J'adore le blog!

I recently discovered this blog, The Novice Chef, thanks to a link on pinterest. I am in love with it. Last night I made her Spicy Avocado Chicken Enchiladas and they were amazing! They will definitely be a repeat dinner in our home. Her Cake Batter Martini looks fabulous and would be perfect for a birthday celebration. Someone I know needs to have a birthday party so I can try it out!

On a side note... last semester I started taking French classes. This semester I am continuing with french 102. I'm loving the language so when you see postings or phrases in French please just bare with me. I'm a bit of French language geek at this point :)

Welcome Mr. & Mrs.!

That's right I am now a Mrs.! After months and months of planning, the wedding is over and we are returning to our normal lives again. Which means I have time for cooking again! Yay :)

Yesterday, I went to potluck at a friends house. The idea was to make the crazy recipes that you've always wanted to try. Mine was this Grapefruit Guacamole recipe. It has been intriguing me for a while, but I really wasn't sure about it. Turns out it's amazing! Even Tom liked it and he doesn't like grapefruit. It is a very refreshing summer guacamole. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Recipe Notes: Rosted green chili is impossible to find in Chicago, so I used a can of the store bought hatch chilies. It was really good, but very mild. If you live in Colorado I would recommend getting the good stuff... freshly roasted green chilies. Enjoy!

Apple Cherry Cobbler

Fall is officially here!

What better way to welcome it than with crock pot apple cobbler?

Apple Cherry Cobbler

I used this basic apple cobbler recipe with a couple of tweaks. (I just can't seem to follow a recipe without changing it a little bit.) I added a handful of dried tart cherries, eliminated the ginger and some of the white sugar, and used 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup oats for the topping. The oats added a little more texture to the crust. Cooked it in the crock pot on low for about four hours. The house smelled wonderful and it tasted amazing!

I will definitely be making this again. The hardest part was peeling all the apples. Now I know why they sell those apple-core-peeler apparatuses. If I keep making apple desserts I might have to invest in one.

Easy Chicken N' Dumplings

I can't take full credit for this recipe. I got the basic idea from a comment on a crock pot website. However, the original used cream of chicken soup, which I can't have, so this is what I came up with. It was really easy and really good!

Easy Chicken N' Dumplings

2 large chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
1 large (32 oz) natural chicken stock
½ large white onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbs dried parsley
About a tablespoon fresh Thyme*
About half a teaspoon fresh Rosemary*
Salt & pepper to taste
Garlic salt to taste
4 Grands Biscuits

Stick everything, except for the biscuits, in a crock pot. Cook on high for 4-6 hours.

After cooking time has elapsed, take a fork and break up the chicken into pieces. It should fall apart. Now, cut the raw biscuits into 9 pieces (thirds one way, then the other). Stir into hot chicken and continue to cook for 30 minutes on high. Serve hot!

*Fresh herbs are optional. I used them because I had them in my garden boxes. You could substitute dried or just use the parsley. 

Notes: 

My crock pot runs very hot. The chicken was done in about 4.5 hours. I shredded it, then turned the crock pot on serve until about an hour before we were ready to eat. I was afraid that if I left it on high the chicken would get rubbery. An hour before dinner I turned it back to high, then added the biscuits once it had heated up. It worked great - the chicken stayed nice and tender. 

Dill, Bacon, & Green Bean Potato Salad

I guess you could say that this post is Dill Weed - Part 3: YUM! I honestly wasn't planning on doing a Part 3, I promise. However, after I used the dill sour cream from Part 2 for this, I decided I had to share!

Like I mentioned in Part2, I was planning on throwing the dill sour cream over potatoes for a quick potato salad. I went to the grocery store to get dinner (pork tenderloin), potatoes and green beans for a side. From there I decided to mix the green beans in, for connivence, then it grew from there. This is the result. Simple, not so healthy, but super yummy!

Dill, Bacon, & Green Bean Potato Salad

4-5 Slices Thick Cut Smoked Bacon

12 Ounces Fresh Green Beans (chopped into 1" pieces)

1 lb 12 oz Potatoes (sliced into small pieces)

Dill Sour Cream (from Part 2)

Directions:

Cut bacon into 1/2" pieces and fry until crispy. Remove bacon and set aside to drain. Fry potatoes in bacon grease (See health note below!) until tender. Blanch green beans. Mix green beans, cooled potatoes, bacon pieces and dill together. Refrigerate.

Health Note:

This is obviously not the healthiest recipe as is... but I love bacon. I figure moderation is the key. I wouldn't serve this with every meal. However, you can also easily make this recipe healthier. Here's how:

1. Throw out the bacon grease and boil your potatoes.

2. To make it even healthier, in addition to boiling your potatoes, use turkey bacon instead of regular bacon.

Trifle!

This is one of my favorite summer gathering recipes. Our families always request it! Here's the link to the recipe. I do alter it a bit by using seasonal fruit instead of the fruits listed. I usually use strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I've also experimented with different flavors of Jello Instant Pudding like cheesecake and french vanilla. I bet it would be good with chocolate, banana cream, or even Oreo. It's a great fresh dessert that is not too sugary sweet.

I'm Hungry

Tom was gone tonight and I had a lot of studying to do so I decided to whip up a quick meal for myself. This is what I call a pantry meal. It arrives without any sort of recipe and is derived from items I have on hand. After rummaging through the fridge I decided on pasta with homemade pesto. Pesto is one of the easiest things to make! I promise.

Basil & Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

Ingredients: Basil (from my patio garden!), sun dried tomatoes

(from Trader Joe's garden), toasted pine nuts, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and a little salt.

Directions: Place ingredients in a small food processor

(LOVE this thing... you can get one for around $15 at Target.) and process...

Add a little olive oil until you get the texture you want.

I used about a 1/4 cup. (I would use less if your

sun dried tomatoes came packaged in oil. Mine where dried.)

... and presto - it's pesto!

It really couldn't be easier. I made it in less time than it took to boil the water for the pasta. Once the pasta was done I tossed it with some spinach, the pesto, and a little goat cheese... yummy!

This is a great vegetarian meal or side dish. However, you could easily throw some chicken on the grill and pile it on top for a more carnivorous main course. In fact, I might just do that with the left overs for tomorrow night's dinner.