Food for Friends

Our friends C & T recently had a beautiful baby boy. They love food as much as we do, but with the new little guy demanding a lot of time and attention, I don't think cooking is a top priority. I know T made a bunch of meals to freeze before Little James arrived, but when I told her about the Avocado Enchiladas she seemed so excited I promised to make them for her when the baby made his grand entrance. Since he arrived during the week I didn't have time to get them together the first time we went over, but we're going to see them again today so I got busy in the kitchen:


Creamy, buttery avocado mixed with garlic, jalapeno, tomato, red onion, lemon and lime juices stuffed into soft flour tortillas topped with enchilada sauce and cheddar cheese...what's not to like?

I also made them a pan of kicked up mac & cheese. Truth be told, we bought a half gallon of milk and hadn't even opened it, so I wanted to use it up while also giving our friends another meal for their arsenal. I made this version:


... with bacon and onions, lots of cheddar cheese and bay for flavor. I also made homemade bread crumbs by taking the crust off four slices of bread and putting it in the food processor with some rosemary, basil and thyme from my garden. It smells so fragrant. I hope they enjoy both meals.

Breakfast

This morning I made us a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs served with salsa and slices of avocado:


I do love eggs and avocado together. If only I'd had some of that excellent Spanish rice to serve with this meal.

Protector of the Cables

Our cat, fierce protector of the cables:


... much to SP's chagrin.

Ginger, Garlic, Scallion Shrimp

A perennial favorite - Ginger, Garlic and Scallion Shrimp served over white rice:


I love this dish. It's one of our favorite ways to eat shrimp. The bold flavors never disappoint.

Thin Crust Pizza

With work so crazy these days I'm working late. Since SP always works late, this means we'll probably be doing a lot of take-out in the next week or so. Last night I was all set to make a huge salad for dinner, but when I got home it was pouring and I just felt drained from the day, so I called SP and asked him to stop at our favorite thin-crust pizza place on his way home. They sell their pizza in slices, so he got a few varieties:


From left to right - white pizza, bacon with scallions and mushrooms and basil. Not pictured (but enjoyed by me for lunch today) was a sausage and pepperoni slice. I should have taken a picture of it because they slice the meats into super thin, long strips that get nice and crispy in the oven.


My plate, with a slice of the white pizza, mushroom and bacon with scallions:

Red Robin

I'm sorry about the lack of posting lately. Work is kicking my butt and it won't ease up until the end of the month. And it was SP's birthday this past weekend so there haven't been very many meals at home, which means not a lot of pictures to post. I ended up bringing my camera to Red Robin last night to finally take a picture of the Royal Red Robin, my burger of choice when we eat there:


Taken from the website - "This is the aristocrat of all burgers because we crown it with a fresh fried egg. In addition, topped with three strips of hickory-smoked bacon, American cheese, crisp lettuce, tomatoes and mayo." I always ask them to add raw white onion to the burger because I think it compliments all the other ingredients perfectly.


Red Robin might be a chain, but we love their burgers and fries, which we get extra crispy with a side of mayo for dipping. Yes, it's a caloric nightmare, but it's damn tasty!

Flounder, Potatoes and Peas

In our quest to eat more fish we bought frozen flounder filets at the wholesale club. I'm not sure I've eaten flounder before, but it was really good. A little meatier then tilapia, but with the same mild flavor.


I served it with an herb butter (rosemary, basil and thyme fresh from my garden) and boiled potatoes mixed with peas, butter, salt and pepper. Can I just say how awesome it is to go out in your backyard and pick fresh herbs? I need to take a new picture of what we've got back there. I can't wait for the tomatoes to ripen. So exciting!

Fettuccine Alfredo with Sausage

I'm so far behind in my posting I'm not even sure when I made this meal. It must have been last week sometime. One of SP's favorite meals is fettuccine alfredo with sausage:


SP asked why it was a reddish/brown color. That's from the sausage - I cooked the sausage in the pan and then added the heavy cream and a little milk. Once I scraped up all the good browned bits from the pan the sauce was this color. It was quite yummy.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders and Oven Fries

A quick dinner - Buffalo Chicken Tenders and Oven Fries:


The tenders are the same recipe I tried recently. It's so easy and so tasty, perfect for a quick meal. Instead of the potato salad I just made oven fries - cut up potatoes tossed with oil and salt, roasted in the toaster oven at 425 for about 35 minutes. They were a little greasy, but pretty tasty nonetheless. I also served cut up celery sticks alongside, to keep with the chicken wing theme.

Vanilla Pudding Pops

SP was leafing through the June issue of Everyday Food when he came across a recipe for Vanilla Pudding Pops. He decided to make them using these old molds his mother gave us:


The result was pretty good. We both think there needed to be a little more vanilla flavor, but it worked quite well.

Chicken Sandwiches

It was so gorgeous on Monday that we decided to grill for dinner and eat outside. SP wanted chicken sandwiches:


I pounded the chicken thin so it would cook quickly on the grill. After I flipped the pieces over I added cheddar cheese so it would melt. I also cooked some bacon and we had leftover tomato from the burgers. A smear of mayo and a toasted bun made the sandwich. I had mine with Terra chips while SP finished off the rest of the pasta salad.

Nachos

On Monday SP and I wanted an afternoon snack. I had enough fixings for a plate of nachos:


I like to build layers so all the chips get the yummy toppings. I topped these with salsa, queso, chopped scallions and olives, along with shredded cheddar cheese. They really hit the spot.

Sleeping Kitty

My little smoosh, sleeping the day away on a lazy Memorial Day:


Ain't he the cutest?

Memorial Day Cookout

On Sunday we had friends over for a Memorial Day cookout. They brought chips and salsa that we enjoyed out in the back yard, along with Rum Runners and Pina Coladas:


SP grilled up some hamburgers and hot dogs:


... and I made pasta salad:


I was really pleased with the pasta salad. Our guests had requested a traditional pasta salad with Italian dressing; something I've never made. I couldn't use something bottled so I made my own Italian dressing using this recipe and tossed it with the hot pasta. I also diced green and orange peppers, tomatoes, olives, broccoli, celery, red onion and scallion and tossed everything together with a little more dressing. It was really good, if I do say so myself. My plate:


The burgers were juicy and tasted great with lettuce, tomato and red onion. Our guests also brought cupcakes to round out the meal:


I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend!

Kitty Update

I mentioned that our cat was sick, so I thought I'd give you guys an update in case anyone was wondering.


After a multitude of trips to the vet, expensive tests, lots of anxiety, force-feeding and hoping for the best, our cat has made a full recovery. From what, we don't know. The vet was perplexed and told us that sometimes cats just have unexplained fever/illness. His best guess was that he got a virus and it made him feel crappy so he stopped eating. Apparently cats like to do that when they're sick. At his worst he was down to 10.5 pounds. But luckily the combination of antibiotics, force-feeding and an appetite stimulant helped him on the road to recovery and when he went back to the vet 5 days later he was up to 12.25 pounds. He's now back to his old self - playing, running around the house, eating like a champ and meowing at us when we aren't paying him enough attention. He and I spent a good part of Memorial Day snuggled up together on a chair. It's good to have my baby back!

Breakfast Burritos

On Saturday I made breakfast burritos:


... that came out so yummy! I scrambled eggs with cooked green pepper and onion, added a little salsa and stuffed the mixture into tortillas with a little cheddar cheese and taco sauce.

Pizza Friday

I think the worst of this cold is past. I actually felt like cooking tonight and luckily we had one ball of pizza dough in the freezer and some mozzarella cheese in the fridge. We didn't have any toppings so I just did a plain pizza.


I have to say, these last few pizzas have been amazing. Even a simple plain pizza tasted fantastic. I preheated the pizza stone for a good 30-45 minutes since I read something about the stone working best when heated for a full hour. The crust was superb and even the cheese cooperated, cutting into clean slices like you'd get at a pizza parlor:


I love making pizza at home. My next challenge is going to be grilled pizza. I keep hearing good things about it but I'm skeptical since we have a charcoal grill and can't really control the temperature.

Chik-fil-A

As you can probably tell by now, this was what we refer to in our house as a "rebuilding" week. We got home late on Monday. We had no food in the house since we'd been away all weekend and I was very sick. Tuesday I stayed home and slept. There was simply no motivation to go grocery shopping, let alone cook a meal. SP picked up Quiznos for dinner Wednesday night, but I barely ate because I still felt horrid. By Thursday I was on the mend so SP got one of our favs, Chik-fil-A:


I like the original sandwich with extra pickles. And you can't go wrong with waffle fries. Of course they are never very hot or crispy when you get them to-go, but they still hit the spot.

Chinese Takeout

As I already mentioned, I came down with a nasty head cold at the end of our Chicago trip. Flying home on Monday was no picnic, but I kept thinking that soon enough I'd be home eating yummy Chinese food before snuggling into bed for a good long sleep. SP picked up some hot and sour soup:


... and chicken with peanuts in hot sauce, extra, extra spicy, for me for dinner. I was so sick I couldn't even taste the spiciness even though I could see tons of red pepper flakes. It was really good, though. I'll definitely ask for extra, extra spicy from now on.

Chicago Trip - Keefer's

Whenever we go to Chicago we have to eat steak at least once. My grandparents are regulars at Keefer's so that's where we went on Saturday night. We always have a great time and the food is excellent. I'm sorry for the horrible photos. I didn't bring my camera so I had to use SP's cell phone camera. Not the best quality, but I couldn't let the gorgeous food go unphotographed.

They had a shrimp and avocado special appetizer:


... which was out-of-this-world good. It was half an avocado (which you all know I love), stuffed with shrimp salad and topped with a piece of lobster. The whole thing was dressed with a citrus vinaigrette. Watercress, slices of grapefruit and tomato finished the plate. I would have licked the plate clean if that was socially acceptable.

SP got another special, a gumbo:


... that was spicy and very flavorful. My grandparents also split the avocado and seafood appetizer, as well as a large salad.

I ordered the New York strip, very rare:


It was perfectly cooked, with excellent seasoning. I almost wished I hadn't had the appetizer so I could have eaten more steak, but the avocado and shrimp were just too tasty.

SP got filet mignon served with Dianne sauce (brandy and mushrooms):


We also shared an order of creamed spinach:


... and au gratin potatoes:


Everything was fantastic. I wish we had a restaurant this good in our area. It would definitely be our go-to place for every special occasion.