Hawaiian Sunrise (thank you Palio's!)

The difference between a Hawaiian pizza and a Hawaiian Sunrise is the addition of dried cranberries and roasted cashews. It is delicious! We used ham leftover from a spiral sliced glazed ham we bought a month or so ago and froze. So I was a little skimpy on the ham (sorry Chris!), but it was delicious. Then of course the pineapple (I use shredded). The sauce was not my favorite for pizza. I used Barilla's spaghetti sauce which I love on pasta, but on this pizza I didn't love it. I'm looking forward to trying the cold leftovers to see how they are. I wish we had more leftover of course.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

This pizza is so so so good. Chris and I can't get enough of it. We made it tonight because the pizza yesterday (sausage and olive) burned very badly in our naughty oven. It just didn't give me my pizza fix. So today I decided to make a pineapple pizza. I figured since all I had for toppings was olives for a second pizza I should probably just make a BBQ chicken pizza. Why do I forget how much I love it?! So one thing led to another and we ended up with a Hawaiian Sunrise pizza (copied from one of our favorite places Palio's), and the BBQ pizza.
Use whatever dough recipe you want for the crust.
Boil 1 chicken breast.
Shred chicken.
In a small saucepan mix (all measurements are approximate):
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp chopped onion
shredded chicken
Cook over low-med. heat while stirring.
Spoon sauce/chicken over crust and top with generous amounts of shredded mozzarella cheese.

My first sewing project

Ok, first of all, no I did not make what you see in the first picture! We are focusing on the second picture! I got my sewing machine all set up today (by myself!). The instructions covered about 90% of what I needed to know to get it going so I was glad I was able to figure out that extra 10% on my own. My first project was one that I've been looking forward to for a few weeks. We bought Lincoln a quiet book for church that has little stuffed animals/fruit/things/etc. inside for each letter of the alphabet. Well since I paid $1 for it at a garage sale I couldn't complain that 3 of the letters were missing their little stuffed toy. Today I filled in the "Q" with a tiny quilt. Yes, it could be better, but this was my first time sewing on my new machine and I must say I'm quite pleased with how it went. Hey, maybe I'll even inspire my mom to start a doll-sized line of her famous quilts. If you have any ideas for the "Y" and the "V" please let me know. All I can think of are yo-yo, vase, and violin. We'll see how that goes.

Hybrid Pancakes

I decided to make a cross between my mom's pancake recipe and the one I make for Lincoln. Result: Hybrids!
Combine:
3/4 cup whole rolled oats (ground into a course flour by blender)
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Stir in:
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Ripe banana (optional)
Mix until ingredients combined and lumps are small. Use a measuring cup to scoop out small amounts of batter into the pan. Cook on medium or a little lower until bubbles form and stay after popping. Then flip and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side. You can serve these plain, with butter, or with butter and any number of pancake toppings. They are delicious!

My "lasagna"

1-2 boxes rotini pasta
16 oz. container cottage cheese
16 oz. shredded mozzarella
1 jar spaghetti sauce
Boil noodles in salted water. Drain noodles when they are al dente. In a 9x13 pan layer noodles, sauce, cottage cheese, and lastly mozzarella then repeat until you have a nice full pan. (Usually 2-3 layers.) Make sure there is a lot of cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes until the cheese is starting to brown. You may substitute lasagna noodles for the rotini, but this will take longer to layer. I don't usually use all the sauce or cottage cheese if I am making a single batch. That is personal preference.

Chicken Enchiladas #1

I've decided to add some recipes even if I haven't cooked them in a while. I'll add pictures later.
2 chicken breasts (boiled and shredded)
1 generous cup shredded cheddar
1 can diced green chilies
1 can refried beans
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 package flour tortillas
Mix the shredded chicken, cheese, chilies, and beans in a bowl. Coat a tortilla with the enchilada sauce and spoon filling onto the tortilla. Roll up and place in a 9x13" pan that has some enchilada sauce in the bottom. Repeat until you run out of filling and tortillas. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 35 minutes.

Kate's Pasta Salad

1 box/bag penne (boiled)
1 can/bag/jar artichoke hearts (pulled apart)
1 bag/box cherry tomatoes
1 package Italian Salad Dressing (prepared)
1 can black olives
1 container feta
1-2 breasts chicken (cooked and shredded)
It was sooooo delicious and easy!

The Insects are Cheating

Ok, I do try to live in harmony with the insect kingdom, but come on how much can a person take? There are some simple rules and if they are in violation of those rules they deserve what is coming to them. I consider myself a generous person when it comes to whether or not I will inflict the death penalty on these creatures when they are in violation of the rules. I did have a fire and bite me the other day, and I think I'm allowed to kill a bug that comes into my home and bites me. That's self defense. (By the way, fire ants are named that for a reason. It feels just like a burn). I try to put bugs outside alive from time to time, and I let the spiders live in the house as long as they agree not to bite me or my little boy or climb in my mouth while I'm sleeping. That's fair enough isn't it? When they lay eggs in the house though, that's crossing the line. I can't support entire families of insects in the house. I'm sorry, I just don't have the room. So when there were aphids all over my indoor nasturtiums (bad idea by the way), I hunted every last one down. Then when the baby spiders hatched, I did the same. When maggots crawled around our house, I found every last one. Those were moments of wrath I do not care to revisit in detail. Tonight, I've had enough with the mosquitoes. They're cheating! Yesterday I went outside and got several mosquito bites in the 10 or so minutes I was out there. Fair enough, it was night and I was in their territory (although some of those bites occurred in the garage which should technically be neutral ground). Then earlier today I received more bites when I went outside to watch Lincoln and Chris test out the new bike trailer. At this point I was a little peeved. Chris pointed out that he hadn't been bitten at all and he was outside much longer than I was, plus it was early enough in the day they shouldn't have been out eating blood yet. Tonight was the last straw. Here I was sitting at the computer INSIDE!!! Minding my own business and I received no less than 5 mosquito bites! From 1 mosquito! In the house! I would have exacted some revenge, but I lost the little cheater.

Chicken Nuggets

This recipe was taken from the Kroger Shredded Wheat box. We are hoping to try an asian style chicken nugget next.
2 cups Shredded Wheat, crushed to 1 cup
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise (we used regular)
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp prepared mustard
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 x 2 inch strips
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine cereal, Parmesan, seasoned salt, paprika and garlic powder. Combine mayonnaise, honey and mustard. Stir chicken strips into mayonnaise mixture; roll in cereal mixture to coat evenly. Place on rack in shallow baking pan. Bake 12-15 minutes or until strips are no longer pink in center.
We were a little worried that we cooked them too long, but the cheese just tasted better the browner it was.

Baked Beans

Drain and pour into 9x9 baking dish:
2 cans of pork and beans and
1 can kidney beans
Add 3-4 Tbsp. barbecue sauce
1 Tbsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. ketchup
3-4 Tbsp. brown sugar
optional add: 1/2 an onion, chopped and/or sliced polish sausage
Mix well. Bake 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Tortellini in Basil-Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 package (9 oz.) refrigerated tricolor cheese-filled tortellini
Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette (see below)
1 med. carrot, sliced
2 c. broccoli flowerets
2 med. green onions, sliced
Cook and drain tortellini as directed on package. Rinse with cold water; drain.
Make Basil-Balsamic Vinaigrette in large bowl. Stir in carrot, broccoli and green onions. Stir in tortellini.
Basil-Balsamic Vinaigrette:
1/4 c. balsamic or cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves or 1 tsp. dried basil leaves
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Mix all ingredients.

Spinach Wraps

1/2 cucumber chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 crown broccoli cut into small bite-size pieces
1/2 bunch spinach
1/2 c. swiss cheese grated
1/4 c. roasted cashews or sunflower seeds
1/4 c. craisins or raisins
1-2 hard boiled eggs chopped
Mix together and add a few tablespoons of asian/oriental salad dressing. I've used several, the one I have now is ginger mandarin. Wrap in a flour tortilla (plain, wheat or flavored). Makes enough for 2 people to have several wraps each. Double the recipe for a family.

Sesame-Ginger Noodles

So easy, so cheap and so good! The only things I ever have to buy are the ginger root and green onions and they cost about $1 total. I believe I found this recipe on the Kikkoman site.
1 lb. uncooked fresh Chinese-style thin egg noodles, spaghetti, vermicelli or linguine. (I use spaghetti)
1/4 c Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar
1 tsp. corn starch
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger root
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 c sliced green onions and tops
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seed
3/4 tsp. Oriental sesame oil
Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt; drain, rinse under cold water and drain thoroughly. Meanwhile, combine soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, cornstarch, ginger and 1/2 cup water. Heat oil in hot wok or large skillet over high heat. Add green onions and stir-fry 10 seconds. Add soy sauce mixture; cook, stirring, until sauce comes to a boil. Add noodles; cook, stirring, 1 minute or until sauce returns to boil and noodles are evenly coated with sauce. Remove from heat. Add sesame seed and oil; toss well to combine.

Some of my current favorite films...

Howards End
Cold Comfort Farm
Strictly Ballroom
Life is Beautiful (La Vita è bella)
Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain)
*Billy Elliot
Love Actually
Bringing Up Baby
You Can't Take It with You
My Father's Glory (La gloire de mon père)
My Mother's Castle (Le Château de ma mère)
The Secret of Roan Inish
Enchanted April
Stranger than Fiction
Into the West
Time Out (L'emploi du temps)
Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)
*The Chorus
It's a Wonderful Life
Super Size Me
Spellbound
Winged Migration
The War of the Buttons
* These are some of my current top picks.

Caribbean Shrimp

1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 fresh or canned jalapeno pepper, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 jar (16 oz.) Pace Lime and Garlic Chunky Salsa
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups hot cooked rice
Toss shrimp with 1 Tbsp. oil, lime juice and pepper.
Heat remaining oil in skillet. Add onion, green pepper and jalapeno pepper. Cook and stir 4 min. or until onion is tender.
Stir in crushed red pepper, salsa and coconut milk. Heat to a boil. Cook over low heat 10 min.
Add shrimp and cilantro. Cook 5 min. or until shrimp is done. Serve over rice. Garnish with lime slices and cilantro leaves if desired. Serves 4.
I found this recipe a couple of years ago on the Pace salsa website. I can no longer find the salsa, so I just subsitute regular medium salsa and add more lime juice and garlic. This time I forgot the garlic and added too much lime juice, but it was still good. We've tried the recipe with precooked shrimp and that worked pretty well too. Enjoy!

Jill's Salsa Sorte

Here it is. One of our favorite unique salsa recipes. I guess it's more like a salad, but we eat it with tortilla chips so I guess it counts as salsa. Courtesy of one of my favorite college roommates.
1 can black beans
1 can black eyed peas
1 can yellow corn
1 can white corn
Drain each can and pour contents into a large bowl.
Chop:
6-7 green onions
1 bunch cilantro
3 avocados
2 tomatoes
Prepare 1 package of "Good Seasons" Italian dressing.
Combine all ingredients in your large bowl and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before eating.