I have been feeling quite lazy today...granted I did go out last night and probably had about 1 or 2 too many Stoli's but it wasn't like I was out late or anything! Thanks again my friend! Anyway instead of doing the laundry, cleaning up the house, writing my blog or any of the other 20 or 30 things that I should have been doing this morning I decided to go to Target. I needed to get a couple of things. Now the thing with me and Target is that I can never walk out of there without spending over $50. Even if I have been there once already that day! I therefore need to limit myslef on how many times I go there. I haven't been in a while so I thought I was safe. Anyway I got to the checkout aisle and what do ya know...$65.65. Granted I did get all the stuff that I have been needing for a while (pizza stone, fancy cooling rack, food scale etc.). I guess you get my drift. It is a hard place to escape from with only the essenials. I also bought the girls some more winter clothes so now I really do have to do the laundry.
It really is starting to feel like winter now...and this is so funny to those of you who live up north! Last night it was in the mid 50's and we had to close the windows because we were too cold. Currently the temperature is 70 degrees which is still really cool for us here!
Now onto someting food related. I have to take my oldest daughter to Karate tonight so Tony will be making dinner. I think with the cool weather being here we are all wanting some comfort food. He is going to make meatloaf for dinner. There is no way that I will be able to talk him into taking pictures while I am gone but I bet I can get him to give up the recipe! That will be in tomorrows post! So check back tomorrow.
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
I'm Baaack!!!
A couple of days with only sporadic internet and I thought was losing my mind!!! I think that Comcast finally has their problem fixed but it sure was annoying! I have been using the time to get organized and caught up on a bunch of other things that I have been working on so all in all it was a good thing.
My newsletter should be going out tomorrow...yes I know it is a little late but one of my friends told me that as long as it was out before November ended it was still November's newsletter!
I also just found out this morning that my recipe for the Wild Mushroom Spread came in tied for 3rd place in the "Royal Foodie Joust" at the Left Over Queen so that was pretty exciting seeing as that was the first challenge I have been involved in. Thanks so much to those of you who voted!!!
Last night for dinner we had lamb chops. Now generally I have a problem eating lamb and veal (you know...the whole cute and cuddly thing etc.) but I have come to realize that lamb is probably one of the healthiest meats for you and we have made a conscious effort to try to feed the family the healthiest options that are out their. That being said it was very good. We simply marinated the rack of lamb chops in a light marinade of soy sauce, minced garlic, oregano, rosemary, basil, salt and pepper. I know there are no measurements but with a marinade it is not critical to have everything measured out. You should start with you base being soy sauce but from there you can go heavy on what you like and lightly on what you don't.
Marinade it for about 20 minutes and cook on the grill. You want the lamb to be cooked to medium rare or an internal temperature of about 145 degrees.
We served it will grilled zucchini and a salad it was a nice quick weeknight dinner.
Lamb Chop Marinade
Tonight is pizza night again!!! Something that everyone loves and is easy and quick to make!!!
As Always...
Happy Enteraining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
My newsletter should be going out tomorrow...yes I know it is a little late but one of my friends told me that as long as it was out before November ended it was still November's newsletter!
I also just found out this morning that my recipe for the Wild Mushroom Spread came in tied for 3rd place in the "Royal Foodie Joust" at the Left Over Queen so that was pretty exciting seeing as that was the first challenge I have been involved in. Thanks so much to those of you who voted!!!
Last night for dinner we had lamb chops. Now generally I have a problem eating lamb and veal (you know...the whole cute and cuddly thing etc.) but I have come to realize that lamb is probably one of the healthiest meats for you and we have made a conscious effort to try to feed the family the healthiest options that are out their. That being said it was very good. We simply marinated the rack of lamb chops in a light marinade of soy sauce, minced garlic, oregano, rosemary, basil, salt and pepper. I know there are no measurements but with a marinade it is not critical to have everything measured out. You should start with you base being soy sauce but from there you can go heavy on what you like and lightly on what you don't.
Marinade it for about 20 minutes and cook on the grill. You want the lamb to be cooked to medium rare or an internal temperature of about 145 degrees.
We served it will grilled zucchini and a salad it was a nice quick weeknight dinner.
Lamb Chop Marinade
Tonight is pizza night again!!! Something that everyone loves and is easy and quick to make!!!
As Always...
Happy Enteraining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
Monday, November 5, 2007
D*#@?!! Internet Connection!!!
Finally after fighting with intermittent internet connection all day it seems to be up and running. I am going to make this short and sweet though as I don't know how long it is going to be up for.
Last night for dinner we made Eggplant Parmesan. Was it ever delicious. My oldest daughter refuses to eat anything that has red sauce (spaghetti sauce, gravy or whatever your family calls it) so we have to be a little inventive. She is not a fussy eater but really doesn't like tomatoes! We made hers on he side without the sauce but it still had the goat cheese on it. She loved it as well!
My connection is slipping so here is the recipe
Eggplant Parmesan - The Chiappini Way
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
Sunday, November 4, 2007
She was surprised!!!
In regards to my last post where we thought for sure that we had spoiled a surprise party for one of my girlfriends who had just graduated from Grad school...we didn't ruin the surprise!!! She was so happy and surprised. Her husband threw together a great party. Lots of really good food, tons to drink. Nothing was overlooked. I was so proud of him! He kept it nice and casual, children running all around, He even made sure that he did it while her parents were in town visiting from Iowa.
What a great night!!!
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
What a great night!!!
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Never tell us that it's a secret!!!
We got an invite last night to a surprise happy hour for one of our friends. She has just graduated from grad school and her husband wanted to surprise her with a small party in her honor...Congrats Shell!!! She did all of this part time from home with 2 little babies. Very impressive feat! This is all well and good, but along we come and maybe, we sure hope not, give away the surprise.
It has been a really busy couple of days. I attended a fundraiser last night at a model home in our area. It was to benefit our local chapter of the ABWA. It was a really nice night out.
This morning we got up early and made the girls some French Toast from some leftover homemade bread and then went on the skating rink. After skating we had to go shopping to get a birthday present for another of our friend's little boys b-day party which was this afternoon and a gift for our graduate friend. So we tell the girls that we have a really busy day and they need to try to behave for us. Of course they asked us what we were doing today and not thinking we told them. They were pretty excited to be going to 2 parties in one day!!! This is where it all started to go down hill. It suddenly occurred to me that my graduate friend would be at the birthday party earlier in the afternoon. Now I am a little sleep deprived right now...it's been a long week what with Halloween and all of the other things that we have going on so my judgement may be a little off...I actually told my 5 year old that the happy hour party was a surprise!!! What a fool am I??? You tell a 5 year old that she has to keep a secret from her 5 year old friend and you are just setting her up for failure!!! Not 5 minutes after they saw each other did I see my little one whispering to her little friend. What the H*#@ was I suppose to do then? I decide that to say anything else would just be a huge disaster so I just let it go. I guess we will find out in about an hour how much damage we cause!!!
Whatever you do don't tell us a secret!!!
Hope you are having a great weekend and sharing it with your friends or family!
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
It has been a really busy couple of days. I attended a fundraiser last night at a model home in our area. It was to benefit our local chapter of the ABWA. It was a really nice night out.
This morning we got up early and made the girls some French Toast from some leftover homemade bread and then went on the skating rink. After skating we had to go shopping to get a birthday present for another of our friend's little boys b-day party which was this afternoon and a gift for our graduate friend. So we tell the girls that we have a really busy day and they need to try to behave for us. Of course they asked us what we were doing today and not thinking we told them. They were pretty excited to be going to 2 parties in one day!!! This is where it all started to go down hill. It suddenly occurred to me that my graduate friend would be at the birthday party earlier in the afternoon. Now I am a little sleep deprived right now...it's been a long week what with Halloween and all of the other things that we have going on so my judgement may be a little off...I actually told my 5 year old that the happy hour party was a surprise!!! What a fool am I??? You tell a 5 year old that she has to keep a secret from her 5 year old friend and you are just setting her up for failure!!! Not 5 minutes after they saw each other did I see my little one whispering to her little friend. What the H*#@ was I suppose to do then? I decide that to say anything else would just be a huge disaster so I just let it go. I guess we will find out in about an hour how much damage we cause!!!
Whatever you do don't tell us a secret!!!
Hope you are having a great weekend and sharing it with your friends or family!
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
Friday, November 2, 2007
Wild Mushroom Spread
Last month when I held my Partylite party I served a spread with baked pita chips that everyone went nuts for. So it was really a no brainer when I saw that the ingredients for the monthly "Royal Foodie Joust" at The Left-Over Queen's site were mushrooms, cheese and herbs. I submitted the recipe last week and the voting starts today and will go on for the next 5 days! I am so excited about this. If you would like to go on The Left-Over Queen and vote for my entry that would be so great. You could also get my recipe and other great recipes as well!
Wild Mushroom Spread
Well off to another fundraiser tonight...will post all the details tomorrow!
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
Wild Mushroom Spread
Well off to another fundraiser tonight...will post all the details tomorrow!
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
Thursday, November 1, 2007
I am so scattered today...
I was just saying to my husband that I am so scattered today, with my hands in way too many pots that I can't even figure out what to blog about (I have so much to tell) and you know what he said (very distractedly I might add)..."Blog about that then". Thanks T. Also I should add my thanks to Starbuck's as I am jacked up on caffeine due to a very large Pumpkin Spice Latte!!! So here you have it!
Last night I wanted to send the girls out Trick or Treating with nice full stomachs and I have so many wonderful recipes that I want to try but very limited time to try them in so I went to my folder of "loose recipes" and choose one that I had all of the ingredients for already and started cooking...
I found this recipe on The Left-Over Queen's site. I will post more about her site tomorrow when I tell you all about the Royal Foodie Joust which you will need to go on to vote for my entry in the monthly contest!
Mushroom and Yogurt Tart
INGREDIENTS:
2 containers of Crimini (Baby Bella) mushrooms, sliced
½ yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 TBS olive oil for sautéing
1 cup Greek yogurt
½ tsp nutmeg
freshly grated pepper
1 handful of fresh spinach
5 pieces of phyllo dough
olive oil for brushing
¼ cup mozzarella cheese
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large skillet heat 1 TBS olive oil and add sliced mushroom, onion and garlic. In the meantime, take phyllo dough and fill a tart pan, making sure to brush each layer with olive oil or butter. Blind bake the tart dough for about 5 minutes. Add yogurt, nutmeg and pepper to the mushrooms in the skillet and mix together (yogurt will melt). Add the spinach and cook until just beginning to wilt, then remove from the heat. Spoon the mushroom mixture into the tart and bake for another 15 minutes or until phyllo is golden and crispy. Top with mozzarella cheese and cook for another 2 minutes of until melted and golden brown.
This recipe was truly remarkable. I had never made anything using Phyllo Dough before because I was a little intimidated by it but this recipe made it really easy to work with!
I am also working very hard on my November Newsletter...yes I know it is technically late but there are 30 days in November and one of my friends pointed out to me that as long as I get it out before the month changes I am doing good!!! My goal is much better than that but WOW! is this a busy month for me!!!
On another topic altogether:
I know that you have all heard me rave about the vitamins that we take from Dr. Vince. I tell everyone about these at every opportunity that I get. These have improved the quality of my life in ways that I can't even describe but because of the coffee from earlier I am going to try...
Just over 3 years ago we were involved in a pretty serious car accident. I was taken from the scene by ambulance (was treated and released) T. stayed with the girls, who miraculously as it seems had nothing at all happen to them!!! T. and I are both still treating with Dr.'s and everything else that you can imagine from this accident. I have severe nerve damage in my neck with requires a really gross procedure (which I won't go into here) about every 3-6 months and T. had surgery to fuse 3 vertebrae in his neck just this past April. Despite all of this our lives are still incredibly normal. We do massage therapy, acupuncture, Reiki, and chiropractic treatments. About a year ago T. met Dr Vince at a seminar that they were both attending. T. came back full of hope and promise about these vitamins and supplements. I have always taken a multivitamin but not too much beyond that. I went along with the program because I trust what he says and really thought that it would't hurt anything to try it. After a year he has talked me into multivitamins, Fish Oil, Co-Enzyme Q-10, Whey Protein and Mega Magnesium. I feel better than I have since I was in my early 20's. It has really taken me by surprise. My neck started bothering me pretty bad a couple of weeks ago so I went to my Pain Management Specialist to schedule my procedure. I was absolutely SHOCKED when he told me that it had been 8 months since my last treatment!!! I truly believe that I can credit the improvement to Dr. Vince and his products.
Check his site out if you are at all interested in improving your life, energy and health!!!
Sorry for my crazy ramblings but there is a reason I stopped drinking caffeine a while ago!
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
Last night I wanted to send the girls out Trick or Treating with nice full stomachs and I have so many wonderful recipes that I want to try but very limited time to try them in so I went to my folder of "loose recipes" and choose one that I had all of the ingredients for already and started cooking...
I found this recipe on The Left-Over Queen's site. I will post more about her site tomorrow when I tell you all about the Royal Foodie Joust which you will need to go on to vote for my entry in the monthly contest!
Mushroom and Yogurt Tart
INGREDIENTS:
2 containers of Crimini (Baby Bella) mushrooms, sliced
½ yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 TBS olive oil for sautéing
1 cup Greek yogurt
½ tsp nutmeg
freshly grated pepper
1 handful of fresh spinach
5 pieces of phyllo dough
olive oil for brushing
¼ cup mozzarella cheese
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large skillet heat 1 TBS olive oil and add sliced mushroom, onion and garlic. In the meantime, take phyllo dough and fill a tart pan, making sure to brush each layer with olive oil or butter. Blind bake the tart dough for about 5 minutes. Add yogurt, nutmeg and pepper to the mushrooms in the skillet and mix together (yogurt will melt). Add the spinach and cook until just beginning to wilt, then remove from the heat. Spoon the mushroom mixture into the tart and bake for another 15 minutes or until phyllo is golden and crispy. Top with mozzarella cheese and cook for another 2 minutes of until melted and golden brown.
This recipe was truly remarkable. I had never made anything using Phyllo Dough before because I was a little intimidated by it but this recipe made it really easy to work with!
I am also working very hard on my November Newsletter...yes I know it is technically late but there are 30 days in November and one of my friends pointed out to me that as long as I get it out before the month changes I am doing good!!! My goal is much better than that but WOW! is this a busy month for me!!!
On another topic altogether:
I know that you have all heard me rave about the vitamins that we take from Dr. Vince. I tell everyone about these at every opportunity that I get. These have improved the quality of my life in ways that I can't even describe but because of the coffee from earlier I am going to try...
Just over 3 years ago we were involved in a pretty serious car accident. I was taken from the scene by ambulance (was treated and released) T. stayed with the girls, who miraculously as it seems had nothing at all happen to them!!! T. and I are both still treating with Dr.'s and everything else that you can imagine from this accident. I have severe nerve damage in my neck with requires a really gross procedure (which I won't go into here) about every 3-6 months and T. had surgery to fuse 3 vertebrae in his neck just this past April. Despite all of this our lives are still incredibly normal. We do massage therapy, acupuncture, Reiki, and chiropractic treatments. About a year ago T. met Dr Vince at a seminar that they were both attending. T. came back full of hope and promise about these vitamins and supplements. I have always taken a multivitamin but not too much beyond that. I went along with the program because I trust what he says and really thought that it would't hurt anything to try it. After a year he has talked me into multivitamins, Fish Oil, Co-Enzyme Q-10, Whey Protein and Mega Magnesium. I feel better than I have since I was in my early 20's. It has really taken me by surprise. My neck started bothering me pretty bad a couple of weeks ago so I went to my Pain Management Specialist to schedule my procedure. I was absolutely SHOCKED when he told me that it had been 8 months since my last treatment!!! I truly believe that I can credit the improvement to Dr. Vince and his products.
Check his site out if you are at all interested in improving your life, energy and health!!!
Sorry for my crazy ramblings but there is a reason I stopped drinking caffeine a while ago!
As Always...
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
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