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easy

No More Lunch Ruts: Hummus Veggie Wrap

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Lately, I have been in a lunch rut. I was getting sick of soup and salads and was looking for something healthy, easy to make, and something that could easily be altered. This is what I came up with.

 

Now let me start out by saying, I used to really hate hummus. I don’t know if it was a texture thing or just taste. It is super healthy, and I always wanted to like it. I even made my own a few times, and I didn’t even like that. I was at the super market this week, and I found Garlic, Tomato and Basil Hummus. Tomato basil anything is perfection in my book. Also, I totally fell victim to advertising. It was on sale, it looked delicious, it was on an end cap. So of course, even though I don’t like hummus, I decided to try it.

I brought it home and tried it on some red peppers, and loved it! Now that I knew I liked this particular kind of hummus, I was trying to think of all kinds of ways to use it. With that, It has become the perfect solution to my lunch rut.

I used some wraps that I always have on hand.

 

Layered up hummus, spinach, red peppers and mushrooms.
Rolled it up, and cut some apple slices. This is now my new favorite lunch.
Lunch has been saved!

 

The REAL Debate: Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie?

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In the wake of last night’s presidential debate I thought I would make a controversial dish around here. For dinner, I made Rachael Ray’s Smokey Turkey Shepherd’s Pie. There has been some speculation, however, if it technically shepherd’s pie or is it cottage pie.

According to Food.com, Shepherd’s Pie is an English dish that is typically made with a layer of minced lamb, vegetables, and gravy and then topped with mashed potatoes sometimes topped with cheese. Cottage Pie is made the same way, but with minced beef. So, now that you have the facts, technically a “pie” made with ground turkey is neither. I thought it might be fun to call it Fowl Pie, but that doesn’t sound good at all. So, for now I will refer to it as Turkey Pie.

 

This is another Rachael Ray recipe that is an Autumn staple in our home. The kids like the mashed potato top, and Brian likes everything else. The only change I have made is that I added a little shredded cheese to the top of the mashed potatoes because my kids love cheese.

Here is the recipe I retyped from the Food Network Website.

 

  • 3 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • Coarse salt
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/3 pound ground turkey breast
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, available in small cans on spice aisle of market
  • Coarse black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons, 5 or 6 sprigs, fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 3 ribs celery from the heart, chopped
  • 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup sour cream, divided
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 10 to 12 blades fresh chives, chopped or snipped
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the potatoes until tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
Heat a deep, large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then add ground turkey to the pan and break it up. Season the turkey with smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and thyme. When turkey browns up, add: onions, carrots, celery. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, then add red pepper and peas cook another 2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook flour 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and combine. Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and combine. Simmer mixture over low heat.
Preheat your broiler to high.
When potatoes are tender, add a ladle of cooking water to the egg. Drain potatoes and return to the warm pot to dry them out a little. Add remaining 1/2 cup sour cream, butter, half of the chives, and salt and pepper. Smash and mash the potatoes, mashing in the beaten, tempered egg. If the potatoes are too tight, mix in a splash of milk.
Pour turkey mixture into a medium casserole dish. Top turkey with an even layer of smashed potatoes and place casserole 5 inches from hot broiler. Broil the potatoes until golden at edges and remove the casserole from the oven. Garnish the casserole with the remaining chives and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.
I hope you enjoy it no matter what you call it.

Working Late: Cheater Lasagna

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Brian had to work a little later than normal one night this week, so I decided to bring him and a coworker dinner at work. Coco offered to help, if you call playing on her Magna Doodle, eating popcorn and drinking juice helping.

 

 

We(?) made what I call Cheater Lasagna. It is fast, easy, and compared to making most other lasagnas with bechamel sauce and home made tomato sauce, it is much less time consuming. I call this Cheater Lasagna because I use jarred sauce (gasp!) which, even Giada DeLaurentiis herself has been known to use jarred sauce, and no boil noodles. This helps cut down on a few steps and makes homemade lasagna on a weeknight a possibility.

 

Cheater Lasagna
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
48 oz of your favorite jarred tomato sauce
1 15 oz container of ricotta cheese
1 egg beaten
1 Tbs Italian seasoning
10 slices mozzarella cheese
2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
1-9 oz box of Barilla No Boil lasagna noodles
Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot over medium heat add olive oil and ground turkey. Season with salt and pepper, and then breaking apart with a spatula, cook ground turkey until cooked through (no longer pink) about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add sauce and stir occasionally until heated through 5-7 minutes then remove from heat.

While sauce heats through, in a large bowl add ricotta cheese, egg, and Italian seasoning, and mix until well combined and set aside.

In a greased 9 x 13 baking dish start layering:

1/2 cup of tomato sauce mixture spread around dish
4 or 5 noodles
2 cups of sauce mixture
5 slices of mozzarella cheese
1/2 ricotta mixture
4 or 5 noodles
2 cups of sauce mixture
5 slices of mozzarella cheese
1/2 of ricotta mixture
4 or 5 noodles
remaining sauce mixture
2 cups of shredded Italian cheese blend sprinkled over top

 

Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Brian and his coworker were thankful! Coco was even more thankful for the leftovers (you know, because she was such a good helper).

Kid Craft Time: Canvas Art

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As the weather begins to get cooler, more time is spent indoors with the kids. While the boys are in school now, it is only for a few mornings a week, so sometimes I am trying to find something to do indoors other than bringing out the Play-Doh again (ugh, someday I will talk about my love hate relationship with Play-Doh).

A few months ago, I pinned a few awesome craft ideas for the kids, so I thought it was time to break one out. My kids really like crafting and they also like when we display their work. Armed with a 40% off coupon and a sale on canvas I hit up JoAnn Fabrics, and got some supplies.
Here’s what we created: 

 

Here is how we did it: 

 

Supplies:
Canvas
Froggy Tape
Acrylic Paint
Stencil Sponge Brushes
Paint Smocks
Plastic Bags 

Prep the Site: First, I covered my children with smocks (basically Brian’s old shirts), and covered my table and floor with plastic bags. This made for easy cleanup.

 

Tape it Up: Then, I taped off a small section of the canvas with Froggy Tape. 

 

Pour it Out: I put a small dot of each color paint on a take out container top. I deginated one sponge brush per color to help keep things a little cleaner and help the colors not bleed into each other so much. 

 

Let Them Create: The kids started blotting the entire canvas with dots of paint. 

 

 

Dry: I let the paint dry for a few hours, and then VERY carefully removed the Froggy Tape. Then, in the empty space I added a sticker I found at Archiver’s with one of my favorite quotes. 

 

The total cost for this project was under $20. The kids got to participate, and we made some awesome sentimental art for our living room gallery.What a perfect way to spend a cool afternoon indoors. The only thing that would make this better is some cookies.







LInking up at Hi Sugarplum. Everyone there is posting ideas for crafts that can be done in about an hour. Check it out!

 
Also, linking up at Serenity Now for plenty of quick and easy weekend project ideas.
 
 
 
 

 

Grandbaby Cakes: Lazy Chai Cinnamon Rolls

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Today is a VERY big day at Home Everyday. Jocelyn Delk Adams of Grandbaby Cakes has come to share an awesome Autumn recipe with us. I met Jocelyn in 1995 (OMG that is 17 years ago), when our lockers were right next door to each other in high school. We have since reconnected over blogs and baking. She is a woman of flawless taste with a keen eye for design and combining unique flavors when baking.

Ina Garten, also know as the Barefoot Contessa, is my absolute favorite television chef.  I have whimsical dreams of being invited to visit her and Jeffrey at their amazing home in the Hamptons for a dinner party with all her fabulous friends.  I even imagine we are friends some days.  Yep, my husband pretty much thinks I’m crazy.

Ina is just the quintessential home chef.  I recently watched an episode (for the 15th time I think) during my weekly Food Network DVR marathon where she used puff pastry to create sticky buns.  I thought it was such a genius idea.  Cutting down on the cumbersome yeast dough step sounded so promising considering how busy I am.  As soon as Erin, a high school friend of mine, invited me to write a feature, I figured I would experiment with a concept for quick and easy cinnamon rolls with a twist since sticky buns and cinnamon rolls are first cousins.

These cinnamon rolls are not just ordinary cinnamon rolls.  Oh no!  These are chai spiced cinnamon rolls which literally made me say “yum” out loud.  The best part was my taste testers thinking I spent the whole weekend slaving in the kitchen over these while I knew I was just a lazy bum who whipped these up in 30 minutes.  Enjoy!  I certainly did.



Lazy Chai Cinnamon Rolls
1 pack of frozen puff pastry with two sheets that has thawed out in the refrigerator for at least two hours.  Trader Joe’s has an amazing and reasonable option that is made with all butter.

2/3 cup light brown sugar
3 teaspoons of the chai spice mix (NOTE: I used my favorite chai spice from The Spice House to save time but if you would like, you can make your own! Recipe below)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons melted butter

For the chai spice mix
1 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

For the icing:1/2 stick of butter at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 teaspoon chai spice
small sprinkle which ends up being 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons of milk or chai black tea if you want to amp up the chai flavor

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly flour your surface and roll out one sheet of puff pastry until about 1/4 inch thick (leave the other sheet in the refrigerator).  Brush puff pastry with melted butter, leaving 1 inch of space around the edges. Evenly sprinkle puff pastry with half of brown sugar, chai spice mix and cinnamon just over buttered area.

 

Tightly but gently roll the dough up. Use a little melted butter on the open edge of the roll to seal the seam.  Using a sharp knife, slice the roll into six pieces. Place each roll inside a parchment paper lined baking dish. Place the dish in the refrigerator as you repeat the above steps with the last sheet of puff pastry.  Bake the cinnamon rolls in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden (watch carefully!).

 

While rolls are baking, make the icing.  Beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, then add milk or tea and flavorings. Increase amount of spice, or sugar until desired consistency and flavor are reached.  Then place in the microwave for 10-20 seconds until it melts down and is pourable.  Drizzle over cinnamon rolls when they are fresh out of the oven and enjoy.  Happy Baking!

 

Spoooooooky: Halloween Mantel

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Sometimes, more is more. I usually do not subscribe to this methodology as I like clean lines, simple decor, and practicality, but when it comes to Halloween candy… er I mean decor, I cannot get enough.

 

 

This year, again, with the help of my niece Allison, I have put together a Halloween Mantel with all of my Halloween candles. These candles have been collected slowly over time. I can usually find them after Halloween at places like Party City and Target for deep discounts. Together with some ceramic decor made by my mother in law, some faux cobwebs, and glittery spiders, I think we came up with a pretty spooky mantel.

 

 

When the candles are lit, it creates the perfect spooky atmosphere for watching a spooky movie (which at our house is Monsters Inc.) with some cozy throws and popcorn.

Linking up at Centsational Girl as part of It’s Fall Ya’ll Link Up Series. Come and see everyone’s Autumn Mantels.

 

Rainy Day: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

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WOOHOO! The weekend is here! This week included tons of activities, an abrasion on my eye, and my oldest explaining to another Mom, “You don’t have to tell your daughter to stop picking her nose. Sometimes, I pick my nose. We are kids and sometimes kids have to pick their nose!” (total mother of the year moment, I wanted to crawl in a hole and die).

I know yesterday when I put out my autumn decorations it didn’t seem like fall here yet, but the forecast for the weekend calls for cool temperatures and some rain. To me this is perfect baking weather. The kitchen stays cool, and it is the perfect activity to do with the kids. So, after the busy (and crazy) week we have had, I thought I would make one of the kids favorite sweet treats: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. (The kids like this even more than the chocolate chip zucchini bread I made a few months ago).

 

 

A few weeks ago, I browsed around the internet, and from a few different recipes I created this one. Earlier in the week I talked about how baking cookies for someone can show you care, but I think this bread will help bring us some comfort on this rainy weekend.

Erin’s Rainy Day Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

3 large ripe bananas, mashed and set aside
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted and then cooled to room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbs flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a bread loaf pan and set aside.

In large bowl sift together 1 1/2 cups flower, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and then set aside. In a smaller bowl, take remaining flour and toss together with chocolate chips until chocolate chips are coated with flour (This is my mom’s trick to keep the chocolate chips to well distributed throughout bread).

Using a stand mixer to a hand mixer on medium speed, mix together mashed bananas, sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla until well combined. Then with mixer on low speed at flour mixture until just incorporated. Finally, mix in chocolate chips.

 

Put in greased bread pan, and bake for 45 – 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

 

This is what it should look like when done. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

 

Linking up today at Serenity Now for Amanda’s weekend blog reading link up. You have to check it out, there are tons of recipes and craft ideas!

I Do: Our Wedding

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When Brian and I were planning our wedding day, we tried to think of all the weddings we had been to, and the best wedding receptions were the ones that had the best food. I know it sounds ridiculous, but good food can go a long way to your guests enjoyment of the reception. Once we knew the food would be fabulous, we tried to focus on lots of sentimental and personal touches.

The Date: After the proposal, it was kind of a whirlwind of telling people and picking a date for our big day. We knew we wanted an autumn wedding. We love cool weather, the colors, and we met in the fall, so we thought it was appropriate. We finally came around to picking September 16th. It was the only date that both the church and our banquet hall had at the same time, but it was totally meant to be. You see, this is also my parents’ anniversary. My parents were married for almost 34 years before my Dad passed away so we figured it was  a nice tribute to my Dad, and almost like a lucky day since my parents had such a happy a loving marriage.

 

The Church: Old St. Pat’s is an important place to us. We spent a lot of time there when we were dating. We attended mass there, volunteered there, and met life long friends there. Brian popped the question there. It remains a very special place to us as it is still our parish and the parish where our children were baptized.

 

The Band: Brian and I LOVE music (mentioned here). We spent a lot of time at concerts (Guster is still one of our favorites), listening to music, downloading our favorite songs, and researching new bands together. One of our first trips together was to Graceland and then to Nashville where we saw Josh Turner before anyone knew who he was. A monthly tradition of ours was to see a band called Tributosaurus. They are a band that each month has one concert and picks a different artist or band to cover. We saw them become Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, Paul McCartny just to name a few. It was/is still one of our favorite things to do. Anyway, we explained to the band how we are die hard fans, and would you please play for our reception. They agreed and played a mix of all of our favorites. Everyone enjoyed because it was good oldie type music perfect for dancing, but they also played some newer music for the young ones.

The Sweet Table: Brian and I didn’t have a traditional dessert of wedding cake at our wedding. In Brian’s family, it is tradition to offer an entire table of sweets and treats after dinner. Ours was piled high with tiny creme puffs, eclairs, small pieces of cake, chocolate covered strawberries, and other sweet treats. To keep with tradition, we had a very small two tiered cake  to cut. Our baker actually made us a replica of the cake for our first anniversary for FREE.

 



The Bouquet: My bouquet was a place that I found it easy to add personal touches. It contained lots of sentimental flowers. My Dad’s family is Dutch so even though it was fall I included ivory tulips. My Mom loves hydrangeas so I made sure I had a few of those. My grandmother had gardenia in her wedding bouquet so I included those, and my sister had roses in her bouquet so I included those as well. I also added a few of my favorites like ranunculus and stephanotis with pearl centers.

The Shoes: Another very personal touch was to honor my Dad. My Dad passed away when I was only 19. Him and I were extremely close, and one of our favorite things to do together was run (I still run today). Our favorite brand of running shoes was New Balance, so I found a pair of all white New Balance shoes and my friend and bridesmaid, Sara, bedazzled them for me with crystals and pearls. My brothers and my “Dad’s shoes” walked me down the aisle on my wedding day.

 

The Photos: We wanted to make sure we got some pictures with the Chicago skyline behind us. Brian and I feel like it is “our” city so that was important to us.

 

The Little Things: Instead of table numbers we labeled the tables with all of our favorite Chicago date spots. For favors, we are big believers sending people off with a little snack for the car ride home or something to share the next day. Our favorite fall treat is a carmel apple, so everyone got a carmel apple from Affy Tapple (pretty much an institution in Chicago). Our programs contained pictures of the stained glass windows of Old St. Pat’s.

I’m not an expert wedding planner, but I will say this. It is very similar to hosting any party. The food should be great but there should be a few personal and sentimental touches that help to make it personal and special to you and your guests.

Newlywed Dinner: Quick Chicken and Dumplings

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When Brian and I were first married, I so enjoyed having my own kitchen to cook and bake and make messes in (Brian can attest I used to be a very messy cook). I had lived with my Mom prior to getting married, and while I did plenty of cooking, it still wasn’t MY kitchen. I also did a lot of experimenting in those early days, and they weren’t all winners.

One of Brian’s absolute favorite meals when we were first married was Rachael Ray’s Chicken and Dumplings. It is something that remains in our dinner rotation, and it is usually the first thing he asks for as the weather turns colder. Since fall is on the way, I thought I would share with you the recipe. It is simple, everything cooks in one pot (easy clean up), only takes about 30 minutes, is great leftover,  and is a true comfort food

 

The only difference between cooking then and now is all the helpers I have in the kitchen now.

 

 

 

 

Short but Sweet: Master Bedroom Updates

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Last week, as a part of Flashback Friday, I showed off the bedrooms. I realized that I had made a few updates to the Master Bedroom a few days before those pictures were taken. A few weeks ago our bedroom looked like this.

 

Not horrible, but could be better. I rearranged some furniture and did a couple projects that were on my to do list.

The first project was I FINALLY finished the bedside tables that I had spray painted awhile back. I just added some fabric that I had found at JoAnn Fabrics on clearance. I cut it to size and placed under glass on the top of one of the tables. Then for the other, I spray painted the hardware with a brushed nickel spray paint. Here are the finished products.

 

 

Then, a LONG time ago I made an upholstered headboard for our room. I wasn’t crazy about the fabric anymore because I preferred a pure white. So, I did a quick update by replacing the fabric ($4 a yard), and adding some fabric covered buttons with a button kit.

 

It is amazing what crossing some things off your to do list can do. Here is another before picture.

 

Ahhh, that’s better.
Anyone else out there make some small changes in a short amount of time, that had a sweet impact?