Amanda Lentils are not something I am familiar with. Once I learned how inexpensive they are and that they have a 2-3 year shelf life, I thought it’s time give them a try. I made a Beet and Lentil salad like Puy Lentil Salad by Rachel Khoo. I used regular green lentils and cooked the beets. I also left out the lettuce. For the beets I added olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, wrapped them in foil and baked at 400° for 45 minutes. Once everything had cooled for bit, I mixed it all together, then added the dressing and the cheese. It was so good. It’s even better the next day, cold or reheated. Next time I will use feta cheese instead of goat cheese. Nikita Middle of winter? ✔️ Freezing cold? ✔️ Short on time? ✔️ Here's the soup for you - Moroccan-Spiced Lentil & Chickpea Soup. I made a few changes to the recipe due to the limited availability of ingredients in Sofia. Right now, cilantro is not "in season" if there ever was a season for cilantro. You can't find it anywhere! And the grocery stores are incredibly inconsistent in their inventory. Sometimes, you'll see a particular item or brand, and other times it's gone. This time, there was no celery to be found, but I subbed it with turnips. I also had difficulty finding harissa, a chili-pepper paste used in Moroccan dishes. So instead, I used a red pepper & garlic paste then added some heat through chili flakes. This soup was hearty and warmed the belly (which is a blessing these days with how cold it has been recently.) I'll be adding this quick, 30-minute soup into our dinner routine especially on cold nights. Amy I'm going to keep this short and sweet. This dish was damn good! Lentil-Smothered Greens on Fried Bread From Bon Appetit 02/20 Georgia Amy has gifted me a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine for several years now. This months edition had not one, but two lentil recipes. Amy made one and I made the other. We did not plan it that way, it just turned out that way. Which is a win win for all of us. So what did I like about this recipe? Everything. It's a perfect dish for colder weather (which we have), jammy onions (caramelized), the required lentils for this challenge, wonderful flavor, and the greek yogurt adds the perfect creaminess. Interestingly this is the second time I've had a dish that calls for a dollop of greek yogurt and I've been dubious about it both times. I have never been disappointed. If you are hesitant to try, jump in with both feet (forks) you will not regret it. Jen Last time we tried lentils as a challenge, I made a BBQ lentil loaf. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. This time I made instant pot lentil soup, and it was delicious!! Hearty and flavorful. This was also the first time I’ve tried the “saute” setting on my instant pot, so that was fun. It would look nicer with fresh parsley on top, but I forgot to by some at the store. Lentils are one of those versatile legumes. Healthy and yummy.
Until next week, Amanda, Nikita, Amy, Georgi & Jen
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JenMy blender has been dying a slow death, so Santa brought me a new one! I love making smoothies when it’s warmer out, but it’s winter and I don’t want to make myself even colder. (Yes, I am cold in Phoenix. 😊 Don’t ask me to move anywhere with snow.) I didn’t know it was a thing before now, but apparently people make warm smoothies! This week I tried a recipe called “Apple Pie Winter Smoothie”. It tastes a lot like Quaker Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal. Easy to make, and pretty good. I cheated and used the microwave to heat mine, and sprinkled a bit of oats and cinnamon on top when it was all done. Amanda We have been struggling with the flu in our home so this challenge couldn’t have come at a better time. I honestly never thought about a warm smoothie but it was delicious, very simple and versatile. We will be making this again. Amanda Nikita I've heard that a cup of warm milk in the evening helps to bring serenity to your world, but the idea of drinking a whole cup of warm milk that has not been transformed into hot chocolate doesn't sound appealing to me at all. I guess I am a bit of a chocoholic. 😕 It has been relatively warm for Bulgaria's standards this week - highs in the 40s all week! Locals have told us that there should be a meter of snow on the ground by this time of year, but alas, no winter wonderland here. Must be that global warming! I'll take it though. This week, I tried a recipe from Pinterest called Honey & Cinnamon Nighttime Drink. I altered the recipe by adding an additional teaspoon of honey, and yes, it was relaxing to drink. Using a whisk, I frothed up the milk a bit. After a few sips, Matt's curiosity (and possibly food jealousy) begged for a sip. He ended up taking the drink to finish, and that's ok. I wasn't a big "cup 'o milk" fan anyways. Amy I believe sharing a recipe from Michael Turback's Hot Chocolate cookbook has become an annual thing from yours truly. Hot chocolate is something warm. Though it's been almost balmy here in Oklahoma I could still go for some homemade hot choccy. I should mention that as you're reading this the temperature will have plummeted into the 20's and we'll possibly have an inch of snow on the ground. I'm glad I had the foresight to have gathered the ingredients for hot choccy. This recipe is dead basic but it is better than a sharp stick in the eye. Georgia I don't know what Jen was thinking when she challenged everyone to make warm winter smoothies (who knew it was a thing). But I am glad she was thinking it. When I found this recipe I thought it looked lovely. Who knew it was going to be so delish and filling. The recipe calls or almond milk and some other nut butter (other than peanut) I used regular milk and peanut butter. I also grated some fresh ginger and a little nutmeg in mine. What I LOVED about this smoothie is the flavors are comforting (especially on a cold winter morning), but it was also surprisingly filling. You could legit have this for breakfast and feel satisfied afterwards. And I'm going to pretend it's healthy.. So it's a win win. yep, that is my camera in the background So here we are.. Day 11 into the new decade. What a great gift it is to be 5 very different women living in 5 very different areas around the world now. Serving up 5 very different warm winter drinks.
Cheers, Jen, Amanda, Nikita, Amy and Georgia Nikita Every year, we eat the same ol' same ol'. But like all of our other family favorites, we had to put a twist on this year's New Year's dinner in Bulgaria. A traditional Southern New Year's dinner calls for Ham (or pork of some kind), Black-Eyed Peas (for luck), Greens (we prefer collards and/or cabbage for fortune), and cornbread (for gold...lots of it). Matt likes to attribute our success to our traditions like New Year's dinner. In his words, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" But this year, we had some fixin' to do because I couldn't find Black-Eyed Peas anywhere. I asked some grocery store attendants through Google Translate if they sold these lucky peas (which is Продавате ли грах с черни очи?), but the three attendants all blankly stared at my phone screen before saying "ne ne ne." You can figure that one out. So we settled for Speckled Butter Beans. After all, these beans are very southern, so we are praying that our good luck doesn't run out while we are abroad! Btw, that cornbread was so delish that I continued to eat on it for breakfast over the following three days. Slathered in room temperature butter, it melted in my mouth! It's also good for soaking up the bean and cabbage juice. Check out the recipe for the cornbread! Crazy easy. Georgia Like Amy, Randy and I had a low key New year. We actually stayed up until midnight to ring in the new year, but the 1st was pretty quiet. As per my norm I still woke up early. I'm sure it was around 6ish that I rolled out of bed.. We've been trying to get out and take a hike whenever we have the day off together (which is not very often) New years day was no different.. We found a new open space near Los Poblanos. Several hiking trails. We took the shortest route. Managed to see a few Sandhill Cranes and as you can see by the photo on the left a few animal carvings. For dinner, much like Nikita and Amy we had ham and black eye peas. I made some scalloped potatoes to go with. It was much like our day. Very low key. But also very traditional. Well.. traditional for those of us from the south. Typically black eyed peas are served with greens on New Years Day. I'm not a greens kind of gal. Se we just eat the black eye peas. Amy This year I did a low-key New Years Day dinner. Of course, ham and black eyed peas. I used a lovely seasoning that I picked up in New Orleans over the Summer. It gave the beans a nice kick. Instead of cornbread in a cast iron skillet I made Snoop Dogg's cornbread muffins. He uses sour cream in them. Nice fixins' to ring in a new decade. Food for thought, 2019 will be the last of the teens any of us will live through. Waxing philosophical for y'all. Happy New Year!!! Jen Amanda Praying you have the best year yet.
Happy 2020! Nikita, Georgia, Amy, Jen and Amanda Georgia Christmas was a low key affair this year. Candlelight service Christmas eve, A walk along the Rio Grande Christmas morning and a pretty basic dinner of Turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy and roasted brussel sprouts. All in all it was pretty nice Jen Our Christmas celebrations were spread out over a week, and I forgot to take pictures at most of them!! For one I made an entire ham dinner, and at another, Jade made some beautiful festive cupcakes from scratch. No pictures though! Oh well. We had a wonderful time with family and friends! Amy Not much to it kids. Just the dog and myself. I cooked up a big pot of Orecchiette with Sardinian Sausage Ragu. Played my Henry Mancini record as I made the meal. Happy New Year readers! Nikita Nikita and fam took a vacation from their vacation and spent the rest of their Christmas break exploring the Bulgarian countryside. The middle pic is a fortress in Veliko Tarnovo Praying everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a very prosperous 2020!
Georgia, Jen, Amy, Nikita and Amanda Georgia This week was my choice. So I chose soups and stews. Hello! Today is the first day of winter and nothing sounds better than a hot pot of soup or stew. I made this oh so delish pot of beef barley stew. The recipe is actually a soup.. But I coated my beef chunks in flour before browning it. Which gave the soup a rich stew like consistency. Jen This is the perfect time of year for soups and stews! In Phoenix this past week we hit a low temp of 39 degrees in the morning….BRRRRR! A nice warm bowl of food is perfect on a cold day. I’m sure I have mentioned before that I like to cook with ingredients that are on sale, or things I need to use up before they expire. Well, stews are PERFECT for using up vegetables. This time I made a stew of random stuff that turned out amazing. It doesn’t have a name, so I guess we can call it “Random Carrot Stew”! I love that my crock pot can be used on the stovetop too – I was able to brown the sausage first and then set the crock into the slow cooker all afternoon. By dinner time the whole house smelled so good!! The other nice part about stews is that I can prep and forget about it until I am ready to eat. It’s a busy time of year trying to get ready for Christmas, which is now less than a week away! Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!! Amanda Good morning, I was not able to make soup this week. Work and holiday preparations took over all my free time. I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Hope you all have a wonderful day. Sincerely, Mandy Amy As fate would have it my latest issue of Milk Street magazine arrived and there is an excellent soup recipe contained within. Without further ado Nikita Nikita and family are spending Christmas in Germany this year. Living the dream. Can't wait to hear all about this latest adventure FYI.. To check out Nikita's blog click here Several different hearty stews to make this winter.
Until next week we all wish you a very Merry Christmas, Georgia, Jen, Amanda, Amy and Nikita Amy I don't really eat much sweets and baked goods during the holiday season but I can over do it with meals. So a hearty healthy salad is much needed. Here's my contribution! Georgia What a great dinner choice for those few short weeks between stuffing yourself at Thanksgiving and over doing it at Christmas! Mine is less recipe - ish and more. I bought a bag of salad and added Asian pears, pomegranate arils and grilled chicken. The salad mix had kale, cabbage, lettuce, radicchio, parm pepitas and dried cranberries with a poppy seed dressing. The additions took this simple salad to the dinner level. Very filling and oh so healthy. A meal you can feel good about. Jen This winter salad is quick and easy, and you don’t have to make the entire recipe either – I threw together a bowl of it just for myself. I also opted for spinach instead of an herb as it suggested. I love artichoke hearts, so when I came across this recipe, I figured I’d enjoy it. I now know I like them in my salad too. 😊 Amanda For the winter salad week we made Blood Orange, Date, Almond salad. It was delicious. Even though I’m not a fan of dates they were good with all other ingredients in this recipe. This is a great dish for a quick meal during a busy week. Nikita Look at all of these yummy and healthy winter salads! All very filling meals you can feel good about!
Until next week, Amy, Georgia, Jen, Amanda and Nikita Nikita Boy, did we have leftovers! Our moist Romanian turkey gave us lots of dark and white meat in which we made sandwiches, additional Thanksgiving plates, and this splendid White Turkey Chili. The recipe calls for shredded chicken but we subbed it for turkey. On the side, I served avocado and tortilla chips. Yes, Bulgaria has tortilla chips! Because I'm really into taking food photos and now food video, enjoy my new GIF. This hot pot of comfort hit the spot because our days and nights are getting colder. We even got our first snowfall. 😍 Amy So....I had sent my Thanksgiving photo last Saturday. Alas, it's floating around in the nether. I decided to resend it. Trixie and I had ham, sweet potato mash, spinach, Mrs. Wood's pineapple casserole and homemade cranberry sauce. I made small portions because I didn't want to deal with leftovers. I promptly froze the remaining ham to break out on New Years Day ( you know it's going into a big pot of black eyed peas). I did make a big batch of cranberry sauce though because I put leftovers into hot cereal, yogurt, cottage cheese. I replace jelly on PB&J sammiches. I have substituted salad dressing with cranberry sauce...I guess cranberry sauce is to me what shrimp was to Bubba on Forrest Gump. Can you believe that movie is 25 years old? But the holidays can be depressing. Georgia I have zero leftovers.. But.. I do have this totally sweet photo of me taken early last Saturday morning in Old Town Philly and celebrating Pop's birthday at our favorite hotdog joint. Jen Amanda Thanksgiving leftovers are the best and Nikita's soup looks delish. Amy making Mrs. Woods pineapple casserole has me all heart eyes!
Rounding the corner to Christmas! Nikita, Amy, Georgia, Jen and Amanda Jen I had an easy job for our family’s Thanksgiving meal – I was in charge of baking crescent rolls! My aunt and uncle provided everything else. Delicious. On the way home we stopped by a house that’s gotten some media coverage for its awesome décor. It didn’t disappoint! Lots of interactive displays. (For anyone local, you can look it up on Facebook as the “Halloween Christmas House Tempe”.) NikitaHappy Thanksgiving from my family to yours! This year had some challenges; and if I'm being entirely honest, I lost several hours of sleep leading up to this dinner. Our first Thanksgiving in Eastern Europe! You see, Thanksgiving is an American holiday. In Bulgaria, kids go to school and adults go to work like any other day. Without the connection through social media, it wouldn't have felt like a holiday at all. I wanted to stick to our traditional meal but finding certain ingredients can be impossible at times. After searching three grocery stores, I found turkeys. Two, to be precise. They were the same size and the tag that indicated the weight of the bird had been worn off. I still have no clue heavy our turkey was. Thank goodness I have a meat thermometer. Matt claims this turkey was the best he has EVER eaten. The secret? Butter bath. I rubbed two sticks of butter with garlic and thyme all over that bird. Paula Deen would have been so proud! I've expressed my discontent with the lack of canned items. Zero canned pumpkin, so I roasted an actual pumpkin and made pumpkin puree. An important lesson when using fresh pumpkin puree is that real pumpkin retains a lot of water. You need to strain it in the fridge over night after roasting to allow the moisture to seep out. Or use a cheesecloth. I did not do either of these things and my pumpkin pie filling kept separating with the sweetened condensed milk. My mini pumpkin pies still turned out ok, but I could have reduced the baking time if there was not so much moisture. Also, forget about Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup for your Green Bean Casserole. This, however, was a beautiful discovery that you can make your own with basic ingredients in under 5 minutes. AND it tastes infinitely better! Check out my video to make your mouth salivate. You're Welcome! Georgia This year the husband and I decided to do something very different this year. Not stay home. So we flew in to Baltimore. Picked up our favorite teenager and drove a few hours north to Philadelphia. Where we've spent the past couple of days seeing absolutely everything we could see and eating as many Philly cheesesteaks as we could. Even the snowstorm that hit Albuquerque on the day we flew out could ruin our great time. I think this may become a new Thanksgiving tradition. Not be at home for the holiday. No laboring in the kitchen for hours, no time spent cleaning up. Just hours and hours of checking out the city where our country was born. Who knows what next year will bring.. But.. I'm already looking forward to it What a great year..
Nikita in another country still celebrating a very American tradition. Jen and family seeing the sites and sounds of her area Myself and my favorite people exploring a new place. God is good Happy Thanksgiving Jen, Nikita, Georgia, Amy and Amanda Amanda This week I learned all about the differences between Mexican chorizo and Spanish chorizo. Both equally delicious but made totally different. Very interesting. I used Mexican chorizo and made baked chiles rellenos. Amazing!! Much lighter than the fried version and you can change this recipe by adding whatever you have on hand. I used Spanish rice and fire roasted diced tomatoes. I’m addicted to these, so delicious! Can’t wait to make them again. Hope you have a great week! Amanda Nikita Sweet Potato & Chorizo Mexican Skillet. I couldn't find chorizo in GA although mom says she has seen it before. So I used ground pork rubbed heavily with smoked paprika. It was very good. Amy Georgia Okay.. I have to start out the gate with.. I'm not a huge fan of chorizo. Not the flavor. Too the contrary. The flavor is delish. But chorizo is greasy as greasy can be. But I'm also all about trying new things.. And chorizo was the food challenge so chorizo was on the menu. As you can see by the name, this is a breakfast dish. In this house breakfast is an all day kinda meal. The grits used in this dish are from my trip to GA this past spring. From Nora Mill. They are my favorite and was happy to use the last cup for this dish. For those of you who are a little gun shy of chorizo you may want to consider making this. The husband and I both REALLY enjoyed it. Jen Well there you go.. Chorizo prepared 4 different ways. (even though Nikita's was not chorizo the recipe called for it so she made the most with what she had)
Until next week when THE main meal is on the menu. Happy Thanksgiving! Amanda, Nikita, Amy, Georgia & Jen Jen Amanda Tacos are one of my favorite foods! I had a hard time deciding on what type of taco to make. I decided to make fish tacos. So light and delicious that there was no guilt felt after eating so many. I used a recipe from Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook Cravings for the fish but made the topping with what we had on hand. Cod was used instead of tilapia. We were all so eager to eat that I didn’t get a chance to take photos. There were no leftovers to see if this keeps, so that means this fish recipe is a keeper. Nikita Amy I made these tacos for Saturday Bites a couple of years ago. I decided to make them again because Georgia moved her blog and I don't think that this recipe survived the transition. These definitely aren't the run of the mill, perhaps this is why I love them. Grilled Kielbasa Tacos From Bon Appetit A hearty fare for cooler weather! Georgia This week I chose for Jen (it was her babies birthday). So I went with an old standby. Tacos! I don't know of anyone who doesn't like tacos. And I'm always up to try something new and different. So I saw these lovelies on my Hello Fresh menu and thought these are some tacos I NEED to try. So the tacos themselves were delish. If you haven't tried ground pork tacos yet you may need to add it to your next menu. The kiwi salsa, although it was refreshing didn't do it for me.. Or the hubs. Would I eat them again? Heck yeah.. just minus the salsa Looking at these lovely food photos encourages me to step up my food photo game.. Another fun week in the books.
Until next week when Amanda has us all trying chorizo. FYI, No Nikita this week because they flew into GA for her grandfather in laws 90th birthday On a side note: All recipes survived the transition! Georgia Jen Amanda Nikita This pita challenge was perfectly timed as my family and I just returned from Israel last weekend. Boy, did I eat a LOT of pita there! I actually had hummus and pita during every meal including breakfast over our 4-day weekend and kind of figured I would be "hummus'd out." I was wrong. These Chicken Shawarma pitas have a layer of hummus schmeared all over then topped with garlic chicken, mixed greens, tomatoes, red onion, and homemade tzatziki. Much like Georgia's meal, the tzatziki stole the show. I ate this meal three more times after this dinner pic - it was THAT DELICIOUS! Amy The thing about living in a rural area is that grocery shopping can be a challenge. For example, finding pita bread. And I wasn't able to procure any freaking pita bread. However, I wanted to contribute something to the blog. I have this wonderful healthy recipe that I plan to make throughout the holiday season. So I'm using flour tortillas but it's supposed to be pita bread. Use your imagination. A little late night pita dishes
Enjoy! Georgia, Jen, Amanda, Nikita and Jen Amy Halloween the holiday I love and hate! The costumes! But clowns mmppphhh! The candy! Oh yeah I'm diabetic. So I decided on a Halloween dinner for Trixie and I. And a naughty snack to nosh whilst watching Arsenic and Old Lace. So my dinner came from Rachael Ray ( she's good for that) Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals Get Togethers Howling Good Halloween Curried Carrot Soup (I forgot to buy chives but my spider web surprised me) https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/curried-carrot-soup-recipe-2013836 Steak Bites with Bloody Mary Dipping Sauce https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/steak-bites-with-bloody-mary-dipping-sauce-recipe-1942068 As for my movie snackens the October is of Good Housekeeping had several different snack bag meals. These are to be made by topping snack-size bags of chips ( or cookies). I photographed mine on parchment paper so that it could be better seen. So I made the Loaded Potatoes using a bag of potato chips, bacon, sour cream, scallions and cheddar. I made a treat for Trixie and set it on the table to cool off. Yeah...she got to it pronto. No photos but she loved it. Trixie was my lil' witch for Halloween. And there's also a photo of my dinner from Diwali. Blessed be. Georgia This years work Halloween theme was Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death and we killed it! I love working with a group of over achievers. FYI, I made cupcakes to match every room. Swing back tomorrow for Sunday Bakery to see them Jen Amanda Nikita Nikita's Halloween contribution is spooky burgers. Plus a few fun pics of her in the Holy City of Jerusalem. To be honest with you I'm mostly indifferent to Halloween. I enjoyed the camaraderie with my team
The thing I was most grateful for was being able to "virtually" share Nikita's walk through Jerusalem. Dying if I'm lying. I was crying for joy as she was chatting with me the other morning. Sharing her journey with me. God is so good. Until next week, Amy, Georgia, Jen, Amanda and Nikita Nikita ,Garlic is quite possibly my favorite ingredient, so this week was a no-brainer. I made Garlic Cream Sauce Chicken. The recipe was really easy to complete and I added mushrooms because we had to get rid of some in the fridge. I served it with a green side salad to lighten it up, but the recipe suggested pasta or noodles. This recipe is in the "will-make-again" folder of my Pinterest board. Amy
Georgia Doesn't everyone love garlic? I mean, I've never heard of a person having the same issue with garlic that they do with cilantro when it tastes like soap. But. Anywhosies. Garlic was the word for the week and lets be honest. I put garlic in most dishes. This week we had burger Thursday. You can have taco Tuesday I can have burger Thursday.. This is another Hello Fresh recipe. Gouda Pork burgers. Were they delish? Obvy. We've made them more than once. I don't know. The combo of flavors in this juicy little burger is amazing. Pork burger (fresh garlic in the burger) siracha onions, gouda cheese. What's not to love? Jen Amanda Garlic. Who doesn’t love garlic! Found this simple recipe and it was fantastic. I did not use anchovy and used chives instead of parsley. This recipe will definitely be made again and again. The leftovers were great the next day too. So many lovely dishes this week!
That's the beauty if garlic! Until next week! Nikita, Amy, Georgia, Jen and Amanda AmandaThis week I chose squash so I made pasta with kale pesto and roasted butternut squash by Melissa Clark. This was so good. A real “stick to your ribs” kind of meal. Simple enough to make during the week and elegant enough to impress your dinner guests. Pine nuts are a little pricey by me so I used almonds instead. Can’t wait to see what everyone made and give your recipes a try. Have a good week. Amanda AmyIt's gourd season mother f'ers!!! And I'm digging this food challenge. So five years ago I had paid a visit to Albuquerque to see Georgia. We ended up at a book store and I picked up a couple of cookbooks. One cookbook happened to be The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics. The first recipe I had made from it was Curried Apple Soup. I pulled the cookbook from the shelf and looked up the recipe. I realized that with a few adjustments I could incorporate butternut squash and it worked out perfectly. In fact, I found the change to be better than the original recipe. And healthier. You'll see why. I coupled this heavenly soup with a Pumpkin Cornmeal bread. The bread recipe will be available on tomorrow's Sunday Bakery post. But for now: Curried Apple Soup Inspired by Martha Stewart Living: The New Classics NikitaClassic Fall ingredient = Butternut Squash. I remember when I first started cooking with this squash 10+ years ago and the feeling that I was never going to get the damn thing open. I've created a technique now over the years with my chef's knife to cut it in half, and yes it involves beating it on the counter. LOL! What I have discovered is Butternut Squash can taste pretty bland if you don't season it up well or roast it. This recipe calls for simmering the squash in broth, but it really needs the fresh sage or thyme to brighten it up. I could not find either of those herbs fresh, so I picked up dry thyme at my market. Unfortunately, I did not use enough of it. Surprisingly, the pasta tasted a lot better the next day when I added more seasoning and milk to the pot to warm it up. It also needed more bacon than what I put in. On the "Make-Again" scale, I'd rank this a 6 out of 10. I want to redo it just to see if the extra seasoning and bacon would make it significantly better. GeorgiaMaking squash in this house is never easy living with a man who claims to not be picky. But really is. He's not a fan of squash in any form. yellow squash, zucchini, acorn, butternut, etc. There's not one he likes. And I love them all But this recipe saved me. Just throw it in the middle of meatballs and taadaa... Winning combination I love the fresh crunchiness of the veggies with the flavor of the teriyaki in the meatballs. Delish Next week should be easy. Nikita challenged everyone to make a dish using garlic. Who doesn't use garlic these days? JenWhat's not to love about squash? They are available every season in some form or fashion
Until next week, Amanda, Nikita, Amy, Georgia and Jen Jen
Amanda Getting into the Halloween spirit this week. Thought these were cute so we gave them a try. Very easy to make and a hit with the family. Have a great week. Amanda Amy Nikita I'M BAAAAAACCCCKKK! Oh man! I couldn't let the potato challenge get by me. In fact, we had Buttery Mashed Potatoes (my favorite) with Meatloaf Muffins and Sauteed Spinach earlier this week. Mashed Potatoes are my all-time favorite food. Yes, I know. It even outranks chocolate, cake, and cookies. Matt made me mashed potatoes and gravy when I was sick in bed because he knows how much I love them. AND they didn't betray my body like all the other foods I try to eat when I'm sick. This week for the challenge, I wanted to spice it up a bit. We just entered Fall, and my family is experiencing a new city/country that has all four seasons. I've been exploring my new grocery store happened to find a small box of tiny sweet potatoes amongst the other veggies in the produce section. In the US, sweet potatoes are ENORMOUS! But in Sofia, they are no bigger than the size of my palm. There is no real recipe here because I took bits and pieces of two different recipes to create these - Sweet Potato Turnovers. Radioactively bake your sweet potatoes to save time and scoop out the orange flesh to mash in a bowl. Here is where I added some cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup (the real stuff), brown sugar, vanilla extract, and a dash of salt. Adjust your seasoning accordingly. Roll out your puff pastry and cut into squares. Scoop about 2-3 tablespoons of the sweet potato filling into the center of a square. Fold in half diagonally to create triangles and pinch the sides together. I pressed the sides with a fork to really seal it. Be sure to leave a small slice in the top of each turnover to allow steam out; otherwise, they may burst. Brush with an eggwash and bake for 20 mins at 400F (or 204C, in my case). Check out my slow-mo vid of drizzling the glaze made from milk and powdered sugar on top. Georgia Like Nikita; potatoes are my ultimate comfort food. But really wanted to try something other than the same ole same ole. So I found this gem of a recipe. Melting potatoes. Understatement. These were so good that even the husband commented on them. Twice. Served them with some veggie burgers. Not bad. Not bad at all. This week was all about potatoes. Sweet or white!!
All 5 ladies made 5 very different recipes. Potatoes... Any way you slice them they are oh so good Until next week, Jen, Amanda, Amy, Nikita (She's back) and Georgia Amy
NikitaMoving day for Nikita and family... GeorgiaSo.. It's been a crazy busy week for me. Spent a few days out of town and got back late last night. So I'm making my Oktoberfest this evening. I'll be making some Kielbasa, potato & beer skewers. Probably gonna roast some broccoli to go with. Oh.. Bought my favorite local beer from Cumbre brewing Little Slice of Hefen. Going to use it to marinate the sausage and potatoes and save a little for my own drinking pleasure. Fun way to end an already terrific week. AmandaWe are so happy it is starting to feel like fall around here. Octoberfest was so much fun. Definitely something we will do again next year. The food turned out great. The only thing I did differently was cook the roast pork in the crock pot. We also served soft pretzels with cheese and mustard when we had a fire in the evening. Hope everyone had as much fun as we did. Have a great week. Prost! Amanda JenWhat a fun challenge we had this week. Love it when we are exploring new and fun things. Amy, Jen, Amanda, Georgia and Nikita A fun little trip advisor popped up in my email showing where the top places in the US to celebrate Oktoberfest
8 US Beer Experiences to Celebrate Oktoberfest Amanda
JenAmy
NikitaNow that Nikita has moved clear across the world we try to video chat at least once a week. Oddly (or maybe not) we usually chat while she is shopping. So Friday shopping with Nikita has become a thing. This week she was hunting down the ingredients for pancakes (flat waffles) No easy task when everything is Bulgarian (no rest for the English speakers) and they have several different types of flour. She found classic flour. according to her. Not quite all purpose but did the job. Here are the results of her Friday afternoon shopping trip! Oh.. Sliced bacon is a novelty there. So finding it was a victory! Georgia
What a fun food challenge. Waffles.. Four different ways and pancakes all the way from Bulgaria.
Can't wait to see what next week has in store for us. Amanda, Jen, Amy, Nikita and Georgia Georgia This week was my week so I chose Summer's last hurrah.. Mostly because I will be thankful for autumn and the cooler weather. But I also thought it would be a great opportunity to celebrate the last week of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. So I celebrated by keeping it simple and made sliders. Caramelized some onions and sliced an avocado and a slice of baby swiss cheese and slapped all that on a barbie doll sized beef burger. Add a side to tots and it made for a pretty tasty dinner.. You can eat two and not feel so guilty.. Amanda I have been reading a lot about Julia Child lately. Recently rewatched Julie and Julia. Her book My Life in France is due to arrive in the mail today. Not sure where it’s all coming from but we’re going with it. So, I took Mastering the Art of French Cooking off the shelf and made Tomates à la Provençale. I know its not very “Hurrah” but we have so many tomatoes. We grow them and people keep giving them to us. It’s crazy. This recipe is a very easy way to use a lot of tomatoes at one time. Also, it’s a great side dish to serve with pretty much anything and it’s filling. Bon appétit! Jen Amy
Nikita Nikita is just a few short weeks away from moving into their new apartment in Sofia. She and I had an emotional filled face time the other day. Me because I got to see her face and hear her voice. Her.. Because they are living their dreams. God is so good.. Monday is the first day of fall.. So we ended the hottest month with a bang.
Until next week, Georgia, Amanda, Jen, Amy and Nikita Amy
(Not surprisingly I poured in a little extra wine) Bon appetit! Nikita Nikita is still getting used to her temporary new home (they move into their apartment next month) in Sofia Bulgaria Georgia I made this Ratatouille chicken in great hopes the husband would maybe eat it. He ate the chicken and pasta.. He claims to like pretty much everything when it comes to food. With the exception of, squash, zucchini, tomatoes... You get the picture. As for me. I really enjoyed it. I'm like Amy.. This is a great way to serve up summers last veggies. Amanda
Jen Love, love, love how we are always trying new things..
Kudos to Amy for a fun new challenge. Until next week, Amy, Nikita, Georgia, Amanda and Jen Jen
Amy
Nikita Nikita & Christopher are currently on a plane (plane 1) heading to their new home in Sofia Bulgaria. I pray for safe travels and am looking forward to seeing what new adventures she takes. And also I can't wait to see how this move changes her cooking. Georgia
Amanda
Well. There you have it/ 4 very different meat pies.. But all are oh so delicious.
Until next week. Jen, Amy, Nikita, Georgia and Amanda Amanda This week I chose “Rolled” as the theme so I made California Rolls and Spring Rolls. They were easy and fun to make. The California Rolls, sadly, did not turn out well. Although, I thought they looked ok, the taste not so much. LOL I am not sure what I did to the rice but it tasted like paste and kind of had the same texture too. My son, bless him, said they were good. Oh well, I tried. The Spring Rolls turned out great! You can basically put whatever you want in them. They do become very sticky and will fall apart the longer you let them sit. I have made these before and I decided to make them again in case the sushi didn’t work out. Can’t wait to see what everyone made! Hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day weekend. Jen Amy Welcome Amanda! And my apologies for being late with my recipe. It's been one of those weeks. Sometimes it be like that. Part of the reason why I am late with this is that I couldn't decide on what to make. So many options! But in the end I chose something that has a bit of a cult following. Something that over the years has strangely become a comfort food for me. Jailhouse Burritos! Yeah...I have several friends with, shall we say, histories. Hey, that's their business. I'm here to say that convicts can be quite ingenious on a tight budget with limited options. Case in point, Jailhouse Burritos! At home with a proper budget there are many options. But you must have the three main ingredients. Flour tortillas, ramen and chips. I have found that the chips are source of controversy. Meaning what chips are supposed to be used in the burritos. I have one friend in particular who is quite adamant that it's Cheetos and no substitute. I'd think in prison it's just whatever is available. For the sake of continuity we'll go with Cheetos. I used Flamin' Hot to make a stand. Normally when I make Ramen I toss out the seasoning packet and do my own thing. Again to keep with authenticity I used the packet provided. Being at home I have options. So I scrambled up some eggs and melted Queso Fresco in them and I made turkey bacon as well. Any leftover meat or deli meat will do as well. And you can use more than one meat, if desired. And feel free to use any cheese or no cheese. If you really want to pump up the burritos sauteed veggies work. So put the cooked Ramen on the tortilla then the eggs, meat and crushed chips. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and roll that tasty mo' fo' right up. This is a good deal for we single folk and it will fill you up! Nikita Rolled was a fun theme challenged by our newcomer, Amanda! I had some pineapple to get rid of before our big move next week and decided to tackle a Disney recipe often served at Animal Kingdom in the Avatar World - Pineapple & Cream Cheese Lumpia! DELISH! Surprisingly, not too sweet even with the coating of sugar. Now I know why my good friend enjoys these so much. Crispy outside with a creamy Hawaiian explosion on the inside. These are deceivingly YUGE! I could only eat two because they are the length of my hand, and I've got big hands! This would be a wonderful dessert to impress a guest because you can prep ahead of time and throw them in the fryer last minute. Only bad news - the house smells like oil. But worth it! Georgia I made lasagna rolls.. And they were so good. Not healthy.. No where close to being healthy. But so good I don't even have a recipe for you. I just took the ingredients for lasagna and rolled them. Cook your lasagna noodles. Brown your beef (I used half ground beef, half italian sausage) Throw in your favorite italian seasonings, once brown add your spaghetti sauce. Combine ricotta, parmesan cheese more italian seasoning, 1 egg. Spread about a tablespoon of the ricotta mixture on a lasagna noodle. Roll that bad boy up. Cover bottom of oven proof dish with spaghetti sauce, place lasagna rolls on top. Pour the rest of the sauce over your rolls. I put some fresh mozzarella over each roll. Bake in 350 oven for about 30 minutes This week Amanda had us rollin with her first challenge. Fun, fun, fun
Until next week, Amanda, Jen, Amy, Nikita and Georgia Apologies for the late post. The hubs and I spent a fun filled weekend in upstate New York! Georgia So the husbands birthday was this week and when I told him it was my week for the food challenge he said he wanted pepperoni. Simple man with simple needs. I really wanted to find something other than pepperoni pizza to make. Thank goodness for Pinterest. Which is where I found this. If you want to take your mac and cheese and kick it up a couple of notches this is the dish for you. Side note. I did not have any pizza sauce on hand so I made some. pretty simple. Crushed tomatoes with your favorite italian herbs and spices. The hubs, by the way.. LOVED this. But what's not to love? Homemade mac and cheese with all your favorite pizza flavors. Amanda This week I wasn’t feeling to great so simple Pizza Nachos were a good choice. Family loved it and even helped make their own. Next time we make them we will not put the sauce on until after it bakes. It made some of the chips soggy but was still very good. Can’t wait to get “rolling” on next weeks challenge! (Cheesy I know, sorry :D) Jen Amy Here in lies the problem: Pepperoni and my stomach have had a falling out. However I dutifully searched for a recipe calling for pepperoni and replaced the pepperoni with smoked turkey for my dish. I used my bubba Dutch Oven so I adjusted the amount of ingredients accordingly. Anyway, here you go: Nikita Nikita and her son Christopher came to Albuquerque to hang out with the old man and myself before they head to Sofia Bulgaria. We spent HOURS at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe.. Truly.. Hours.. The above left photo is Christopher playing the piano there. To his embarrassment he got a round of applause once he finished. The photo on the right is from the hike we took at the top of the Sandia mountain. We finished off our day with a picnic in the park. The temp at the top was a good 20 degrees cooler so it made for a very lovely afternoon. Any time spent with these two is always a blessing. So.. Three pepperoni dishes and not one pizza.. Taadaa!!
Loved how Amy modified and made a belly friendly dish for herself. Join us next week for Amanda's first challenge where she has us rolling Georgia, Amanda, Jen, Amy & Nikita Nikita Cheese Balls. They make the world go 'round! This week, I chose our theme to be Picnic Style! We had intended on doing a picnic, but the daily Arizona Excessive Heat Advisory prevented us from going site-seeing and throwing out the blanket over a grassy meadow to eat our fare. We also had a surprise visit from Matt in Sofia! He came back to the states to pick up his Bulgarian Work Visa. YAY! One step closer. To make things fun, we had an indoor picnic with a comforter and throw pillows on the floor of the living room IN THE A/C. The star of our spread was Pimento Cheese, harkening back to our good ol' Southern days in Georgia. I had no idea it was so simple to make (except for the 4 cups of sharp cheddar cheese I had to grate by hand because I am without food processor at the moment....first world problems, I know)! Tip: Let the cheese mixture chill to stiffen up, then roll it by hand into a giant ball for serving. If you let it sit out in the ball shape on a plate, it will be soft enough for your food patrons to dip their crackers right into the ball or scoop out a small serving. Enjoy! Georgia
Amanda My family and I really enjoyed the theme this week. We definitely will be going on a picnic more often. For our picnic I made the following: - Baked Salmon in Foil https://www.wellplated.com/baked-salmon-in-foil/ - Green Beans and Crushed Salt-and-Vinager Chips https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/a27547118/green-beans-and-crushed-salt-and-vinegar-chips-recipe/?epik=dj0yJnU9RWViNkJuU1BLdXhuWDhwOUpHeTAxWm55bVRfUGhHcEkmbj1OVWkyT3N1N3VVMU1DZ0xKOWJJc1lRJm09MyZ0PUFBQUFBRjFYUXlN - Potato Roses https://tasty.co/recipe/potato-roses Everything was delicious and traveled well. Everyone, including the kids ;), had seconds. All tasted great warm and cold. Hope everyone had as much fun as we did! Sincerely, Amanda Jen Amy Full disclosure: I had every intention of NOT doing this challenge. I'm not against picnics but I didn't wish to go to all the bother in creating a picnic for one. However, at the last minute, I had a scathingly brilliant idea. Why not try a tea time theme? It's simple, light fair that can create a lovely picture. I have subconsciously planned this as I was grocery shopping the other evening. I discovered a few new items at the store. Bonne Maman now has lemon curd and I grabbed a box of Twinings Orange and Cinnamon Spice ( herbal) tea. I grabbed a box of strawberry Pocky for nostalgia. I wanted to try Bon Appetite's Green Goddess Crunch Sandwich, it's a twist on traditional cucumber sandwiches. I made two and brought one to work for lunch the following day. Normally lemon curd is coupled with baked goods such as scones but I love it on fresh berries. Bonne Maman's lemon curd is delicious. Not too sweet. And Trixie loved it. It's still hot here in Oklahoma so this was an indoor event. I put on some John Coltrane and enjoyed my wee feast. Here is the recipe for Green Goddess Crunch Sandwich: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/green-goddess-crunch-sandwich I made my sammiches slightly different. I omitted the mayonnaise and used just the yogurt. I was unable to find any type of fresh sprouts so I used fresh baby spinach leaves instead. I've using gluten-free bread for a few weeks and exchanged multi grain bread for the gluten-free. This is a refreshing and filling sandwich to be sure. Not exactly a picnic but I think it's a picnic inspired tea time. That counts, right? Looks like Nikita's picnic challenge this week is one for the books!
Much kudos to the ladies for knocking this one out of the park! Until next week, Nikita, Georgia, Amanda, Jen and Amy Amy It's too darn hot! I am whiny in Summer...that's the truth of it. I hate being in my kitchen so I tend to just eat fresh fruit, yogurt and cereal when the temperature hit 95+ But Summer has so much wonderful produce. Hence the blender. This week I made not one but two marvelous gazpachos in my blender. Not at the same time of course. Nikita Georgia I know, I know, I know.. The challenge was blended.. This is kinda blended. I had to use a whisk to blend the flavors together. So it counts. Mostly So here's the story. I was having a hard time sleeping and remembered Amy;s moon milk recipes. I thought I'd give it a try. It was so delicious and relaxing. Sitting down at the end of the day, curled up with a cup of this yumminess. It really did the trick. Cheers to sharing some good stuff! Amanda This week I made Green-As-Spring Soup from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook Everyday Dorie. I could not find a recipe on line, I apologize. If you have ever used the website Eat Your Books, the book is available there or it may be available to borrow from the library. The soup is very light but filling. It was great hot and cold. Since it was green and all vegetables, the soup wasn’t really a hit with the kids but would make it again for myself since it made enough for a few lunches. This was a fun challenge since I’ve never made a puréed soup before. Good to have another reason to use the blender. Looking forward to trying some of the other recipes everyone shares. Enjoy your week! Sincerely, Amanda Jen Several fun cold blended soups and one moon milk.
Not a bad week. Until next week, Amy, Nikita, Georgia, Jen and Amanda Jen The kids are finally back to school, so hopefully that means my schedule is more predictable! It’s been a tiring but good first week. I decided to test out “Hello Fresh” recently to see if what it’s all about. That’s also why I chose pork for the challenge this week – one of the recipes in my kit this week is for cherry balsamic glazed pork chops. The meal as a whole took me an hour to make. And honestly, all 3 of the different recipes that came in my Hello Fresh kit took about that long. I can manage something like this maybe twice a week, not 3 times. I normally like to cook big so we have leftovers to eat for lunches and whatnot. Most nights I need something I can put on the table fast!! So, back to this pork dish. The pork itself was pretty good. My husband says I overcooked his a bit, but my piece was perfect. The couscous and broccoli were OK. I will save this recipe for the pork itself and try again. And maybe I will slice it up pretty so it looks like their picture instead of just plopping it on the plate. 😂 I’m on the fence as to whether or not I like Hello Fresh. One of the recipes this week was AMAZING. The other two were good, but not something I’d make again. I do love that everything I need comes to my door. I don’t like spending a bunch of time chopping onions, peppers, tomatoes, etc. I also don’t like how many dirty dishes I make when cooking these. I did order another kit this week so we’ll see how it goes. I think getting my kit for a discount was definitely worth it, but I doubt I will continue at full price. (If you want to try Hello Fresh, this link gets you $40 off your first box, and gives me $20 off my next one) https://www.hellofresh.com?c=EGIAP&utm_source=raf-share&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=clipboard Amy I found this recipe https://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe/broiled-hawaiian-pork-pineapple-bowl-recipe Rather than broil I grilled these babies. It turned out marvellous! Nikita Nikita is a busy busy lady right now. Just finished up her last day on a job that transformed her career, preparing to move, not across town or even across the country, but well across the pond to Sofia Bulgaria. With that, she's started her own blog so we can all follow along on her new adventure. Check it out right here Nikita's Adventure Amanda I don’t know why I thought of tamales when I read pork was the theme for this week but I decided to go for it. I also don’t know why I thought they would be easy to make. I will admit that half way though I wanted to give up. LOL I had to use YouTube to make sure I was making them right. Some burst open while steaming. We won’t talk about the large amount of dishes piling up and the large mess that was being made. I could only laugh at this point. Still, I persevered and my family and I were happy with the results. They were a little crumbly but no one seemed to notice. I put salsa verde on mine. Thankfully, after a day of cooking and cleaning up, there was plenty left over to freeze for another day. This was a learning experience that’s for sure. :D Can’t wait to see what everyone made! Have a great week! Amanda Georgia Super simple. Crock pot, pork ribs and my favorite bbq sauce. Work, church, classes. This is as good as it gets some weeks God is good.. And even in the chaos I can still give thanks for all that He has done for me.
4 different pork dishes and not 1 that has bacon in it.. Hmm. But truly. Pork.. 4 ways.. You decide.. Oh.. Homemade tamales.. Delish.. But no joke.. It really is an olympic event to make them. Great job ladies.. looking forward to next week. Until next week, Jen, Amy, Nikita, Amanda & Georgia |
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