For any of my friends that have known me in real life, you know that I tend to dress “like a mom”…..one of my very dear friends whom I love very much has even told me that I dress like a grandma…..I am always clean and well groomed, but often wear clothes that are not the most “in”.   If you were to see me walking down the street you’d probably say “yep, that’s a mom”, some would say that appearances don’t matter, and as far as a person is concerned, that is absolutely correct!!!!   I would be just as comfortable with someone in a $200 pair of jeans and $300 blouse as I would with someone wearing the latest thrift store finds….I don’t pay attention to what people wear as long as it’s modest, and clean.   Well, these aren’t the appearances that I’m talking about.

Last night D and I went out to dinner to celebrate our 19th anniversary.   I knew that I wanted to go somewhere special, which meant one of our locally owned downtown restaurants.   There are so many choices that I just couldn’t decide (so many choices combined with a limited budget, meant we did have to be choosy, and do our homework ahead of time).   I finally narrowed it down to 3 choices, and around 3:30 yesterday afternoon I sent those choices to D via email and asked him to please help with the decision.    He decided on Fugazzis which is a bistro, that is owned by a Christian man, and we have had their food (take out, catering numerous times, and I went there for lunch with a high school friend one time).    One of the notable things about this particular restaurant is that you are served a bread and dipping oil plate when you are seated…..their breads are EXCELLENT, but their dipping oil….oh my goodness!!!!  It is incredible!   So I was excited that he chose Fugazzis

When we walked in, we were seated at a table for 2….let’s start with the table.   Well, first let’s start with yesterday while I was in the decision making process, I had posted on facebook looking for suggestions from my local friends and one of my friends from high school (that doesn’t live in the area :)) commented with “Make sure D___ takes you to a restaurant with table cloths”.   Well, the tables didn’t have table cloths…..they are brushed metal.  So, sorry, Alan, no tablecloths    When they brought out the bread and dipping oil, I immediately noticed how nice their bread plates were….they were white ceramic rectangles, with a small square dish with the oil.   The bread was perfectly placed, and when the waiter set the plate down he set it at an angle on the table.   Well, as each course of our dinner (we ordered the Fugazzi’s Intimate Dinner for Two which included salad, appetizer “sampler” plate, our entree which was filet mignon and  cilantro lime shrimp with pasta and grilled veggies, and dessert) was served, I noticed that not only was the food plated perfectly (imagine food network or Top Chef), but that wasn’t what was so beautiful….it was that the plates were placed perfectly on our table.   Our square dinner plates were centered in front of each of us, the rectangular bread, appetizer, and dessert plates were set in the middle of the table at an angle, etc.   It was visually appealing, it was clean and neat and organized (it would be Monk’s dream! ).      It was funny, (and probably shows just what country bumpkins we are :)) but the presentation of the plates on the table was almost as impressive to us as the food (which was absolutely incredible!!!).     SO, if you are in my city, and find yourself wanting a very nice, very tasty, moderately priced dinner, please keep Fugazzi’s in mind

I’m calling this “Busy Mom’s Chicken and Vegetable ‘Lo Mein’ “.   It’s not EXTREMELY healthy, but it’s definitely better (and cheaper) than hitting McDonald’s.    It took me 10 minutes from the time I took the ingredients out of the cupboard and freezer and fridge to on the plate…..and this is all stuff you probably have on hand most of the time!

“Busy Mom’s (or Dad) Chicken and Vegetable ‘Lo Mein’ ”

This amount will serve 3 growing kids or adults, 5 or so younger children ….great for those nights that you are rushing out to have a dinner date with your hubby (or wife :)) and need to feed the kids fast.

• 3 packages your favorite flavor ramen noodles (you’ll only use one of the seasoning packets)
• 3/4 pound chicken breast tenders cooked (these were leftover from dinner a night or two ago….you can definitely use what you have on hand….ground beef would work fine too)
• 1 package frozen stir fry veggies
• 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil, plus 1 more tsp.
• 2 tsp. crushed ginger (I keep the stuff from the jar on hand)
• 2-3 tsp. soy sauce
• one seasoning packet from ramen noodles

This will take 1 pot and 1 large skillet/stir fry pan/wok.     In a 3 quart sauce pan get your water boiling for your noodles

Cut chicken (or other meat) into bitesized pieces.  In skillet add 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil and crushed ginger and soy sauce over medium high heat.   Add chicken and veggies and start them heating up (cover if necessary to help defrost the veggies quicker).

By this time your water will have come to a boil, break up and add your ramen noodles (without the seasoning packets….leave those to the side right now!).

Stir your chicken and veggies.   And take a sip of water….you need it!   You can also get the plates out and ready for dishing up…you’re almost there

Your noodles should be done, your chicken and veggies should be pretty hot.  Drain your noodles, add back into the pan from whence they came, and sprinkle with one seasoning packet and  1 tsp. sesame oil….toss well, then toss into your skillet and toss all of the veggies and chicken through your noodles.

Guess what?   now you get to dish up dinner, and you’re done!!!!   Go put your lipstick on, kiss your hubs when he comes through the door, and your ready for your dinner date!!!    Have fun!  I am

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that our attempts at most types of gardening here in our current home have been very lackluster.   When I do get things to grow, they get eaten by unseen pests (still don’t know what exactly it is that eats my basil and mint!), or what is more typical, they just don’t thrive!   Most would say “oh, you just don’t have a green thumb”….but I know that that isn’t true, because for many years at our old house I had a very large very successful garden.    I think that the biggest issue here is the soil.   The soil at our house is VERY poor, and I have paid a small fortune to amend the little bit that I HAVE gotten to successfully grow some things.  SO, I am going to try one more thing and I’m praying that the Lord will make this last effort thrive :)   I’m going to try my hand at square foot gardening.   My honey has agreed to build some garden boxes for me in our front flower bed.  I was surveying the area yesterday, and I think that I can fit two 4 x 4′ boxes and one 2 x 8′ box in that flower bed and still keep the rose bushes (we will have to keep them trimmed back, which is FINE with me!!!).   My plan is to do tomato plants, basil, and another herb or two in the 2 x 8′ bed.   One of the 4 x 4′ bed will be peppers, onions, japanese eggplant, and kirby cucumbers (or if I can find another “heirloom” variety of cucumber that will be good for table use AND pickling).   The other 4 x 4′ bed will be my “salad bed”….I will grow radishes, lettuces, other herbs, etc in that bed.    I would also LOVE to try to find a dwarf orange or dwarf lemon tree to put in the corner of the back yard.

I am really excited to start this endeavor in the next few weeks!!!!   Hoping to possibly buy the lumber for the beds in a week or two, and have them completed by the end of the month so that I can get my “salad bed” started.  Everything else will not be able to be started until danger of a late  frost is gone (late March-ish).

Here’s another recipe that I made for the Matthew West band back in November.  This recipe is from one of my best friends, Serina.  This isn’t a recipe that I necessarily measure out, I just add until it tastes right.   I’ll include the original email that I got from Serina with the “recipe”, and then the measurements of what I did back in November for the Matthew West and Josh Wilson concert.  One of the guys from the tour, AND one of our pastors told me that these were the best baked beans they had ever tasted.   All credit goes to Serina

The email:

The beans - well, I put just about everything but the kitchen sink in them (just kidding). I don’t measure anything, so there isn’t an exact science to them, but this is what I add:

It depends on how many cans of beans I use as to how much stuff I put in. Sorry I can’t be more exact, but most of my cooking is done by sight. I seldomly measure things for recipes I learned from my mom.

Now, here’s what I did back in November:

• 1 #10 (the big restaurant/Costco size cans) can of Van de Kamps Pork n Beans
• 3 small onions, sauteed with bacon to soften
• 1  pound bacon, sliced thinly and cooked until just crisp, remove from fat with a slotted spoon then cook onions in the bacon fat
• 1 1/2 cups commercially prepared bbq sauce (most of a small bottle)
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup mustard

I combined all of this and cooked it on high in my 7 quart crockpot for 4 hours.   You could do on low all day.

NOTE:   I started this post several days ago……

This morning I was playing on Facebook and a friend of mine posted that she was making spinach quiche, it sounded so good that I decided to make spinach leek quiche, home “fried” potatoes (I do them in the oven), and fruit salad.   It was a delicious dinner!   I used frozen spinach for the quiche, and I squeezed all of the liquid out of it after it was thawed, and while I adore lots of spinach and veggies in my foods, I do agree that the amount of spinach that I used compared to the amount of eggs/milk was a bit much (because of the volume, it made the quiche looser than I like).    Now I always make my quiches crustless (because I do them in a casserole dish rather than a pie pan so that it will feed the whole family), but it was still delicious!   I will write the recipe as I would make it next time, not as I made it today.

Spinach & Leek Quiche

• 10 oz. frozen spinach (a box)(thawed, and all moisture pressed out)
• 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced thinly (white part only)
•  1 tsp. dried tarragon
• 4 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 6 eggs, well beaten
• 3 cups milk
• salt & pepper to taste
• pinch nutmeg
• 2-3 cups grated swiss cheese (or extra sharp cheddar)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

In a skillet with a very small amount of oil (1/2-1 tsp.) saute leeks until they are soft and translucent (you’ll want to do this over medium heat to avoid scorching them).    Mix leeks, spinach, and dried tarragon together and spread in an even layer in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle cheese evenly over the spinach mixture. Whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, flour, and salt & pepper until very well combined.  Carefully pour egg mixture over the spinach and cheese.

Bake in pre-heated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until eggs are set and golden brown.   Remove from oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving.   Garnish with sour cream and fresh chives.

Yesterday the love of my life and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary.   I love my man!  We were married at a relatively young age, and we have grown up together.   We are TRULY happily married….we never fight (no that is NOT an exageration), I think that in our 19 years, I could count on one hand how many arguments we have had, and they’ve never been about anything that was truly important!   We truly love spending time with one another.  We are partners in every area of our lives….home, parenting, marriage, friendship, and ministry…..most often, if one of us is doing something to serve God or our church body, or the community, we both (or even our whole family) is doing it.   I love my man!

Thought I’d share our wedding picture…..yes, it’s a polaroid, we eloped

Yesterday I woke up knowing that I wanted to do something with shrimp.   We had had pasta several nights during the week, so I didn’t want to do what I normally would have which was pasta with shrimp.   So I decided that I wanted to make something I hadn’t made before.   Jambalaya came to mind (I was thinking something with rice….which is why my brain went to jambalaya).   I did have to go to the store to buy the peppers and the sausage but I had everything else in the house.   I went to my “go to” recipe spot for things that I’ve never made before….. the Food Network website and sorted by the chef’s that I like and trust, esp. for something like Jambalaya….Emeril, Bobby Flay, and Paula Deen.  Found that most of the recipes were similar, but when I came across this one– I liked the name.   So I used it as my base, and added some of the elements from some of the other recipes……so this is MY version of Emeril’s “Clean Out the Ice Box and Freezer” Jambalaya….you can look at his original version by clicking the hyperlink above.   The recipe that I’m typing out is MY version/adaptation of it!

Lori’s version of the “Clean out the kitchen” Jambalaya

• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound smoked sausage (I used andouille, but we decided that it really wasn’t necessary to spend the extra $$ on the specialty sausage because it kind of melds with everything else, next time I’ll get regular smoked sausage)
• 3 cups chopped yellow onions (3 medium onions)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (same size as onions)
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (same size as onions and redpeppers)
• 3 stalks celery, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
• 3 large tomatoes, chopped (or 28 oz can diced tomatoes, juice drained and reserved)
• 2 teaspoons salt (divided)
• 1 teaspoon creole seasoning (my own version of Emeril’s Essence–recipe below)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (divided)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken pieces, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup diced ham (because that is all I had left, you can certainly use more)
• 4 bay leaves
• 3 cups organic long grain brown rice
• water
• 1 pound shelled shrimp with tails removed
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Heat oil in a large dutch oven (preferably cast iron so that the rice won’t burn like mine started to do) over medium heat.   Add the sausage and cook it for 3-4 minutes until some of the fat in it starts to cook out a little.   Add onion, peppers, celery, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cayenne, and the creole seasoning and let cook until the veggies are carmelized, about 15 minutes, stirring often to keep from burning and sticking to the pan.  Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to loosen any browned particles, add the garlic, season the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon cayenne, and add it to the pot with the ham, bay leaves, and tomatoes to the pot and let the chicken cook for 5-8 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of pan to loosen any browned particles.   Add the rice and stir for 2-3 minutes to coat evenly.   Combine reserved tomato juice from canned tomatoes with water (or if you used fresh tomatoes, just use water) to measure 6 cups of water.   Pour over rice, meat and vegetable mixture and stir until the water in well mixed throughout.   Bring to a boil, cover, let simmer over medium-low to low  heat for 35 minutes (try to avoid stirring, as it will release the starches from the rice, but you also don’t want it to burn…if you are using cast iron, you don’t need to worry about it, but if you are using stainless steel, you’ll want to keep an eye/nose on your jambalaya mixture).  You want to cook this until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed (try to not stir!!!).  Add the shrimp during the final 5 minutes of cooking and cook until just pink.  Remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered for 2-3 minutes.   Remove the bay leaves, stir in the green onions and serve.

Creole Seasoning

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight container.

This recipe comes from Menus4moms also, but this one I did adapt some to make more for us, as well as to cut back on the meat (one of the things I don’t care for about menus4moms is that you eat meat every night….I like to offer more bean and grain dishes, so tonight’s dinner will be expanded with some kidney beans and some cannellini beans).    Here’s the link to the original recipe, because I’m going to be typing my adaptation below

Vegetable Beef Soup

• 1 lb. cooked ground beef (or shredded beef)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 2 lb bag frozen mixed veggies
• 1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups brown rice or barley
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 4 tsp. dried parsley
• salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 cans beef broth
• 2 cans low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth

Combine all ingredients except rice in the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours, add rice or barley for last 1 1/2-2 hours of cooking time.   Resist the temptation to lift the lid

I’ve been following the Menus4moms menus for 3 weeks now and have not made a recipe that we haven’t liked yet!  Everything has been very good, and the freedom of having everything on hand and ready to prep dinner each day is so freeing!  I love not having to think about dinner….all the planning is done at the beginning of the week….it’s awesome!

I’ll be offering some recipe reviews over the next couple of days, this one was exceptional!   And the sauce was VERY rich and tasty.   Perfectly spiced.   The only change that I made was to let it cook longer than recommended after adding the tomato paste and wine.

Bolognese Sauce

*I doubled everything in this recipe EXCEPT for the meat, and am glad I did, otherwise there would have been too much meat….this was perfect with everything doubled with the exception of the meat.

Bolognese Sauce

• 2 lbs. Hot Italian Sausage(I used turkey italian sausage to reduce the fat content a little)
• 2 lbs. ground beef (from freezer)(we use 7% fat ground beef)
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I didn’t use this, I don’t saute veggies in oil….if I need something, I use a little water or broth, I didn’t use anything in this case)
• 1 lg. yellow onion, diced (from freezer)(Mine was freshly chopped)
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cans crushed tomatoes (28 oz.)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 T. dried oregano
• 2 T. dried basil
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 cans tomato paste (6 oz. each)
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Remove sausage from casing (the rubbery-looking skin on the link). Place in pan with 1/4 cup water and crumble with spoon while browning. When cooked, drain in colander and rinse with very hot water (this washes the extra grease off); set aside.

If you didn’t restock your ground beef on Monday, brown ground beef, drain, rinse as above, and set aside.

Heat olive oil in dutch oven. Saute celery, onion, and pepper until tender. Add sausage, beef, tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer covered for an hour. Add wine, tomato paste and cinnamon. Simmer covered for 15 minutes. Cool and refrigerate until dinner time. You will use 2-3 cups of the sauce for the Spaghetti Pie and freeze the rest in dated gallon freezer bags. You may want to leave at least one bag in the refrigerator because after you taste it you are going to want to have some as leftovers for lunch or a weekend dinner this week!

**Lori’s notes:  By doubling all of the ingredients except for the meat I had enough for the spaghetti pie (doubled to feed our family and for leftovers for today’s lunch) plus an additional 16-20 cups of sauce for the freezer.

Here’s the Spaghetti  Pie recipe.   We also call this Bird’s Nest Pie in our house, and NORMALLY when I make this, I use leftovers in it…..it is  a great way to use up leftovers from a spaghetti dinner, but this time I made everything from scratch for this recipe.    I also doubled this recipe to feed our family of 6 (2 adults, 2 teens, and 2 growing girls) and we had 2 servings left for lunch today.  I made it in a deep dish 9 x 13 inch pan.

Spaghetti Pie

This picture was taken before putting the cheese on top and baking…..I had some leftover sauce from the chicken tetrazzini earlier in the week and so I used it here…..YUMMMMM

• 6 oz. spaghetti, cooked and still warm(I used organic whole wheat spaghetti)
• 2 tbsp. butter (left this out, enough fat in this recipe, and this is an unnecessary ingredient)
• 1 well beaten egg
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 c. cottage cheese(even my cottage cheese haters LOVE this recipe!!!!)
• 1 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2-3 cups Bolognese sauce

Combine hot cooked spaghetti with butter until butter is melted. Add egg and Parmesan cheese. Place in pie dish and form a “crust” with a well in the center. Spread cottage cheese over spaghetti in pie dish. Cover with Bolognese sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 30 minutes at 350°F or until bubbly. Cut into slices and serve.

And just for grins, here’s our salad made from all locally and organically grown produce (the tomatoes are greenhouse grown in a nearby town).

I knew that we were going to be having pulled pork sandwiches on Sunday for dinner, so I decided on Saturday to look for some tasty long/slow cooking methods that wouldn’t involve using the smoker or oven, since we wouldn’t be here for part of the day.  My thoughts went directly to my crockpot.   And I remember a long while ago seeing a recipe SOMEWHERE (don’t remember if it was internet, magazine, cookbook?????) for crockpot kalua pork.   I knew that kalua pork was the deep pit pigs that they roast in Hawaii, and so I thought I’d look up some info on the internet.   What I found not only sounded spectactular, it was also INCREDIBLY simple, and I knew I could do that!      I looked at 5 different recipes, and they all called for the same things….Hawaiian sea salt or kosher salt (obviously I went for the kosher salt :)), liquid smoke, and 12-16 hours in the crockpot on low temp.    I could do that!   All of the recipes I looked at called for various amounts of salt and liquid smoke, so I went middle of the road on those…….while the pork ended up being a little too salty for my tastes, the rest of the family LOVED it, and the smoke was PERFECT!!!!  I won’t lie and say that it was as good as the pork roasts that my honey slow smokes outside, but this was easy, and VERY tasty!   And it was SUPER moist!      When it was done cooking, I (I actually being R this time  around :)) pulled the pork and added some very yummy bbq sauce, and we served it on some great whole grain hamburger buns with homemade coleslaw, and we had yogurt and fruit parfaits (in my pretty wine glasses) for dessert.  YUMMMY dinner

Ok, onto the actual recipe!

Crockpot Kalua Pork (Lori Style)

• 4-6 pound pork butt (also called pork shoulder) roast
• 3 Tbsp (next time I’ll use 2 Tbsp.) kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp. liquid smoke (the brand I use is smoke from hickory wood)

Rub the kosher salt evenly over the whole roast.  Place in crockpot large enough to hold roast (I used a 6 quart).  Pour liquid smoke over it as evenly as you can.   Cover with lid, turn temp control to LOW and walk away for 12 hours!    Seriously, it will tempt you to open it and sneak a piece, RESIST that temptation!!!!!   Just walk away     After 12-16 hours remove roast from crockpot and let rest for a few minutes until it is cool enough to tough to pull apart (or if you just can’t wait, us a pair of tongs to pull it apart).    You can serve this with rice and stir fried veggies, or as a sandwich like we did.   You will not be disappointed