:-) Pregnant

Yes, it's true, though I've not announced it on Facebook just yet. How am I feeling? Well the first week, I thought I was having a bad fibro week, turns out I was just pregnant. This week, I had cramping, severe back pain to the point I could not function but no bleeding. The Dr is a little concerned so I'm doing a 48 hr hormone test to ensure the baby is...hanging around.

I had an ultrasound. It showed pretty much nothing but the sac and the beginnings of the umbilical cord. Enclosed are pictures. The sac looks like a black lima bean. I circled it in yellow. The pink circle shows the white line that is the beginnings of the umbilical cord.

Almond Joy Cake

Okay, I'm 'NOT' very good at cakes, at all. This was my second try on this. It's pretty good, could use a bit of work, probably halved instead of slivered almonds.

Cake Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk (use whole milk)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup boiling water

Pre-heat oven to 350. In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients. In the mixer, mix all the wet ingredients except the water. Mix until incorporated. Add the boiling water slowly and continue to mix. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Once combined add to two nine-inch cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Place on cooling rack to cool.

Filling ingredients

1 brick of cream cheese
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 bag of slivered or sliced almonds (toast them on the stove first)
7 ounces sweetened-shredded coconut
1 cup of powdered sugar

Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the extracts. Turn mixer onto low and slowly add the sugar. Next, add the almonds and coconut. Put in the refrigerator for an hour to cool.

When the cakes are cooled completely, add three-quarters of the filling in-between the two layers of cake.

Ingredients for frosting

*Add these to the remainder of the coconut filling*
1 brick of cream cheese
1 stick of butter
Three-quarters of a bag of chocolate chips (I use Hershey Special dark)
1 cup of powdered sugar

In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate chips. While they melt, cream the butter and cream cheese with the existing filling at medium speed. Slow the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar. Once the chips are melted, add the chocolate (it's easier if you use a rubber spatula) to the frosting mixture. Continue to mix until well blended. Put the frosting in the refrigerator to cool for one hour.

Extra chocolate cupcakes with chocolate-cream cheese frosting

Cupcake Ingredients (Yield, 12 cupcakes)

4 TBS butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (You can use any flavor, I prefer Hershey's Special Dark or semi-sweet)
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 TBS cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/4 "whole" milk (Don't use skim, must be whole or buttermilk)
1 tsp vanilla extract

First, using a double-boiler, melt the chocolate chips. (I use a sauce pan and a heat-safe glass bowl) In another sauce pan set to low heat, melt the butter with the oil and water.

Preheat oven to 350, spray cupcake liners. In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. To another bowl (The mixer bowl) add the melted chocolate chips, the water-oil-butter mixture and beat on low speed until smooth. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Next add the milk and vanilla and continue to beat until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients until incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the liners and bake on center rack for about 20-25 minutes. Let cool and then frost.

Frosting Ingredients

1 stick softened butter
1 brick of cream cheese
2 1/2 cups powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Again using the double-boiler, melt the chips. Cream together the butter and cream cheese, then add the chocolate. Add vanilla and turn the mixer from medium to low and slowly add the powdered sugar (You can use up too 3 cups of sugar). It will ice easier if you let it cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before icing the cupcakes.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Healthy Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients for soup

1 dozen Roma Tomatoes
1 bulb of garlic
1/4 cup of heavy cream
2 cans of petite diced tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
4 ounces of goat cheese* (Optional)
salt, pepper, thyme, dried basil, and onion powder to taste.

For the soup, preheat oven to 400. Slice the Roma Tomatoes length wise in half and place on foiled baking sheet. Add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste over each tomato half. Next, slice off the top 1/4 inch or so of the bulb of garlic. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to the exposed top of the bulb and wrap entire bulb in aluminum foil.

The garlic bulb goes into the oven for the longest amount of time, 30-40 minutes or until the consistency of butter. (You should be able to squeeze the garlic out from the skins when done). Put the tomatoes in the oven and roast for 25 minutes.

In a blender, add the roasted tomatoes and the roasted garlic and liquefy. Add contents to a large soup pot. Then add the canned tomatoes with the juice into the blender and liquefy. Add contents to the soup pot. Stir together and add salt, pepper, onion powder, thyme and dried basil to taste.

Simmer for 30 minutes and add the cream (as much or as little as you'd like) at the end. Break off little chunks of the goat cheese and stir into the soup until it's all melted.

Ingredients for Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Freshly baked bread ;-)
4 slices of any cheese (yellower cheeses melt faster than orange ones)
2 TBSP of olive oil

Using a non-stick pan, add 1/2 a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Use the remaining olive oil (I eyeball it) on the 'outside' of the bread. I oil one side, place the oil-side-down into the pan and then press firmly on the top of the sandwich with a spatula. Before you flip it, be sure to add olive oil to the top of the bread. Flip and press down firmly with the spatula until the bread is crunchy and all of the cheese has melted, about five minutes total.

Italian Sausage Risotto

Simmering in the wine

Adding stock to risotto

Adding sauce to browned sausage

Adding cheese at the end

Final product!

YUM! I love this recipe! I think I made it up, but I doubt it, I'm sure someone else has done this.

Ingredients

1 package of Italian Sausage (I use mild, use any kind you like, can use turkey or pork)
1 can of plain tomato sauce
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup of wine (white or red, or you can use water)
1 cup of risotto rice
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
6 cups of chicken stock (Low sodium)
-salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder to taste-

Instructions

In a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat, add the wine and 1 tbsn olive oil. Once simmering, add the sausage and cover with the lid.

In a medium sized, non-stick pot on medium heat, add 1 tbsn olive oil and the 1 cup of risotto. This is called 'toasting the rice'. Do this for about three minutes or so, and then ladle in one ladle-full of warm chicken stock and stir. You have to keep stirring the entire time you're cooking it.

Meanwhile, turn your sausages over, put the lid back on and continue to cook until all of the wine is cooked off.

Ladle in more stock every time the risotto begins to look dry. In the end, you will use approximately 4-6 cups of stock.

When all of the wine in the frying pan is absorbed, add 1 more tbsn of olive oil and lower heat to medium. Keep turning the sausage so all sides of the casing brown, keep the lid on to speed up the process.

When all sides are browned, add one can of tomato sauce to the frying pan. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste, and lower heat to low. Put the lid back on and continue to cook until the sausage is done.

Taste your rice after about 15 minutes for texture. Towards the end, add salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder to taste. When the risotto has reached your desired texture , add the shredded mozzarella cheese. Stir in and serve.

Top with the sausage-sauce and sausage. Slice into chunks and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Sheppard's Pie

Today I'm making a Sheppard's Pie. It's a Rachael Ray recipe, can use ground turkey, but I use ground sirloin, 96% fat free.Brown the meat with minced garlic and diced onions (just as many as you like). Add salt and pepper to taste. When the meat is almost done, add a some Worcestershire Sauce, as much or as little as you like. Remove the beef, deglaze the pan with red wine, beef broth or just add a little olive oil and sauté mushrooms. When the mushrooms are nearly done, salt and pepper them and add some more Worcestershire sauce. Then add beef broth, and some flour to make a thick mushroom gravy.Add the browned meat to the bottom of a round, deep casserole dish, top with the mushroom gravy.

Meanwhile in a deep pot, add Yukon gold (any potato you like) that's been cubed into cold water. Bring to boil, boil until fork tender. (Once the water boils, add salt to the pot.) Mash the potatoes, add skim milk (or milk or cream) 1 tbs butter, and add as much or as little 'gorgonzola cheese as you like to the potatoes. Top the meat and gravy with the potatoes. (Optional to add some more mozzarella, or any kind of cheese you like to the top of the potatoes) and bake off at 350 for about 20 minutes, until there is a crust on top and the cheese on top is melted.

Recent pictures taken with the pups

ENJOY!

Traditional 'Mild' Red Bean Chili

All of the spices really should be measured per your own tastes, but I'll give you suggestions. This is a "MILD" chili. Chili-powder is optional. (Use as little are as much as you prefer)

Ingredients:
1 lb leanest ground sirloin (Can use white meat turkey breast)
3 cans of red kidney beans (strained and rinsed)
1 small white onion, finely diced
2 cans plain tomato sauce (low sodium or no salt added is preferred)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder (optional)

(Serve topped with shredded 'Mexican cheese', cheddar, or any yellow cheese)

Instructions:
I start by dicing the onion. You can use a cheese grater to get it very fine. Add to a frying pan with some olive oil and a pinch of Kosher salt. Next, add the lean ground beef. Add half of all of the seasonings to the beef and onion mixture. When the meat is browned, move the meat and onion mixture to a soup pot. Add the rinsed red kidney beans and the rest of the seasonings. Add 1 can of tomato sauce for a dryer chili and two for a soupier chili. (If you like, add more of the above seasonings to the sauce. It's good to season each layer).

Cover and let simmer for one hour. This tastes better the next day.

Top the chili with some cheese and serve plain, or over brown rice. Another option is to bake a potato and serve the chili with cheese on the potato.

Adventures from the dog park, part IV

Today the weather was nice. Even though we were tired, it was time for the dog's to have some fun, so we ventured to the dog park.

Another schnauzer we've grown to admire, Tanner, was there as always. He makes Pippin look like a mute! Tanner is VERY barky and loud. He's also the welcome wagon, along with Brady and Pip, to other dogs who enter his realm. After all, Tanner is a terrier, ergo the entire park is HIS. Brady was loving up on Tanner's parents, Tanner protested with a slew of barks. I'd assume if I had a translator, I'd come to find he said "Pump the breaks kid! Get away from my people!"

Next Pippin decided he was interviewing new owners and started to love on Tanner's people too, to which Tanner protested with "There's only room for ONE schnauzer in my house and you ain't it!"

Then Tanner said things to Brady that I can not repeat here, let's just say, Tanner has a bit of a potty mouth, so his people scooped him up and left.

All was fine at the park, which then defaulted to being Pippin's park as he was the lone terrier...until a somewhat large woman, wearing too tight of clothes and LOW-RIDE jeans decided to bend over to air out her butt crack.

Brady is a fan of butt-er...yes, like most dogs, he's addicted to butt and was in the mood for a snack. Yes, he feasted on her butt. There I said it, but it's the truth. The owner of the crack was mortified when Brady licked her crack and squealed as Chris just stood nearby and laughed. I've had to feed Brady many breath bones since we got home but she got what she deserved! For once it wasn't Brady being butt-handled at the park by other mean dogs, but the other way around!

;-)

Matzo ball soup and homemade chicken stock

My stock pot is not too big, be sure never to peel the yellow onion, it gives the stock color


Duh... :-)


Ice cream scoop makes for a much easier process and ensures they are all the same size


They swell after they boil

Homemade Stock

Ingredients
(Depending on the size of your pot) 3 to 5, five pound chicken carcasses (yeah, no other way to say it) bones and a bit of meat, no skin.

2 large yellow onions, SKINS ON

4 large carrots

4 stalks of celery

1 cup of fresh parsley

3 bay leaves

6 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 tbsp kosher salt

1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

*Enough water to fill all of the pot

Instructions

Bring to a boil, remove lid, let simmer for FOUR hours. Stir occasionally, skim fat off the top every hour. Pour contents into a strainer. Remove any bits of the chicken meat and add back to the stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Matzo Ball Soup

Ingredients

Eggs (8)
Matzo Meal (2 cups)
Kosher Salt (1-2 tbs, to taste)
Canola Oil (2 tbs)
Dill (1 tsp)
Fresh chicken stock (4 tbs)

Honestly the instructions are on the box. I always quadruple the recipe to make 30 or so matzo balls. I also always add LESS salt than the recipe calls for. Add 1 tsp dill to the quadrupled recipe. Add some dill to the stock as well for better flavor. Instead of refrigerating, I put my matzo meal in the freezer for 30 minutes after I blend it. I always add 'stock' not water to the meal, per the instructions.

Now this is a matter of taste: I prefer my matzo balls a little on the firm side. I also boil mine in water, not stock. The matzo meal really absorbs the stock. If you make a lot of stock you can boil them in stock but remove them from the stock after they are boiled so they don't absorb all the stock. Since I prefer them a bit firm, I only boil mine for 15-20 minutes. Also to make life easier, instead of forming balls in my hands, (messy) I use a smallish ice-cream scooper. Not only is this easier and cleaner, but all the matzo balls will be the same size and cook at the same time. Also they will swell to at least three times their size so use a small melon-baller or small ice cream scoop.

Add matzo balls to a bowl and then top with stock and chicken pieces. Always store the balls alone, not in the stock. They actually do taste good reheated the next day. This is how I've been making them for years. GOOD LUCK!

Shannon's "Thrown Together" Chicken Sheppard's Pot Pie

I had skin-on, bone in chicken parts laying around with nothing to do with them. I had only one breast, one wing, one leg and one thigh. Shannon Wallace suggested a pot pie but I had few of the necessary ingredients. Still though, it sounded good so I "threw" this together.

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces, 1 bulb of garlic, 1 large yellow onion, 1 cup of chicken stock, phillo dough, 1 stick of butter, 10 smallish yukon gold potatoes, sour cream, cheese and seasoning. (Mushrooms and carrots would be good but I had none.)

First, season beneath the skin and roast the chickens at 350 for 40 minutes. Also place 1 bulb of garlic in foil, cut off the top of the bulb, salt, pepper and add olive oil. Wrap in foil and roast with the chicken.

Let the chicken cool. Remove the skin and cut up the meat into bite sized pieces. (Freeze the bones to make stock later). In a large non-stick skillet, add olive oil and butter and slice one large yellow onion so you have many 'rings'. Sweat them on medium-low, takes about 40 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the chicken with the onion, add some of the roasted garlic. In a large pot boil the peeled potatoes in salted water. Boil until they are fork tender and then add to a large mixer. Add milk, but I was out of milk so I added broth, salt, pepper, sour cream and the rest of the roasted garlic. (Add some cheese if you have it).

In a small pot, make a gravy from any chicken drippings you have, or stock. Add some flour to form a gravy. Add the gravy to the chicken/onion mixture. Top with the potatoes. Top mashed potatoes and top with cheese. White cheese is best but all I had was yellow.

Top with the phillo dough (puff pastry works best but this is all I had). Trim the phillo so it fits snug over the deep dish. Cut slits into the dough and then brush butter. Add dish to a 350 oven for 10 minutes, or until the dough is browned.

Enjoy!

What's for dinner 04/25/09? Arabian Spiced Stuffed Zucchini

I don't know, I'm making it up! LOL, may taste gross. Here's the plan. Take four large zucchini, slice length wise, and dig a little well so the beef has a place to rest. Then add salt,pepper and olive oil. Place in a baking dish, fill dish with water 1/2 up the sides of the zucchini, cover with foil and bake at 450 for 15 mins.

Brown ground beef... Read More (or any ground meat) with 1 yellow onion, diced. Add spice-mix to beef (I just mix it myself, using powders: All-Spice, Paprika, Cumin, Corriander, Salt, Pepper, Cloves, Cinnamon and Nutmeg) brown the beef and onions with spice mixture.

Remove zucchini from the baking dish, dry them off. Stuff with the beef and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Feta cheese sounds good to me but he won't eat it so... :-(

What's for dinner, 04/24/09? Moroccan Cigars

I'm not using all of the same spices, as I don't have them. My harissa sauce is a bit different as I don't do red chilis. I had these at Cafe Istanbul and LOVED them! So I'm trying to re-create them now.

Here's the link:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Moroccan-Cigars-10252?scaleto=4&sys=e

Grooming the dog

I groomed Brady today. He ran off twice but of the two dogs, he's the easier one to groom. Of course he never lets me touch his feet, so I'll need some help with that one. Overall not a bad job though.

Very simple-mild salsa and tortilla chips

I can't eat jalapenos or other peppers, so this is a salsa even I can eat. (This is Chris's recipe)

1 16oz can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup red onion
1 clove minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the liquid from the crushed tomatoes. Into a blender or mixer, add the cilantro, red onion and tomatoes. Chop and mix until incorporated and then add the garlic. Pretty simple.

(It's also very simple to make tortilla chips by purchasing corn tortillas, add canola-oil to a medium sized sauce pan set at medium high. Tear the tortilla into triangles, and add the tortilla to the oil and fry until they are crisp. Remove from the oil and salt each chip lightly. This is far healthier than store-bought chips)

Choclate Banana Won-Tons, Pillsbury Bake-Off contest

The picture looks burnt, it's not, it's the chocolate seeping out the ends. Tastes pretty good, worth a try.

I submitted this for the one million dollar Pillsbury bake-off, that I had four days notice on, so not much time. The deadline has passed so I can post what I submitted here.

3 ripe bananas
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white sugar
1 egg (for egg wash)
2 cartons of Pillsbury Refrigerated Flaky Dough
2 tbsp milk (can be skim)


Preheat oven to 375. Take two Pillsbury Flaky Dough Crusts (2 tubes, 8 ounces each) and remove dough. Cut each dough in half so you have four rectangles. In a blender, mix three sliced bananas, 2 tbsp milk, 3/4 cup of cocoa, 2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp white sugar. Mix until it's a pudding-like consistency.

Add 1/4 of the mixture to each dough rectangle. Fold the edge over to form a dough triangle. Bring the two edges together and fold on the center so it looks like an open envelope. Take the top point and bring it down to the center to form the won-ton.

Place all four won-tons on a parchment lined cookie sheet and add an eggwash to each and then top with some granulated white sugar. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the dough is golden and flaky.

Better picture of the dogs in the spring flowers

I got a better picture of them two in the dandelions. I took two pictures yesterday, in one, Pip looked good, in the other, Brady looked good. I took Brady's facial features only off the picture where he was looking into the camera and placed it over his other face in the picture above, where he was looking away, using Adobe Photoshop. Now that I told you, if you click on it to see the larger view, you may be able to tell that I worked this picture some, but from far away, I think it's looking pretty good.

Above that is a picture of Pippin looking miserable next to my tulips and one cute one of him sniffing them. The only photoshopping I did was to remove his leash from each picture. Also I removed their leashes from the picture of them both with the dandelions.

I finally saw my new solar lights in the garden last night. They sure shine very bright, great bargain at $4 a piece.

New Solar Lights

I got these sweet copper-looking solar lights from Wal-mart for $4 a piece! (First picture, only one is seen, not the greatest pic but it's at the bottom of the picture) They work great so I put them in my tulip bed, more like a tulip coffin actually. Enclosed is a pic of our lone spring tree in that it's the only one of our 50 or so trees that flowers in spring. The rest just show up magically one day all green, and then just show up all dead four months later! LOL!

The rest of the pictures are of my rather pathetic group of daffodils and my old solar lights that hardly work. Time to remove them. And a close up of my weeds! LOL! Well , they are flowering weeds and quite pretty actually. (Ignore the weeds in my tulip bed, next week is 'weed picking' week and niether of us are looking forward to it)

Adventures from the dog park, part III

This is what dogs do when we get back from the dog park. Yesterday was the first extremely perfect day of the year, maybe even just a tad warm since there was not one cloud in the sky. I think it was 72 or so, great day to take them to the park. Our dogs are not used to heat however and were huffing and panting 5 minutes in. After 20 minutes, Pippin sort of sat beneath the park bench in the shade for a while, while Brady JUMPED on every single human being in the park. No one seemed to care. Pippin played with the dogs, maybe a bit too much with one dog, but overall did a good job. There were three mini-schnauzers there, including Pippin. Never seen another Bichon there.

The funniest dog of the day has to go to the poor Westie, who apparently loves MUD! He found the one mud-pit at the back of the park and did nothing, and I mean nothing, but run back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until he was completely black! His owner laughed but at the same time, was a bit annoyed at his suddenly soaked-black-Westie. That dog must have run through the mud 25 times before his owner scooped him up and took him home to bathe.

Pip detests water and mud, he's a priss. Brady however, adores it. Thankfully he never found the mud-pit or we'd have a black bichon today.

Spring time Puppies

Well it's not the greatest picture I've ever taken in my life, but it's not bad either. The spring flowers (weeds) were too lovely to pass up. We can't grow much here, but we excel at growing all things weeds. Dandelions are pretty enough weeds though. Think I'll try to take some better pictures of them in the 'flowers' today later on. You can click on the image to see it larger.

What's for dinner 04/17/09? Coq au vin

Pretty much a Sunny Anderson recipe though I changed it up a bit...I don't do cayenne pepper. Turns out I've been making this for years and called it something else. Simply marinate a whole, cut, skinless, bone-in chicken w/one bottle of red wine and one bulb of garlic for 24 hours. Dry off the chicken, brown the parts in a dutch oven or deep pot, remove chicken and saute onions, celery, carrot and tomato paste. Add 3 tbsp flour and slowly add the wine-marinade back into the pot.

Put chicken back in, simmer covered for one hour. In a pan, cook up 4 slices thick cut, low-sodium bacon, add pearl onions and mushrooms. Remove chicken from pot, strain the sauce, put sauce back in pot, add chicken back in, add bacon, onion and mushroom into pot. Simmer for 5 minutes, serve with huge chunks of bread to dip into the thick-luscious sauce! Enjoy!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/coq-au-vin-recipe/index.html

What's for dinner 04/16/09?

Well I have a use for all those artichokes I prepared last week. Spinach and artichoke stuffed shells tonight. YUM. It's a Rachael Ray recipe. I know I'll like it, him....hmm, we'll see I guess.

(http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=2708).

Oh my tulips...so few bloomed this year

I'm a gardening moron. I planted 20 bulbs 2 years ago in October. Last year 18 bloomed, this year only six! A friend said I need to dig them up and replant...what a joy! Well here's the few strong ones who made it in 09. Enjoy!

I don't think I shall ever see, a dog as lovely...as me!

What can I say? They love to pose!