April 22, 2015
by Ashley
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Polish Pierogies

Our Polish friends will be so proud!

These were a creation after our Easter meal with all of the leftovers. We had a lot of cooked pork tenderloin leftover. We made fried rice out of some of the meat and tried this as well. I always try to come up with something different to make with our leftovers rather than just heating them up. I don’t like eating the same thing over and over again, so trying new things help finish leftovers without me getting sick of them.

Polish Pierogies

1 lb thinly sliced smoked pork tenderloin
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 package round egg roll wrappers
vegetable oil
water

Mix together the mashed potatoes and meat. Stuff each egg roll wrapper with about a tablespoon of filling and use the water to seal the egg roll wrappers. Once all of the wrappers have been filled. Heat a nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat and put in about 1 tsp of vegetable oil. Swirl in pan to coat. Add pierogies and brown one side evenly. Pour in 1/3 cup of water and cover for about 2 minutes or until pierogies are cooked. Transfer to a pan and keep warm in the oven.

We served this with Zurek.

April 21, 2015
by Ashley
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Steak au Poivre

We don’t eat beef much. But on occasion, we will buy some steaks and try to come up with something awesome to make. This is our most recent success.

I bought a family pack of steaks and froze two for another night. This gives us an easy dinner option for a night in the near future.

Steak au Poivre

4 steaks
Kosher salt
2 tbsp whole green peppercorns
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup Brandy, plus 1 teaspoon
1 cup heavy cream

Put the steaks on a plate and salt them with about 1/2 tsp each steak. Cover both sides. With a morter and pestal, hand grind the green peppercorns until most of them are cracked. Cover the steaks with the peppercorns on both sides. At this point you can let them rest until you are ready to start dinner.

Heat up a large frying pan with olive oil and butter. Place the steaks in the pan and cook for 4 minutes per side. Place on a plate with to rest with foil tented over the top. Turn off the heat and add the brandy. Light brandy with a lighter…make sure to stand back so you don’t get hit with flames. Fire will burn out after about a minute…be careful. Turn on the heat to medium and add the cream. Whisk for about 5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add one teaspoon of brandy right before serving.

I served with with a some portabella mushrooms that I fried in pan after I took out the steaks and before I added the brandy. They were a great addition to the meal.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/steak-au-poivre-recipe.html

April 20, 2015
by Ashley
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Potato Skins

I love appetizers. We frequently have appetizers for dinner. I make many different recipes on those nights, and usually serve with my favorite cheese platter and baguettes.

This is a great appetizer that can be made in a small or large amount. I have taken these to many different potlucks, and they are always gone before I leave. You can bake the potatoes if you would rather, but I am usually in a hurry and I microwave them.

Potato Skins

4 russet potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella
4 strips of bacon, cooked
2 green onions (or chives), chopped
Olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash and dry potatoes. Use a knife and poke holes with a fork or small knife all over each potato so they don’t blow up. Microwave for 5 – 10 minutes. Check after 5 to see if they are cooked by pressing down on them to see if they give.

Cut the potatoes in half and dig out a small portion of the inside, being careful not to get too close to the skins. You want them to stay intact. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and salt & pepper. Bake for 10 minutes. Fill each potato skin with a little cheese and bacon. Bake until cheese melts, about 3 – 5 minutes. Once finished, put on a serving dish and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Serve with sour cream.

April 18, 2015
by Ashley
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Israeli Couscous Fiesta Salad

It has been really wonderful weather in Wisconsin this past week. Dream like really. Warm, perfect picnicing weather and no bugs. Couldn’t be nicer.

So after a wonderful picnic with two of my sister-in-laws, 5 kids and discussing what we were making for dinner…I decided to try something different. So I took out some frozen black beans, frozen corn and anything else with a fiesta feel and tossed it in a bag. When it was time to construct the salad, I made the couscous and poured everything together in moments. Great side dish with anything grilled. The kids loved the salad, which I was pleasantly surprised about.

PS This picture doesn’t do the salad justice…it was really good.

Israeli Couscous Fiesta Salad

2 cups cooked Israeli Couscous (follow directions on container)
1 cup black beans
1 1/2 cups corn
1/2 red onion, diced
2 tbsp cilantro
1 avocado, diced
4 small red & orange sweet peppers, or 1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp adobo seasoning
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 lime, juiced
2 tsp olive oil

Mix everything together and serve. Quick and easy. Can replace couscous with any other whole grain. Also, if preparing some ahead of time, wait until just before serving to add in the avocado.

April 17, 2015
by Ashley
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Grapefruit Margaritas

I have been on a grapefruit kick lately. So when I bought a bag of grapefruits, I was actually intending to eat them all. Then, time got away and the grapefruits started to look really sad. So instead of eating the very sad looking grapefruit…I juiced it and made this. It was great!

You should try this! It was a beautiful day in Wisconsin and we had some mexican inspired food to go along with these lovely drinks.

Grapefruit Margarita

4 oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
4 oz tequila
2 oz triple sec
pinch chipotle pepper powder

kosher salt & more chipotle pepper powder

Mix the first four ingredients in your shaker along with 4 ice cubes. Shake! Rim two margarita glasses with salt & chipotle pepper powder. Put two cubes of ice in each glass and split margarita into the two glasses.

Enjoy!

April 15, 2015
by Ashley
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Southwestern Baked Egg Rolls

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe, and it is wonderful. A fusion of mexican ingredients with an chinese twist. Pretty cool, and very good! I did have to change a couple of things from the original recipe. Below is my version, but you can find the original recipe here.

Southwestern Baked Egg Rolls

2 cups frozen corn, thawed
2 cups black beans, cooked
6 oz fresh spinach, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 package large egg roll wrappers (about 16 total) or small (about 24)

Mix together all ingredients except for the wrappers. I used large wrappers, and made entree sized egg rolls, but you can use smaller ones to get appetizer sizes as well.

Preheat oven to 425°F. To stuff egg rolls: Lay egg roll in front of you like a diamond. Fill the middle with about 1/4 cup+ (overfill cup) of filling per wrapper. Fold wrapper from the bottom corner into the center over the filling. Fold each side in. Wet the top edge with water and roll to the center. Place on an oiled baking sheet and continue with the rest of the egg rolls. Make sure the wrapper is filled, but not over filled. Spray with cooking spray and put into the preheated oven for 20 – 30 minutes. Flip halfway through to ensure even cooking. Serve with sour cream, salsa and/or guacamole.

April 13, 2015
by Ashley
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Easter/Birthday Party

This year, we decided to celebrate Finnegan and Ellis’s birthdays on Easter. Katie was in charge of decor and dessert…and we hosted the party and did the meal. The day worked out really well and the weather cooperated perfectly. We had around 45 people, and everyone seemed to enjoy the day. My oldest brother Brandon, thankfully, brought his bounce house which entertained the children for 5 straight hours. We had 12 kids under 6 years old, so we were in need of lots of entertainment.

As I said before, Katie did the decorations and the dessert. You can see her pictures and blog post here. She took some really nice pictures of the kids playing and of the adorable desserts she made. She spent hours decorating the cake and cookies, making the cheesecakes and stuffing easter eggs. I didn’t get any pictures of the Easter egg hunt, but the kids sure loved it!

Our major accomplishment for the party was the braided and smoked pork tenderloin that Paul spent Saturday making. We decided to work ahead of the party this time, so we made mashed potatoes, cut up carrots and other veggies and prepared the meat. Everything turned out wonderful and we were less stressed because it was basically done before the day even started. Big plus for us!

Here is the braided and smoked pork tenderloin. I will post exactly how we did it in the near future. It was delicious.

Paul preparing the meat.

The salads and appetizers.

The adorable birthday babies. I can’t believe my baby is already 6 years old!!! Their uncle is photo bombing the picture as you can see.

Party people and enjoying the birthday lunch!

The gift opening.

Katie’s adorable sign for the party.

The dessert table on the deck.

Cool table liner with the kids names.

Check out Katie’s website to see more pictures.

April 11, 2015
by Ashley
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Knit Cowl and Fingerless Gloves

After my family and cooking, my favorite hobby has to be knitting. I started knitting about 5 years ago. I really wanted to make our Christmas stockings after Finnegan was born, with our names knitted into the cuff. I was taught how to knit as a young child from my Grandma Grace, and then in college I learned how to crochet. I spent hours crocheting, usually at the front desk. My friends probably all remember me sitting there, crocheting into the night, working at the front desk and greeting them all as they got back from their nights out. I crocheted blankets…really, big blankets. I crocheted these large blankets until Finnegan was born. But I was getting a little tired of crocheting the blankets because I didn’t know anything other than a double crochet stitch and I was running out of people to gift the blankets to. Plus, lugging around a huge project when I wanted to work on it was getting a little much. So, I started to look to knitting. I had totally forgotten how to knit, and only had my grandma’s old knitting needles to start with. So I turned to youtube, and retaught myself. Thus starting my knitting journey.

It came back to my quicker than I thought it would. I drew out a pattern for a stocking that I wanted to make, with multiple colors and designs, found a stocking pattern on a basic stocking and made one. I did have to pull the first stocking apart about 3 times, but I finally caught on and finished it.

This is one of my newer projects, a gift for my sister-in-laws birthday. I started out making a cowl and realized I had enough yarn to also make fingerless gloves. I gave them to her a little earlier than her birthday, because I was worried she wouldn’t have enough winter left to wear them. Turns out I was wrong since we got 7 inches of snow soon after.

I will try to get a picture of her wearing these and post them soon.

April 10, 2015
by Ashley
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Avocado Soup with Adobo Shrimp

This is a fantastic soup. That is the best way to introduce this. It is pretty awesome. We love to eat this in the summer, for a nice light dinner. We also really like to eat this in the winter, and dream of the summer. Try this, you won’t be disappointed.

Avocado Soup with Adobo Shrimp (serves 2)

Soup
1 avocado, diced & peeled
1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp cilantro
1 tbsp lime juice
1 pinch kosher salt
1 pinch pepper

Sour Cream Garnish
1/3 cup sour cream
1 tbsp cilantro
1 tsp lime zest
1/2 tsp pepper

Shrimp & Corn Garnish
14 raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1 pinch kosher salt
1/2 (7oz) can chiles in adobo with sauce, chiles chopped (about 3 tbsp)
1 cup corn
1/4 cup onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp lime juice

I usually start with making the soup. In a blender, combine all soup ingredients. Blend until pureed and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Mix sour cream with cilantro, zest and pepper and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve the soup.

Defrost shrimp if frozen, and mix with cumin, pepper and salt. Heat up a saute pan with a little drizzle of olive oil. Saute shrimp until opaque, about 4 minutes. Add in corn, onion and garlic and saute for about 3 minutes longer. We like things spicy, so we use the whole can of chiles, but if you like things a little milder, use only one chile. Put the chiles into the saute pan along with the lime juice and saute 1 more minute.

In serving dishes, split the cold soup between the two soup bowls. Split the shrimp mixture between the two bowls, making sure each dish gets the same amount of shrimp. Split the sour cream garnish between the two dishes and serve.

I use this recipe almost exactly.

5 points

April 9, 2015
by Ashley
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Easter Morning

Holidays are really fun. I really like to try to do something special for my kids, so they remember the holidays and have fun. This Easter I tried to make it fun. I was reading an Easter book to the kids the night before and Finnegan announced he knows that the Easter Bunny is fake. My reply was this…

Me – “Ooohh, are you going to ruin the holiday?”
Finn – Looks at me like I am crazy.
Me – “You know what I was always told? If you don’t believe in the Easter bunny, you won’t get a basket on Easter.”
Finn – Looks at me for a long moment…and says ” I do believe.”

Ha! I know he still doesn’t but at least his sister thinks he does.

We colored eggs that night as well. Here is a picture of my sweet babies, coloring eggs.

As a child, our baskets were always hidden. We got to do a long scavenger hunt through the house to try to find those sneaky baskets. I knew that the kids were going to do an Easter Egg hunt the next day during our Easter/Birthday Party bash, so I didn’t want to do it again. Each clue was hidden with two to four eggs filled with one piece of candy.

Easter basket hunt…clues and eggs.

Our first clue was found on the kitchen island.

Notice how Isla really doesn’t care much about the clues, but more for the chocolate in the eggs? Yep, that is my girl.

Our sneeky baskets…found in the kids bathtub.

It was a fun basket hunt, and even more of a fun day. More pictures of our Easter/Birthday to follow.