Quick Beef Tacos

No picture but this recipe was so easy that I thought I would share. This is another one from Real Simple’s Month of Easy Dinners. I’m not sure you can make tacos any easier! Somehow we had ended up with three opened jars of salsa in our refrigerator so this was a great way to get rid of at least one of them! We actually really enjoyed these – not a gourmet meal by any stretch of the imagination but simple and tasty nonetheless. I used turkey instead of beef and I thought it was great. I think next time it might be nice to sautee up some onions and maybe some bell peppers to into the meat as well.

*I also tried the Salmon with Lemon-Cilantro Vinaigrette but that was not as big of a hit – I think my salmon pieces were too thick.

Ravioli with Apples and Walnuts

I don’t have a picture of this recipe, but I made it last week and I really enjoyed it. I love pasta and I’ve always thought apples, nuts, and cheese were  fabulous compination! This recipe is super easy – just throw it together. I used whole weet 4 cheese raviolis and added way more cheese than called for – typical.

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

I’m sorry my book reviews are not nearly as extensive and well-thought-out as I would like! Oh well – too many other things to worry about. I started this book on my last break from school in August and didn’t have a chance to finish it then, so I picked it up during this last break (a new class starts today). I read about this book on a blog a long time ago and I have no idea where! I put it on my paperbackswap.com list and received it. I can’t decide if I really liked this book or not. First of all – here’s the disclaimer – I am not the target audience for this book so I’m not sure I’m expected to think it was the best book in the world. Chef Anthony Bourdain pretty much offers his memoir of time working in restaurant kitchens. It was definitely an interesting read I liked (most of the time) getting a rather raw view of what goes on behind the kitchen doors in a restaurant – turns out Gordon Ramsey is pretty mild compared to an average chef! I think I liked the begining and the ending of the book more than the middle. There was a time where most of his time was spent just doing drugs and living a rough life and I started to a loose a little interest – and hope, but I thought the book ended well. It’s a pretty raw and sometimes humorous account and I have a better appreciation for people that work in the restaurant industry. I don’t think I’ll ever go to a brunch buffet again and I will certainly be thoughtful about where and what days I order fish when I’m out!

The Phoebe Bag

What’s this? I sewing post? I can hardly believe it either! But there it is, last Saturday I got home from a day in Marble Falls with the fam and decided that it was time to make me a new purse! I used my fabulous Ikea fabric that I love and made this super easy bag! A lot of people have made it and who can blame them? It’s easy it looks great and it’s free! So if you haven’t made one, you should. It’s a great size too…my stuff actually fits in there without coming out the top of my purse. You may notice the lack of a flap with a magnetic snap on my bag…well, i didn’t have one on hand so I just didn’t put one on. What’s kind of cool about that approach is that the bag could actually be reversible – there would just be a pocket on the exterior if I turned it inside which wouldn’t be so bad! There were a couple of things I did differently than the instructions said, but nothing ridiculous. I’ve made a couple of purses so when the instructions suggested doing a couple of things different ways, I decided to just do it the way that I knew how. The directions were really straight forward and I found them easy to follow – fun and rewarding pattern to sew. As you can see in the second picture I decided to use one of the fun stitches on my machine to topstitch around the top of the bag when I was finishing it out…it makes me happy.

Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Onions

I really liked this meal – super easy! Chop up two sweet potatoes and one onion, mix it with a little olive oil and thyme and throw the chicken in and there you have it. The most time consuming part for me was piecing the chicken and that didn’t even take very long! I think you  could make this even easier by just purchasing a pacakge of thighs and putting them in there if you are opposed to taking apart a chicken. As you can see from the picture, the chicken is looking a little pasty. I think next time I will brown it first before putting it in the pan. The chicken was finished for me at 40 minutes so I removed it to a plate and returned the veggies for another 5 since they were not quite as soft as I wanted. the chicken was simple and tasty…but the veggies – yum! Now I love sweet potatoes so I’m a bit biased but I could have just sat there and eaten the sweet potatoes and the onions right out of the pan filled with thyme infused chicken drippings and olive oil! Super simple meal and probably didn’t cost more than $6.50 total and it could easily feed 4-5 adults depending on how much chicken they eat. This was another recipe from the month of dinners from Real Simple magazine and you can check it out here.

Creamy Rice with Roasted Shrimp

Another Real Simple recipe from their month of meals. Again, no picture – sorry, I’m lazy. I made the Creamy Rice with Roasted Shrimp. This is a recipe for someone who wants to make risotto but has no desire to stir for such a long time. The recipe uses arborio rice and after stirring in the wine until it is absorbed, you just add the water and let it simmer like regular rice. This was another very easy recipe, but I actually really liked it. I kept going back to get more shrimp and tomatoes and dipping them into the left over olive oil and garlic that was in the roasting pan! Easy and satisfying and a simple risotto fix (now, it does not taste like risotto that someone has stood over and stirred for long periods of time, but it was a really easy substitute – and more healthy – no cream).

Pork Chops with Garlicky Broccoli

In the spirit of fast and simple meals I was delighted when last month Real Simple did a month of meals – 5 meals a week for 4 weeks. They gave you recipes and even a shopping list divided into what you may already have and what you may need to buy! Now, I haven’t followed this exactly. In fact I only picked recipes I really thought we would like and that didn’t require any special slightly expensive ingredients. Now sadly, my first recipe attempt was a Beef and Bok Choy Stir Fry and that was somewhat of a disaster so I won’t be posting about it (good news is I had bok choy later that week at a Whole Foods Culinary Class and it made me feel better about it, although I must admit it’s not my favorite green vegetable). Despite the cooking failure with the stir fry, I soldiered on. I made the Pork Chops with Garlicky Broccoli. There was a deal with boneless pork chops so I used those instead of bone-in and they worked great. I really liked the broccoli and the pork chops turned out very tender! It’s a very simple recipe, but we really enjoyed it.

A Haircut

Turner finally got his long overdue haircut last week. We love it when he gets all furry, but I know he was hot and he was getting so dirty so often, so we finally took him to get it all cut off…we miss his furriness but I think he’s more comfortable.

Before. Look at how furry!

After. Kind of hard to tell from this picture…he refused to uncurl himself to pose this morning.

Food for Finals (i.e. Ellie doesn’t have to cook!)

The day I took my final my brother and his girlfriend very thoughtfully offered to cook dinner for Jeremy and me! I came home from my test and got to sit around and drink wine well some wonderful smells came from the kitchen. Jen is super fun and as it turns a great cook! They grilled salmon with a roasted garlic sauce that was very good. They made some potatoes that I loved (if you read this blog you know I love me some potatoes!) and the veggies were so good! Finally, they made artichokes. Michael and I had talked about how we used to have these when we were younger and loved them, so they actually found some at the store and made them – so fun! It was such a good meal and then we hung out for quite a long time, drinking wine, talking, laughing, playing rummikub, and then later we sat outside as a storm rolled in, Jeremy playing guitar and us chatting. It was such a fun and relaxing night! Thanks so much Michael and Jen – you can cook for us anytime!

Multi-Grain Penne with Hazelnut Pesto, Green Beans, and Parmesan

I don’t have a picture…partly because I decided to eat instead of finding the camera and partly because I knew Beth had made this earlier on in the week and that she had a lovely picture already posted on her blog! Actually that week we both made this and the mustard chicken…which is what happens when your friends cook from the same magazines…in actually I get Bon Appetit because of Beth! This recipe is part of my new and temporary resolve to plan meals that are simply and require few ingredients for me to cook especially on the days I work but in general right now as I’m finishing up school (just 3 classes left!).

I really liked this. Love pesto though so really I wasn’t worried. I used whole wheat pasta and I had to use pecans instead of Hazelnuts because we shopped at Walmart that week and they have a sad nut selection…and no bulk – I’m going back to HEB! I loved that this was really light and I also liked that I could throw a vegetarian main in last week! We ate this while we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on my first official night of ‘vacation’ from school.