Another Basil Mishap

It was really windy tonight and my basil plant fell over. It broke like 4 limbs off so instead of the lemon dill salmon we were planning on having we ended up having Loaded Salmon (help me come up with a new name for that one). I topped the salmon with garlic, white wine, mozzarella (shaved from one of Ansley's cheese sticks!) and TONS of basil. It was amazing!!!!

Ordinary Turned Extraordinary!

Knowing I was going to spend 4 hours in a meeting today, I planned for a super easy dinner- ravioli and broccoli. Boring, I know, but I wanted quick and easy. When I got home, however, I wasn't nearly as worn out as I expected to be and the idea of ravioli and broccoli made me want to revert to old ways and rush out for some yummy take out. I knew though, that we really needed to be good (AKA money is tight this week) so I begrudgingly took out the pots and pans and got to work. I decided to roast the broccoli with garlic instead of steaming it and while I was chopping it I got another fabulous idea...toasted ravioli! We were out of bread crumbs but my dearest friend, Jen, was over and told me how easy it was so make my own. I made some bread crumbs and then battered the already boiled ravioli and tossed them in the skillet with a little EVOO. I had tried making it once and it was a total FAIL.I had baked it instead of "frying" it and it just tasted like ass. Not this time though....

It was AMAZING and it honestly only took me about 5 minutes longer than the boring, ordinary ravioli and broccoli I was already planning on making.



Toasted Ravioli and Roasted Broccoli with Garlic
Matt ****
Kristen ****
Ansley *** (not a fan of the broccoli)

Unappreciated....

Whoa is me. I am feeling quite unappreciated in the kitchen tonight so I am coming here to whine.


I have been sick with a wicked cold and sore throat all week. We have had various takeout meals, a fast food or two and even a tray of precooked frozen "serve and heat" lasagna (Gasp! The horror!) Tonight I am starting to feel better, at least well enough to cook, so I decided to make my childhood favorite of country fried steak, fries, and gravy.

This is seriously my all time favorite meal (not to be confused with my all time favorite food of 7-11 hot dogs). I have made it for Matt a few times before and he eats it but it's not something he loves or even likes. I have never made it for Ansley before though so I was super excited.

While Matt bathed the girls, I cooked dinner. Just putting the steak in the skillet warmed my soul (is that what they mean by soul food?). Matt and the girls were finishing up just as I was finished making the gravy (from scratch- no jar or even a packet around here). I asked Ansley first if she wanted gravy on her fries or meat and she was polite (for once) and asked me what gravy was. I showed it to her and politely she told me that she didn't want to be rude but it didn't look very good so she would pass. Matt apparently decided to take this opportunity to finally have the guts to tell me that he too didn't like the gravy and didn't want any.

That left me with a skillet of carefully cooked and ingrediently balanced (yeah, I made that term up) gravy all to my self. I poured way to much of it onto my fries and dumped the rest in the trash. Fail number 1.

I got the plates on the table and dug in. Oh. My. God. it was the best country fried steak and gravy I have EVER made (and I have been making it since I was like 13). I was so excited as Matt put his first bite in his mouth. I was sure he was going to REALLY like it this time. Nope. He ate it but he certainly didn't enjoy it. I waited patiently for Ansley's to cool so that she could like it. As we waited I told her about how it is my favorite and has been since I was her age. I really pumped it up that it was a special meal and I hoped she would like it. She took a bite, made a face and dropped her fork. "Want to know what I don't like about it, Mommy? It's gross." Nice.

So there it is.... I am feeling completely unappreciated and unvalued for my perfect meal. I should have married a southern boy.

Drunken Shrimp Gone Wrong

Every Sunday starts the same. We sit down as a family and discuss what we want to eat for the week, make the menu and the grocery list and go to the store.

This week, we decided to have Chile Lime Grilled Shrimp for dinner tonight. Sounds good, huh? Too bad, I wouldn't know. Driving home from the store, my wheels started turning. What could I marinade the shrimp in? I had a lemon so I decided lemon and white wine. I got the shrimp out and squeezed the lemon until I could squeeze no more. As I reached into the fridge for the wine I got a change of heart and grabbed a beer. A Sam Adams Oktoberfest. Poured it all over the shrimp and added a few cloves of garlic. Sampled it and it was amazing. At that point I decided I would either boil the shrimp or steam it using the marinade I had created.

Fast forward 6 hours to dinner time, I had never boiled or steamed shrimp so I had no clue what I was doing. I figured boiling couldn't be too hard so I went with that. Everything was going great until Rylan started screaming. I left the shrimp to boil a little longer and went to nurse her one more time and put her back to bed. Bad idea. The shrimp boiled too long and tasted like pencil erasers.

I was so pissed. It would have been amazing if I had known what I was doing. I don't know if I mentioned this (I say that like people actually read this)but I know nothing about the art of cooking. I make it up as I go and rarely use a recipe (for the record, if I post it here, it was recipeless). So when I boiled the shrimp,I was simply going off my knowledge of boiling other food. I had no clue that shrimp were supposed done after boiling for only 2 minutes.

Damn shrimp. It would have been so good.

In a Quest to Not Waste Food....

I decided a while back to not waste food. For years, I have had the bad habit of planning my weekly menu without giving thought to maximizing ingredients. Therefore, I have also had the bad habit of wasting so much food. I have thrown away more cheese reminates, pasta sauces, and veggies that an a starving person in a third world country has eaten in their life. When I started staying home and not working, I knew that had to stop. Now I plan my meals with deep thought. Thinking about how to coordinate the meals so that a little bit of this can be used in that and not go to waste. This brings me to tonight.... Sausage Ravoli Bake.

I used the leftover italian sausage and provolone from Monday nights Sausage Sandwiches. The cheddar remains from the Broccoli Salad I made for the Labor Day Block Party and the extra tomato sauce from Pizza Pasta I made last week.

Sausage Ravoli Bake
1 package frozen ravoli- cooked as directed
4 cooked italian sausages
2 cups of cheddar
5 cloves of garlic (hey, I told you garlic was back in full force)
lots of basil (lizard and frog free)
16 oz pasta sauce

Mix all the ingredients together and pour into 9 x 12 casserole dish. Cover with sliced provolone so that there is no space or holes. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

The Dangers of Fresh Herbs

What a crazy night. Forgetting it was a school night, a friend and I took the girls (her one and my two) to Ikea. By the time I got home, got Rylan in bed (did I mention that she screamed the whole 30 minutes home because she was hungry, or cold, or tired, or something...)and Ansley fed, it was almost 8 pm and I was exhausted. I wanted to start dinner-Mediterranean Shrimp Pasta- and Ansley wanted me to read to her from Ramona before she went to bed. I got the genius idea of having her sit on the counter and hold the book while I read and cooked. Too bad she hated the idea. The counter was to hard for her princess behind and it wouldn't be comfy. I had already started the shrimp and the pasta so I couldn't leave the kitchen. I was stuck. After lots of tears, a few moments of yelling, and a promise to read double tomorrow, I finally convinced her to go to bed Ramona-less.

Breathing in the peace and quiet, I poured a glass of whine and headed out to the porch to cut some basil. I chose a branch and sniped it off. I was just about to walk back into the kitchen when a frog lept from the branch I was carrying. I let out a small squeal. Whew, that was a close one, I thought. I would have freaked if I had brought that frog into the house. I made it into the kitchen. Put down the basil, took a much needed gulp of whine, stirred the shrimp andpa sta and then grabbed my knife and was set to chop the basil. That's when I saw it... a set of eyeballs. Lizard eyeballs attached to a lizard, sitting on the basil. I grabbed the basil, screaming, and ran to the sliding glass door. I was almost there when he jumped. I screamed louder, threw open the slider and kicked that little hitchhiker right out the door.

Seriously, what are the chances? A frog and a lizard on the same branch of basil. Good Lord, there is not a enough wine on this earth to make up for the evening I have had.