Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Trail Mix

This Christmas I'm giving away homemade gift baskets. One of the yummies I plan to include is my Trail Mix that all my friends absolutely love! Making your own mix is economical and you get more control over what you add. Best thing though is that there is no cooking, roasting, or baking needed, as all I do is combine a bunch of items I love and voila, Trail Mix!


Mix all your favorites then pour them into pint jars and add a little fabric square for the finished effect and there you go!



Trail Mix
Makes ~6 cups

2 C Granola of your Choice
1/2 C Sesame Sticks

1/4 C Each of the Following:
  Hazelnuts (Chopped)
  Pistachios (Shelled & Halved)
  Pumpkin Seeds
  Sunflower Seeds
  Banana Chips
  Dried Cranberries
  Dried Mango
  Dried Pineapple
  Dried Golden Raisins
  White Chocolate Chips
  Milk Chocolate Chips

-Chop up all Dried Fruit & Banana Chips into 1/3 inch pieces.
-Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Will keep for about 2 weeks.
-For Gluten Free, Omit Sesame Sticks and make sure Granola is GF!

(total cost for my last batch, which was 1.5 times this recipes, was only $7!!!)


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Chicken Matzah Ball Soup

During the rainy weather, or when I'm not feeling very well, a big 'o bowl of soup is my go to meal. Though I'm not a huge, huge fan of simple chicken soup, I do make it once or twice a year. In my opinion though, its a dumpling or rice noodle pho that really warms my insides.



This soup isn't either a dumpling or rice noodle, but it is better than both of  those. It's a variation of Matzah Ball soup but with the added yumminess of ground chicken. I still kept it very simple to make because I love the taste of Matzah balls, but also if you are down with a cold it can be made relatively quickly, which is a plus. Though feel free to add anything to it as you desire!


Chicken Matzah Ball Soup
Serves 4-6

1 Package Matzah Ball Mix
2 Eggs
2 Tbsp Oil
1/2 lb Ground Chicken
6 C Chicken Stock
1 Carrot (Peeled & Sliced)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 Zucchini (Chopped)
2 C Fresh Spinach (Washed)

Optional add ins:  Thyme, Oregano. Corn

-Mix Matzah Ball mix, Eggs & Oil according to package instructions & refrigerate for 5 mins.
-Add Chicken to the mixture until fully combined and refrigerate 10 more mins.
-Bring Chicken Stock, Carrots and S&P to a boil in a med pot.
-Take Chicken-Matzah mix and scoop about 1-2 tablespoons into your wet hands and form into a ball then dump into boiling Stock. Repeate with remaining mixture.
-Toss in Zucchini and cook for 20 mins, covered.
-Add in Spinach, making sure to stir all spinach into the soup and cook another couple of mins.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Gorgonzola Fingerling Potatoes, as easy as 1-2-3!

I love wine, so much so that I've worked for winemakers at tasting events and I've been part of the bottling crew for Kathryn Kennedy Winery for the last 4 years. But ever since I got pregnant and subsequently gave birth to my son, I have cut down dramatically on drinking wine. I really do miss it, but as a nursing mom, you just gotta hold back on the booze. And to top it off, Anastasio isn't much of a drinker so there's no one to share a bottle with when I do have a craving.

So it isn't every week that I decide to crack open a bottle of wine to indulge, but when I do, I go big! I finally opened up one of my 2008 Kathryn Kennedy Contra La Marea bottles made with organic grapes. I've been meaning to for a while now since it's been about 3 years since last I tasted it and was very, very happy that I did. Talk about smooth red wine, oh amazing. I talked Ana into a glass and he completely agreed, good stuff, though I won't go into the tasting explaination cuz even though I sometimes work in the wine industry, I haven't the first clue on how to explain a tasting, and I've been trying for many, many years!


If you're really interested check out this site

Since I opened this $85 bottle of wine (yes I said eighty-five-dollars) I really wanted dinner to be special. Funny thing though is that I had know idea what I was gonna make and very minimal ingredients on hand. But search through my cupboards and refrigerator I did and this is what I came out with; Shredded Chicken Pasta with Red Pepper Cream Sauce & Gorgonzola Potatoes.

I'll post the pasta recipe soon, but for now you don't want to miss out on these potatoes. Super, Super easy to make (only 3 steps) and really not much to it. But they are packed with a creamy flavor that isn't overpowering so this side dish can accompany many, many main dishes.

so sorry for the blurry picture, crying baby didn't allow me the time to take a better one:-(


Gorgonzola Fingerling Potatoes
Serves 2 (can be doubled/tripled)

1 Tbsp Butter
1.5 C Fingerling Potatoes (Washed & Sliced into 1/4 inch slices)
1/3 C Heavy Cream
2-3 Tbsp Golgonzola
Salt & White Pepper to taste

-Place butter in an appropriate size baking dish and place in over as you pre-heat to 350 degrees.
-Once oven is heated & butter is melted, add Potatoes to dish and toss to coat.
-Sprinkle with S&P, then Cream, then Gorgonzola (do not mix in) and bake at 350 for about 30 mins.