bitten by the flu bug

It's true. New Recipe Month went down the tubes last week as I was ruthlessly attacked by the flu bug. I was completely out of a commission for a few days, thankfully J can take care of himself (and me) in times if despair.

Finally, a week and a half later, I'm almost 100%. I did attempt to make my own version of Pad See Ew which failed miserably, to no fault of mine really - the rice noodles I was so glad to find tasted like cardboard. I never got around to Asian Ginger Salad, or Chicken Katsu, and now that fall seems to be in full swing I'm thinking of going back to some old favorites for next week's menu.

From the past few weeks, and many new recipes, I've learned that it is actually a very difficult thing to give myself over completely to the new recipe gods. A little too much pressure maybe. Having those old standbys is really a good thing. Maybe one new recipe a week will add enough spice to my kitchen.

In other notes: I've become obsessed with the Nest boards, particularly the craft board, and I am very excited to get into more crafting and sewing (also stoked for the ornament exchange!).

the recipes continue...

Got back yesterday from our trip to Boston (pics to come) and it was amazing. Other wonderful news: last Wednesday a new grocery store (Publix) opened in a nearby town, you cannot fathom how excited I am to let go of our Walmart habit!

So this weeks menu seems to have an Asian theme ::mouth watering::

Teriyaki Chicken
Chicken Katsu
Pad See Ew
Asian Ginger Salad
Steaks (marinade TBD)

It was an exciting moment when I found rice noodles for my Pad See Ew at Publix. There was a woman looking over my shoulder in the ethnic food aisle and she commented that they had everything, she sounded shocked "even Thai food!".

I've rediscovered my want to switch what we consume over to organic. Making most things from scratch, or mostly scratch, has always been important to me but just thinking about how much better our food can be for us without all the chemicals and hormones is also exciting business. Now all I have to do is figure out how to not bust our weekly grocery budget...

sweet tomato pizza & buffalo chicken pizza

I'm not a huge fan of regular pizza, but the ones I make at home are 10 notches above anything from Dominos. 

In the spirit of new recipe month I found myself three new recipes; dough, sweet tomato sauce and buffalo chicken pizza (for J)!

I usually make a quick dough that doesn't need to rise because it's so much faster, but this time I opted for a full on pizza dough...don't worry - it's definitely worth the time....

2 1/4 teaspoons (or a .25 ounce packet) active dry yeast 

1 1/2 cups warm water (110*)

1 teaspoon brown sugar

In large bowl, dissolved yeast and brown sugar into warm water. Let stand 10 minutes or until frothy.

Note: If you've never worked with yeast before, I promise it isn't difficult. I don't actually get the temperature of my 'warm' water I just finger test it (with a clean finger of course!). You want to be able to comfortably stick your finger in it for a few seconds. If its too hot, just pour a little out and add cold water. If it feels kinda luke warm (like you wouldn't get in the tub because you know you'd be cold in a few minutes) then continue to heat it up. It's important not to have your water too hot because it can easily kill the yeast. I always buy yeast in the jar because I use so much, but feel free to buy the little packets if you just want to try it out (they usually come in packs of 3, always in the baking aisle). Make sure to refrigerate your yeast after opening, if you bought the jar. 

sesame beef lettuce wraps & chicken pasta bake

After my pesto I was on a new recipe high. I had finally found one to add to my binder of deliciousness and I was left hoping the next would be just as good.

I found this recipe for Sesame Beef Lettuce Wraps on Under the High Chair about 9 or 10 months ago when I was scouring the internet for any sort of lettuce wrap recipe. In California we'd been spoiled with two wonderful restaurants within walking distance that both had amazing lettuce wraps. I already have a turkey lettuce wrap recipe that is to die for, but that's for a later post.

I was shopping at Walmart (ugh!) and of course couldn't find any flank steak so I picked out a thin cut of chuck rounds instead. I also couldn't find any sesame seeds - go figure - but I wish I'd had 'em.

the best pesto ever.

It's true. I've always loved pesto, but honestly have never really been impressed with any I've had at restaurants and usually just stick to the dried kind when I make it at home.

Not anymore. I've discovered the best pesto ever.

Of course I searched all over the web (and even my measly collection of cookbooks) for a good pesto recipe but, as my searches usually do, ended up at my go-to: Allrecipes.com

I was wary of this particular recipe because some of the reviewers stated it was very 'earthy' in taste due to the amount of spinach. But, I followed the recipe almost exactly - and it was perfection. 

I'll cover the recipe, but you can also read it (and it's reviews) here: Spinach Basil Pesto 

empanadas, empanadas!

Come on...it's a fun word, just say it....Empanadas, empanadas, em-pan-a-das!

Okay. Jokes aside, last night I made my first empanadas. I was inspired by these yummy tapas J and I used to get at Bar Celona in Pasadena, CA. Now, it was harder than I thought to find a chicken empanada recipe so I finally just winged it.

My super simple, but delicious, empanada recipe:

2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 jar of your favorite salsa
1/2 cup cheese, grated
1 pkg puff pastry, thawed

I cut my chicken into 1inch strips and then sauteed on the stove with about 1 cup of salsa. Then chopped the chicken up into teeny-tiny pieces.

Once the puff pastry is thawed (my package said it takes 40 minutes) you can cut out circles of any size. I used a drinking glass for my circles, about a 2 inch diameter.

fettuccini alfredo failure

The night before last I whipped up some Fettuccini Alfredo with Chicken. It looked like this:

And it was pretty much a failure. Hard to imagine because it looked so delicious, huh?!