Apr 8 2013

Mealtime Monday: White Wine Marinated Steak with Chive Mashed Potatoes

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I’m back with another Mealtime Monday.  The last couple of weeks have been crazy at work, so I had to take a step back form the blog and missed last weeks post.  It’s so hard to come home and feel like writing a post, when I just spent 11 hours at the office.  After a great “mental health day” spent relaxing on the couch, I am back!  So, for this week’s meal, I have a delicious marinated steak and mashed potatoes.  This great steak recipe comes from Cooking Light, but I changed up the mashed potatoes quite a bit.

White wine marinated steak with chive mashed potatoes

Ingredients:
For the Steak:
3 Tablespoons White Wine
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
2 Steaks
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
Cooking Spray
1 Shallot
1/4 Cup Low Sodium Beef Broth
For the Potatoes:
3-4 Gold Potatoes
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon Diced Chives
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Cream Cheese
2 Tablespoons Milk
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions for Steak:
1. Mix wine, olive oil and mustard in a shallow container.  Add steaks, flipping around to coat in marinate.  Let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Remove from marinate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reserve marinate to use for the sauce later. *If making mashed potatoes, start that process too at this time, to cook simultaneously.

White wine marinated steak

2. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray.  Heat over medium-high heat and add your steaks. Cook 5 minutes each side, or until desired level of doneness.  Remove from skillet and tent with foil to keep warm. Continue reading »

Mar 25 2013

Mealtime Monday: Hearty Vegetable Tortellini Crockpot Soup

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Who doesn’t love a hearty, slow cooker soup.  This has become one of my favorite meals and a staple each fall & winter.  It is packed full of veggies and so flavorful!  Even better, it can be prepped and frozen for later use to save time.

Tortellini, Sausage, Hearty Veggie Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 pound Italian Sausage
6-10 cups of Beef Broth
2 Cups Stewed Tomatoes
2 Cups Tomato Sauce
2 Zucchini, Chopped
1 Large Onion, Diced
2-3 Carrots Chopped
1 Bell Pepper, Chopped
1.5 Cups Chopped Celery
2 Teaspoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
1 Teaspoon Dried Parsley
1 Teaspoon Dried Basil
2 Cloves Minced Garlic
2 Cups Frozen Cheese Tortellini
Grated Parmesan Cheese (to top)

Italian Sausage & Tortellini Soup Ingredients

1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the Italian sausage.  Add to your crockpot. Continue reading »

Mar 23 2013

Bacon Jalapeño Poppers

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Heaven in a bite.  Bacon, with oozing cheese and a little kick from jalapeno.  So easy and so good!

Yummy bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers

My sister’s family was supposed to come visit for the Superbowl, but unfortunately they all came down with the flu and had to cancel.  No fun having a 3 year old with an ear infection at a Superbowl party.  So, when they visited a few weeks ago, her only request was to have appetizers for dinner to make up for missing out.  Being that I LOVE appetizers, I was happy to oblige.  We decided to try out a few new recipes including cheeseburger sliders, and after looking at bacon wrapped jalapenos on Pinterest, I knew we had to give these lovelies a try.  I could not find an exact recipe to follow, so I decided to wing it and they came out great!

Fantastic bacon wrapped jalapeno recipe

Ingredients (makes 12 poppers):
6 Jalapenos
12 Slices Center Cut Bacon
4 Ounces Less Fat Cream Cheese
1/4 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/4 Cup Shredded Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese
Salt & Pepper

Bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers ingredients

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash thoroughly and pat dry your jalapenos with a paper towel.  Cut off the stems and slice in half. Continue reading »

Mar 18 2013

Mealtime Monday: Corned Beef & Cabbage

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Happy Monday.  We are here again with another Mealtime Monday.  In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day we had a feast of corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes made in the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage for Saint Patrick's Day

Ingredients:
Corned Beef
Beef Broth
Cabbage
Red Potatoes
Baby Carrots

I love how easy this meal is.  We bought a great little corned beef and put it in the crock pot on low for 8 hours.  I added one can of beef broth and then added enough water to submerge the corned beef.

Corned Beef Yum

Once there is only 1 hour remaining, toss in the cabbage, carrots and potatoes.  I just cut the head of cabbage and potatoes into quarters each. Continue reading »

Mar 15 2013

Bow Clutch Tutorial

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The other week I shared my first attempt at a sewing project for the Winter Pinterest Challenge.  I promised you all a tutorial showing the process I did to make this cute little purse.  You can also view the amazing tutorial I followed on Elm Street Life.  Life then got crazy again, but I am finally sitting down to get this tutorial finished.  On a side note, we closed escrow on our first home today! Now 3.5 months for packing and waiting until we move in.  So on to the tutorial….

DIY Bow Clutch Sewing Tutorial

First things first, you will need to gather your supplies.  You will need a few sewing basics like a sewing machine, rotary cutter, cutting mat, iron and ironing board.  In addition for this project you need:

  • Thicker fabric for the exterior (I used European Linen Fabric Fig)
  • Lining fabric (I used Kona Cotton Meringue)
  • 9″ Zipper is a complimentary color
  • Matching thread (I had such a hard time deciding at the store that I came home with 3 shades)
  • #808 Pellon craft fuse interfacing

DIY Bow Clutch Sewing Tutorial

Next step is to cut all the pieces of fabric.  I found this step to be a bit frustrating as there seems to be a learning curve with accurately cutting fabric with a rotary cutter.  It just seemed so slippery!  I ended up re-cutting a few pieces and wasting a bit of fabric.  The picture below is a guide for the pieces you will need to cut.

Interfacing: 10″x 6″ (2)

Liner fabric: 10″x 6″ (2)

Exterior fabric: Body 10″ x 6″ (2), Strap 14.5″ x 3.5″, Bow 11″ x 5″ (2), Knot 2″ x 5″

DIY Bow Clutch Sewing Tutorial

Now that we have all of our pieces it is time to get to sewing, starting with making the strap.   Continue reading »

Mar 12 2013

Saint Patrick’s Day Cake Pops

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Saint Patrick’s Day is just around the corner!  Last year I made yummy cake pops for my family, but never got around to sharing them.  So…here they are!

St. Patty's Day Cake Pops

These cake pops are chocolate inside and the candy coatings are chocolate, peanut butter, mint chocolate and vanilla.  If you are wonder how they are made, check out my post all about how to make cake pops easily.

St. Patty's Day Cake Pops-YUM!

I made sure to decorate all the mint chocolate coated cake pops alike to tell them apart from the chocolate coated ones.  It made most sense to give them a pretty green swirl.

Saint Patrick's Day Cake Pops

The mint chocolate ones tasted so good and reminded me of Thin Mint cookies! Continue reading »

Mar 11 2013

Mealtime Monday: Tortilla Soup

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Welcome back to another Mealtime Monday.  With the chill in the air last week, soup was an obvious choice for dinner.  I LOVE tortilla soup and decided to make this tried and true recipe that has evolved over the last 4 years.  It started from a recipe in a healthy cook book Alex bought for me when we lived in our tiny San Francisco apartment, but only a few of the original ingredients and measurements exist in this one now.   I know this is not a new recipe to me, but still one I enjoy and wanted to share.

Delicious Homemade Tortilla Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
10 Corn Tortillas
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
6 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Cup Diced Bell Pepper
1 Cup Canned of Corn
2 Cups Stewed Diced Tomatoes
2 Cups Tomato Sauce
4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 Tablespoon Diced Parsley
1/2 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder (or more to taste)
2 Bay Leaves
2 Quarts Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Salt
Dash of Cayenne
1-2 Cups Shredded Chicken (I use one larger breast)
Grated Cheddar Cheese

Homemade Tortilla Soup Recipe

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 4 coarsely chopped tortillas, onion & bell pepper. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Continue reading »

Mar 4 2013

Mealtime Monday: Pork Stuffed Bell Peppers

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Here we go again with another mealtime monday!  This time I am sharing a fantastic meal; pork stuffed bell peppers.  Covered with oozy cheese and a delicious spicy tomato sauce, this was definitely a winner.  Next time I make this I might try to get some of the sauce and and cheese throughout the pepper to spread the best part throughout.

Delicious Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe

Ingredients:
2 Green Bell Peppers
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 Yellow Onion, Diced
1 Clove Garlic Minced
1/2 Pound Lean Ground Pork
1/2 Cup Cooked Brown Rice
1/2 Cup Diced Tomatoes, Drained
1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
Mozzarella Cheese, Grated
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1/2 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
Hot Sauce to taste
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Wash your bell peppers and cut the tops off.  Remove the seeds.  Place the peppers top up into a large pot of boiling water.  Make sure they are fully emerged, using a spoon to hold them under the water is they try to float.  Boil for about 3 minutes.

How to Make Stuffed Bell Peppers

2. Remove the peppers from the water and set upside down on a paper towel to cool. Continue reading »

Feb 27 2013

Winter Pinterest Challenge: Bow Clutch

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I was so excited last week to hear the announcement for the Winter Pinterest Challenge! This challenge was the brain child of two fabulous bloggers (Sherry & Katie) and each time they invite two additional bloggers to help host. The point of the challenge is simple, stop pinning and start doing.  Pick a project you pinned and you have been putting off and get busy.

A big shout out to our fabulous hosts this time around:

For this time around I am FINALLY diving into a project on my new sewing machine.  I have been eyeballing this adorable bow clutch that I pinned (my pin) to my sewing board months ago, way before I even owned a sewing machine.  This project comes from the creative mind of Whitney at Elm Street Life.  She wrote a fantastic step-by-step tutorial showing how she made this lovely clutch.  So here is the final product:

DIY Bow Clutch Sewing Tutorial

I am so happy with how it turned out being this was the first project I have ever made on a sewing machine.  It is not perfect but I love it!  I bought all my fabric from fabric.com.

Orders of $35 & up Ships Free.

The exterior green is European Linen Fabric Fig and the inside liner is Kona Cotton Meringue.  I got the zipper, thread and interfacing at Joann’s.  I bought more supplies to make this again in purple with pink liner too!  Continue reading »

Feb 25 2013

Mealtime Monday: Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

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Welcome back to Mealtime Monday!  If visiting for the first time, I challenged myself this year to try at least one new recipe each week to broaden my base of go to recipes and work my way through the stack of magazine pages I have collected over the years.  Each Monday I come here and share my new creation.  You can browse all the Mealtime Recipes here.  This week comes from a Cooking Light recipe, Cilantro Lime Chicken with an Avocado Salsa.

Avocado Tomato Cilantro Chicken with Saffron Rice

Ingredients:

  • 2 Bonelesss, Skinless Chicken Breasts
  • 2 Tablespoons Minced Cilantro
  • 3 1/2 Tablespoons Lime Juice (1 T Reserved for Salsa, 2 1/2 for Marinade)
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • Cooking Spray
  • 3/4 cup Diced Tomato
  • 1 Tablespoon Diced Onion
  • 1 Avocado, Peeled and Chopped (you can just use 1/2 an avoacado, but I like a lot of salsa)
  • Salt & Pepper to Taste Continue reading »