munchies and RAMBLINGS.........

Bacon and Blue Cheese Sweet Potato NACHOS!

Is anyone with me on this one? Three of my favorite foods. Why wouldn't they be fantastic together? Well they are!

However, they are not a lite bed time snack.....So possibly a whole cookie sheet full of Blue Cheese and Bacon Sweet Potato Nachos was a bit too much snack for just myself.

Yeh, NO. No one else in this household was willing to share in my heavenly snack with me. In fact they all acted like I was eating poo or something. Hey more for me.

This the kind of thing I fix myself to eat when my Lover is out of town. Horrible. I turn into another person when he is out of town. I eat all kinds of junk, take the kids out to eat alot, and I eat munchies like the above, IN BED. Gasp!

Ken would never deny me a luverly snack, but he wouldn't appreciate me crawling into bed next to him with a plate full of these babies. He would never say anything, I just know it would annoy him. You know how you just know these things about your spouse, with out him ever having to say, "Honey you totally gross me out when you crawl into bed with a plate of Cheese and Bacon Nachos that smell like my gym shorts".

So I save munching on blue cheese in bed for when my better half is out of town.

My Kenny works ALOT, but he doesn't have to travel too often for work. For that I am thankful. I don't know how some of you do it, that have a traveling spouse. I hate it when he's gone. I hate it when he has to work. In fact I CAN'T WAIT until he can retire. God willing we will both be healthy and be able to enjoy each other in his retirement years.

I have been feeling overly dependent on my Lover these last couple days. I think because he has been working long hours and now he is going out of town, then he gets home and it's busy, busy, busy life with work, and kids, and yadayadayada. I am sure you all know how it is. Then I leave for 4 days with our oldest son to NYC. When I return it's right back to work for Kenny.

Am I preachin' to the choir?

Sorry....life get's crazy doesn't it.

Of course, God had just the perfect words for me this morning. In the midst of my hectic morning, four kids to school at three different times, and getting my Lover out the door. I took a minute to quick cram in my devotion.

The first line said, "This is the time in your life when you must learn to let go".

Wow, really?

Then the scripture was this..."do not fear; I will help you.", and "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid."

God is so good! Even though I was trying to quick throw Him into my morning, haphazardly I must say. He chose to ease my anxiousness about my husband being gone, and gently remind me, Hey! I am your all in all. Sheila all you really need is me, I gave you Ken as your life companion, but you need to look to me, your God. I am all you need.

Phew! I feel like a new woman. I so needed that reminder. I can handle it with Gods help. That takes alot of pressure off my Kenny too. Although, it would have been nice if he would have remembered to change that light bulb by the back door before he left, the one that's too high for me and I need to get a ladder. GOD HELP ME!

I hope you're encouraged to know that God wants to be your all in all. People will fail you and have to leave you to fend for yourself, no matter how much they love you. But God never fails or leaves us.

Now Lord, can you help me eat this with out any of those nasty fat cells exploding around my middle.

Thank you Lord.

Amen.

Scripture is from Isaiah 41:13 and Hebrew 13:6

Chicken Fontinella revisited

I shared this recipe back in July. I think it's worth sharing again. It's easy to prepare. It's cheesy, creamy, flavor is comforting. The spinach adds much needed vitamin C and iron this time of year. Now don't write this one off because it's full of spinach....."my kids will never eat that!". Do they need to know? Well, I realize they will see it in there...just make them take one bite. My vegetable hater...child #3 even tolerates this meal. (I think he secretly loves it, but his pride keeps him from admitting it!)

I needed to bring a meal to a family in our church that just had a baby, I decided on this dish. One, because it's great leftover. Two, because it's healthy for the nursing mama's. Three, it freezes well so if they already have lots of meals, they could stick it in the freezer and pull it out when they need it. Four, because my kiddos love it so I figure other people would hopefully enjoy it too!

One dish, easy bring them salad and a crusty loaf from the bakery and this meal is complete. I also made some Pumpkin Spice Donut Muffins for a breakfast treat.

Did I say it's easy to double and triple the recipe? You will need a gargantuan bowl, but if you have one you could make a couple of these one to give, one for the freezer, and one for dinner tonight!

Here's what you will need. Chances are you have it all in your pantry. If you don't have the Fontinella cheese, the italian variety of shredded cheese works just as well.

Chicken Fontinella
printable recipe

2 box Uncle Ben's original recipe long grain wild rice (not the fast cook)
4 cups of water
6 oz ham steak cubed
1 lb. of chicken breast or ground chicken
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup fontinella cheese grated
1/2 cup mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan
1 stick of butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup milk
2 cups of spinach washed and chopped finely

Here is the original post if you want to see the step by step with directions.

Remember it's nice to share!

cheese FONDUE

A three course meal of fondue has become the tradition around our home on Christmas Eve. Which just so happens to be my birthday.......we used to go out for dinner, but at some point when the kids were little and going out for dinner with them was not actually relaxing, at all, we started fondue. (Forgive me Sweet Seestor, but if my memory serves me correctly you gave me a fondue pot for my birthday...right?) A fondue pot as a gift and now six years, and 3 additional fondue pots later, we consider ourselves fondue aficionados....humbly speaking of course.

Fondue is not for the hurried eater. It's all about taking your time. One bite at a time. Conversation. Moving around a little. Taking turns. Remembering which fork is yours. Patience. Laughter. Lots of good food, one bite at a time, did I say that already?

I did a little research a couple years back on fondue. A friend and I auctioned off a fondue party for our school, so I thought I'd better know my fondue history. Fondue originated in Switzerland, it was a way for the peasants to use up their odd bits of cheese and day old bread. They would throw the cheese in a pot, pour in some liquor or wine for good measure and dip in their day old bread. Voila! the fondue pot was born. Now we think we are all fancy, when really we are just copying common farmers in Switzerland. Fancy or ordinary, fonduing is a casual, relaxing and super easy to do. You need not be a lover of the kitchen, by any means, to pull off fondue .

Let's start where they started with the cheese. I have tried many a cheese fondue recipe....believe me. This one has come from a few years of tinkering with it. This particular recipe would be considered traditional fondue. A fondue pot made out of stoneware works best for cheese fondue, I've found out the hard way that metal and cheese are not friends. However, the electric fondue pot from Rival, with it's non-stick surface, works fabulous for cheese and chocolate! I use my metal pots for broth and oil....but I will get to that at a later time.

Cheese Fondue

printable recipe

6 cups shredded Gruyere cheese

4-6 ounces Brie cut rind off and cube

4 teaspoons of cornstarch

2 tablespoons Kirsch Liquor (if you can't find it leave it out)

1 1/4 cups dry Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

1 lemon juiced

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1-2 dashes nutmeg

1 garlic clove peeled and sliced in half

dippers: french baguette cut into cubes, sweet mini gherkins, roasted mini onions, red peppers sliced, sauteed mushrooms, mini fingerling potatoes roasted, granny smith apple slices

Serves 6-8

Shred Gruyere cheese and prepare brie, toss in a bowl with the cornstarch set aside. (You can actually do this step hours before and put in refrigerator until you are ready to melt the cheese.)

Rub the inside of the fondue pot with the garlic clove. Light burning element under fondue pot. Add juice of one lemon, and half of the wine, gradually add cheese, stirring continually with wooden spoon or rubber spatula. As cheese starts to melt continue to add the remainder of wine and cheese. Don't loose heart it will seem like a large lump of cheese that you can't dip anything into for a little bit. Keep stirring. When cheese gets bubbly add in the pepper, dash or two of nutmeg and tablespoon of Kirsch liquor if you have it. Continue to stir until smooth. This process may take 15-25 minutes.

Remember fondue is not for the hurried eater, relax, pour your guest a glass of wine and take turns stirring your cheese fondue.

I gave you suggestions above for dipping, these are things we have found to be our favorites over the years. Feel free to have fun and add your own favorites.

Here are two other flavors of fondue that we have tried at our party's and found to be quite tasty: Blue Cheese Fondue with Rosemary Toasts, this fondue is to die for, if you are a lover of blue cheese like myself...you will be dipping everything you can get your hands on in it. One word YUMMY! Unfortunately no one else in my family loves blue cheese like I do, so we rarely do this one.

Irish Cheddar Stout Fondue is another we have tried and found to be quite tasty. Like my mam always said, "Beer and Cheese does the body good!" Well not really but, she shoulda said it. This mama says it.

I hope if you have a fondue pot you haul that baby out, dust it off and give it a try. New Years Eve is coming up ya know. What better way to reminisce over the past year than by hanging out around a pot of cheese fondue!

Bon Appetit!

Festive FETA Dip!

Hold on to your hats. This dip is so easy and festive it's going to blow you away. It's so easy that I nearly forgot about it! Big D had to send me an email and say "HEY! what about the Feta Dip. Dorko!" She really didn't say dorko, but I bet she was thinkin' it. It's Friday.....we are all going stark raving mad, because we have so much to do. We have five different places we need to be this weekend. If you need to bring an appetizer somewhere and you are pinched for time THIS is the appetizer for you.

Festive Feta Dip

1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes with garlic and oil, or any variety will do.

4 ounces feta cheese

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro or basil (if you are like my friend Jodi and cilantro has an adverse reaction on you)

1 bag of Sea Salt Pita chips or any simple crackers

Here goes! Drain tomatoes, spread them in bottom of a plate with an edge, crumble feta cheese over tomatoes, sprinkle cilantro or basil over cheese. Serve with pita chips!

VOILA! There you have it, the simplest most festive Hors d' oeuvre you will EVER make!

Enjoy! Luv you!

Relax!

Have a great weekend!

Come back again now ya hear,

Over and out....

Buh-bye!

Isn't this ornament adorable? Our old neighbors made this for us...personalized it to our family. They have since moved and we miss them lots. Go check out their website for more unique and personal gifts, all handmade in Michigan!

OLD SCHOOL appetizers

Every get together when I was growing up included these two appetizers. I actually forgot about the pickle variety until this Thanksgiving when my sweet Seestor revived them for our pre-dinner snack fest. We've never had a name for them. I think we just called them "onion thingys", or "pickle and ham thingy's", cause we are a real classy bunch, and we like to eat lots of thingys.

This summer I brought the onion thingys to a picnic and my girlfriend called them Polish Roses......that was a new one on me. But she is right they do kinda look like roses, not sure where the Polish comes in. Sounds a bit racial to me...so I am going to stick with "onion thingy's".

To make these old school appetizers you will need:

12 green onions cleaned and trimmed to 8"

6 sweet gherkins

9 pieces of smoked deli ham

8 oz. package of cream cheese softened

This will make 24 pieces.

Rinse, and trim onions.

Cut the ends off the onions, trimming them down to approximately 8 inches.

Dry 6 gherkins on paper towel....I realize there are only 5 here I ate one. Polka-dot period. End of story....well not really I ate about 5.

The key to quick food prep, is....well...is prep. Get your stuff prepped and your life will be easier.

Cut each piece of ham in half.

Spread with a thin layer of cream cheese. Cheese will spread easy if it's room temperature.

Lay onion on ham slice, and roll her up.

Now for the Pickle Thingys.

Same procedure with the ham and cream cheese.

Make the lil gherky comfy.

Roll it up nice and snug.

Slice in half, this gives you a nice "pop in the mouth" size portion.

If you are lacking for table space you could stick your roses, sans the water, in a glass. Kind of a fun presentation....I still don't get the Polish thing. Feel free to fill me in.

Or a platter from Meijers works great too!

Enjoy!

Appetizer FLATBREADS

Pizza, who doesn't like pizza? Oh oops I mean flatbreads. Flatbread sounds hipper, saying flatsbread instead of pizza is nouveau. I like to think I'm with it. ("Like to think" is the key phrase there.) Anyway what could be better than serving every ones favorite as an appetizer. And you can adjust the type of pizza toppings depending on the flavors of the dinner you're serving. Or better yet serve several types of pizzas and a large salad and call it dinner!

I do make my own pizza crust, but I have found a great alternative that I like to use when I am time pinched, Naan bread. It's flat and it's bread! This is what makes these pizza's flatbreads...

I buy the large package of Naan at Costco, it provides enough bread to make 5 or 6 pizzas, that can be cut into 8 pieces each.

I don't want to beat this one over the head, but this is my new favorite, time saver. Petite diced tomatoes with garlic and oil. It packs a punch of garlic flavor with out taking the time to mince garlic.


Drain one 14.5 ounce can of tomatoes, add a heaping tablespoon of fresh or freeze dried basil.

Spread a thin layer of tomatoes over the bread and place thin slices of fresh mozzarella on top. If you only have the shredded variety of mozzarella, that will work just fine too.

Drizzle with olive oil.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with Italian spices and fresh grated Parmesan, cut and serve.

The possibilities are endless! Caramelized onion, goat cheese and bacon...be still my soul.

BBQ Chicken: slather on your favorite BBQ sauce, add chicken, and Monterrey jack cheese. Add red onion, or banana peppers to this pizza to jazz it up a bit. You name you can make it on these flatbreads. Blue cheese, bacon, and pine nuts! Oh add some caramelized onions to that one too.....HeeavenLY! I don't even need to make a print out for this, do I? Get creative, the skies the limit. Cut into smallish pieces, as to make sampling more than one, not guilt inducing.

Enjoy!

Roasted Tomato Basil SOUP

Yes, this is my daughter hiding behind a bush of Basil...why ever is she hiding...you ask. Well, actually she was sniffing her brains out. It smelled so absolutely, positively divine. It ended up I had to pry her dirty, half polish chipped off twelve year old hands of my basil, so I could wash it and make first Tomato Basil Soup and second Pesto.

The basil I planted this year went hog wild! I have two more plants that are even bigger than this one that I still need to use or give away. If you live in my neck of the wood, I would be more than happy to share. Cause you know it's nice to share.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup is seriously super easy. There are a few steps, but not too many ingredients and I doubt you could ruin it if you tried. It's all about the tomatoes. You want fresh, in season, Romas for the best soup. I have made it in the dead of winter and it's good, but it's not spectacular like it is when you pick the tomatoes fresh off the vine or buy them from your local farmers market. (wink)

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

printable recipe

Serves 6

10-12 tomatoes roasted

1 cup diced sweet onion

1-3 cloves garlic minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 table spoon butter

3-4 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

2 cups fresh basil (packed and sliced in thin strips)

salt and pepper to taste

If you missed my previous post on roasting tomatoes then go here and then come back and put the roasted tomatoes in your blender or Vitamix if you are lucky enough to have one of them jobbies. (I don't, but I have been hinting for a good two years to my family that I would love one)
Pour 1 1/2 cups of the chicken stock in with the tomatoes. Blend for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth.


Chop your sweet onion. One small onion or 1 heaping cup of sweet onion chopped small. Mince one to three cloves of garlic.

Melt one tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in 4-6 quart sauce pan add onions and garlic saute' until translucent. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a good dose of fresh cracked pepper during sauteing time.


Now add the onions and garlic to the blender with the tomatoes. (Set your pan aside to use again in a minute.) Give them another whirl until well blended and smooth. Approximately 1-2 minutes. Now you want to pour the tomato soup base back into the pan you sauteed the onion and garlic in.


Time to give your soup a KICK! We like spice, this family of mine. Return the pan back to the heat and add 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes you could add just a dash or you could leave it out all together. Suite yourself!


Now for a spoonful of sugar....1 tablespoon to be exact. Give it a stir. Now add the remaining chicken stock. If you prefer your soup a bit thicker then only add 1 1/2 cups of stock or you can add the remaining 2 1/2 cups...that's what I did. Slow simmer.

While your soup is simmering pack two cups of fresh basil. I don't think you can use too much. Can you smell it. It is intoxicating. Who needs Sweet Tea Vodka when you have fresh basil. Oh Mama.

Bunch it up in a nice basil bundle.

Chiffonade your basil. Chiffa-whoey? Chiffonade is a cooking technique, used with herbs or leafy green vegetables, to cut them into long thin strips. Usually accomplished by stacking the leaves and then rolling them tightly, then cutting across the leaf, creating ribbons of beautiful basil. That was my "morsel of knowledge" for the day..or week, possibly the century.


Now after you have your basil chiffonaded, toss it on into your slow simmering soup and then turn off the heat. Give it a stir. Let it sit for 5 minutes to let that basil get all warm and cozy. Then serve with grilled cheese or Cheesy Toast.

This soup freezes fantastically. If you are going to make it to freeze I would follow all the steps except leave out the 2nd addition of chicken stock. Add the additional stock when you thaw and reheat. I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine does. It is also one of those meals that is great to make when you have a busy night because you can just leave it on the stove with the toast off to the side and when your family starts rolling in they can help themselves and warm it up in the microwave.

My kids went back to school today. So now I am going to go eat bonbons.

LuvYA,