Florentine Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken

Dinner tonight was yummy and easy. It’s been a busy second week back at work, and I feel like I haven’t had much time to relax at night before bed. So something quick was a must!

Florentine Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken
Adapted from Food Network 

This recipe was honestly so easy. I started by mixing thawed chopped spinach, ricotta, parmesan, 2 pressed garlic cloves, a dash of nutmeg, salt, and pepper. (I didn’t follow the quantities of the recipe since this was dinner for two, so I just eyeballed the amounts.)

Then my sous chef fiance cut two chicken breasts the long way, so they each had a nice little pocket for the filling. I spooned the spinach mixture into the pockets.

Next, each piece of chicken got a nice blanket of prosciutto slices to wrap it up nice and snug. 🙂

We brushed each piece with olive oil and put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. What came out was oozing and creamy and delicious looking.

And it tasted delicious too! Aside from the fact that I forgot to season the chicken (fail.) this was a great dish. I would definitely make it again. Ooo now that I think of it, maybe I’ll add a little goat cheese or cream cheese to the filling next time, just for extra creaminess!

Do you like “stuffed” dishes?
I don’t know why but to me there is something fun about “stuffed” foods! That and they usually involve cheese of some kind, which is always a plus in my book.

Shopping trip 1/28

So I got through my first week back at work! It went really well. The big thing that’s giving me anxiety right now is just getting back into a routine. I was pretty tired all week – not only am I getting up earlier, but I’m on my feet a lot more, which is hard because my knee is still healing. I have two more weeks of physical therapy and then hopefully I can get back to yoga!! I’ve been feeling seriously deprived.

So needless to say, I haven’t been cooking a lot this week. (Or the week before because I was completely distracted by something else!) Hence, the lack of blogging. I need to get into a meal planning/grocery shopping routine for sure. One thing I did make time for today was shopping! My wardrobe has needed an overhaul for a while. And I cleaned out my closet a few weeks ago so now it looks even more empty! Here are some things I picked up today.

1. Express Columnist Pant – I’ve been wanting a black pair of slim cut dress pants. I have a few other black pairs but they are looser. These fit great and are perfect for work!

2. Aldo Padden boots – I am a shoe girl. But I’m also super picky with shoes. Case in point – I’ve been looking for the perfect pair of mid-calf boots for two years. No joke. I wanted ones I could dress up or down. I wanted a stacked heel, and it couldn’t be super high. And I think I found them today!! These boots were on sale at Aldo and they didn’t have my size, so they are being shipped and should arrive this week. I can’t wait to try them on with every outfit I have!! And I’m praying they are comfy. 🙂

3. Express Crochet Inlay Striped Tee – Being from Cape Cod, the nautical vibe always sits well with me. Basically anything striped works. And if it’s navy and white, even better. This cute tee looks pretty basic from the front, but it has a beautiful crocheted back! My wardrobe probably doesn’t need any more navy and white stripes, but I just couldn’t resist!

4. Express Sculpted Metal Bangles – I love bracelets, but I have freakishly tiny wrists so bangles have always been too big on me. These actually fit! And you can’t really tell from the pic, but they have a curve to them so they aren’t just plain circles.

What fun things did you do this weekend?
It’s been around 80 degrees here in LA – I’m kind of wishing I went to the beach this weekend!

Transitions

There hasn’t been a lot of cooking going on in this household recently. Things have just been too busy. First, I start my new full time job on Monday, so I’ve been trying to get random errands done and just get organized. I know it’ll be an adjustment going back to work and I’ll probably be pretty tired next week! Second, we got engaged on Sunday!! The boyfriend (now fiance!) finally popped the question. 🙂 We are so excited! As far as a wedding goes, we’re thinking somewhere like this…

(Source)

Anyway, I’m hoping to do some baking this weekend, but after that posting might be sporadic until I get a better handle on my schedule. Hopefully I can get into a routine fairly quickly!

Sushi date night

Date night used to be a weekly thing for me and the boyfriend. We’d try a new restaurant, or sometimes revisit a favorite, and just spend time talking. And talking about work was strictly prohibited! But when I was laid off earlier last year date night kinda went on hiatus. We just cut back on things and that was one of them.

Buuuut, I can now officially confirm that I got a job! We found out some more details on Monday and it definitely warranted a celebration. The whole time I was out of work, we said that as soon as I got a job we’d go to our favorite sushi place in Studio City, Katsu-ya. It’s not even a really pricey place, but it was more the principle of not going there until we had something to celebrate. So last night we went!

(Sorry for the orangey iPhone pictures.) We started with two of our favorites.

Baked Green Mussels: I literally have dreams about these mussels. They are HUGE, always taste so fresh, and are served in the most amazing cream sauce. I can’t put my finger on what exactly makes this sauce so good. The boyfriend and I both were literally sopping it up with the seaweed salad!

Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna: These rolls are so simple, but so delicious. The crispy rice adds a great crunch, and the spicy tuna has just the perfect amount of bite. We always get an order of these!

We decided we’d each pick one more roll to get, and were going to order ones we hadn’t tried yet, but we had to get these S.S.C. rolls again. They’re California rolls topped with sauteed shrimp, mushrooms, and asparagus (not sure what the S.S.C. stands for). And of course there is some delectable sauce that it’s all in.

And finally we went with the 4 1/2 rolls (again, not sure of the significance of the name!). They were spicy shrimp and crab rolls topped with tuna filets, spicy mayonnaise, and green onion. These had a really clean, fresh flavor. I just love me some good raw tuna!

It was a perfect dinner, accompanied by two glasses of pinot grigio for me and Sapporo for my man! I haven’t been to Katsu-ya before and not enjoyed everything I put in my mouth. We decided that when I actually start my new job we’ll try out Kiwami, which is the same owner as Katsu-ya but a little fancier/pricier. Just writing this post made me want more sushi!

Do you like sushi?  

Juicy hamburgers and baked parmesan garlic fries

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Dinner the other night was super simple, but it came out SO GOOD I just had to blog about it.

Juicy Hamburgers and Baked Parmesan Garlic Fries
(Parmesan Garlic Fries recipe from Iowa Girl Eats)

To be honest, if we want burgers I’ll usually just buy a pack of patties and cook them up. But we had some lean ground beef in the freezer and I just had a craving. You know how those go. So I decided to make burgers from scratch!

All I did was break up the ground beef and mix in salt, pepper, and 3 pressed garlic cloves. (Yes, I finally own a garlic press. I got a Pampered Chef press for Christmas. 🙂 How was I living without one!?!?) I also remembered a long time ago, I think on Food Network, seeing a tip to add water to your beef to keep the burgers nice and juicy. So I added some water (I didn’t measure but it was probably 2-3 Tbs.) and hand-mixed it into the beef until it was absorbed. I formed the meat into 4 patties (2 went right in the freezer) and placed them on a grill pan over medium heat.

After about 4 minutes we flipped them, added mozzarella cheese, and put the buns on to toast.

I noticed the meat was taking a little longer to cook all the way through, so I did turn the heat up to medium-high for probably the last 2 minutes.

The boyfriend’s toppings (bacon and onion).

My toppings (lettuce, tomatoes, raw onion).

I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of the finished product, but that’s because we devoured these burgers. The garlic flavor was just the perfect amount. And they were so so so so juicy and perfectly cooked. I wish I knew how they turned out so good. It was either the addition of the water or the fact that I started cooking them on a lower heat. I’m not sure! But next time I make these I’m doing it the same way!

Now on to the fries!

I had one medium-sized russet potato and initially wasn’t sure if this would make enough fries for the two of us. But I cut it into really thin rounds and that ended up being plenty. The recipe said to soak the potatoes in water for 1-8 hours to remove some of the starch. I soaked these for about 2 hours.

I then drained the potatoes, and mixed in salt, pepper, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, panko bread crumbs, and extra virgin olive oil. I didn’t measure anything out, just did it by eye. I spread them out on a lightly sprayed baking sheet.

Bake at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, flipping the fries over halfway through.

Oh. My. Goodness. These were so good.

The panko bread crumbs added such a great crunch. And let’s be honest, almost everything is better when you add garlic powder and parmesan cheese. The only thing I’ll do differently next time is to cut these a tad bit thicker. Some of them burned because they were too thin. I think the addition of panko bread crumbs will ensure that the crunch is still there, even if you cut them a little thicker.

Overall it was a faaaaabulous dinner!

Do you make burgers from scratch or just buy the patties? I don’t think I’ll ever buy patties again! These burgers were so amazing!

Weekend shopping – Macy’s

Macy’s is having a big sale this weekend, and I just happen to have a nice big gift card that I got for Christmas to spend there (thanks Mom and Dad!). I just browsed the website for ideas of what I might want to scope out. Here are some good finds!

1- Tommy Girl Long Sleeve Wing Collar Tuxedo Blazer
2- Lucky Brand Topanga Canyon Fringe Medium Crossbody Bag
3- Blowfish Wang booties
4- Rocket Dog Sheriff booties
5- Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren Skinny Stretch Cargo Pants
6- Levi’s 524 Skinny Explosive Soundtrack Medium Wash

Inspiring sweets – January 2012

There are just too many mouth-watering ideas on Pinterest to not have a regular post to share them. I’m thinking maybe it’ll be a monthly thing? We’ll try it out! You can find my first two “Inspiring Sweets” posts here and here.

Angel Food Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream

Caramel Topped Shortbread Bites

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Coconut Banana Cream Pie

PB Banana Bites

White Russian Cupcakes with Kahlua Buttercream

What looks the yummiest to you?

Easy potluck pasta bake

Today was my first day of physical therapy after my knee surgery, and man was it harder than I thought it would be! I knew that working on getting my bend back would be hard, but I didn’t think trying to straighten my leg all the way would be as painful as it was. I spent over two weeks in this lovely thing…

…so my knee couldn’t bend, but it wasn’t totally straight either. So it’s kind of in this weird limbo spot where I can’t straighten it or bend it all the way! It’s a little sore since I worked the muscles in that leg more today than I have in a month, but I’m just glad that it’s slowly on the mend. I can handle some pain now if it will get me back to doing yoga! And I can’t wait to try yoga for the first time without having the knee pain that the tumor was causing. I’m hoping within the month I’ll be able to go!

Anyway, I wanted to post the recipe for the pasta bake that I mentioned yesterday. It’s really easy and completely customizable to whatever you have on hand or want to throw in it!

Potluck Pasta Bake
Adapted from Italian Food Forever 

Start by cooking your choice of short pasta. I went with just over a half box of whole grain rotini.

Then, choose what you want to put in the casserole. We used the 1 1/2 cups of diced ham suggested in the recipe. For veggies, we had a bag of frozen broccoli and a bag of frozen chopped spinach that were both almost empty, so we thawed those…

…and my sous chef chopped everything up!

While he was chopping, I sauteed 1/2 cup of onions and 2 garlic cloves in 3 Tbs of butter. Then I whisked in 3 Tbs flour and 3 cups of 1% milk until the mixture was smooth. Next, add your choice of cheese. We chose 8 oz. of shredded cheddar. Add salt, pepper, and 1/2 tsp. of oregano. Put the pasta back in the pot and all your chopped components.

So colorful!

Pour cheese sauce into pot and mix everything together. Transfer to a baking dish and top with  1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (I used panko) and 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. Cover baking dish with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Then remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the top is nice and brown and crispy.

We love brown crunchy edges in this house!

This was a great dish – and I think it was even better reheated the next day! I always think that casserole type things, including baked mac and cheese, are better reheated – why is that?!?!

Things I will change next time I make this:
– Add more veggies.
– Use either a combo of different cheeses or try something other than cheddar. The cheddar was great, just not super flavorful. I think maybe some gruyere or fontina would’ve been awesome in this.
– Use less breadcrumbs. I followed the amount in the recipe, but it didn’t evenly brown on top because I think I piled the crumbs too high in some spots.
– more garlic! Because the more garlic the better. 🙂

Overall, very easy, was able to use things we had on hand, and totally customizable!

After eating this for dinner the other night, I promptly pulled this out of the freezer.

Yep. That’s leftover cookie dough from these bad boys. The coconut lime were the boyfriend’s favorite so I made a mini batch for us. They were just as good the second time around! You’d think I’d be trying to lay off the sugar after the holidays. But no. I don’t believe in deprivation. If I want sugar and don’t have it, I get grumpy. 🙂

Do you make casserole-type dishes often? Do you have a favorite or do you just throw in what you have in the kitchen? 

I’m just going to write.

I’ve been putting off my first post of 2012 because I’m kind of a perfectionist about some things. I’ve been thinking about ways I want to evolve this blog and I haven’t posted because I haven’t fully figured out what changes I want to make. But I think I’ve realized that that’s ok. It’s my blog and it can be whatever I want it to be! It doesn’t have to be, and won’t be, perfect. Ever. So I’m just going to write!

That being said, Happy New Year! The boyfriend and I had a wonderful long weekend. We got a great deal on a new TV, filled numerous trash bags of clothes for donation, took down holiday decorations, and relaxed a lot. I also made a really yummy appetizer on Sunday that we had while we watched the Patriots game. And it’s so ridiculously easy!

Pepperoni Roll Ups
Recipe from Dinner with the Donnells
– 1 can crescent rolls
– pepperoni
– mozzarella cheese (I think shredded melts best, but string cheese works too!)

Just lay out the crescent rolls on a cookie sheet, top with 3-4 pieces of pepperoni, sprinkle with as much or as little mozzarella as you like…

…and roll ’em up! I kind of stretched the dough to seal off the ends, but nothing oozed out anyway. You might want to do this if you add more cheese. (Shout out to my brother – thanks for the new cookie sheets you gave me for Xmas! They’ve already been used many times!)

Then just bake according to the crescent roll instructions, until they’re nice and golden brown.

Mmmmm. Check out that gooey cheesy goodness.

These were so good! Not the healthiest in the world, but super easy to make and very yummy. The boyfriend’s exact words were – “These are basically heaven.” He’s a meat and cheese kinda guy. 🙂

Dinner tonight was leftover potluck pasta bake, which I’ll post the recipe for this week, and a big batch of our favorite kale chips!

What did you do for New Year’s? Did you take advantage of any sales? 

Amazing holiday cookies

I hope everyone has been having a great holiday season! I know I’m kind of late in the game here, but I wanted to post the two cookie recipes I used as Christmas gifts because they were such a hit. And they aren’t “Christmas cookies” by any means – definitely suitable year-round!

I did a trial run of these the weekend before my surgery, and then spent the Friday before Christmas at my parents’ house making them. I may have overdone it by being on my feet all day – I was so sore that night – but the result was worth it! These babies have been getting rave reviews.

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

The only prep-work for these is to toast the coconut and zest the lime. To toast the coconut, just spread an even layer of coconut flakes on a plate and microwave for 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, for about 2-3 minutes. DO NOT just put the coconut in the microwave for 2 minutes and walk away. It will burn. I literally stand there and watch it. It should come out a nice golden brown.

Next, zest a lime. I made sure to get every tiny little section of peel for maximum limey flavor. 🙂

Then, it’s your typical sugar cookie recipe. It yields a light, fluffy, delicious batter. I DARE you not to try the batter after the coconut and lime aromas start wafting through the air.

Then, roll the batter into tablespoon-sized balls, roll them in sugar, and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. The edges should be golden and the tops will start to crack a little. Top with coconut flakes if desired.

My Dad literally ate about 10 of these over the span of about 30 minutes. The flavors are just perfect. Definitely a cookie I’ll be making again and again!

Get the full recipe here.

Brown Sugar Cookies with Maple Glaze

The combination of brown sugar, cinnamon, and Karo syrup make these cookies moist, chewy, and super flavorful. The first time I made these I followed the directions and used dark Karo syrup, and for the Christmas batch I used light Karo syrup. They were just as good, the color was just slightly lighter (pictures below are from the dark Karo syrup batch). So either will work fine.

Just a warning – this batter is VERY sticky. I rolled the cookies by hand and my hands were completely covered after rolling three cookies. I’m assuming it’s from the Karo syrup.

The recipe makes these cookies giant, but I made them a nice small size.

The maple glaze totally makes this cookie. It’s just powdered sugar, maple extract, a splash of milk, and Karo syrup. This is also super sticky. I recommend piping it through a bag. When I made the first small batch, I just drizzled it on with a spoon. That works too. 🙂

Get the full recipe here.

And since I just made small batches of these the first time around, I’ve got batter all ready to go in the freezer! It’s perfect since it’s just me and the boyfriend at home – I can make a small batch of 1/2 a dozen cookies or so and save the rest for later.

I also tried out Martha Stewart’s Foolproof Holiday Fudge recipe. It was really simple and came out great. Tasted like the real thing! I didn’t end up making fudge for gifts though since I feel like a lot of people do. I wanted to make something different. But if you’re looking for an easy fudge recipe this one’s great.

Did you do any baking this Christmas or receive any particularly yummy homemade gifts?