Happy Thanksgiving

So we do the "what are we thankful for" thing more than once a year..but today is a special day that everyone around the country gathers with their friends and family to be thankful together.

This year I am not spending Thanksgiving with my family, but I am spending it with some friends..and it was very difficult deciding where to go because I had offers all up and down the east coast! I am certainly thankful for having friends and family that care so much about me :-)

You may have noticed I've been posting only about food this week..well that is because growing up, my mom constantly had us in the kitchen watching her cook and helping where we could.. this was to make sure that not only would we be able to help her out while living there but also that we'd be able to cook for ourselves when we didn't live there. When it came to Thanksgiving she would have us do anything we were capable of helping with..."someday you'll have to do a Thanksgiving all by yourself."

Well today is not quite there yet...but I am bringing a mashed potato cauliflower topped with broiled cheesy goodness, and butternut squash soup. In fact I should get started now..

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Mexican Night

I am a huge fan of Mexican Food, and my favorite Mexican Restaurant in CT closed in July :( So I have been trying to make a few dishes of my own to get my Mexican fix.

One of my favorites is enchiladas, so I made Chicken Enchiladas for dinner. Yum! This is more of a weekend meal for me, because I like to let the chicken to cook with the enchilada sauce, and then sit on low for a while to get really saucy and deliciously absorbed with the flavor. Then I roll my tortillas with the chichen, some rice, beans, and cheese.. Just because I like mine to be a bit more filling than your average Enchilada. Sometimes I like to saute bell peppers and onions and put those in it too, but then it is more like a pre-assembled fajita! Either way, then top them with more enchilada sauce, and cheese, and pop them in the oven.... very delicious!

Not Your Traditional Eggplant Parm

This is my spin on Eggplant Parmesan...

These are all very simple ingredients to make it an easy dinner after a day of work. The Eggplant was purchased from Trader Joe's in the freezer section.. It is pre breaded eggplant cutlets. You can bake them fry them or microwave them. I baked them to get the crispiness, and the best flavor. Then I boiled water with a touch of olive oil and a sprinkle of herbs de Provence to cook my pasta in.
After the pasta and the eggplant were cooked, I put the pasta on the plate, covered it with store bought vodka sauce (that I heated briefly on the stove), then topped that with the Eggplant, and a sprinkling of grated soy cheese (a Cheddar, Mozzarella blend), and stuck it under the broiler for just long enough to melt the cheese.

It was very good! I love dinners like this because I can make just enough for dinner one night, and lunch the following day.

mmmMonday

Another Croc Pot Recipe that I have found to be very good, is one that I got off of Food Network's website. It is supposed to be slowly cooked in a pot on the stove for 2 hours.. but I just do it in the croc pot... who has 2 hours to cook something like that! I just tossed all the ingredients into the crock pot and several hours later, when I'm home from work... I can eat!

It is White Bean and Turkey Chili.. (I looked for the recipe on their website, but couldn't find it..)
Basically you brown ground turkey with onions, bell pepper, and pablano pepper first, to infuse the turkey with those flavors. Then you add it to the crock pot with 2 cans of cannelini beans, and a can of any other white bean you like. Pour in one box of low sodium chicken broth, and stir it all together... then I leave it to cook on low all day. When you get home stir in one can of chick peas, and let it cook for about 15 minutes longer... add salt and pepper to taste.

It is very good.. you can add more or less spicy peppers to intensify the heat level you are looking for... and the recipe says to add a bit of lime juice when serving.

Very quick, easy, delicious meal!

My Swimming Poodle

Charlie has to swim in the bath tub for his physical therapy... he likes it. Every time I take a shower, he slides the curtain back and puts his chin on the ledge of the tub, looking at me like... are you ok? and when is it my turn?!

So here he is swimming away,


And here he is all wet with crinkled hair,



He won't be swimming for a while though, because, right now I am getting ready to leave to fly home for a few days.... so he won't get his weekend swims this weekend, but thats okay, as long as he is safe and happy, I don't care... Maybe Sheila can convince him its ok, as she has had plenty of "mommy's on vacation" experience, and has always been fine.


Happy Dogs On Thursday! :)

Charlie and The Beach

Every morning we walk past the beach in our route. I love being able to see the sun rise, and the fresh beach air is a great way to start the day.... Charlie loves the walk too. So over the weekend, instead of just walking past the beach, we walked onto the beach and romped around a little before continuing on our way.




I think he likes it! I would have let him go in the water if it weren't so cold, but I don't want my boy to freeze! So we'll save his swimming for the bath tub for now, and we can go back to the beach to go swimming in the summer when the water is warmer... I think he will really enjoy it.


He seemed to really love the sand and the sea grass. He was smelling everything! The tide was out a ways when we went there, and he got a chance to feel the wet sand, and to see all kinds of shells, and smell the sea grass, and frolic around being so happy!

I am so glad that he loves the beach because I love the beach and now I know we can go there a lot, especially when the weather is warm again! (I guess we should make it through the winter first though!)


(not my most flattering shadow, but still a cute image... I'll blame it on the heavy jacket I was wearing)

Happy DoT :)

Munchkin Halloween!

I know, I know, I'm a little late for halloween... but I was over watching the Little's one night last week, and I got to admire not only their awesome costumes, but their super cool pumpkin designs!

Little Ann was dressing up as a Vampire Mistress... Little Dan was being an Astronaut, and Miss OKP was wearing a black cat suit, with G being a witch. I don't know what S was being...but who cares, the kids are cutest anyhow! I didn't get any blog approved photos of them in their costumes, but I did get pictures of their Jack'o lanterns!

Little Dan had this spooky faced punkin (as he calls it):

While Little Ann had this more intricate design of a cat in the moonlight:



Very impressive for little kids... it helps that Little Ann knows her way around the computer and could find designs to be printed... but still they are very clever looking creations.