Jayhawk Girl's Life

Liberty of the Seas Group Cruise - Day 1

2012-01-03T09:19:00.000-06:00

Day 1 means that we get to have our first look at the Liberty of the Seas. This will be the largest ship that we've ever sailed on and I'm very much looking forward to exploring it's offerings when we're able to board.

Before leaving the hotel, be sure to have a carry-on packed. Typically, my carry-on consists of prescription medications, a swimming suit (if you'd like to swim when you get on the ship) and a change of clothes for that evening's dinner (in case your luggage is a late-arrival). Having these items will ensure that you have an enjoyable first day on the ship. Sometimes, luggage doesn't arrive until 7 or 8pm and occasionally, even later, so having a few important items will allow you to be able to do things on the ship that you wouldn't be able to do otherwise.

We usually leave the hotel around 10am to head for the Port so that we can be on board as close to lunch time as possible. Most cruise lines tell you that boarding doesn't begin until 1:30 or 2pm, but that's not true. You can be on board as early as 11am on some occasions. Early boarding is all dependent upon how early the ship got into port and how smoothly debarkation of the last set of passengers went. If things were moving slowly, they may not open boarding until 1:30 or 2pm, but we've found that that's not usually the case. I don't think we've ever boarded a ship later then 12:30pm.

When we arrive at the port, we will be greeted by luggage porters. These are the men and women who handle all of the luggage for all of the passengers arriving to board the ship. This means 3,634 passengers luggage is handled by these people each time the ship comes into port. If you take into account that these porters are also assisting people getting off the ship, this could be 7,268 people in one day.

It's customary to tip the porters when you hand off your luggage. Some people believe that a bigger tip means that your luggage will get to your cabin faster, but I don't think there's any way that one can guarantee that with so much luggage changing hands. You should definitely tip the porters though, just as you would tip your cab driver or a doorman at a hotel.

Once your luggage is left safely with the porters, you can proceed to the check-in area. Sometimes, it will be open by 10am for check-in and sometimes, you will have to wait a bit until they are ready for you. If you have to wait, generally, there is a seating area for you to wait in, but be prepared, because sometimes, especially with the larger ships, these areas can become crowded quickly.

Check-in is typically pretty painless. Just make sure that you have your passport, cruise documentation and the credit card that you will be charging for all of your on board purchases (no, everything isn't included - alcohol, Ben & Jerry's, specialty coffee, etc. is all an additional charge).

Once we board, we have to wait until the cabins are ready, which usually doesn't happen until around 2 or 3pm. This will give you plenty of time to explore the ship and stop at the Windjammer for a buffet lunch but be prepared, because this day in the Windjammer is going to be complete chaos. This is one of the only open locations on the ship during boarding and that means that it's where everyone ends up. It can get pretty hectic, so my recommendation is that you find a table first and then have someone stay where while the rest of the group goes to get their food. If you don't scope out seating first, you may end up wandering around for 20 minutes while your food gets cold in your hands.

This is also a good time to do some exploring and to get yourself acquainted with the ship. If you're not hungry immediately, you can even wander around the ship first and wait out the crowd in the Windjammer.

The rest of day one is filled with muster drills (thank goodness you don't have to wear your life jackets anymore) and a sail away party. I usually spend this day getting used to where things are on the ship. I know this time won't be any different since it's a very large ship and we'll have a lot to explore in 5 days.

Liberty of the Seas Group Cruise - Day 0

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

On the first travel day, all 23 of us will be travelling to Ft. Lauderdale from various locations across the country. We're hoping for good weather as we travel at the end of January since we'll all be escaping the horrible mid-US winter.

Most of us have flights on Delta in the mid-morning leaving from Kansas City. Others are flying in from Denver. We're looking for a good place to have dinner in Ft. Lauderdale that evening, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

We'll be staying at the LaQuinta Inn & Suites, Ft. Lauderdale Airport. We got a pretty good deal through our travel agent and we'll get a ride from the airport and to the Port the following morning.

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

2011-12-27T14:52:00.000-06:00

So, it's been quite a while since anything was posted to JayhawkGirl's Kitchen. Hopefully, that will change since I have a new iPad and will have easier access to blogging going forward. I thought it would be appropriate to start the blog posting back up again by writing a series of posts about our upcoming cruise to Jamaica and Haiti. How appropriate, right? My last big series of postings ended with posts about our honeymoon cruise, so why not start back up with the cruise we're taking next.

This time, we will be traveling with many friends and family members. I believe there are a total of 23 of us going this time, but there's always room for more. I'm told that the balcony cabins have been deeply discounted at this point, so if anyone out there wants to get credit for booking with a group on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas on her 5-night, January 30th sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale, just let me know and I'll get you hooked up wi our travel agent.

That being said, here are some of the highlights of the ship we'll be sailing on:

Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas
Pools & Whirlpools - 10
Spa Treatments - 100+
Crew Members - 1,360
Gross Tonnage - 160,000
Length - 1,112 ft
Width - 185 ft

Royal Promenade

Boxing Ring

Flow Rider Surf Simulator

Rock Climbing Wall

H2O Zone

3-Story Main Dining Room

Ice Skating Rink

Curry in a Hurry – Lawrence

2011-04-28T15:54:00.001-05:00

Today, I stopped by the new location of Curry in a Hurry on the outskirts of Downtown Lawrence. We’ve been hearing a lot about it through the Journal World and local twitter users and Josh really wanted to try it. I had the day off of work for a doctor’s appointment and had some errands to run, so I stopped by on my way home.

The setup is like nothing I’ve seen before in a restaurant. Sammi has a buffet-style setup where all of the curries are pre-packaged in to-go containers and you just select which variety of curry you would like, grab a container of rice and any side items that you’d like (I grabbed naan bread, but there were at least two other items that I didn’t pick up) and take your selections to the register to check out. I chose the chicken curry and rice for Josh (and unfortunately, he ate it all before I could get a photo) but Sammi was also offering pea and potato curry today.

The store has also been converted into a small storefront convenience store with candies, sodas, cigarettes and other convenience store items. It’s definitely a unique addition to Downtown Lawrence.

Josh thought that the curry has some great flavors and that it was very good. We hadn’t tried Sammi’s curry before, when he was working out of the Shell gas station near 19th & Mass but people have raved about his set-up for quite some time. I know his true fans are delighted to have him back with his curry in a hurry. I also know that we will be back to visit Sammi and see what kind of variety he will bring to Indian cuisine in Lawrence. We’re definitely looking forward to it.

Curry in a Hurry is located at 1111 Massachusetts Street in Downtown Lawrence, KS.

Jarritos Nation Contest

2010-06-02T19:38:00.001-05:00

Today, I was contacted by someone from Jarritos, a soda manufacturer from Mexico. They seem to be expanding in the US and asked me if I would sample some of their products and let you all know what I think about them. I’m excited to receive my package and will let you all know what I think after I’ve had a chance to test them.

In the meantime, check out the Jarritos Nation contest! It’s a website designed to bring all fans of Jarritos together and award prizes for posting photos. Entering is very easy – just head to www.jarritosnation.com and “claim” a location on the map with a photo. Prizes range from packages of Jarritos to digital cameras and even a 12 day cruise to Hawaii! Good luck!

Honeymoon Day 10 - May 11, 2010 Oranjestad, Aruba

2010-05-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty excited to be going back to Aruba. This is the only island on this cruise that I've been to before and I'm looking forward to showing it to Josh. We booked a tour here and it visits a lot of the big "must-see" places on the island.

The last time I visited Aruba, my dad and I were picked up at the pier by some of the Rainbow Girls from Aruba and given the grand tour of the island for free. We had lunch with them and visited all of the sights on the island. After the tour, they took my dad back to the ship and took me back to their Masonic Lodge for a party with some of the local foods and gifts for me from the Aruba Rainbow Girls. It was a great experience and I'm looking forward to seeing this beautiful is;and again.

Honeymoon Day 8 - May 10, 2010 Curacao

2010-05-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

Our plans for this island were set back as well. We really wanted to do the Dolphin Encounter, but unfortunately, by the time we tried to book it, there was only one spot left. We didn't want to do it if only one of would be able to go since it was a long excursion, so we decided to do a different excursion instead.

We're planning to do a tour of Sea & See in Curacao. Basically, you board a semi-submarine and get to see all the ocean life from 5 feet below the surface of the water. Then we'll be able to tour some of the island after we do the underwater tour. It should be a good time. I'm looking forward to seeing the colorful architecture of Curacao and the suspension bridge that's 200 feet above the city.

Honeymoon Day 7 - May 9, 2010 Bonaire

2010-05-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

Well, our original plan for Bonaire (an air-conditioned bus tour of the island) fell through, so we're going to have to find something else to do with our time in Bonaire. I really wanted to do a tour because it's not an island we're likely to go back to in the future. There's just not enough to do there for a couple who has no intention of becoming Scuba certified. Hopefully, we'll find something to keep us entertained while we're there or at least find a nice beach to spend the day on.

Honeymoon Day 5 - May 7, 2010 - Samana, Dominican Republic

2010-05-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

In Samana, we're planning to do one of the island tours. Samana is located on the Northeast corner of the island of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic shares the island with the country of Haiti, but didn't suffer any major damage from the recent devastating earthquake like Haiti did. We won't be close enough to Haiti to see any of the damage of the eastern part of the country, but we're hoping to really get a feel for the Dominican people and lifestyle. I don't know much about the Dominican Republic except for their notoriety for making good cigars. I guess we'll find out much, much more.

Honeymoon Day 4 - May 6, 2010 - Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos

2010-05-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

Day 4 will bring us to our first independent island - Turks & Caicos. I don't know much about Turks & Caicos, but hopefully, I'll learn more as we get to explore this island.

The cruise center in Grand Turk offers a Flowrider Experience. You know. . . the surf simulator that's on the aft end of some of the larger Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships. This one is different because it's on land and available for anyone visiting the island, not just cruise ship passengers. Through our ship, the cost is $29 and Josh really wants to try it. While I'd love to participate, I know I would get hurt, so I've chosen not to attempt it. I'll stand back and watch Josh have fun and hopefully, get lots of good pictures.

Honeymoon Day 3 - May 5, 2010 - Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

2010-05-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

Day 3 of our Honeymoon will take us to Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. This is the island that's owned by the Carnival Corporation and is shared by the ships that are owned by Carnival (Carnival, Holland America, Costa, etc). We'll have to tender in to the island since there isn't a dock available.

Half Moon Cay offers tons of amenities and lots of beach availability to just lounge and relax. We're not sure what we will be doing in Half Moon Cay and as with the rest of the Honeymoon, we're planning to just take it one day at a time and see what we're in the mood for at the time.

Honeymoon Day 2 - May 4, 2010 Holland America ms Noordam

2010-05-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

Day 2 of our Honeymoon will bring us boarding the Holland America ms Noordam for our 10-night cruise. We've been looking forward to this cruise since we got home from our last one. It will be a new experience because we've sailed on both Royal Caribbean and Carnival before, but never Holland America.

Our cabin will look something like this:

Honeymoon Day 1 - May 3, 2010 Ft. Lauderdale, FL

2010-05-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

We'll be taking off bright and early the Monday after the wedding and heading for sunny Ft. Lauderdale, FL. We've been to Ft. Lauderdale together before and decided to book a less expensive hotel near the airport this time since we would only be there for one night. We got a great deal through Expedia for about $200 per person, including both round-trip airfare and hotel for one night.

We don't have great plans for Ft. Lauderdale this trip, but we'll probably find a nice restaurant and have dinner before catching up on sleep from the previous week's lack of it.

The hotel that we'll be staying at in Ft. Lauderdale is the Sheraton Suites Plantation. It's not a 5-Star hotel, but it's a Sheraton and we'll be more than satisfied with what they have to offer, I'm sure.

We'll be waking up in the morning and heading for Port Everglades to board the Holland America ms Noordam for our 10-night Southern Caribbean Cruise. We can't wait!

We're getting married today!!!

2010-05-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Today, I'll marry my best friend and we'll finally begin our life together. Of course, not much will really change, but I'll start the process of changing my last name and Josh will be my husband instead of my fiancee or boyfriend. Some days, I thought this day would never come and believe me, having a 14 month engagement hasn't been easy. We've been at the "let's just do this already" point for quite some time now but the day has finally arrived and I couldn't be happier to have all of our friends and family in town to celebrate with us. Thanks so much to everyone who has travelled to be with us and to those of you who were unable to make it. We're so happy to have you in our lives!

S'Mores Cups

2010-04-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

Don't these look just divine? When I first saw these in the new Simply Sweet Cookbook from The Pampered Chef, I was immediately drawn to them and began to reminisce about my days as a Girl Scout. We consumed many, many S'Mores in our day and usually, someone's marshmallow would become a flaming ball of molten sugar as some point. Some people liked them extra crispy, but I preferred to have mine just barely golden brown and melty. That makes a perfect S'More in my opinion.

These included all of the classic S'More ingredients. Graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate bars and marshmallows, but they didn't require a fire and were slightly less (alright, way less) messy to eat. They were pretty awesome!

Click HERE for the recipe.

Cookies 'N Cream Cheesecake Bites

2010-04-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

Just the thought of these made my mouth water. How could you go wrong combining Oreos and cheesecake? These were awesome little bites of goodness, I just wish they were a little less time consuming to make. You have to break apart all of the tiny Oreos and place them in the mini muffin tin without letting them fall over. After all that work, I just wanted some cheesecake and they definitely satisfied that craving.

I made these for my Open House as well and they were a hit!

Click HERE for the recipe.

Bird Dog Bar at The Oread Hotel

2010-03-31T23:00:00.000-06:00

Those of you from Lawrence may have noticed the new structure that now towers above the northern end of the University of Kansas campus. The Oread hotel was recently completed and is not fully in operation. With the opening of a new luxury hotel, comes the chance to try some new restaurants in town. My friend Shauna and I took the opportunity while wedding planning, to visit the Bird Dog Bar in the Oread Hotel several weeks ago and we left satisfied and impressed.

We didn't order anything that was terribly exciting (we both got burgers) but instead of french fries, I ordered the Mac & Cheese as my side. Let me just tell you, this was some of the most amazing mac & cheese I've ever had. I actually wanted to get it as my main dish but I'm always hesitant to do that because there are lots of ways for people to screw up mac & cheese and I didn't want to possibly waste my money on something that was merely mediocre. The Bird Dog's mac & cheese was anything but mediocre. It was outstanding and the next time I go here, I will absolutely order it as my main dish!

What's even better about the Bird Dog Grill? Oh, that's right, the Oread offers free 2 hour valet parking with a purchase from any of its restaurants. That's pretty awesome on campus, where parking comes at a premium.

Shauna and I also decided to try the roasted red pepper hummus and pita as an appetizer and we weren't disappointed with that either. The hummus and pita comes with celery, cucumbers and olives and it was really good. I'm not usually a fan of anything with any kind of bell pepper in it, but this was very good and I would definitely try it again.

Overall, the Bird Dog Grill gets my vote for a new restaurant in town that's got staying potential. I wish them the best of luck and look forward to going back again!

Moroccan Chicken Crostinis

2010-03-28T23:00:00.000-06:00

On the same note as the last post, these were made for my Spring Launch Open House at the beginning of March and they were incredibly unique and really good. Josh loved the sweet/savory flavors that the Moroccan Rub from Pampered Chef offers. So good!

Click HERE for the recipe.

Bacon Artichoke Bites

2010-03-25T23:00:00.000-06:00

Here's another appetizer that I served at my Pampered Chef Spring Launch Open House at the beginning of the month.

These were pretty awesome. How can you go wrong with bacon and tortilla chips. After being ready for a while, they got a little soggy, but that's completely to be expected. I definitely recommend making a few of these at a time and then prepping the rest as you need them throughout a party. They're better when they're served right out of the oven. Yum!

Click HERE for the recipe!

Strawberry Cream Cupcake Desserts

2010-03-19T00:00:00.000-06:00

These were like the ultimate strawberry shortcakes. I love that the bottom of the cupcakes have a pretzel crust and that there is sour cream in the batter for the cupcakes. The pretzel cruse adds just a slight bit of saltiness to the sweetness of the cupcake and filling. I also love that the recipe utilizes strawberry ice cream topping.

These were pretty awesome and I had lots of good reviews. I will definitely be making them again.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Chili Cornbread Bake

2010-03-14T23:00:00.000-06:00

I was apprehensive about how I would feel about this dish before I tasted it, but wanted to be sure that I tried it since it was one of the new Mexican in Minutes recipes and was supposed to be pretty easy. It was definitely easy and I didn’t really notice the green peppers in it at all. Good stuff!

To get the recipe, click HERE.

Most Popular Kansas Vanity Tags

2010-03-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

In an article from the Lawrence Journal World a couple of days ago, they listed the top 10 vanity plates in the state. Currently, one person in every county in Kansas can have an identical vanity license plate. Under a new rule, only one person in the entire state would be able to have a particular vanity plate. Currently, the top 10 vanity plates in the state are:

1. HUSKERS – one plate in each of 53 counties
2. JAYHAWK – 43
3. GITRDUN – 38 (seriously?)
4. CHIEFS – 37
5. 2FAST4U – 36 (again, seriously?)
6. SPOILED – 35
7. SOONERS – 34
7. BLESSED – 34
8. MYTOY – 33
9. REDNECK – 32

Don’t get me wrong, I love living in Kansas (Lawrence, in particular) but I really think that this list paints a very negative picture of Kansans in general. The list says we’re a bunch of hillbilly delusional nut jobs. Only in Kansas. . .

Here’s the ARTICLE.

Berries 'N Cream Wonton Cups

2010-03-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

This is the other recipe I made for the Weight Watchers Open House on February 27th. These were amazing! They're not as pretty as they were originally because I fell and dropped them in the parking lot on the way home, but they still look alright.

The cream is made from strawberry low fat yogurt and Cool Whip. Awesome!

For the recipe, go HERE.

Sweet & Saucy Meatballs

2010-03-06T00:00:00.000-06:00

I know these aren't stellar quality photos, but I fell (you'll notice the sauce on the left side of my Deep Covered Baker in the photo above) and tore/severely sprained my MCL last weekend, so this was the best we could come up with in a painful situation.

I worked one of the local Weight Watchers Open Houses on Saturday, February 27th and wanted to take a couple of Pampered Chef Recipes that would fit into the Weight Watchers program. Both recipes that I took were 1 point each (per meatball and per wonton) according to Weight Watchers. These are the Sweet & Saucy Meatballs from the It's Good For You cookbook by Pampered Chef. They were definitely unique and people really seemed to enjoy them. In the next couple of days, I'll be posting about my other recipe, Berries 'N Cream Wonton Cups.

To get the recipe for the Sweet & Saucy Meatballs go HERE.

Panko Chicken Strips

2010-03-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

I love Panko! Do you?

Do you know why Panko breadcrumbs are so different from other breadcrumbs that you buy at the grocery store? It's because Panko is made with the soft insides of the loaf of bread only. Panko is dried without squishing the bread and that's what gives it the crunchy texture.

I made some Panko chicken strips a while back and wanted to share them with you. First, I cut up the chicken breasts and dried them off. Then, I dipped them in seasoned flour, then in a bath of beaten eggs, then into the panko. I fried them in a skilled in a little bit of olive oil, turning them with tongs every few minutes so that I could get all of the sides a nice golden brown. These were awesome served with a little bit of honey mustard dipping sauce. Yum!

Esquina – Lawrence, KS

2010-02-27T00:00:00.000-06:00

Josh and I decided to try out Robert & Molly Krause’s new restaurant, Esquina on its opening night. Esquina is located on the southwest corner of 8th & Massachusetts Street in Downtown Lawrence. It is in the building that was occupied by Round Corner Drug Store and the Cheese & Salami Shoppe for decades.

Since the Krause’s shut down their home-based restaurant in January, they have been working hard to complete the renovations and improvements to the Round Corner space and tonight, all of their hard work paid off with an opening that appeared to go smoother than I ever would have thought an “opening night” should have gone. Our food was delivered quickly and was exactly as we had ordered it and it was spectacular to boot.

Esquina is a Taqueria, but not a Taqueria like I’ve ever been to before. The tacos that they serve aren’t like any other tacos that I’ve ever seen. Robert and his team have come up with some of the most creative combinations of ingredients that just set off a fireworks show in your mouth. There really are no words to explain my feelings about the pork tacos. Seriously, pork, pineapple and pumpkin seeds were made for each other!

When you walk in the door, you made your way to the back of the restaurant to place your order from their chalkboard menu board. They were having one special on opening night, a bowl of soup that we were told was pretty spicy, so we didn’t venture in that direction. We ended up ordering the three tacos combo with an additional taco, an order of chips and homemade guacamole and an order of the calamari. I am a huge fan of calamari and I like to try it wherever I see it on the menu (within reason of course. . . calamari isn’t something that I’m probably going to be sampling at some sketchy location for fear of ending up in the ER a short time later).

The tacos that we chose were the Steak, Pork, Chicken and Fish. Josh said that his favorite was the fish taco and I agree that it was pretty amazing with the fried plantains in there. Robert just knows how to please his customers with eclectic combinations of ingredients that cause your taste buds to dance. Good stuff people, good stuff!

My favorite taco, as I said before was the pork taco. It was absolutely amazing. I also really enjoyed the calamari and the guacamole. The chips at Esquina have a light seasoning and are wonderful as well. The guacamole is chunky and comes in the largest serving size I’ve ever seen for guac. The calamari comes with a slightly sweet dipping sauce that really counteracts and compliments the saltiness of the calamari. Yum!

So, if you’re visiting Downtown Lawrence, looking for somewhere to eat that’s a little bit different from your normal, every day food experiences, definitely check out Esquina. I promise you won’t be worry that you did!

Sorry for the lack of updates. . .

2010-02-26T12:53:00.000-06:00

Life has gotten a little bit more hectic recently and I haven't been cooking anything new lately. I promise some new recipes in the next couple of weeks. I'm a vendor at a Weight Watchers Open House in Lawrence tomorrow for Pampered Chef and I plan to make a couple of 1 Point recipes to share with those who attend, so those will show up here soon and I'm working on a menu for my own Spring Launch Open House for all of the new Pampered Chef products that are coming out on March 1st. I'm really excited about the new products and hope that some of you who follow the BLOG will be able to make it. Please comment and ask me to send you the details if you're in the area and interested in coming.

Yoplait Giveaway Winner!

2010-02-02T20:31:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting the Yoplait Smoothie Giveaway winner. Congratulations to Ashley! I used Random.org and drew a number between 1 and 4. The number chosen was 1 and Ashley was the first person to enter the contest! Congratulations Ashley! I’ll be sending your address to the good people at MyBLOGSpark tonight and your prize pack should be on its way soon. See. . . it pays to enter the contests ;-)

Disclaimer: VIP coupons, prize pack, information, and giveaway have all been provided by Yoplait and MyBlogSpark.

Yoplait Frozen Smoothie Giveaway

2010-01-29T00:00:00.000-06:00

I've got another giveaway from the wonderful people at MyBLOGSpark. This time it's for a smoothie gift package from Yoplait Frozen Smoothies!

Here's some information about their smoothies:

Yoplait´s new Frozen Smoothies go from freezer to fabulous in minutes! This spark is for the opportunity to try new Yoplait Frozen Smoothies!

Did you know seven out of 10 Americans do not consume the daily recommended amount of fruit? Every Yoplait Smoothie contains a full serving of fruit as well as real Yoplait yogurt pieces with live & active cultures. Yoplait Smoothies are a good source of calcium when prepared with milk according to directions, and an excellent source of antioxidant vitamin C.

Simply add milk to a Yoplait freezer package, blend, and in less than two minutes you can enjoy a nutritious and delicious smoothie guilt free! At 110 calories per serving, Yoplait Frozen Smoothies make creating the at-home smoothie convenient, simple and worry free.

In addition to the gift package that I have to give away, MyBLOGSpark has provided me with a coupon for my readers so that everyone can save $1.25 off of one package of Yoplait Frozen Smoothies today! To download the coupon, go to: http://bricks.coupons.com/bstart.asp?o=60253&ci=1&c=GM&p=TNg7HrGO

I bet you're wondering what the gift package includes, huh? Well, get this. . . you'll get a VIP Coupon* to purchase a free package of Yoplait Frozen Smoothies, information about the product, a link to download a valuable high value coupon, and a Yoplait Frozen Smoothie gift pack, which includes a blender to make the fruit smoothies.

*This coupon offer for a free six pack of Yoplait Kids yogurt is not valid in some states, including California, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Tennessee.

To enter the giveaway, please comment here the tell me your favorite "good for you" frozen treat. I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas!

The entry period will be open until Tuesday, February 2nd. A winner will be chosen at random at that time and will have 48 hours to get in touch with me with their contact information.

Disclaimer: VIP coupons, prize pack, information, and giveaway have all been provided by Yoplait and MyBlogSpark.

New Year's Eve Appetizers

2010-01-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

On New Years Eve, Josh and I stopped by Bryan & Umut's on our way to dinner at 715. Umut had prepared some appetizers for us and as always, they were awesome.

She had some Feta cheese. . .

And some Turkish olives. . .

And some Kashi crackers. . .

Unfortunately, you can't see the ice cubes in this glass all that well, but they were formed in a mold that we gave Umut for Christmas. They're in the shape of an iceberg and the Titanic.

Our First Noodles & Company Experience

2010-01-26T00:00:00.000-06:00

I've been excited about trying this place since I heard that they were opening in the old Palace Cards & Gifts location at 8th & Mass quite a while ago. I am a huge pasta fan, so how could you possibly go wrong with an entire menu based on pasta? Although I wish it was a local restaurant downtown rather than another chain, I'm sure that we're going to become frequent guests at the local Noodles & Company.

I ordered the Pad Thai. Ever since I discovered this dish, I have been in love with it and try it everywhere it's offered. My favorite is still Zen Zero on Mass Street, but there's nothing wrong with the version that Noodles & Company makes.

Josh ordered the Bankok Curry and he really liked it (notice he ate most of it before I remembered to take a photo). I wasn't a huge fan because it was pretty sweet and I really prefer that my noodles be savory.

Overall, we really liked Noodles & Company and will be back again, I'm sure. The prices are very reasonable and their entire menu begins as a vegetarian dish that you can add protein to if you wish. I'm sure it will do well downtown.

Pillsbury Winner Update!!!

2010-01-24T15:53:00.001-06:00

Unfortunately, I didn’t hear from Sara within 48 hours of the Pillsbury Drawing and I don’t have an email address to contact her with, so I drew a new winner. DANI, you have 48 hours to contact me before I draw another winner. Thanks for participating!

Disclaimer: VIP coupons, prize pack, information, and giveaway have all been provided by Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark.

New York Times 12-Layer Cake

2010-01-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

Josh was reading an article in the New York Times about a month ago about this county in Alabama where the women make this amazing cake that has 12+ layers to it. He sent me the article and told me that I should think about making it for an upcoming function. By that time I'd already decided what I was going to take to all the family Christmas celebrations, but I didn't have any plans for New Years, so I decided that was as good a time as any. We didn't have big plans for the night, but were planning on stopping by our friends' Bryan & Umut's house for drinks before we went to dinner, so we did have an excuse to not eat the entire cake ourselves.

This thing was a monster. It was an amazing cake, but it took SO much effort. I admire the little old ladies of Slocomb, Alabama. Some of them make as many as 10 of these cakes every Christmas. I think it's crazy. I think it would taste alright with fewer, but thicker layers, but it's not my cake.

For the recipe, click HERE. If you try this yourself, you won't be disappointed, I assure you. And when they tell you to line the cake pans with parchment paper, and to butter the pans, they're not kidding. Follow the recipe exactly, or your layers will fall apart. Pam or another non-stick spray won't do. It's got to be BUTTER!

Doesn't it look awesome?

Pillsbury Giveaway Winner!!!

2010-01-22T15:33:00.001-06:00

Congratulations to Sara! Sara, you won the Pillsbury giveaway sponsored by MyBLOGSpark! Please contact me within 48 hours with your full name and mailing address and I'll make sure the package gets to where it belongs. Thanks to everyone for your entries!

Disclaimer: VIP coupons, prize pack, information, and giveaway have all been provided by Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark.

Roasted Chicken & Brussels Sprouts

2010-01-22T00:00:00.000-06:00

Well, since we got a new gigantic microwave for Christmas, I can finally use my Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker to make the Roasted Chicken I've been waiting to make since I started selling the stuff in September. Lots of people are skeptical when I tell them about this recipe, so I wanted to make it for myself to have proof that it's amazing.

First, you'll need to get a whole chicken from the grocery store and prep it with whatever spices that you'd like. I bought a pre-seasoned chicken from The Merc (local food co-op here in Lawrence) and was on my way. The whole chicken goes into the Deep Covered Baker with the lid on and you place the whole stoneware baker in the microwave for 30 minutes. When it comes out of the microwave it looks like this - completely roasted and ready to eat (I did use my meat thermometer, just to be safe - nothing is more disgusting than finding pink in the middle of my chicken).

I also sauteeed some brussels sprouts to go with the chicken. I'm pretty sure that this was the first time I'd ever eaten them and I have to say that they're not as bad as people make them out to be. I rather enjoyed them.

This is definitely a recipe that I'll be making again. I think that everyone should have a Deep Covered Baker. You can use it in the oven or the microwave and it's a really versatile piece of cookware. I highly recommend it and of course, if you're looking for one, I know a great Pampered Chef Consultant that would sell you one in a heartbeat. I'll even throw in a set of recipes designed especially for the Deep Covered Baker!

Cozy Inn – Salina, Kansas

2010-01-20T00:00:00.000-06:00

Some of you may have never heard of Cozy Inn in Salina, Kansas. If you're from Kansas and you've ever traveled west of Topeka or know anyone who has, you've probably heard of the place. A quick Google Search for "Cozy Inn Salina, KS" turns up over 6,000 results. Sadly, I am one of those sheltered Kansans who never heard about the Cozy Inn until I was in my 20s, even though my dad graduated from high school in Salina and I'm sure, indulged in his fair share of Cozy Burgers back in his day.

The restaurant opened in 1922 as a tiny 6-stool diner in downtown Salina. Three months after opening the business was sold to a former semi-pro baseball player named Robert Kinkel. The hamburger trend was just beginning in America at this time and the first White Castle actually opened in Wichita, Kansas in 1921, so Kinkel wanted in on the action.

Cozy Inn doesn't serve anything fancy and special orders are a big no-no. If you want a burger from Cozy Inn, you're going to get a slider-sized burger topped with a pickle, grilled onions, mustard and ketchup. That's it! No cheese, no bacon, no fries. Just the basics at the Cozy Inn. Because of the crazy onion smell, they even have a walk-up window so people can avoid smelling like onions until their next shower.

Back in the good old days, each burger was a nickle. Today, they're 75 cents a piece or you can get 6 for $4.50, 12 for $9.00, 24 for $18.00 or a value meal of 6 burgers, chips and a can of soda for $5.51. I'm told that most people order 6 burgers.

Josh grew up near Salina, in Marquette, KS, and we stopped at the Cozy Inn for my first Cozy experience on the way to his family Christmas this year. Here's Josh looking excited about his Cozy burger.

The building really is tiny. I would probably ask to work alone if I worked there. I didn't get to see the inside though because I stayed in the car.

You can see the size of the burger in comparison to my hand. It's not a large burger, but they were really good. I'm looking forward to more Cozy Inn stops in the future.

Pillsbury Giveaway

2010-01-18T00:00:00.000-06:00

I was recently contacted by MyBLOGSpark to participate in another giveaway. This one is for Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and their new Seemless Dough Sheets. This giveaway includes 2 VIP coupons for Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dough and 3 platters to serve your new creations on.

Pillsbury has tons of recipes for these products. Some of them include Crescent-Wrapped Brie, Crescent Bacon-Cheese Tartlets and a Crescent Holiday Tree (for next year of course).

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is comment here and tell me your favorite thing to do with Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Rolls. The give away will be open until Friday, January 22nd at 3pm (CST). A winner will be randomly chosen at that time. Good luck!

Disclaimer: VIP coupons, prize pack, information, and giveaway have all been provided by Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark.

Christmas Desserts

2010-01-16T00:00:00.000-06:00

We had several Christmas celebrations with family this year. Our first stop, on December 19th was my cousin and her husband's house in Mission. Here's the dessert spread:

Grandma ordered a couple of pies from the Brandon Woods (Retirement Complex she lives in) bakery. This one is a raisin pie. I've never seen so many raisins crammed into one pie in my life. It was super sweet - almost too much, if that's possible.

The other pie she ordered was blueberry and it was very good. The crumble topping had ginger in it.

My aunt brought a couple of fruit cakes.

And my cousin made some turtle candies.

We also ate my chocolate covered cherry pie at this celebration.

Bloggers Unite for Haiti

2010-01-14T15:44:00.001-06:00

I'm sure you've all heard by now about the devastating earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around the complete destruction that I'm seeing on the news. I heard on TV this morning that the death toll could rise as high as 500,000 people. That estimate just blows my mind and all I can think about is that, even with the widespread destruction of the Tsunami in 2006, it only claimed 200,000 lives. I can't believe that this earthquake could have taken 2 and a half times more lives.

Source

Josh and I will be traveling to the island of Hispanola on our honeymoon cruise, but we will not be visiting Haiti. Our stop will be Samana, Dominican Republic and while I'm sure that they probably felt the quake there, there was no damage.

Source

In lieu of actually being able to visit Haiti and donate my time and ability, I am participating in the Bloggers Unite for Haiti effort. If you would like to help with relief to Haiti, please visit one of the following websites and do whatever you can to make a difference. These people have had their lives turned completely upside down and every little bit, no matter how small, helps!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Pie

2010-01-14T00:00:00.000-06:00

Now that I'm finally caught up with vacation posts, it's time to move on to the holidays. This was my favorite dessert from the holidays. Josh's cousin even called it the best dessert she's ever had. I would have to think about it for a bit, but I think she's right. This thing was AMAZING! It doesn't look super-impressive in these photos because I didn't take any photos after we cut into it, but take my word for it. You're missing out if you don't go make this RIGHT NOW!

(Recipe from Southern Living)

Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
1 (6-ounce) ready-made chocolate crumb piecrust
1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
16 maraschino cherries with stems
2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed

Preparation
Microwave morsels and cream in a microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 1 to 2 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Whisk in butter until smooth. Let cool, whisking occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes or until mixture reaches spreading consistency. Spoon half of chocolate mixture into piecrust. Cover and chill remaining chocolate mixture.

Spoon cherry pie filling evenly over chocolate mixture in piecrust. Place piecrust on a baking sheet.

Beat cream cheese and next 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture evenly over cherry pie filling. (Pie shell will be very full but will not overflow when baking.)

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until center is set. Remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Drain maraschino cherries on paper towels; pat dry.

Microwave reserved chocolate mixture at MEDIUM (50% power) 1 minute. Remove from microwave; stir until spreading consistency, reheating if necessary.

Dip cherries in chocolate mixture, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper; chill 15 minutes. Spread remaining chocolate mixture evenly over top of pie. Spoon 8 dollops of whipped topping around outer edge of pie; place 2 chocolate covered cherries in center of each dollop.

Day 6 Food

2010-01-12T00:00:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, our amazing cruise had to come to an end. . .

Here's the menu for our last night on the ship:

For an appetizer, I had the Chicken Fettuccini. It was wonderful.

I also tried the crab cake and I wasn't a huge fan of it.

My main course was the jumbo panko crusted shrimp. I LOVE shrimp. You might have noticed how many times I ordered them on this cruise.

Before dinner, some of my family and our travel agent brought Josh some Indian food because they got to meet the chef and told him how much they all enjoyed Indian food. They ended up bringing Josh a plate and he was very excited about it.

St. Kitts

2010-01-10T00:00:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, we didn't really do anything exciting in St. Kitts. By this time, we were pretty tired and decided to spend some time shopping in the complex right where we docked.

Like all of the other islands, the views in St. Kitts were beautiful as well.

This is the shopping center. I believe that it was a fairly new build and they definitely had a neat variety of shops to look around in. Josh and I even ended up going into a convenience store/internet cafe to check up on our emails before we got back onto the ship.

I did manage to get a photo of the adults only pool area which also happens to be where the grill and the pizza cafe is on the ship. I didn't ever get into the pools on the ship, but Josh swam in the mid-ship pool and enjoyed it. According to the TV in our cabin, the pool temperature for all of the pools was about 77 degrees (air temperature and water temperature are two completely different things people) and my minimum for even touching the pool is 78 (and that's on a day when I'm feeling like being really cold for a while).

Day 5 Food

2010-01-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

Here's the menu:

I love how the fried shrimp is listed as "Fried Shrimps". Apparently, the menu author isn't a native English speaker.

Josh had the chicken tenders marinated in Thai spices. In my experience with Thai food, I know that I need to be careful when I order a Thai dish because sometimes, they are crazy spicy. This dish was in the mid-range of spiciness. It didn't kill me, but it wasn't Sunday at Grandma's house either.

I ordered the fried shrimps. They were definitely shrimps. :-)

I ordered the Duet of Petit Filet Mignon and Short Rib Confit and it was incredible. I could have done without the red onions completely covering my potato (that was gross) but once I got rid of the onions, the potato was awesome. I'm pretty sure that Josh ordered the same thing as I did this night.

My dad ordered the vegetarian lasagna. If you look close, you can see his fingers and understand the true size of this gigantic piece of lasagna. It looked awesome and everyone who ordered it seemed to like it a lot.

My mom went the very traditional route this evening. She ordered the turkey dinner. Normally, she wouldn't eat the items that came with the turkey, especially since the menu didn't say mashed potatoes and gravy anywhere, but she was brave and tried most of the items.

For dessert, I got the Chocolate Raspberry and Vanilla Cream Cake (still not the melting cake).

And Josh ordered the apple pie, which was amazing!

Antigua

2010-01-06T00:00:00.000-06:00

We had big plans in Antigua. We were touring with Gordon of www.tourguidegordon.com and it was well worth the wait. Gordon was actually our guide in our van and he did an amazing job of showing us all about his home. When we docked in Antigua, the Norwegian Dawn was in port with us.

One of our first stops in Antigua was an old Fort. There was an adorable puppy at the Fort and it seemed like he didn't really have a home. We were all to scared to touch him, but he sure was cute!

You can see the puppy walking in front of Josh here:

Antigua wasn't as hilly as some of the other islands that we visited this week, but it had its share of hills.

This is the oldest church on the island. It was small, but beautiful.

Next, we stopped at Nelson's Dockyard. This is an area that the British used during their occupation of Antigua. There are two rows of these pillars and there used to be a boat house on top of the pillars. Boats could sail into the channel under the boat house and have their sails hoisted into the boat house to be repaired. Obviously, the boat house is no longer intact, but the pillars are amazing.

They're a lot bigger than they look in photos.

Antigua had some really beautiful scenery.

The house you can see here is Eric Clapton's House. His Crossroads rehab center is just to the left of the house (out of the picture).

This is a view from above Nelson's Dockyard. It was amazing to see from this viewpoint.

Through the trees there, is Eric Clapton's first home in Antigua. He moved to the larger hours because neighbors were building all around him and he wanted to get some seclusion. . . he got it, don't you think?

This is Devil's Bridge. It's a natural land bridge and it an incredible sight to see. The ocean is so powerful here, it really makes you put things in perspective.

I bought a yummy pineapple soda at the beach.

Here, we're sailing away from Antigua next to the Norwegian Dawn.

More sail away photos. . .

My Barbados sunburn had made its full appearance by this time.

Day 4 Food

2010-01-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

Again, no menu photos.

For starters on day 4, I had the Corn Chowder and the Cream of Broccoli Soup, which were both very good.

Josh has the escargot, which he always enjoys.

He also had fried oysters.

I don't remember why I don't have photos of both our main courses this night, but I did get a photo of the shrimp dish that we shared in addition to our normal main course. Neither of us thought it was amazing.

I got an artsy shot of the table since there wasn't anyone sitting across from me this night.

Baked Alaska. . . I love Neapolitan ice cream!

And this was some kind of chocolate cake that Josh ordered. I don't remember specifics about it.

St. Lucia

2010-01-02T00:00:00.000-06:00

Day 4 of the cruise was the best day BY FAR! I had been looking forward to visiting St. Lucia since I first saw the photos of the Pitons on Google Earth when we first booked the cruise. I couldn't wait to see those gorgeous mountains come into view backed by the Caribbean Sea. I knew it would be a moment of the cruise that I would never forget.

When we were talking about the next day's activities the night before at dinner, Ashleigh mentioned that she and James and her mom would like to go with us if there was room with the tour group. Luckily, Cosol Tours had extra room for the day and they were all able to come with us. It was an awesome experience.

The first thing we saw when we started the tour was the Holland America HMS Noordam. This ship just happens to be the ship that Josh and I are spending our honeymoon on in May. I knew that it would be in port with us, so I made sure to get some photos of it. It looks like a nice (but significantly smaller) ship and we're excited to sail on her.

This was one of the first sights that we stopped to photograph. It's a natural bridge along the shoreline of St. Lucia near the town of Casteries. It was beautiful!

Our tour guide then took us to a banana plantation along the side of the road. We were able to sample fresh bananas (which are nothing like you get at the grocery store here in the states). They were very sweet and tasted amazing. This is what baby bananas look like.

A banana tree only produces one bunch of bananas in its lifetime. The tree takes 6 months to grow from planting to producing the bananas. When the tree produces it's bunch, the bananas are harvested and then the tree is cut down to make room for new trees. The bags in the photo below replace pesticides. If the plantation owners cover the bananas with plastic bags, the bugs can not infest the bananas. It was pretty cool to see.

The cliffs of St. Lucia were pretty amazing.

This random guy was standing along the side of the road waiting for people to stop and pay him to hold his snake. It was a boa constrictor and we weren't about to open the door of the van.

The views in St. Lucia were gorgeous.

Early in the tour, Cosol took us to a private home and had a buffet set up for us. The food was incredible. There were fish cakes, coconut bread, banana bread, fried bread and tons of other kinds of food. This is only one of the tables that he had set up for us. There was a whole second table for us to sample from and there was plenty of food for us to fill up. He also had rum punch, local Piton Beer, and water throughout the whole tour.

Here is our first view of the Pitons and it was everything that I expected it to be. . . absolutely breathtaking.

Before we got to the Pitons, we drove into the drive-in volcano. The smell of sulphur was pretty strong and it was definitely an interesting experience being in the crater of an active volcano. We were told that if this volcano happened to erupt, the entire area that we had been traveling through that day would be obliterated.

We were also fortunate enough to be able to visit another waterfall. It was beautiful and Josh even dipped in for a few minutes. It was pretty cold though, so no one swam long.

As we got closer to the Pitons, I got some better photos. The beach between the Pitons is only accessible via water taxi because the Jalousie Plantation owns all of the land surrounding the beach. While beaches in St. Lucia are all public by law, the only way for people who do not happen to be staying at the resort to get to the beach is via water taxi. Getting to the beach was quite an experience and I will never forget it. It was one of the most amazing trips ever and I would do it all over again in a heart beat. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the beach, my dad fell out of the boat when he was trying to get out and ended up getting soaked before we even got to the sand. He wasn't very happy about his experience, but I think he enjoyed the view never the less.

After we arrived at the beach, I decided to take my dad's snorkeling gear and try out the wildlife preserve on one end of the beach. It was beautiful, but I didn't last long because there was a defect in the snorkel and I was inhaling salt water, which is not a pleasant experience at all.

This school of fish was coming right for me. For those of you who've seen Finding Nemo, these fish all look like Dory.

This video was shot by Josh on our way from the beach back to the tour vans after we were done with beach time. It was awesome. Unfortunately, my camera's SD card ran out of memory as he shot the video, so we didn't get all of the video that we wanted to. :-(

These photos show the size of the Pitons up close, but there is absolutely no way to describe what a mountain shooting straight out of the ocean looks like. It was absolutely amazing!

Here I am right after boarding the water taxi to go back to the vans. You can see the private section that belongs to the resort in the background. I don't think we'd ever be able to spend one night at this resort, but it looked incredible.

Here we all are riding on the water taxi back to the vans. Can you believe the color of the water?

Day 3 Food

2009-12-31T00:00:00.000-06:00

I forgot menu photos this night.

After spending the day in the sun in Barbados, we were definitely ready for dinner. I was excited to see a grilled chicken quesadilla on the starters menu. It was very good.

I was also excited to see sushi on the menu, but because it had mussels in it, I avoided it. My dad is allergic to mussels and I have never wanted to take the chance that I'm also allergic to them, especially on a ship in the middle of the ocean, so Josh ordered the sushi and I didn't get to share this time. :-(

There was also a sushi bar on the ship that opened every night around dinner time. The sushi from the sushi bar was better than the dinner sushi (according to Josh) but it definitely wasn't Wa from home. Wa sushi is incredible! (http://www.yelp.com/biz/wa-restaurant-lawrence)

For the main course, I got the short ribs. They were very good.

Josh ordered the seafood pasta and was disappointed that he only found one scallop in the entire dish.

Josh ordered warm bread pudding for dessert and I'm sure that I probably had the warm chocolate melting cake.

Barbados

2009-12-29T00:00:00.000-06:00

On Day 3, we arrived in Barbados. We didn't have a shore excursion planned for this island, but I heard through Cruise Critic that the beach owned by Malibu Rum distillery was beautiful, inexpensive and well worth leaving the ship so Josh, Ashleigh, James and I got into a taxi and headed that direction. We arrived and paid the fee (somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 per person) for the distillery tour. With the tour, you also get access to their beach, a free drink and a rum tasting at the end of the tour. Josh stayed on the beach for the tour but James, Ashleigh and I decided to go. I swear, the people at the Malibu distillery make the BEST Pina Coladas on earth. It was amazing and I would definitely like to get their recipe. Even if it was just a little taste at the end of the tour, it was well worth the time and the tour was pretty interesting. It's amazing to learn what all goes into the process of making Malibu Rum.

After the tour, we were able to enjoy the beach for several hours before our taxi driver picked us up again. Some private tour operators brought their horses by for a quick dip in the water. I've never seen horses swimming in the ocean before and it was pretty awesome.

When we got back to the ship, I had to take a picture of the aft end of our ship.

Progresso Giveaway Winner

2009-12-27T14:52:00.001-06:00

Congratulations to Marie, the winner of the Progresso Giveaway. Marie, you have 48 hours (by 3pm CST on Tuesday, December 29th) to email me with your full name and mailing information. Thanks for your entries!!!

*Disclaimer: I received this product, information, gift pack, and giveaway from Progresso through MyBlogSpark

Merry Christmas from Lawrence, Kansas

2009-12-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

(Beautiful Downtown Lawrence at Christmas)

I'm taking a break from posting my cruise re-caps today to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope you're able to spend the day with family and friends.

Day 2 Food

2009-12-23T00:00:00.000-06:00

When we returned to our cabin after spending the day in Dominica, we found these. . .

and this. . .

And, no, they weren't from Josh, as many friends and family assumed they were. They were actually from Penny, our travel agent and friend who was traveling with us on the cruise. She sent them to thank me for all the work I put into planning the cruise. We took the champagne to dinner to share, but we ate the strawberries ourselves. They were wonderful!

This is a treat that we were fortunate to see throughout our cruise. Our waiters entertained us all week long, although, you could definitely tell that the waiter on the right was not comfortable with this display of fun at all.

As you might notice, this was formal night (hence the lobster). . .

Josh enjoyed the stuffed mushrooms, but since I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms, he got this one all to himself.

I, on the other hand, ordered the shrimp cocktail, which was pretty standard.

This was the pumpkin soup. I think Josh ordered it but it mist not have been terribly memorable because I don't remember who even ordered it.

Our friend James ordered the Chile Rellenos and he said it was awesome. He wished they served it every night.

Josh ordered the duck, which looked awesome.

He also ordered Cherries Jubilee with an extra scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I ordered the caramel apple pastry and it left quite a bit to be desired.

I'm not sure who ordered this, but it was the diet strawberry cake.

Progresso Giveaway

2009-12-21T00:00:00.000-06:00

Here’s another giveaway for my readers from MyBLOGSpark. This one is a set of Progresso products.

If you´re looking for some helpful cooking tips and exciting new recipes, visit Progressofoods.com and Progressobroth.com for celebrity chef Michael Chiarello´s expertise on casual weekend entertaining, preparing a holiday feast or inspiration for a weeknight meal - all using Progresso panko bread crumbs and Progresso broth.

If you´ve never cooked with panko before, now is your chance because it´s never been easier. Progresso´s panko is a flaky bread crumb which adds a light crispiness to your food and is available in two flavors, plain and Italian.

Progresso broths are 100% natural and use high quality ingredients to achieve a great homemade taste. They are fat free, gluten free, contain no preservatives, no added MSG and no artificial flavors. Progresso broth is available in chicken and reduced sodium chicken and beef flavors.

Chef Michael Chiarello appears daily on the Food Network and can also be seen on Top Chef Masters. In addition, he runs and owns Bottega Restaurant in Napa Valley, CA. Below are just a few of Chef Chiarello´s tips to help you create quick, flavorful meals you and your family will enjoy.

Sample Panko Tips:

Breading 1-2-3: Panko adds the perfect light crunch to fish fillets, chicken breasts and pork chops. Dip in flour, then beaten egg and coat both sides in Panko before frying or baking

Faux Fried: Instead of frying, bake Panko-coated chicken in a 400F oven for 20 minutes to get the same crispy crunch without the fat

Sample Broth Tips:
Give New Life to Leftovers: Time in the fridge can steal moisture and flavor;

drizzle a little broth over last night´s pasta or casserole before reheating

Better than H20: Water adds moisture, not flavor; replace water with broth when you cook potatoes, rice and grains

Check out ProgressoFoods.com and ProgressBroth.com for additional tips, recipes and videos from chef Chiarello. There is even a great recipe for Oven-Fried Chicken Tenders which both kids and adults will enjoy - we hope you´ll try it out and let us know what you think.

Also available on ProgressoFoods.com is a coupon for $1.00*off any two Progresso products. At ProgressoBroth.com you´ll find a coupon for $.50 off a package of broth.

What I’ve got to give away is a Progresso panko and broth prize pack which includes a sample of Progresso panko, a carton of Progresso broth, a measuring cup, slotted spoon, soup ladle and a sheet pan for baking. I didn’t get a picture of the measuring cup though.

I’ve got one of these gift packs to give away to a lucky reader. All you’ve got to do to is post a comment here (make sure you include your email address – even if you write it out like “name (at) gmail (dot) com”) telling me your tips for using panko or broth. I’ll be accepting entries until Sunday, December 27th at 3pm (CST). At that time, I will randomly choose one winner and you’ll have 48 hours to email me back with your address so that I can get your package shipped out to you. Be sure to pass the word on to your family and friends who might be interested. Good luck!

*Disclaimer: I received this product, information, gift pack, and giveaway from Progresso through MyBlogSpark

Dominica

2009-12-19T00:00:00.000-06:00

Day 3 of our cruise was our day in Dominica. Dominica is called the “rainforest island” of the Caribbean, and I definitely know why. Just sailing into Dominica, we could see the lush greenery of the mountainous rainforests in the distance. It was breathtaking, as you can see in these photos.

Josh and I spent some time on the decks checking out the island as we sailed in and we were really impressed with what we saw.

When we got off the ship, Josh, my parents and I all joined Reyno Tours to tour Dominica. I found Reyno on Cruise Critic and knew immediately that I wanted to tour with his company. People on Cruise Critic raved about Reyno and his amazing tour around the island of Dominica.

I was really looking forward to this tour and seeing what Dominica had to offer. Yes, there were some poor areas of the island (as I have found to be the case on all Caribbean islands that I’ve been to), but it’s a really beautiful place to be and I could definitely find a way to live there.

Isn’t is gorgeous? Off in the distance in these last two photos is the ocean. It seemed like almost everywhere we went in the mountains, we could see water. It was amazing!

One of the stops on the tour was Trafalgar Falls. Trafalgar Falls is a set of twin waterfalls in Dominica. We were able to go as far as the viewing deck but were asked not to go any farther, we the rocks are slippery and they didn’t want us to get injured.

Other people risked it though and went into the falls. I wasn’t upset that I didn’t get to go in since I wouldn’t have been very happy touring for the rest of the day in wet clothes anyway. Ick!

Another stop we made was the sulphur springs. This spring consists of boiling water and oh boy, does it stink. It was quite a hike to get to the springs and several in the group decided to quit half way to the springs. I was glad that we got all the way there, even if the end result isn’t huge, but at least I got a good video of the springs.

After the springs and several other sites in Dominica, we drove through the Botanical Gardens. The tree in the photo below is called a Century Palm. It blooms once in 75 years and then dies. This tree had recently bloomed and was in the process of dying.

This bus was crushed by a tree during Hurricane David in 1979. They decided to leave it as is to show people how bad the hurricane really was. Fortunately, no one was on the bus when it was smashed.
At the end of Reyno’s tour, we were taken to a viewpoint over the city where our ship was docked. It was breathtaking!

Here are a few more videos of our time in Dominica.

Giveaway Winners!!!

2009-12-18T15:03:00.001-06:00

So, using Random.org, I drew for three winners of the Fiber One Gift Pack Giveaway (all products, gifts, etc. provided by MyBLOGSpark). Congratulations to:

Dave of My Year on the Grill

Carla

and Kendell of Michel Spot

Congratulations on winning my first giveaway from MyBLOGSpark. Please contact me with your full name and address within 24 hours and I will make sure that your gift pack is on its way. Thanks for participating!

jayhawkgirlskitchen(at)gmail(dot)com

Our Cabin

2009-12-17T00:00:00.000-06:00

Before going any further, remember to leave a comment on my post from yesterday to enter to win the FiberOne Gift pack.

Well, this post will be all about our home away from home during our 7-night Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Victory. We were in cabin 2229, which is an inside cabin on the 2nd deck toward the front of the ship.

We really liked our room. It was very convenient to the elevators, even though you had to walk a little bit when you got off the mid-ship elevators. But, the mid-ship elevators were where all the action was. To get anywhere on the ship, you needed to find the mid-ship elevators.

We had a great cabin steward and it seemed as though he was always around doing something in our hallway. We were always greeted with a friendly “hello” each time we saw him. It was definitely a great experience.

We were definitely impressed with the size of the bathroom on this ship as compared to the last ship we sailed on last fall. Carnival bathrooms (and cabins in general) seem to be quite a bit larger than their counterparts on Royal Caribbean ships. Now, I’m not a fan of either cruise line over the other, it’s just an observation. There are certainly areas of Royal Caribbean ships that I prefer over their corresponding areas on Carnival ships.

Overall, our cabin was a good experience and I wouldn’t hesitate to book a lower level inside cabin again. After all, we’re never in the cabin for too long, it’s much less expensive to sail in an inside lower level cabin and you can spend your money on more exciting things like shore excursions that way.

Fiber One Giveaway

2009-12-16T00:00:00.000-06:00

I’m so excited to be able to offer my very first giveaway. This giveaway is sponsored by MyBLOGSpark. They sent me a "Healthy & Fit Weight Management" gift bag that includes a Fiber One yogurt VIP coupon (good for a free 4-pack of Fiber One yogurt), cooler pack, and other storage items to carry your snacks and yogurt- it's great for work and other on-the-go activities! The best part is that they’ve given me the opportunity to give away three more of these “Healthy & Fit Weight Management” packs to some of my readers. I bet some of you would love this gift pack. Here’s what it looks like. . .

FiberOne is a favorite brand of mine. Their products have so much fiber and still taste completely normal. The yogurt is co-branded with Yoplait and you know Yoplait wouldn’t put their name on a product that they didn’t believe in. I’ve tried several different FiberOne items and one of my favorites is their granola bar with chocolate chunks. It’s wonderful.

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment on the BLOG telling me what your guilty snacking pleasure is. I will accept entries through Friday, December 18th, 2009 and I will use random.com to choose three winners on Friday, December 18th at 3pm (CST). Please pass this along to all of your family and friends. I’d love to have lots of entries for me first giveaway. Thanks!

*Disclaimer: I received this product, information, gift pack, and giveaway from Fiber One through MyBlogSpark

Vacation Review - St. Thomas

2009-12-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

We arrived in St. Thomas bright and early on Day 2 of the cruise. We really didn't have any solid plans for this island but I knew that I wanted to go to Paradise Point, which is within walking distance of where the ship docks.

(Source: Ashleigh Trabert)

Paradise Point is a viewing location that is high above the harbor in St. Thomas. To get to the top, you have to take a sky ride. This is what it looks like on your way up. . .

Paradise Point is famous for the Bailey's Bushwacker. My friend Ashleigh (who visited Paradise Point after we did that day) got one and said it was pretty powerful, but very good.

(Source: Ashleigh Trabert)

(Source: Ashleigh Trabert)

When Josh and I got to the top, we walked around to get some good view pictures and discovered that my dad's cousin Bill and his wife, Weasy (who were cruising with us, obviously - we didn't just randomly run into them in St. Thomas) had the same idea that we did that day. They had been to St. Thomas before but had never been to Paradise Point.

(Source: Ashleigh Trabert)

After we left Paradise Point, we decided to do some shopping in the stores next to the pier. There was lots of variety and lots of places to get things that you may have forgotten before getting on the ship. One place in particular that Josh and I thought was interesting was this sushi bar. Here, we have Bennihana. In St. Thomas, they have Beni Iguana's. We didn't eat there, but we thought it was funny.

After shopping for a bit, we decided to go back to the ship to cool off. We definitely weren't used to the heat and humidity since it was the beginning of November and we're from Kansas. Seriously, it was like mid summer at home and it was awfully humid. I'm glad that I went with my gut instinct and took shorts and tank tops as the majority of my clothing for the cruise. I don't think I would have survived in jeans. It was HOT!

I decided to go up on the deck for sail away since it was light out and I wasn't disappointed. We sailed out of the harbor in St. Thomas past the Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort. Wow, this place was big and looked like an amazing place to stay. The cheapest room at this resort is $297/night, so I guess it's a nice place to stay. :-)

Goodbye St. Thomas!

Vacation Review - Day 1 Food

2009-12-13T09:00:00.000-06:00

This was our first night in the dining room. We were still sitting in the harbor in San Juan since we didn't actually leave port until 10pm, which was very different from any cruise I've been on before. It was nice to have the ability to get off the ship and do whatever we wanted to do all day after checking in and dropping our luggage off but Josh and I didn't get off the ship after we got on. It was too hot and we just wanted to explore the ship and see our home for the next 7 days. This was a very good night in the dining room and we got to eat with the family that was traveling with us. My dad's cousin, his wife, my aunt and her sister-in-law all requested early dining and my parents, Josh and I requested late dining, so we weren't able to eat together for the rest of the cruise.

Day 1 (Open Seating) Menu:

For an appetizer, I ordered Fried Chicken Tenders, Marinated Cucumbers and Lettuce served with a Zesty Honey Mustard Sauce. It actually came with 3 chicken tenders but I forgot to take a picture before I started eating. Oops! These were some of the best chicken tenders that I've ever had. The "salad" was awesome and came with dry roasted peanuts that made it incredible and the honey mustard sauce was perfect. Couldn't have been better!

Josh's entree was the Indian Vegetarian Dinner. He's a huge fan of Indian food and was very excited to see that the head chef on this ship was from India. Unfortunately, he didn't get as lucky as he was on the last cruise we went on, where they had an Indian option on the menu every night, but he was very happy with what he got for dinner this night. I thought it was comical that the menu called the Paneer cottage cheese instead of Paneer. I got to taste his meal and I thought it was very good.

For my entree, I ordered the Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Mac & Cheese and creamed peas. The peas and steak were wonderful but the mac and cheese kind of lacked cheese.

Day 1 (Open Seating) Dessert Menu:

For dessert, Josh got something that I had been looking forward to since we booked this Carnival cruise. The Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. Warm Chocolate Melting Cake is the ultimate dessert for the chocolate lover. It has a molten center and is served with one scoop of vanilla ice cream (which we all increased to two scoops after the first time we tried it). It's incredibly rich and really needs two scoops of ice cream to be edible for the average person. I, on the other hand, could probably eat this with no ice cream at all. It's that good!!!

I decided to hold off on the Melting Cake for the first night and ended up ordering the Black Forest Gateau, which was good, but I should have gotten the Melting Cake.

Vacation Review - Day 1

2009-12-11T09:00:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. Things have been hectic and I'm just now getting around to talking about our amazing vacation.

The trip started on Friday night, October 30th. We headed for Kansas City when I got off work and checked into the Kansas City Airport Marriott to spend the night before our very early flight. The Marriott is not as nice as other Marriott properties that I've stayed in, but it was still nice and we were happy not to have to wake up at 2am to leave for the airport.

We left the hotel around 4:00am and went to check in at the airport. We got to the airport before the people working the desk even did, but there were people in line before us. As soon as we'd checked our bags, we met up with the rest of the family members who were on our flights that day. The flight from Kansas City to Atlanta was uneventful and when we arrived in Atlanta, we found a restaurant to have breakfast and went to wait at our next gate.

The flight from Atlanta to San Juan was miserable for me. I'm sure it was alright for everyone else, but I was stuck in a middle seat for 4 hours and couldn't sleep. I was completely uncomfortable and was not happy about it at all.

When we arrived in San Juan, we were some of the first to find our luggage and get a cab to the hotel. It was a good thing we got to the hotel when we did because it got a lot busier there very quickly. We got checked into our rooms and went to find them. Josh and I were upgraded to a suite because I had coordinated the group and it was amazing. We walked in the door and the room just kept going. It was on the corner of the building and when we walked in the door, the living room was in front of us, then we walked around the corner and there was a desk and large closet, then around another corner was a table and chairs, the balcony and the bedroom and bathroom. It was a really nice room and if we peaked around the corner of the balcony, we could see where our ship would be the next morning.

I would definitely recommend the Sheraton Old San Juan to anyone looking for a hotel before cruising out of San Juan. It was a nice hotel and an amazing location, especially if you're sailing on the Carnival Victory. The only piece of advice I have would be don't arrive on a Sunday. The place was mass chaos when we were trying to check out because people were getting off the cruise ship across the street and checking in to the hotel. Apparently, every Sunday is like this because San Juan has 3 cruise ships that all do 7-day cruises out of the port and begin and end on Sunday. Ugh! If you're not cruising and you want to visit San Juan, definitely arrive and depart on some day other than Sunday.

After Josh and I had settled in to our room, we decided to explore a bit before our 6pm Segway tour of Old San Juan. There was a street fair going on for Halloween that included street food and dancing and it was within a couple of blocks of our hotel, so we decided to check that out. We ended up trying some of the street food and it was amazing. We got several different items to share and we were impressed with all of them but left a large portion of each behind because we were planning to have dinner later at a restaurant that a friend recommended.

The first food we tried was mashed potatoes stuffed with ground beef and spices. This was probably my least favorite, but it was still very good.

Next, we tried the cod fish cake. This was AMAZING. I was extremely hesitant to order fish something with fish in it from a street vendor and this was actually Josh's choice, but I thought it was to die for. There wasn't an overwhelming fishy taste, like I thought there would be, but it almost melted in your mouth. I can't really describe what it was like. It was completely unique, crunchy but still slightly soft on the very inside. Anyway, it was incredible.

An older gentleman came up to us when we were trying to decide what to order and suggested that we order one of what he was having. He was definitely from Puerto Rico, so we figured that he probably knew what he was talking about. It was cheese covered in cornmeal and fried and he was right, it was definitely worth it. The cornmeal was a little bit sweet and was balanced with the cheese inside, which was melted by the time it got to us. It was very good!

We also tried two different empanadas. Josh ordered a chicken empanada and ended up with beef and I ordered the pizza empanada (basically pizza sauce and cheese). Both were very good, but we bit into the beef one expecting to get chicken and were a bit surprised. Either way, they were good empanadas and I would definitely get them again if we ever went back to San Juan.

The next stop in our tour of San Juan took us to Segway Tours of San Juan. I've never been on a Segway before, but Josh tried one on the beach when we were in Cozumel last year. The tour starts with training, and believe me, I really needed it. I could not find my balance for the life of me and I even almost took out the tour guide as she was training me. It took me about 20 minutes to get it together, but I finally got used to the feeling and did well. Josh's training was much shorter. Apparently, I have balance issues.

The Segway tour was wonderful. We got to see parts of the city that we probably wouldn't have explored otherwise and the tour guide took quite a few pictures of us both on and off the Segways. It's definitely something that I would recommend doing if you're interested at all. If we see Segways offered somewhere we're traveling and the price is right, it's definitely something we'd do again. I would also recommend our guide, Nataliya! She was great and very patient with me.

Our next stop was Casa Dante in Carolina, Puerto Rico. We took a cab to the restaurant, expecting it to be packed but when we got there, there was only one other couple in the restaurant. We ordered the one meal to split between the two of us because we were still filled up from the street food we'd had before. We got the breaded chicken breast and mufungo (mashed plantains and garlic), which they're supposed to be famous for. We weren't impressed. The chicken was good, but the mufungo wasn't great. I don't know what I was expecting, but it didn't really impress me at all. There was nothing wrong with it. It was plantains and garlic, nothing more, nothing less.

After we left the restaurant, we took a cab back to the hotel and decided to explore some more of the Old City. We found several monuments and a group of men playing dominos near one of them. San Juan is a beautiful city and extremely interesting to explore. I would definitely love to have more time there the next time we go so that we'd have enough time to really get to see the sights.

After exploring some more, we went back to the hotel to head to bed. When we woke up the next morning, this is what we saw from our balcony.

What we'll be doing on our Caribbean Cruise - Day 7 - Back to San Juan and home

2009-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

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Sadly, this will be the last day of our vacation. I know I will not be looking forward to it. We'll arrive back in San Juan on the morning of November 8th and then fly back through Atlanta and to Kansas City. I hate when vacations end, but lucky for you all, you'll get the real vacation review and get to see all of the great food we had very, very soon!

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What we'll be doing on our Caribbean Cruise - Day 6 - St. Kitts

2009-11-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

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The last day of our cruise will be spent in St. Kitts. We don't have anything planned here, so we'll probably shop and take a day to relax since the following day will be filled with travel back to Kansas City. I know I won't be excited about coming home. :-(

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What we'll be doing on our Caribbean Cruise - Day 5 - Antigua

2009-11-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

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While we're in Antigua, we'll be touring with Tour Guide Gordon. I've heard lots of great things about him from people on Cruise Critic, so we're really looking forward to this island.

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What we'll be doing on our Caribbean Cruise - Day 4 - St. Lucia

2009-11-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

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St. Lucia is probably the island that I'm looking forward to the most. It is the home of the famous Piton Mountains. I absolutely can not wait to be laying on the beach that is between these two mountains on the coast of the island. The pictures are breathtaking and I am SO looking forward to being there and getting my own photos. We have contracted Cosol Tours to give us a tour of St. Lucia and our tour will end with a water taxi ride to the beach between the Pitons. I can not wait!

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What we'll be doing on our Caribbean Cruise - Day 3 - Barbados

2009-11-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

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This is another island that we have no real plans on. The Malibu Rum Factory and beach is on the island of Barbados, so we might check that out.

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What we'll be doing on our Caribbean Cruise - Day 2 - Dominica

2009-11-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

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On the second actual day of our cruise, we will be visiting the island of Dominica. We've contracted to tour with Reyno Tours and we're really looking forward to the tour. There are mixed reviews about this island because of the poverty on it and some people's impression based on just looking outside of the ship, but I'm told that for people who do tours on this island, it becomes a fast favorite of this itinerary. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of these sights in Dominica:

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What we'll be doing on our Caribbean Cruise - Day 1 - St. Thomas

2009-11-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

On the second day of our trip, but first official day of the cruise, we will be sailing to St. Thomas. While here, we'll be taking the sky ride up to Paradise Point, a lookout over the island that's supposed to be just beautiful and Mountain Top, home of the Banana Daquiri.

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After taking the sky ride, I don't really know what we'll be doing, but I'm told that there's lots to see here, so I'm sure we'll find something. We don't have an official tour scheduled in St. Thomas, so it might end up being a beach or shopping day for us.

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What we'll be doing on our Caribbean Cruise - Day 0 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

2009-11-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

I'm calling this Day 0 because really, we're flying most of the day today and we won't actually be on the cruise ship until tomorrow. Day 0 for us, consists of getting up WAY too early (our flight leaves Kansas City at 5:30am and we live an hour from the airport - this means we're going to be leaving our house in Lawrence around 3am - YUCK!). We're flying on Delta and connecting in Atlanta before landing in San Juan shortly before 3pm. I'm interested to see how Puerto Rico celebrates Halloween since that's the day we're going to be there. Hopefully, things with the flights will go smoothly and we'll be able to check into out hotel, the Sheraton Old San Juan when we arrive in San Juan so that Josh and I can explore a bit and then head to the pier to do some of this:

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Josh got to ride a Segway in Cozumel on the beach and has wanted to do it again for a year now, so this will be his chance to ride the Segway on solid ground. We're booked for a tour of Old San Juan through Segway Tours of San Juan and we're really looking forward to it. I've never ridden one before, so it will be a learning experience for me. :-)

I'm excited to be staying in the Sheraton Old San Juan. It looks like a wonderful hotel and it's literally right across the street from our ship, so we'll be waking up on the morning of November 1st and looking out our window right at our home away from home for the next 7 days.

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Vacation, here we come!

2009-10-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow, Josh and I as well as 26 other people in our group depart from the Kansas City and Denver airports. Final destination. . . San Juan, Puerto Rico. This vacation has been in the works for well over a year now and I have been looking forward to this day for quite some time now. We'll be landing in San Juan tomorrow afternoon and will be able to spend the afternoon and evening in Old San Juan. We're staying at the Sheraton Old San Juan, which is right across the street from the cruise ship pier, where we will be boarding the Carnival Victory on Sunday morning. We'll be on a 7 day cruise that visits 7 different islands. Yes, an island a day. Here's our itinerary while on the cruise:

And some pictures of the ship we'll be sailing on:

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Panko Crusted Chicken with a Maple-Mustard Pan Sauce

2009-10-28T08:00:00.001-06:00

This was amazing. Josh talked about this for several days after I made it and he was very happy with how it turned out. It's a recipe that I got from the October issue of Bon Appetit Magazine. I will definitely be making more recipes from Bon Appetit from now on. I'm really going to utilize that subscription!

Ingredients
2 8-ounce skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise in half
1 large egg
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon coarse-grained mustard
1 tablespoon chilled unsalted butter

Preparation

Using meat mallet or rolling pin, pound chicken in re-sealable plastic bag to 1/3- to 1/2-inch thickness. Whisk egg, parsley, and 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard in large bowl. Place chicken in egg mixture; turn to coat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dip each chicken piece in panko; turn to coat.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook until brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, whisk broth, syrup, coarse-grained mustard, and remaining 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard in glass measuring cup.

Transfer chicken to plates. Add broth mixture to skillet; boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add butter; whisk until melted. Spoon sauce alongside chicken.

Easy Beef Stroganoff

2009-10-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

This was another Power Cooking recipe from Pampered Chef, but this time, it was from the Beef series. I like both equally and would love to get some hosts who would be interested in demonstrating these Power Cooking recipes in their own homes for one of my shows. I really think that it would be an awesome show for some mom's who have lots of children and not a lot of time to cook every night.

This was a yummy recipe even though I am not a huge fan of mushrooms. There are a lot in this recipe, but I think I'm growing to tolerate them rather than picking them out every time I see one. Ah, the joys of adulthood. . .

For the recipe, click HERE.

Creamy Dijon Chicken & Noodles

2009-10-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

This was several kinds of wonderful. I was kind of on a pasta kick this week and thought that this would be good. Again, I used some gluten free noodles that did not disappoint. They were actually brown rice noodles and they were wonderful. I really think I could get used to this gluten free pasta thing, but alas. . . they're still carbs. Darnit!

For this Pampered Chef recipe, click HERE.

Beef Tamale Bake

2009-10-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here's another Pampered Chef Recipe from the Good for You cookbook. I was never a huge fan of tamales, but they have begun to grow on me recently. It could be that some of the best tamales in the world are sold right down the street from our house every Saturday for most of the year at our local Downtown Lawrence Farmer's Market. The same people that sell the awesome tamales, also sell some incredible breakfast burritos that have become a staple of my Saturday morning routine over this summer. Sadly, the Farmer's Market is winding down, so I'll have to come up with my own tamale recipes for the long, cold winter. This just happened to look good and I couldn't wait to try out my new Deep Dish Pie Plate from Pampered Chef.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water
2 egg whites
3 Tbsp 70% vegetable oil spread, melted
1/2 pound 95% lean ground beef
1 jar (16 oz) thick and chunky salsa
1 can (15 ½ ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup shredded cheese, cheddar or Mexican blend

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray deep dish pie plate with cooking spray. In bowl combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. Add water, egg and vegetable oil. Stir until smooth. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Place ground beef in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking beef into crumbles; drain.

Add salsa, beans, garlic, chili powder and cumin to beef; mix well. Bring to boil over medium heat. Spoon beef mixture over batter. Bake 20-23 minutes or until crust is set. Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes. Makes 8 servings.

Chicken Parmesan

2009-10-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

I went a little bit outside of my comfort zone with this recipe and substituted gluten free pasta for regular pasta. I have to say that I was very concerned about gluten free products and I haven't had good luck in the past with substitutions for the "real thing" but this recipe was awesome. Now, I know, some of you might be thinking, well, yeah, the pasta was gluten free, but the breaking on the chicken wasn't and you'd be right. Baby steps people. . . baby steps. :-)

This was another Pampered Chef Recipe from the Good for You cookbook that's put out by the company. I really like this cookbook. It's got lots of recipes that are under 400 calories and have you eating from multiple food groups. It was definitely a good purchase!

Ingredients
4 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, thawed
2 egg whites
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup fat-free seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
4 oz uncooked angel-hair pasta
1 jar (14 oz) spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using Kitchen Shears, remove chicken from package and trim any visible fat.

Using Mini-Whipper, beat egg whites in Classic Batter Bowl until frothy. Press garlic into egg whites using Garlic Press. Using Deluxe Cheese Grater fitted with coarse grating drum, grate parmesan cheese into shallow bowl. Add oregano and black pepper, mix well.

Coat chicken breasts with flour. Dip into egg white mixture. Coat both sides of each chicken breast with crumb mixture, shaking off excess. Discard any remaining crumb mixture. Place chicken on Classic Round Stone; lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray. Bake 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions, drain. Heat spaghetti sauce on stove until hot. Divide pasta between 4 plates and top with sauce, one chicken breast and 1 tablespoon of mozzarella cheese.

Quick Chicken Primavera Risotto

2009-10-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

This was another Pampered Chef recipe that I wanted to try so that I would have more savory recipes to try out at cooking shows. I was not disappointed. Pampered Chef has some wonderful, quick, and tasty recipes that would be great for busy families who are always on the go. This week and next, I put together two of their Power Cooking sets of meals and so far, I'm thoroughly impressed. Nothing like coming home and popping a ready-made meal in the skillet to heat up and eat. Yum!

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz each)
salt and black pepper
Olive Oil
1 lemon, cut in half crosswise
1 medium onion
1 large garlic clove, pressed
2 packages (8.8 oz each) buttery or roasted chicken flavored pre-cooked rice (I used Uncle Bens in the vacuum packs)
1 medium carrot, peeled
1 medium zucchini
2 plum tomatoes
2-2.5 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated Asiago cheese
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil
2 oz. cream cheese

Preparation
Flatted chicken to 1/2 inch thickness using meat tenderizer. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Lightly spray 12 inch skillet with oil, heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until hot. Arrange chicken and lemon halves, cut side down, in skillet; cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until center of chicken is no longer pink (do not turn lemon halves). Remove chicken and lemon from skillet. Cool slightly; slice into 1/2 inch pieces and set aside.

Dice onion. Lightly spray same skillet with additional oil. Cook onion and garlic over medium heat 4-6 minutes or until onion is tender.

Add rice; juice caramelized lemon halves into skillet. Cook and stir 3-4 minutes or until juice is completely absorbed into rice. Cut carrot into julienne strips. Slice zucchini. Seed tomatoes and dice. Add vegetables and 2 cups of chicken broth to skillet, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 4-5 minutes or until broth is slightly thickened. Stir in chicken; cook until heated through.

Remove risotto from heat. Add Asiago cheese and basil; stir until cheese is melted and sauce is thickened (Adjust sauce consistency with additional broth, if necessary). Stir in cream cheese, if desired.

Smoky Black bean Chicken Wraps

2009-10-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

These were amazing. They kind of reminded me of Chipotle, but with more to it. These were a part of the Pampered Chef series, Power Cooking Chicken. You make one large batch of chicken and divide it up into three portions. For each of those portions of chicken, you make one meal that goes in your freezer for prep later in the week. It took about an hour to put all three meals together originally, and then as I made them, it only took about 10 minutes to execute each full, 6-serving meal. This is a great series for any busy mom or anyone who doesn't have the time to cook every night. It's awesome!

You can find the recipe HERE.

Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies

2009-10-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

Oh wow! You have no idea how good these were!!! This is the first Pampered Chef recipe that I tried before my first cooking show and they were a hit. I wanted to be sure that I didn't run into any problems with the recipe before I had to make it in front of a bunch of people and it turned out perfectly. Josh and I each sampled it and then I took the entire rest of the batch to Bryan and Umut. We can't have this sort of thing in the house or it will all be gone before we know it.

For the recipe, click HERE.

Chicken with Peas in Lemon Cream Sauce

2009-10-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

This was a great recipe. Definitely not something that I would normally make, but the calories were low and it looked interesting, so I tried it out. It's a great way to combine chicken and peas with a very different flavor combination.

Ingredients
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon plus 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon butter, divided
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon peanut or canola oil
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided, plus more as needed
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 tablespoons finely minced fresh tarragon or dill, plus sprigs for garnish

Preparation
Combine lemon juice and cream in a small bowl. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mash 1 teaspoon flour and 1 teaspoon butter in another small bowl until a paste forms. Set both bowls aside.

Dry chicken thoroughly with paper towels. Season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and white pepper. Dredge lightly in the remaining 1/2 cup flour, shaking off any excess. (Discard leftover flour.)

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken—do not crowd the pan. Cook, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Add 1/2 cup broth, reduce the heat and cover. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. (Check to make sure the pan juices don’t run dry. If necessary, add more broth, a tablespoonful at a time, to prevent scorching.) Transfer the chicken to a clean cutting board and tent with foil.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup broth to the pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 2 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add the reserved lemon cream and bring to a simmer. Gradually whisk in the reserved butter-flour paste, a few bits at a time, until the sauce coats the spoon, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in peas.

Reduce the heat to low and return the chicken to the pan along with tarragon (or dill). Turn to coat with the sauce and cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Slice the chicken and serve with the sauce, garnished with sprigs of tarragon (or dill), if desired.

Lemon Sugar Cookies

2009-10-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

These were another batch of cookies that I made for the same package to send to Iraq, and like the chocolate peanut butter cookies, they came back in crumbles. Before I packaged them though, they were awesome! Of course, I don't have the recipe to share, but I would imagine that a quick Google of "Lemon Sugar Cookies" would turn up any number of good recipes for you.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-10-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

These are some cookies that I made to send to one of my best friends, who just happens to be stationed in Iraq right now. He's coming home (to Denver) in a couple of weeks for 2 weeks of R&R, and will then be returning to Iraq for another 5 months of duty. He'll be coming back to the United States just in time for my wedding in May and I'm excited that he will be able to be there.

Unfortunately, these cookies never made it to him. Apparently, the USPS decided that my package was not good enough to get to Iraq (although I think it did get all the way over there because it was gone from my house for a month before it showed back up again). Kevin's name was scratched out and there was no indication of why it never made it to its final destination. I know that Kevin is just fine because I have talked to him several times since I got the package back. But, needless to say, even the best vacuum bags in the world couldn't keep Kevin's batch of cookies from returning to me as a crumbled and dried out disgusting mess. Better luck next time, I suppose.

Anyway, these Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies are my version of some that were featured on Picky Palate a while back. I thought they looked awesome and wanted to give them a try. The cookies were very unique and I think a lot of people would have enjoyed them if they had actually gotten to the soldiers. For the recipe, click HERE.

Diet Strawberry Cake

2009-10-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

This beauty was the cake that I made this year for my mom's birthday. Making it is very easy and it had fewer calories than the traditional way to make a boxed cake. I used a can of diet lemon-lime soda instead of what the box tells you to use then baked it according to the directions on the box.

For the frosting, I used a tub of Fat Free Whipped Topping (think Cool Whip) and a package of sugar-free strawberry jello mix. I added a layer of frosting and strawberries in between the layers of cake and then frosted the rest of the cake and topped with sliced strawberries. It was great and lower in calories than what we might have had otherwise.

Pretzel Baked Chicken

2009-10-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is not a favorite dish of Josh's, but I really happen to like it. It's a spin on the classic honey mustard and pretzels, but with chicken. I bought a bag of pretzels and crushed them with my food processor, so I've got a bag of pretzel crumbs ready to go whenever I want to make this chicken.

Basically, to make this, you just need to marinate the chicken (I use one split breast per person) in honey mustard salad dressing overnight. When you're ready to cook it, take the chicken out of the salad dressing and toss the leftover dressing in the trash (because re-using it would be gross - and dangerous). Prepare a plate of pretzel crumbs and, while the chicken is still wet with the salad dressing, coat both sides of the chicken breast in the pretzel crumbs. Spray an oven-safe dish (I use a piece of Pampered Chef Stoneware) with Pam and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink.

It should turn out moist and taste like you're at the state fair eating a pretzel (with chicken). :-)

Baked Salmon with Tomatoes and Asparagus

2009-10-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

The pictures are pretty, but this dish definitely could have been better. Maybe it was just too healthy for me, but I didn't think it was very good and neither did Josh. I guess I'm just not a fan of lemon on my fish, but this wasn't very good.

To cook everything, I wrapped a 4oz piece of salmon with cut up tomatoes, asparagus and a slice of lemon in aluminum foil and baked it until the salmon was done. I think it might be better over a charcoal grill, but this was just wet and messy. Josh wasn't a huge fan of the fat from the salmon either. It wasn't very appetizing to see the white globs mixed in with the rest of our dinner.

POM Chocolate Cupcakes

2009-10-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised last week when the wonderful people at POM contacted me to see if I might be interested in trying their awesome Pomegranate juice and blogging about what I thought about it. This is the first time someone has contacted me to get my feedback on a product and I was so excited to receive a full case of these bottles a couple of days later. Let me tell you, they're not messing around when they want you to try their product. I've tried POM before, but it was quite a while ago and I thought it was too expensive to develop a habit. After seeing a couple of other bloggers post about their similar experience with the sample case, I learned that Costco sells POM in a large jug for a VERY reasonable price. The next time I'm at Costco, it will definitely be on my list.

Josh has been using the juice for his protein shakes in the afternoon and evening and he says that it really balances out the artificial sugar flavor of the protein shake by itself. I think it makes the protein shakes smell SO much better! He's been using it in both chocolate and strawberry flavored drinks, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's tried it in the vanilla mix too and I just don't know about it.

Anyway, our neighborhood association is very active and every fall, they host a neighborhood block party at one of the parks about 2 blocks from our house. Every year that we're in town, we make a point of going to the block party. The neighborhood association provides the burgers and veggie burgers and we're all supposed to bring a dessert or side dish. This year, I made another batch of my noodle casserole (one with meat and one without - there are lots of vegetarians in our neighborhood and I don't want them to be left out of the noodlly goodness). I also made a batch of POM Chocolate Cupcakes after searching the internet for good pomegranate recipes. Let me tell you, there are TONS of cocktail recipes for this stuff. That'll definitely have to be something that I try when I feel like a drink.

For now though, I present the POM cupcake. . .

I made both the chocolate pomegranate frosting and the cream cheese frosting that are provided in the recipe and both were excellent. I'm pretty sure that one batch of either kind of frosting would be enough to frost the entire 24 cupcakes with, but I wanted variety and made both kinds with lost of frosting left over at the end. The cupcakes were a hit. They were moist and delicious and when they got to the block party food table, they were gone within about 5 minutes. It was a good thing that Josh suggested that we split one of each frosting kind before we left the house, or I wouldn't have been able to tell you how great they were. Kids LOVE cupcakes!

I noticed that the first ones to go were the chocolate ones, followed very closely by the cream cheese frosted ones. Either way, people loved them and they're definitely on my list.

To find the recipe, go HERE.

California Club Pizza

2009-09-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

This was great fresh, but not so great warmed over. I think when you're using avocado, you really need to consume it when it's fresh rather than when it's been sitting in the air for a while. It gets nasty!

Ingredients
1 tsp (5 mL) vegetable oil
1 pkg (13.8 oz/283 g) refrigerated pizza crust
2 cups (500 mL) diced or shredded cooked chicken
2 cups (500 mL) shredded cheddar
and Monterey Jack or marble cheese blend (8 oz/250 g)
2 plum tomatoes
¼ medium red onion
1 medium avocado
1 lemon
6 slices bacon, thinly sliced, cooked and drained (optional)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Lightly brush Large Bar Pan with oil. Unroll dough onto bottom of pan, gently stretching and pressing dough to cover bottom. Top crust with chicken and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 16-18 minutes or until crust is golden brown; remove from oven.

Meanwhile, slice tomatoes in half lengthwise using Utility Knife; scrape out seeds and dice. Slice onion. Cut avocado in half, avoiding pit; twist halves apart and remove pit. Dice avocado and place into Classic Batter Bowl. Add tomatoes and onion. Juice lemon to measure 2 tbsp (30 mL) juice; add to batter bowl and stir gently using Small Mix ‘N Scraper®.

Distribute tomato mixture evenly over pizza. Sprinkle with bacon, if desired. Cut pizza into squares with Pizza Cutter.

Rosemary Shrimp

2009-09-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

These were really good, but if I did it again, I wouldn't be lazy and I would actually get fresh rosemary instead of dried. It was like eating little sticks in my shrimp. :-)

Ingredients
1 pound medium shrimp, deveined, peeled, tail end left on
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Lemon juice

Preparation
To a large skillet, add olive oil and garlic slices and cook over moderate heat until golden. Remove garlic chips.

To the skillet, add rosemary, pepper flakes, and shrimp, and cook, stirring, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and transfer to serving dish. Squeeze some lemon juice over shrimp.

Citrus Pork Tenderloin Salad

2009-09-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

This was better than the Jicama Slaw dish. Everything was very balanced and Josh and I really enjoyed it!

Ingredients

Salad
2 plum tomatoes
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 ear corn on the cob, husk and silk removed (about 1 cup kernels)
1 orange, cut into segments
4 cups torn romaine lettuce

Citrus Sauce
2 oranges
1 serrano pepper, seeded
1 lime
2 tablespoons Garlic Oil or olive oil
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 teaspoons Citrus & Basil Rub

Pork
1 pound pork tenderloin
1 tablespoon Citrus & Basil Rub

Preparation
For salad, seed tomatoes with Core & More; dice with Tomato Knife. Dice onion with Santoku Knife. Remove kernels from corn. Combine tomatoes, onion, corn and orange segments in Classic Batter Bowl; set aside. Wash lettuce; drain and set aside.

For citrus sauce, zest one orange with Microplane® Adjustable Grater to measure 1 teaspoon zest. Juice both oranges with Juicer to measure 1/2 cup juice. Chop serrano pepper using Food Chopper. Juice lime into Small Batter Bowl using Citrus Press. Add orange zest, juice, serrano pepper, oil, brown sugar, garlic pressed with Garlic Press and citrus rub; whisk using Stainless Whisk and set aside.

For pork, trim silver skin and cut tenderloin into 12 equal medallions using Chef's Knife. Slightly flatten each medallion with flat side of Meat Tenderizer; rub pork with citrus rub. Heat (12-in.) Skillet over medium-high heat until drop of water sizzles. Cook pork 4-5 minutes on each side or until browned, turning once using Chef's Tongs. Remove pork from Skillet; keep warm. Cook citrus sauce in same Skillet over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring to loosen browned bits from bottom of Skillet using Silicone Flat Whisk. Remove from heat and pour 1/4 cup of the sauce over tomato mixture; toss to coat.

To serve, place lettuce in center of each serving plate; top with tomato mixture and three pork medallions. Drizzle with remaining sauce.

Southwestern Steak with Jicama Corn Slaw

2009-09-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

This was interesting. Some of the recipes I've tried lately have way too much citrus in them. I think this one was on the border with citrus overload.

Ingredients
1 lb. boneless beef sirloin steak, cut 1 inch thick
2 teaspoons southwestern seasoning mix

1 orange
2 limes
2 t. snipped fresh cilantro
1 T. olive oil
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 t. chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1/2 t. salt
1 medium jicama
2 ears corn on the cob, husks and silks removed
1 medium carrot, peeled
1/2 red bell pepper

Preparation
For steak, rub surfaces of steak with seasoning mix. Heat grill over medium for 5 minutes. Cook steaks 6-8 minutes for medium doneness, turning once. Remove from heat and keep warm.

For dressing, zest entire orange and limes. Juice orange to measure 1.4 cup juice and juice limes to measure 1 T. juice. Snip cilantro. Combine zest, juice, cilantro, oil, garlic, chipotle pepper and salt in small bowl, whisk to combine.

For slaw, cut jicama in half lengthwise, reserve one half for another use. Peel remaining jicama half, place cut side down on the cutting board. Slice into 1/4-inch slices, then cut those slices into julienne strips. Remove kernels from corn. Cut carrot into julienne strips. Slice bell pepper into thin strips. Combine vegetables in large mixing bowl and toss with half the dressing.

Thinly slice steak against the grain. For each serving, place slaw on serving plates, top with steak slices and drizzle with remaining dressing.

Ham & Cheese Calzone

2009-09-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

Things around our house have been only slightly crazy lately. I've fallen behind in my postings and I apologize for that. Hopefully, things will be returning to normal now and I will be able to get posts completed more regularly. Here's the first in a series of Pampered Chef recipes that I'm slowly falling in love with. Their recipes are easy, most are inexpensive and I can't say enough good things about them.

Ingredients
2 T. mayonnaise
2 t. Dijon Mustard
1 c. fresh broccoli florets
1 8-oz slice smoked deli ham
1/2 small onion
8 oz Swiss cheese, grated, divided
1 T. vegetable oil, divided
2 pkg (13.8 oz each) refrigerated pizza crust
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450. Combine mayo and mustard in bowl and mix well. Cut broccoli into small florets, dice ham. Coarsely chop onion. Grate Swiss cheese. Combine broccoli, ham, onion and half of the Swiss cheese with the mayo-mustard mixture and mix well.

Lightly spray large cookie sheet with oil. Unroll one package of dough onto cookie sheet, gently stretching and pressing dough to cover bottom. Sprinkle with remaining Swiss cheese to within 1 inch of the edges; spoon ham mixture over cheese. Unroll remaining dough directly over filling, matching edges of dough and shaping it to fit as dough is unrolled. Trim 1/2 inch off the sides of the dough and press edges to seal. Make 12 slits in the top of the dough to vent.

Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, grate Parmesan and sprinkle over calzone when it comes out of the oven. Return the calzone to the oven and bake 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Chili Mac

2009-09-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is a version of Chili Mac that I came up with on the fly one night. It's a pretty standard recipe, using chili powder, cumin, elbow macaroni, ground beef, diced tomatoes and corn. Adding beans would have added too many calories, so I left those out. This was a very simple recipe and wasn't anything terribly special, but it tasted good.

Beef Noodles in Sour Cream

2009-08-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

This was really, really good. I'll always eat pasta and this was such a great combination. I don't know if I would have ever thought to cook noodles in V8 and then add sour cream to it, but this hit the spot. Until just recently (the past several years) I was never a big fan of sour cream. I didn't understand why people put it on their Mexican food and I sure wasn't about to cook with the stuff. What was I thinking??? Sour Cream can make such a huge difference in a meal.

Beef Noodles in Sour Cream

Ingredients
3 cups Noodles, uncooked
1 lb Ground beef
1 (6 ounce) can Mushroom stems and pieces
1 cup Onions, chopped
2 tablespoons Butter, melted
1 cup Sour cream
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 cups V-8 vegetable juice (or tomato juice)
2 teaspoons Salt
1 Dash pepper
1 teaspoon Celery salt (optional)

Preparation
In a large frying pan or Dutch oven, saute the onions in butter until tender, then add meat and brown lightly.

Place the noodles in a layer over meat.

Combine the tomato juice with the seasonings, and pour over noodles.

Bring to a boil, then cover.

Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes (or until the noodles are tender).

Stir in the sour cream and mushrooms and bring to a boil.

Serve hot.

Sunday Shout Outs - August 30, 2009

2009-08-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

I've only got one link for today. It's from Slice and Serious Eats and it's a Saag Paneer Pizza. My first reaction was "yuck", but Josh thinks it's awesome, so it's being posted here for the world to see. Enjoy!

Tangerine-Lime Chicken & Chili Rubbed Corn on the Cob

2009-08-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

I've never been the biggest fan of plain old grilled chicken. I love BBQ chicken, but unless it's smothered in sauce, I'm just not that interested. This was the exception to the rule. This chicken was so juicy and had so much flavor that I put this recipe in my permanent collection. The corn, I could take or leave as it didn't taste a whole lot different than normal to me. I love corn on the cob on its own, so I don't really think it needs to be messed with all that much.

Tangerine-Lime Chicken & Chili Rubbed Corn on the Cob
(Adapted from Weightwatchers.com)

Ingredients
1 1/4 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup(s) tangerine juice, canned or fresh
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, about half a lemon
1 tbsp fresh lime juice, about 1 lime
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
4 medium corn on the cob, in husk
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp chili powder, ancho-variety
1/4 tsp table salt
1 spray(s) cooking spray
8 medium scallion(s), thick-variety

Preparation
Slice chicken into 4 or 8 pieces. In a large bowl, mix together tangerine, lemon and lime juices, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper; add chicken and marinate for a minimum of 10 minutes or up to overnight in refrigerator.

In a large pot filled with cold water, add unshucked ears of corn; soak for 10 minutes.

In a small microwavable bowl, combine oil, butter, chili powder and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt; microwave for about 15 seconds and stir to combine (or melt in a saucepan if you do not have a microwave). Remove corn from pot, pull back husk (be careful to leave husk attached to corn) and remove as much of silk as possible. Brush each piece of corn with about 1/2 teaspoon of oil mixture; cover corn with husk again.

Heat a grill to medium-high heat (or use an indoor grill pan). Grill corn, turning every few minutes, until husks are blackened and charred, about 15 to 17 minutes.

Off heat, coat grill rack with cooking spray. After corn cooks for about 8 minutes, add chicken and grill, flipping once, until chicken is cooked through, about 2 to 4 minutes per side.

After flipping chcken, place scallions in any remaining oil mixture from corn and toss to coat. Grill scallions in a grill saute pan or basket, using tongs to flip them occasionally, until soft and beginning to blacken in spots, about 2 to 4 minutes. Yields about 4 ounces of chicken, 1 ear of corn and 2 scallions per serving.

Ham & Cheese Calzone

2009-08-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

I didn't get great pictures of these, but they were really good. Josh liked them better than the normal "pizza-style" calzones I've made before.

To make the ham and cheese version, I used canned (in the dairy section) pizza dough and divided it into 6 pieces, then rolled those pieces out into larger squares.

For the cheese base, I used laughing cow cheese and spread it on each square. The sauce was light mayonnaise and the ham was just diced deli ham from the fridge. I topped the ham with some reduced fat cheddar cheese and then sealed the calzones and baked them according to the directions from the pizza dough.

Healthy Tuna Casserole

2009-08-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is just another version of the standard tuna casserole except for this recipe, I used fat-free everything. As long as you know how to season when you're cooking, this method should work. It's not as rich and creamy as the original, but all of the underlying flavors are there and it's still the same old comfort food, just a little bit better for you.

Pampered Chef Endeavor

2009-08-21T12:17:00.001-05:00

So, I'm starting a new project this week and I would like input and as much help as I can possibly get from those of you who read this BLOG. I have decided to start working for Pampered Chef to make some extra money to help pay for our wedding in May.

What does this mean to you all? Well, not a whole lot really, but it can mean quite a bit if you're interested in Pampered Chef products. You read this blog to learn new recipes and to learn about how I cook, right? Well, one of my favorite companies to purchase cooking supplies from just happens to be Pampered Chef. I have loved their products for a long time and am a really big supporter of everything that they do.

Some of you may have been to a Pampered Chef party before and some of you may not have, but if you would be interested in hosting a party in your home (if you're close to Lawrence) or if you would be interested in hosting a catalog/website show, I would be more than happy to talk to you about it. Just email me at pamperedchefamanda1@gmail.com. By hosting a show, you gain the ability to earn discounts on products from the company.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Southwest Eggrolls

2009-08-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Can I just say, WOW? For those of you who LOVE Chili's Southwest Egg Rolls, you're going to love these. Chili's version has 810 calories and 51 grams of fat, but these tasty little creations only have 181 calories and 4.5 grams of fat for three egg roll halves with sauce. They're SO good and the sauce is to die for! Seriously, if you like Chili's version, you're doing yourself (and your health) an injustice by not having tried these too. I highly recommend them! (And Ashley, the spinach wasn't an issue in this dish - I guess I squeezed it enough this time) :-)

Southwest Egg Rolls
(Adapted from Hungry Girl 200 under 200)

Ingredients
3 low-carb tortillas
1 small can chicken breast meat
3/4 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
2 tablespoons canned black beans
2 tablespoons canned sweet corn, drained
1 ounce fat-free jalapeno jack cheese, shredded

For Sauce
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
1 tablespoon mashed avocado
1 tablespoon diced tomato
1/2 teaspoon dry ranch dressing/dip mix
pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In small bowl, combine chicken, spinach, beans, corn and cheese. Heat for 30 seconds in microwave.

Warm tortillas in microwave for 15 seconds. Lay tortillas on a flat surface and place 1/3 of the chicken-spinach mix in the center of each.

Fold tortillas into a burrito shape by folding in the both sides and roll up from the bottom so that no filling can escape.

Place the rolls seam side down on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam.

Bake for 12 minutes, flipping the rolls over half way through. Rolls should be crispy when done.

In a small bowl, combine sour cream, avocado, and ranch mix. Stir until smooth and blended. Season to taste with pepper.

Allow egg rolls to cool for a few minutes then cut each in half on a diagonal and top with sauce and diced tomatoes.

Bacon Wrapped BBQ Shrimp & Cornbread

2009-08-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Like many people, I'm a big fan of anything wrapped in bacon and these were definitely not an exception. My sister makes incredible jalapeno poppers that are filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon and she has always said that you should cook the bacon in the oven a bit before wrapping the peppers, otherwise, you'll end up with soggy, undercooked bacon and scorched peppers and cream cheese. I should have followed her advice on this recipe as well. I think I ended up cooking the poor shrimp for twice as long as the recipe called for because I was paranoid about the raw-looking bacon. Even though they were cooked longer than completely necessary, they turned out beautifully and Josh and I really enjoyed them.

Cheesy Cornbread
(Adapted from Hungry Girl 200 Under 200)

Ingredients
1 cup canned cream-style corn
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons Splenda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, Splenda, baking powder and salt, mix well.

In a small bowl, combine all remaining ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.

Line 12 muffin cups with baking cups or spray with Pam. Distribute the batter into the 12 muffin cups evenly.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins are firm and light golden brown.

Bacon-Wrapped BBQ Shrimp
(Adapted from Hungry Girl 200 Under 200)

Ingredients
16 large raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
8 slices lean bacon
1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray a baking sheet with Pam (I usually cover my baking sheets with aluminum foil and then spray the aluminum to save on dishes). Put BBQ sauce in a small bowl. Take 1/2 slice of bacon and coat it with the BBQ sauce. Wrap the covered bacon around the shrimp and place it, seam side down, on the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the bacon and shrimp. Spray the wrapped shrimp with Pam lightly.

Bake in the oven until shrimp are cooked through and bacon is crispy, about 10-15 minutes.

Texas-Style Casserole

2009-08-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

This was interesting. I misread some of the ingredients, so we ended up with something slightly different than what we were supposed to end up with, but it worked in the long run and turned out alright.

Texas-Style Casserole

Ingredients

2 cups frozen hash brown potatoes
1 cup frozen corn
8 oz. turkey smoked sausage, cut into coins
1 cup skim milk
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-in square glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Place potatoes and then vegetables in baking dish, top with turkey sausage.

In a small bowl, beat together milk, eggs, salt and pepper. Pour over sausage and then sprinkle with cheese.

Bake until casserole is hot and cheese is browned, about 45 minutes.

Smothered Pigs in a Blanket

2009-08-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

You remember Pigs in a Blanket, right? Those doughy-bread-covered hot dogs that we got in our school cafeterias growing up. For some reason, I have always preferred that my baked goods be ever-so-slightly undercooked and doughy and I was always delighted when these were on the menu at school because I knew that the cafeteria ladies must have pulled them out the second that the timer went off because they were always just a tiny bit doughy in the center, but they were so good.

Well, this is my modified version of that school cafeteria favorite. For these, I used 40 calorie hot dogs from Hebrew National. They also happen to be 97% fat free in addition to being only 40 calories each (double bonus) and they don't taste like cardboard. I used Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls as the blanket, baked them according to the directions on the side of the Crescent Roll package. After they were baked, I warmed a can of Hormel Turkey Chili and "smothered" the pigs in a blanket.

They definitely weren't like the cafeteria pigs, but for someone on a diet, they'll do.

Cheeseburger Quesadillas

2009-08-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

These were very simple and very yummy.

Ingredients
4 low calorie tortillas
1/2 lb. ground beef
2 wedges light laughing cow cheese
taco seasoning
1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preparation
Brown ground beef with taco seasoning. Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Spread 1/2 of one side of each tortilla with 1/2 wedge of laughing cow cheese. Top with 1/4 of ground beef mixture and fold over. Spray non-stick skillet with Pam and heat. Place each tortilla in heated skillet and brown. Flip to other side and repeat. Serve with salsa and fat free sour cream.