Stuffed Pasta Shells on Halloween

Hello everyone! Happy Halloween! It has been a while since my last post, I apologize! Life has been happening and it has been busy and fun and crazy, but I have not forgotten about you! I bring to you tonight, on this spooky Halloween, a not so festive but very yummy nonetheless, stuffed pasta shell baked dinner! And of course to go along with this, we indulged in a crunchy green salad with some oven crusted leftover hamburger buns we had handy. I have never made this dinner before and happened to find it looking through the Betty Crocker website one day. Thats the thing about me; on my free time I like to look at cooking websites...I highly suggest trying it yourself, just don't do it when your hungry because you will want to make and eat everything! I know from experience...

This dinner takes a bit of time, about an hour and fifteen minutes, so plan accordingly. I think it would be good if you are having company because it makes a lot and while it's baking away in the oven, you can visit with your guests. Tonight we didn't have any guests, it was just us girls. But while we were making dinner we had 2 little trick-or-treaters who were so adorable. The little girl was a witch and the little boy was a zombie. When Juli asked the little girl what her name was, she replied "witch." It was so so cute!

Well without further adieu, here is the awesome recipe that I used for tonight's Halloween dinner!

Ingredients
24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
1 pound lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1 jar (26 oz) chunky tomato pasta sauce
1/4 cup water
1 container (8 oz) chive and onion cream cheese spread
1 1/2 cups shredded 6 cheese Italian cheese blend (6 oz)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, if desired

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook and drain pasta shells as directed on package.
2. In 10-inch skillet, cook ground beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
3. In large bowl, mix pasta sauce and water. Pour 1 cup of the pasta sauce mixture in bottom of ungreased 13x9 inch glass baking dish. In medium bowl, mix cheese spread, 1 cup of the Italian cheese, the Parmesan cheese, egg and cooked ground beef. Spoon heaping tablespoon mixture into each shell. Arrange stuffed shells over sauce in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over top, covering shells completely. Cover with foil.















4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until bubbly and cheese filling is set. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Italian cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with parsley. (www.bettycrocker.com)

As I was eating this, I couldn't believe how creamy it was! You can really taste the cream cheese and the richness that it brings. And a little sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top just before eating doesn't hurt either. Now we cant forget about the salad and bread, which were also tasty. The salad was not as fancy as some of the previous ones have been, but it was still good nonetheless. And the crusty garlic bread was simply some leftover hamburger buns that I put a little butter, garlic powder, and oregano on and popped it in the oven with the stuffed shells for about 12 minutes. They crisped up beautifully. I promise you can't go wrong with this dinner!

I hope you all had a fun Halloween weekend! We had a blast here in Laramie. On Friday night I went on a date to the UW Cowgirls exhibition basketball game and had such a great time, and the Cowgirls won! Then continuing on to Saturday night, Juli, Kara, Tim, Adam and I all went out to a costume party and then to the Library (sports bar) for some Halloween fun. Kara and Tim were tourists and they really hammed it up for the part. They could have fooled me! Everywhere we went they would tell people they were from out of town, and would pull out a map to look for directions...too funny. Then there was Adam who was an excited priest, it you know what I mean. His costume was funny and definitely made people laugh. And then Juli and I were a bunch of grapes, and boy was that a hoot! It was so funny to try and eat and dance with all these balloons pinned on us. But everywhere we went people were complimenting on all of our costumes. I think people really liked all of our creative costumes and appreciated the humor in all of them.

What to look for: I will be posting the winning chili recipe that Kara used in her chili cook-off! And this week we have some great dinners lined up, so please keep checking in for new dinners! Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment or a recipe that you would like us to try out!


What do ghosts serve for dessert?

Ice scream!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Beef and Barley There Stew

Hello friends! I write to you tonight with great delight because tonight's dinner was oh so yummy! Kara is behind the creation of beef and barley stew, with some 'crusty on the outside and soft on the inside' bread. It was a great dinner for this cold weather we are experiencing here in Laramie. When I came home from class late this afternoon, I walked into a house that smelled of a savory dinner. And to snack on a little something before the stew was ready, we enjoyed some bread torn into little pieces with some olive oil and vinegar to dip it in. So good.

The beef and barley stew recipe that Kara used is one that she has stored up in her head. Thank goodness she can remember it because you wouldn't want to forget this one. Here is what you need to do to make the stew:

Ingredients
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 onion (white or yellow), chopped
1 package of stew meat
1 bag frozen veggies (or whatever veggies are in season: we used zucchini)
1 cup barley (cooked per packaged directions)
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon butter
1 box of beef broth
1 head coarsely chopped kale (or spinach/leafy green)

Directions
In a pan, saute mushrooms in butter until they are cooked through. Add thyme and a little red wine if you desire (once around the pan). In another large pot, heat olive oil and cook onion until translucent. Add stew meat, salt and pepper. Once the meat is cooked, dump in veggies and diced tomatoes, beef broth and cooked mushrooms. Meanwhile, cook the barley according to package directions. Then add the barley to the big pot with the other ingredients. Let simmer 20-30 minutes. Just before you serve, put in chopped kale and let it wilt. Serve with bread.

This dinner was really tasty and really healthy too. You get your vegetables and protein and grains! Which brings me to my next story.

While at the dinner table, I asked if barley was an oat or something else. Juli, Kara nor Tim knew the answer so with Juli's dad Randy being the farmer, we had to phone a friend. According to his expertise barley is a grain. Along with barley in the grain category is oats, so the distinction was made. And you'll never believe this...barley is technically a fruit too! Because it has a seed they consider it a fruit. Weird. And while Juli was on the phone with her dad, she said he was crackin' some funny jokes. For instance, "wheat a minute!" or "I have some corny jokes for ya" (he's an organic corn farmer). What a funny guy!

Well, yet another exceptional dinner was made tonight here at the 812 house. Beef and barley stew with some soft and airy bread with a crusty crust!

Stay tuned for some more bangin' dinners!

Made From Scratch Pizza

Hi everyone! I hope you're staying warm! It is snowing pretty hard here in Laramie and we are expected to get between 6-13 inches by tomorrow night...wow! Well good thing we had a hot and cheesy dinner tonight to keep us warm. This evening I put together a little something called pizza...I'm sure you've heard of it. Well this pizza was made from scratch! I made the dough this afternoon and let it rise, and by tonight at dinner time it was ready to go.

The fun thing about tonight's dinner that I have never done with my pizza recipe, was that I made personal sized ones. Usually when I make pizza, I make roughly an 18-inch pie. But tonight I thought it would be fun to make mini, personal pizzas. And everything turned out according to plan because they tasted just as good as a big one. The nice thing about doing the individual ones was that each girl was able to customize her pizza just the way she likes it. And we thought a crunchy salad was the perfect side to the pizza, so Kara and Juli put one together with a few odds and ends we had in the fridge.

The dough recipe that I use is one that I got from my friend Berto, who is also my manager at the pizza restaurant that I work at in Denver. This recipe makes enough for about an 18-inch pizza.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions (making dough)
Put warm water in a small bowl and stir in yeast. To proof and make sure yeast is active, stir in 1/2 tablespoon sugar. Let sit 10 minutes, and it should puff up. While that is sitting for 10 minutes, in a separate larger bowl add flour, milk, and olive oil. Once yeast mixture is ready, add it to the bowl with flour, milk, and oil. Stir a couple times until it starts to get sticky and dough forms. Then use your hands to knead it about 20 times. Then place the dough ball into a new bowl and cover with saran wrap. Let that sit on the counter in room temperature for about 2 hours, or until it rises and doubles in size. Then place in refrigerator for at least an hour. Remove from refrigerator and flour a section of your counter. Take dough ball out of bowl and place on floured counter. Flatten with your hand, and make sure you get all the air bubbles out. It should be a fairly large circle. Then form the crust by placing your left hand (thumb up, pinky down) on the outer edge of the dough and using your right pointer finger to make an indent into the dough, raising the edge up on your left hand. Do this all the way around the dough.

Directions (cooking pizza)
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Place uncooked pizza on a pizza tray with a little flour underneath the dough. Place in oven about 12-15 minutes or until cheese is cooked and a golden brown, and crust is done.

I know that seems like a lot, but it's really not that bad. It just takes a bit of explaining to do. Now that you have made your yummy homemade dough, you can put any kind of sauce and toppings on it that you desire!

For our 4 mini pizzas tonight we had a few different ones that we made. One was a BBQ chicken pizza that had BBQ sauce, chicken, red onion, and mozzarella cheese. Another one was a white pizza with an olive oil oregano, basil, garlic powder sauce. With chicken, tomato, spinach, garlic, and mozzarella cheese. Another one was the exact same as the one just mentioned, but there was also ricotta cheese on it too. And the final one was made with a pesto sauce, and for toppings there was chicken, tomato, spinach, garlic, and mozzarella cheese. 

It was so fun to be able to decorate and create each pizza to individual tastes. In the end, we all just ended up trying a little of everything. But that is the nice part because you can have a little variety. And a little tip that you might enjoy: brush the crust with olive oil before you bake it. That way it will get a pretty golden brown color and crisp up nicely.

 <----- BBQ Chicken

Pesto ----->









Also, today was the chili cook-off in Prexy's Pasture at the center of UW! The competition was between the pharmacy students and the engineering students. If you ask me, the pharmacy students are going to win hands down because they are so precise and articulate at measuring things...how can they go wrong?! Well Kara, being the little pharmacist in training that she is, made a bangin' green chili with two other pharmy classmates. So at lunchtime, Juli and I made our way over to the tasting extravaganza. We sampled 5 different chili's, one being Kara's of course. They all paled in comparison to her green chili. One tasted like hay...which Juli and I are not sure how that happened. Another one was way too smoky, and another one had a weird flavor that was kind of odd. And then there was a white chili that was decent, but when it came down to the voting, we had to vote for the best: green chili. 

With the votes tallied, Kara's green chili won! I am not surprised because it was so incredibly good. For winning this chili cook-off her group and fellow pharmy students got a cash prize and bragging rights. So a congratulations to Kara for kicking butt and bringin' home the bacon!

Well everybody, I'm off to curl up with a blanket and do some studying. I hope you try this pizza recipe, and please leave a comment or tell me about something you would like my roommates and I to try!

S-s-s-sausage and Broccoli Penne with Crusty Crust Bread

Hi everyone! So nice to write you you again this evening! On this Sunday evening Juli, Kara and I enjoyed a feel-good dinner made by Juli. We had pasta with broccoli and sausage, and a side salad, along with some crusty crust bread that had a roasted tomato and garlic spread. So yummy! Juli made this dinner once before at the very start of the school year, but tonight I thought it was even better than before! It is a 30 minute recipe that tastes like it took all day to make...it's that good.

Tonight at the dinner table, us girls sat down to a relaxing dinner. Kara came home from a long day at the library for a dinner break before heading out back to study her brains out for her big test tomorrow (good luck Kara!). This sausage and broccoli penne was just the brain food she needs!

Here is the recipe that Juli used:

Ingredients
1 pound dried rigatoni, penne, or ziti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound chicken or pork sausage, casings removed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 ounce can low-sodium chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bunch broccoli florets, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups (6oz) grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, crumbling it with a spoon, until no trace of pink remains, about 7 minutes. Spoon off and discard any excess fat. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minute. Add the broth and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli, cover, and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the butter and Parmesan and cook uncovered until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the drained pasta, salt, and black pepper and toss to combine. Set aside a few minutes before serving to allow the pasta to absorb some of the liquid. To serve, divide the pasta among individual bowls. Tip: cook pasta in plenty of salted water. The salt will help being out the natural flavors of the pasta. (www.realsimple.com)

Here is the recipe that Juli used for the roasted tomato and garlic, that was pureed and turned into a spread:

Ingredients
2 packages cherry tomatoes
1 head of garlic (multiple cloves)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the top of the garlic head and place right side up on baking sheet. On the same baking sheet, place cherry tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place in oven and cook about 10 minutes, checking often, rolling the tomatoes around. You want the tomatoes to "pop". Once they have "popped" remove them from the baking sheet (leave the garlic) and place in a blender. Blend the tomatoes until they are a puree. Then, transfer them to a serving bowl. Meanwhile, let the garlic continue to cook for about 30 minutes, or until it becomes soft. Remove it from the oven and place on a dish with the tomato puree. Serve on crusty crust bread by popping out a clove of roasted garlic and smashing it on the bread. Then add the tomato puree and spread it over the garlic. Enjoy!

And we can't forget about the crunchy salad! Kara made this light dish with lettuce, tomato, celery, and red pepper. Mmm mmm mmm!

I have to say that this was a great Sunday night dinner. I'm ready to take on the week! And just a little something fun to share, this weekend was our first time receiving a Bountiful Basket. What this is is a food co-op that buys produce in bulk and reduces the prices for local buyers. Then every 2 weeks, we can go pick up our basket and see what goods we get that week. And each time, there are different produce that come in the basket, so it's like Christmas waiting to see what we get. For tonight's dinner, Juli used the head of garlic that came in the Bountiful Basket. So with this new produce basket that we are receiving, it will be fun to come up with dinners that require a little creativity to use what we have!

Stay tuned this week for some delicious dinners and entertaining stories!

Steak and Potatoes, Aww Yeahh

Hello there friends! It has been a while since the last post, but don't you worry because there is an incredible dinner that I am so happy to share with you! It is an American staple: steak and potatoes. We indulged ourselves on Friday night with this hearty dinner. And to accompany the steak and potatoes, we had sauteed brussel sprouts and a crunchy green salad. And last but certainly not least, we lost ourselves in a homemade pumpkin cheesecake with homemade whipped cream. I'm telling you, this was a dinner to die for! And there was great company too. Those in attendance were Juli, Sam, Kara, Tim, Adam, and myself. It was sort of a date night if you will.

We all worked as a team to make this dinner possible. Sam and Tim were the grill masters, working on the flank steak. While Kara, Juli and I tackled the potatoes, brussel sprouts, and salad. And Adam supplied the appetizers of pigs in a blanket and an spinach artichoke bread bowl. So as we cooked, laughed, and enjoyed the night, we were all so thankful to be able to have such a wonderful dinner.

When preparing the steak, we let it soak in the marinade for about an hour, and is it a good one! Here is the marinade recipe:

Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Pour all liquids in a bowl and whisk until combined. Add all dry ingredients to bowl and whisk for another minute to combine all the flavors. Add meat to Ziploc back (Freezer size) and pour marinade into bag. Make sure to let all air out of bag when sealing. Massage marinade into meat through the bag so you don't get your hands messy. Place bagged meat in refrigerator for approximately half an hour - until ready to cook! Enjoy! (www.food.com)

Once the marinade is complete and has sit for about an hour, just throw the steak on the grill and cook to your desire! And here is the recipe we used for the mashed potatoes. We just kind of made up the recipe as we went (Kara was the scientist behind it), so here is what we came up with and it was marvelous.
 

Ingredients

4-5 large potatoes 

1 cup shredded cheese 

1/2 stick of butter 

3/4 cup milk 

1/2 cup sour cream 

1 tablespoon salt 

1 tablespoon pepper 

1 tablespoon garlic

Directions

Peel and chop potatoes into chunks. Boil potatoes until they are fork-able. Drain potatoes and place in a large bowl and mash. Add cheese, butter, milk, sour cream, salt, pepper, and garlic. Mix together well and serve!

Now that the two stars of the show are completed, the sides can be in the spotlight. For the brussel sprouts we just took two frozen bags and sauteed them in a little olive oil on the stove until they were cooked with a tint of darkness. Add some salt and pepper and they are ready to eat! Next is the crunchy green salad which had, lettuce, red onion, carrots, celery, and a the juice of half a lemon with just a small drizzle of olive oil. I really like the dressing of lemon juice and oil because it has the citrus from the lemon, but the smooth texture of the oil that makes it just so perfect.

 

 

Now I know you are wondering about the homemade pumpkin cheesecake... Ta da! Here ya go!

Ingredients (crust)

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stick melted salted butter

Directions (crust)

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside. (www.foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients (filling)

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature  

1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions (filling)

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined. Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours. (www.foodnetwork.com)

Juli and I made this pumpkin cheesecake Thursday night and it was a lot of fun. We found out that it makes a lot of filling, so it might be in your best interest to make 2 cheesecakes, or what we did was make 2 cheesecakes and then were still able to fill little individual baking dishes with some of the graham cracker crust and filling too. I promise you won't regret making this indulgent pumpkin cheesecake. And with Thanksgiving coming up in the next month this is a great dessert recipe to have handy!

I had such a blast Friday night! We all laughed and cooked, which in my opinion doesn't get any better. During dinner we played a game called Chat Pack that has cards with conversation starting questions on them. For example, one of them might ask "what is the most significant event you have ever witnessed?" It was so funny to hear some of the answers that everyone was sharing. Then after dinner we played Catch Phrase, where it was boys against the girls. Unfortunately us girls are not as good as the boys at Catch Phrase so we seemed to lose almost every time. But we're all winners in the end right?  I sure think so.

Baby Burgers and Sweet Tater Fries

Hello guys and gals! I am so excited to write to you this evening, because I have an awesome dinner to tell you about! On this wild Wednesday, us girls at 812 enjoyed some sliders with an array of toppings, as well as some salty sweet potato fries. This is an American staple that you must have! To top our baby burgers there was a plethora of toppings to choose from. These included: cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion, pineapple, dilly beans, pepperoncinis, bacon, teriyaki sauce, ketchup, mustard and mayo. My personal choice was inspired by Red Robin's Banzai burger that has cheese, teriyaki sauce, pineapple, lettuce, tomato and onion. When I was eating it I felt like I was sitting in a booth with some friends enjoying the Banzai!












Thank goodness for Kara though because she knew how to work the little propane grill that we have. Usually when we have to grill anything there is a man here (Tim, Sam, Mark) to take over the grilling duties. But tonight it was just us girls, so we had to figure it out on our own. But Kara was knowledgeable about how to work the grill, so in firing it up she gave me the quick rundown. Bing, bang, boom! We have fire!

Since there were so many toppings and little odds and ends that went into making this dinner, I am so thankful that I had Juli, Kara and Anna to help. Kara worked on the sweet potato fries, while Juli was slicing and dicing the onion, tomato, avocado, lettuce and even putting together a salad (we were too full from the baby burgs to tackle the salad). Anna was crisping up some bacon that she made just the right size for some sliders, while I was out grilling the meat. It was a team effort that made the process quick and easy.
 

Here is what I put in the raw burger meat to season it up a bit:

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 tablespoons Grill Mates: Montreal Steak seasoning

Directions
With your hands, mix raw meat with worcestershire sauce, onion powder and Montreal steak seasoning. Then form small patties that will fit the bun sizes you are using. Make them slightly larger because they will shrink. Makes approximately 7-8 patties. Put them on the grill and cook for about 3 minutes per side, or until desired pinkness.

These little baby burgers were accompanied with some killer sweet tater fries that were seasoned and cooked to perfection. Here is how you too can enjoy their tastiness.

Ingredients
3 medium sweet potatoes
4 tablespoons corn starch
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt

Directions
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them so they are a medium thickness. Not hugely thick but not shoestring either. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put cornstarch into a plastic bag (we used a walmart bag) and dump the cut sweet potatoes into the bag. Twist the top and shake until the potatoes are coated in cornstarch. Then put the coated fries on a nonstick cookie sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the fries and use your hands to make sure they are all well coated. Feel free to sprinkle some salt on them too. Arrange them on the sheet so that they have room between them. The less fries on the pan the better they'll cook. Pop them in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. At 15 minutes, flip them and cook an additional 5 minutes if needed. (www.theartofdoingstuff.com)

And to dip these wonderful fries in, this same recipe had a little something to whip up. It is just 1/2 cup mayonaise, 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

These sweet tater fries were yummy for being homemade, and went flawlessly with the sliders. And for a frosty beverage, I sipped on a Coke Zero, which I would always have as a kid with a burger. Kara and Juli's refreshment was a chilled beer, which I think was a great drink to pair with the sliders and fries.

So please try this dinner out for yourself; I promise you will absolutely love it! And please leave a comment with your thoughts and opinions, and even a recipe of your own that you would like us to try!

Fall Butternut Squash Soup With Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

Hi friends! I am back to tell you about the wonderful dinner I had tonight, made by Anna! She prepared a creamy butternut squash soup with oven roasted potato and carrot chunks, along with a crunchy green salad. And for an appetizer, Juli sliced up some crusty crust bread that we dunked in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

From start to finish it was a strong meal that would satisfy the most massive of appetites. When I walked in the house from babysitting and smelled the air, I knew there was something good cookin'. And dining with us this evening was Anna's mom, Carolyn! She was so fun to have in the kitchen and just a really sweet lady to have over. She even came with zucchini bread and pie!

Now I'm sure you will be wanting to try this dinner out for yourself, so here is the recipe for the butternut squash soup and roasted veggies!

Soup Ingredients
3 pounds squash
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter
nutmeg
salt
pepper

Directions
In a large pot, melt butter and add onion. Cook until onions are translucent ( about 8 minutes). Peel, seed and cube the squash into 1 inch chunks. Add the squash and chicken stock to pot. Cook about 20 minutes until squash is tender. Then with a slotted spoon, take out chunks of squash and place in a blender. Puree the squash and then add back to the pot with onions and chicken stock. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and parsley. Serve hot! (www.foodnetwork.com)

Roasted Veggies Ingredients
3 large potatoes
6 large carrot sticks
olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions
Cut potatoes into 1-2 inch chunks. Cut carrots into 1 to 1 1/2 inch long chunks. Place them in a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes, stirring them every 7-10 minutes.













And for the salad, it was just lettuce and spinach with carrots and tomato; drizzled with some lime juice and vinegar. So superb!

This dinner was something that Juli and I had never had before, but we really enjoyed it. It is something that I would absolutely have again, and recommend to anyone that has never had butternut squash soup, or to someone who loves it and wants to try this recipe.

After dinner, you could find Juli and I sprawled out on the couch watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. A perfect dessert to a prize dinner!

Tortttttilla Soup

 Savory Tortilla Soup Haiku

Soup made from extra

Blended together so well 

Crunch up chips on top

Hello everyone! I am back again to tell you about our dinner this evening! With all the leftovers from Qdoba, it was necessary to put our nogins together and create something that incorporated what we had in the fridge. It was kind of fun to develop the soup as we went, throwing in a little of this and a little of that. Overall, I'd say we did a pretty bang up job! Everything we used blended together so well and it was an exceptional use of the ingredients we had. Here is the list of ingredients for this Tortilla Soup!

Ingredients 
2 chicken boobs
1 can (approx.) black beans
1 bag (approx.) frozen corn
1 can (approx.) pinto beans
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon hot chili's
4 cubes chicken bouillon
3-4 cans filled with water
salt
cumin

Directions
Boil the chicken until cooked, and then shred. Meanwhile, in a large pan combine black beans, pinto beans, corn, green pepper, hot chili's, onion, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until heated through. Add water and chicken bouillon and increase heat to a simmer. Then, add the shredded chicken and stir in a pinch or two of salt and some cumin and let simmer about 10 minutes before serving. If you feel up to it, serve over white rice.

We had a bunch of toppings to add to the soup too. There was shredded cheese, sour cream, diced tomato, cilantro, green onion, green salsa and tortilla chips. I put each one of these things on top of my tortilla soup, and it was just the right touch.

Kara, Juli, Anna and I all sat around the dinner table and enjoyed this "anything goes" tortilla soup. It was a great way to end the buzzing weekend and get ready for the week ahead. Now its time for some Real Housewives of New Jersey, adios! 

QDOBA! 'Nuff Said

Hello friends! I am back writing to you yet again about something so yummy and perfect that we enjoyed eating this weekend! Yesterday was Homecoming here in Laramie, and we celebrated in style. After enjoying the morning at Breakfast at the Buck, and the afternoon at War Memorial Stadium watching the UW Cowboys defeat the UNLV Rebels 41-14, we chowed down on some Qdoba! Juli's parents were so nice and had Qdoba cater our Homecoming get together. With family and friends around, eating some tasty Qdoba was perfect. And it sure was nice not having to cook for all the guests and just be able to enjoy everything.

 After going back for two rounds of food...which soon required me to need black stretchy pants (although the guests would not have been appreciative so I didn't indulge), Juli came up with the idea of a burrito chip. It was simple made chic. Here is how she created it: she took a full chip and drizzled some sour cream on it. Then she put a chunky piece of avocado from the guacamole on it. Next, she plopped a chicken cube on the chip, and finished it off with a couple black beans. It was the perfect amount of everything and could fit in your mouth in one delectable bite.

After everyone was energized from dinner, we let the good times roll! With the dance music and lively people it was the perfect recipe for a good time. Some people played flip cup, while others were dancing on the deck, while others were mingling and socializing inside. But as the night went on, the party moved into the kitchen where it was impossible not to feel the beat and tap your toes.












Well as you can imagine, our Qdoba had quite a bit of leftovers, so this week we will be making creative dinners with the leftovers and maybe some new things too! And I want to give a special thank you to Randy and Judy for making all of this possible!