Butternut Squash Soup

Over the last 2 years as we've grown our own winter squash, I've started to play with some recipes and have some favorites. This is one of those and is just so comforting when it's cold outside! The kids love it and it's a great side for dinner or with a grilled cheese for lunch!

Butternut Squash Soup
2 butternut squash or 1 argonaut (one of our favorites), cut in half and deseeded 4 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped 1 Tablespoon of butter and olive oil 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth 2-3 Tablespoons of heavy cream
1. Preheat over to 400 degrees and roast squash flesh side down for 30-60 minutes until a fork a pierce through all areas. Once the squash a cooled enough, flip the squash over and remove the flesh. This can be done a few days before you make the soup if you'd like. 2. In a heavy pot (I use my dutch oven, a cheaper option here), sauce the apples in the butter and olive oil, about 5 minutes. 3. Once apples are softened, add the squash, spices and broth. Simmer covered, for about 15-20 minutes. 4. Using an emersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. (You can use a regular blender for this part too, just remember to be very careful and not over fill your blender. You'll have to work in batches.) 5. Add cream, salt and pepper to taste and Enjoy! I add pepitats to the tops sometimes for an extra crunch. You could also put plain croutons on top too if you'd like. 

Chinese Chicken Salad

One of my favorite lunches is Chinese Chicken Salad. When I was little and as I grew up, my mom and I would go shopping and every time we would go get lunch at Nordstroms Cafe. We would always get their Chinese Chicken Salad and it was so yummy. Now when I make it at home, I think about those memories of having lunch with my mom. Myy recipe isn't like Nordstrom's but just one that we've created over time. It's quick and simple and so so good!

Chinese Chicken Salad 

1 head of Romaine Lettuce (amount depending on the size salad you want. 1 small head per person)
1/4-1/2 cup celery, diced
1/4-1/2 cup cucumber, peeled and diced
Raman noodles, crushed into small pieces, sprinkle desired amount, save the rest
1 small can mandarin oranges
1/2-1 Chicken Breast, grilled or sautéed, cut in strips of cubed
1/4 cup toasted almonds

For Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

-The ingredients for salad part are for a single large serving of salad. The dressing is for multiple salads, great for saving.
-I put all the ingredients for dressing in a mason jar and shake to combine. Pour over salad and toss to coat all ingredients and enjoy!

Meal Plan Monthly: January!!

Happy New Year everyone! 2015 ended with a slam of busy as it always does and on top of it all, I've just been exhausted. Pregnant with two little kids is exhausting :) On top of that, I didn't really get an appetite back until mid-December making it very hard to meal plan. So now I'm feeling more normal and food actually sounds good so I'm back here with another Meal Plan Monthly. I hope this helps in your planning and as always, I'd love to hear what you are having! Chicken Dishes: Chicken Marsala Crock Pot Whole Chicken Sweet and Sour Chicken Chicken Tortilla Soup Chicken Tacos Shake and Bake Chicken with Stuffings and cranberry sauce Chicken Parmesan Casserole (We dice the chicken instead of leaving it whole) Chicken Cacciatore Oven BBQ Chicken  Pork Dishes: Pork Chops with Pineapple fried rice Lasagna Soup(We have actually modified this recipe for our tastes using ground beef but it's good with the italian sausage if you like that.) Beef Dishes: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes Sloppy Joes We do this recipe with ground beef and half it Teriyaki Flap Steak Ground Beef Nachos Chili and Cornbread Sweet and Sour Meatballs Beef Stroganoff Beef with Snowpeas   Happy Cooking!!

Chili Recipe

I know there are a ton of Chili recipes out there but this one is mine and is our favorite and the best part? It's super easy! During the fall you can add a small can of pumpkin and it adds a rich and creamy texture to the chili. I know it sounds a bit strange but it tastes good.

Samantha's Chili 3 small can's diced tomatoes 2-3 can's of beans, rinced (I use a mixture of kidney, black and pinto beans) 1.5 pounds ground beef 1 small can of tomato sauce 2 Tablespoons of my Taco Seasoning

1. Brown the ground beef adding a little salt and pepper in a large pot. (I use an enameled cast-iron dutch oven for most of my soups and stews.) Drain.
2. Return pot to the stove and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce to low for about 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend together. Taste to see if you need some more salt or seasoning.
3. Serve with your favorite condiments.

Enjoy!

Ratatouille Recipe

Ratatouille is a traditional peasant meal from France and the name comes from a word that means to toss. This recipe is soooooo good and worth the time it takes! It does take some time to make, about 3.5 hours total. It's a perfect weekend side dish and is great when you have fresh vegetable from your garden or farmers market! You can most certainly make this throughout the year since we can find zucchini and squash year round but the fresh veggie's just make it even better! I really hope you enjoy it!

Ratatouille Recipe

Sauce

1-2 small red, yellow or orange bell pepper

3 Tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic

1/2 medium sized onion, diced

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 sprig fresh Italian parsley

1 spring fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1. Preheat oven to 400 degress. Cut bell pepper in half removing the seeds, ribs and core and lay face down on a foil lined baking dish. Add 4 peeled cloves of garlic and drizzle everything with olive oil. Roast this mixture for about 20-30 minutes until the peppers are soft and the skin is easily removed and make sure the garlic doesn't burn-golden brown is the goal.
2. Once peppers are finished roasting, remove and allow to cool until you can handle working with them. Then peel and finely chop peppers and garlic. Set aside.
3. In a saute pan or sauce pan, heated over medium heat, cook the onion until it is slightly caramelized, soft but not too brown. Add in canned tomatoes, diced peppers, garlic, fresh thyme, parsley and bay leaf.
4. Simmer on low, uncovered for about 30 minutes until the sauce is very thick and very little liquid remains. Season with salt to taste and remove herb sprigs.

Balsamic Drizzle

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients and set aside.

Ratatouille

1-2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

1-2 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced

4-5 Roma or smaller sized tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 small or Japanese eggplant, thinly sliced (optional, I've done it with it and without it)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Evenly spread the sauce on the bottom of a 8 x 12 baking dish.
2. Arrange slices of zucchini, eggplant, yellow squash and tomatoes in a pattern, repeating. Now this is where you can get creative: you can make one strip down and another strip going the other direction, you can make a spiral pattern like I did, etc. The whole point is to make it look pretty :). 
3. Once the pan is filled, Drizzle the balsamic mixture over the vegetables. Cover with foil and back until vegetables are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Uncover and bake for 30 more minutes.

Serve this warm and you'll want a large serving, trust me. My mouth is watering just typing this! 

Serving options: We recently put the cooked Ratatouille on a nice white roll, topped it with some provolone and made it into a sandwich....it's super good!!! This is a great option to use as leftovers or lunch the next day.

Enjoy!

October 2015 Meal Plan

Hello everyone! Happy first of October! Today is Meal Plan Monthly day over here! It is still super hot (in the 90's) here in Southern California and I'm kinda tired of it! So some of the meals are full blow summery type meals and others have the fall flair because I'm just ready! If you want to know more about how I meal plan, please visit the Meal Planning section to the right. I've written out my method in hopes that it can be of some help! I hope this helps you with your meal plans for the month and I'd love to hear what you are having for dinner this

Cooking with Kids

Last year while I was taking my blogging break, I wrote a guest post for Marissa of All In Good Twine for her Mommy Monday segment. If you are looking for tips on how to cook with your kids, head over to check it out.

I am passionate about

Construction Birthday Cake

One of the things Aston always remembers about his birthday parties are his cakes. I love the tradition of making him (and Leia) a special cake or dessert for their birthdays. It's just a tradition I wanted to create for them. So when we decided to do a Construction Birthday theme, I went on a search for cakes to match. My inspiration came from here, here and here. 

Favorite Cooking Shows!

I am a lover of good food! Being half Italian and raised surrounded by a loud, boisterous Italian family, every event and everything we do/did revolves around food and being in the kitchen. Food is something we all enjoy (sometimes too much) and this passion for good food has be built within me. I am passionate about cooking home cooked meals and sitting down together as a family for dinner at the end of the day without distractions of TV's, phones or anything else.
I am also passionate about teaching people to cook and that ANYONE has the ability to cook, it just takes some learning and practice, like any other skill, but it can be done. I actually learned most of my skills from watching cooking shows on Food Network and the Cooking Channel. These shows are great for learning skills and tips and tricks in the kitchen. There are also a lot of vloggers out there who show skills as well. So if you are in need of some cooking lessons, just sit and watch some cooking shows and I promise you will learn some skills. Sometimes, they may not explain everything they are doing, but if you watch closely, you can learn knife skills and tricks on how to do things more simply or efficiently. Also, if you know someone who is a great cook, ask them if you can have a few cooking lessons, I'm sure they would be happy to help you!

A few years ago, I wrote this post about my favorite cooking shows at the time. Some are no longer shooting new shows, but I have some new favorites that I thought I'd share with you.
The Kitchen: This is a GREAT show that has a TON of tips and tricks in the kitchen. Max and I learn something often and we both love watching the show. They share great recipes and if you follow my Meal Planning, you will often find a few of their recipes on the list for the month. The personalities of the show are super fun and enjoyable to watch and I promise, you will learn some cool tips and tricks by watching!

Meal Plan Monday #22

Sorry I'm late posting this but the kids didn't nap yesterday so I didn't get a chance to sit down and plan anything until about 5 minutes ago. I hate starting the week out this way because it makes me feel flustered but I'm recovering well and getting things done! Hey my bed is made for the first time in two weeks! Thats a plus!

Anyways, here is what's for dinner:

Monday: Thanksgiving Casserole
Tuesday: Out (Date Day!!!)
Wednesday: Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Thursday: Sticky Honey Lime Grilled Chicken
Friday: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Out

What are you having for dinner this week? Trying anything new?

Kauai Grilled Chichen

This recipe is sooooo tasty and I always forget until I make it again. It is called Kauai Grilled Chicken because it reminds Maxwell of something we had on our trip to Kauai. We love sweet marinades and this one does not disappoint!

Kauai Grilled Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

4-5 Chicken Breasts or Thighs (we do some of each, pick your favorite)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 ketchup

1 teaspoon sriracha 

1/4 cup beef broth

1/4 cup pineapple juice

3 Large pieces of peeled ginger or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1. Mix all ingredients together for the marinade and reserve 1/4 cup for basting when you are grilling.

2. Pour marinade over the chicken and marinate for 2-3 hours.

3. Grill the chicken, basting as you cook. 

4. Enjoy!

We like to eat ours with rice but it is great to eat with any side.

Meal Plan Monday #21

Happy Monday! Our week is crazy! What does your's look like? We are very much looking forward to November because things should be settling down a little before the holiday season at the church gets underway. 3 more weeks of flag football and then daddy will be back home more often and that is very nice. Anyways, here is what's for dinner:

Monday: Taco Casserole or 7 Layer Dip
Tuesday: Out
Wednesday: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes (I'll make Max write his recipe down so that we can post it here soon)
Thursday: Parmesan Chicken Casserole with salad
Friday: Bacon and Egg Sandwiches and Fruit salad
Saturday: Slow Cooker Roast Chicken This is a great recipe!
Sunday: Out

Cheesy Broccoli and Chicken Casserole

Last week, I tried this recipe from Taste Every Season but of course I tweaked it a bit. We liked this recipe a lot! It took a lot of prep and was a bit time consuming but it is simple, so just give yourself some time to get this put together.

Honey-Orange Chicken Stir-Fry

My husband is not a fan of stir-fry and has some negative memory in his head about it but he LOVES this recipe. It is so tasty and only take about 30 minutes from start to finish. It's such a nice quick and easy dinner for your family!

Honey-Orange Chicken Stir-Fry

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, diced

3/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup honey

3 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sriracha 

2 cloves garlic

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Salt and Pepper

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Veggies: snap peas, carrots, mini corn, bell peppers (whatever you like)

1. Mix together the orange juice, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, garlic and ginger. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Set aside.
2. Cube chicken and toss with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Prepare your veggies and sauté them in a tableeswspoon of olive oil, until they are al dente or cooked to your liking. Remove from pan and set aside to add at the end. I used snap peas this time because it was what we had at home.
4. Add about 1-2 more table spoons into pan. Add chicken and cook over high heat getting a nice golden color on each side. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until chicken seems mostly cooked.
5. Pour in stir-fry sauce and allow to cook for about 5 minutes or until the sauce becomes thicker and glossy looking. 
6. At the very end, add in your veggies and toss.
7. Serve over rice and Enjoy!!

Meal Plan Monday #20

Wow I finally hit 20 Meal Plan Mondays! I thought it would come faster than it did but here it is! We've got a very busy, full week with lots of time with friends and we cannot wait! I also had a very successful day Saturday, writing a bunch of new blog posts for the next two weeks so make sure you check back each day this week!

Monday: Forgotten Chicken
Tuesday: Taco Soup with Mexican Corn Cake
 Wednesday: Apple Cider Pot Roast
Thursday: Beef Stroganoff
Friday: French Toast Casserole and Bacon
Saturday: Steaks
Sunday: Out

What are you having for dinner?

Meal Plan Monday #19

Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend. Yesterday, I did my meal planning for the whole month and I *hope* to share our method with you later this week.  Here is what we are eating this busy week of football games and practice!

Monday: Oven Baked Chicken
Tuesday: Pollo Asado Tacos- Costco pre-marinaded meat
Wednesday: Noodle Bake
Thursday: Slow Cooker BBQ Country Style Ribs (Didn't get to it last week)
Friday: Teriyaki Chicken
Saturday: Grilled Veggie Burritos

Meal Plan Monday #19

Good-morning and happy Monday! For us Mondays are now very happy days because they are our "Saturdays" or the first day of our weekend. We are recovering from a nasty chest cold virus around here, so we are taking it easy for our weekend and I am sooooo looking forward to it! Here is what's for dinner this week:

Monday: Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Tuesday: Teriyaki Steak Skewers  (The link from Pinterest is bad but the recipe is in the comments area.)
Wednesday: Pasta Alla Ladd
Thursday: Mexican Taco Braid (I'll post the recipe next week)
Friday: Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs
Saturday: Crock Pot Stew Beef Chili (I have some frozen that I will just defrost and heat up)
Sunday: Sticky Honey Lime Grilled Chicken

Noodle Bake

A few weeks back, I was scheduled to make dinner for a friend who had just had a baby. I was trying to come up with something from what I had around my house. My friends husband is a big fan of Lasagna, so as I was looking through recipes, this one stood out from Pioneer Woman. I didn't have all the same ingredients and played with it a bit but it turned out great! Maxwell says it tastes even better the next day.

Noodle Bake

adapted from Pioneer Woman

1.5 lb ground beef
2 jars of your favorite pasta sauce (1.5 bottles goes into the dish, save the rest for the side if you want)
1 package of egg noodles
1.5 teaspoons garlic salt (I use Lawry's Roasted Garlic Salt)
1.5 cups sour cream
4 oz of cream cheese
2ish cups shredded cheese, I used colby jack

1. Brown ground beef, season with salt and pepper. Add sauce and allow to simmer. Set aside.
2. Cook egg noodles to the directions on the package, drain but save 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Put the pasta back into pot and add sour cream, cream cheese and garlic salt. If the cheese mixture seems thick, add some pasta water to thin it out a bit. You want it to stick to the noodles but not be too thick.
3. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Add half the noodle mixture into the bottom, spreading a layer. Top with meat sauce, then sprinkle with cheese to cover, then repeat.
4. (At this point, you could make two smaller ones and freeze it for another time. It would do really well pulled out and cooked later)
5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until all the cheese is melted on top and the mixture looks bubbly.

Enjoy!

Meal Plan Monday #18

Good morning! And happy Monday! I'm running a little behind because we had Aston's birthday party yesterday so I didn't get to write my post or plan my meals until this morning. It's been VERY hot and humid this past weekend and into the week, so I'm using my crock pot a lot so that I don't heat up the house. When it's hot like this, I put my crockpot outside on a table in the shade to cook so I don't heat my house up any more. It works great! Anyways, have a great start to your week and I'll see you tomorrow with a new recipe!

Monday: Taco Salad
Tuesday: Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Roast Chicken
Thursday: Brown Sugar and Balsamic Pork Roast
Friday: Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes
Saturday: Steaks
Sunday: Out

What are you having for dinner this week? I always love new ideas!

Meal Plan Monday #17

It's Monday again! I am all thrown off because today is the first day of our "weekend" at home. My husband, Maxwell, works for a church, and his work days just changed, so he works Wednesday thru Sunday now. It's thrown me off in numerous ways this last week but we will get back into the swing of it.

Here's what we are having for dinner with week:
Monday: Summer "Spaghetti"
Tuesday: chipotle lime butter whole roasted chicken with the easiest black bean + corn salad.
Wednesday: Out
Thursday: Balsamic Steak Skewers
Friday: Whiskey Peach BBQ Chicken (modified from this recipe)
Saturday: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Sunday: Aston's Birthday Party!!

What is on your menu for the week? I'd love some new ideas!