When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...

It truly was amore when I ate the pizza I'm about to show you.

I have never made homemade pizza before... well, I take that back. On the last day of school with my kindergartners (all 3 of them that showed up) we made pizza out of English muffins, sauce, cheese, and pepperoni... uncooked little pizzas... they were actually really good. But I have never made a real-deal homemade pizza so I was excited when my sister suggested it for lunch on a Sunday afternoon to celebrate our dad's birthday.

My sister was in charge of bringing the dough and any toppings she wanted and I was getting /had the rest. Now for the dough, my mother-in-law makes homemade pizza with real-throw-it-in-the-air dough, well I don't really know if she throws it in the air but I wouldn't doubt it... it's really good and tastes like the real thing.
We didn't quite go that route. Instead our dough was Pillsbury, and who can resist that little dough boy? It looks like the crescent rolls only one large sheet of them.

We used 2 cans and so we each made our own pizza. My sister made hers veggie style with peppers, onions, zucchini I think... the works. It was a really pretty pizza.

My pizza was just as pretty, just as creative, and maybe even more unique...

Hiding the pepperoni under some more cheese... a surprise in every bite, an exciting addition to this masterpiece of artistic proportions...it wasn't like that at all, Jeff just thought there should be more cheese on it and the pepperoni was already there, hence the hiding meat. I'm not that creative. And the other side where there's nothing but pure cheesiness... yeah that's all mine. I'm a simpleton, not really the daring type when it comes to pizza consumption. I just really like cheese pizza, it's my thing.

Then it was time to bake them, which didn't take long at all. My sister's came out looking so tasty... even to a plain-Jane like me.

Mine... well I guess it wasn't special enough because there aren't any pictures of it. But I assure you it tasted as good as you can imagine it looked.

And, I did try the veggie pizza, it was good, I like veggies, I like pizza, but together, it's just not my thing. Cheese pizza you will forever be my tried and true.

Normally I would post about a recent dinner I made. I actually made a casserole dish I was going to share. But I have decided not to, not today anyway. I actually want to talk about the opposite... the lack of dinner, having no food to write about. I so often take for granted the food I have in my pantry, and in my fridge, and in my cupboards, and... well you get the idea. I often think little of the food I have everywhere. Yet, there are people who think so much and often about the food they don't have in their pantry, their fridge and in their cupboards. They don't have a dinner to enjoy with their family every night, let alone a lunch or breakfast... or a snack... or ice cream. To be completely serious ice cream is a treat, a decadence that so many people can't even fathom. And I eat it almost every night.

Now, I'm not writing all this to make myself or anyone feel guilty for indulging in some ice cream or whatever your sweet tooth enjoys. I just think it's necessary to reflect on all of the blessings we are so richly given... and yet so often take for granted. And then on how there are people who are going hungry today all over the world... 963 million people actually.

I fall guilty to saying the phrase, "I'm starving!"  Am I really though? I ate 3 hours ago at breakfast, I'll eat lunch now, in 3 more hours I'll have dinner, a few hours after that I'll have a snack, and then sprinkle in some snacks here and there throughout the day... I am nowhere near starving. According to the dictionary to be starving is to be in the process of perishing or suffering severely from hunger. Not quite what's going on when I get all impatient and agitated because I haven't eaten in a couple hours and I think food should fall from the sky to satisfy my cravings right now... and in a sense it does come that fast, a few steps to my pantry and I'm set.

Oh how naive I can be. How shallow I become when I "need" to eat. How selfish I am when I think of no one but myself at times. People are dying because they simply have no food. Children are dying every 5 seconds because they have no food. What can I do? How can I, in my over abundance, help those in need?

Well, right now, I have to admit, I'm a little hungry. I haven't eaten since breakfast and I won't eat until dinner. Why? I am skipping a meal so a child in need can have one. Our youth ministry is participating in a nation wide event called One Meal One Day. We are skipping a meal and giving the money we would have spent on a meal to Compassion to help feed children who are truly hungry. It's also a way for us to feel, a tiny bit, what children feel every day who are hungry. Every time I think about eating I think of a child who can't and pray God would provide food... that God would send someone to give food to those in need. And through our donations God is using us to give and help provide nourishment and hope to a child in need. Ultimately we pray that children will learn about Jesus and that He is the Bread of Life who can satisfy their souls.We pray that from filling their little bellies the gospel can be heard and that not only are their bellies full but so is their heart. We pray that for each hungry child that is given food the message of Jesus is given as well. We pray that we are the ones giving the food... and giving the life-saving message about Jesus and His love.

Edamame?

Exactly what I thought when I heard edamame for the first time. It was more like eda what? I get it now and am so glad. I had heard about it and thought it sounded cool but never found a recipe with it... until now. I guess I should explain what edamame is. It is a soybean that is packed with protein. It looks like a lima bean but does not taste like one at all... good thing, I'm not a big lima bean fan.

They're cute little guys. So along with this little green friend were 3 other delicious and nutritious ingredients. Scallions, snow peas, and red peppers.

Before adding the goods, I browned pieces of chicken in a skillet.

After browning the chicken the other ingredients were allowed to hang out in the skillet.

I think they all enjoyed hanging out together... they all made each other look so good! Sometimes I think cooking is like art. Now, my artwork is equivalent to a kindergartner and I've come to accept that, so when I cook and it looks so purty I feel I have contributed something to the art world... and to my belly.

After my beautiful-art-in-a-skillet cooked through a bit I added the sauce. It was a combination of orange marmalade, soy sauce, chicken stock, hot sauce, and ginger. Oooo laa laa it just got prettier.

But just wait, that's not all... here it is ready to eat.

Doesn't it look great? I'm realizing I'm showing off this dish like a mom shows off all 74 pictures of her baby doing the same thing in each picture. I don't blame those moms. I'm doing the same thing and spaghetti covered in soy sauce isn't quite as cute as a baby. To each her own, right? 


I really enjoy making oriental-style dishes. They are light, which digest so nicely, yet still full of flavor!

This recipe is from Rachael Ray's Look and Cook cookbook.

You Say Potato...

I say potato. The only problem with that statement is in written form, without someone saying it out loud, it just doesn't work. So I'm asking you to pretend you can hear me say that phrase... are you pretending... good.

For dinner one night I made potatoes.... oooo, aahhh, yes I know ground breaking. But I was really proud of myself with this one. They weren't just any ole potatoes, they were au gratin! That's a fancy way of saying ooey, gooey, cheese smothered potatoes. Now you're really oooing and aahhing. Hold the ooo's until you see them after they come out of the oven.

The recipe called for about 6 medium potatoes. I used red skins, I like how they taste, and peeled them and then cut them into thin slices... as thin as I could it was a tedious job. By the end of it I was about ready to throw them in a deep fryer, make potato chips, and call it a day. But I don't have a deep fryer...that would be silly... I have Crohn's, so I didn't make chips.

After all the potatoes were sliced it was time for the layering. I don't have any pictures of the layering process (it's a shame I know) but I can tell you about it... don't get too excited.

potatoes+onion slices+small bits of butter+sprinkled flour/salt&pepper mixture+cheese= bottom layer, then... repeat for second layer, then... repeat for top layer expect no flour or onions.

Oh, and then I bathed the whole thing in milk. At this point I go to the recipe book and see what the next step is, cover with foil, check, put in the oven, check, bake for 1 hour covered and 30 minutes uncovered... and then let sit for 20 minutes before eating... and after putting it on the table circle the table 15 times... and then sing a brief melody on why you love the potatoes so much... those last 2 steps were my own but it seemed like I would never get to eat the potatoes! Goodness that's a long time for these little guys. And it was already late... but I have no one to blame but myself. Lesson learned, read the whole recipe before cooking it.

Since I had a minute or two to spare before the potatoes would be done I cooked breaded chicken (I used panko bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese, herbs and salt&pepper) in a skillet. I call it, and all chicken made in a skillet, pan chicken, because you cook it in a pan... brilliant.

Now, this chicken does not take 2 hours to make so I made sure to start it when there was about 20 minutes left on the clock.

And now for the unveiling of the au gratin potatoes, the moment we've all been waiting for, really we were getting hungry...

Cue the ooooo's and aahhh's... I have to say the wait was well worth it after seeing this beaut come out of the oven.

I thought the plate needed a little color so I made broccoli and sprinkled some sharp cheddar cheese to melt all over it. I guess I like cheese. And yes, to be truthful the thought of needing color was the first to come to my mind, not the fact that there were no veggie nutrients in this dinner.

Usually when I eat foods heavy with cheese I feel really full and bloated afterward. Not this time though, I felt great and was even hungry a few hours later, which gives me the all clear that dinner was ok. I think so much about the dinner I eat and when I feel good and even hungry it's very assuring that my body is doing what it should. Good job body, keep doin your thing!

This recipe was in "How to Cook for Crohn's and Colitis" Hey, if it's in this cookbook it must be good for me, right?

Happy 2 Years!

As of October 24, 2011 Jeff and I have been married for 2 years! Woo woo! I know it doesn't sound like a long time, it's still the "aww 2 years, you're practically newlyweds still, in the honeymoon stage, oh just wait until ..." My response, hooray for the best 2 years of my life, we are newlyweds, and always will be, and the honeymoon stage... I don't think it has to be a stage, more like a lifetime. Call me a romantic or an optimist but I love being married and in 30 years I hope to say that, with even more enthusiasm. And there's a lot of enthusiasm now when I say it, so just wait!

Anyway... off my soapbox.

I wanted to share a little bit of our anniversary weekend celebration. What?... this isn't about food!! Get a hold of yourself, it'll be ok, we'll work through this together. Don't worry I thew in some food pics... I couldn't resist!

Jeff and I hit the road on Saturday, the 22nd, for Grand Rapids, Michigan. What was in Grand Rapids you may be asking... David Crowder! He's on his last tour-ever! So we felt it was a must to see him one last time. Along with Crowder there were a few other bands that were pretty great too. One was Gungor. They have such amazing talent and were incredible live. Jeff even got a picture with the lead singer, Michael Gungor. He was just hanging out outside when we walked out. So cool.

Well, that's the only picture we have from the concert so... on with the rest of the weekend.

On Sunday we drove to our final destination. It was a surprise, all planned by my man. I had an idea of where we were going but didn't know what it looked like. It was a pleasant, more like awesome, surprise.

Where we were going was a little over 6 hours away from Grand Rapid in Southern Ohio. In the middle of nowhere, with the Amish, the corn fields, the cows... it was really great. And I'm being serious. It was so peaceful and quiet. The perfect place to get away with the one you love.

This is driving to the place, oh, the place being Murphin Ridge Inn.




















It was like riding a roller coaster. The roads were so hilly and curvy. When we got to Murphin Ridge we saw our cabin.

So quaint and homey... just kidding. But really we pulled up and this is the first thing we saw... We were a bit nervous. Until...

That's better, it has windows! The inn was set on acres and acres of land with 9 cabins and a guesthouse. All set in the woods. It was beautiful. The inside was just as surprising as the outside.

Granted the majority of this picture is us, aren't we cute, but you can see that everything was a light wood, floor to ceiling. It was all one big room but still felt so cozy. I was in love with it from the second I walked in the door!
They even had a giant checker board... I am not good at checkers. When I say not good that means, awful, terrible, zero strategy for this girl, why-bother-playing-me-it's-an-easy-win... yes, that bad.

Yeah, I look happy to be playing but the game didn't even start so I had a little hope... did it matter? No, my hope was crushed. Oh, notice the bottle cap on the game board... my one and only complaint, we were missing a playing piece. Now if that's the only complaint than this place must be good... it was.

There was a restaurant in the main building where we had dinner. In comes the food pictures...

Yum... the salad had a homemade dressing and the dinner was rosemary chicken on top of polenta. Yum again.

Since we got there when it was getting dark we took pictures of the area the next day. It is what I imagine fall to be and how it should be everywhere.

This view and the quiet, serene atmosphere made this place so wonderful.

We decided to check out a few of the small towns around where we stayed. It was lunch time too so we were hoping to find a restaurant to eat at. Well, the first stop we made didn't have a restaurant but it did have a great name... wait for it... Tater Ridge. I love it. I instantly thought tater tots, or really any type of potato... like I said it was lunch time. We stopped at a farm that sold pumpkins and antiques.

That last picture I'm entering into antique heaven, a beautiful place of old chairs, tools, trinkets you name it I was being drawn to it... not really it was a little chilly so I was getting my coat. Anyhoo....

I loved these blocks. I thought it would be neat to get a J for Jeff and an E for Emily. No luck.

Look at all those pots. You know how much cooking could be done in all those pots... a lot. I was fascinated by them and all the possibilities.

Oh, and apparently we missed the peacock crossing... I think they're the owner's pets

 

Along with this little guy.

I thought he was stuffed. I mean we've seen every antique imaginable at this place I thought this was another one. Then the nose started twitching and I slowly backed away... yeah, I was a little scared by it. It creeped me out, I imagined it leaping from its perch and attacking. Alright, I know my imagination is a bit out there but you would think the same thing.
Now, this last picture is what this farm/antique shop is all about...the Pumpkin Canon.

We asked this teenager who lived on the farm if they had ever seen where the pumpkins land. He said, "Oh, no, no one has ever seen where they land." (picture it being said in the most southern of accents.) The mysterious pumpkin launcher, dun dun duuuun!


After leaving the farm we headed to find a place to eat in a nearby town and then to one last stop. A historical landmark, the Serpent Mound.

Not much to say about the Serpent Mound, it was serpent-like and moundy... moundy? It wasn't as grand as we expected but still neat to see a piece of history.

After leaving the Serpent we headed back home. We stopped to get gas before getting on the highway and the gas station happened to be a United Dairy Farmers. And where there is UDF there is... ICE CREAM! Can I just say their cookies-and-cream ice cream was ah-ma-zing! Now, when I say I love ice cream it's a deep happy-feeling love. I smile, I grin when ice cream comes my way. But never in my wildest dreams did I think my ice cream would love me back.

I promise you I didn't make it look like that. I just gave it some lovin and it returned the gesture. I knew ice cream and I had a special bond.

Jeff said he had never seem me so happy as when I was eating that ice cream cone. I couldn't agree more.

So that's about it for our anniversary weekend. A wonderful time with my husband that I wouldn't trade for any smiley-face ice cream in the world.

3's Company

Brace yourself... this is going to make your head spin. I am giving you not one, not two, but THREE dinners in one post! Yes, you heard right. Awesome, I know. And, really these meals could not be more different from each other. Sometimes I choose which meals I want to talk about but I couldn't choose, I want to show all three!

So, here goes

It starts with an oriental style dinner, more specifically a Korean-style chicken with spaghetti noodles dinner. There was so much flava in this dina I thought I would show the goods...

All of those and then some were combined to make the sauce for the dish. While the sauce was being stirred up, I was browning some chicken with cabbage, red peppers, and scallions.

Isn't that purty? I love how fresh it all looked... and tasted. While all this was happening in the skillet I was boiling spaghetti noodles to later add to the veggies and chicken.

In goes the pasta, the sauce, and to top it all off, sesame seeds. Oooo la la looking good!

That was dinner #1 now on with #2

Like I said before, these dinners are not similar at all. Which makes dinnertime throughout the week fun. This next one is more on the Mexican side. I made a tortilla soup that was so easy it was ridiculous.

Onions, chicken stock, some spices, a huge can of tomatoes and voila, soup!

I know it doesn't look too appetizing but just wait. To the soup I added a couple cups of chicken from a rotisserie chicken... loved doing this! It made the soup taste flavorful and I didn't have to do a thing to prepare the chicken. Then to finish off the soup before it went into the bowls I added some cilantro... my herbie friend,  I grew it myself and was so proud of my herbie for doing its thing in my soup!

And that's about it for the soup. Simple and very tasty with some tortilla chips to soak up all the soup in the bottom of the bowl and for dipping.

Now, the finale, the third dinner in the trio. The piece de resistance... really this was go-o-od.

From Korean, to Mexican, to Italian... the last dinner was a whole new ball game for me. I was making risotto. The picture made it look so creamy and good, but I was a little leery of how I would do. The verdict- it was pretty easy. It took some time to stir in the stock little by little to make the creamy consistency but it was well worth it. This dinner had two recipes, lemon risotto and orange balsamic chicken. When I got the risotto cooking I started the chicken.

After cooking it on both sides with some salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and rosemary, the orange balsamic sauce went over it with some scallions on top...

Bubbly, saucy goodness going on in that pan. The chicken was bathing in it. And I was bathing in the smell!

On the plate it was pretty but eating it was even better. Both the chicken and the risotto were packed with flavor and my taste buds were soooo happy.

How did these three meals make me feel after a few hours... great!

Meal #1- recipe found in Rachael Ray's Look and Cook. Meal #2- recipe found in Eat Well, Save Big Cookbook. Meal #3- recipe found in Rachael Ray's Look and Cook