Recipe #269: Bird Food

In February, the day before our trip up to Indy and Chicago, a bird decided to enter our house and reek havoc on our lives for 12 hours or so... First he went into an opening in a vent and we thought he had found his way out of the house. Not so. The next morning as we are packing up for our trip I start to hear things that can only mean one thing...the bird is still in the vents! We located his location and set a trap!

broken up ritz crackers and peanut butter!

Well we thought that he had disappeared again and we were going to have to leave with him hanging out in the vents under the house (not ideal!) when he reappeared in the the trash can trap, nibbling on the crackers and peanut butter. Long story short, he managed to escape in the house again, but in less then 20 minutes Will had captured him for good and he was released from our house!! YAY!

So I named this recipe in honor of the little bird who wanted to live in our house!

You need:

 ritz crackers

peanut butter

banana

• cut banana into chunks
• spread peanut butter over crackers 
• top with a banana

Alex loved them too! :)

Recipe #267: Stuffed Shells with #268 Balsamic Cole Slaw

I bought big pasta shells the other day to try out a new pasta. It was a lot of fun!

You need:

1/2 box of jumbo pasta shells

1 lb hamburger meat

1 cup mozzarella

1 cup pasta sauce

• brown meat and drain oil
• add a couple spoonfuls of pasta sauce and mix together.
• boil noodles according to package directions.
• add cheese to meat
• add rest of pasta sauce to the bottom of an 8x8 dish
• drain noodles and start to fill with meat mixture
• place in dish and once it is full cover with cheese.
• bake at 350 for about 20 minutes of until cheese is melted.

I had leftover cabbage and carrots so wanted to make a quick cole slaw. I found a balsamic version here.

You need:

1/4 head of cabbage, cut up

1 cup matchstick carrots

green onion

1 tsp garlic powder

red pepper flakes

balsamic vinegar

• cut up cabbage and green onion
• heat in a pan until cabbage gets limp
• add garlic powder, red pepper, and balsamic vinegar
• enjoy!

Recipe #266: I wish is was Spring Rolls...

Well, I am posting this recipe, because it is a recipe, but really it was a bit of a flop of a recipe for me! I definitely have some stuff to learn in the world of spring rolls and if anyone wants to teach me their amazing secret recipe i would be happy to find it out! :)

I think it came down to the fact I had the wrong type of wrapper. That is the only thing that seems to have gone wrong. I used a recipe I found here but looked at a couple of different recipes to find out some extra hints. I also mixed some stuff together and made rolls until i ran out of filling! I am going to try these again and hopefully they will turn out better the next time!

 We tried out baked, fresh, and fried...

You need:

rice vermicelli

2 cups cabbage, shredded

1 handful matchstick carrots

bean spouts

green onion

3 Tbsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp soy sauce

wrappers

oil for frying

• cut up veggies
• add veggies to pan and heat up. add fish sauce and soy sauce
• heat vermicelli according to package directions. cut up and add to veggies
• drain access liquid
• put each wrapper in warm water to soften it
• fill with veggie mixture
• roll up and let it sit for 30 minutes.
• fry in oil, bake in oven for 20 minutes at 400 or enjoy fresh! :)
• Dip in Sweet Chili sauce! It is AMAZING!

they tasted good even though they didn't look right... but I will work on that! :)

Recipe #265: Ice Cream Smores

Tonight's Dessert!

You need:
2 graham crackers
2 scoops ice cream
chocolate syrup
whipped cream

• put a scoop of ice cream on each graham cracker half
• top with other cracker 
• drizzle some chocolate syrup on top
• add a dollup of whipped cream

delicious!!

Recipe #264: Bagels

When we were in Chicago my friend made bagels for breakfast one morning!
The recipe was found here. I followed it pretty closely....it still needs some work though, they didn't look quite as nice as my friends!

You need:
1 tsp yeast
1 1/4 cup warm milk (110-115)
1/4 cup butter softened
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
3 3/4 cups flour

• dissolve yeast in milk
• add butter, sugar, salt, and egg. mix well
• add in flour to make a soft dough
• put on floured surface and knead until smooth
• put in a greased bowl and cover. Allow to sit until it doubles in size, around 1 hour
• punch dough down and then shape into 12 balls
• make a whole in the middle of each ball, and then flatten
• cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes
• add one at a time to boiling water. *The directions said until the rise to the top, but my did almost immediately! So i left them in for about 5 minutes.
• take them out and put on a greased baking sheet 2 inches apart.
• bake for 20 minutes at 400
• need to work on getting the outside a little bit more even! I can't wait to try a variety of kinds too!

Recipe #263: Mac and Cheese

This is Will's mom's recipe. She has two in her recipe book: one for when she is in Italy and then her American version! :) We decided to make the Italian version!

You need:
1 box of noodles (we used rottini)
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 cup shredded mozzarella
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper
cut up ham

• boil noodles according to package directions
• drain and return to pot
• add olive oil and butter
• mix in cheese, salt and pepper
• turn the heat on low so that the cheese will melt.
• add in ham

Recipe #262: Roasted Veggies

I felt like we had been eating really heavy meals so last week I made a roasted veggies meal and it was the perfect flavors!

You need:
5-6 red potatoes
2 cups of baby carrots
2 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
rosemary, thyme, and some olive oil

• cut the veggies into big pieces 
• spread onto a baking sheet
• drizzle olive oil on top.
• sprinkle on some rosemary and thyme
• stir up.
• roast at 400 for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are getting crispy on the outside.
• mix up at least once during the baking time.