Shrimp Pasta in a Foil Package, a la The Pioneer Woman

I've heard wonderful things about the recipes from The Pioneer Woman. I checked out her website, http://thepioneerwoman.com, and reviewed the different options for my next experiences. She includes wonderful pictures of the various steps as well as the final product. Most of the recipes either had too many ingredients (I'm cheap) or seemed to have a very high fat and caloric levels. Therefore, I decided on trying 'Shrimp Pasta in a Foil Package'.

Ingredients:
My individual comments are in italic after the ingredient is listed.
½ cups Olive Oil
4 cloves Garlic, Minced (I only had pre-minced garlic so I had to estimate)
3 whole 14.5 Ounce Cans Diced (or Whole) Tomatoes (I used two cans)
½ cups White Wine (I used Riesling)
2 pounds Jumbo Or Large Shrimp, Peeled And Deveined (I used 1 lb of extra jumbo shrimp)
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Fresh Parsley, Minced (I didn't use this because I didn't want to buy it just for this recipe)
1 pound Linguine, Uncooked
Red Pepper Flakes, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook pasta for 1/2 the recommended cooking time. Pasta should still be very firm.

2. In a large skillet or pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for a minute. Dump in the tomatoes and wine. Stir the mixture together, season with salt and pepper, and allow to cook for ten minutes.

3. Meanwhile, prepare a large parcel of heavy duty aluminum foil. It should be large enough to hold the entire pasta dish.

4. Throw the shrimp on the top of the pasta sauce. Throw the drained pasta over the top, then pour the whole dish onto the foil. Tightly wrap the foil into a parcel.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm until serving.

6. Open the foil parcel right before serving. Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the top. Squeeze on lemon juice, if desired.

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes Serves 8

My Husbands Thought: "It was good, and that's what literally goes into your blog, I'll have to give it a longer review. It was really good and I'm looking forward to leftovers." Ohh...he's going to love that I wrote that down word-for-word. :)

My Thoughts: I don't love it and I don't hate it. I'm not sure if I will make it again. I didn't think it smelled all that great while making it, and I think it needed more flavor.

Going old school with Pepperoni Stromboli

In the effort of using up older items in my freezer (dough), I decided to revisit a previous recipe. The last time I attempted this recipe, I ended up in tears and wanting to throw the dough across the room.

This time around I realized that the dough was not thawed enough, and was the wrong temperature. This recipe is from www.allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pepperoni-Stromboli/Detail.aspx), my fall back place to find recipes to try. I want to note that I made sure I had enough of the ingredients, but I generally increased the amount I put on the bread (except for the sauce, which I put less of).

Ingredients:
2 (1 pound) loaves frozen bread dough, thawed
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (I used a spinach and cheese spaghetti sauce)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 ounces sliced pepperoni sausage
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
These directions are based off the ones from the recipe and include edits from me.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Punch dough down. On a lightly floured surface, roll each loaf into 20x8 inch rectangle. Place one rectangle on a greased baking sheet.

3.Spread spaghetti sauce in an 18x4 inch strip down the center. Sprinkle with oregano, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.

4.Fold long sides of dough up toward filling and pinch ends to seal, then turn it over so that the seam is facing the baking sheet.
5. At this time I brushed an Italian oil with spices on top of the bread, then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Ready in: 45 minutes

My husband's thoughts: It was really good
My thoughts: Mm...I'll be making this again, this is so so good! It's not as good as how my Mom used to make, but I didn't expect it to. I'll try her recipe next!
I'd also like to add that for the first time ever, Tera walked into the kitchen on multiple occasions with her nose up the the air, smelling the aromas of the baking stromboli.

Dinner for Two (and then some)

I've made the decision that I am going to cook more, but focus on trying new recipes. After searching www.allrecipes.com for new ideas, I decided on trying Baked Ziti I (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Ziti-I/Detail.aspx). Imagine is courtesy of All Recipes.

Ingredients:
1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 (26 ounch) jars spaghetti sauce (I used a spinach and cheese spaghetti sauce)
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1.5 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Here is what mine looked like before going into the oven, it barely all fit into the pan.

1. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Here is my beautiful helper, who sat in front of the sink the entire time.

Prep Time: 20 minutes The Husband's Thoughts: Yum!
Cook Time: 35 minutes My thoughts: Very good!
Ready in: 55 minutes
Yields: 10 servings

Overall Outcome: This dish makes a lot of food, so either make it for a crowd or be prepared to eat leftovers for a while! I packed up two containers to freeze for another (lazy) day, and we still have enough to eat for dinner again this week. I will make this again, but will try not to burn my finger in the oven next time. Enjoy!

Tera

I've decided that my first real post should be about Tera. That's because in all honesty, I will probably be posting about her, and her entertaining ways quite a bit. Tera has an interesting story, one that could have ended very badly if we had not rescued her...

When my husband and I got married, we decided there would be no dogs (or babies) for at least the first year of our marriage. After our first year anniversary we decided that it was time to start looking for a dog. Many months later, after looking at many shelters and many dogs, we wandered into the shelter where we found Tera. On that day we almost didn't make it into the shelter. We discovered that the battery to our car was leaking, and upon calling my Father for help, I quickly learned that he had just called an ambulance for my Mother.

I worry...that's what I do. I felt like my world stopped and all I wanted to do what be at the hospital with my Mother. That wasn't possible, so we called (and signed up for) AAA, and went into the shelter to look at dogs while we waited. I got a call from my Father, saying that they were at the hospital and that my Mother had stabilized and that she should be fine. Mark and I looked at many dogs at this shelter, but I don't even remember seeing Tera (who was labeled with a number on the cage) there when she came into the room.

Tera came into the room and my husband was sold, he immediately said that she was the one for us. I was a little more hesitant, because my husband has previously told me he didn't want a dog that would get too big or shed too much. I told him that due to the breed she was, she would be doing both. He said that would be fine as long as it was her. I did my tests with her by rolling her over, pulling the ears and tail, and cuddling with her. She passed all the tests with flying colors, and we decided she was the one for us. Due to the shelter being one that does put dogs down, she had not had any medical treatment while she was there... That day we brought home a 8 month old white German Shepard, who we knew had fleas and was very underweight.

We brought Tera home and got things situated, and set up her first vet appointment. At the appointment we found out that not only did Tera have fleas, and has had them for a long time, but she also had worms. I was a bit disappointed, but we went home and took her back a couple days later to be spayed. I dropped her off, but got a call from the vet just hours later with bad news. Apparently Tera had a very serious upper respiratory infection, that would require more treatment and putting her spaying off until she is healed. The vet spoke grimly on the phone, and when I got off the phone, I shut my office door at work and cried, cried, and cried. I was heartbroken that our sweet Tera, who had only been with us for a week, could be leaving us.

We have been fortunate that Tera has healed from all of these medical issues, and are so happy that we chose her at the shelter. We were told that without a doubt she would have been put down at the shelter within the next week or couple of weeks due to her illness. The money didn't matter so much because we were so happy we were able to save her life. I often think about the grim situation that Tera was in, and how she has such an amazing life now. Despite having issues with infection and inflammation after her spaying and the additional vet appointments, she has been worth every minute of time and energy we have put into integrating her as a member of our family.

In later posts I will discuss Tera, but now I'm going to finish with a few pictures of my baby Tera, who is now 13 months old.

Why me.

I've thought about starting a blog for a while now. Today I started talking to myself (in my head) as if I was writing the words down, and thought that maybe it was time to actually put my thoughts down. So here I sit on my couch, the same place I sit every night. I sit with my husband next to me and my dog at my feet, with the Olympics muted on the TV.

A little bit about who I am. I'm twenty-something, married and living in southwest Ohio with my husband and dog. I was recently laid off from my job, and have suddenly found myself with a lot more time. With this blog (now this sounds like vows) I hope to be able to let loose some of my thoughts and creativity, while not keeping my husband awake in bed at night wanting to talk. I hope to be honest, without too many judgments, and too many spelling errors.

Tomorrow will be my first 'real' post with an actual topic. Here is my random thought for today: I think the men cross country skiers (on the Olympics) looks like awkward ducks learning to waddle for the first time.