Alas, I've been neglecting BOTH my blogs. Poor Fashion Lust hasn't seen a new entry in weeks, but to tell you the truth, I am absolutely wiped by the end of the day that I usually have no inspiration to write. It's a bummer.
I haven't really been baking/cooking as much lately either. We've been in this weird limbo phase, and now that we're leaving in three days for MN/IA (woo-hoo 20 hour road trip!), I really didn't feel like menu planning and buying a whole bunch of ingredients that I'd use once and the leftovers would sit in our fridge for a month. So for the next couple of days it's turkey tacos, angel hair "spaghetti" w/meatballs, and frozen pizzas. Lame sauce.
I do plan on bringing my new recipes along for the ride and sharing them with my fam. My mom had hip replacement surgery a few weeks ago, so I want to help out in any way I can. I know she's been super proud of me for trying new things in the kitchen, so I figure I can show her some of the stuff I've made. Hopefully she'll like it! Plus, I've been craving my turkey chili that I made a week or so ago, so that's just another excuse to whip up another batch!
Ok, since I don't have any new recipes to share, I wanted to talk about my other favorite love; wine. I've recently become highly obsessed with Coyote Moon Vineyards in Clayton, NY. They are a local winery that has some of the most delicious wines I've ever tasted. The atmosphere is awesome too, even though we're there once a month to just kinda hang and taste the wine, the employees are always super kind and just fine to be around. They're so informed about what they're serving, and I LOVE that. You can definitely see and taste the passion they have for the vino! I LOVE their Naked Chardonnay (the label is pretty awesome as well if you can imagine), it's not oakey at all, but still has that dryness of a good chardonnay. Their Twisted Sister is also amazeballs. They've been out of stock for awhile, but you better bet I'll be buying a few bottles once they're back! It's right between a semi-sweet and semi-dry red wine. They also just came out with a new sweet white wine called Fireboat White-I plan on throwing some of that in the crock pot with their mulling spices and enjoying it on Christmas Eve!
So that's my Coyote Moon shoutout. I'm so glad that the North Country/Thousand Island area has such awesome wineries, I can't wait til it's warmer and I can explore the wine trail without freezing my bum off!
If I don't make another post, I wish you all a happy holiday season!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Cheesy Potato Soup!
If you haven't already figured it out, I have a love for cheese. A big, big, BIG love. If cheez-whiz was healthy, I'd pour it over everything. I also have a taste for fine cheese (I'm so refined), I grew up trying all sorts of new cheeses with my dad. Anyways, you'll find that a lot of my recipes use cheese, we go through a lot of those big bags of shredded cheese in this house. I don't think I could ever cut dairy out of my diet-thank jeebus I'm not lactose intolerant!
Aaaanyways, I've been craving a good potato soup, but am always weary because the potatoes never seem to cook and it never gets creamy enough. I found a super easy recipe on Crockin' Girls and decided to give it a go. It uses frozen hashbrowns, so I knew that they'd cook through easily, and they did! The only thing that could have been better was the "cheese factor". The second I put the cheese in, it got all stringy and melted SUPER fast. I wonder if Velveeta would work better, otherwise I might try some cream of cheddar soup next time around.
All in all, it was a good meal, and between 4 of us, the entire crockpot was finished. I had three servings, and I know everyone else had at least two. If you have a little extra time, cook up some bacon and chop it off, bacon bits are good, but they just aren't the same as crunchy REAL bacon. ;)
You can find the recipe right here, enjoy!
Aaaanyways, I've been craving a good potato soup, but am always weary because the potatoes never seem to cook and it never gets creamy enough. I found a super easy recipe on Crockin' Girls and decided to give it a go. It uses frozen hashbrowns, so I knew that they'd cook through easily, and they did! The only thing that could have been better was the "cheese factor". The second I put the cheese in, it got all stringy and melted SUPER fast. I wonder if Velveeta would work better, otherwise I might try some cream of cheddar soup next time around.
All in all, it was a good meal, and between 4 of us, the entire crockpot was finished. I had three servings, and I know everyone else had at least two. If you have a little extra time, cook up some bacon and chop it off, bacon bits are good, but they just aren't the same as crunchy REAL bacon. ;)
You can find the recipe right here, enjoy!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
End of the week catch-up!
Oh boy, things have been caaarazy around here! My little nugget has officially hit his terrible two's-six months early. I swear, if I thought I didn't have a minute to myself before, I was wrong! My blogging has taken a backseat, and finding time to plan a weekly menu (and look for new recipes) is few and far between. But I'm here now, so all is well in the world. :)
Last week's menu turned out pretty decent considering we were supes low on fundage. I already shared the recipe for the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheeses, you can find that in the previous post. Monday we had quiche which was REALLY easy. I just bought some frozen pie crusts (you can find them in the frozen dessert section) and then we mixed 3 eggs and 1 cup of half and half. You just stir in your favorite ingredients (we used bacon and cheese because we're boring, but you can add ham, canadian bacon, green onions, peppers, etc) and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. We also made some homemade waffles to go along with it. I love breakfast for dinner nights! On Wednesday, we made BBQ Chicken Tacos and they were seriously the easiest thing I've EVER made. Just throw 3-4 chicken breasts into the crock pot, add about 1/2 cup of water, and chop up half an onion. I think I let it cook for like 6-7 hours (until the chicken was tender), then I shredded it. I'd pull the breasts out if you can so you don't have to try and drain the remnants out afterwards. Add some BBQ sauce and you're set to go! We rolled 'em up in flour tortillas with some shredded cheddar and called it a day. They were super yummy and I knew I couldn't mess them up, so I didn't have to stress all day. We paired them with some steamed veggies and rice (that come in the package-so easy) and called it a day. Those are all the recipes I have, the chicken risotto didn't happen, but see this week's menu for that. :)
Tonight I made turkey chili (and am actually eating it as I type). It turned out 1,000 times better than our last go at chili (probably because I, unlike my husband, choose to follow a recipe). I only used one can of kidney beans and cooked it on low for about 3 hours (only because I forgot to turn the crock pot on and realized it an hour later), and it turned out juuuust fine. Add a little cheddar and some deeelish Club minis and that's all you need. I had hoped to make some cornbread muffins, but I forgot to pick up the mix. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE The Crockin' Girls? They have EVERY crockpot recipe you could ever want or need, and that's where I found the Turkey Chili recipe. Their recipes are super easy to follow too, so have no fear!
This week I'm really excited to incorporate orzo into our meal. I bought one of those Philadelphia cream cheese cooking sauce thingys, so I think I'm going to make a chicken/orzo/creamy dish. I'm probably going to wing it, so wish me luck!
I'm going to post this week's menu tomorrow, since I'm too lazy to get up from the couch, and the Packer/Giant's game is pretty close! ;)
Oh, and I picked up a bottle of Cupcake Red Velvet wine tonight and it is SO good! I'm trying new types of reds now, and I'm excited to find one that I really love! And plus, now I can buy new red wine glasses! Woop!
Last week's menu turned out pretty decent considering we were supes low on fundage. I already shared the recipe for the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheeses, you can find that in the previous post. Monday we had quiche which was REALLY easy. I just bought some frozen pie crusts (you can find them in the frozen dessert section) and then we mixed 3 eggs and 1 cup of half and half. You just stir in your favorite ingredients (we used bacon and cheese because we're boring, but you can add ham, canadian bacon, green onions, peppers, etc) and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. We also made some homemade waffles to go along with it. I love breakfast for dinner nights! On Wednesday, we made BBQ Chicken Tacos and they were seriously the easiest thing I've EVER made. Just throw 3-4 chicken breasts into the crock pot, add about 1/2 cup of water, and chop up half an onion. I think I let it cook for like 6-7 hours (until the chicken was tender), then I shredded it. I'd pull the breasts out if you can so you don't have to try and drain the remnants out afterwards. Add some BBQ sauce and you're set to go! We rolled 'em up in flour tortillas with some shredded cheddar and called it a day. They were super yummy and I knew I couldn't mess them up, so I didn't have to stress all day. We paired them with some steamed veggies and rice (that come in the package-so easy) and called it a day. Those are all the recipes I have, the chicken risotto didn't happen, but see this week's menu for that. :)
Tonight I made turkey chili (and am actually eating it as I type). It turned out 1,000 times better than our last go at chili (probably because I, unlike my husband, choose to follow a recipe). I only used one can of kidney beans and cooked it on low for about 3 hours (only because I forgot to turn the crock pot on and realized it an hour later), and it turned out juuuust fine. Add a little cheddar and some deeelish Club minis and that's all you need. I had hoped to make some cornbread muffins, but I forgot to pick up the mix. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE The Crockin' Girls? They have EVERY crockpot recipe you could ever want or need, and that's where I found the Turkey Chili recipe. Their recipes are super easy to follow too, so have no fear!
This week I'm really excited to incorporate orzo into our meal. I bought one of those Philadelphia cream cheese cooking sauce thingys, so I think I'm going to make a chicken/orzo/creamy dish. I'm probably going to wing it, so wish me luck!
I'm going to post this week's menu tomorrow, since I'm too lazy to get up from the couch, and the Packer/Giant's game is pretty close! ;)
Oh, and I picked up a bottle of Cupcake Red Velvet wine tonight and it is SO good! I'm trying new types of reds now, and I'm excited to find one that I really love! And plus, now I can buy new red wine glasses! Woop!
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