Garden Pizza Friday

John planted some garlic a while back, and he pulled one out early to check it out.  Look how little and cute it is!

For Pizza Friday, he incorporated it into the dough, along with fresh parsley.

I coated the dough with lemon olive oil, sea salt, and cheddar cheese.

While it baked, I chopped up some tomatoes, more garlic, more parsley, and some scallions.  I really need to remember to use a different color bowl when I photograph tomatoes.

Once the dough was cooked, I took it out.  Obviously.

I cut it up with kitchen shears and topped it with the tomato mix.

 The perfect finishing touch was shaved Parmesan cheese…. MMmmmm!

What would the perfect beverage for this pizza be?  Limoncello and seltzer, of course!

Jackie McMuffins

When I was a kid, my dad used to make me Jackie McMuffins.  I hope we don’t get in trouble for calling them that, but it is what we named them. I was feeling sentimental and my parents gave us some English muffins, so I made them again.

First, I lightly cooked up 2 eggs.  I tried to make them perfect circles using mason jar rings, but it didn’t work.

While they cooked, I buttered up the muffins and toasted them.

When the eggs were done, I placed them on the muffins and topped them with some raw cheddar.  

They were a perfect start to the day!

This post was shared on the Hearth and Soul Hop and Scratch Cookin’ Tuesday!

Pizza Friday!

This week’s Pizza Friday comes to you courtesy of my dad (and his gift of Lemon Olive Oil)!

I really wanted Salad Pizza again, and we were out of regular olive oil.  I remembered that we had this one that we were saving for something special.  I brushed it onto my pizza dough and sprinkled it with sea salt and pepper.

I baked it in the oven, and when it was done, I topped it with a salad, complete with shaved Parmesan Cheese!

Scalloped Asparagus and Potatoes

I’m all about the scalloped recipes lately.  I think it is because it is cheesey and comforting.  We have been getting a lot of asparagus in our CSA and this was a great recipe to use it in. 

I took some tasty potatoes, sliced, and steamed them.

Then, I took the asparagus, sliced it, and lightly boiled it.

Once that was all done I got to work on the scallions.  I sauteed them in olive oil until they were soft and smelled delicious.

Then, I added in the flour, milk, and cheese!

I let it cook down until it was coating the spoon.

At that point, I added in the spices and seasonings.  

Once I mixed in the potatoes and asparagus, I poured it into a buttered dish, topped it with more cheese, and sprinkled it with scallions.

Once it was baked up, WOW!  Delish!

This post was shared on Fat Tuesday!

Best Breakfast Ever.

Best breakfast ever.  I beat 3 eggs up and poured them in a buttered pan.

When they were starting to set, I chopped up some leftover BBQed steak and shredded cheese, and threw it on top.

 I folded it over, let it finish cooking, and enjoyed it with my favorite treat… Strawberries in heavy cream!

Macaroni Monday- Comfort Food

This might be the easiest Macaroni Monday recipe ever, so I will spice it up with a few pics of John cooking fresh sardines.  

First, the macaroni!!  We are going super quick, easy, and comforting with Pastina!

While it cooked, I put frozen peas in the steamer basket. 

Topped with lots of butter and Parmesan Cheese?  Perfect!

To go with it, John made sardines.  

He fillets them and removes the head.

Then, he bakes them at 350* until they are done!

Does anyone know if I can use the head and bones in stock?  I thought I could, then, I thought I couldn’t because they are too oily… Now I have no idea!  Thoughts?

This post was shared on Fat Tuesday!

Black Bean, Chicken, and Cilantro Soup

While summer has officially started, the weather here has been weird.  We had a few scorchers (when the frozen yogurt pops came in handy!) followed by crazy thunderstorms.  Some of them were warm, but there were some unseasonably cool days, too.  I had cilantro from our produce delivery and wasn’t quite sure what to make with it.  When I stumbled upon this recipe, it seemed perfect.  Of course, i was missing some of the ingredients, so I improvised.

I used dry beans to make this soup, so I started the prep well in advance.  I make a whole bag when I cook beans and freeze the rest for later.   Once the beans were cooked, I started on the soup itself.  After browning  onions in oil and butter, I seasoned them with cumin, garlic powder, celery salt, and red pepper flakes.  Then, I added in a pint of leftover crushed tomatoes, a pint of concentrated chicken stock and some water.

It cooked down for quite a while.  Once it was pretty thick, I added in 3 cups of black beans and 2 cups of leftover crockpot roasted chicken.

I let that cook for a little while, and then added lots of cilantro on top.

Once it was cooked up, I served it with a copious amount of shredded cheese on top.  That was my favorite part!

This post was shared with Make Your Own Monday and The Hearth and Soul Hop!

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt Pops

The strawberries we have been getting from our CSA are so delicious.  I probably eat a pint on the drive home!  Luckily, they are having a great year for strawberries and there are always plenty to go around.  

 I wanted to make some into frozen yogurt.  I didn’t really make a specific recipe.  I just put a bunch of strawberries into the blender with yogurt…

Blended it…

Poured it into the ice cream maker…

And froze it!

Unfortunately, I found it a little too icy for my taste.  I still wanted to eat it, though, so I let it melt in the fridge.

I poured the melted no-longer-fro-yo into ice pop molds and refroze it…. Perfect!  It was a great pre-work snack!

This post was shared on Make Your Own Monday, Seasonal Recipes: Strawberries, and Simple Lives Thursday!

Seafood Ravioli

I am really into making the soaked whole wheat macaroni lately.  It does take a little time (more than opening a box, that’s for sure!) but it isn’t hard.  I have to get better at the texture, though.  Sometimes it is too doughy, sometimes it is too soft.  I am having trouble getting it al dente, which is how we like it.  The texture was the biggest stumbling block with this ravioli.  I am open to suggestions!!!  

Anyway, the flavor of everything else was great.  I wanted to make the filling with clams, but we didn’t have any.  So, I sauteed some shrimp in butter and olive oil.

When they were done, I toasted up some bread and crumbled it in the pan with more butter, a can of anchovies, and some garlic.

I put the shrimp and the breadcrumb mix in the food processor with an egg and some parsley.  

Once this was done, I rolled out the dough.

Then, I spooned the mixture on.

I covered the raviolis, pressed the air out, and sealed them.

 To go with it, I sauteed some spinach in lemon and LOTS of butter.

 I forgot to take a picture of the raviolis topped with the lemon-butter spinach, but I did snap a picture of the raviolis John fried in coconut oil!

We enjoyed the Macaroni Monday meal with an arugula tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette and shaved Parmesan cheese!

The whole thing wouldn’t have taken too long, but, as always, I get easily distracted!

This post was shared on Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, and Scratch Cookin’ Tuesday!

Cheesey Beaney Chili Pie

I have had this recipe saved since January and I am just now getting to it.  Does anyone else ever do that?  Every so often I really need to go through all the recipes I have marked to try and make a few!  This one was pretty easy and verrrrrry tasty.

First, I had to make chopped meat.  I put about 3/4 lb of meat in the food processor…

…and chopped it!

While it was in the food processor, I melted tallow in our cast iron skillet.

I browned the meat and set it aside.

Since the skillet still had tallow in it, I added in onions, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and red pepper flakes.

When the onions were soft, I added the beef back in, along with 3 cups of red beans, a smidge of tomato paste, and 1 1/2 cups of diced tomatoes.

When all of the flavors were combined, I added one HUGE shredded potato.

After a sprinkling of salt, I added lots and lots of shredded cheese.  I used up all of the bits and pieces of cheese that were in the fridge.

 It baked in the oven for 20 minutes at 400*, and then we threw it under the broiler to brown it up.  

I loved almost everything about it.  The only thing I would tweak would be the potatoes.  I didn’t like the way they cooked up.  I think next time I would add some fat to the potatoes so they crisped up a bit more.  All in all, I would say it was a success!

This post was shared on Real Food Wednesday!