January 7-16, 2012- Another Forgetful Post

So we have been very stressed and busy the last couple of days. Here is a meal we had sometime recently. Don't remember when. It is stir fry veggies over rice.















So we successfully took pictures for 2 of the last few days. On Friday the 13th, we made cauliflower with brown butter and pasta. It is pretty quick and tasty. You start by chopping up the cauliflower. Then you saute it in olive oil. Meanwhile you cook your pasta. Save some of the cooking water for the end. After the cauliflower is mostly cooked you add it to your strained pasta. In a small sauce pot, you make the brown butter sauce. It is basically browned butter with a few spices of your choice. After it has browned you pour it over the pasta and cauliflower mixture. Top it with some bread crumbs and parmigiana cheese.






















We had a crockpot meal on Saturday the 14th. It was a stew with dumplings on top. It was good.

On Sunday, I can't really remember what we ate.

Monday January 16, we had more cauliflower. We made a cauliflower and bean soup. We started the crockpot with some stock, onions, and cannellini beans. We let that cook for a few hours. We it is close to serving, you chop cauliflower and add that to the mixture. Also you cut up some cream cheese and monterrey jack cheese and add that it too. You let it cook for about 30 more minutes. After it has cooked throughout, you put it in a blender and puree the mix. Its ok to leave a few chunks of cauliflower in the soup. We served ours with some tasty bread.

January 6-7, 2012- Oops, Forgot to Post!

We forgot to post for the 6th and 7th!

On Friday the 6th we were lazy and tired so we purchased a Groupon Now and went to this Indian restaurant called the Tandoori Oven in the Pruneyard by us. For $8 we got $15 worth of food and then paid $3.89 out of pocket. For that we got 2 samosas, paneer masala dinner which included the paneer, naan, and basmati rice, as well as a cup of bottomless chai. It was yummy and had some additional sides. It was a little spicier than we are used to but was still good. I am glad we tried this place before we move away from here!

On Saturday we had a lot of errands to run and we ended up having a really late lunch around 3:30pm. After that I (Becca) decided to take quite a long nap around 4:30 until around 7:00pm so by the time I woke up I wasn't really all that hungry because I was still stuffed from lunch. We had bought some parmiaggo rolls for a soup we were supposed to make that night so we each had one of those. And then we remembered that we had our bogo coupons for blizzards at Dairy Queen so we treated ourselves to a blizzard at DQ. It was yummy and we didn't really eat dinner. I think we got used to not cooking when we were down at my moms so we need to get back in the habit.

January 9, 2012- White Bean Soup with Bread (Vegan)

White Bean Soup with Bread (Vegan)

This is our first time having this soup which was really simple to make. We simmered two cans of cannellini beans with 4 cups of vegetable broth for about 30 minutes and then added some oregano, thyme, salt and pepper to it. We then blended about half of the beans with some broth in the blender to puree it and added it back to the soup base. We boiled it and added some pasta. In the meantime we baked some par-baked bread from Trader Joe's. That was really it to the recipe, it was really simple but tasted good. You can add whatever else you like to the soup.

January 8, 2012- Polenta with 2 sauces

Polenta with 2 sauces

In this dinner we made our creamy polenta. It is cornmeal with some butter, cheddar cheese, and some herbs. We like to make it a few hours before dinner and then refrigerate in a glass pan before using it for dinner. We then cut the firm polenta into cubes. We use ramekins to cook the polenta. We put some TJ's tomato basil in the bottom of the ramekin then add about 5 pieces of polenta. We put the white sauce on top. The white sauce is made from milk, flour, Parmesan cheese, and some more herbs. On top of everything we add some mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. We bake it for about 15 minutes. We also ate it with a Parmiaggo roll and a side salad.

We also made a new cupcake today. We got a cook new cupcake pan for Christmas that allows us to put surprises inside the cupcakes. We decided to make a chocolate Reese's peanut butter cup cupcake. The cupcake is vegan too. We decorated it with a vanilla frosting and some Reese's pieces :)

January 5, 2012- Cauliflower Au Gratin and Salad

Cauliflower Au Gratin and Salad

We haven't tried this recipe but saw it in one of our many cookbooks and decided to try it. The cauliflower is more of a side so we needed to have something else with it so we had a salad as well. The cauliflower au gratin is really simple to make. You boil cauliflower florets, lemon, and chopped onion in a cup water for about 6 minutes and then drain out the water still keeping the onion and cauliflower. Meanwhile you preheat the oven at 425 degrees and take a 9x9 pan and coat it with some olive oil and your choice of herbs (we used oregano and thyme), we also added about 2 crushed garlic cloves and you put the pan in the oven for about 5 minutes. You then place the cauliflower and onion in the pan and mix it around with the olive oil. You can drizzle additional olive oil if you like. You then sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Our salad was romaine lettuce with peas and kidney beans, with shredded cheddar cheese and some ranch dressing. It was a really good and simple dinner.

January 4, 2012- Stuffed Shells

Stuffed Shells

Stuffed shells are a classic in my (Becca's) family. It is one of the first things I started making when I really got good at cooking. They are quite simple to make. I mix ricotta cheese with some seasonings and some mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. I buy a tomato basil pasta sauce. Then it is all about the stuffing and layering. You stuff your shells with a good amount of the ricotta mixture. You also should put some sauce on the bottom of the pan you are using. You also want to put a generous amount of sauce on top. And top your shells off with both mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. I bake my shells for about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. And voila you are done! Shells pair nicely with a simple side salad and a nice glass of wine :) Also some good company! We had ours tonight with Nick's parents. We also made a gingerbread molasses cake from Trader Joe's. It turned out really delicious and we served it with some whipped topping. We served it warm and it was soo good! Yum! (no picture, sorry!)

January 3, 2012- Stuffed Zucchini

Stuffed Zucchini

I made this stuffed zucchini when we made dinner for the priests back in November. It was November 18 to be exact. I actually saw this recipe when Paula Deen was making it with either her brother or her son and it looked delicious. You roast the zucchini cut side down for about 15 minutes. You then scoop out the pulp and put it in a pulp. You cook some onion with butter in a pan. Add in 10 oz dethawed and squeezed spinach, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup stuffing bread crumbs, 1 tsp. poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and the zucchini pulp. You mix it all together for a little bit and stuff it back into the zucchini. You then bake it for about 15 minutes. It is so yummy!

January 2, 2012- In N Out

In N Out

Tradition when we travel back up north from Orange County is to stop in Kettleman City and get some grilled cheese from In N Out, so we did. And this time we really paid for it, in terms of time. We waited for our food for over 35 minutes. Overall, it was about a one hour stop in Kettleman City to eat. Oh well, we still made good time home. We also got one order of fries an a Neapolitan shake. It was quite yummy! It was a nice visit to see family but we were glad to be home and be in our own bed!

December 31, 2011-January 1, 2012- Leftovers

Leftovers

We had a lot of leftovers to eat so we decided to just eat leftovers for the next two nights. We were also pretty lazy. I don't really have much else to say for these two nights. New Years Eve we ended up taking Sashi to the vet around 10:30pm because she had been sick for the previous few days. So at midnight we were still driving in the car to get her some pepcid and cottage cheese.

On Sunday (Jan 1) we had still had so many leftovers from what we had cooked earlier in the week we didn't want to waste so we ended up eating those things. We also finished up the ice cream pie/cake. I am not sure if I should call it a pie or a cake.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a fun and happy new year. Hoping everyone has a great 2012!