Menu Monday.

Busy week, but I still took time to try a few new recipes. I'm so glad I did. Sometimes I want to skip it and be lazy, but I never regret cooking. Well, unless the recipe is bad, but that kind of thing just happens sometimes. 

Oh, and I also baked a cake. It's in the oven right now, but I'm excited for when it comes out. Perhaps I'll share it later. :)

Taco Pasta
Grade: A-
Comments: I split this in half and made Mr. Smith's with ground turkey, mine with Quorn faux meat crumbles. I liked it. Made great leftovers. Easy. Highly recommend.

Tomatillo Shrimp Fajitas, Publix brand saffron rice and Awesome Black Beans
Grade: B
Comments: These were good, but they weren't great. I just didn't find the recipe all that impressive. I'm glad I tried them, because they've been on my Pinterest boards for months, but I won't make them again. The black beans though... they were fabulous again. :)

Papa John's pizza and Homemade Carabba's-style Salad
Grade: A+
Comments: I love pizza, but without salad I eat way too much. So I added a salad with homemade dressing to give us a little semi-homemade dinner. Recipe for the Carrabba's house dressing below!

Thai Fire-Pot Soup
Grade: A-
Comments: I'm torn on this recipe. On the one hand, it was really good. Surprisingly so. On the other hand, it left a really weird feeling after the fact. Almost too intense. I recommended this recipe (I think), but only in small portions. I made quite a few edits: tofu for me and chicken for Mr. Smith (it's easy to split at the end), used regular basil instead of Thai, veg broth instead of chicken broth, 1 tsp lemongrass paste instead of the stalk, 1 tsp sriracha instead of the thai chiles removed at end and I skipped the cilantro because I felt like it. Rebel.

 

Carrabba's House Dressing (Creamy Parmesan)

1/2 c. mayonnaise (reduced fat is fine)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese (must be fresh)
1/4 c. buttermilk
2 cloves minced garlic
2 t minced fresh parsley
1 t lemon juice

Whisk together ingredients and toss over salad just before serving. Add salt and pepper to the salad, if you'd like.

For the salad, I use chopped romaine, homemade croutons, and slices of carrots and celery. 

On my bookshelf.

It's time for an update on what I've been reading. A good mix of books... hopefully something for everyone!

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) // A-

As a fan of Mindy in The Office as well as her blog, I was so excited to read this. It was like a fun little peek inside her comedic brain. I won't critique it's literary value, because that's clearly not the point of this book. It's just pure fun. Read it for a good laugh!

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes // A+

 

Having read all 459 pages is less than 24 hours, I can very easily say I loved this book. It was an easy read, but it touched me in so many ways. The burdens the young CeeCee had to carry and the love for her daughter that was more intense than any other feeling were so deeply moving and so incredibly captivating. It's impossible not to become completely immersed in her story.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman // B+

This was a different kind of book for me. But I LOVE Audrey, a little blue box and Breakfast at Tiffany's so I wanted to learn more. It was a bit boring at times, but I loved learning the background of the movie's origins, cast, stories and success. I highly recommend this for anyone who's a fan of the legendary movie. 
 

How to Be an American Housewife // A-

It was slow getting started, but I eventually fell in love with Shoko and shortly after with Suiko and Helena. It made me sad in parts, happy in others and it made me think about how thankful I am for my family. There's little better than a story that can invoke that kind of emotion. 
 

I Don't Know How She Does It // C

I really have no idea why I decided to read this. I'm not a mom, but when I am... I'll be a working mom. I will not be like this. I know plenty of working moms who don't fear or resent their children. I laughed some, and once I was deeper into the book, I actually liked parts of it, but I couldn't relate to the story. More than that, I hated a "side story" (don't want to be a spoiler) and the way the book ended was really bizarre.

Have you read any of these? Any others I should move to the top of my Goodreads list?

Scents and ethics.

Does anyone else watch every single episode of Watch What Happens Live? I'm in love with Andy Cohen. Now that he's on every night, he's on my DVR so I can watch the next day. Right now, I'm watching last night's episode with Mary J. Blige and the weekly Sandrology segment. Sandra's nonsense about celebrity perfumes and products reminded me of something I saw the other day, and I thought maybe I'd share it with you.

(See how my brain works? Jeez... One to the next to the other, take a left, jump the hoop and then you're almost there.)

Anywho. The point.

I wear Pure DKNY perfume. I love it. I'm a scent-monogamy girl. I wear a scent for 3-4 years before even thinking about a change. I started my love affair with Pure in August when Mr. Smith got it for me for my birthday, but I fell even more in love when I saw this video on the @dkny Twitter feed this week.



(It's long, but it's worth the time.)

I love companies that are ethical, and I'm so glad that something as silly as my favorite scent can make a difference in the lives of these women.

Smell pretty and improve lives. Color me impressed.

Disclaimer: DKNY has no idea who I am. I just like their ethics. And their perfume. And their shoes... those are nice too... but I paid for it all with my own money.

Menu Monday.

Good heavens I'm tired. It's 8:54 on Sunday night while I'm writing this and I feel like I've been run over. How is that possible? Forgive any grammar mistakes or lack of creativity in the words to follow.

French Onion Breaded Tilapia, Loaded Baked Potatoes, Sauteed Zucchini and Squash
Grade: A
Comments: Mr. Smith's plate had a steak instead of the tilapia, but I think I did a pretty darn good job creating this nonsense recipe. See it below! The entire meal was Mr. Smith's responsibility, save for my fish. He thought it up, went to the store and cooked. That love. The potatoes were awesome - baked, then topped with colby jack cheese, chopped fresh jalapeno and green onions. The veggies were standard and awesome: sauteed in EVOO with S&P and oregano.

Savory Beans & Rice (a.k.a. Red Beans & Rice)
Grade: A
Comments: This is a fantastic recipe that has provided many a leftover meal for me in the past few days. It's super easy, healthy and tastes great. I actually prepped it all and threw it in the crockpot while my faux chicken strips were baking when I was home for lunch. Came home, put the rice in the rice cooker. Voila. Perfect vegan weeknight meal! Recipe comes from a cookbook my mom gave me... shared below!

Terrible photo. Oh well.

Faux Chicken Strips (or Lemon Pepper Chicken, depending on who's plate it was), Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts
Grade: A
Comments: This was a use what you have meal, and it worked. Mr. Smith loves the protein, starch, veg kind-of-meal, so it worked. Nothing spectacular, but it was nice and easy. The mashed potatoes were kind of just what I had in my head, but roughly... add some butter, a clove of garlic, a little fresh parmesan, some salt, a spoonful of sour cream and enough milk to get the texture you like.


This recipe is far from an exact science. It's hard to mess it up. Just do what feels right. Or email me if you want more specifics!

French Onion Breaded Tilapia
Makes as many or as few servings as you would like.

Ingredients
Tilapia
Egg white
French fried onions, crushed
Panko bread crumbs
Regular bread crumbs
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Place egg white in another shallow bowl.
Add equal parts crushed french fried onions, panko bread crumbs and regular bread crumbs to a shallow bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.
Dip fish in egg white, then in bread crumbs.
Place fish in baking dish and bake on 400 for ~15 minutes, until fish is flaky and breading is brown.


Savory Beans & Rice
From Off the Shelf Cooking
Makes 6 servings
 
Ingredients
1-1/4 c. dry red beans
1 c. chopped onion (one large)
3/4 c. sliced celery
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
1 tsp dried basil
1 bay leaf
1-1/4 c. water (I used about 2 c.)
1-1/4 c. uncooked brown rice
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 4 oz can diced green chile peppers
Few dashes bottled hot pepper dauce

Directions
Step 1: Rinse beans; place in a large saucepan. Add enough water to cover beans by 2 inches. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. (Or place beans in water in a large saucepan. Cover; let soak in refrigerator overnight.) Drain and rinse beans.
Step 2: In a 3-1/2 or 4-quart slow cooker, combine beans, onion, celery, garlic, bouillon, basil and bay leaf. Pour the 1-1/4 c. water over it.
Step 3: Cover and cook on low heat setting for 9-10 hours or on high heat setting for 4-5 hours.
Step 4: Cook brown rice according to package directions. Keep warm. Remove bay leaf from bean mixture; discard. Stir tomatoes, chile peppers and hot pepper sauce into cooked beans. Cover and cook 30 minutes more. Serve bean mixture over hot cooked rice.

Writing.

I'm a bit of a grammar fanatic. I write for my job on occasion, but my last job required a daily, ongoing, constant involvement with words. I'm still not ready to go find a book deal or even try to write a letter to the editor of the Tennessean, but what I learned about writing in those 10 months was an invaluable lesson for my career and my life.

It wasn't just that job, though. I learned rules of grammar from my eighth grade teacher, Miss Jones. I learned more about great words and how stringing them together in just the right fashion can make black letters on a page come alive during high school from Mr. Toy and Mrs. Campbell. (Sidebar: Teachers really do change lives.)

My love of words and stories probably goes all the way back to when my mom read me Go Dog Go till I memorized it and then "read" it to my mom when I was 3.

And now I have this place to write (publish!) my mind-clutter. Writing this blog is fun. It's a hobby that I stumbled upon in a rather strange way, but it's provided me with an outlet for feelings I often find rather difficult to express.

Some days I write about shoes. Many days I right about food. Some days I allow myself to go deeper and sort through out my most sincere and unspoken thoughts through clicking a few keys.

My grammar doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, I much prefer the conversational tone I take when writing here. My sentences can be what I want them to be. A fragment. Or a run-on sentence in which I get all the words and feelings out, out, out and the sentence is long and windy and maybe it doesn't make sense to you but it's the way I think it would sound if I was breathlessly saying it out loud.

Here's the point: I like that I get to write here in my special place, and I'm so happy for the bonus of people who like to follow along with my words. And if I ever need writing help, I think this post will be all the inspiration I need.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All the words, thoughts and feelings are exclusively my own, but the link was provided to me.


  

Menu Monday.

I'm writing this from my parents kitchen. Oh, how I love to visit my parents. My mom had a minor surgery this week, so I spent some time visiting her at the hospital, then came home to do some things for her over the weekend while she gets back to normal. Between that and my to-do list at work, I've been a little overextended this week and neglected my blog, but I didn't neglect my kitchen! As little as possible, at least.

A Mr. Smith Meal: Tilapia, Carrots, Steamed Broccoli and His Special Potatoes
Grade: A
Comments: I can't really comment on the way this one was cooked, but it was a fantastic, well-rounded meal... his favorite. The fish and potatoes were spicy, the broccoli crisp and the carrots sweet. (Boiled, drained, mixed with butter and brown sugar.)

Lobster Ravioli with Asparagus
Grade: A
Comments: All courtesy of my favorite store, Trader Joe's. The ravioli are from the refrigerated section, next to the hummus. The asparagus is from the frozen section. A great, fast dinner.

Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs
Grade: A
Comments: I made this for my parents when Mr. Smith went to hang out with a friend, so of course my parents will tell me it's awesome. But I have no choice but to take their word for it since I didn't eat the meatballs. The sauce was a concoction I made from a jarred marinara, and I haven't the slightest idea how it came about. The meatballs were a combination of recipes, and since they seemed to be a hit, I've shared the recipe below.

This iPhone photo is horrid, right? Sorry.

Chicken Enchiladas with Awesome Black Beans and Rotel
Grade: A+
Comments: I made this at my parents house too. It was on a recipe card my mom had that I think is from Kraft. Now you have it below... :) Here's the deal: the enchiladas are far from healthy, but they're good. I made a full batch with chicken for my family, and a half batch with spinach for moi. The star of the dinner: my awesome black beans. I needed a side, so I dug through my mom's pantry and made these. Try the recipe below, because they're so fabulous this is the first time Mr. Smith didn't hate black beans... and any of you who've been following for any amount of time know that I cook black beans a lot.


Turkey Meatballs
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
one egg
1/4 c. bread crumbs
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c. Italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp dried onion (or 1/4 c. fresh onion, finely chopped)
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1/4 c. olive oil

Directions
Stir all ingredients except olive oil in a mixing bowl and mix using your hands or a wooden spoon.
Roll the turkey mixture into approximately 1-inch balls.
Heat olive oil in large skillet.
Add meatballs to oil and cook about 5 minutes, then turn. Keep turning till they're cooked.
Drop them in your marinara (or don't if you're trying to keep it veg-friendly) and serve over spaghetti noodles.


Chicken Enchiladas
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients
2 c. chopped cooked chicken
1 c. chopped green bell pepper
1 pkg cream cheese, cubed
1 jar salsa, divided
8 six-inch flour tortillas
12 oz. Velveeta, cut up
1/4 c. milk

Directions
Stir chicken, pepper, cream cheese and 1/2 c. salsa in saucepan on low heat until cream cheese is melted.
Spoon 1/3 c. chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up. Place seam-side down in lightly greased 12x8-inch baking dish.
Stir velveeta and milk in sauce pan on low heat until smooth. Pour sauce over tortillas; cover with foil.
Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Pour remaining salsa over tortillas.


Awesome Black Beans
Make 4 servings

Ingredients
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small can diced green chiles
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Water

Directions
Add first 5 ingredients to a small saucepan, then add just enough water to cover beans.
Heat on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until ready to serve. Keep an eye on the pan and add water as needed.