Beef, Bean and Vegetable Chili

Deborah — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:00:54 +0000

Is winter over yet? I know we still have several months to go – especially here in Utah – but I’m ready for spring. But I guess if I have to be stuck here in winter for awhile longer, I might as well be trying to enjoy it with chili, right? This chili was an easy, delicious weeknight meal, and one I’d definitely repeat. The recipe is over at the Cafe Zupas blog today!

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Peanutty Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Deborah — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:00:01 +0000

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Easton turns 1 year old next month. I can’t hardly believe that a year has almost gone by already. He started walking about a month ago, and he is all over the place. And into everything. My kitchen looks like a war zone most days, with kitchen towels and measuring spoons and pots and pans strewn across the floor. I try to pick things up, but after putting something away for the 5th time in an hour, you start to not care anymore and just pick things up once at the end of the day. One of his other favorite spots to make messes is on the bookcases where I keep my cookbooks. Most of them are wedged in pretty tight, so he can’t get them out, but there are some things that he goes back to time and time again.

I have several recipe boxes that have random recipes stored in them. Lots of cut outs from magazines, hand written recipes, and random recipes taken from packages or newsletters. (I tell ya – I have a bit of a recipe hoarding problem. ) After having Easton pull out those boxes and dump their contents onto the floor for the 80th time one day, I decided to go through some of the recipes as I put them away. I ended up throwing many away – things that didn’t sound good or recipes I thought I’d never make. But I came across so many that I wanted to try out – and right away.

The recipe I based this bread off of came from one of those boxes. I have no idea where it came from or who gave it to me – it was written on the back of a receipt, and only half of the recipe was written down. But I couldn’t get the idea of a peanut/peanut buttter/chocolate chip banana bread out of my head after seeing the recipe. I found myself with some over-ripe bananas on the counter one day, and immediately went to that recipe box for this recipe!

This is definitely not your boring banana bread. I opted for mini chocolate chips, because I know they don’t sink like regular chocolate chips sometimes do. And on a whim, I decided to add the glaze. It definitely takes this banana bread to a whole new indulgent level, but it was one of my favorite parts of this bread!! I loved that there wasn’t one flavor that overpowered any of the other flavors, but they all melded together beautifully. I wouldn’t change a thing next time!
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Jalepeno Popper Corn Dog Waffles

Deborah — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:00:56 +0000

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This is the last of the Rachael Ray Show Waffle Week recipes. My waffle maker has seen more action in the last week than it has in probably the last year. All of these waffles have been so much fun. But I’m not going to lie – it’s a lot of work to have to make something every day that you blog the next day!! But I’m so glad I got this idea on a whim and I went with it. Now I won’t have regrets next year when they do Waffle Week on The Rachael Ray Show, thinking that I wish I would have tried some of the recipes. Because this year, I made all of them!!

Actually, if you saw Friday’s show, you would have seen that she had 3 fans there that were in a waffle showdown. And all three of those recipes are on the RR website, too – but I thought it would be a little overkill to continue on with the waffle makers and make those 3 recipes!! Hopefully you saw something you liked in the last week, though, that inspires you to get out your waffle maker.

These waffles get the best grade for creativity, but the worst grade for the pretty factor. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get these to look as good as they taste. If you like corn dogs, and you like jalepeno poppers, I can guarantee that you will like these. They were a little difficult and messy to make, but they were worth it. I wish I would have cut the cream cheese into smaller pieces to make the batter easier to work with, but I did like the big pockets of cream cheese that you would get while eating these.

I don’t know if I’d serve these up for company, because they were quite messy, but I would defnitely make up a batch for an easy lunch or dinner. (Minus the jalepenos for Abbi and Josh, extra jalepenos for me!!) But really, this was a delicious way to round up waffle week!

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Crispy Hash Brown Waffles

Deborah — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:00:02 +0000

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My favorite part of the weekend is Saturday morning. My husband doesn’t cook very much, but Saturday mornings are his morning, where he takes over in the kitchen and cooks us up a delicious feast. It usually is quite a splurge, filled with eggs and toast and sausage and hashbrowns. But boy, is it delicious. Don’t hate, but the hashbrowns are usually the frozen kind. And I’m not going to lie – I kind of like them. Especially when he cooks them up so they are nice and crispy on the outside, and piping hot on the inside. Serve it up with a bit of ketchup – yum, yum.

As much as I like those hashbrowns, I think I’m going to be taking over hashbrown duty from now on. Because these Crispy Hash Brown Waffles are so easy. And they were so good. This is yet another recipe that I would have never thought to make in a waffle maker, but once again – it totally works.

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Blogger Spotlight | Gourmande in the Kitchen

Deborah — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:00:19 +0000

I’m so excited to have today’s Blogger Spotlight here with us today. Sylvie Shirazi, from Gourmande in the Kitchen, is – in my opinion – one of the best food photographer/bloggers out there. Her photos of food are just amazing. Her blog is one that I could seriously look through for hours, just drooling over the gorgeous food. Her love of real food and ingredients is displayed so beautifully that it makes you want to get right into the kitchen. I’m so glad she is sharing here today!

I’m Sylvie Shirazi, the author, photographer and food lover behind Gourmande in the Kitchen, where I share simple, wholesome, real food recipes that celebrate the joy that good food can bring to our lives. I hope to inspire others to embrace real foods, follow their instincts, and find a sense of confidence in the kitchen as well as behind the camera. Join me as I pursue life with a camera in one hand and a fork in the other!

What inspired you to first start writing your blog?
I’ve been drawn to food and cooking from a very young age. As a child, I spent every summer in France with my maternal grandparents. Those summers were filled with some of my most cherished memories and each meal was lovingly prepared with fresh ingredients we bought almost daily from the local merchants.

Sylvie with her grandparents

Food was the center of daily life; when one meal was finished, we immediately planned and anticipated the next. I think that experience is what drives me to the kitchen, then and now, and served as my inspiration to start blogging.

Where do most of your recipes come from?
Most of the time when I’m cooking it’s based on what I have on hand or what I’m in the mood for. I look through recipes to get inspired but I rarely follow a recipe exactly as it was written. I turn to my grandmother’s well loved recipe cards first but I also like to checkout cookbooks from the library, and make notes of what flavor combinations I find interesting so I can try them. It’s a good jumping off point.

Do you plan a weekly menu? If so, what inspires your menu?
No I don’t create a menu but I do make a list of potential meal ideas based on what’s in my fridge or what I see at the market. After that I play it by ear based on what I’m in the mood for on any particular day.

What I crave changes daily (sometimes hourly) based on my mood and my source of inspiration, but I am most often drawn to fast, simple meals that include lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and cheeses.

What is your favorite kind of food to make?
The food I make is the food I crave: uncomplicated, flavorful, comforting to eat, with a focus on quality ingredients and minimal preparation that let the natural flavors of the food shine.

For me homemade food isn’t fussy or pretentious; it’s simple, it’s real and it’s made with love for those we love. My motto is: cook simply. I don’t think you always need a lot of time or a long list of ingredients to make satisfying and delicious food.

What is your favorite recipe posted on your blog?
It’s hard for me to pick a favorite because they are all special to me, but these are a few I go back to time and time again:

Spiced Rosemary Roasted Nuts

Chocolate Hazelnut Milk and Honey Cinnamon Cashew Milk

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Monte Cristo Waffle-Wiches

Deborah — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:00:40 +0000

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I have been obsessed with food for as long as I can remember. I remember as a child, seeing infomercials for sandwich makers. I’m sure many of you remember them – the infomercial showed that you could put sandwich bread in, put some pie filling on top, then top with another piece of bread. Cook in the little machine, and you have almost-instant mini pies! Or fill the sandwich with lunch meat and cheese for a warm, gooey sandwich. (And wow, I must live under a rock, because they still make these machines today! I had no idea!) I remember watching those infomercials, and wanting one so badly. I wanted those little hand-held pies. I wanted to feel like a rock-star in the kitchen, whipping up gourmet sandwiches. As I recall, my mom did eventually end up buying one, and I don’t think we made very many sandwiches in that machine. Turns out, they just weren’t as good as they looked on those infomercials. (surprise, surprise!)

Today, give me a panini press, and I’m sure I could whip up a pretty good sandwich. I think that the panini press is today’s version of that sandwich maker that was so popular when I was a kid – but I think the panini press is much more successful at making a good sandwich. But guess what? You don’t even need a panini press to whip up a darn good lunch – as long as you have a waffle maker!!

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Strawberry Shortcake Waffles

Deborah — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:00:53 +0000

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It’s day 2 of following along Rachael Ray’s Waffle Week! This is another waffle recipe that is probably more of a dessert than a breakfast, but no matter how you eat them, they are delicious! I’m dishing them up over at the Cafe Zupas blog today!

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Red Velvet Waffles with Cream Cheese Icing Drizzle

Deborah — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:00:33 +0000

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Happy Valentine’s Day!!

I couldn’t let the holiday pass without one last red velvet recipe. I’m a little obsessed! Actually, I had this crazy idea pop into my head, and I decided to go with it. I’m thinking I’m actually pretty crazy at this point, but we’ll see how this goes and how I am doing at the end of this week!

You see, last year around this time on Rachael Ray’s talk show, she had waffle week. I remember watching, and remember wanting to make every single recipe. But then time went by, and I didn’t try a single one of those waffle recipes. So imagine my surprise – and excitement! – when I saw that waffle week is back. And when I saw that the first recipe she was doing was red velvet waffles, I had this idea come to me. Of course I wanted to make the red velvet waffles, (obsessed), but what if I basically cooked along with Rachael during waffle week? What if I made all of those waffle recipes the same day that she makes them, and then post them the next day? Yeah, crazy, right?

Well, I’m doing it. I’ve bought all of the ingredients, although I don’t have the recipes yet, since they aren’t posted on the website until after the show airs. So I’m really flying by the seat of my pants here. It’s exciting, though – and I’m super excited to make every single one of these waffle recipes this week!

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Ramen Vegetable Beef Skillet

Deborah — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:00:23 +0000

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I used to blog just about everything that I made. Most of the time, I loved doing it. There is just something exciting to me about sharing my meals, and sharing my thoughts on everything that I make. My husband can only listen to me talk about food for so long, after all. But sometimes – especially in the dead of winter – it gets a bit difficult. To take a decent photo, I have to have dinner done early enough to get some good sunlight. Which means that I try to have things done before 3pm, to get my ideal lighting.

Sometimes, especially lately, I’ve wanted to cook dinner at a normal hour. I’ve wanted to cook dinner, and then just sit down and enjoy it. Not taking the extra time to pull out props, set up equipment, take a photo, then pack things away and re-heat when it’s time for dinner. And I’ve been doing a lot more of that lately! (Which is one reason why I don’t have a back-log of recipes to blog about like I used to have. But it keeps me on my toes!) And if you are on Pinterest, you chould check out my I Pinned It and Then I Made It board. It’s a work in progress, but this is where I plan on putting a lot of these recipes that I’m making but not blogging about. That way I can still share the food I’m making without having to actually blog about it!

This meal was actually one that I didn’t even plan on blogging about. But I really liked it, and it was so easy, that I just had to share!! I rarely have ramen noodle packages on hand, but during my move, I found a couple of packages packed away. I didn’t know what to do with them, and then I saw this recipe and knew it would be perfect. And then when I found myself with a half a head of cabbage that needed to be used, I knew it was fate! I used the whole seasoning packet when I made this, and it was a bit too salty, so I would suggest starting with half of the package and then tasting when it’s done, and adding more if it needs it. But I have a feeling that half the package will be plenty.

This is a perfect weeknight meal that comes together very easily, and is actually decently low in calories. And even though it has lots of veggies in it, kids will love it, too!

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Saturdays with Rachael Ray – Italian Chicken and Dumplings

Deborah — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:00:49 +0000

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I only moved about 45 minutes away from our last house. But honestly – sometimes it feels like I’m in a whole new place. 45 minutes away means you have to find new doctors, new pediatricians, new dentists. You have to get a new library card. You have to find new “best” roads to drive on and quickest ways to get places. And you have to get used to new stores.

I had things pretty well figured out where I lived before. If there was a certain ingredient that was a little harder to come by, I usually knew the one place to go to find it. I knew what ingredients to buy where, and what to leave off of my menu plan if I didn’t want to go to a certain store, or to multiple stores. But now that has all changed!! I had this meal on my menu plan. I bought all of the ingredients, but couldn’t find any gnocchi. I guess I really wanted to make this recipe, because I even considered making my own, (something that I’ve never done, although it is on my list of things I want to try very soon.) Luckily, I found some gnocchi, after a little bit of searching, and was able to try this recipe.

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And all of the searching was worth it. This meal may not look like much, but this was de-lic-ious. I actually even liked it more than I thought I would. And my husband was head over heels for it. In fact, while we almost always have leftovers, there wasn’t a bit left over after dinner. And this is so packed with veggies and goodness that you can feel pretty good while eating it, too!
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