Leftover baguette sitting on the kitchen counter and a fresh container of ricotta in the fridge brought me to this crostini. I had some bacon in the fridge, which doesn’t happen very often but it’s now Kaili’s favorite food. Add those things together and drizzle with honey, simple and delicious. Here is a recipe I just found, although you don’t really need a recipe for this, just do what sounds good to you.
Bacon Ricotta Crostini
Averi has been eating a lot better these days. I have found that instead of cutting food up into little pieces, she would rather hold bigger pieces and eat away. She can eat as much as her sister in one sitting.
She is getting dangerously close to walking, the milestone might even happen before her first birthday.
Play dough is one of those things that parents spend money on when in reality it’s super simple to make, and chances are, all of the ingredients are in your pantry.
I thought making some blue glittery play-dough for Kaili’s party gift bags would be a fun idea.
“Frozen” play-dough
So easy.
Ingredients
2 cups AP flour
2 cups water
3/4 cup table salt
1 Tbs oil
1 tsp. cream of tarter
food coloring
glitter
* Add food coloring to the water to start so the color blends evenly.
Combine water, flour, salt, oil, cream of tartar and glitter in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.
*This is where you can add more food color or glitter if it needs it.
Continue stirring over heat until a dough ball forms. When it’s at your desired consistency, turn onto wax paper of foil.
I decided Easter was a perfect day for me to try my hand at making a pot pie. I told Shane that it will be our Easter tradition. Something the girls can complain about years down the road, having to eat moms chicken pot pie…again. I think that sounds like a great tradition.
I decided they would be indivual per Shane’s request and that I would not make the pie crust from scratch, at least this time because duh. I decided on this Ina Gartens recipe but I did a double crust. The filling was so good it could be eaten on its own so I knew adding pastry was going to make this dish extra ordinary…and it was.
I only made a few pies so I had quite a bit of filling left and now it’s in the freezer for the next time I want to make one. The store bought pie crust was pretty good, it was no homemade but the easy factor was worth it!
Wings, I do love me some chicken wings. Buffalo, spicy, sweet, sticky…I don’t discriminate. The husband however prefers good ol’ buffalo wings so I made myself some Teriyaki Sriracha wings during the week. Doesn’t every recipe have Sriracha in it now? It’s like a new fad that’s late to the game. Anyhow, the Sriracha gets lost in this sauce so you could easily swap it for sambal or even cayenne pepper.
I made the sauce ahead of time and let the wings marinade in it while I fed the kids and did baths. I followed the cooking time from the recipe but the timer went off while I was reading stories so they cooked a little longer than I wanted them to. I broiled the shit out of them because I like the skin to get a little crispy. End result is I will make these again, finger licken’!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together soy sauce, Mirin, honey, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, Sriracha and cornstarch mixture.
Arrange wings in a single layer onto prepared baking dish. Pour the sauce evenly over the wings.
Place into oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, using metal tongs to turn at halftime. Then broil for 2-3 minutes, or until the wings are slightly charred.
I used to make a few new recipes a week including one elaborate dinner because it was fun for me to lose myself in the kitchen. Then I got pregnant, then I was on bedrest and then I had a newborn. To say I was stuck in a rut when it came to dinner was an understatement. I forced myself to start making the recipes I was pinning on Pinterest (because I have over 1,000) and to start opening the stack of cookbooks I have in the pantry, I wasn’t lacking ideas.
I will admit that sometimes by the end of cooking I am juggling a crying baby, a hungry 3 year old and I am cursing myself for making the stupid dish but after it’s done, I am always happy I did. I rarely remember to take a photo of the final product to share so you will have to check out the original recipe to see what most of them look like. All of these I am sharing turned out great, some the husband didn’t love as much as I did but don’t let that stop you.
Here are some ideas if you are in a dinner rut like I was.
Caramelized Onion Tart with Gorgonzola and Brie– This is not the healthiest so probably better to serve to some friends as an appetizer with wine. The picture is crappy but i promise it is good.
Piadini Caprese– I made the flatbread from scratch, there is a recipe on the original page. The only thing I didn’t use in the sandwich was arugula and I regretted it, everything is always better with arugula.
I forgot to take a picture before i closed it up so I reopened it, looks a mess.
Halibut with Crispy Capers and lemon– We l.o.v.e fish piccata and I thought this would be a fun new twist on the original recipe. I loved this because the crispness of the the capers pared perfectly with the soft fish. Husband thought they lost some of their flavor so you know how that ends. Worth the extra effort in my opinion, at least for a change.
French Onion Soup– This was good and pretty darn easy. The flavor wasn’t as deep as some that I have had but for the first time making it, I was impressed. Even better the next day.
Pad Thai Salad– This was really good. Not really at all like Pad Thai, more like a deconstructed Vietnamese spring roll. You’ll need a spirilizer for this and although I have the Vegetti, it didn’t work great with the cucumber. I will make this again and again once I get myself the Paderno.
Bourbon Maple Glazed Chicken Wings– Holy finger licking good, I loved these. The husband thought the bourbon took over the flavor of the wings. I can sort of agree that the bourbon flavor was a tad strong and it might just have been the bourbon I used but I will definitely make these again.
Oh man you guys, Averi is sick, really sick AGAIN. Towards the end of last week she showed signs of a cold and every day she has gotten worse. I took her into the Dr. yesterday worried about RSV. Her breathing was faster than normal, a tad labored and her cough very wet. The doc says she has Bronchiolitis so they took her pulse ox aka tested her oxygen levels in her blood. The results were good so we went home and I felt a whole lot better. The past few days have been rough but she should start to get better within the week.
Sunday was fun, the game was great until the last 30 seconds when all our hopes and dreams were crushed….okay let’s not talk about it.
I have made about 7 new recipes over the past few weeks, I will have to share them with you. But now, Averi is asleep so I need to take advantage of that.
Well what do you know, it’s a recipe and not kid spam.
I used to make this recipe weekly, I have no excuse why I stopped. It’s now being put back on rotation because it’s so good and SO easy. I was able to prepare this with one kid whining at my feet about how she was starving while simultaneously feeding a whiny baby. Plus, there is no real clean up, which will make the husbands very happy.
2 Tbs fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
2 green onions (green part only), finely chopped
Serrano chile to taste
1 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 Tbs olive oil
Dash of toasted sesame oil
Dash of soy sauce
Dash of fish sauce
4 tsp dark maple syrup
4 Tilapia filets, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine all topping (first 10 ingredients) in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste
Prepare 4 sheets of parchment paper by folding each sheet in half and placing a tilapia fillet centered onto one side of the fold of each sheet. Divide topping evenly among them, spreading it over the top.
Roll up the sides of the paper first, then the top, leaving 1/2-inch space along one edge; fold to seal.
This recipe hails from {ahem} All Recipes. I usually stay away from that site because the recipes are from every day Joe’s and if you stay too long you will find the same recipe made 1,368 different ways. I usually end up questioning the recipe and cursing the reviews. Now you may loooove that site and send your recipes in and if that is the case I have probably judged your recipe. Just kidding…actually I’m not.
Here is where I become a hypocrite. I was offered a free subscription to the All Recipe magazine and if you know me, you know I lOVE magazines, so of course I took it. And after skimming through 4 of them I finally found a recipe I wanted to make. My mind instantly went back to the chicken curry pasties we I devoured in London. These took a little work and would be great for a party if you can wrangle someone to help you fill them. These turned out good, you should make them.
Instead of writing out the entire recipe, here is the LINK.
The filling makes enough to fill at least 3 puff pastry sheets, so we had a lot of filling left over. But that’s not a bad thing because it’s good on it own. The only thing I would do next time was add a spicier chili. Oh and maybe spend more time closing these suckers up, most of mine popped open.
You may or may not have realized that my blog URL and name is now different. I thought since I am no longer trying for a baby it was time I update it. Simply Four, straight forward enough…no?
If you are following me on Feedly, you may have to re-add the blog, not quite sure how that works.
On another note, I made a very delicious soup, right down to the chicken stock. I don’t have an exact recipe for you but I can give you a quick rundown.
Coconut curry thai chicken soup
Thai Coconut Curry soup with Chicken
*I made chicken stock from a Rotisserie chicken. I pulled off all the meat and set aside. Cover chicken carcuss with water, throw in some veg, onions/carrots/garlic whatever you have and simmer for an hour. Strain and then set stock aside.
What you will need:
minced garlic 1Tb
grated ginger 1Tb
1 jalapeno minced
juice of 1 lime
1 heaping Tb green curry paste
1 can coconut milk (lite or reg)
1 Tbs. Sugar
1 Tbs. Fish sauce
4 cups chicken broth/stock
cilantro
Cooked rice or rice noodles
cooked chicken, diced or shredded
In large sauce pan heat a little olive oil and saute first 3 ingredients and then add curry paste. Stir in coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice, bring to a simmer. Add chicken broth and bring back to simmer for 10-20 minutes. Add chicken, rice, reheat. Serve with lime wedge and cilantro.
*I had about a cup of sticky coconut rice I made a few days earlier, that is what I used and it was delish, added a touch more sweetness.
While the soup was cooking, Kaili was busy working on her Christmas list to Santa. We put it in the mail this morning and now I get to hold this over her head for another month. }Listen up kiddo, Santa is watching you!”
I guess life has gotten in the way of my blogging. Not exactly sure what we have been doing with our free time but it comes and goes and then I realize I haven’t written in days.
A few weeks back Senna, my elderly kitty of 19 years had a stroke and wouldn’t leave the side of the house. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with her but she had no interest in food or water and could barely walk. My neighbor said I should take her to the vet, but I was alone with two kids with no crate, how was I going to manage that? I decided I would wait until the next morning to make a decision, it was all too sudden. But a few hours later I realized she was in misery, so I called the vet and asked what my options were and decided to take her in and have her put down. I am so thankful for my next door neighbors, one of them watched the kids while the other drove me to the vet. The vet confirmed it was most likely a stroke and that it happens in older cats. I stayed with Senna while she was sedated and then I left, not wanting to sit through the end. I was heartbroken and two weeks later I still think I hear her meowing and go to the door to let her in or to offer her chicken. She lived a long life as an indoor and outdoor cat. She traveled through California with me and probably used up many of her 9 lives battling cars, coyotes and possums throughout the years.
Last weekend was our monthly dinner party and the theme was “retro”. My plan was to make beef wellington but when I saw the price of the beef tenderloin at Costco, I decided maybe not -cha-ching! I then went back and forth on what to make and finally settled on Swedish meatballs. After staring and comparing 10 different recipes I went with Alton Browns. It was farely easy to make and it turned out great. The bowl was empty by the end of the night.
I also had my hysterosalpingogram (HSG) test. This is the same test I had when I was trying to get pregnant…oh the irony. After I had Averi the doctors had a hard time actually finding my fallopian tubes due to the mess of scar tissue left from Kaili’s delivery. They weren’t exactly sure if they were successful in their attempt to tie them so I patiently waited 3 months and then had my HSG. Two thumbs up, everything is as I want it.
Speaking of Averi, she turned 4 months a few days ago, can we talk more about that later? Someone hasn’t taken her monthly pictures yet. (points to self)
The Art of Thyming 