Spinach-Pesto Ravioli

My husband and I enjoyed these easy ravioli's quite some time ago, but since I've been behind on my blog the past few months, I'm posting the recipe now. The recipe was found in a Food Network magazine and was intended to be an appetizer; we ate them as our dinner with a side salad.

Spinach-Pesto Ravioli
16 spinach ravioli
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbls pesto sauce
1/2 cup bottled vinaigrette

Boil the ravioli as label directs. Drain and pat dry. Fry the ravioli in the olive oil until golden on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Mix the pesto sauce with vinaigrette. Place the ravioli on skewers (if using as an appetizer, otherwise skip this and just use a fork) and dip in the sauce.

My favorite Captain and our Memorial Day menu

We had a great Memorial Day! The weather was warm which was great for all the yard work my husband was able to get done and it allowed us to grill out and enjoy our dinner on the deck (with Ally playing in her exersaucer just inside the screen door). We were able to pull out the fire pit after Ally was in bed and enjoy some smores and a glass of wine....great way to wrap up what for us was a 4 day weekend!

My favorite USAF Captain and our baby girl

Our menu for Memorial Day consisted of Marinated Veggie and Beef Kabobs and New England Baked Beans. I've never made baked beans from scratch....Bush's baked beans have served us well for quite some time, and I now know why baked beans are so convenient out of a can...it's time consuming to make them from scratch! The taste was worth the effort, just may not be something I do again in the near future.

Marinated Veggie and Beef Kabobs (ToH)

1 cup dry red wine

1/2 cup olive oil

4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

4 tsp Italian seasoning

1 Tbls garlic powder

2 tsp seasoned salt

2 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

1 beef top sirloin steak (1 1/2 lbs), cut into 1-inch cubes

8 cherry tomatoes

1 large red onion

1 medium green pepper

1 yellow summer squash

1 medium zucchini

In a small bowl, combine first eight ingredients. Pour half the marinade into a large resealable bag. Add the beef; seal bag and turn to coat. Pour remaining marinade into another large resealable plastic bag; add tomatoes. Cut remaining vegetables into 1-in pieces; add to bag. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate beef and vegetables for at least 2 hours. Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill. Drain and discard marinade from beef. Drain vegetables, reserving marinade for basting. On eight metal or soaked wooden skewers, alternately thread beef and vegetables. Grill, covered over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until meat reaches desired doneness, basting frequently with reserved marinade and turning occasionally.

New England Baked Beans (ToH April/May 2010)

1 lb dried great northern beans

1/2 lb thick-sliced bacon, chopped

2 large onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups ketchup

1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup molasses

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp coarsely ground pepper

Sort beans and rinse with cold water. Place beans in a Dutch oven; add enough water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour or until beans are softened. Drain and rinse beans, discarding liquid. return beans to Dutch oven; add 6 cups water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour or until beans are almost tender. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon; drain, reserving 2 Tbls drippings. Saute onions in drippings until tender. Add garlic, cook for 1 minute longer. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Drain beans, reserving cooking liquid; place in an ungreased 3-qt baking dish. Stir in onion mixture and bacon. Cover and bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours or until beans are tender and reach desired consistency, stirring every 30 minutes. Add reserved cooking liquid as needed. Serves 12 (2/3 cup each).

Homemade Tortillas and Pork Tacos

I've been going through all my foodie magazines recently (which have stacked up ridiculously high!) to pick out recipes that I see myself trying within the next two months. If it doesn't look like something that's going to be tried within the next couple of months the recipe gets looked over and eventually tossed in the recycling bin. Pre-Ally, I would save recipes for the "right" occasion; I've since learned a new recipe will pop up between now and then and I will have forgotten all about the once saved recipe. I've also decided that I am going to be a lot more choosy in the recipes I save in my personal recipe collection...it needs to be REALLY good and something that I will look forward to making again. Well, this evening I found one of those recipes....Homemade Tortillas! I'm not sure what took me so long to make tortilla shells, other than it's easy just to pick them up at the store and pop them in the microwave for a few seconds before filling with taco fixings. Now that I've made HOMEMADE tortilla shells, I don't know that I can go back to the store bought version (unless I'm really in a rush to get dinner done quickly!). These homemade shells are thicker than the store-bought variety, but they taste SO much better....they are light and fluffy and not chewy....and they are also great with a little melted butter brushed on top with some cinnamon and sugar sprinkled over the butter...mmmm....do the work once and end up with dinner and dessert! Okay, enough "talk" on to the recipe.....

Homemade Tortillas (ToH June/July 2010)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
3 Tbls olive oil

Combine flour and salt in large bowl. Stir in water and olive oil. (You will end up with an extremely sticky batter.) Turn onto a floured surface; knead 5-6 times. Divide dough into 8 portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 7-in circle. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook tortillas over medium heat for 1 minute on each side or until lightly browned. Keep warm. Makes 8 tortillas - 3WWpts.

We used a version of the following recipe as the meat filling for the tortillas...and it was good as well!

Pork Tacos (Women's Day)
2 tsp oil
1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1-in cubes
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup salsa verde (green salsa)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (which we omitted....not cilantro fans)
8 tortilla shells
1 cup shredded lettuce
Garnish: diced tomatoes and avocado (optional)

Heat oil in 12-in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cumin; cook until golden brown on all sides about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir salsa into skillet; cook 1 minute or until heated through. Stir in cilantro. Using two forks, pierce and shred cubes of pork. Fill warm tortillas with pork mixture, then add lettuce. Serves 4 - 4WWpts (w/out tortilla shell).

Gnocchi Chicken Minestrone

I had some home-made gnocchi in the freezer that needed to be used up. When I came across this soup recipe in a recent Taste of Home magazine, I thought it would be the perfect dish in which to use the gnocchi...besides the fact that it's still been on the cool side here in Wyoming.

Gnocchi Chicken Minestrone

1 1/4lbs chicken tenderloins, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbls olive oil, divided

1 each small green, sweet red and yellow peppers, finely chopped

1 medium zucchini, finely chopped

1/3 cup chopped red onion

1/3 cup chopped proscuitto or deli ham

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans (14 1/2oz each) chicken broth

1 can (14 1/2oz) Italian diced tomatoes, undrained

3/4 cup canned white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup frozen peas

3 Tbls tomato paste

16 oz potato gnocchi

1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese

8 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

Sprinkle chicken with oregano, salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven, saute chicken in 1 Tbls olive oil until no longer pink. Remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan, cook the peppers, zucchini, and onion in remaining oil until tender. Add proscuitto and garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the broth, tomatoes, beans, peas, tomato paste and chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook gnocchi according to package directions. Drain, stir into soup. Garnish with cheese and basil. Makes 8 servings.

**Now I just need to find Olive Garden's Chicken and Gnocchi soup recipe!

Lemon Pepper Fettuccine

I like to make quick and easy meals during the week since preparing dinner also coincides with feeding my daughter and getting her ready for bed. This is a very easy dish to throw together...add a bag salad and some garlic bread and you have a full meal...done in less than 25 minutes! The only thing I would do differently next time with this recipe is to make the sauce a bit thicker.

Lemon Pepper Fettuccine (Food Network Magazine March 2010)
Kosher salt
12 ounces fettuccine
1 Tbls unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
1 to 2 tsps finely grated lemon zest
1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese, plus more for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook as the label directs. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup cooking water. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Whisk the cream, egg yolk and lemon zest in a bowl. Reduce the heat to low and add the cream mixture and cheese to the skillet. Cook, whisking, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and 2 to 3 tsps pepper. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss, adding enough of the reserved cooking water to loosen the sauce. Divide among bowls and garnish with more pecorino. Serve with salad and crusty bread, if desired. Serves 4. WW 13pts.

7 Months - an Ally update

The last picture that was posted on the blog of Ally was in February and she wasn't quite four months old at that time. It's hard to believe that she is 7 months old today! The past three months have flown by (it probably helped that we spent two months of it in Indiana with family). Here's an update on Ally.....

Facts and Figures:

At her 6 month doctor's appt (which actually happened just last week...so she was technically 6 mo and 3 wks old) she weighed 18lbs 4oz and was 27 inches long (87th/84th percentile).

She is rolling over both ways, sitting on her own, LOVING solids, and has even started feeding herself biter biscuits and sweet potato puffs. She seems to ALWAYS be smiling and giggles frequently at Mommy. She enjoys her exersaucer and had a great time in a jumper at Nana and Papa's house in Indiana...so much so, that Mommy and Daddy had to purchase one here so we didn't deprive her of the enjoyment!

I never thought I was going to sleep again, but over the past two months Ally has had HUGE improvement in the sleep department, going from four 45 minute naps during the day to an hour nap in the morning, an hour and 45 minute nap in the afternoon, and sometimes another 45 minute evening nap if we know we are going to be out and she won't get to bed at her normal bed time. She does seem to be an early riser; the ONE thing she has gotten from Mommy! But even I don't prefer to get up at her chosen time...between 5:30 and 6:00am!!

Ally is a true joy at this age and I hope it doesn't go by too quickly!

Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry

A new post is LONG overdue! Seeing as how the last post was in February, and it had nothing to do with cooking (which is what this blog was intended for....to share recipes) I need to get back to blogging on a routine basis. If I publish that I will (try) to have a new post twice a week, maybe it will actually happen!

So, on with a new recipe....my daughter and I had the opportunity to stay with family back in Indiana for the month's of March and April while my husband was TDY (temporary duty assignment - for those that don't speak military lingo). Ally and I enjoyed seeing a beautiful Midwest spring (only to come back to cold and snow in WY) and lots of time to visit with her grandparents. While staying with my parents, I picked out a few new recipes to try, one of which is the Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry. I was suppose to leave the recipe with my mom before returning to WY, and that didn't happen...so here you go mom!

Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry (ToH April/May 2010)
4 tsp cornstarch
1 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 in. strips
2 Tbls olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups fresh cauliflowerets
1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 small sweet red pepper, julienned
1 small onion, halved and sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 1/2 cups hot cooked rice
minced fresh cilantro (optional)

Combine the cornstarch, broth and soy sauce until smooth; set aside. In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry chicken in 1 Tbls oil until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm. Stir-fry the cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, red pepper and onion in remaining oil until crisp-tender. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and pepper flakes; cook 1 minute longer. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add chicken, heat through. Serve with rice. Sprinkle each serving with cilantro. (FYI - 6 WW pts/serving)