Tortellini Casserole

Okay. Yum. One simple word, and yet it can create this mass euphoria, by way of food. Well, tortellini casserole is just... yum. Made this last night with the husband and was thoroughly impressed. The quantity of ingredients was a bit higher than most recipes, and it seemed as though there were a lot of steps to manage, but the ending result was amazingly delectable. There were too many things going on at once in our kitchen, so I wasn't able to fully photograph everything that is in the mixture, but you get the idea... Recipe can be found here.

 Cook carrots and sugar snap peas with the tortellini. 

Yeah, I thought this step was weird too.

 Create the sauce.

Then add cream cheese to the sauce. Yup, just got even better.

 Mix, mix, mix. This is a culmination of the sauce, tortellini, cubed chicken, 

carrots, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, and red bell peppers. 

Plus it's an "action" shot as an added bonus...grr. I need a better camera.

Bake in a casserole dish for about 30 minutes, top with Parmesan cheese. I know it doesn't 

look like much and it isn't a fancy, composed restaurant plate, but wow. So good.

Farewell Taco Soup?

Taco Soup will forever live long and prosper in the homes of many across America. Don't know what I'm talking about? Move to the South. And not South Carolina or Tennessee. I know they think they are "Southerners" but come on, really? Not the South. It snows there. If you're still not sure...Go to Texas. After all, it IS the best state in the country.

Anyway, when the few of us out there, who got sick of the infamous soup (gasp!), was looking for something new, we fell upon a recipe for a chicken and black bean chili. Now, don't get me wrong, I live in South Texas, and realize that real chili DOES NOT HAVE BEANS. However, I'm willing to call this a chili despite the plentiful amount of black beans that really make this dish delicious. Mainly because, well...it is too thick to be a soup, and to me, stew shouldn't be spicy. Rachael Ray made up the term "Stoup" for something of this consistency, but I think that's too dumb of a word to use. Stop with the made up culinary terms, Rachael, you're confusing the masses of people who can't really cook, but watch you and think they can. Thus, "chili" it is christened.
You can find the recipe here.

You just have to dump everything in and let them simmer together, melding flavors and getting all tasty. Quite delicious! It is fairly cheap, freezes well too, and makes fabulously filling lunches. Getting protein is often a struggle for me, so the beans and chicken in this really help out a lot. While Taco Soup purists will be clinging to that age-old recipe for decades, I will be trying out new ones, and finding something that, I think, is even better than the original!

Mexican Memories

The first Valentine's Day my husband and I spent together found us going out to a really romantic Italian restaurant in Austin... on the 13th (because, seriously, who can get a reservation on V-Day anymore? Plus they hike up the price so it's almost not worth it!). So, on actual Valentine's Day, we decided to cook, even if it was in my husband's TEENY-TINY apartment kitchen he had in college (I don't think both of us fit at the same time!). I think this is one of the first meals we ever made together, thus embarking on a lifetime of culinary endeavors! We even re-created this meal a year later, once we had both graduated and were working. It will always be a special dinner in our home, despite the simplicity of the actual meal itself.

We made enchiladas. Now, these aren't really authentic, dripping in sauce, enchiladas (but give me a break, I'm originally a New Yorker). But they are delicious, and very simple to make.
You can find the recipe here.

Rotisserie chicken (shredded), onion, bell pepper, salsa, cream cheese... 

how can you go wrong with that combination?

 Fill tortillas...

 Top with salsa...

 and don't forget the best part! I LOVE cheese!

Ta-Da! Not much too it, but makes a lot, and now I've

got something to look forward to in my lunch this week!

Sew Handy!

Okay... excuse the bad pun in the title. However, remember when I got my new sewing machine two months ago and was so excited? And notice how none of my posts have been about sewing? Well, I can finally post my first sewing endeavor because I made something as gifts for my mom and Mother-In-Law, and I wanted it to be a surprise. Now that Christmas is over, I can show my first feeble attempt at sewing. No, I didn't make a great masterpiece, the next new Couture dress for the Runway, or something spectacular for the home. But I did manage to bust out two coffee cozies. You know, the little sleeve that goes over a coffee cup to protect your hand. Well... ta da! Now my mothers can be eco-friendly when going to Starbucks!

 Cut out pieces from your fabrics and fusible fleece. I traced a Starbucks sleeve as a template to create a pattern for these. I also wanted to inside to be a different fabric so had two choices.

 Iron the fleece to the wrong side of one piece of fabric. Sew wrong sides together with a 1/2" seam allowance, leave a small opening so it can be flipped. Clip corners and flip right side out.

 Iron the seams so they lay flat, then sew a top stitch all the way around the 

edge, including closing the small part left open.

 Almost finished!

 Once I got the hang of it, I was able to make my second one with a more decorative top stitch. 

Next, sew a hair band onto one end, making a small loop that will fit over a button. 

Sew the button on in place, and slip the hair band over to close the cozy.

 Voila! Not really hard, but it was a good first project to try with my machine.

The finished projects! Next time, I'm going to make them reversible.

Whoopie!

 For Christmas we were given a Whoopie Pie Pan, a Whoopie Pie Recipe Book, and a box of Red Velvet Mix to go along with. The pan is basically a really really shallow muffin tin, and I bet would make great "muffies" too (muffin tops...which is the best part anyway). Our first go at the pan wasn't quite what I expected. My husband got a little over zealous with filling the tiny pan, and we ended up with Whoopie Bricks instead, but they still tasted really delectable!

 Daniel took the lead on this one, pictures and all! 

He even got all the prep supplies out and ready for use!

 Mixing the batter... Red Velvet looks a bit ominous before it is baked...

 This is where the pan got over-filled. Note to self:  Don't over-fill next time.

 I made the frosting... Cream Cheese, Butter, Powdered Sugar. 

Note to Self: Make sure butter is room temperature next time. 

We used cold butter and it didn't quite come out how I was expecting.

See? Whoopie Bricks. But they were very good, if not a little big!

Here's to a Quiet New Year

As we welcomed in 2012, my husband and I decided to have a quiet night at home with a yummy dinner and a movie. Yes we watched the ball drop, but you can bet I was in bed right after! It was a nice way to end a very busy year. On our New Year's Eve menu was Parmesan-Italian Chicken, Quinoa Primavera, and biscuits. Yum. You can find the quinoa recipe here.

 The chicken was SUPER simple: Lightly wet the chicken with water, coat in grated Parmesan cheese mixed with Good Seasonings Italian Dressing mix, bake until cooked through. Turn the broiler on the last 5 minutes to get a golden brown crust.... it was delicious!

 We've never tried Quinoa before, but it was really tasty and pretty simple. It cooks like rice, and then we added some mixed vegetables, parsley and a touch of cream cheese (it is NYE after all!)...

 Really good! Plus I had leftovers for lunch which made going back to work on January 2 

(yes that's right, we had school on the 2nd...) much better.

Biscuits came from a can, I'm not up to making my own quite yet. Add some wine and a

cozy blanket on the couch... This was a super delicious meal!