Dinner and a Movie

ustin and I just got back from seeing Robin Hood. It was a really good movie. I was on the edge of my set a few times and loved the excitement. In one scene, Russell Crowe comes charging out of the water, screaming, sword flailing, and I was reminded why the man is a movie star. I love that - when an actor is so engaging as a character that you forget that they are a huge star. Justin agreed. We tried to find another actor that we feel that way about but came up blank. What a lovely afternoon at the movies!

What about food? Are you not going to tell us about food?

Of course I am! I actually have three recipes for you today! We had some friends over for dinner last night and I made Baked Ziti with cheesy garlic bread, and salad. For dessert, I made a blueberry and pineapple dump cake. All I have to say is YUM!

Baked Ziti - Southern Living, SEPTEMBER 2005

Prep: 20 min., Cook: 25 min., Bake: 25 min., Stand: 10 min.
Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (26-ounce) jar tomato-and-basil pasta sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 (16-ounce) box ziti pasta
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (8-ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Sauté chopped onion in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Add beef, and cook, stirring until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain beef mixture, and return to pan. Stir in pasta sauce and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

Cook pasta in a large Dutch oven according to package directions. Drain and return to Dutch oven.

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in Parmesan cheese, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Pour sauce over pasta in Dutch oven, stirring until pasta is evenly coated.

Transfer pasta mixture to a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top evenly with beef mixture; sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Neely’s Garlic Cheese Bread – Down Home with the Neely’s (Food Network)

Ingredients:

1 (12-inch) loaf Italian bread
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 stick salted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup grated mozzarella
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice the bread in half, lengthwise.

Add the garlic, herbs, butter, and Parmesan to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well incorporated. Alternatively, you could fold the ingredients together using a rubber spatula.
Spread the butter mixture down the inner length of both slices of the bread. Wrap the pieces in aluminum foil and put them onto a sheet tray. Bake until the bread crisps up and the cheese melts, about 10 minutes. At this point, remove the foil, sprinkle the slices with the mozzarella cheese and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Slide the bread back into oven until the cheese bubbles, about 5 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven to a cutting board and slice before serving.

Blueberry and Pineapple Dump Cake - I got this one from my Momma.

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh blueberries
1 20oz can crushed pineapple in syrup
1 18.25oz package white cake mix
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
Ice cream or whipped cream , optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place blueberries in a 9-by-13-inch greased baking pan. Cover with pineapple and syrup. Sprinkle evenly with dry cake mix. Drizzle margarine over top. Bake for 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 1 hour. Spoon into serving dishes and top with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired. Enjoy!

There you have it! Three dishes and a movie review of sorts. Could you ask for anything more? I didn’t think so.

Banana Pudding Slacker Sacrifice

have been a blog slacker. Sorry about that. I set some blogging rules for myself and those rules can at times lead to an overdue post. I wish I could say that it is only blogging that I have been slacking on. These days I am a cleaning slacker, a laundry slacker, a cooking slacker, a workout slacker and a dog walking slacker (I blame pollen for that one). I am lacking motivation. Oh well...

I did make a very easy Banana Pudding tonight. Here you go...

• 1 box vanilla wafers
• 6-8 bananas
• 2 (3oz.) boxes instant vanilla pudding
• 3 cups milk
• 1 can Eagle Brand milk
• 9 oz. Cool Whip

Line bottom and sides of 9X13 inch pan with vanilla wafers. Slice bananas and distribute evenly. Mix well the pudding mix, milk, Eagle Brand milk and Cool Whip. Pour over bananas. Refrigerate.

OR

Mix well the pudding mix, milk, Eagle Brand milk and Cool Whip. Refrigerate. When ready to serve put vanilla wafers and sliced bananas in individual serving dishes and top with pudding and Cool Whip. Add while chocolate shavings to make it extra rich. This is how we like to do it because it tastes so fresh. You never have soggie wafers or rotten bananas. This way it will still be good for the next few days.

Happy Cooking!

Photo by Lens Envy.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Scarlett looks kind of like a bunny, only cuter.

Coffee Punch and Birthday Wishes

Coffee Punch is devilishly delicious. It is basically a coffee milkshake and is perfect for a special occasion breakfast/brunch. I was first introduced to this tasty treat at my bridal shower in Waycross. It is really, really, really good. Actually, it's great. You should make it and see for yourself. In honor of Savannah Katie's birthday I am posting this recipe. I am making Coffee Punch to bring to Katie's office birthday breakfast in the morning. We have the best office breakfasts! Everyone has a staple item and mine is, you guessed it, Coffee Punch.

Happy Birthday Savannah Katie! You are a great co-worker (that sounds so silly) and an even better friend!

Coffee Punch

• 6 qts chilled coffee


• 6 cups Half and Half cream


• 1 lg can of Hershey's syrup


• 1 3/4 cups sugar


• 6 qts vanilla ice cream

Directions:

Mix first 4 ingredients. Chill.Let ice cream soften and then add it to the other ingredients. Serves 78 (that is not a typ0 - I usually half the recipe) punch cup servings.

Enjoy! Did I mention that it is crazy good? I really like to drive the point home.

Adorable photo by: Simmessa

Really???

J. Crew and I are friends. J. Crew emails me almost daily suggesting things that I might like and alerting me to the savings I can experience if I shop TODAY ONLY. We are very close, but sometimes I am not so sure that J. Crew has my best interest in mind. Today, J. Crew sent me this...


And this...


All is not right with the world today.

All images are sadly by J. Crew.

Southern Cooking with a City Girl

Justin grew up in South Georgia and he loves to eat things like greens and okra & tomata (otherwise known as tomato). He will occasionally make a request for some down-home southern cooking and as a dutiful wife I am happy oblige. But where does a city girl turn to find a recipe to feed a country boy? Southern Living of course! Here is a recipe that Justin loved. He said that it tasted like something his Momma would make. I knew he would like it when I read that it called for field peas with snaps (you can find them in the freezer section at Kroger). That just sounds Southern.

WARNING: Do not cook this meal in a tank top. I burned my arm pretty bad flipping the pork chop during the browning phase. I now know why chefs wear thick white coats.

Slow-Cooker Pork Chops and Field Peas

Total: 6 hours 30 minutes Yield: Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 (16-oz.) package frozen field peas with snaps, thawed

1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6 (1-inch-thick) bone-in pork chops (about 3 1/2 lb.)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 (10 1/2-oz.) can condensed chicken broth

Preparation:
1. Place peas in a lightly greased 6-qt. slow cooker.
2. Combine mustard and next 2 ingredients; sprinkle over pork chops. Dredge pork in flour.
3. Cook pork, in batches, in hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes on each side or just until browned. Transfer pork to slow cooker. Reserve drippings in skillet.
4. Sauté onion in hot drippings over medium-high heat 6 to 7 minutes or until tender. Add chicken broth, and cook 2 minutes, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet. Spoon onion mixture over pork in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 6 hours.

Southern Living, FEBRUARY 2010

Note: I did not use six pork chops, I used two (I have used three in the past) but did not change anything else about the recipe and it turned out great. I serve this dish with mac & cheese, roasted asparagus, and biscuits.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beebrisk/

Gorgeous Photographs by an Amazing Photographer for a Wonderful Cause: Cleland Adoption Fundraiser

Justin and I had the privilege to have lunch today with The Cleland Family. The Lord has chosen to continue building their beautiful family through adoption. You can read all about their journey here. If you are local, or plan to vacation in Savannah, will you please consider donating to this very worthy cause? Erika is a very talented photographer and she is offering a full length photo session for any contribution to their adoption fund. What an amazing opportunity! We can't wait to have our session with Erika! Contact information is listed below, or you can always email David and Erika to set up a session when you visit their blog (just click on their blogger profile/about us).

Justin and I (and Scarlett, too) will be sure to post our pics after our session! :)

The Green-eyed Monster

I really enjoyed this post on (In Courage). I have been thinking about it ever since I read it yesterday. It is absolutely true. If you are a woman, you will relate to this post. Jealousy is an ugly thing that we all struggle with in one way or another (the fact that the setting for this post is in a gym is simply icing on the cake). I am blown away sometimes by how my view of self pales in comparison to my view of other woman. Beth Moore is tackling this issue head-on in her new book, So Long Insecurity. I am a little behind in my reading (I am doing her online blog study - LPM link in my blog roll) but I have found that each chapter reveals truth with an ultimate goal of healing.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

That includes you! And me, too.

Photo Credit: mollyjoy.deviantart.com
Thank you, Molly! Great picture!

The Luck of the (not so) Irish

Did you know that the city of Savannah shuts down to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? I thought it was crazy when I first moved here, but now I love it! It is great to have a random day off in the middle of the work week to sleep as late as I want, actually eat a good breakfast (not Lucky Charms at my desk), workout as long as I want, and clean at my leisure. Sounds fun, right? Was it the cleaning part that really got you interested? I thought so. No green beer here, just green toilets. I feel lucky!

A friend sent this to me and thought it would be a good look for Scarlett. Maybe next year. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Leprachaun Dog at the Gaithersburg St. Patrick's Day Parade: Photo © Nick Monaco

Source: dc.about.com

Ask and You Shall Receive: Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

I honestly cannot remember where I found this recipe. I was searching for easy slow cooker recipes and this was one that I found and decided to try. At the time, we were living in a very old apartment and the oven burned EVERYTHING. My slow cooker quickly became a very dear friend. My friend Katie requested that I post this recipe. It is SO easy and SO good. If you are short on time, have the ability to chop an onion and like beef stroganoff than this recipe is for you.

Ingredients:

· 1 pound cubed beef stew meat
· 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup
· ½ cup chopped onion
· 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
· ¼ cup water
· 4 ounces cream cheese
· Egg noodles OR rice

Directions:

1. In slow cooker, combine the meat, soup, onion, Worcestershire sauce, and water.
2. Cook on LOW for 8 hours, or HIGH for about 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese just before serving.
3. Serve over egg noodles or rice.

Remember to use a slow cooker liner for quick and easy clean up. If you use Steam Fresh Rice instead of egg noodles, the only dirty dishes you have to wash are your dinner plates. Happy Cooking!