Dish-o-the-Week: Cowboy Calzone's

That's right the dish-o-the-week is indeed another PW recipe.  The calzone's were absolutely scrumptious, and filling.  We'll be eating on them for awhile, but I did have some issues with making them.  Mostly the issues arose from my own inexperience, but some of them were due to unclear directions in the recipe.  I know what you're thinking, I just said I had issues with the Pioneer Woman.  It's just a minor detail, don't worry ladies and gents, my love for the P-Dub is still true, although as Speed Racer said, "The honeymoon may be over..." So the first part of making a calzone is making the dough for the yummy yummy outside.  Usually this is made of pizza dough, and the same is true for the Pioneer Woman recipe.  She uses a pizza dough recipe from her book.  So first things first:

Get your yeast ready!  I had surprisingly, never made a dough with yeast before.  So this was a new experience.

Next up, some flour and salt, with a little olive oil...

So then you mix it all together.  This is where I started to run into some problems.  Problem numero uno: I do not have a stand mixer so this all had to be done by hand.  Nothing wrong with that, sometimes it's fun doing it the old fashion way.  Problem numero dos: in the recipe it says "You can also mix by hand until the dough comes together."  I've never made pizza dough before, so I feel like most of this is my lack of knowledge.  But what is together enough?  Just till it's gooey? More than gooey? Do I need more flour?  I should have went with my gut and added more flour but I didn't.  So, as I read another recipe later, after this was all said and done, I saw an entry that said you should knead the dough for 10-15 minutes.  So..yeah.

Here is my un-kneaded dough, tossed in olive oil.

After that I put a moist towel over it, and put it in a warm place where it would not be disturbed, ie my ginormous microwave.

Two hours later, after my dough had risen, it had risen indeed! I began on the filling.

Added some tomatoes and chilies...

And they're done!  Not.  Yeah so this is my next picture.  Why? Because chaos ensued in my kitchen, and my hands were covered in flour and dough.  So basically what happened, was that I started mixing the cheese and egg together, then added the meat.  But it also looked completely different from the pictures in the cookbook.  I still haven't figured that one out.  Perhaps I didn't let my meat cool long enough, or maybe I should have drained the tomatoes first.  I also ended up with ALOT of filling.  But the primary issue was that since I had not thoroughly kneaded my dough, it was sticky and super hard to handle.  So my first calzone turned out looking like this:

Kinda came apart...just a bit.  But the rest were more or less okay.  And they were good but they needed something a little extra to me.  That I still can't put my finger on.  I think this is just one of those things that will get better the more I make it, and tweak it a little.

I served it with delicious mashed potatoes.  Of my own recipe!  I mean, you really can't get enough starches.

Mmmm creamy.

And the end, the ugly truth is that my kitchen looked like this....

Did I mention that we don't have one of those new fangled dish washing machines?  Just me and my handy scrub brush.  So in conclusion folks, it's all part of the cooking learning curve.  I will make better dough next time, figure out why I had a plethora of filling, and eat a delicious calzone for lunch.  No worries fans, me and P-dubs are still BFFs.  If only in my mind.

Dish-o-the-week: Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

Today we're trying out a Broccoli and Cheese Casserole, slow-cooker recipe for the dish-o-the-week.  Who doesn't love cheese, and broccoli, and garlic, and salt, and heart attacks?  I mean come on it's delicious together.  If you're eating well, or trying to avoid the goodness that is cheese, then be warned, stay away from this post.College students, Grad students, busy people everywhere....meet your new best friend...the crock pot!  Was that not epic enough?  Let's try it again....THE CROCK POT!!!  Better?  I kinda feel like I should be saying, "RELEASE THE KRAKEN'!!"  Anyone? Anyone? The crock pot (or you could call it the Kraken if you like) is a delightful invention.  Speed Racer's Aunt and Uncle gave him this particular one back in his bachelor days, so he could have dinner ready when he got back from work.  You really can go as blinged out as you want with a slow cooker these days.  They have digital displays, timers, inserts, stainless steel, and lots and lots of gizmos.  If you do not want to spend money right now do not look at William Sonoma's website, fo real.  I just did for some "research" and I am sorry.  Now that I have told you how much I love my crock pot, we can move on.  But really I love my, I mean "OUR", crock pot.

So first things first, you want to boil yourself some rice.

Next up, chopping up some celery.  You really don't need specific measurements for this recipe.  It's pretty basic and in the end you are just mixing everything together, so pretty much just put in how much you want of each, and what will fit in your crock pot.

And of course you will want to thaw some broccoli or cook some fresh broccoli.  I went totally lazy on this recipe, so most of my stuff is store bought.  Sorry fans.  I also added cream of chicken soup, salt, pepper, garlic, mushrooms, and cheese sauce.  Like I said, not the healthiest recipe in the world, but hopefully it will be yummy.

One of my friends who also uses her crock pot a lot would have actually made chicken broth from a chicken, instead of the can.  But I bought the can, I even bought the discount can.  What can I say?

Then you mix it alllllllll together.

And Ta-da!  I can't tell  you how it tastes yet, because we haven't eaten it yet.  It was prepped this morning.  So jury is still out on that, I could be giving you a recipe that tastes absolutely horrible.  But I will let you know.  I put mine together pretty early, so right now it's in the fridge.  You want to cut it on low and cook for about an hour and a half (until it's warm all the way through) before you serve.  Enjoy!

Busy Weekend

Speed Racer and I had a very busy weekend.  Although there was some down time (like when I took a nap because, let's just face it, there was no way I could stay awake anymore) in between everything going on.  Mostly we worked on our house and yard.  What most people don't realize is that with both of us being primarily freelance, our weekends often get taken up with work, so when we have a free weekend, we have to catch up on maintenance and improvements on the house. 

To catch up on all the updates, improvements, and messes we've made (and haven't posted about since November, eek!) click here.

I was also in a baking mood...and when I get in a baking mood there is no stopping me.  On Thursday night I baked a cherry pie, on Friday I made homemade spaghetti sauce (a recipe I'm going to share with you, hooray for you!), and then Saturday morning I baked two blueberry pies (with made from scratch crust of course) before we started the days work.

Now some of you may think "Wow, that's great that you baked all that stuff, you must be really motivated!" But for those of you who know me, baking is always therapy in some way...a way to stay busy.  Right now I find myself in an interesting employment situation, I am part time employed by another photographer, Rebecca Claire Photography.  I am also trying do some of my own photography on the side, and due to the summer turning out differently than planned and the financial status of just about everything right now, I am also looking for a part time job for some extra cash in my pocket.  Although I would not say I have a lot of down time, between photo shoots, editing, marketing, and filling out applications.  I have had some at home time however,  to realize how big a job budgeting, looking for deals, and cooking from scratch can be.  I am both busy all the time and not employed all the time.  It's a weird situation to be in, and can be discouraging sometimes.  So I guess what I'm trying to say is, my hat's off to you home makers out there!  It's a full time job and I don't even have little munchkins to distract me.  And it's an important job, and a harder job than you think.

On a lighter note:  Here is my recipe for home made spaghetti sauce!  I like to take snippets from other recipes until I can combine something that I like.  This is what I came up with.

What you'll need: 6 med tomatoes peeled and chopped, 2 green onions minced, 1/2 white onion, minced, 3 Tbsp minced parsley (I used dried), 2 tsp red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp. sugar,  or 1/2 tbsp. dried basil, 1/8 tsp. pepper, 2 garlic cloves minced, 1 tsp. oregano, 1 bay leaf, 1 (4 oz.) mushrooms, 1/4c. flour and of course Spaghetti!

First you will want to peel and chop the tomatoes.  If you haven't done this before, it's a lot easier than it sounds.  Prepare a bowl with ice water and ice cubes in it.  Then boil another pot of water.  While your water is starting to boil core your tomatoes and on the underside score them with an "X".  This just provides an easy place to start to peel the skin.  Once your water is boiling, add your tomatoes.  Leave them in the boiling water for about 20 secs, then move them into the ice water for another 20 secs, repeat one more time with each.  After they have cooled in the ice water you should see the skin start to crinkle, at that point it's very easy to just peel off.

Chop your garlic, green onions, white onion, and tomatoes.  I sauteed the onions and garlic first in some olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan.  Then I turned the heat off, added the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients except for the flour, mushrooms, and spaghetti.

I let this sit, unheated for about 2 hours to let the flavors mix.  Then about an hour and a half before I wanted to serve, I cut it on high until it began to bubble, then turned it down to low to simmer uncovered for the rest of the time.

I had some trouble with mine thickening up, so I sprinkled in some flour.  You may want to sprinkle some, mix, wait a little while and then add some more until you get yours to your desired thickness.  This is definitely a personal thing.  Some people like theirs runny, some people like their sauce thick.  About a half hour before dinner time, I added the mushrooms and of course got started on the spaghetti noodles.

Then, presto!  You've got yourself some spaghetti with fresh spaghetti sauce.  This made just enough for Speed Racer and I so you may want to double the recipe if you've got a bigger family.  It turned out pretty fabulous if I do say so myself, but the real cause for that was the fantastic tomatoes that our neighbors provided us with.  They were soooo tangy!  So make sure you choose your tomatoes wisely, my friends.

Now I'm off for another week of photos, editing, applications, house work, house maintenance, cooking, and who knows what else.  Happy Monday.

Dish-o-the-week: Butternut Squash Baked with Tomatoes and Cheese

Last week Speed Racer had a hankerin' for a dish his Step-Mom use to make, Butternut Squash Baked with Tomatoes and Cheese.  She delightfully shared the recipe with me and it is this weeks, dish-o-the-week! 

That's right you heard me!  My first non-Pioneer Woman dish-o-the-week!  Ha!  I'm not an addict.  I'm not sure what cookbook this recipe is from, but pretty much the name explains the recipe.  You chop up butternut squash, saute it, saute some onions, add pepper and salt, put it in a casserole and add tomatoes and cheese.  Then pop it in the oven and wait for the delicious to seep in.

So first thing's first.  You peel and cut up the butternut squash.  Admittedly I've never cooked anything with butternut squash before, so this was a new experience.  A frustrating new experience.  I don't know if it was my peeler or me, but peeling with a potato peeler did not work.  So, after some help from Speed Racer when my frustrated sighs brought him into the kitchen, I switched to a knife.  Then you have to clean out the seeds...which is kinda like cleaning out a pumpkin.

It's pretty amazing I didn't cut off my finger.  I was frustrated, it was not working, and I started on this too late so I was really really hungry.  Not a good combo.

Speed Racer was enjoying taking frustrated pictures of me.  He only enjoyed the picture taking though, not the frustration...or did he?

Finally, I got all the squash chopped up and in the pan.  It smelled delicious with all that oil and butter.  If I were to do this again, I would go for smaller chunks though.  But that's just me.

Next I chopped up some green onions which was far easier than the squash.

Yum, I love me some onions.

Next we layered these over the squash in the casserole dish.  Then sauteed up some tomatoes that our lovely neighbors shared with us.  They were divine.  Just the right mix of tangy and sweetness.  And I put these over the onions, and then grated the cheese.

Delicious delicious cheese.  It turned out pretty well, I should have sauteed the squash a bit longer but live and learn.  Speaking of learning, Speed Racer's Step-Mom had doubled the recipe and added little numbers on each side, but I wasn't sure how many people that was for.  So thinking that it was just the two of us, I stuck with the recipe thinking it would be enough.  And it was, I guess.   I don't know about you, but I like my leftovers.  Usually the dish-o-the-week is precisely that.  It feeds us for the entire week.  Oh well, we just might have to cook up something extra this week.  There may also be some baking in my future, so stay tuned.

Dish-o-the-week: PW's Chili!

That's right, I gave in...again.  I made a Pioneer Woman recipe for the dish-o-the week.  I have a problem, I'll admit it.  I'm going to Pioneer Woman cooking rehab soon, not to worry.  But in the mean time, you can check out this awesome looking chili.  I had never made chili before.  And I'll go ahead and put this out there since I say something to that affect on every cooking post...until now...whew, deep breath...I haven't really cooked.  Don't judge me.  I'm a newly wed and I'm learning, but I truly am enjoying learning too.  Anywho, bring on the chili pics!

Key fixin's.

Ms. Brisco and Speed Racer were getting impatient.  The smell was driving them wild!  So they just sat there...lingering over the chili.

The great thing about this recipe is that is leaves room to add or not add what you feel like.  She gives a list of "optional" ingredients.  I am not a huge bean fan, I will eat them in chili but that is about it.  Speed Racer thinks I must have had some sort of head trauma as a child for something to be so wrong with me that I would not like beans.  So I added pinto beans, kidney beans, diced tomatoes with chili's, one jalapeno, one finger hot pepper, onion, garlic, chili powder, paprika, oregano, and salt.  But you can mix and match as you like.

Oh he's getting really impatient now, he's got that crazed look in his eye.  You can tell he's about to steal a nibble.  Not to worry though, we ate shortly after that.  There are no pictures because we were both too busy gobbling it down.

Now who is going to do the dishes I wonder?  Lucky for me, in our house it's whoever doesn't cook has to do the dishes.

Later that night...

I had to add this in the post because it's too adorable for words.

Dish-o-the-week: Lasagna!

I realized after I started taking pictures while I was baking the lasagna last night, that really I've been posting a food a week.  And yes, they have all been from the Pioneer Woman Cookbook.  Before you start having visions of Julie and Julia, I just want to put out there that this is not my fault.  I like to use new cookbooks I have (if I can, sometimes the ingredients are ridiculous and expensive) and this one is really fun, easy to do, and lets just say it, darn delicious.  I am also not the cook in this household, Speed Racer is.  I can bake all day long and turn out delicious fatty things, but cooking, I get a little flustered with.  With that in mind, I'm looking at this as practice cooking...so I don't live on Mac and Cheese when Speed Racer is gone, even though I would love to.  So we're just gonna go with it for now, maybe there will be a recipe next week from a different cookbook, who knows.  And as always, you can check out her full, mouth water recipes at www.thepioneerwoman.com.  To the Lasagna!! I didn't realize that I have never cooked lasagna before.  Everyone's made lasagna right? No, not me.  So I did not realize how long it would take.   Really long, that's the answer, really long.  I also didn't realize how hard it would be to take pictures without Speed Racer around, it was tricky.

Rule numero uno, don't be afraid of meat.  Is that ok to say on the interweb?

Or the garlic...delicious delicious garlic.

Definitely a good idea to put your noodles on the aluminum foil.  I tried some that way and some without, and the without ones were really sticky and hard to manage.

I'm getting hungry again.  You let the tomato's and meat simmer for 45 minutes, which is just pure torture.

I am not a cottage cheese fan, but I do love it in lasagna.

Mmmm, cheesy.

Let the layering begin.

This was my attempt at an action shot, with the not kind of lens for that sort of thing, on.

At this point I was starving, 35 minutes in the oven and I was famished.  So what did I do?  I dug in as soon as it was out of the oven and burned my mouth.  Start this lasagna early, or have a snack ready while you wait.

The kitties concur.

What's Cookin'?

Last night Speed Racer and I decided to try another recipe out of The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook, so we tried Chicken Pot Pie.  Now before you think I'm a crazy person for constantly talking about The Pioneer Woman (see Meatloaf Mania, and PW Journey), what else are you suppose to do with a new cookbook other than try it out? That would be a waste.  So, it's legit.  That's what I'm telling myself.  I don't have a problem.  Really. Moving on....

Although this recipe was not as knock your socks off as the Meatloaf (how could it be, there is no bacon in it...duh) it was still fantastic, and Speed Racer and I oohh and ahhhed over the entire meal.

There are no prep photos because my hands were covered, absolutely covered in dough from making the crust.  I didn't want to dirty my poor camera that I already abuse.

The 30 minutes that it takes to cook is pure torture.  Speed Racer stared longingly at the oven the whole time, while heavenly aromas wafted out.

Ta-da!

Speed Racer was in charge of putting slits into the crust to vent the heat.  He put our initials, how sweet.  Come on I know you want to say it, give me a big "awwww."

Speed Racer is also a dough FIEND.  I cannot keep him out of the kitchen when there is dough around, he just lingers, waiting to snag a piece.  You can just see him in this picture, "Oh, hmmm, whatcha got there?  Looks like this little piece over here might be falling off...."

"Let me just pop it in my mouth really fast before you can catch me, and then move around so you can't take my picture in our dark dark kitchen..."

"Whew, that's hot."

Yeah, I know his game.

These pictures were actually taken by Speed Racer, he wanted to make sure we let the people know about the flakiness of this homemade crust.  He was very excited about it, and the piece that he stole.

That's it folks.  I rate this one, a success.

Meatloaf Mania

For those of you who talk to me frequently (sorry about the daily calls!) you know that I have been raving about this meatloaf that Speed Racer and I made.  And by that I mean Speed Racer made and I, well, took pictures.  But I did make the buttermilk biscuits!  And that is why there are no pictures of them.  So there.  But the meatloaf that we made was from my newest cookbook "The Pioneer Woman Cooks, " by Ree Drummond.  Ree is a blogger extraordinaire, and mother of 4.  She blogs about her antics of adjusting to  life on a ranch, photography, cooking, and homeschooling her kids.  If you haven't checked her blog out you need to, it's a great time, and she makes me laugh.  My friend Renee (also a blogger check out her site too!)  and I recently went on a Pilgrimage to D.C. (a post to come in the following days) to Ree's book signing, which is where I picked up the cookbook.

Now back to the meatloaf: I love this meatloaf, I openly drooled over this meatloaf, I would have babies with this meatloaf...you heard me, meatloaf babies.  Speed Racer thinks this meatloaf and cookbook have saved him...I have no idea what he means by that.

Bacon does, in fact, make everything more delicious.  I will vouch for that.

Happy little loaf...

Wrapped in a warm blanket of bacon.

There you have it, what I've been raving about all week.  Once you've tried it you won't be able to stop either...I promise.  The Pioneer Woman features several recipes from the cookbook in the cooking and tasty kitchen sections of her blog.  I obviously, highly recommend checking it out!