful time of year and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do or even half as much :) Merry Christmas!



Sidenote about the photo:
One of the coolest things from our trip to NYC was that the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular not only showed the Santa aspect of Christmas but the Christ part of Christmas by including a complete live nativity with live camels and sheep and a quick story of Jesus...pretty awesome in this day and age.

Chili Con Carne with Beans (a slow cooker recipe)

We had a Christmas get-together and so I decided to make some slow-cooker chili. I usually follow a recipe but this time I decided to just wing it from my past chili experiences. This turned out really good and everyone loved it...plus it is so easy to make :)

Serving size: 10 people

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 fresh jalapenos, seeds removed; chopped
1 green chile pepper, seeds removed; chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 lbs ground turkey or beef
1 tbsp each of garlic powder, garlic salt, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce and chili powder
2-3 pounds stew meat, cut into 1 inch squares
2 16 oz cans of diced tomatoes with jalapenos, not drained
1 16 oz can whole tomatoes
1 16 oz can of corn, drained
1 16 oz can of white beans, drained and rinsed
1 16 oz can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 bottle of A1 Steak Sauce
1 10 oz can of tomato sauce
1 8 oz can of tomato paste

Toppings:
Grated cheddar cheese, chopped green onion, and sour cream

Directions:
1. Heat up oil in a large saute pan to medium heat, add the jalapenos, onions, pepper, and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the turkey meat and all the seasonings: garlic powder, garlic salt, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce and chili powder. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the meat is brown throughout.
2. Add meat and veggie mixture to slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients to the slow cooker: stew meat, diced tomatoes with jalapenos, whole tomatoes, corn, white beans, kidney beans, Steak Sauce, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. Stir ingredients to evenly spread all ingredients throughout.
3. Cook on HIGH for 6 hours. Serve with toppings and enjoy!

New York City

Sorry I haven't been posting much this month but at least I have a good reason.
Nick and I went on a trip to New York!
I have always wanted to go during the Christmas season and so a month ago we planned a spontaneous trip to NYC for the holidays. It was so much fun and we saw everything there is to see in Manhattan and after many many days of wondering the streets we are now back at home just in time for Christmas.
Below is a quick recap of our trip :)

Times Square


Lady Liberty


On Liberty Island, NY City Backdrop


Ellis Island


Federal Hall where Washington was sworn in as President


Remnants of a statue that was originally located at Ground Zero


Wall Street


New York Stock Exchange


Brrrrrr



The Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular


The Rockefeller Building


Rockefeller Center


Grand Central Station/Terminal


New York Public Library


NY Macy's


Santa




View from The Empire State Building at Sunset


Horse Drawn Carriage Ride of Central Park



Ice Skating at night in Central Park




Serendipity3...Frrrrozen Hot Chocolate


St.Patricks Cathedral