It's like being back in St. Louis

I have a lot of extended family from the St. Louis area - so we visited the area often when I was a kid, even through my time in college. One of my favorite things about visiting family there - aside from actually being WITH my family - were the many, many, restaurants that had toasted ravioli on the menu. Oh, and there was also this Mexican place in the nice mall that made their own tortillas and served that as the munchie instead of chips and salsa - delicious, warm, soft tortillas with this amazing orange butter. OMG!

OK, so back to ravioli. Any time we went out, I had to get toasted ravioli. It was a requirement. And something we just couldn't find in the greater Chicagoland Area. And once I went off to Indiana for college and then moved out east - forget it! Toasted ravioli quickly became a thing of my past. (excuse me while I shed a tear).

Fast Forward to this wonderful day in October of 2012, I was going through my Google Reader (remember when that existed?) and found a recipe for oven toasted ravioli on Six Sisters' Stuff. Could it be - could I make these at home?!

Why yes, yes I could.  So on Christmas Eve of last year, when the hubs and I indulge in lots of sinful and delicious heavy apps for dinner that night, I made the oven toasted ravioli with mushroom ravioli. Oh heavens! They were amazing!! In fact, so amazing, I decided I'll make them again this Christmas Eve as well.

Oven Toasted Ravioli Recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff

Ingredients:

1 (20 ounce) package refrigerated ravioli (found in the deli section) - I used mushroom ravioli - my favorite!

2 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs - I used plain that I seasoned myself.

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese - um, yeah, Kraft it was!

Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Whisk together egg and milk in a small bowl.  In another bowl, combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.  Dip each ravioli in the egg mixture and coat in the bread crumb mixture.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Spray ravioli with cooking spray.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden grown.  Serve with marinara sauce for dipping. *I did bake these on a silicone sheet and I think that helped with any sticking. Although I may try baking them on racks this year. I also did flip them once during the baking process to evenly brown.*

 (Recipe adapted from Plain Chicken)

Cheese Curds...

The hubs now makes cheese...

So for my birthday, I got cheese curds....

And unless you're either a Midwesterner or avid fair-goer you can't possibly understand the glory, deliciousness and love that are cheese curds.

And yes, I married the best man on the face of the earth. I mean any man that makes you fried cheese for your birthday is worth keeping around!

Opa! Nachos

Wow, I'm so behind in blogging, I just realized I made this recipe back in July! Holy Cow!

But I still have to blog them because they were out of this world delicious!

I found this idea - note, it's NOT a recipe- for Greek Nachos on Not Without Salt.

After I made these though based on just the picture, I started seeing these pop up on lots of blogs and saw that the recipe is from Mark Bittman in this NYT piece back in 2009 - WOW how did it take me this long to find this?

I've linked to the recipe from the NYT above, but am posting what I did down below here.

1 lb. ground turkey - you could easily use beef, lamb, you name it - I just used the turkey because it's lighter and what I had on hand.

6 oz. pita, cut in to triangles and toasted in the oven on a cookie sheet until crispy

Greek seasoning - this is something we brought back from our last trip to Greece and it includes oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, marjoram, mint, garlic powder, onion powder.

I cooked my meat with the seasoning and topped 30z of pita with 5 oz. of ground turkey each. Then I topped with diced tomato, shredded lettuce, diced cucumber and feta cheese. Then I topped each with cucumber sauce - plain yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, mint, oregano, salt and pepper.

This was such a fun and delicious meal!

I'm about to become your very best friend

After you make this and enjoy every scrumptious last bite of it.

You're going to be all "Man that Realistic Eats Chick is AWESOME!!" (ok I'm done living in my fantasy world now.)

Again, found this recipe on Pintrest and made it that same weekend.

Was a HIT for the 4th of July - sweet, salty, spicy - it was a flavor explosion.

I did alter the process of how I made this delicious treat and will post that here.

Thanks to Not Without Salt for this killer recipe!

Maple Bacon Party Mix

(I doubled mine when I made it)

2 cups corn chex

2 cups rice chex

2 cups wheat chex

1 cup peanuts, lightly salted

6 strips bacon, cooked extra crispy and chopped

4 T. butter, melted

4 T. maple syrup

1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1-1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I only used about 1/2 teaspoon total)

In a large roasting pan with your oven on 250, melt the butter, syrup, cayenne and salt. Once it's melted, add in your chex and nuts. Stir every 15 minutes and cook for an hour to an hour and a half until it's crispy and the flavors are combined. Once it's out of the oven, let it cool and then toss in the crumbled bacon pieces.

Then enjoy, thank the food Gods for such a delicious flavor combo, and praise all things that are bacon-y goodness!

That's A Giant Ball

Of Cheese!

I made this delicious cheese ball for the 4th of July and between 4 adults and 2 children, there was still enough cheese ball left to feed an army!

It was so flavorful, so delicious, so good! The combo of the spinach and artichoke, with the blend of the cheeses really created such a depth of flavor. It was great with bread, crackers, and even fresh veggies!

I did make the decision to lighten the recipe up a bit by using Neuchaftel Cheese, reduced fat parm and mozzarella, and it still came together very nicely and held well - even with the reduced fat changes.

Thanks again to Joelen for another great recipe suggestion!!

Spinach & Artichoke Cheeseball

recipe adapted from AllRecipes

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

1 (4 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I used a whole 8 oz. can)

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon dry ranch salad dressing mix (I omitted this and just added in some sprinkles of a salt free herb seasoning instead)

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, spinach, mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, artichokes, garlic and Ranch dressing mix. Mix together with clean hands until well blended. Form into a ball or log and coat in the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Chill for at least 1 hour. Place on a serving plate and serve with crackers and/or vegetable crudités.

New Years Eve Goodies!

On New Years Eve friends and I went to cook munchies at the Ronald McDonald House. I have a group that we get together monthly and cook dinners there, but we wanted to do something a little more special and fun for New Years Eve. We did heavy appetizers and sparkling apple cider for the families that night, and boy did everything look delicious!

I picked a couple of appetizer recipes to make for the house and both (yes, I admit, we tasted) were DELICIOUS!!!

The first one, I have no idea where I got this recipe from and I tweaked the serving portions, so this is for 12 servings. It made plenty for a big gathering of people.

Crockpot Spinach Artichoke Dip
12 servings
32 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 T onion chopped finely
2 minced garlic cloves
20 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
26 oz. can quartered artichoke hearts -rinse, drain and chop
1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 1/3 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded

Combine cream cheese and half and half in a bowl and mix until well blended. Then add all ingredients except the monterey jack and stir to combine. Pour everything in to a crock pot and heat on high for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until warmed through. Top with the monterey jack cheese. Serve with veggies, crackers or pita.


The second recipe I made was another Joelen origonal recipe - because, you know, I adore her cooking and her recipes are KILLER!!! I chose her Loaded Potato Poppers and dear GOD they were delicious - creamy, rich, bacon-y - what more could a person want to eat on New Years Eve before the diet starts the next day???

I made her recipe exactly as it is on her website so just use the linky-love above to get to the recipe. I would most certainly try these as a larger potato skin as well, they would be killer!!!

After we cooked at Ronald McDonald House we headed over to our friend's house to enjoy a New Years Eve munchie, dinner, Uno and Rock Band night to ring in the New Year.

I made this bread from another one of my favorite blogs, Leigh Anne over at Your Home Based Mom. Seriously, her Bloomin' Onion Bread was wonderful - and I even forgot the butter and it was still incredible. Next time I will need to work on finding a firmer bread though - just like she did. Again, linky-love - head to the link above for the recipe!


These are great munchies for entertaining - all 3 - so don't forget to add them to your list for your next social gathering.

Mushroom Brucetta

We made this meal, get this, at Memorial Day. Yes, that's how long it's been since I've downloaded photos from my camera and blogged. WOWSA!

We had some wonderful fresh herb crusty bread from La Salle Bakery in Providence that I sliced up and grilled with a little olive oil on it. I topped the slices of bread with fresh tomatoes from the farmer's market, lightly grilled portabella mushrooms that were marinaded in oil, garlic, salt, pepper and balsamic, and some fresh mozzarella cheese.

DELISH! Great light summer meal!

Nacho Everyday Potato Skins!

So, this is the story of a dinner that took about 3 different turns before reaching the plate.

It started as loaded baked potatoes.

That turned in to twice baked potatoes

Which in turn became me getting frustrated in the kitchen and turning the idea of the meal over to the hubs for dinner.

And that soon became Nacho Potato Skins.

And that turned in to dinner being devoured - what a fun, tasty, easy meal in the end!

Great for dinner or even munchies to put out at party - total hit, all around - and I loved it even more because I relinquished control over to the hubs for a change in the kitchen.

Nacho Potato Skins

small white potatoes, scrubbed clean, poke holes, and microwave until tender 5-8 minutes.

Once cool, remove from microwave and cut in half. Scoop out the centers of the potatoes and place in a container for another meal (I used the leftover potato innards for our favorite Potato and Tuna Cakes - taken from this recipe here)

Coat the potatoes with oil and bake in the oven on 400 until crispy brown.

In the meantime, heat up a can of Trader Joe's Cuban Black Beans on the stove. When the potatoes are done, stuff with the black beans, avocado, cheese, salsa, sour cream - whatever you like.

ENJOY!

Greek is the Word...

Kind of like "Grease is the word", get it - whatever, my lame attempt at humor.

The other week, when trying to decide what to have on a Meatless Monday - the hubs suggested some hummus for dinner.

Um, ok babe, yes, because hummus for dinner is so filling and well rounded.

But we kept working through the idea and came up with a Greek sampler platter for dinner.

Roasted eggplant, pita, tabouli, hummus - it was so tasty good and such a wonderful dinner!

This is the first time I made homemade chickpea hummus.

I used the recipe from Tosca Reno's The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook - and boy it did not disappoint at all - and it wasn't all that bad for you either. In fact, my calorie killer for the meal was the pitas I kept scarfing down!

Since I checked the book out from the library - I want to make sure this is a recipe I hang on to - so I'm so glad to post it here for you to try as well.

Eat Clean Hummus

4 cloves of garlic

2 cups canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 tsp salt (I only used 1/4 tsp)

1/3 cup tahini

juice of 2 fresh lemons

1 T olive oil

Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until well combined but still coarse. Adjust seasoning.

Next time we make this, we want to add some kalamata olives to the hummus! YUMMY!

Chinese Make In

We love Chinese food- but we really have never found the perfect Chinese delivery food around us in RI.

There's one that is so so - but nothing to write home about.

There's a great place we do go that's more Thai but also has Chinese, but when we're there we HAVE to have thai food.

So my friend forwarded me this recipe for baked egg rolls from Joyful Abode and I thought I'd give these a try with our pork fried rice that we make.

I made them as is - no additions/deletions. So easy, so good, made a ton of them too!!

You totally have to make these!

Another Homemade Hummus

I opted for Black Eyed Pea Hummus this week.

I bought the frozen bag at the market of black eyed peas and cooked them down in a can of chicken stock.

I then put them in the food processor with a clove of garlic, zest of half a lemon and juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper and some parsley. I drizzled in about 4-5 T of olive oil on this one.

So flavorful and good. Light with the lemon in there, but a little heartier and less runny than the lima bean hummus from the other week.

Next up I want to try a chickpea, carrot and curry hummus.

Homemade Hummus

We're trying something new at our house - trying to make more things ourselves at home - avoiding preservatives, using ingredients we know are fresh and what they are and just being more natural with our foods.

In terms of labels we're trying to buy things with 5 ingredients or less - or as the Hubs prefers - things that don't contain words Grandma wouldn't know.

I am trying to do that while keeping a low calorie and fat diet that is rich in veggies and whole grains.


So I decided I would start making my own hummus - since I adore hummus but never find store ones tasty enough for my liking.


I found this recipe for Lima Bean Hummus on the Expatriate's Kitchen Blog. It's a great blog - great recipes, great photos, I highly recommend you check it out.


I made some slight alterations, I didn't do any of the added flavor items she recommends, I just made it as is.

Lima Bean Hummus


1 16 oz. Package frozen lima beans


1 cup vegetable broth, low sodium - I actually ended up needing the whole can to even cover the beans.


2 garlic cloves


1/2 tsp salt


3 tbs. Fresh lemon juice (plus zest strips for garnish) - I used the juice of 1 lemon and zest of one lemon.


Pepper to taste


1/3-1/2 cup olive oil - I cut this down to aboug 3 T of olive oil and it was more than enough.



Heat vegetable broth and frozen lima beans to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the lima beans are soft. Peel garlic, no need to chop. Put everything except the zest and garnish ingredients in the food processor, including the broth from the lima beans. Pulse until it is a nice puree. Add olive oil with processor running until the hummus is the desired texture.




I realized this is SO easy to do, there's no reason to not make my own hummus each week for work to take with veggies and crackers. We've really been enjoying Trader Joe's Everything Crackers.

Another foray into figs...

So we enjoyed the figs so much the first time we had them we decided to buy some more. But I had no clue what to do with them.

The other weekend we were kicking around the house and though we'd have figs and some roasted garlic with bread for lunch - so I browsed on the WW site and found this fig recipe - since I had everything in the house we went with it.

It was so tasty and easy and really a nice way to have the figs. Great to put out for a party as well!

Honey and Cheese Stuffed Figs
From Weight Watchers

16 medium fig(s), washed and patted dry, stems removed, each sliced
2/3 oz soft-type goat cheese, such as chevre (about 2 Tbsp)
6 tbsp part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tbsp thyme, fresh, leaves
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste

Instructions

Place figs on a large serving platter, cut-side up. Combine cheeses and thyme in a small bowl. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of cheese mixture over each fig half; drizzle with honey and sprinkle with pepper. Yields 2 fig halves per serving.

First Foray into Figs

I've been tempted to try figs for a while now... there are so many nice recipes out there and they just look so exquisite and fancy.

I finally found some nice ones at the market and picked some up to do an appetizer for us for a Saturday night. The hubs had been out of town for a week so I wanted a nice dinner.

These were really easy and really tasty.

French Bread
Goat Cheese
Figs

Spread goat cheese on the bread and top with a slice of fig and enjoy!

Tasty, Easy and wonderful with the sweet and salty together.

Another Tasty Canadian Chip

So we tried another bag of tasty Canadian treats Friday Night.

We stopped in the Humpty Dumpty Factory on PEI to see if they did tours and they didn't but they gave us some free bags of chips for our effort. The BBQ ones Hubs ate on his own and loved them. These we had to try together.

They are MUCH better than a Cheeto. They are made with corn instead of flour and because of that they taste like a cross between a Frito and Dorito. But the cheese is real cheddar cheese instead of fake crap. They are by far the best chip I've eaten aside from those darned Gravy Chips!

Canada Katie, you must bring us some of these when you come to visit next - along with some Curly Wurlies, some Smarties, Gravy Chips, Smoky Bacon Chips...

I wonder why I'm fat??

Mini Foods Circa. 1950s

Saturday night we had some of my work friends over for a Wii party. I wanted to do something fun and different and settled on a 1950s themed mini foods party. It was a hit. The 6 of us truly enjoyed the offerings and everything was SO easy to put together.

I didn't take any pictures, because it was a little embarassing to do it in front of them, but I'll share what I made.

Fry Basket with wasabi mayo and paprika, garlic ketchup.

Mini hamburgers

Mini chicken pot pies
For this, I bought the mini puff pastry cups in the freezer section and baked. Then I diced up some chicken and mixed with a can of cream of celery soup and about a cup of frozen mixed vegetables. I seasoned with pepper and garlic powder. Then I took the immersion blender to that mix to puree it a bit - since the cups are SO tiny there was no way even a whole pea would fit in there. I then heated the puree and placed in the mini cups that were baked. They were so tasty and easy and a hit!

Veggie Tray with Dill Dip

Homemade Chex Party Mix

Cherry Soads
Orange Sodas
Root Beer Sodas

Aunt Dorothy's Pate

Every holiday I ever remember includes homemade chicken liver Pate that my great aunt Dorothy used to make. My mom taught me how to make it and it has become my husband's favorite dish to put out for parties.

It's so easy to make and so good!

1 container chicken livers, drained and rinsed
1 onion quartered
2 T butter
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 hard boiled egg, peeled
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and place all ingredients into the skillet. Piece the chicken livers with a fork several times to speed the cooking and make for more tender livers.

Once the livers are done - no more juices coming out - remove from skillet and let cool slightly.

Place all ingredients (cooked) and the egg ina food processor and blend until smooth.

Refrigerate overnight to chill.

Serve with crackers, veggies or rye bread slices