Pork Schnitzel with Mushroom and Onion Marsala Sauce

This was a fun and relaxing weekend. Enjoyed time together and made sure to make the most of it. Even with Mike working Friday and Saturday we had fun.

Saturday night I went out to dinner with a friend because we are not old and cannot be going to bed at 8pm on a Saturday, it's just not cool.

So we ate Greek salads at the local Italian restaurant. Mike razzed us for that numerous times. Oh well, it sounded good.

Sunday Mike and I made cheddar & bacon coated chicken tenders. It's a Betty Crocker recipe but neither of us thought the coating stuck very well and that cheese and bacon do not work well as a chunky coating. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't anything phenomenal. We also made baked steak fries fresh from a real potato, nothing frozen there. We also had a bagged bacon Caesar salad for a veggie. Then our friend, who I had had dinner with the night before, came over and brought ice cream and cookies for dessert.

The company made up for the lack luster dinner. Still, can't complain when the food is decent and the company is great. It was nice to get together with someone and just chat and have a good time.

Mike and I also went turkey hunting this weekend. As I am not licensed in the state of Missouri I just went along for the ride. First hunting outing ever. To say the least, I had a blast.

Then after hunting, we ate, then proceeded to go for a run, with the crazy sidewalks in that small town Mike resides in.

I say the person who put this in was drunk. Go home sidewalk man, you're drunk!

Then he lounged and took a nap while I finished phase two of my workout, Rush Fit. If you haven't figured this out by now, I'm a bit of a fitness nut and actually enjoy working out, mostly running. I guess that's why I can just about eat anything I want.

So after naps and workouts we decided dinner was needed and that we needed to use up the pork cutlet we had plus buy more to make sure we had enough to go around.

Needless to say the word "schnitzel" came to mind when thinking about a pounded out pork cutlet. I must say that is the word of the blog today "cutlet."

So off we went whisked away to Walmart for more ingredients and then back to make dinner.

We paired this with mashed potatoes (we did instant but making old fashioned mashed potatoes with some baby reds would have been much better.) Then we also had some cinnamon applesauce which was homemade.

Take about 5 apples, granny or pretty much your favorite apple. Peel and Chop. Add all into a quart sized pot with 1/2 cup of water and 1 tsp of apple pie spice. Simmer for 15 minutes then add 1/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp brown sugar and simmer for another 5, stirring occasionally throughout process.  Then mash it all up as chunky or as fine as you like and enjoy.

In the mean time, check out this deliciousness

Pork Schnitzel
Via: Taste of Home Cookbook
Prep/Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 6

6 pork sirloin cutlets (1/2 inch thick & 4 oz each)
1/2 cup all -purpose flour
2 tsp seasoned salt (like Lawry's)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk **I left this out - accidentally - but it turned out just fine. So if you can't have milk or just want to omit we are proof that it works fine.
1 1/2 cups dry bread crumbs, plain **of course I would say to use only 1 cup since we had A LOT left over
2 tsp paprika
6 Tbsp vegetable/olive/grapeseed oil **We used grapeseed because we felt like it, worked well. Use what you have and what works best for you

Directions:
Flatten pork cutlets to 1/4 inch thickness **Or you can be like us and go to your local wally-world and pick up pre-tenderized pork cutlets that are already 1/4 inch thick. Less work and no pounding required**

Combine flour, seasoned salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl (large enough to dip your cutlets in). In another bowl beat eggs and milk. In a third bowl combine bread crumbs and paprika.

Create an assembly line station that ends in a plate to place battered pork. **I did two cutlets at a time because that's what fit in the pan to cook.**

Dip pork into flour first, then egg mixture, then into crumb mixture.

Cook pork in oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. **Again, we cooked only two at a time to prevent crowding** Cook on each side for about 3-4 minutes until tender. Remove to a cookie sheet lined in foil with a wire rack on top. Place in a 150-200 degree oven to keep warm and crisp.

Serve with a dill sauce or you can serve with a onion, mushroom Marsala sauce.

We did the following:
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 pkg (8 oz) white button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup Marsala cooking wine
1 pat beef broth (it comes in this jelly like state and you boil it in about 1/2 a cup of water to create broth - or you could just use 1/2 cup of beef broth)

Saute onions over medium heat until just translucent. Then remove from pan. Put beef broth in pan and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Add Marsala, mushrooms and onions. Everybody in the pool!

Cook over medium low heat until starting to reduce. You can add a slurry (corn starch mixed with COLD water) 1 tsp at a time to reach desired thickness.

Now go out and cook!

Bacon & Onion Pull Apart Bread

The weekend is coming, the weekend is coming!!!!  Also, Spring turkey season is coming on Monday.

Mike will be out early in the morning to go and outsmart a Tom or Jake and bring him back as a trophy, bragging rights to his neighbor, and dinner. :) You will probably be able to find notes and stories about his first turkey hunt of the season at his hunting blog "Fowl Mouthed Therapy."

So this last week I have spent hunting down Peeps, yes Peeps. Those fluffy sugar covered marshmallow confections shaped to look like rabbits and chicks. Yes, those. My mother didn't buy any for Easter this year (goodness knows why!?) so I had to go hunt them down. Unfortunately it seems that Walmart dumped them and ran out FAST! So I had sort of given up on them and came to terms that the next opportunity I would get to have peeps would be July for the 4th.

But wait!!!! On a routine run to Hyvee for a quick food pick up I came across the mother load.

10 cents for the chicks and smaller options of bunnies and 25 cents for the larger groupings of peeps. YES YES YES!!! I bought about 10. But hey, a girl has gotta have her peeps from Easter, it's just not Easter without them.

So that was one of the major accomplishments of this week, I know, I'm totally a thrilling person who lives such a fascinating life.

ANY-WAY...........

Since this was a more restful week in preparation for a 5k I will be running tomorrow I decided I would make a few things. My oven has a bit lonely lately with my lackadaisical approach to baking this past few months.

What I chose to bake? Bacon & Onion Pull Apart Bread. I have never made a pull apart bread for one and the idea of bacon and onion in bread was just intriguing and such a wonderful idea.

The ingredient list was not terribly extensive nor were the directions complicated. Just time consuming, as any bread usually is - unless you have a bread machine. Even then it's time consuming having to wait for the silly thing to finish.

I like things that are simple to throw together. Such as tossing in flour, milk, sugar, eggs, yeast, salt, milk and butter together to create a lovely dough that will soon rise and create a puffed fluffy dough ready and willing for the filling. (ignore my naked foot in that picture above there).

So the main reason I wanted to make this was the bacon, I mean come on, it's BACON! I love bacon, I really do. To think at one time I wouldn't eat this delicious salty and savory strip of meat. I mean, what was wrong with me!? If you don't like bacon, there's something wrong - you need to get your head checked. Who can resist a food that cheers for you as it cooks and just crisps up so nicely as well as accents just about any dish perfectly. Salad, sandwiches, casseroles, potatoes, sides, veggies, and even cupcakes! It can also be eaten for every meal and snack, so I would say this is the perfect food. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and dessert. Yes please.

So then there's the onion. A large onion, caramelizing in the bacon grease. Which I have no finesse for caramelizing onions I suppose, as you can see here:

As you can see, I burned a few pieces. I just need more practice I suppose. Or let Mike take care of the onions like I normally do. We really need a place together, this way I can avoid onions in the future.

Soon you have to chop up your bacon so that it's in nice bit sized pieces to sprinkle all over the lovely dough. How gorgeous is that bacon?

So now we have this beautiful golden egg-y dough. It was quite lovely for bread. I had to stretch it out and try to create square out of it so I could sprinkle my bacon and onion and then cut into strips, which then get cut into squares.

Having to pile this into a loaf pan (in my case a mini loaf pan) is tricky and the help of a bottle of Dawn dish soap and a can of cooking spray helped hold my pan upright on end so I could do so.

But in the end it's worth the pain of having to constantly readjust the pan so it doesn't go sliding off the counter and to the floor. But in the end it should kinda look like this in the pan. Then you bake and wait.

In the end it comes out gloriously golden brown and smelling AH-MAZING! Talk about my apartment smelling like I was just making breakfast. I'm sure the neighbors are jealous. Way better than the fish smell that used to overtake before the crazies moved out.

And when it's cool enough to pull from the pan, you have this, a nugget of delicious, bacon, onion, and dough. The recipe is from Yummly and they suggested serving with some maple syrup. I tried it and was ok, I preferred some nice salted spreadable butter. It was a heart attack in a bite that way but was soo delicious. Will work on my onions next time.

Bacon Onion Pull Apart Bread - by Yummly
Serves about 8-16 (depends on how many pieces you decide is a serving.
Makes 1 regular loaf or 2 mini loaves

Ingredients
Bread:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter/margarine
2/3 cup milk (I used skim)
3 cups all purpose flour - divided (I used unbleached)
2 Tbsp granulated white sugar
2 1/4 tsp (usually 1 pkt) active dry yeast (I used Red Star Platinum)
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs (I brought mine to room temperature - you can do this by letting sit out or placing in hot tap water for a few minutes)

Filling:
10 slices bacon, prepared and chopped (about a 12 oz pkg)
1 large onion, sliced
olive oil, if needed (I had plenty of bacon grease)
dash of salt
sugar, optional

Directions:
Make the dough:
1. Melt the butter together with the milk over low heat on the stove top until butter is melted. Remove from heat.
2. Combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a bowl. Add your butter-milk mixture and mix until your flour is moist. Mix in your eggs one at a time. Add the remaining cup of flour and mix it in until a soft dough forms. Knead it for a few minutes more. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a light cloth, and let sit in a cool place for about an hour.

Make the Filling:
3. Cook your bacon. Pan-fry your bacon (or cook however you prefer). Set your cooked slices aside on a paper towel and let it sit. Reserve the bacon drippings to caramelize the onions (or just use olive oil if you prefer).
4. Caramelize your onions. Slice up a whole onion. Make sure the bottom of your pan is coated with reserved bacon drippings (or olive oil) and toss in your onions. Sprinkle them with salt and let them cook over medium heat for about 30-45 minutes. NOTE: you may need to turn the heat down on your stove top or add more oil if the onions are drying out too quickly. You'll need to stir them and monitor them closely. Scraping them up off the pan if they burn, and usually with more frequency toward the end of the process.

Assemble the bread:
5. On a well flour board (with a well floured rolling pin), roll out the dough into a very large rectangle or square (20in x 12in or 16in x 16in at least is probably good). The dough is very stretchy, especially when you're putting it into the loaf pan, so more is better.
6. Spread your caramelized onions and bacon across the entire surface of the dough, even up to the edges.
7. Turn your loaf pan onto it's narrow side. Slice your dough into long strips (probably about 4 inches wide) and stack those strips on top of each other. Very gently cut the stacked strips into squares (or rectangles) and pile those stacked squares into the loaf pan until you have got a Jenga like, filled pan.

Bake the bread:
8. In an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, bake your bread for 30-40 minutes (or until it's very golden brown on top - but not burnt).
9. Remove it from the oven and let it sit in the pan for at least 10 minutes before shifting it out.
10. Once the bread has cooled a little, serve and enjoy.

Can drizzle with maple syrup, spread with butter, jam, or eat on it's own. You can even tweak and add herbs and spices to the dough. You're choice, get creative.

Now go out and cook!

The Great Blizzard of Oz aka Snownomi

So the start of this week was great, it was President's day, a paid holiday at my place of work. Then Mike stuck around on Tuesday, we went and greeted my friends new little girl Katie (5 weeks old now) and then went out to dinner with my gal Michelle and her hubby Jake and had some laughs and a good time with friends. Of course right now it seems all my friends are either getting married, pregnant (Michelle), or having babies (Kristy). I love them all the same but being a girl sometimes it's a bit of what Mike calls "tick-tock." Yeah there is pressure but I'm sooo not ready and I'm happy with how things are chugging along. That comes when the time is right.

I digress. Then Thursday morning 6 am hits and BAM! The Great Blizzard of Oz hits the Kansas and, as Mike calls it, the snownomi hits Missouri.

Where I live received about 10-12 inches plus snow drift. Mike got about 12 where he lives. I must say my car, Audrey, was buried pretty well. I was able to work from home for 2 days and then found that the plows had come and pushed all the snow up behind my car.

So I bundled up when work was over, pulled on my waders, zipped up my coat and donned my snow hat and pulled out the gloves and headed out to tackle the now 2 foot mound of snow behind my car.

So all I had at the time was my snow scraper and a dust pan. The dust pan broke instantly after attempting to scoop the snow. So then I was left with my snow scraper which just took forever.

After about 45 minutes I was tired and my back hurt but I was still about 6 inches from pavement.

I finally got close to the ground but then then wasn't sure I was going to be able to back up over what was left. I was right, the next day I got myself stuck 6 feet from the curb of my parking spot and was stuck there all day until I could borrow a shovel from the office. At that point I was able to rock my car back into the parking spot.

My dear upstairs neighbor saw me out there and had been off on Thursday as well. She was cooking up a storm that day and brought me some homemade turkey taco soup and some crackers to warm up. It was delicious! Then we spent the evening playing Mario Cart and having a good time with girl talk. I don't get to do that a lot.

So then Friday night after I had gotten my car back in it's spot Mike called and asked if I was coming out or if he was. I said I would. He came out last weekend so it's a fair way of splitting the gas cost.

Of course at that point I had to figure out how to get the remaining bit of snow out from behind my car. So I called up a friend and asked if he had one, he didn't but he came and picked me up, since he had his car free, and took me to Home Depot where we bought garden spades and then shoveled the last 2-3 inches of snow from behind my car so I could back out and leave.

So I arrived Friday night, Mike had me come look at a totally awesome snow fort made by one of the student organizations. It was "Wicked" awesome  Was made with snow bricks and looked like castle turrets and even had flags on them. Then the next day when we drove by to get some good pictures it was ruined by some rude college kids. :( That was at least an all day event to make. It's so sad when mean people come and ruin something so amazing.

Mike and I then decided to go sledding, he has a "jet sled," which is a boat type sled that is used during hunting to haul decoys and gear without bogging yourself down like a pack mule. It makes the most amazing sled for sledding for sure. It hauls ass. We went over to a hill by the frat house and we started at the big hill which all the little kids were using. At that point we went down, one time each, of course because of the bottom of the hill not having any insurance on keeping you out of the road or out of the woods that were just beyond, that caused you to have to bail out of the sled before reaching the very bottom.

Of course to tip that sled over takes some effort. Mike did fine and ended up next to the sled. Me, I ended up bailing and then the sled landed on top of me upside down. So I was a camouflaged snow turtle.

After our adventurous day in the snow we decided to make something delicious after our nap.

Pork tenderloin, rubbed in sweet and smoky seasoning, then baked in the oven. Served with a side of broccoli sauteed with bacon and onion. Then served with portabella mushroom sauce over egg noodles.

The sweet and smokey seasoning we have is found at the Kansas City River Market downtown. It has a great spice station you can buy spices by the scoop. Found this sweet and smokey one day while down there and was told it was like BBQ potato chip seasoning. It is, and it totally rocks with pork. Pork chops, chicken, popcorn etc. It's amazing for sure. I need to get back to the market actually.

So our vegetable side was broccoli sauteed with a small amount of oil, onions and bacon. That glob in the middle is a concentrated pat of chicken stock. Which helped add seasoning and flavor. The bacon we used was hormels real bacon bits that you keep in your fridge. Less oil and less cooking time.

For a starch we decided on egg noodles. Then we were trying to think of a sauce. Then it hit us, Progresso makes those new recipe starters. We picked up one can of Creamy Portabella Mushroom cooking sauce. It's rather plain by itself and I reccomend adding salt, pepper, and some garlic powder. We also added some cooking Marsala wine. This made a very delicious and addicting noodle. This could definnitely be served with chicken or beef. The can even suggests making this sauce into a beef stroganoff. Of course Mike and I tend to stray from actual recipes when it comes to cooking. We find a base and then tweak if from there.

Final product was a tender, moist and totally delicious BBQ pork loin. YUM! Then served with the broccoli bacon sautee and noodles with creamy portabella mushroom sauce was just the perfect combination.

Now there are leftovers and unfortunately it will not last us through the Blizzard of Oz (Snownomi) part 2 that is coming Monday night/Tuesday morning. Another 10-20 inches depending on the area you are in. Mike is pegged to get up to 15 inches at his place, while I should get anywhere from 10-12 inches. Ugh, looks like Tuesday and Wednesday I will be working from home again. I start to get cabin fever after about a day fand with work, it's not like I can just clean the house completely from top to bottom all day like I would if my job didn't provide me a laptop. Ah well, I have a job, it's not so bad, they pay me decent and I really shouldn't complain too much.

So folks, if you're getting snowed in, make sure you have something to cook as well as something to do to entertain yourself, me, I have my neighbor to play Wii games with. If you're lucky enough not to have snow, then enjoy cooking with things you find interesting while leisurly walking down the grocery store aisles with shelves that aren't empty haha ;)

Now go out and cook!

Venison Steak with Sherry-Mushroom Sauce (plus dessert)

Alright, deer season may be over but there is still an abundance of deer meat to be eaten. It's good to know people. Trading goose/duck for deer. I call that a good trade.

So in recent weeks there has been venison taco soup, venison lasagna, and now venison steaks. Mmmm. I must say knowing hunters is probably one of the best things in the world. Can't wait to go out and try it myself.

So Mike decided we were going to have venison steaks he had in the freezer for dinner. I was definitely OK with that. I was given the task of finding a suitable recipe for it. So I surfed the web for something that would work with our palates. Well I soon stumbled upon this beauty of a recipe, which when I told Mike what it was he gave a resounding "DONE." So to the store we went to gather the remaining ingredients we needed that aren't kept on hand due to spoilage over a specific length of time.

This is "Venison with Sherry-Mushroom Sauce." How lovely and fancy does that sound? Right?

Of course sherry makes me think of a house wife cooking with it while also drinking it. Why? No clue, probably my watching old TV shows has something to do with it, preconceptions of the 1950's I suppose. Oh well. No we did not drink the cooking sherry while cooking.

First we decided that we were going to add bacon to this recipe, one, because there was bacon to be used, and two because bacon just make everything better. And what tastes better than onions cooked in bacon fat? Butter, as the recipe suggests, doesn't taste nearly as good. So we cooked the bacon until crispy. Chopped it and set aside. We then cooked the onions in the bacon fat until just soft followed by adding in the mushrooms and bacon. Then cooked until mushrooms were soft.

Once that was done we had to flour the steaks with the seasoned flour and then sear on each side for about 7 minutes, more or less depending on the stove top.

Once the steaks were seared, butter and flour were added to the pan, to create a light roux to have the sherry and water added. Then everybody got inn the pool to be simmered until thick and delicious. I must say that the apartment started smelling pretty great at this point.

Sides were chosen to be sliced carrots that Mike added honey and a tad bit of cayenne pepper. We also served this with egg noodles, which were forgotten about until the steaks were done, hence the lack of them in the picture below.

This is a keeper recipe for sure. Of course I'm sure we will try substituting duck for venison at some point as we are still searching for a recipe that makes the duck taste better than previous recipes.

Venison Steak with Sherry-Mushroom Sauce
Prep: 20 min          Cook: 37 min

Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

4 Tbsp butter, divided
1 cup chopped Vidalia onion
2 cups sliced mushrooms or baby bellas
6 (3 oz) venison tenderloin steaks

1 Tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup water

Directions
Combine 1/2 cup flour, sage, salt, and pepper in a resealable bag, set aside. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large pan over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until almost soft. Add mushrooms, and continue cooking until soft. Remove from pan and set aside.

Turn heat to medium-high and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in pan. Toss the venison steaks in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Sear venison in butter for 6 to 7 minutes per side and remove.

Reduce heat to medium-low, and melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour, followed by the sherry and water. Return the vegetables and meat to the pan. Increase the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve with your choice of side, such as egg noodles/rice and veggies.

To say the least this was a hit for all. Sent some off with the roomie to work and she cleaned her plate. Sounds perfect. Will definitely be making this again, much like the goose with sweet chili sauce.

So even if you have a different type of meat, don't be afraid to find new recipes to cook it. Whether it be venison, duck, or goose. Even squirrel or rabbit. Experiment, try new things, go out and cook.

Redneck Coq Au Vin aka Goose Stew

Well here is our other delicious recipe. As you all have found out, Mike hunts. He hunted a lot this week. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. That's a lot for him in one week.

So Monday he went out with his buddy Cameron and went hunting for geese. Well they sure found them.

They got the daily limit each before 9 am. WOW! As you can see, he's a happy hunter. If you look really close you can see the lone duck they shot in between the middle geese. Cameron's connection paid off. In the end I also reaped benefits from this because I got to enjoy the food that comes from the hunt.

Cameron has a recipe for goose that he and his wife said was good. So if Jaime says it's good, I guess I can trust that because a lot of women seem to shy away from wild game.

From what I was told about this recipe, it sounded pretty good, it would marinate the meat overnight and then slow cook it for 8 hours. Simple and hands free. My kind of cooking as of late. I'm falling more in love with my slow cooker and bread machine. Makes cooking and baking easier.

So Tuesday night we enjoyed goose stew or as a friend aptly named it, after Mike and I had been calling it "Redneck Boeuf Bourguignon " "Redneck Coq au Vin" since it has a bird/fowl in it as the protein and not beef. Though i must say the meat looks close to beef than chicken when cooked.

So what did we do to create such a dish? Well Mike took the meat and marinated it in Jack Daniels and Worcestershire sauce overnight (flipped once). Then the next morning my job was to mix the packets and beer and add the goose to the crock pot and set for 8 hours.

So I took one packet of brown gravy mix (like McCormick's) and one packet of onion soup mix (that recipe starter stuff that can make onion dip too) and then whisked into a large (thinking 24 oz bottle) of Budweiser beer.

Mike said he wanted to use Guinness but couldn't find just A bottle/can of it, so he went St. Louis style and got Budweiser.

I then whisked the ingredients together and then added the goose meat and discarded the marinate. Set the crock pot on low for 8 hours and promptly drove myself to work while Mike was out duck hunting that morning. (No real luck Tuesday for hunting - got 2 ducks which he let Andrew have since he hadn't been out until Tuesday for the season).

So when I got home, Mike had literally JUST gotten back from hunting, still had Goose (the dog) with him.

He was starting to work on potatoes and onion. Of course I walked in and had a bit of a sinking feeling about this "stew" we were making. It smelled a lot like our botched attempt at boeuf bourguignon that we had done in the crock pot a few months ago (it was absolutely TERRIBLE). It smelled the same and was a bit worrying to me. It smelled good but smelled the same. So when it came time to eat, I was, understandably, a bit leery about the taste. Come to find, it tasted fantastic - to me. It was good. It was not gamey tasting at all to me, didn't taste like chicken folks. It tastes like goose. Mike had cut up some onion and potatoes and we placed that in the crock pot, after taking the meat out - leaving the juices, and cooked those for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours while we ran around and took Goose - the dog - back home.

We served the goose and potatoes and onions with homemade white bread that was buttered. Mmmm perfect for sopping up the juices.

Of course did I take a picture that night? No, grr. I just ate some for lunch too and forgot to take a picture, so here is one I took when I got home.

So go out and cook something new guys. You can use this recipe with any protein source you like, quite honestly. It doesn't have to be duck or goose, though I am thinking I will thaw some duck meat and do this with that.

RECIPE:
Goose Stew aka Redneck Coq Au Vin

1/2 goose breast or whole breast, sliced - can't really tell you how much he used - was plenty
1 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Marinade meat in whiskey and Worcestershire sauce overnight, make sure to flip at least once.

1 pkt onion soup/french onion dip mix
1 pkt brown gravy mix (like the kind by McCormick)
1 (24 oz) bottle Budweiser beer/Guinness

Add packets and beer to crock pot, whisk to blend well. Add meat, discard marinade.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

You could put the potatoes (we used red) and onion in the crockpot at the same time and not worry about it.

Chicken Vegetable Soup

So Mike and I have actually had 12 whole days together - well he worked for part of that and went hunting, but I still got him :)

So we actually cooked this week, novel idea right?

So first we made chicken vegetable soup - delicious right? right

I had chicken in the freezer and Sunday we pulled that out and went and bought some veggies to go with.

I had spinach in the fridge that also needed using since it was starting to wilt in places...eek! Gotta get those greens in.

So we went to Hyvee and picked up zucchini, mushrooms, canned diced and seasoned tomatoes, corn, and some chicken broth.

It's super simple to make soup folks. Make sure you have some stock of some sort (veggie, beef, chicken, hell - duck stock will work too). Whatever floats your boat right?

So we took some onion, and spinach and cooked that down. Then added in mushrooms, zucchini, corn, and diced tomatoes. We didn't need a lot of stock since the tomato juice and corn juice worked pretty well as the stock. We added Italian herbs and some southwest spice that I have sitting around in my spice drawer.

It ended up tasting pretty great, had it with homemade white bread, from my Bread Bible recipe book. I can't say this white bread was my favorite, the traditional bread machine white bread that I made last week was way better. Less funk in the aftertaste, that makes no sense ha ha. Has a similar taste to Mighty Melt bread though, just wrong texture - getting closer maybe?

Mike went hunting, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday mornings. By Tuesday he was tired, but he got the time in and was able to hang out with some friends too. All in all, that's time well spent. Of course, it's strange to have him pass out by 8 pm every night when I'm used to him staying up till at least 10 or 11. That's what early mornings do to you.

So guys, go out and cook. Make some soup for sure, since it's chilly out there now. Will warm you right up.

Let hunting and holidays begin!

It's that time of year again where we all get terribly busy. Mike and I haven't been cooking much - if anything we have become lazy and been eating out - even I, the penny pinching queen has come to only want to break out a box of cereal and call it a meal.

So one evening some girl friends and I went out to Noodles & Co. for dinner - got the Med sandwich and a tomato onion salad thingy - quite tasty. My friend Kristy, who is 7 months pregnant, indulged in the most delicious looking bowl of macaroni and cheese I have seen in a while - so jealous LOL. Then went to Michelle's to hang out - we talked wedding since Michelle was getting married in the next week.

Mike and I took off to the wedding and Mike totally photo bombed in the car. I love this picture.

So Nov 10, 2012 my friend Michelle married her best friend Jake. They are cute, aren't they? Mike went with me, the sweetie. Neither of us are big fans of Catholic weddings and neither of us are Catholic - we don't judge though. Was a good wedding. Michelle was gorgeous and it was well done.Got a good workout with standing and sitting too.

So the best part about weddings is the party after the ceremony. Even better is when you go to a Catholic ceremony and then they have an open bar at the reception. God bless the Catholics :)

We enjoyed ourselves, the food was good, great mashed potatoes and veggies, the turkey and gravy to me were good too. Mike had the roast beef. He said it tasted good. They had hors d'oeuvres before the bridal party arrived, those were pretty tasty too. Little mini quesadillas and quiches. Yum, took forever to snatch any of the chicken skewers, but we got some.

He really is sweet...also has a sour side, kind of like a sour patch kid candy. :) I love him all the more.

So that is where Mike and I were that weekend.

We also went and saw the new James Bond movie, "Skyfall." Can I just say, AH-MAZE-ING! You must see this movie if you are any type of Bond fan. Of course I'm a bit fanatical and know too much, but in my opinion, it's better to be Bond obsessed than Twilight obsessed. Sorry ladies.

Then I was at Hyvee and found this magazine. DONE! Bought that and now know even MORE information about the movie than I did before.

So Mike also went hunting last Monday and got some delicious ducks. He does that a lot this time of year so that's another reason we haven't been blogging nearly as much. I should have him blog about hunting and share some of his pictures from the hunts here. Of course he told me one day, I was looking at dogs. LOL, yeah neither of us can afford let alone keep a dog at the moment. But I am all for getting a dog for pet/hunting purposes. We are dog people for sure. We both say, cats are evil. I mean really, think about it. At Halloween  cats are decorations. You don't see dogs being a scary decoration or considered evil. So yeah, dogs are better.

I have an armband for my phone,
this is what happens after 4 miles

While Mike hunts, what do I do? I run, run for what? For fun, health, and training for any and all upcoming 5k/10k/Obstacle races I have and will be signing up for. I'm excited for Warrior Dash in April - hoping I can sign up for Color Run in June, and then in September there is Tough Mudder and in October there is Rugged Maniac again, not sure I want to be that cold again though. Let alone go up that crazy hill at Snow Creek Ski Resort...that's insane!!!

So Mike loaned me his hunting hat one day for a run in the cooler weather. I think he prefers this look to my normal running hat (which can be seen in darker conditions at least ha ha, I'm not trying to hide on runs)

This is my normal hat, yes that's Tigger and it has ears. I love this hat. You can see it at night and it makes me and others smile. :) That's the point.

I finished running one day and this song started as I was walking to cool down, I felt pretty bad ass walking to this song. I love it. Makes you feel like you have accomplished something.

It is also hockey season for the CHL, at least. Since NHL is still in a lock out I have to get hockey somewhere and it's a good thing some friends of Mike and myself have season tickets that they are willing to share on occasion with us. :) I couldn't commit to season tickets this year. Just no. But I do enjoy a good game now and then.

We have cooked, at least a bit, we have to eat ya know. I have been making bread in my bread machine that I finally dusted off. That bread there is homemade, delicious, old school, white bread. Then I made eggs over easy with some spinach and cheese. Simple dinner but delicious and balanced. Then there was the frittata thing that sounded better than it tasted. Not by best attempt at dinner.

So then we have a beautiful sunset happening after work. Mike doesn't see the sun while at work due to working graveyard shift. So here is a beautiful sunset outside the office as I head home for a run.

Mike and I have cooked recently. Since neither he, nor I, will be really participating in Thanksgiving festivities (he has to work and I'm just not really participating) we made turkey breast and sausage stuffing the other night. OMG YUM YUM YUM!!!

Bought a turkey breast and Mike injected it with a jalapeno butter type sauce that kind of oozed out a bit but it definitely did linger in the meat. Then it was seasoned on the outside with seasoned salt. The stuffing was the Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing based with chopped celery, carrot, onion and mushroom and moistened with chicken stock. Then we got some Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage that was flavored with sage. We mixed up the stuffing, placed it on the bottom of the roaster pan, placed the turkey on top and roasted at 325 degrees F for about 2 hours, until the turkey was 165 degrees. Then we placed the stuffing back in for about 20 more minutes to crisp up. This was a delicious hit, totally hit the spot. Much like the sloppy Joe's and mac and cheese we had made Saturday. YUM!!

I looked at Mike at one point in the kitchen and said "holiday meals are going to be a big deal at our house aren't they?" He just kept cooking and said "Yes."

Man we rock at cooking. :)

I will end on an even warmer and fuzzier note. Mike and I are quirky, to say the least, and sometimes he does things that make me giggle uncontrollably in the car. Like this:

I am a bit nerdy, in comparison I guess. :) But it's the little things in life to be happy about and be thankful for.

So I know you all will go out and cook this week. Share what you will be having for Thanksgiving.

Are you trying any new dishes? Is this your first Thanksgiving cooking? Are you traveling? Share, we want to know.