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

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

Happy Monday!

Is it ever nice to finally be feeling a bit better. My throat is only mildly sore now. It feels tight like it is a little swollen but that is all. I finally got a good night sleep last night so all is good.

The other night I made the girls hamburgers. I am terrified of fire and the grill...we all have some silly fear don't we??? Too bad mine has to do with cooking food! Anyway because of this completely rational (LOL) fear, I have to make hamburgers on a griddle. They turn out every bit as good, maybe just a little bit greasier than if they were done on the grill but for as rarely as I do them no one seems to mind.

I really have no recipe other than to shape the ground beef into patty shape and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and anything else that you would like on your burger. Plop them on a preheated griddle or frying pan and cook to your desired doneness.

I also made them some Apple Crisp (click link for recipe and picture) as I still had a bunch of apples to get rid of before they went bad.

Have a great day!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Yeah! I am feeling better...so I made pancakes!

I guess the medicine has worked. I am feeling soooo much better. I got up this morning and made the girls pancakes. They were quite excited. Usually we have so much stuff going on that I don't have time to make them a nice hot breakfast but Sundays are the exception! We try to have a nice unstructured Sunday, football usually gets in the way, but the mornings are always nice and lazy!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Have a great Sunday!

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

I am so glad that this week is almost over!!! oh...and pizza dough too!

Wow!!!

My oldest daughter was sick for the end part of last week and I fully expected everyone else in the house to end up with it. As it was I was the only one who got even a touch of it (I guess that happens when you are cleaning up after a sicky for most of a full day!) Thank you Dr Vince!!! I credit Dr Vince's vitamin regime to our ability to fight of most things!

The beginning of this week went smoothly enough and then along comes Wednesday. As luck would have it my oldest daughter (who had recovered nice and quick from the bug she had) woke up with a hive on her finger. We have been down this route before so I immediately gave her some Benadryl. That will stop any other hives from breaking out on her body. The Benadryl did it's job and she didn't end up with any more, so off we went to school. I dropped them off and spoke to her teacher and let her know that she had a hive and her finger was very swollen but it was not life threatening or contagious but could she please call me if it change in any way. Great...so I came home and started working for the day. At 11:30 I got the dreaded call from he school!!! "Your daughter's finger is really swollen, kind of purple and there is a line leading from her finger up her arm. I think you should come and get her". Off I went to go and get her. The teacher was right. Her finger was almost double in size and really ugly colors and there was a definite red line leading from her finger just up past her wrist. The red line could be a symptom of a blood infection. I got her in to see the Doctor right after lunch so I didn't have to take her to the emergency room. Unfortunately the doctor didn't really know what to do. He ended up giving her some antibiotics and sent us home. It seems to be getting better but she says it still hurts and is still pretty swollen. Needless to say this was definitely more drama than what I needed right now!!!

Onto some food related things...last night my youngest daughter and I made pizza. It is always a challenge to figure out something for all of us to eat when Daddy is away. I have a huge fear of the grill so I will never light it! Pizza was a good choice. They loved at and still had enough to take to school for lunch today. So that was a bonus. It turned out really good. I made the pizza dough during the day so It would be ready for a quick dinner around 5 or so. Now I don't knead my dough by hand I use my faithful Kitchen Aid mixer My youngest one helped grate the cheese and put it on the pizza. She opened the oven door and helped me put it in. Hard to believe what a good helper she is???!!!

Tonight I think it is going to be burgers. Easy and not too time consuming. Can't cook them on the grill though so will have to cook them on a griddle...LOL!

Pizza Dough(adapted from the Kitchen Aid recipes & instruction book)

Ingredients:

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 - 115 degrees)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
cornmeal

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add salt, olive oil and 2 1/2 cups and mix using dough hook (or knead by hand)

Continue mixing or kneading and add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough clings to the hook or if kneading by hand has formed a nice smooth ball.

Place the dough ball in a greased bowl (olive oil to grease), turning to grease the top. Cover with a tea towel or cheesecloth and allow to rise in a warm place, free from draft until doubled in size. Usually about 1 hour. Punch the dough down.

Brush your pizza pan (I use a regular baking sheet) with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal (I think this step is optional as I never do it). Press dough along the bottom of the pan forming a collar around the edge to hold the filling. Top with you desired fillings and bake at 450 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes or until the edge is a golden brown and your toppings are all bubbly!

We just topped one side with olive oil, garlic powder and mozzarella cheese and the other side with sauce, garlic powder, oregano and cheese.

***We have done pizza parties before. You make a couple of batches of dough and make smaller pizzas and allow everyone to top their own pizza with a large assortment of items. This can't really be done with a large crowd but we have done this with 10 people. I use the convection setting on my over and place several pizzas in to cook at once.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

More Muffins???!!!

Apple Muffins

I guess I thought that they liked them! The kids really never told me that they didn't like muffins so how would I know? I just kept making them. I guess yesterday ws the last batch though. I think they are such a great idea for a rushed morning. Give them a nice healthy muffn to start the day! Oh well back to the drawing board. Maybe I can come up with some type of muffin/cookie that they would eat???

Apple Muffins (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup apple juice (add a splash more if it seems to dry)
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup apples (peeled, cored and diced)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, ugar, baking powdr, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well. In a small bowl combine apple juice, oil and egg. Blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy). Stir in chopped apples.
3. Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centert somes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm or cover and store for a quick breakfast during the week!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

http://www.nofearentertaining.com/

Make Ahead Marinated Shrimp

Had a great Partylite Candle Party last night. Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions for the drinks! And to everyone who came as well!

When it came right down to the last minute I decided I was going to use the huge bottle of rum from parties past. I made a mixed fruit juice type punch:

equal parts rum, pink grapefruit juice and orange juice. I added one small can of pineapple and some cranberry juice to taste. Went through 2 large pitchers of it. It was nicely balance - not too strong, sweet or bitter.

Onto the food. The Make Ahead Marinated Shrimp is the appetizer that everyone wanted the recipe for. It looked nice and colorful and the best part about it is that you have to make it the night before! No rushing to get it done that day.

Make Ahead Marinated Shrimp

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

http://www.nofearentertaining.com/

Oh Nooo!!!

Yesterday I tried to make the Apple Cranberry Muffins. They taste really good but the pictures don't do them any justice...actually the pictures look better than they really look. My own fault though. I hate for the kids to have all purpose flour and white sugar. We believe that the closer o nature you stay the healthier it is. So I substituted all purpose flour for Wheat flour and white sugar for organic brown sugar. I know that there is something that I need to take into consideration when I do this (less whole wheat flour? more sugar? more liquid?) but I am always into a recipe when I realize that once again I forgot to look this up. If anyone has any ideas let me know!

Doesn't it just figure? I spent most of last night making food for my party tonight and then my oldest daughter woke up this morning sick!!! I think we will be able to quarantine her okay and there won't be any children here so on with the party we go!!!

Menu:

Wild Mushroom Dip
Spinach Veggie Sandwiches - Done

Make Ahead Marinated Shrimp - Done

Cream Cheese Lollipops
Brownies - Done

So I am well under control. I just have to clean a bit and then I am all set.

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

http://www.nofearentertaining.com/