Oh haaaay!

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!

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!

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!

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sammiches and a weekly menu!

At about 3 pm, I realized it was Sunday and we had no groceries nor a meal plan for the upcoming week. Problem was, we don't get paid until Friday and we're running a little low on the fundage, so I had to come up with a full week's worth menu spending less than $50 on groceries. We pretty much cleared out our entire kitchen after Thanksgiving, so there wasn't a whole lot to work with. Since I'm more of a chicken fan than a beef fan, a lot of our meals this week have chicken in them. But don't worry, on Friday we're having Prime Rib (yet another military ball), so I'll be sure to get my red meat fix in then. ;) Here's the menu for this week:

Sunday: Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Monday: Quiche (woo-hoo, breakfast for dinner!)

Tuesday: Homemade pepperoni and sausage pizza

Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Tacos

Thursday: Chicken Risotto

Friday: Out again!

Saturday: Umm...I totally forgot Saturday even existed.

We'll probably end up having friends over for dinner,

so I'll be sure to get back to ya.



Obviously, those are just the main dishes, as I have yet to decide what the sides will be. We have some baked potatoes, rice and veggies, mashed potatoes, fruit, and pasta that can be used, so we'll see what I come up with! There's also still some leftovers from Turkey Day, so I'm thinking that corn casserole will be reheated and eaten.

Before I go on to tonight's dinner, I want to post a dinner we had from the other night. I forgot to write about it and realized that last night, so I figured I'd play a little catch up and post it tonight. We had Hasselback potatoes and bleu cheese burgers. The potatoes looked NOTHING like the picture, I assume that I didn't cook them for long enough, so next time around, they'll be in the oven for a good hour. I'd also add a little more garlic and olive oil for more flavoring, but I think they have potential! You could also add in some bacon bits, bleu cheese crumbles, and even some shredded cheddar for an added yumminess factor. Here is the link for the taters, they were supes easy to make, so have no fear, just cook 'em a little longer than the requested time. And as far as the burgers go, just melt a little bleu cheese on top of the beef and add your regular toppings. Sooo delish.

Alright, tonight's meal was pretty yummy. I was craving some comfort food, and Liam's grilled cheese roll-up looked appetizing, so I decided to make a more "grown-up" version of that. I found this recipe for a Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese and just HAD to try it. I'm a big fan of buff chicken dip, so I figured if this recipe combines two of my favorite foods, it must be pretty dern good. We didn't have carrots, so we left those out. Not sure I would have added them anyways, but the recipe does call for them. I almost wish this sandwich had more of a "ranch" taste to it, but that's probably because I'm used to eating my buffalo chicken goodies with ranch or bleu cheese. I don't know, I was suddenly craving salad dressing while eating it. I think I'd definitely grill it on top of a stove in this instance as well, we used our George Forman, and it just wasn't crispy/buttery enough for me, if ya know what I mean. All in all, it was a good dinner and totally filling. J asked for seconds, and will probably bring the cold mixture to work-although now that I think about it, that mixture would taste really yummy on top of a salad. Drool.

Mmmkay, enough of my ramblings for the night, off to watch more Season 1 of Mad Men! ;)

Enjoy!

I'm exhausted!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our tiny little townhome yesterday. Eight adults and three children (all under the age of four, mind you) all smooshed into our little living room; sitting on the floor, random chairs, and our couch. As much work as it was, it was pretty amazing to be able to spend it with our friends, since we couldn't be with our families (buuut, I will say that I'm SO happy my hubs is home for these holidays-SO SO SO glad). J and I cooked pretty much everything-him the turkey and stuffing (dressing? stuffing? druffing?), and me the corn casserole, roadside potatoes, and the infamous Cheddar Bay buscuits (I'll admit, I'm obsessed, because they're so. easy.). We had so much food here, and tons and tons of leftovers. It was pretty awesome, and we were all exhausted by about 6:30. I think the two of us were in bed by like 7. Not quite sure we'll be hosting it again next year, but it was definitely quite the learning experience!

I made two DELICIOUS (sorta) new recipes for the dinner and lemme tell ya, got LOADS of compliments for both. I've made the potatoes in the past and they were a hit, so I figured I'd do 'em again. Plus, they're one of my favorite dishes that my mom makes, so I kinda wanted to make them to have a little piece of my fam. They're really, really, REALLY easy, but super unhealthy-but isn't that what Turkey Day is all about? ;) The corn casserole was even easier than the potatoes, and it turned out really light and fluffy-not too dry either. So, without further ado, here are the recipes, I really hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

The first is the corn casserole, which has been in my family for awhile. My mom gave me the recipe in a little scrapbook she made for me when J and I got married. It's got all my favorites, which make me feel close to my mommy when I'm having a bad day (sad, I know).

Corn Casserole

1 can of creamed corn

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 cup sour cream

1 stick margarine, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup water

1 package Jiffy Corn Muffin mix

Mix all ingredients together, then pour into a 9x13 pan.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes (edges will be golden but not too crunchy)

Told ya it was easy. Moving on...

The next is one of my all-time favorite dishes to eat and make is something we call Roadside Potatoes (sounds lovely, eh?). They're just as easy to make, and even more delicious to eat. Here's what to do:

3 cups half & half

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grated parmesan (I ran out and had to use the thin chunks of parm, but I crumbled it up and it tasted just as delish)

24 oz. (1 bag) frozen or fresh shredded hashbrowns (I use the frozen)

Mix together the first four ingredients.

Put the hashbrowns (they don't need to be thawed) into a 9x13 pan and pour the mixture over them.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour

So there ya have it, my easy "mix, dump, and bake" recipes. I know I've been slacking on the weekly recipes, but it's been so hectic around the L household that we've been eating a lot of leftovers and, shhhh, going out to eat (I got lazy). Once Monday rolls around, I should have a new recipe for ya, just gotta hop on Food Gawker and see what I can find! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of love, laughter, and delish dishes!

Homemade Chili=EPIC FAIL (& two more successes)!

Welp, the hubs attempted to make chili without a recipe. I was super excited to be able to share his AWESOME creation with you, but unfortunately, that will not be happening. He used a bit too much chili powder which resulted in a very SPICY dish (and not good spicy, but like "too much spices, it's really chalky" spicy). Really wouldn't have been a huge deal besides the fact we had already invited company over and needed to make a meal. Thankfully I had all the ingredients for our dinner that was supposed to be tonight, so I made that instead. It turned out pretty decent, but I didn't get any pics (I thought company might think I was kinda weird for taking pictures of my meals). I also made my Cheddar Bay Biscuits again (see previous post) and tried making some crispy asparagus spears, but those didn't turn out too well (let's not talk about that)-thankfully I had some extra veggies in the freezer! Anyways, I made Champp's Pasta Cake and although it was super cheesy and rich, it was pretty good! I poured spaghetti sauce over it, but I think some alfredo would be a whole lot better! Here's the recipe:

Champp's Pasta Cake

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 cups grated parmesan

2 cups grated mozzarella

1 cup heavy cream

2 eggs

1 tbsp. salt

freshly ground peper to taste

1 lb. (I just used one box) spaghetti cooked al dente

1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

1/4 cup melted butter

6-8 cups spaghetti/alfredo sauce

Combine ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, cream, eggs, salt, and pepper. Add cooked pasta. PRESS  mixture into buttered/greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes or until golden.

If you'd like to try the crispy asparagus spears, you can find the recipe right here. Hopefully you have better luck with it than I did! If not, just make sure you have some veggies handy! ;)

Alright, now onto my other recipe that actually turned out pretty dern delicious, even though we can barely take credit for it. I say "we" because my hubs was in charge of this meal and I offered up a few ideas to make it better. Anyways, we started with a box of Chicken Helper Cheesy Enchilada. He made that up and added some green peppers and cilantro. Once it was all cooked up (just follow the directions on the box), we rolled up the mixture into flour tortillas, added some shredded cheese, and baked them for like 7 minutes. After we pulled them out and they cooled down, we added some more cilantro, and, VOILA! Finished! They were so good! Hubs even heated the mixture up the next day and put it over some tortilla chips-SO. GOOD. He was so proud of himself and wanted to make sure I took a picture, so here ya go!

So there ya have it!

Enjoy!





Thursday=Epic Fail

It was FREEZING yesterday (well, not by NY standards, but it was the coldest it's been here yet) and when my husband finally came home, the kitchen was freezing and I just wasn't feeling making dinner or eating in there. Is that weird? I HATE when my house is cold, it doesn't feel cozy or welcoming at all. I even had a candle lit and my Scentsy warmer going, but nothing was helping! I had been dealing with demon child our sweet baby boy all day, and wanted out of the house, so I begged my husband to take me to BDubs (or BW3's/Buffalo Wild Wings/Whatever you choose to call it in your home) since I had been having mad cravings for their parm garlic boneless wings. He gave in (even though it wasn't "technically" in our budget-we had a little extra this paycheck) and we loaded up the Subi and headed out.

So, this means no awesome chili recipe for ya. I'm not quite sure my husband would have been able to pull it off since the ground turkey was barely thawed and it was already 4:30 (would have been 5 by the time he finally got his butt in gear), so who knows what would have happened had I not thrown in the towel before anything got started.

Since I don't want to leave you empty handed, I wanted to throw this Grilled Cheese Roll Up recipe your way. I know it sounds like just another grilled cheese, and it technically is, but ZOMG, they taste SO. GOOD. Liam has had them the past two days for lunch, and I have a feeling he's about to get another one today. They're super easy to make (although I used WAY too much butter-which wouldn't be such a bad thing since it WAS nummy, but didn't help my caloric intake for the day) and come out so gooey and delish. They're perfect for little hands too, and they're awesome for dipping (if you have a dip lover like me)! You could also throw in some chopped veggies or even some shredded lunch meat to make it extra nutritious. Dip them in some homemade tomato soup or marinara and...

Enjoy!