Italian Drunken Noodles

As with most of the recipes I post lately, I found this one on Pinterest

I used to clip recipes out of magazines, now I just go see if it's online

if so, I pin it to my recipe board

Pinterest ROCKS...

This latest recipe originated from the cozy apron blog

What caught my eye on this recipe was the pappardelle pasta

I've been wanting to cook with them for a long time

Just had not really found a recipe

Besides,  I use italian sausage in all my italian dishes that call for meat

Also, I love the brightness of onions, red, orange & yellow bell peppers

Finally, who doesn't love cooking with wine?

Pappardelle Pasta



Drunken Noodles with Italian Sausage, Peppers & Onions

Drunken Noodles
(recipe from the cozy kitchen)

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces Pappardelle noodles, uncooked
• olive oil
• 4 spicy Italian sausage links, casings removed (I had mild italian sausage that I seasoned with cayenne pepper)
• 1 1/2 teasp salt
• 1 teasp italian seasoning
• 1/2 teasp cracked black pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, pressed through garlic press, or minced
• 1/2 cup white wine (preferably dry, like chardonnay)
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 tablesp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, julienned, divided use

DIRECTIONS

• Place a large, heavy bottom pan or braising pot over medium-high heat
• Add 2 tablesp olive oil, once the oil is hot, crumble the italian sausage into the pan in small chunks (you want to keep the sausage fairly chunky); allow it to brown in the oil for a few moments on each side; once it's browned, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon, place into a small bowl
• Add the sliced onion to the pan with the sausage drippings; allow it to carmelize & become golden for roughly 5 minutes or so, stirring to keep it from burning (add a touch more olive oil if necessary)
• Add the salt, italian seasoning, & cracked black pepper - stir to combine
• Add in the bell peppers & allow those to saute with the onion about 2 minutes until slightly tender and golden
• Add the garlic, once its aromatic (just takes less than a minute), add the white wine and allow to reduce for a couple minutes until almost completely reduced
• Add in the diced tomatoes in their juice
• Return the italian sausage to the pan
• Gently fold to combine all ingredients
• Allow to simmer for about 3-4 minutes to blend the flavors, then turn the heat off
• To finish the sauce, drizzle in about 2-3 good tablesp of olive oil to create a silky reach flavor
• Add in the chopped parsley and half of the basil, stir
• keep warm while preparing the noodles
• Prepare the noodles according to the package instructions (I actually did this step after I browned the sausage)
• Drain the noodles very well, add them directly into the sauce, using tongs to gently toss and combine them with the sauce; check seasoning for salt or pepper
• To server, add equal portions of the "drunken" noodles to bowls, garnish with remaining basil.   You can even top off with shaved parmesan, if desired
• Add an extra drizzle of olive oil 

DIY - Canvas Art Part 2

I have 2 nieces! 

One turned 9 back in July 

She came to stay with me

&

 we had fun with paint

(This is all inspired by Pinterest) 

Well, my other niece is turning 11 next week

so she came to stay with me this weekend

We went to Hobby Lobby

She picked out the size canvas she liked

(I love the 2 pack)

Abby's Musical Painting

Abby's Stained Glass

Aunt Sandi's "breathe" with pearls

Aunt Sandi's "ode to Kate Spade"

DIY - Canvas Art

My neice just turned 9 years old  

For her birthday,

she came over on Saturday

to spend the night.

After a shopping trip to Hobby Lobby,

we tried our first arts and crafts project.

We bought 2 different size canvas

They each had 2 in the pack

We each had an 8x10

&

 an 11x14 canvas

Of course, all inspiration came from Pinterest

Where else ?

 We just kind of "winged" it

We had the following:

acrylic paints

paint brushes

canvas

mod podge (sparkly)

My neice embraced the project with full force

She knew what she wanted to say

&

She knew exactly the colors she wanted to use

 

Me on the other hand..

Not so much...

I used copper & brown to match my room

I first started with a cute saying

but couldn't really commit

So, I just put random letters on after I painted the copper

Then I painted "expresso" over them

Then I wasn't thinking, and I peeled off the letters...

So... I had to improvise and paint gold over the DREAM letters

looks like it was meant to be that way, right???

This is both of our attempts of doing hearts.

I say for our first attempt at being artist,

we did pretty good...

since they are just going to hang

in our rooms for us to see



Lemon-Cucumber-Mint Water

If you love Pinterest

as much as I do,

you may have seen recipes

 for Detox Water

There are alot of varieties

but

I liked this one best from

A Sweet Simple Life

She calls it Sassy Water

She uses a mason jar

&

it gave me the

perfect excuse

to buy

this BIG one @ Target

for $16.99

Clean and slice one whole lemon
Clean and slice 1/2 cucumber
Add 10-12 Mint leaves
3 quarts water

Put in the refrigerator overnight or at least 8 hours



Pretty Yummy Water

&

if it detoxes me

gives me pretty skin

helps me lose weight

even better

Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes

Totally Test Kitchen

I first saw this recipe in June's Cooking Light Magazine. I have been pulling recipes and articles out of magazines for years and placing them in binders.  Now that there is Pinterest, I no longer have to do that.

I love it

I just find the recipe online; and hopefully, they already have a "Pin it" button for me; but if not, no worries, I have my own "Pin it" option saved to my bookmarks in Explorer. 

Again, I love it!

I've had the quinoa for a while, but just haven't had the nerve to cook with it.

This recipe seemed to have just the right ingredients

(all of my favorites - tomatoes, poblano peppers, corn and CHEESE)

The recipe does not call for any meat, which is fine with me, but I had just bought this Spicy Jalapeno Chicken Sausage from my favorite store, Trader Joe's.

My brother is staying with me, and since this is more of a girl meal, not a Texas manly meal, I figured I'd add this to "hearty" it up.

This sausage is so amazing, that you do not have to tell a Texas man that's it's not beef. 

 Spicy Jalapeno Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe's

Stuffed tomato before the cheese - see the quinoa, peppers, corn, and sausage ?

Now, with the colby jack cheese ... ready to go into the oven

Baked Tomatoes with

Jalapeno Chicken Sausage, Quinoa, Corn,& Green Chiles

adapted from Cooking Light, June 2012

makes 6 tomatoes

Ingredients
•2 poblano chiles
•1 pkg jalapeno chicken sausage (optional) 
•4 ears corn
•1 cup chopped red onion
•6 large ripe tomatoes
•1 cup uncooked quinoa
•1/4 cup water
•1 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
•2 scallions, thinly sliced
•2 Tbs olive oil
•juice of 1 lime
•1 tsp kosher salt, divided
•1 tsp ground cumin
•pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
•1/2 tsp chile powder
•1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
•6 oz Colby Jack cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions

Cut the tops off the tomatoes. Carefully scoop out the tomato pulp, leaving the shells intact. Drain the pulp through a sieve set over a bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Reserve 1 1/4 cups of the tomato juices, and discard the pulp and seeds. Sprinkle the inside of the tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon of salt (total, not each). Invert the tomatoes onto a lint-free kitchen towel and stand 30 minutes. Blot the insides of the tomatoes dry with a paper towel or kitchen towel.


Preheat the broiler to high.


Cut the poblano chiles in half lengthwise and discard the seeds and membranes. Place the chiles, skin-side-up, on a foil-lined baking sheet, and flatten with your hand. Broil about 8 minutes, or until the skin is blistered and blackened. Remove the chile to a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to steam for about 10 minutes. Peel and rinse the chiles, then coarsely chop.

Add the corn and onion to the pan. Broil, tossing once or twice, about 10 minutes, or until charred and blackened in spots. Add the corn and onion to the bowl with the chiles.

Meanwhile, slice the chicken sausage (horizontal) and cook in a sauce pan with one tablespoon of olive oil.  Cook over medium high heat until cooked through. Slice in half and place in the bowl with the corn, chiles and onion. Set aside.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the quinoa. Place the quinoa in a strainer and rinse well under cold water, stirring as you rinse. Drain well. Combine the quinoa, reserved tomato liquid, 1/4 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook 15 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff the quinoa with a fork.

Add the quinoa to the bowl with the sausage, corn, chiles, and onion, and stir in the cilantro, scallions, olive oil, lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cumin, cayenne, chile powder, pepper, and 1/2 cup cheese.

Spoon about 3/4 cup of the quinoa filling into each of the tomatoes. Divide the remaining cheese evenly over the tops and bake about 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and serve.



Chocolate Mint Icebox Pie

Chocolate Mint Icebox Pie

aka Grasshopper Pie

This is the summer of icebox pies

My first attempt was last month when

I featured my

Peanut Butter/Chocolate Icebox Pie

My friends asked if I could make a

Chocolate Mint Icebox Pie

So...

I pinterested

&

googled...

& 

The Pioneer Woman didn't let me down

This is her Grasshopper Pie recipe

I made one slight modification

I folded in Nestle chocolate chunks

It requires the freezer to set

When I transported it to my friend's house,

she didn't have room in her freezer

So, it got a little mushy by the time we ate dinner and served dessert

They all loved it anyway

Next time, I'm going to try it with cream cheese to see if I can get it to set properly in the fridge vs freezer

Next icebox pie test kitchen recipe - Lemon Cream Pie

Duff Zebra Cake

I know that lately, I'm all

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

...but what can I say

it's very inspiring

which led me to my

latest test kitchen adventure

I've seen several pictures of zebra cakes

on Pinterest

so when I was at Target last week

&

I saw this from Duff

I knew it was meant for me to make a zebra cake - STAT! 

Then I thought, " Hmm.. how do I make mine

stand out

amongst the others on Pinterest?"

Then it came to me...

Of course, PINK

instead of white

pink

 is afterall

my FAVORITE color

At first, I wasn't quite sure what I was doing.

Basically, you have your pink cake

& 

your chocolate cake

Using a 1/4 measuring cup,

start in the middle of a greased 9 in pan

(I used 2 - 9 in pans)

alternate between pink and chocolate

Pouring in in the middle everytime

I was too cautious at first,

and towards the end I realized

that I needed to fill the

measuring cup pretty full

Anyway, it still looks cool..

&

very zebra-ish

I made a traditional buttercream frosting

This pink frosting is very 1980's

I think I might try it again with chocolate frosting

for a more toned down version

..but c'mon

this is pretty fun and amazing

Stay tuned ...

there will definitely be more

zebra cake test kitchen activities

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Cinnamon Roll Cake

I found this recipe on Pinterest

It originated from cookin up north blog

It is very easy to make

Cake:

3 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup butter, melted

Topping:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1 Tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix all the cake ingredients together except for the butter
2. Slowly stir in the melted butter
3. Pour into greased 9X13 pan
4. Mix all the topping ingredients together until well combined
5. Drop evenly over the batter
6. Swirl with a knife
7. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes
8. While warm, drizzle the glaze over the cake

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 Tbsp milk

1 tsp sugar

Ham & Swiss Sliders

This is another recipe

I found on Pinterest.

It originated from the blog -

The Girl That Ate Everything

This is my version of it

These are pretty unassuming, but amazing!

Ham & Swiss Sliders



Ingredients

1 pkg 24 hawaiian rolls

24 slices honey ham

24 slices baby swiss cheese

Poppy Seed Sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1 1/2 tablespoons of horseradish mustard

3/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup chopped red onion

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Prepare the ham and cheese with the rolls.  Place in a 9x13 pan - touching sides.

Mix the ingredients for the Poppy Seed Sauce, and pour over the sandwiches.

Let it sit for 10 minutes while the butter sets.

Cover with foil and cook for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Uncover and cook for another 2 minutes or until the tops are slightly brown.

Cranberry Feta Pinwheels

Cranberry Feta Pinwheels

I found these on Pinterest

(my new favorite site)

They were "pinned" from food.com

Ingredients

• 1 6oz package dried cranberries
• 1 container of cream cheese spread
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 4 large spinach flour tortillas

Directions

• Combine all ingredients except tortillas, mix well
• Divide and spread mixture evenly amough 4 tortillas
• Roll up tightly, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least one hour
• Cut into slices

These are amazing.  They are so easy to make.  Perfect for Christmas entertaining. So very festive.