Chicken Orzo Soup

I am officially sick. It has been over half a decade since the last time I was feeling this way. Even my husband has never seen me sick. 

I'm a mom, we don't have the opportunity to get sick. 

Somehow though I sat down and got a cold.

I'm hoping this soup will help. Plus who doesn't love a bowl of hot chicken soup on a cold winter night?

Nothing too fancy, just your classic chicken soup turned up with orzo rather than plain old rice. 

ingredients

2 (48 ounce) cans chicken broth

* I use College Inn light and fat free 

1/2 large onion, chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

4 large carrots, chopped

1 whole chicken

1-2 cups orzo

1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper

Pour broth into a large pot and start to heat on high. Meanwhile, chop all veggies and add to the pot. Rinse chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the pot making sure the broth covers all of the chicken. If it does not, add a little water or extra broth. 

Cook on high until soup begins to boil. Simmer on medium-high until chicken is fully cooked. About 40 minutes. 

Once chicken is cooked remove and place on a plate to cool. Once chicken is cool shred with a fork. Add shredded chicken back to soup and bring back to a boil. 

Once soup is boiling add orzo. Simmer for about 7 minutes until orzo is cooked. 

Season with salt, pepper, and a little Parmesan cheese. 

Enjoy!

Bye-Bye Lettuce

I love salad. On average, I eat about one salad a day. ( I say average because some days I eat two.) 

I've even gotten my husband to love salads. 

But lets be honest, there are times when the lettuce just doesn't cut it. 

So I needed to find a new way to get my crunchy, veggie, vinegar fix. 

Here's what I came up with. 

Buckwheat Salad. 

It's good. Real good. Better the next day in fact. 

ingredients

1 cup buckwheat rinsed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup green onion, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

4 ounces feta cheese, cubed

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon honey

salt&pepper

Rinse buckwheat under cold water. Bring two cups of water to a boil. Add in buckwheat, cover, and simmer on low for about 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool.

While buckwheat is cooking prepare dressing. Whisk together vinegar, oil, honey, salt and pepper. 

Once buckwheat has cooled mix together all ingredients. 

Pour yourself a nice glass of Chardonnay and enjoy!

XO,

Leftovers!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend! I'm still recovering from all the food and spirits. Definitely need to detox before the Christmas festivities begin.

We polished off all the leftovers a couple hours after the main meal. But here are a few ideas in the rare chance you still have your turkey and mash still in the fridge!


Add a little gravy to these leftover mashed potato pancakes .

Two words: Food Porn (XXX click here!)

These cute little sweet potato bites would be great for your next holiday party.

Mix all your left over veggies into these potpies with sweet potato biscuits.
(They are vegetarian too!)

It's the gift that keeps on giving... Cranberry thumbprint cookies made from left over cranberry sauce.


Enjoy!

Wine, wine, wine

We are big wine drinkers in this house. We even got married on a vineyard. (See above pictures.)

To me, there's nothing better then a nice glass of Pinot Grigio on a deck somewhere in the summer, and a nice glass of a Merlot by a warm fireplace in the winter.

But I have to be honest, I couldn't tell the difference between a $10.00 bottle and a $100.00 bottle. I just go with what I think tastes good.

So rather then suggesting my usual go-to's (Cupcake wine anyone?), I've enlisted my "wine guy" to suggest a few favorites for your turkey day.

Oh ya, and they are all under under $20.00.

Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris

"Hints of pear and apple work in harmony. Good grip and acidity."

Solms Astor Sparkling Shiraz

"Perfect with fried turkey, or great as a party starter."

Beckmen Cuvee Le Bec 

"Fresh, youthful Grenache/Syrah blend from a Central Coast."

Foris Pinot Blanc 

"As good as any top tier Alsatian Pinot Blanc and half the price."

Renwood Sierra Zinfandel 

"Lush, complex and layered."

Lucky Star Pinot Noir 

"A nice California Pinot Noir for under ten bucks."

Dom. de Brunet Rose 

"Bouquet of black currant but on the palate it reminds me of tart cranberries."

Boschetto Pinot Bianco 

"Lighter honey tones with a hint of citrus... easy to like."

Vinanza Tinto Joven 

"A fresh and fruity Tempranillo."

If all that wine talk has got your head spinning, just make friends with the store owner. And if all else fails, there's always pumpkin beer.

Action Shot!!

<3

Cheers!

Weekly Cravings: It's here, it's here!!!

We are quickly approaching what just might be the best week of the year! Drinks, food, family, friends... what's not to love? I say that with a hint of sarcasm. No really, this is a great time of the year. Especially if you are into food and parties as much as yours truly.

But in case you need some last minute ideas, I've rounded up some of my favorite recipes and entertaining ideas via the web.


I'm already drooling over this prosciutto and fig crostata.

These pear place cards are a simple and inexpensive way to dress up your holiday table.

Your first time? Tips on how to host a flawless dinner party.

Kids or no kids you need to check out this faux pumpkin pie place card .

Having friends over the night before? How about some mulled white-wine sangria.

Mini pies and jar pies are fun alternatives to the traditional apple pie.

And just in case things get a little dull, break out a bottle of vodka and this game.


xo

Sweet Potato Chips

Who doesn't love chips? Surely not anyone that I know. Impress your holiday guests with this homemade chips and dip recipe! 

ingredients 

sweet potatoes (1 per person)

4 ounces of good blue cheese, crumbled

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup heavy cream

canola oil 

sea salt 

pepper

With a mandoline or sharp knife slice sweet potatoes as thinly as possible. Heat oil in a large skillet. Once oil is hot carefully fry potatoes, working in small batches. Once potatoes are crispy and brown remove from oil, and place on brown bag or paper towel. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Repeat for remaining potatoes.

For the dip, place the blue cheese, mayo, and cream in mixing bowl. Stir until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Chill in fridge until the chips are ready.

(click here for tips on frying vegetables)


Enjoy!

Pumpkin Stuffin'

It's the age old debate: 

The turkey or the sides? 

I'm Team Sides.

My old favorite? Classic mashed potatoes mixed with corn. 

My new favorite? This Pumpkin-Sausage-Cranberry-Sage Stuffing!

ingredients

4 sausage links (I use sweet Italian pork sausage)

2 to 3 cups of prepared pumpkin bread broken into bits

1 egg

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup of dried cranberries

fresh sage, chopped

1/2 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350.

Remove sausage from casing and brown in a medium skillet on high heat. With a slotted spoon remove sausage and place in a mixing bowl. Add onion to skillet and saute until translucent (about 8 minutes). Add onion to sausage. Crumble up the pumpkin bread into small pieces. Add pumpkin bread, egg, cranberries and sage to bowl. Mix until incorporated. Add chicken broth until the stuffing mixture is saturated but not soggy (about 1/2 cup). With an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon place pumpkin mixture into muffin tins. Bake for about 15 minutes. Serves 4. 

Enjoy!

Go Ahead, Eat Your Bread

Are you the type that still gets filled up on the bread at restaurants? You know who you are.

Usually I am pretty good at pacing myself with the bread basket. There are however exceptions. For instance, when there is corn bread in the basket, warm rolls with a cinnamon sugar butter, and Not You Average Joe's bread and oil dip. I don't really care for NYAJ but I will gladly go there strictly because of the oil dip.

But in case you are a more logical person and would not go to a restaurant for the bread, here is how you can replicate it at home!

ingredients

good extra-virgin olive oil (the greener, the better)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 cup of good quality grated Parmesan 

1-2 teaspoon red pepper flake

salt & pepper to taste 

Place the Parmesan cheese and garlic in the center of a small serving dish. Drizzle the oil over the cheese until most of the cheese is covered. Sprinkle with red pepper flake, salt, and pepper.

Serve with a fresh stick of Italian bread.

Enjoy!

antipasto

Nothing excites me quite like putting together an antipasto platter! Ok that makes me sound really lame, but it's true! 

I love perusing the aisle of the specialty store and finding inspiring ingredients. When I win the lottery, I will do all my grocery shopping at a specialty market like Whole Foods. Until then I will shop there for antipasto ingredients and sushi. The staff is always knowledgeable, food quality is always great, and there are always free samples! 

Antipasto platters are great for almost any gathering.

Pregaming at your place with a few friends? Antipasto.
Feel like having a glass of wine and staying in? Antipasto.
Dinner party? Antipasto.
Holiday at your place? Antipasto.

ok you get it.

Here are some tips to get you started:

Do choose items that vary in texture, flavor, and color. 

Do offer 3 to 5 different cheeses. Think soft, hard, pungent, mild etc. 

Do offer 2 to 5 different meats. Again think variety; spicy, sweet, thick, thin etc. 

Do include marinated veggies for color.

Don't buy pre-sliced meats and cheeses.

Don't serve olives with pits. You don't want anyone cracking a tooth!

Do include a stick of bread or crackers with the platter.

Don't leave a lot of empty space on the platter. Use fillers such as a vine of cherry tomatoes or a vine of grapes. 

Do pour yourself a glass of wine.

Here is a list of crowd pleasers:

proscuitto

capicola

pancetta

pepperoni

salami

parmesan

provolone 

goat cheese

blue cheese

manchego 

olives

roasted red peppers

marinated artichokes

balsamic chippolini onions

stuffed hot peppers

Hosting Thanksgiving? You might want to put together an antipasto for guests to snack on. Those turkeys can be a bit stubborn in the oven!

Enjoy!

It's coming!

Have you heard it yet? The radio has officially started playing Christmas music!

I can't BELIEVE the holiday season is upon us! Yet don't we say this every year? But I hate when Thanksgiving, Christmas and all that holiday cheer come and go without really getting into the holiday spirit. So I am going to bring on the cheer startingggg, now!

This year I  am really going to make an honest effort to do my shopping and gift wrapping before Christmas Eve. (Something else I say every year.) I might even be ambitious and host a holiday wrapping party. Have a few girlfriends over, pour some wine, whip up a few appetizers and try out some of these cool wrapping ideas!

{ all images found via Pinterest}

So get your Christmas sweater on! Things are about to get festive around here!!

xo,

I have officially hit a wall

I have to be honest, the tiredness of a very active 3 year old and the sleepless nights of a 6 week old have just started to kick in. I think all of my adrenalin is gone. That being said, keeping up with the blog this week has been at the bottom of my can-do list.

I swear once we are on something that resembles a schedule and 6 hours of straight sleep, I will make sure you see some extra great things here. Until then I have to give you someone else excellence. Starting with...

Crunchy Asian Salad

{image and recipe via Camille Styles}

ingredients 

1 head Napa cabbage, cut into 1/4-inch strips

1 small head red cabbage, cored and chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and julienned

2 bunches scallions, thinly sliced 

1 large English cucumber, peeled, cored & cut into thin half-moons

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup basil, chopped

2 cups cooked shelled edamame

1/2 cups roasted peanuts, chopped

4 cooked chicken breasts, chilled

Lime-cilantro dressing (found here)

2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted, cut into 1/2-inch dice

Thai peanut dressing (store bought)

directions 

Place cabbages, carrots, scallions, cucumber, cilantro, basil, edamame and peanuts in a very large mixing bowl and toss to mix.

Cut chicken into 1/2 inch cubes and add to mixing bowl.

Pour lime-cilantro dressing into bowl and toss to mix thoroughly. Divide salad among four, very large, chilled serving plates.

Sprinkle salads with diced avocado, toasted peanuts, and cilantro. 

Drizzle Thai peanut dressing over salad. 

Enjoy!

The Ultimate Appetizer

Buffalo. Chicken. Rangoons.

I have to admit, I used to be a little intimidated by won ton wrappers. I always assumed they were delicate and the recipes which called for them were complicated.

In actuality, the hardest part about using won ton wrappers is finding them in the grocery store. (Check the produce section near the mushrooms). Plus, once I used won ton wrappers to make these mini lasagna cups, I realized how easy and versatile they were!

So, using my boneless buffalo chicken salad recipe (found here), I quickly whipped up some baked buffalo chicken rangoons.

ingredients 

won ton wrappers

one egg white

rotisserie chicken

1 Tbsp or so of Red's Hot Sauce

2 Tbsp or so of blue cheese crumbles

1 cup or so of plain Greek yogurt

Remove skin from chicken and shred. Place chicken in a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients to taste and mix until well incorporated. Line the won ton wrappers on a lined baking sheet or in a mini muffin tin. Next, assemble the won tons.

There's room for creativity. As you can see here:

I used the traditional fold over method, the ravioli method, and my personal favorite the dumpling method.

The Fold Over
Place a teaspoon or so of the chicken mixture into the center of one won ton. Line the perimeter of the won ton with a little egg white and fold over. Press firmly or with the edge of a fork to fasten the sides. Place on a baking sheet.

The Ravioli
Place a teaspoon  in the center of one won ton wrapper. Line the perimeter with the egg white. Place a second won ton wrapper directly on top of the first. Secure with your finger or fork. Place on a baking sheet.

The Dumpling
Place a  teaspoon of the chicken mixture onto the center of one won ton wrapper and fold up the four corners. Place in a mini muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray.


Drizzle with a little oil and bake at 350 until browned, about 15-20 minutes.

You can also fry these bad boys in a little oil or in a deep fryer.  I say go for it. If you wanted to be healthy today you would have eaten a carrot stick.


Enjoy!

Ropa Vieja !

Old cloths never tasted SO good! 

{image via Good Housekeeping}

This is one of my all time favorite meals. I ate my first 'old cloths' at a Philadelphia restaurant, Cuba Libre. (Definitely check this place out if you are in Philly). This dish does take a while to make, so I suggest cooking on Sunday and leaving for dinner on Monday. This way, you get to spend the day cooking (if you're into that type of thing), and you don't have to worry about dinner on Monday. It is one those dishes that is better left over.
So, for the cooking enthusiast I present to you the recipe: 

ingredients 

2 lb flank steak cut crosswise into 3 pieces

1 3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. pepper

7 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil

3 medium spanish onions, one quartered and two thinly sliced 

1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced

1 red pepper, thinly sliced 

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns

1 tsp. ground cumin

4 large garlic cloves thinly sliced

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 (14.5 ounce) can of whole tomatoes in juice, crushed with fingers

1/2 cup sliced Spanish olives

directions

1. Season flank steak with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. of pepper.

2. In a heavy-bottomed medium to large pot, heat 2 Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Add steak (one piece at a time) and cook until well browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer steak to a plate and repeat with remaining pieces.

3. In the same pot, heat 1 Tbsp. oil over medium-high heat. Add quartered onion, half of the green pepper, and half of the yellow pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until veggies are lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

4. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, peppercorns, cumin, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Add cooked steak and any juices on the plate. Make sure steak is just covered with broth…add a little more if need be. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until steak is fork tender, about 2- 2 1/2 hours. Remove pot from heat and let steak cool in broth for 30 minutes.

5. Transfer steak to a plate. Strain cooking liquid through a sieve set over a bowl. (I don’t own a sieve so I simply just scooped out the veggies and peppercorns with a slotted spoon.) Discard solids. Set cooking liquid aside. Shred steak.

6. In the same pot, heat 2 Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Add thinly sliced onions, remaining green and yellow peppers, all the red peppers, garlic, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions and peppers are soft, 15 to 20 mins.

7. Stir in tomato paste until vegetables are coated. Stir in crushed tomatoes with their juice, 2 1/4 cups of reserved cooking liquid, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.

8. Return shredded steak to stew and cook until heated through, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Stir in olives. TASTE! Add salt and pepper if needed.

9. Rejoice! It's ready! 

* If you aren’t eating the whole thing that day… which takes some self control … cool, cover, and refrigerate.

Feast! 

Holy Food Heaven!

Wine and Cheese? Yes please!

I have always been a huge cheese fan, and let me tell you, it has gone to a whole new level. I was recently on a two-day food binge, err, food marathon in Maine, when we randomly stumbled upon a little piece of Heaven.

Baked Feta

It was delicious.

Not much to it.

Just pure greatness!

I knew my husband, also being a huge cheese fan, would love this recipe! So once the kids were in bed I poured us a glass of wine, put on a movie, and baked the feta! SO simple, SO good! 

ingredients

one block of good quality feta

a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

a squeeze of half a lemon

a pinch of fresh oregano

salt&pepper

Place feta in an iron skillet or oven safe baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Add remaining ingredients. 

Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes until the top is warm and bubbly. Serve with torn pieces of a toasted baguette or pita chips. 

Happy Friday!