Refreshing Potato Salad

Growing up I didn't like potato salad at all, but now I do. I learned that I didn't like it because I'm not a big fan or mayonnaise and most potato salads have a ton of it. My mom make a scrumptious  French potato salad which uses vinegar for moisture instead of mayo. 

Creamy Broccoli Potato Soup

First, I'm happy to announce that Emily won the Auromere shampoo and conditioner! For those of your who didn't win you can go on their website and request a free sample just mention Yoga with Emmalyn in the contact page!

Potato Nachos

Steve and I have different likes and dislikes when it comes to food so I'm always excited when I run into recipes that can be tweaked for our different palets. This is one of those dishes. When I first read the post from Oh She Glows I thought "Angela is SO smart." 

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

In this day of texting, email, and facebook I still get excited when I get real mail in our mailbox. Last week one of my grandmothers sent me an article about Austin and a recipe for Quinoa Stuffed Peppers. Her note said "I know you really like quinoa and red peppers are so good for you--so full of Vitamin C--I thought it was a good combination." Grandma, thanks for the recipe! 

Mini Polenta Pizzas

Steve and I love to cook but there are still some nights were we are worn out from work or life and don't have energy to put together an elaborate meal. One night like this I threw together these Mini Polenta Pizzas and they were a big hit. Both of us like pizza, but since we make our own dough it takes some planning ahead of time. 

Chicken Pot Pie

As you probably know by now I'm not usually the one to initiate cooking a meat based meal.  But I really wanted some organic chicken pot pie! It was so worth it! I love the creaminess of chicken pot pie but try to only have it once or twice a year.

Our recipe is based off of a recipe from All Recipes but we changed a bunch of things to make it even better.

Roasted Herbed Porchetta

This roasted porchetta is based off of a number of different recipes online for roasted porchetta.  We followed the cooking directions that appeared most frequently.  But the mix of flavors are all our own.

We had some leftover Roasted Carrot Soup so we used that an a sauce to go under the meat.  But the porchetta is so good that you can really eat it with any side you want to make.  

Asian Inspired Wontons

On the weekend Steve gets to pick the main themes for our dinners.  He decided to make wontons. We made some with pork and cream cheese and others with carrot, bok choy, and green onions.  It was so nice to have a variety.

At most asian restaurants the wontons are fried but we wanted to go the healthier route of baking them and they turned out just as crispy.  You can put really whatever you want in wanton wrappers and we came up with a meat version and a veggie version.

Holiday Orange Duck

Whenever the holidays approach there is always the question of what to make.  We decided to trying out a dish early.  We've made duck before but only the breasts.  This dish uses a whole duck which weighs about 4 to 5 pounds.  The duck we bought had a packet of Orange Sauce but we made our own sauce.  Ducks are usually frozen when you buy them so make sure to give yourself enough time to defrost it.

Gourmet Potatoes

His mom's Gourmet Potatoes, originally from his Grandma Gaertner, were also on his list of things to have on his birthday.  His warning to me before I got the recipe was that they were really good, but not at all healthy. He was right! But I promise it's really good, just not something I will have on a regular basis.  When I made them for dinner I cut the recipe in half since it was just the two of us. I've kept it here in it's originally version so I hope people are hungry.

Pork Tenderloin Roulade

The meal Steve picked to have for his birthday dinner was a pork tenderloin dish that my dad made for us the first time a few years ago. Steve loves it so much because it uses two types of pork: the tenderloin and bacon. If you don't like bacon or don't want to eat it you can easily pull it off the outside and enjoy the yummy pork in the middle.

The tenderloin is cut in half and stuffed with a tart berry jelly and cashews. It's folded back together and wrapped in bacon.  It cooks on the grill or in the oven for about an hour.

Angel Food Cake

Steve's birthday was this past weekend and we celebrated it with a lot of rich, fancy food.  His favorite dessert is Angel Food Cake so that's what I made for dessert.  His mom and Grandma's make it regularly but it was my first time.  I got my recipe from Cook's Illustrated and followed it to a T because from just reading the directions it sounded like there was a lot that could possible go wrong.

Breakfast Pizza with Eggs

Sometimes you need to try something new to discover something great. So today we decided to have pizza for breakfast and rather than the traditional pizza toppings  we used breakfast foods.

Breakfast Pizza

Pizza dough (store bought or homemade, enough for one or two pizzas)
4 slices of bacon
2 sausage patties (any type)
3 or 4 eggs per pizza
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Pumpkin Tart with Goat Cheese and Sage

Only a few weeks until Halloween. I'm not really into decorating for each and every holiday. My parents never did it but I've always liked seeing what other people do.  However, I am going to do at least a little decorating for Christmas.  Last year when I was in Albuquerque neither Christi and I were going to be at our apartment for the 2 weeks around Christmas so we didn't do much.  Well, we did go to Walmart and bought the smallest tree we could find. It was about two inches tall and lived on top of our TV for the remainder of the year.  It was cute and made us laugh but there is something very special about Christmas lights. Steve and I are both going home for Christmas this year so I don't think we are going to get a Christmas tree. Does anyone have any recommendations for how we can decorate for Christmas without getting a tree?

Healthy Man Food: Wings and Fries

Man Post: Take me Out to the Ballpark:
SO I know that it is border line impossible to make both of these foods healthy so really all we have done is make them HEALTHIER than they were before:

Shepherds Pie

College introduced me to many things and one of those things is shepherds pie.  My best friend from college, Lila, would make it with her family when she was growing up in Maine where they have long cold winters.  She made it for me freshman year and it became a regular when we were all cooking together.  I have a great memory of making it with Lila, her boyfriend Ben, and Steve when we all went skiing in the Catskills over a spring break.  It was delicious to begin with and having the four of us make it together added the extra love it needed.  

Cheesy Cheesy Mac 'n Cheese

WARNING: This is not a healthy dish.  I've been eating healthy since I got to Texas with a few meals not being so healthy and this is one of them.  But at least we are making this at home so we know exactly what is going into it and that it's real cheese and all good quality ingredients.

Homemade Pizza: One with Peaches, One with Sweet Coppa

Homemade pizza was on the menu for today! I made the pizza dough in the bread machine but that can easily be done by hand or by buying a pre-made dough from the grocery store (I suggest using an uncooked dough if you are getting one from the store).