cooking – Page 2 – forEVR and always

Umm that wind was wild

November 25, 2013Leave a comment

Soooo the wind this weekend was absolutely insane. I thought our house was going to blow over at least 3 times! This is the part of dog ownership that totally sucks. Going out in 20 degree wild wind is not my idea of fun at 8am…yuck.

The cold weather does lend itself to crazy heavy and delicious meals though, which I love. I made tortilla soup on Sunday without a recipe and it came out really really great (going to share in a minute). Every single recipe (even the ones that said “easy”) online had 55 ingredients. I am a good cook, I can handle making something difficult, what I don’t want is to have to spend $30 on spices I will only use once, and waste vegetables that I won’t cook with again soon enough. Plus, the grocery stores were so busy this weekend, I nearly had a fist fight in Trader Joe’s (ok I didn’t, but I wanted to!). Anyway, here is what I did, and like I always say (and mean it) it came out really great!

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 1/4 lbs of chicken breast cubed((ish)
15 oz can diced tomato & green chilies fire roasted (Traders! or buy separately)
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (this decides the heat)
1 chopped medium onion
2 boxes Swanson Mexican Tortilla Broth (greatest product ever)
1/2 tbs garlic (to taste)
Some garlic salt, onion powder, s&p
Lime, Avocado, Tortilla Strips, Cheese, Sour Cream (all optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Put chicken, tomato/chile, chipotle peppers, onion, garlic, & broth in the crock pot on high. Let this cook for about 2 hours.

2. Use a ladle to take out the chunks of chicken, onion, tomato & pepper. This doesn’t have to be exact, but make sure to get the big pieces of chicken. Put this in the blender and blend it up quickly. Don’t purée this, just give it a light, quick mix.

3. Put it all back in the crock pot (do the blending in batches) and add the seasonings you are going to want. I added about 1 tsp of onion powder, garlic salt, and just a pinch of salt. Now let this cook for another couple hours (or 10 minutes if you need dinner).

4. You’re basically done. Scoop it out and enjoy with whatever toppings you like. I did some lime juice, pinch of cheddar, tortillas and sour cream, but honestly, it would have tasted great without these additions too!

Mmm.

On a totally different note, thanks to Jay for being my cheerleader. Saturday I really missed my friends. Everyone was together in NYC & NC and I was struggling a bit with how much I missed them. I love our new life here, but there will always be days I miss the ease of having my best friends right around the corner (whether it’s college or Brooklyn). Thankfully, I have Jay, who not only completely understood, but got me ground beef disturbing Taco Bell for dinner, played a flower game with me, and reminded me of how lucky I am.

xo-j

Thanksgiving Table

November 20, 20131 Comment

We are having Thanksgiving at our house this year, and I’m really excited, and also terrified! I’ve never made a turkey or hosted a legit dinner for 14 people before…but I’ve made a million lists, and purchased (I think) everything we need. Anyways, the best part has been getting to plan for the table and making decorations. I found the cutest mason jar mugs last week, and have been picking up all different glass bottles/jars over the past month to make different groupings for the centerpieces (need a bunch since the table will be so long!).

Here is some of what I’ve done so far:

(Place Cards / Remember which drink is yours / Thanksgiving Party Favor)

I’m so happy with how everything turned out! Now, as long as I don’t destroy the turkey we are good to go!

xo-j

Warm Fall

November 19, 20132 Comments

Yesterday was bizarre, it was 65 degrees! I decided to eat at my desk and take Rondo to the park for my lunch break since it was so beautiful outside, and before I know it there will be snow.

Not the same as wandering around midtown at lunch, but I’ll take it!

xo-j

Celtics

November 12, 2013Leave a comment

Last night we went to the Celtics game which was great! Jay’s family has season tickets and we are so lucky to get to use them! Fun Monday night, problem is it made me think today was Friday and it’s Tuesday…yuck.

A mini insta vid here

And clearly these have nothing to do with the game, they are just from the past couple days…except we did name him Rondo.

xo-j

Sausage & Brussels

November 7, 2013November 6, 20131 Comment

We eat chicken sausage probably once a week. They are so delicious, and not SO horrible for you! How I have never combined my bizarre love of Brussel sprouts and sausages before I don’t know. The hardest part of this recipe is chopping the sprouts, seriously. Anyways, wanted to share another simple one that ends up really really tasty!

Chicken Sausage & Brussels

What You Need:

Chicken Sausage (I get Aidells garlic & gruyere)
Ziti
Brussel Sprouts (I use the frozen ones)Olive Oil
S&P

Directions:

Make your sprouts! Preheat oven to 425*.

1. Defrost the sprouts in mic with 2 tbsp of water and then cut them in half/quarter

2. Toss the chopped sprouts in olive oil and about 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt (change this to taste)

3. Spread them out on an aluminum foil lined pan and bake for about 30 minutes, but this depends on your oven and how brown you want them. Keep on checking and shaking and tasting and salting throughout the cooking process.

4. In the meantime boil your water, cook your pasta, and cook your sausages. I slice the sausages up while cooking into bite size pieces.

5. When it is all cooked, toss it all together with a little bit of olive oil and done!

Hope you guys make this one and enjoy it, it has become a staple over here!

xo- J

Fall Wreath

October 24, 20131 Comment

Fall is my absolute favorite. And since it is already Christmas according to stores, I wanted to make a fall craft that wasn’t completely pumpkin centered and would work through Thanksgiving time. This is a really easy diy that doesn’t break the bank or take up your whole week. I love how this turned out! If you feel like making your own for the house or as a sweet gift, the directions are below…

WHAT YOU NEED:

Yarn – I got a sort of mustard and white really thick knitting yarn
Decorations – I bought a cheap fall bouquet and some berries from Michael’s
Wire wreath base
Scissors

DIRECTIONS:

1. I bought two colors of yarn because I wanted to have a guide for where I would place my decorations. I did about an 8 inch section of white yarn. A bit of advice here is to wrap the yarn around your hand and only do small sections at a time. If you try to use the whole 40 yards you are going to go insane wrapping it, so cut it into smaller sections. First, as easy as it sounds, make a knot around the wire rim and begin to wrap. Wrap this section a bit loose but also very thickly so that you will be able to stick your decorations through later.

(do you see my special helper in the background?!)

2. Take your second color and begin to wrap around the rest of the wreath. Like I said above, do this in smaller sections, hiding your knots as you go along. Wrap this really tight. I found the best way was to wrap 3-4 ahead and then push them down tightly.

3. Here is what you should now have:

4. I decided to take the remaining yellow yarn and go over the section again but loose and chunky. This gives the wreath a lot more character. (I know, I just said character describing a wreath). Also, don’t forget to make sure your dog is badgering you the ENTIRE time and stealing your yarn.

5. Now decide how you would like your decorations to look. I did mine first on the table so I could see how they looked best, then began to stick them through the white portion of the wreath. I cut up the bouquet making sure to give myself enough wire on the back of each flower to wrap it through…

6.You are done! Now hang it up or give as a gift!

xo-j

Best Turkey Burgers

October 23, 2013Leave a comment

Since we are a no-beef house I’m always trying to find new recipes for chicken and turkey that don’t take a ton of time, but are really tasty. I loosely based making some turkey burgers last night on my meatballs and whoa, so good. I’m all about easy and not having to go buy bizarre ingredients that cost way too much (why does every food network recipe require me to spend $60 on spices I will never use again?!). Here ya go:

TURKEY BURGERS

What You Need:

1 pound ground turkey (I use the white meat 93% fat free super healthy one)
1/8 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg white
1 tsp onion powder
1/8th cup chopped parsley
1 clove diced up garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8th cup Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix everything together in a bowl except the Worcestershire sauce

2. Once that is all mixed up really well, then pour the W. sauce on top and mix it all again.

3. Make that disturbing looking meat into some patties!

4. Cook the burgers in a pan. I used about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Heat the oil first, then add burgers. Cook them for 2 minutes on one side and then flip (this way both sides get brown and they don’t fall apart). Flip them a couple times through the cooking (about 15 minutes on med-high with cover)

5. Add your toppings! I used munster cheese and made some sauteed spinach (with soy and garlic powder)

6. Enjoy that amazing (and healthy) turkey burger on a toasted bun!

Promise you, these are awesome.

xo-j

Lately

October 21, 2013Leave a comment

I was in NYC again last week for work for only 24 hours but I was able to cram in two lunches with my favorite lunch partner, and most importantly found my bridesmaid dresses with Lauren and Adie! I wish I could share pictures of that, but it’s a secret (plus, I was able to try on my dress next to them so I really can’t share any pics!). Here are some other pics from life lately…

(halloween treats are the best)

xo- j

Chowdahhh

October 15, 2013October 14, 2013Leave a comment

Since it’s started to get cold here I keep having cravings for soup. Anyone who has ever met Jay knows he is obsessed with soup (it’s weird) so it works out when I get the urge to try out a new one! This weekend, while Reggie was visiting (!!), I decided to try out a clam chowder crock pot recipe, and oh man, so good. I did make some changes to the recipe and thought I would share what I did…

CLAM CHOWDER in the CROCK POT

WHAT YOU NEED

4 – 6 1/2 oz cans of minced clams (with the juice)
1 cup chopped onion
5 potatoes chopped up
2 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
3 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup half & half
3 cups milk (I used skim)
5 tbsp corn starch
Parsley for garnish

(The recipe called for 8 potatoes, 3 cups water (no stock), 1/4 tsp pepper, 4 cups half and half, and 3 tbsp corn starch…I read a bunch of the comments and ended up using the mix of recipes and it came out perfect. I can’t imagine fitting more than the 5 potatoes in the soup!)

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop up your onion

2. Chop up your potatoes (I left the skin on)

3. Cook your bacon in a pan until it is nearly done. Then add your onion to the pan and allow to cook until soft (about 5 minutes) with the bacon. Then remove from heat and crumble/chop up the cooked bacon.

4. Add the clams, bacon, onion, potatoes, s&p, water, & stock to the crock pot. DO NOT add the milk or corn starch. Allow this to cook on high for about 4 hours.

5. Once the soup has cooked for 4 hours, mix 1 cup half & half with the cornstarch and add it to the soup. Continue to cook for another hour.

6. My crock pot by this point was completely filled to the brim, so once I had allowed the corn starch mix to cook for an hour I poured the soup into a big pot and added the remaining 3 cups of milk then. I allowed it to heat up on the stove for about 15 minutes.

7. Cut up some bread and enjoy! I ended up loading a ton more black pepper and hot sauce into my own bowl, but each person likes their own level of spice so I didn’t add it to the full pot.

If you have the time on a Sunday to chop things up and wait for this to cook, it is totally worth it!

xo – j

Panda

October 11, 2013October 10, 2013Leave a comment

When I told you we have had visitors every single weekend, I wasn’t kidding. It has been awesome having all our friends come to visit our new place. It also makes us (I’m guessing Jay too) feel really special that everyone is willing to travel here to see us. We love you guys!

Last weekend Amanda came to visit from DC! We’ve been friends since 1st grade which is basically forever! We went on a hike to the top of Blue Hills on Saturday morning. Rondo was in heaven!