Mediterranean Salad with Penne, Artichokes and Sundried Tomatoes

This is my go to lunch.  A box of pasta and I am good for the week!  Mediterranean Salad with Penne, Artichokes and Sun-dried Tomatoes from Everyday Food #49, Page 101. This is also great to take to a picnic or pot-luck or to put grilled chicken on for dinner.  I usually double the dressing.

Ingredients:

coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup penne pasta
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not oil packed), thinly sliced lengthwise
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustart
1 head Romaine lettuce torn into bite size pieces
1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, (water-packed), drained and quartered
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1.  In a large pan of salted water, cook pasta until 1 minute short of al dente, add sun-dried tomatoes and cook until tender and pasta is al dente, 1 minute more.  Drain pasta and tomatoes, rinse under cold water, drain again.  Transfer to a large bowl.

2.  Make dressing.  In a large bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard and 1 Tbsp. water.  Season with salt and pepper.

3.  Add pasta and tomatoes, romaine, beans, artichoke hearts and feta.  Toss until combined and serve immediately.

Stuffed Zucchini

We had a monster zucchini from my in-laws garden.  I would recommend using smaller zucchini's to cut down on cooking time as these were in the oven over an hour....

I washed the zucchini, cut the ends off and cored it.  I then sprinkled Italian Seasoning over both halves (zucchini can be a little bland....)

I browned a pound of ground turkey with a diced onion and seasoned with more Italian seasoning.  I then added seasoned diced tomatoes and a few large scoops of browned rice and let it simmer.  It was still lacking so I grabbed a pint of seasoned stewed tomatoes that mom and I canned last fall from the pantry.  I would adjust this a bit depending on how much zucchini I'm cooking.  We usually cook about 3 smaller zucchini.

As you can see, these are loaded down!  




















A 375* oven for 35-45 min should do the trick.  Once the zucchini are cooked through (pliable when squeezed with tongs) add mozzarella cheese and return to oven (or broiler) until melted and/or browned.

We always have enough for leftovers.  I have even taken in enough to share with my co-workers the next day.  I've considered trying these on the grill...  hmmmm.   Enjoy!

Ribbed Baby Sweater

This was a quick and easy knit for a co-worker to give to her cousin's new baby.  I used 2 skeins on Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Seaspray on the Ribbed Baby Sweater  (6-9 month size).  The leaf motif was a cute addition and I love the collar.

The hat is the Magic Coffee Baby Hat and took around 1/3 of the third skein.  The little boy has a full head of dark hair and it will look so cute on him.

Hoisin Glazed Salmon

Great dinner from last week.  Hoisin Glazed Salmon from Cooking Light (maybe?)  Tasty and really easy.  Marinates for 8 minutes in the hoisin glaze and then bakes for about 10.  

An attempt at pretzel rolls...

I've said before, I'm not the best baker, but I am determined.   We've been seeing this whole "Pretzel Roll" phenomenon blossoming recently.  B came home from a meeting out of town this summer raving about a burger on a pretzel roll and I couldn't fathom it.  Then I see a sign at the restaurant at the corner saying that they now have pretzel rolls.  Hmmm.  We ordered take out a month or so ago and I got a corned beef sandwich on a pretzel roll.  BELIEVER!  Why had I waited so long?  Then came the discovery of this recipe on Pinterest.  

Mine were NOT as pretty as hers, but they tasted good.  We ate those bottom two right out of the oven.  I will warn you, I used A LOT more flour since my dough was REALLY sticky.  And they are best used right when made.  I may try to half the recipe next time it's just the two of us.  The was one of two trays.  There were a lot of rolls.   They still taste good the next day, but lose a little "something."

We made BBQ chicken and it was a great sandwich.  

Most definitely worth a try.

Easy, Cheesy Broccoli Soup from Cuisine at Home

I have been battling my second head cold of the winter, if you can call it winter, for the past few days.  Soup seems to be in order again and B has been asking for this for a couple of weeks, so I let him make it for me :-)  

We've had this magazine for a couple of years and have made a few things from it.  Here is the Link for the magazine (sorry, I couldn't find it on Amazon...) Cuisine at Home:  Our Favorite Weeknight Menus.    I'm a big fan of Cuisine magazines.  They have great tips, step by step directions and pics and usually a side dish recipe in the margin.  We love everything we've tried from these.

Easy Cheesy Broccoli Soup - Cuisine at Home:  Our Favorite Weeknight Recipes
p. 94
35 minutes
Makes 9 cups

* Do your self a favor and use the Velveeta.  I've tried to go the healthy route and shredded block cheese to add or just added shredded.  While it tasted good, I ended up with chunks of cheese that were just a gooey mess.  USE THE VELVEETA!

1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup carrot, minced
1/2 cup celery, minced

2 Tbsp all purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth

1 lb. American cheese (VELVEETA, cubed) shredded, 4 cups
6 cups broccoli florets and diced stems, blanched
1/4 tsp, cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add onion, carrot and celery and sweat 3 minutes.

Stir in flour to coat veggies and cook 1 minute.  Slowly add broth, stirring constantly; increase heat to medium-high, then bring to a rolling boil.  Cook 5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium.

Add cheese, let stand 1 minute, then stir until incorporated.  Simmer soup 3 minutes (do not boil, or cheese may curdle), add blanched broccoli and cook another minute.  Season with cayenne and salt.

Per cup:  360 cal, 25 g fat, 18 g carbs, 960 mg sod, 5 g fiber, 18 g protein

We have already made the Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine p. 78, Browned Butter Beans, Fabulous Fish Tacos p. 68, Asian Pork Satays and Cucumber Relish p. 51, and the Mediterranean Chops and Parmesan Orzo p 44.

The next thing he is requesting from this magazine is the Shrimp Roll on p 84.  The French Onion Soup, Toasted Ravioli, and Tortilla Chip Chicken from the cover look yummy too.  Oh yeah, and the Lasagna Soup...

More Slipper Love...

I LOVE it when patterns are on sale at Joann's.  I have an app on my phone called "ListMaster"  (FREE!) and it is one of the handiest things on my phone.  I keep an list of patterns that I want to get when they are on sale broken down by company, Simplicity, McCalls, Buttericks, etc.  and another list of patterns that I have in my collection already.  So when I see one in the book that catches my eye, I just check my phone to see if I have it already.  If not, in the cart it goes.  This one was $.99.  (SCORE)  Simplicity 2278 includes a women's slipper with 3 sizes and 5 patterns for infants.  Why spend the $17.95 listed price when they go on sale several times a year?  No thanks!

Sorry about the messy sewing room floor...  

I, of course, had to make them given my obsession with all things slippers lately.  And I must say, MUCH faster then knitting a pair.  (Not that I won't be doing more of that too.)  I cut the pieces out last night after I finished mom's laptop cover, and they only took a couple of hours to sew together this afternoon.  I actually did a really SMART thing this time...  I loved the pattern so much that I bought ALL of the supplies at the same time as the pattern.  I knew I had scrappy bits at home that I could use, but the jiffy grip, fusible fleece and interfacing came home with the pattern.  I'm learning!  Oh yeah, and that was back in October, so I'm glad that I miraculously keep everything together for that long.

And the fact that they match my pants is purely coincidental!

The instructions are incredibly easy to follow.  I didn't sit here scratching my head or searching Flickr and Google for hints like I have in the past.  I do however have a few things that I would do differently when I make these again:

1)  I would shorten the strap about and inch (at least) as these were WAY to long for me and I had to move the velcro and re-stitch the end.

2)  I also don't like how they have you sew the velcro to the strap.  I think I would stitch it in place BEFORE the step that has you fold in half and stitch inside out.  It would look much cleaner that way.

These stay on quite a bit better than any of the slippers I've knit, even without the strap.  They will be great for travel or an evening at a friends house (or the in-laws)  since I always take slippers with me, these will be perfect!  I give then 4.5 out of 5!