Book Review: The Book Thief

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a book club! I am so excited about this and I was practically waiting on my tip-toes the 5 days that it took my first three books to get here from Amazon.com. I had never heard of any of the books that I was about to read, but I was sure that it was going to be enjoyable.

I am used to reading fantasy books and I really enjoy them. Some of my favorite books are The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time, and the Mistborn Trilogy. Those are usually the type of books that I seek out.

When I heard the title of this, The Book Thief, I imagined a story about a mischievious child that goes about stealing books, which is kind of what this book is, but I imagined it to be much more mischievious and much more lighthearted. I wondered to myself while waiting for the book what we could possibly talk about in our book club if the book was so basic. I opened the book and with the first couple of words, I was enticed, captivated, and very reluctant to set it down. Usually I can read through books really fast, and I was decently fast with this one, but I needed to make sure that each word sunk in.

About The Book:

Liesel Meminger is only nine years old when she is taken to live with the Hubermanns, a foster family, on Himmel Street in Molching, germany, in the late 1930s. She arrives with few possessions, but among them is The Grave Digger's Handbook, a book she stole from her brother's burial place. During the years that Liesel lives with the Hubermanns, Hitler becomes more powerful, life on Himmel Street becomes more fearful, and Liesel becomes a full-fledged book thief. She rescues books from Nazi book-burnings and steals from the library of the mayor. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her first book, but Hans Hubermann uses her prized books to teach her to read. This is a story of courage, friendship, love, survival, death, and grief. This is Liesel's life on Himmel Street, told from Dealth's point of view.

This is my favorite excerpt.

They say that war is death's best friend, but I must offer you a different point of view on that one. To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thing incessantly: "Get it done, get it done." So you work harder. You get the job done. The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more.

Read it. You won't be sorry that you did.

GREAT NEWS!

After 5 months of looking and 4 miserable months working at Walmart.... I got a job!!!!

You are now reading from a Health Unit Coordinator for Intermountain Healthcare. I'm working in the Medical/Surgical unit. No, this isn't EXACTLY what I wanted since I trained to be a Medical Transcriptionist, but in this day where everybody is looking for experience and I couldn't get anyone to hire a new graduate... I thought it couldn't hurt to apply for a position that required knowledge of Medical Terminology and organizational skills. ALL THE MAKINGS OF A GOOD MT.

I may not be there yet, but I know I'm one BIG step closer.

YAY!

I spent all morning yesterday getting poked and prodded. Drug tests, blood draws to check my immunizations, and a Tetanus shot. BUT I'M SO HAPPY.

Look at me go! :-P

My Very First

I have decided that I need to start my transformation into a Homemaker now before I have kids so that when I have a little tot cruising around that I'll be able to keep up with it then too. I have 3 projects so far that I want to show you guys and I'm really excited because 2 of them were taken from something I saw and I tweaked them a bit and made them mine!

My sister-in-law, Maria just moved out-of-state with her husband and baby so her husband could start law school. I wanted to make something that would be fashionable and remind her that Emi and I care and that we think about them all the time. I decided that I wanted to make them a throw blanket and 4 pillows. I mulled over this for about a month before I finally bought the fabric. You see, I've sewn once in my life. It was in a Home-Ec class in 7th grade. I made a drawstring bag and I obviously couldn't sew a straight line to save my life. UNFORTUNATELY, this is still a work in progress.

My mom is an amazing sewer. She made all of my formals for High School dances and my bridesmaid dresses for my wedding. Not to mention the countless things she has fixed or hemmed for me. In short, she is amazing. She is teaching me how to sew and is helping me to make sure I don't screw up these projects too badly... :-D. She is also letting me use her 41-year-old sewing machine! I am going to be buying one here shortly though. I promise to post pics of that momentous moment. :-P

Here are the action shots from our sewing and the finished project. Pretty homey, if I do say so myself... and I DO!

Gianina

I used to be sane, but I got better.

Hello everyone!

I know this abrupt change came as a surprise to a lot of people and it will probably take awhile for people to trickle over and I'll probably have to start building my followers all over again, but hey! I am EXCITED about this change. I have been stagnating over in the cooking world for a little while. Don't get me wrong! I still love it and I still hope to play a major part in it, but I think I might have some other things to offer as well.
Like I said in my previous post, I need a creative outlet. I can only post so many craft, painting, sewing projects on my family blog before people start getting bored and wonder why I don't talk about my hubby more. I started writing a journal and that didn't turn out to be enough. My husband is going bonkers because I keep telling him all about blankets, changing pads, curtains, blah blah blah that I want to share so instead YOU (lucky you...) get to hear all about it.
One of the first things I want to change from my previous blog is I want to add a playlist on here. I know some people despise these things and for that, I am terribly sorry. HOWEVER, music is very much a part of my life! So scroll on down to the very bottom and get to know me a bit by looking at my musical choices.

Hope you enjoy!

Gianina

I Need a Creative Outlet.

I think I am going to change the purpose of this blog. I am interested in so many things and want to do so many things and I would love to share all of these things with many people. (I also consequently am not paying very close attention to my grammar.)
I want to make this blog respresent me. I'm still planning on posting recipes (which I have like 5 I need to post btw) but I would also like to post book reviews, movie reviews, crafts I want to do, crafts I've done... etc. and get feedback on all of it. This may not make a lot of sense to some people, but it makes a lot of sense to me, because that is how my mind works 99% of the time. One big jumbled mess of life.
I don't promise that it will be interesting, but I do promise it will be me.

What do you think?

Greek Potato Salad

If you ever are wondering what I'm doing on a Friday night when my husband is still at work, you can be sure to find me searching the internet for yet another food blog so that I can expand my cooking horizons. I found this blog a couple of weeks ago and I LOVE it. My brother has been begging me to make her Chicken Pineapple Blackbean Enchiladas for him and I have her another recipe of hers on the menu for this next week. Thanks to Mindi for having such an awesome blog!

I was hesitant and excited to try this greek potato salad. I was unsure of whether or not Emi or I would like it because we are kind of potato salad snobs. :-D I loved cutting up all the vegetables and the delicious smells that came from them. Nothing smells better than fresh cut vegetables... seriously... nothing. However, this recipe wasn't mine and Emi's cup of tea. We weren't sure why exactly. We didn't hate it, and we didn't love it. I wanted to share it though because I'm sure other people would find it to their liking. My mom tried some and she loved it! I gave it to her and she said that she even ate some right before she went to bed! Haha. So if your game, definitely try this recipe. Who knows.... you might like it!

GREEK POTATO SALAD
1 ½ lb. red potatoes, cubed
1 C. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 C. cucumber, seeded, diced
½ C. pitted Calamata olives, sliced
¼ C. red onion, diced
1 T. chopped fresh oregano
1 C. shredded grilled chicken (optional)

VINAIGRETTE
½ C. feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 C. fresh lemon juice
¼ C. olive oil
2 T. plain yogurt (or Greek yogurt)
1 t. sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, 12-15 minutes; drain.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a blender.
3. Combine tomatoes, cucumber, olives, onions and oregano.
4. Add potatoes, chicken and vinaigrette.
5. Lightly mix until vinaigrette is evenly distributed.
6. Chill the refrigerator before serving.

Source: Mindika Moments

Steak Kabobs

I have really been enjoying being able to cook on the grill. This last meal I cooked was completely by myself with no help from Emi and the steak ended up being cooked perfect!!! It still had a bit of red in it and was moist and flavorful. I changed this just a little bit from the orginal recipe. For one thing, I used 2 garlic cloves instead of just the 1 and Emi and I never use hot sauce, so I didn't want to buy any for 1/8 of a tsp. Plus, I was a little afraid that if Emi saw the hot sauce, he wouldn't even try the steak, although I'm sure 1/8 of a teaspoon wouldn't add any heat to it. Instead I added 2 T of teriyaki sauce. It turned out great!!! My vegetables of choice were red onions and green bell peppers.

STEAK KABOBS
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 T oil
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 T teriyaki sauce
3/4 lb steak- cubed
veggies of choice (like onion, mushrooms, peppers)

Combine first 9 ingredients. Pour 1/4 cup in a large zip loc bag. Cover and refrigerate remaining liquid. Add beef to bag and marinate at least 2 hours. Put meat and veggies of choice on skewers (soak skewers in water for 20 minutes before putting meat and veggies on them so they don't burn). Grill until desired doneness brushing with reserved liquid.

Source: Tried and True Cooking With Heidi

Sausage Calzones

Here is another wonderful recipe from Annie's Eats. My husband just LOVED this and told me to make them again soon! These were really easy to put together and satisfied my pizza craving that I always have! (I always crave pizza or tex-mexican food. :-D) I didn't have all the ingredients that I needed so I played around with it a bit and it turned out great!

However, I'm just going to include Annie's recipe because how I wish I had had everything I needed because I bet it would have been even better. I didn't have mushrooms or spinach so I left out the mushrooms (sad day) and put in some fresh parsley instead of spinach (obviously not as much). I have a little pot of parsley that is growing nicely on our balcony that was just begging me to use it. I also added the tomato sauce to the calzone before I put it in the oven! Yum!

Check out Annie's Eats Sausage Calzone recipe here.

How to Grill Pizza

Hello Again!

So I'm giving myself 100% for my efforts on blogging this past week. :-D I'm pretty much caught up now and I need to find some more recipes to grace you all with.

Since its pretty much summertime, we are doing most things on the grill. I am not a fan of cooking things over the stove because I always worry that it isn't done, and dislike cooking with oil. Last week, I decided that I wanted to try cooking pizza on the grill. I had never done this before and I was SOOOO nervous. My husband was even more nervous that I was going to ruin his precious grill. :-D

I could not for the life of me find a good tutorial on cooking pizza on the grill. So... I read a couple of different things and just decided to go for it! And here is my tutorial for you. :-D

1. Oil down grill. To do this, pour some olive oil onto a paper towel and rub down the area you will cook on.
2. Turn on grill and put it on high heat. Mine was at 500 degrees by the time I was ready to put the pizza on.
3. Make pizza dough. Lightly brush pizza dough with olive oil. Once dough is ready, place it on the grill. It will start to bubble immediately. Turn grill down to low heat. Once it is puffed up, you know to turn it on it's other side. (You may want to use two spatulas or a pizza turner. I made my pizzas kind of small since I don't have another grill spatula or a special pizza one!)
4. Start adding your pizza sauce and toppings.
5. Close the lid and allow cheese to melt. Once melted, your pizza is done!

SUPER EASY... and I didn't ruin the grill!

Here are some pizza recipes you can try on the grill.

Chicken Barbeque Pizza (This is the one pictured above)
Chicken Garlic Pizza
Ranch Chicken Pizza

...or you could always go for good ol' pepperoni and cheese!

Source: Gianina

Chicken with Lemon Sauce

This was another meal that me and my mom put together for a get together at my parent's house. My mom did most of the work, but I provided the recipe from Delectable Dining.
This dish turned out amazing and was so creamy. My only advice would be... make sure that you cool the sauce a bit before you taste it. I tasted the sauce and couldn't taste the lemon so I added more and it was a bit overpowering. I will definitely make this again!

CHICKEN WITH LEMON SAUCE
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup all purpose flour, divided
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 teaspoons salt, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, divided
2 eggs
5 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups apple juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Flatten chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. In a shallow bowl, combine 3/4 cup flour, Parmesan cheese, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, beat the eggs. Dip chicken into eggs and coat with flour mixture. In a large skillet, cook chicken in 2 tablespoons butter and oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Remove and keep warm. In a small bowl, combine the remaining flour, salt and pepper; stir in broth until smooth. Add apple juice to the skillet, stirring to loosen any browned bits. Stir broth mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Stir in lemon juice; cook for 1 minute. Add parsley and remaining butter; cook and stir until butter is melted. Serve over chicken.

Source: Delectable Dining

Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I am a BIG fan of Annie's blog over at Annie's Eats. I probably have more than half of her blog bookmarked to try. I really think she is an amazing cooker/baker.
I have made stuffed shells before, and while I liked them, I kind of found that I felt they were too much trouble for what their worth. These, however, were not. These were AMAZING! By far my favorite stuffed shell recipe. If you try anything from Annie's blog... TRY THESE.

SAUSAGE AND SPINACH STUFFED SHELLS
1 12-oz. package jumbo pasta shells
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 15-oz. container ricotta cheese
6-7 oz. fresh spinach, chopped OR 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 28-oz. can chopped tomatoes with herbs, including the liquid

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage to the pan, breaking it into smaller pieces as it cooks. Cook until the sausage is completely cooked through and no pink remains, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg, ricotta, spinach, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, basil, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Stir together to combine. Add the cooked sausage mixture to the bowl and stir until evenly mixed.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spread a thin layer of the chopped tomatoes in the baking dishes (either three 8×8″ pans, or one 9×13″ and one 8×8″). Stuff each shell with some of the sausage and cheese mixture, and arrange in the baking dishes, open side up. Spread the remaining tomatoes over the top of the pasta shells.

Cover the pans with foil and bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbling. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 10 more minutes.

Source: Annie's Eats

Creamy Ground Turkey Enchiladas

This is a Gianina original. I had some ground turkey left over from the tacos that I made so I decided to throw together some enchiladas. These turned out great and were simple and easy to make. My husband kept telling EVERYONE how I came up with my own enchilada recipe and that it was SOOOOO good. :-P

GROUND TURKEY ENCHILADAS
2 T olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 onion, chopped
Garlic powder, to taste
1 can cream of mushroom
8 oz sour cream
1 can green chile enchilada sauce
2 cups medium cheddar cheese
10 flour tortillas
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat oil in skillet. Add onions and sautee. Brown ground turkey with garlic powder.
3. Put ground turkey in a bowl and set aside.
4. In same skillet, add cream of mushroom, sour cream, and green enchilada sauce. Stir until well mixed.
5. Pour 1/3 of the sauce over the ground turkey.
6. Place meat and cheese inside flour tortillas and roll up. Spray a 9 X 13 baking pan with cooking spray. Place seamside down. Pour remaining sauce over the top of enchiladas. Top with cheese.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 30 - 35 minutes.

We like ours extra crispy so we do the full 35 minutes.

Ground Turkey Tacos

I am really behind on my blogging so I have quite a few recipes ready to go. My husband has been on vacation and while we have been eating well... I've been too busy spending time with him to post.

I got this recipe from a new site I was referred to by a friend a couple of weeks ago. Gina at Skinny Weight Watcher Recipes has a lot of great recipes and I was so excited to try this one. I have cooked with ground turkey before... and the result was not the greatest, but I'm happy to report that this turned out well! I was also a little afraid they would be too spicy for my husband, but they tasted almost exactly like the store bought packet of taco seasoning minus all the extra sodium!

GROUND TURKEY TACOS

1.3 lbs 99% lean ground turkey
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 small onion, minced
2 tbsp bell pepper, minced
3/4 cup water
1/2 8 oz can tomato sauce
8 large lettuce leaves from Iceberg lettuce

Brown turkey in a large skillet. When no longer pink add dry seasoning and mix well. Add onion, pepper, water and tomato sauce and cover. Simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

We tried these in the lettuce wraps, but despite drying them the end result was pretty messy (as well as tasty) so we decided to go with the traditional tortilla after that.

Source: Skinny Weight Watcher Recipes

Jessica's Italian Pasta Salad

Hello everyone! I made these awesome 7 Up Chicken Fajitas a couple of nights ago changing them up just a bit with tomatoes and lettuce instead of sauteed green peppers and onions. While thinking of the recipe I suddenly had an epiphany of what I wanted to go with them. Our friend Jessica makes some awesome pasta salad. I immediately texted her to ask her what was in her pasta salad and I anxiously waited for dinnertime to come around. This is a REALLY simple side dish and its SURE not to dissappoint. Perfect for a wonderful Memorial Day BBQ. I'm thinking on Memorial Day I will switch it up a bit and use Cheese-filled Tortellini pasta. Yum!

Emi was so funny as I was making this. I was cutting up the green bell pepper and he wanted me to give him half of it to eat before I ruined it by cooking it. :-P Once I told him I didn't plan on cooking the green bell pepper, he shut right up and just waited for dinner. :-D

JESSICA'S ITALIAN PASTA SALAD

1 lb Rotini Pasta (I used Garden Rotini which had tomato and spinach pasta as well as the regular, it made for a pretty dish.)

1 green bell pepper

4 roma tomatoes

3 stalks green onions

sliced black olives (I use the smallest can possible because I'm not a fan, but it is GOOD in the salad)

Salt to taste

Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing to taste (I probably used about 3/4 to 1 cup)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Drain pasta and rinse under cold water.

3. Cut green bell pepper, roma tomatoes, and green onions into small bits. Add these and sliced olives in with pasta. Add salt to taste and coat with Italian dressing.

4. Allow to chill to desired temperature.

Source: Our good friend Jessica.

Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Roll-Ups

I've made this recipe one other time for my Mom's birthday last year. We really enjoyed it so I thought I'd make it again and include a picture. It turned out great! This looks like a really fancy dish, but I assure you it is quick and easy to throw together... anyone can do it.

I usually have a hard time with chicken breasts that are cooked in the oven coming out dry. It isn't the case with these roll-ups. They always come out nice and moist. I did, however, cook my chicken for about 35 minutes. I love the flavor from the sun-dried tomatoes in this dish and I actually hate sun-dried tomatoes... go figure.

Don't you love that I put things in my food that I hate? I just love experimenting and seeing if I like things different ways... and "they" say that your tastes change every 7 years so its good to always give things a try again.

I served this with Penne Pasta tossed with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Parsley.

SUN-DRIED TOMATO CHICKEN ROLL-UPS
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
8 chicken breast cutlets (1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 lb. deli-sliced provolone cheese
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS
Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and grease the foil.
Place the beaten eggs and bread crumbs into separate shallow bowls. In another bowl, mix the ricotta and sun-dried tomatoes. Dip the chicken cutlets into the egg, then coat with the bread crumbs and place on a work surface. Place a slice of provolone and a heaping tbsp. of ricotta mixture on each cutlet. Roll up and secure with toothpicks.
Place the chicken roll-ups side by side on the prepared baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake until the chicken is golden and the cheese is bubbling, about 20 minutes.

Source: Sugar & Spice

Crockpot: Orange Chicken

My husband loves almost every recipe that I make. He loves them so much that recently he has began getting upset after a particularly good meal because he doesn't know when he is going to have it again. :-D So I've decided that now at least once a month I will cook something old in with all the new. This month, however, I decided that I wanted to do a whole month of recipes we've ate before... but I just couldn't take it so I did add in 3 new ones. So, you will get a couple of recipes that I have posted about before refreshed in your memory, as well as pictures to go along with them to entice you to try them.
I have been making this dish for about a year and a half now. It is really easy and one of the reasons I like it so much is it is done in the crockpot. This is also a low-cal recipe which makes it extra nice. It's a fantastic dish, so you should definitely give it a try. This dish is from Fix It and Forget It Lightly by Phyllis Pelman Good. I use my rice cooker to make rice while I am mixing up the mandarin sauce so it all goes together so nicely.

ORANGE CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS
170 calories per serving.

4 chicken drumsticks, skin removed*
4 chicken thighs, skin removed
1 c. strips of green and red bell peppers (I just use green)
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. prepared orange juice
1/2 c. ketchup
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. molasses
1 T. prepared mustard
1/2 t. garlic salt
11-oz can mandarin oranges
2 t. cornstarch
1 c. frozen peas
2 green onions, sliced

1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Top with pepper strips.
2. Combine broth, juice, ketchup, soy sauce, molasses, mustard, and garlic salt. Pour over chicken.
3. Cover. Cook on low 5-6 hours.
4. Remove chicken and vegetables from slow cooker into a ovensafe pan. Heat broiler to high and broil for 4 minutes. Keep warm. (The broiling part is optional, Emi and I just like our chicken's outside to be a bit crispy.)
5. Measure out 1 cup of cooking sauce. Put in saucepan and bring to boil.
6. Drain oranges, reserving 1 Tbsp. juice. Stir cornstarch into reserved juice. Add to boiling sauce in pan.
7. Add peas to sauce and cook, stirring 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens and peas are warm. Stir in oranges.
8. Arrange chicken pieces on platter of cooked white rice, fried cellophane noodles, or lo mein noodles. Pour orange sauce over chicken and rice or noodles. Top with sliced green onions.

Beef Parmesan with Garlic Pasta and Peasant Bread

I have posted about this recipe before, but I wanted to post about it again since its way back in the archives and I didn't take a picture last time. This dish is DEFINATELY worth making. I have now made this dish 3 times and each time its just been absolutely amazing. I made this for my sister-in-law Maria for her birthday. I gave her a choice of three separate meals and she ended up picking this one. It was a big hit and my husband is especially fond of the garlic pasta.
You can see the original post here.

BEEF PARMESAN WITH GARLIC PASTA
1 1/2 pounds beef cube steak
1 onion, sliced into thin rings
1 green bell pepper, sliced in rings
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
12 ounces angel hair pasta
8 garlic cloves
1/4 cup parsley

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Cut cube steak into serving size pieces. Coat meat with the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, and saute 4 minced garlic cloves for 3 minutes. Quick fry (brown quickly on both sides) meat. Place meat in a casserole baking dish, slightly overlapping edges. Place onion rings and peppers on top of meat, and pour marinara sauce over all.
3.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat. Sprinkle mozzarella over meat and leave in the oven till bubbly.
4. While pasta is boiling, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and saute 4 minced garlic cloves until golden brown. Take off the heat and add parsley to the pan. Set aside until pasta is done.
4.Boil pasta al dente. Drain, and toss in olive oil, parsley, and garlic. Top with grated parmesan. Serve meat and sauce atop a mound of pasta!

HINT: make the meat ahead of time, and refrigerate over night, the acid in the tomato sauce will tenderize the meat even more. If you do this, save the mozzarella till the last minute.

With this I made a recipe that I've had sitting in my favorites probably for the last six months or so. I had never made it before because I was afraid if my husband saw this lump of dough that he would stick up his nose and not want to try it. He LOVED this bread and told me to make it ANYTIME and since it is REALLY easy... maybe I will!

PEASANT BREAD
1 pkg dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
Cornmeal
Melted butter

Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until well blended. Do not knead. Cover and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour). Remove dough from bowl and place in 2 rounds on a greased cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise an additional hour. Brush top on dough with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Chicken Barbeque Pizza

I made this on Saturday night as an impromptu visit from my parents. I knew Emi wasn't going to be home when I got home from work so I gave them a call and bribed them with food.
I have been planning to make BBQ pizza for the last 3 months and have just never gotten around to it. I've been trying to find a recipe that I thought would be amazing since I love BBQ chicken, but I was afraid that on a pizza it would just be too strong of a taste. I came up with this concoction myself. :-D This is the best BBQ pizza I have ever had. Emi and my parents would agree with me.
You can find the original pizza dough recipe here, but I've made a few changes.

PIZZA DOUGH
1 pkg. Dry yeast (2 tsp. = 1 pkg.)
2 Tbsp. Lukewarm water
Dissolve yeast in warm water.
1 egg
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Shortening or oil
1 cup boiling water
3 cups flour
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. parsley flakes

Beat egg, add shortening, salt, sugar. Slowly stir in boiling water. Cool to lukewarm and add yeast mixture. Add ½ flour, italian seasoning, and parsley; stir (or beat with electric mixer) until smooth. Add remaining flour. Knead to soft dough. Roll to fit pan. Spread light coating of oil over dough on pan. Let rise 15 minutes. (You can spread on sauce and toppings while waiting for dough to rise.)

Cook at 425 for 15 - 20 minutes. (Check at 15 minutes.)

HINT WHILE BAKING: Turn oven to BROIL for one minute at the very end of pizza cooking time. This gives the cheese a nice brown that is so delicious!

BARBEQUE CHICKEN PIZZA
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed
Italian seasoning
Parsley flakes
Worchestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (or your preferred)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 red onion, sliced
Mozzarella cheese
1 T. olive oil
1 T. fresh cilantro chopped

Cube chicken breasts and saute over medium-high heat seasoning with italian seasoning, parsley flakes, worchestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Mix BBQ sauce and cream together and spread over crust. Top with chicken, then cheese, then red onion slices.

Creamy Ranch Chicken Enchiladas

Yesterday was mine and my husband's 2-year anniversary. We had a really great night watching our wedding video and just remembering April 26, 2007. It was just a small celebration, nothing too fancy because we're going to be going out to dinner later in the week. Emi and I both love enchiladas! I have two other enchilada recipes that I swear by and now I'm going to have to add these to the list.
I was very intrigued by this recipe because I just couldn't imagine eating an enchilada with ranch and I was a little scared to even try it, but that is why I ended up trying it anyway! :-D I definitely reccomend these. I made a couple of small changes, which I'll include below. Yum!
I found these on another blog that I found recently (don't you just LOVE finding new food blogs???) called Annie's Eats. I have over 30 recipes marked to try from this blog so be sure to check it out here.

CREAMY RANCH CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 bone-in chicken breasts and had more than enough to fill 10 tortillas.)
8 oz. reduced fat sour cream
8 oz. Ranch salad dressing
2 stalks green onions
1- 7 oz can green chiles
flour tortillas (10-15)
shredded mexican cheese

Directions:
Cook chicken breasts by preferred cooking method until cooked through. Set aside to cool a bit. (I cooked mine by throwing them in the crockpot for 6 hours with the green chiles, salt, and pepper. I love cooking chicken this way for anything I need shredded chicken for. It's much easier to shred than baking, grilling, or boiling.)

While chicken is cooling, mix up the sauce. In a large mixing bowl, combine half of the sour cream and half of the Ranch dressing. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the sour cream and Ranch dressing. Stir both until well combined. Shred or chop the cooked chicken and add to the large mixing bowl. Mix well with sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 9 x 13″ pan (and possibly another, smaller pan if needed). Add some of the chicken mixture to the center of the each tortilla. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, to taste. Roll up tortilla and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Use the sauce in the small bowl to top enchiladas, spreading well. Sprinkle on cheese to taste.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (30 for a crispier tortilla). Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

I made this dish last Sunday when we went up to my parent's house to have my mom cut Emi's hair. My mom never misses an opportunity for me to cook for them. :-D
I got this recipe from a new blog I found a couple of weeks ago and I have quite a few more recipes to try from her blog. Be sure to check out Norah's blog here. This recipe turned out so good! I will definitely make it again once red peppers go on sale! :-D The only thing I did differently is that I added the parmesan to the sauce and let it melt in instead of just using it as a topping.
Side note on the picture: My mom took this picture and she wanted some "green" on there so she stuck her salad bowl next to the pasta on the plate. I told her it would look goofy, but she is just too cute to listen to me. :-D

ROASTED RED PEPPER PASTA
3 red bell peppers
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream
Flat leaf parsley, finely minced
Fresh Parmesan, shaved or grated
1/2 to 1 pound pasta: orecchiette, penne, fusilli, etc.

Roast red peppers, then place in a Ziploc bag to allow to sweat. Peel the charred skins from the peppers, then removed seeds. Set aside. (Here are instructions for roasting bell peppers.)
Lightly toast pine nuts in a skillet. Set aside.
Puree peppers with pine nuts. Set aside.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a skillet or pot over medium heat, drizzle in olive oil. Add diced onions and garlic and cook until soft. Pour in pepper puree and stir together. Add plenty of salt. Pour in cream and parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Taste and add more salt, if necessary. Add cooked pasta, then stir together.