I could get used to this!

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Becky

The weather today was perfect!  I do not think the temps even got above 70 degrees!  Perfect sun, slight wind, and the crispness of fall is in the air.  Too bad I am sure we will have several more hot days before the snow comes.

I received something tasty in the mail today:

A taster's choice instant coffee pack

I really like to combine the hazelnut with some hot chocolate for a perfect hot drink.

Tonight we had a farmer’s market inspired dinner.

Homemade sauce

Dinner:

  • Fresh green beans
  • Chick’n patty with parmesan cheese
  • Linguine noodles topped with our homemade tomato-basil sauce

The sauce was pretty good, it could have used some kick though.  After dinner we took a bike ride.  With the weather being so perfect I could not resist.  The only problem is that I have not been on a bike in 7 weeks and my legs were exhausted about 5 minutes in.  I am going to have to get the legs back into cycling mode.

Only one more day till the long weekend!

Posted in Biking, Farmer's Market | Leave a comment

New Month!

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Becky

Yeah, this month is off to a great start!  I finally got my last drain out which means I can go back to work and working out!  That is the best news that I have had in a long time!  We tried a new farmer’s market tonight only to find that there were only two vendors.  We knew it would be smaller, but they did not even have the sweet corn we were looking for.  Oh well, it was fun to go to another market even if it was not what we expected.

Is your month off to a good start?

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Little House, Big Plans

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Becky

I don’t know where I came up with the idea that I wanted to try my hand at canning.  Really it must have been just one of those crazy ideas I get every so often out of thin air.  Often times I don’t think these ideas through and I just jump in head first.  This is definitely the case when it comes to playing Little House.  Before I show you the fruit of the labor, let me share a dinner recipe with you first.

I have tried Ethiopian food a few times, liking a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  When I was flipping through a Cooking Light magazine I came across this Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil recipe.  I thought, why not?  I am looking into making more meals where the focus is not on meat.  Lentils and beans provide a good source of protein and fiber.  Plus the are super cheap!  All I needed to make this recipe was some red lentils and the Berbere spice.  The lentils were purchased at Whole Foods in the bulk bin for  less than a dollar, the spice was a little bit harder to find.  I looked at my favorite spice shop Penzy’s but they did not carry it.  We ended up going to an East African spice shop/store/restaurant in order to obtain the spice.  The clerk was really nice as I don’t even know if I pronounced the spice correctly.

That's spicy!

The recipe was easy to make, cheap, and it tasted like something that was fairly labor intensive.  I do have to say that it was quite spicy and I added a dollop of Fage yogurt on top to tone the spiciness down just a bit.  This recipe will be made again for sure!  I love a recipe where the ingredient that costs the most is the vegetable broth!

After dinner was finished I started the canning project…..

It all started with these 20 pounds of tomatoes!

All cored and cut up

Cooked down for roughly 20 minutes

Puree and strain

Reduce by half

It was at this point that I wanted to give up and be done.  Buying pasta sauce at the store is so much easier!  But, we were in it for the long haul.  While we had some time to burn we started and finished another canning project.

We canned some grean beans

Kevin and I have this joke about me canning/cooking/working in the kitchen when it involves an apron.  I bought this apron at Target a long time ago on clearance and now when I wear it in the kitchen I am doing “official” work as I am wearing the uniform:)

The aftermath....a sink FULL of dirty dishes

I was exhausted by the time we were done!  I am so glad that we do not rely on home canned goods for sustenance as it is down right hard work.  In the end we canned 8 jars of tomato and basil pasta sauce and three cans of dilly beans.  We had one small boiling vinegar accident and one can of beans did not make it.

Even though it is hard work we both had a good time.  I like cooking and Kevin likes doing projects so it works out well.  I can’t wait to cook with some of the things we have made.  As far as canning more things this summer, I am not sure.  I would like to make some jam/jelly/preserves but don’t know how much more work I am willing to do.  Give me a few days and then I am sure I will be up to the challenge:)

Posted in Canning, Fage Yogurt, Farmer's Market, Penzy's Spices, Whole foods, cooking light | Leave a comment

Bostons & Market

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Becky

This weekend went amazingly fast.  The weather was warm, but not in the ridiculous way that it has been.  The mornings were cool if not a bit chilly and you can tell that fall is just around the corner.  We spent the weekend doing a little bit of this and that.

Our main even on Saturday was assisting the Mid-America Boston Terrier Rescue Group with their annual Boston Bash.  Since we adopted Molly from the group we like to volunteer with them whenever we can.  The event was a birthday party with dogs in mind.  It had a bone hunt, musical Frisbee with a chance to win a bone, a doggie pool, and lots of other fun.

Kevin was in charge of the grilling station

A cake in honor of the adopted dogs

Pool Party!

I pretty much made it my job to take pictures of the cute dogs and pet lots of puppies!

A brown Boston

Even a boxer showed up

I remember when Molly was this small!

Taking a break

Possiby the cutest baby

After all the puppy fun we met some friends for a going away party. Bye Rachie!

On Sunday we got up and tried out a new church.  We love our home church, but sometimes we want a church that is a bit closer.  It was nice that at a few minutes past 10 we were done with church and ready to hit the Aksarben farmer’s market.  We had veggies on the brain!  I have big plans for the week!

Cutest dog of the market this week-Murphy the Wheaton

We bought a lot of green beans

We also bought roughly 25 pounds of tomatoes!

Like I said, we have big plans for canning this week.  I am going to try to make a basil tomato sauce.  The salsa turned out great so I am hoping that the tomato sauce will work out just as well!

Another fun weekend is now over.  They go way to fast, but with fall around the corner things are only going to get busier and busier.

Hope your weekend was great!

Posted in Canning, Farmer's Market | Leave a comment

Caprese a la Oroweat

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Becky

As part of Food Buzz Tastemakers program I received some Oroweat Sandwich Thins to try and make a summer grilling recipe.  How could I resist?  I love the sammy thins as we call them around here.  They are perfect for making just about any type of sandwich and the added bonus is that if you are on WW they are only 1 point!  I thought about what type of sandwich to make, it had to be something that I have not used the thins to make before.  Then it hit me…use some of my all time summer favorites!

Start with some Flavorino Tomatoes, locally grown of course!

This one in particular cracked me up because of the weird little growth that it had!  You then have to dehydrate the tomatoes to make sure you get the intense, rich, and sweet flavor.  In order to do this slice the tomatoes in half, spray a cookie sheet with some olive oil and also spray the tops of the tomatoes.  Then just sprinkle some sea salt on top of the tray.  Finally, you then place them in the oven at around 275 degrees for about 2 hours.

They taste so good this way!

Round up the stars of the recipe

Besides your dried tomatoes you will need:

  • Oroweat sammy thins
  • Laughing Cow Sun dried Tomato and Basil cheese
  • Balsamic Dressing
  • Fresh Basil

The next step is to flatten your chicken breast so that it cooks evenly and quickly.

Give them a good whacking!

Season each chicken breast with sea salt, pepper, and Italian blend.

Once you have the chicken pounded and seasoned you are ready for the grill.  We chose to grill inside for a quick and easy meal, but any type of grilling would work.

Cook the chicken 3-4 minutes on each side. Just before the chicken is done apply the balsamic to both sides.

Spread and stack

Enjoy!

The basil, tomato, and cheese combination may be a classic, but making a sandwich out of the three plus perfectly grilled chicken is a winner for sure!

What is your favorite sammy to make on an Oroweat sandwich thin?

Posted in FoodBuzz, Sammy Thins, weight watchers | Leave a comment

Pizza Naples Style

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Becky

Last night we were able to join our friends for a dinner out.  We have been going out with Cody and Becca about once a month rotating restaurants around the metro area.  Last night it was their choice, but sadly I turned down the oyster bar.  Oysters are just not my thing.  Instead we went for pizza.  We have made our dinner outings a pizza hunting experience as 3 out of 4 of our dinner outings have been pizza inspired.

We decided on Dante Pizzeria Napoletna, it would be a first for all of us.

Why go to Naples when Dante is so close?

We were seated facing this row of beautiful mirrors

While checking out the menu we enjoyed some bread sticks

Check out the pizzas!

The best part is Dante supports the local farmer!

I ordered the summer vegetable salad to start

I have to admit that this salad did have amazing flavor!  The veggies tasted like they had just come from the garden and the dressing was light, but creamy at the same time.  However, the one thing that I did not like about the salad was the fact that it was $8!  I was expecting a bigger veggie salad with more than two pieces of field greens.

Ready, set, bake!

Toppings

Almost ready

Fire it up!

One of the best parts of eating at Dante is the fact that you can watch the chefs make your pizza if you like.  The kitchen is completely open and you can watch them in action.  This is just like the pizza places that we visited when we were in Italy!

Sausage

Pizza number one was for the meat lover’s, sausage.  The pizza had a great flavor.  The sauce, meat, and cheese ratio was spot on.  The crust was perfect!  It is exactly what you would expect of a Naples style pizza.  The best part of having it in Omaha is that the city is a lot cleaner than Naples.  Also, if you are like me and do not speak Italian this is also a plus!

Margherita

For the veggie lovers, Margherita.  What can I say to do this justice?  Bottom line, perfection!  The fresh basil just makes this pizza stand out.  Well that and the crust of course!

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner out at Dante.  The bonus was that we were there during happy hour time so each of our pizzas were only $8.  That is a great price for such a good pizza.  We will Dante’s in mind when we are in the mood for pizza for sure!

Posted in Dining Out | Leave a comment

Pizza in my Belly

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Becky

Yesterday for lunch I met a friend.  It has been weird having all of this extra time on my hands.  It is going to be so hard when I go back to a “normal” life.  I do not know how normal it will be though now that I have been switched to 3rd shift.  I am ready to move to a commune and make my own tofu.  Wait, I don’t like tofu, scratch that idea.  Anyways, I went to lunch yesterday at Greenbelly.  I have been there once before with Kevin and we both enjoyed it, so giving it another go was a must.  I was craving a salad or veggies of some type and the only thing Elyse and I could agree on for lunch was Red Mango yogurt, but when I came up with Greenbelly it was a go!

Some greens

We decided to split a pizza and a salad.  They have about 20 ingredients that you can pick for a make your own salad.  If you make two really indecisive people agree on making a salad (ie Elyse and I) you can safely have an entire lines worth of people fed before we make up our minds:)  We ended up getting field greens, carrots, onions, and blackberries ( I ate all the blackberries).  Then it came time to pick a dressing-we both got our own!

Deciding on a pizza was very easy though!

Buffalo Wing Pizza

This pizza is so GOOD!  First off the way Greenbelly makes their crust is amazing!  They roll it in olive oil and grill it.  I could eat the crust just by itself!  Plus, I am a sucker for hot sauce so buffalo chicken is right up my alley.  The small pizza is quite large and depending on how hungry you are it can easily feed 4 people.  We both left with some.

One of the best parts about Greenbelly is the fact that they serve fresh food in a responsible way with 100% compostable corn containers.  A very nice touch.

Overall, we both decided that we would be more than happy to eat our way through the entire menu.  If fact we both had our eyes on different panninis next time around.

What is your favorite type of pizza?

Posted in Dining Out | 1 Comment

Barefoot and Canning

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Becky

We did our first canning project tonight!  All jars are cooling, we will see how the whole thing works out.  My taste test of the final product leaves me with a good feeling.  It tastes sweet to begin with, but ends with a big kick!

Evening recap:

Dinner

Dinner was another summertime favorite.  Just a grilled pork tenderloin, sweet corn, and fresh beans.

The beans were fresh from the market

I had this crazy idea that I would like to learn how to can fresh produce.  It is something that I have never done, but I like a culinary challenge every now and then.  Plus, the only thing better than growing your own produce is using it in new and interesting ways.  I thought that salsa would be a good place to start.

We started by getting supplies:

Utensil set

We also bought a flat of jars and a canning book along with the utensils.

You can't have salsa without a lot of tomatoes!

Before simmering

Almost done

Now all 9 jars are cooling and it is kind of fun to hear them seal with a loud “pop” every now and then.  I know that I was born in the wrong decade for sure when I find this so fun.   If being a granola eating hippy paid the bills I would sign up for sure.  Alas, there is no rest for the weary.

Best part of the day besides making the salsa happened when I went over to borrow another large pot from my mom and her husband.  He told me that the neighbor was looking to get rid of a bunch of canning jars.  How could I resist?  Canning jars and supplies are not cheap.

What have I gotten myself into?

I see some canning and jam making projects in my future!  Kind of excited to try some new things!  When I get my next round of tomatoes I am thinking of making a marinara sauce with garlic and basil.

Hope your Monday was great!

Also, Happy Birthday to my sister in law Carly!  Hope your day was filled with good things!

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A unplanned semi-domestic weekend….

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Becky

This weekend started off with a bit of a glitch.  The fridge went out again!  ARGH!!!!  A fridge that is only 4 years should not go out!  After cursing a bit I packed up the frozen items and took them over to mom’s.  Thankfully, even though Mark said they had a “full freezer” I was able to put 4 reusable bags worth of meat, meals, and the like in.  Some people can sing, some people can dance, I however have an uncanny knack for filling up a freezer like no one’s business.  Seriously, if there was a challenge I would win hands down.  It must have been all of that Tetris I played as a child.

With all of that said what is a girl to do when things are thawing and needing to be either saved, eaten, or pitched?  I made banana bread, walnut banana bread, walnut-dark chocolate-banana bread.  In all I made something like 9 loaves of bread and 36 muffins.  I know that sounds like a lot, but when you have bananas, yogurt, and applesauce going bad it is just what you do.  Then you deliver all of the baked goodies to Kevin’s office, doctor’s office, friends, and mom.  A job well done and no resource went to waste!

After the baking bonanza on Friday we went to NFM to look at fridges.  Who knew it would be such a hard decision.  I mean it is the appliance you use just about every day and do not think that much about it really.  About two hours into the shop and one tired salesperson later we picked out a nice black french door model.  We did not go stainless this time around and in retrospect I am really glad because the fridge is huge!!!!  I think I could start a catering service with that thing.  Also, it was great because the mart was having a deal for free delivery of all new appliances.  What a good deal!  They came last night to install the fridge and take away the old piece of crap!  It did involve some crisco and taking out of baseboard trim, but that baby is installed!  I really like it!

Today was filled with retrieving said perishables from mom’s to refill the fridge/freezer.  All items are in their new home and everything fit even though the freezer we have now is smaller.  We are going to have to eat what is in there because I can not fit another thing in right now.  We also did the farmer’s market at Aksarben village.  Between the tomatoes that we bought today and the ones that are from mom’s garden I am going to try my hand at making/canning some salsa.  Ole!  Don’t worry photos and story will follow on that kitchen fiasco!

That is the weekend in a nutshell.  All was unplanned, but it was fun none the less!  Want to check out some links?

Kevin and Dan have their new website up and running, give it a look.

Also, I am trying my hand at the Foodbuzz Food Blogger Contest.  My plan is to go to SF in November, fingers crossed and job willing:)

Hope your weekend was relaxing and did not involve a make shift bakery in your kitchen:)

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Libby where are you?

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Becky

Remember when I had a stockpile of Libby’s pumpkin?  Sadly, I am down to just one can!  A while ago Target had their pumpkin on clearance and believe me I stocked up on that gold!  But, now I am down to one can and am afraid to open it for fear I may not find anymore pumpkin before fall!  Here is the Libby’s website and their response to the shortage.  I did find organic pumpkin at the store yesterday, but I am not spending three bucks on a 15 oz can which I will use in 2-3 days!  I checked 3 different stores and alas I did not find any pumpkin!  If anyone in Omaha finds the pumpkin let me know.  I just want the regular pumpkin, not the pumpkin pie mix!

In other news last night we had hot dogs for dinner.  I know, hot dogs!  I am not a hot dog fan, but we had a package left over from the grilling get together last week and I knew that we needed to eat them.  I have to say while I might not really enjoy eating a regular hot dog, Hebrew National hot dogs are actually really good!  I wanted to use just what we had on hand to make dinner so I thought of the old standby of sausage, red beans, and rice.  Except this time it was hot dogs, red beans, and rice!

Yum!

In this recipe:

  • One package Hebrew National hot dogs
  • one large red onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • one can red beans drained
  • one can of Rotel tomatoes and chilies
  • one red pepper
  • bay leaf
  • Cajun seasoning and red pepper

You pretty much just saute the veggies, add the sausage, add the beans and tomatoes and just let it cook about 45 minutes while your brown rice cooks.  When ready to serve just remove the bay leaf and enjoy!

Yeah for Wednesday, the weekend is in sight!

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