What's Cooking?

Thanks for your patience with my last week (and this week) as I added some new features to the blog.  I am still tweaking the categories, but hope to get that finished up this week. 

My hubby is out of town for a couple of days, so I won't be making anything too exciting early in the week, just a yummy chicken mushroom quesadilla perfect for lunch for just one. 

I also hope to make:

Cinnamon zucchini muffins

No-bake cookies (made without peanut butter!!)

Zucchini crisp ... yes, a dessert with zucchini!

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

Toasted Sandwiches

Blueberry French Toast (or Blueberry Overnight Granola Bake)

Thanks for stopping by this week!  I appreciate your support and comments -- I love knowing that you are finding good meals to try with your families. 

What's Cooking?

Good morning, friends.  Thanks for stopping by today!

This week, we're going to be cooking some yummy treats, as well as launching some fun new features :)  Please be patient with me as these new features become available.  I'm excited about them and hope that you will find them useful.  Please take a moment and answer my side-bar survey, or feel free to leave your comments below!

Here's what's on the menu:

Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes (made without oil)

Crockpot Lemony Herb Chicken

In-Season Garden Veggie Lasagna

Crockpot Hot Fudge Cake

Fudgesicles

For more of what we're eating this week, check out our meal plan!

What's Cooking?

This week will be an exciting one, here in our tiny apartment kitchen :)

It's our 2 year anniversary!!!  And, as part of our special day, I'm going to try to recreate our wedding dinner.  I picked up on this fun idea from FishMama, over at Life as Mom, who hosts Ultimate Recipe Swap each Thursday, and I'm really excited to do so!



For our special day, we'll be cooking up.... homemade pasta noodles, alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, broccoli and garlic bread (or bread sticks)!  Then, to top off the meal, we'll be remaking (okay, not this pretty)



our wedding cake! We had a wonderful friend make our cake (which was awesome because I knew it was nut-free and I could enjoy it without worry), and she was so kind as to share her frosting recipe with us, so we can make a small cake to enjoy together!  I make no promises that my cake will even closely resemble hers -- in fact, I'm not going to try -- but it will be tasty. 

For the rest of the week, we're cooking up new recipes, especially those with blueberries and zucchini because these are in-season for us right now:

Berry-Filled Whole Wheat Crepes

Zucchini Parmesan

Broccoli Hotdish

Blueberry Parfaits

Whole wheat blueberry pancakes

Crockpot Apple Bacon Pork Chops (with sauteed zucchini and mushrooms)

Lemon Blueberry Scones

Chocolate Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins

Pepperoni and Mozzarella Panini* (I'm looking for a good bread to make this Panini on... any recommendations?)

Quesadillas

Carrot and Zucchini Creamy Hotdish

Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp


Enjoy your week in the kitchen!

What's Cooking this week?

I think we're finally settling back to normal around here. While it was a blast to have both of our families visit over the past couple of weeks, it's nice to return to "abnormal" :)

While my in-laws were here, I made my new favorite brownies and they were a big hit! My mother-in-law has an allergy to both wheat and dairy, so those brownies were perfect for her.

My gluten-free cooking for the week also included Crockpot Swiss Steak (make with corn starch rather than flour) served over rice, Grilled Chicken with sweet potato fries (and a new recipe for regular fries -- coming soon!), and we finished out the weekend with Grilled Italian Sausages, peppers and rice. Delicious.

This week, you'll find we're making:

Creamy Mushrooms and Pasta

Cherry Crisp

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Penne with Broccoli and Red Pepper

Vegetable Beef Soup

Cheesy Biscuits

Veggie-Filled Quesadillas

Chicken and Squash Bake

Baked Apples

Sweet Potato Muffins

Lucy's Crustless Quiche

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

Pizza


All unlinked recipes will be posted this week as we make them! Happy Cooking!

What's Cooking?

I finally feel like I'm getting back to normal! My family was here last week, and we had a fantastic time (if you'd like to see photos, click here). We spent the first part of our time together visiting my in-laws, and the rest of our time back in our place playing games, going for walks, and of course, cooking! It was so fun to have my mom in the kitchen (and my sister too) with me :)

My mom is really where I got my cooking "gene" from. She's an AMAZING baker. Really. And, it was fun to share my tiny apartment kitchen with her. My sister is turning into quite the little chef herself... but most of her time is taken up learning how to become a nurse. I'm sure she'll enjoy cooking for herself more when she graduates in the spring!!

We enjoyed lots of yummy foods last week, and after taking it easy in the kitchen eating up leftovers after my family left, I'm ready for another week.

This week, we're cooking:

Chicken Pasta Salad (excellent warm or chilled)

Garden Veggie Calzones/Stromboli

Ham and Asparagus Lasagna

Brownie Oatmeal Cookies

Garden Quiche

Garlic Chicken and Spinach Spaghetti

Blueberry Zucchini Muffins (hopefully!)

Lemon Ice

Cheese Bread

Oh, and one more thing -- I've rearranged the recipes on the side bar to make it easier for you to find the recipes you might be looking for.... you'll see that desserts are now subdivided as are dinners! Let me know if there's anything else I can do to make finding recipes on this blog easier for you.

Thanks again for all your comments. As a cook, I love hearing how other people enjoyed (or didn't enjoy) the recipes you find here.

Happy Cooking!

What's going on in my kitchen?!

My apologies for being a "slacker" cook over the past week or so. With Frog Prince being gone last week, I ended up eating a bunch of leftovers rather than cooking a bunch of new things. But, I have not abandoned my kitchen... in fact, I am looking forward to a cooler week to do some bulk baking!

Here's what's cooking this week:

Snacks
Fruit Leathers
Dried Fruit
Granola
Cheesy Crackers, and maybe some Animal Crackers!
Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels


Dinners
Red Pepper Tortellini
Pepper and Spinach Pizza
Mushroom and Pepper Pizza
Spaghetti
Crockpot Apple Bacon Pork Chops


Desserts
Homemade Ice Cream with Cherry Sauce
Brownies (made with black beans -- shhh, don't tell anyone)
4th of July Red, White and Blue Dessert


Breads
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Whole Wheat Tortillas (for freezer)
Orange Cranberry Muffins


That's a hefty cooking week... I guess that's what happens when your family comes into town!!

Here's to a week of joyful cooking!

Crockpot Chili Cook-off!

Today, our department hosted the Chili Cook-Off! Thank you for all of you who helped me make the decision on which chili to enter! I ended up going with Lucy's chili, because I wanted to enter something that was a little different - lots of veggies, less meat. I had to enter the meat category, so I was up against some serious meaty chilies!

The adventure started with some beautiful peppers and diced veggies...



Then, I got signed in and found my spot at the tables... #20.

I got such a cool apron for entering chili!

And the chili cookers started filing in...

I scoped out the competition, and told my friend he needed to leave his 4 month-old out of the competition or things would be unfair :) No winning on account of cuteness of a little baby.

There were crockpots of all kinds...

filled with delicious looking chili


The tasting began...

and I served up Lucy's Chili!


But I made sure to save some for the judges. There were over 40 chilies to choose from - wow, that must have been tough.

Frog Prince and his buddy scoped out the chili and started to taste,

while the judges began their work...

and the sign of full tummies stuffed with good chili scattered the tables.

The judges made their final decisions -

And chili #14 got the top prize

We had an excellent time at the Chili Cook-Off!

From Chili Cookoff

Chili Cook-off!

Friday it is!!!!!!! The chili cook-off is here. Just for entering we get a fun apron -- and the prizes... oh, I'm excited. I'm aiming to take home an orchid :)

But, I need your help -- which chili recipe should I take?!

Lucy's AMAZING chili

or

Chicken Chili (this is also AMAZING, even though AMAZING is not in the title)

What do you think?

Chili Cook-off!

My department is going to have a crock pot chili cook off in 1 month! There's both a meat and a veggie-based category for the competition, and I'm not sure which one I'll be entering. Maybe I can convince Frog Prince to enter one too! I have a couple of stand-by chili recipes... but I'm open to suggestions!

Here's my question for you -- what ingredients/flavors do you love in a good bowl of chili?