Oh Baby!

As you may have noticed, I haven't posted any new recipes lately. This is because I haven't cooked any lately. And this is because I am in the 1st trimester of pregnancy! :) Food is not really my friend right now, and neither are strong smells. So . . . for probably the next couple of months I don't know that this blog will be that exciting. But that means I'm leaving it up to my sisters to post away all their fabulous recipes!!!

Savory Sausage, Spinach, and Onion Turnovers

This week's experiment was "Savory Sausage, Spinach, and Onion Turnovers". Sounds good, right? Well they were! Here's the recipe courtesy of cookinglight.com

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 2/3 cup diced, peeled red potatoes
• 1/3 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/3 cup diced yellow onion
• 2 (3.5-ounce) links hot chicken Italian sausage, casings removed
• 3 cups bagged washed baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2 (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preparation

• 1. Preheat oven to 400°.
• 2. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add potatoes, bell pepper, and onion to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until onion begins to brown, stirring frequently. Add sausage; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in spinach; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Stir in basil, salt, and crushed red pepper. Remove from heat.
• 3. Cut dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 5-inch circle. Spoon about 1/2 cup potato mixture on half of each circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Fold dough over potato mixture until edges almost meet. Bring bottom edge of dough over top edge; crimp edges of dough to form a rim.
• 4. Place turnovers on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Combine 2 tablespoons water and egg white in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk; brush evenly over dough. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons cheese over each turnover. Bake at 400° for 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving.

I ran into just a couple problems with this recipe. There was totally NOT enough pie dough to make all the little turnovers. They turned into looking more like "pigs in a blanket" with the filling poking out the ends. But, they were indeed, very yummy. They had a GREAT flavor to them. A touch on the spicy side, so if it's for kids, I'd tone down the crushed red pepper. Both my kids at them (after I poured ranch dressing on the top to counterbalance the spiciness). I also did NOT use the "hot chicken italian sausage", I used reduced fat pork sausage and it was really good. I think adding anymore heat to it would take it too over the top for me. In conclusion, I would make this recipe again, but maybe make my own dough, or buy more to make sure I can actually make pockets instead of having the filling coming out the sides.

Pork :)

This week's adventure was "Chili Verde"(even though it has nothing to do with chili).

I will rename it "Salsa Verde Pork Chops"
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1-2 lbs boneless pork chops
sliced carrots (enough to cover bottom of crockpot)
1 jar salsa verde
chopped onion

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Brown pork on both sides. Drain fat.
2. Place carrot slices in crockpot. Place pork on top of carrots. Pour salsa over chops. Add onion. Cook 6-8 hours.

**I served it with brown rice and a green salad.

We lucked out and even had our two good friends over for dinner to be our guinea pigs! I asked for everyone's opinions and here are their comments (paraphrased).
Kate: "It was really good Aubs!"
RJ: "That was awesome!"
Parker: "The chops were just a little tough, but it's a good recipe, worth doing again."
3 year old: When asked if he liked his meat, "This isn't meat!"
1 year old: After biting into the carrots, sticks out her tongue and makes faces like "it's hot!!" and looks for her bottle.
Me: It was very good, but a little on the spicy side for kids. I would make it again, but do more of a searing thing with the chops so that they don't cook so long in the skillet. I also cooked them for like 4 1/2 hours because I didn't have 6-8 hours. But the chops were definitely done cooking in 4 hours. But overall, I would give it a B+ and I would definitely make it again, but maybe with more of a mild salsa verde. Give it a try! Let me know what you think!

What's for dinner??

Hello fellow food lovers!

The dreaded question that comes nightly - "What's for dinner mom?" In an effort to be more excited about how I answer that question, I have decided to start a blog showcasing a new recipe that I make for dinner each week! There may be successes, there may be failures, but it's all in the name of variety! I find myself getting stuck in the rut of rotating the same 10 meals all the time and I think that this will help get me out :) Please try these recipes and give lots of commentary and "feed"back! I would also love ideas for new recipes, so you can email me or post in the comments any recipe successes you've had. With no further ado, I'm kicking this week off with . . . "New World Chili" from Roxanne Chan and makes 6 servings. I will admit I am kind of cheating because this is a recipe that my sister has made that I already knew would be DELICIOUS. BUT this was the first time I've tried it. It's sooooo yummy and so easy! Here it is:

New World Chili
1 lb chicken (cooked and shredded)
1 28oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 15oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 cup butternut squash
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced

more chicken broth
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

Combine all ingredients except the chicken, and the last 3 items, into a crockpot. Cook 4-6 hours. Add in the chicken at the end. Add more chicken broth if the soup is too thick. Dish into bowls and top with shredded spinach and cheese.

**Notes: My sister found cutting a butternut squash to be pretty labor-intensive, until she discovered pre-cubed butternut squash in a bag in the veggie section of walmart! Brilliant. Also, she says it's yummy if you use the fresh jalepeno, but if you don't want the hassle, just use 1/2 of a small can of green chilis instead.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this soup! Make some cornbread on the side and prepare to be amazed!