this is what's for dinner...

my winter restlessness has lead me to try new recipes.  I've been trying one to two new recipes each week some found in my cookbooks and others on my beloved pinterest.  I have to give credit where it's due...Pinterest seems to be the crowd pleaser at our house among the boys.  to be honest i am not much of a risk taker...however i was growing bored with our dinner routine and decided interesting is better than boring and expected.  here are three recipes that will be making a second rotation on our dinner table...

This is what we tried tonight.  Pesto, asparagus, and sun dried tomatoes over pasta shells.  The look I got from David {actually statement} was where is the meat?  If you follow the link she suggests serving it with a fried egg over the top.  Once I added the fried egg David statement changed to "I'd serve this in a restaurant."  Honestly, it looks a lot harder that it was and your veggies are camouflaged from the kids.

This garlic and brown sugar chicken has become a staple.  It's quick, you typically have everything on hand, and it goes with about anything!  We prefer paired with Uncle Ben's long grain wild rice, salad,  and edamame.  Try it!  If have clicked the link...yes it cooks at a ridiculously high temp.  Don't forget your non stick cooking spray on this one.

I love a good chicken tortilla soup.  I have pinned several and tried several.  I came across this slow cooker chicken tortilla soup one a few weeks ago and gave it a shot.  It's my favorite so far!  It seems fresh and light yet perfect for a cold wintry night.  I think this is more a girls dinner but hey you can't have steak and potatoes every night!  Oh- and a crock pot recipe to boot!  Those are the best kind to help avoid the 5 o'clock melt down.  

loafs of love...

This Christmas season I wanted to gift a little something that was thoughtful but  wouldn't break the bank.  I usually bake sweets more than anything, but sometimes a simple homemade bread is a nice change from the puppy chow and sugar cookies.  I was gifted a sourdough bread starter and made a few loaves.  David and I decided it would be a nice gift to handful of teachers, neighbors, family, and friends.  It takes about three days to make the bread and it is quite the process...but what is they say..."the good things take time."

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do you Zoku?

The Easter Bunny brought me a new Zoku Freezer Pop maker.  Ethan and I have had the best time making homemade Popsicles.  If you were the type that made your own baby food...I bet you'll love this.  

First of all...they are healthy.  Our first pop was made entirely of blackberries, blueberries, and bananas with a splash of juice.  Second of all...it is really fun and will be perfect for summer!  

I would suggest getting the "cookbook" for the zoku maker.  It has a huge variety of pop recipes...even some for adult beverages.  I would also suggest getting the larger zoku maker where you can make 3 pops at time.  That way you can freeze the extra pops and save time.  

Ethan loves cooking so this a fun way to get him into kitchen to make healthy treats.  I must admit...I'm kinda addicted too!  You can get the accessories kit to give your pops faces, etc.  We are just getting the hang of it and haven't tried this yet.  Thanks Mum...we love it!  

Ethan helping with the pureeing

You can add whole fruit pieces to each pop like bananas

or lemon slices

watch it freeze before your eyes

and enjoy!  Lemonade pop....yummy!

the blog I should write....

I have decided I should write a blog called..."Scarlett's Adventures with Cooking...What NOT to do." Looking back I have done some funny things in the kitchen attempting to be a good housewife. Four months into our marriage, I decided to make chili for the first time. We were spending all of our spare time working on painting, flooring, trim, etc on our townhouse while living in our little one bedroom apartment. I was so excited to have a "home cooked" meal for David when he got home from working so hard in the townhouse. He took one bite of the chili to find "crunchy beans." I had no idea I needed to cook the beans before adding them to the chili! The good husband he is....he just fished out the crunchy beans and ate the chili anyway!

Steeplechase is a day in Nashville that gives everyone an excuse to have their first cocktail well before lunch! Fresh back from vacation, David and I were so excited to spend the day with friends and family at the race. Whitney (my sister-in-law) was in town for Steeplechase as well. I was planning on a fun day at Steeplechase followed by a homecooked meal for David and Whitney. I was obviously unacustomed to drinking so early in the day..when I failed to (yet again) cook the lasagna noodles before putting them in the lasagna!!!! Crunchy is my specialty I suppose!

Last night while making homemade oatmeal raisin cookies, I was multi-tasking....cooking and talking on the phone with friends. I obviously wasn't paying attention to the recipe. David said the cookie batter tasted "really buttery" before I baked the cookies. I didn't think anything of it until the cookies came out flatter than pancakes! I guess I should lay off the multi-tasking....I only put 1/3 of the flour in the cookies that the recipe calls for! Oh well.....atleast I tried! Only I could mess up a recipe that I have baked atleast 6 times!

I'm beginning to think that old saying, "The way to a man's heart is through is stomach" can't be true! Or atleast I hope not!!!!