Italian Braised Pork

Ugh, I know the photo is blurry but I had to share this dish because it was so yummy and for those of you always looking for something new to make in your slow cooker, you must try this. Oh and ignore the overabundance of pine nuts. The recipe doesn't call for them but I love their taste and I wanted a little crunch so I added them at the last minute.

I find that prepping as many ingredients the night before makes it so much easier to get everything into the slow cooker in the morning. For this recipe, I diced all the veggies and stored in the fridge. I also put all the other ingredients (except for the pork of course) on my kitchen counter next to my slow cooker. Then all I had to do in the morning was sear the pork, saute the veggies and dump it all into the cooker.

You can find a proper photo of the dish here http://www.marthastewart.com/965070/italian-braised-pork

Italian Braised Pork
-Everyday Food

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder
• Coarse salt and pepper
• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk celery, diced small
• 3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 cup dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot
• 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
• 4 cups prepared couscous, for serving

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season pork with salt and pepper and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, garlic, celery, and fennel seeds to pan; cook until onion is softened, about 4 minutes.
2. Add wine and cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add to slow cooker along with tomatoes. Cover and cook on high until pork is very tender, 4 hours (or 8 hours on low).
3. Transfer pork to a cutting board. With two forks, shred meat into bite-size pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Skim fat off sauce and discard. Return shredded pork to slow cooker and stir to combine. (To store: Cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 3 days.) Serve over couscous.
   
   

Pioneer Woman's The Best Lasagna Ever

Does anyone else love the Pioneer Woman as much as I do? It's one of the few cooking shows my hubby will watch with me. There's something about her life on the ranch that makes me want to pack it all up and raise my daughter in the country. But.... then I remember I don't like to get up early, I don't really care for the outdoors and I really need to have a grocery store within walking distance. I'm much more suited to city life. Last weekend she made lasagna and now that I've made it I must agree it is The Best Lasagna Ever. I've made many lasagnas in my life since it's great to feed a crowd and this one by far has the best flavor. I was a little wary of the cottage cheese but I have to say I prefer it to ricotta.

The.Best.Lasagna.Ever

by Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pound Ground Beef
• 1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
• 2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1/2 cup Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles
• (add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

Preparation Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.

In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).

To assemble:
Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.

Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.

Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.

Strawberry Lemonade

Since having a baby, I spend tons of time on Pinterest. It's a great site that keeps me from falling asleep during those early 2am feedings. I set myself up in the rocking chair with my little girl nursing in one arm and my other hand scrolling through recipes on my phone. I now have a full board of dishes that I've tried and loved. Thank you Pinterest.
It's been cold the last few months and I'm getting really tired of winter so when I saw a photo of a beautiful pitcher of ruby red lemonade it instantly reminded me of summer and I had to have some. Fresh strawberries are available at my grocery store but they're not in season and don't taste all that great so I used frozen for this recipe that I thawed in the fridge.

You can find the recipe at Laylita's Recipes.

Are you on Pinterest?

Gourmet Madeleine Cookies

For Christmas I received a madeleine cookie pan and so far I've made these cookies 3 times...they are that good. With or without powdered sugar, I've made them both ways, they are light, lemony, sweet and so much better than the packaged ones at Starbucks. Normally I wouldn't recommended buying a pan that you only use for one recipe but this is worth it. A friend suggested I dip them in chocolate so that's next on the list. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Gourmet Madeleine Cookies

from Food.com

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 pinch salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly

powdered sugar Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 375°F Generously butter and flour pan for large madeleines (about 3x1 1/4 inches).

2 Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.

3 Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and brown, about 10-16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch. (Can be made 1 day ahead.).

4 Dust cookies with powdered sugar.

 Also, just to leave you with some cuteness...my kitty all cuddled up since it's been so cold.

Silver Dollar Pumpkin Pancakes

Happy New Year's Eve! Any big plans, big resolultions? I plan to eat some good food, try to  keep one eye open to see the ball drop and then rest my swollen feet all day tomorrow. This is the first year I'm not making any resolutions since I plan to be focusing all my energy on my baby girl but I'd love to hear what your resolutions are...and have you kept any from past years? I have not. I always start with the best of intentions and then about 3 days in the motivation wears off.

If you're looking for something yummy to make for breakfast tomorrow or for lunch if you plan to sleep until noon like me, these pancakes are so delicious. The size is just perfect and makes them so much easier to flip than the large pancakes I'm used to making. They even make good leftovers. I popped a few (ok six) into the microwave this morning and they heated up nicely.

The recipe is from one of my favorite bloggers. I'm sure you've heard of her- Ree at Pioneer Woman.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/10/silver-dollar-pumpkin-pancakes/
A couple things- I didn't have cake flour so I just used all-purpose. I also added 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed to the batter as I do with all my pancakes and waffles. Enjoy!

Trader Joe's Mexican Pizza

Somehow I have managed to avoid Taco Bell my entire pregnancy. This has been soooo hard since I love their Mexican pizza but I knew as soon as I had one, I'd be in the drive-thru everyday ordering another. I especially love my pizza smothered in extra hot sauce and extra tomatoes. Oh the deliciousness but so so unhealthy. When I saw this homemade version on Pinterest I loaded up my grocery cart with all the ingredients that day and made it for dinner. Success! It's really good and I love that I can buy organic ingredients and grass-fed beef while still satisfying a craving.
Was there anything you avoided during pregnancy because you knew you couldn't have just one?

Mexican Pizza Recipe

by Trader Joes Recipes

Yield: 2 Mexican Pizzas
Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 25 min

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound Trader Joe's Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 15-oz can Trader Joe's Traditional Style Fat Free Refried Beans
• 4 9-inch flour tortillas
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Chunky Salsa, or your favorite salsa
• 2 cups Trader Joe's Lite 3 Cheese Blend
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup Trader Joe's Extra Large Black Pitted Olives, sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place meat, onion and garlic in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until beef is evenly browned. Drain off grease. Season the meat with chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper.
3. Coat 2 pie plates with non-stick cooking spray. Place one tortilla in each pie plate and cover with a layer of refried beans. Spread half of the seasoned meat over each tortilla and then cover with a second tortilla. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
4. Spread half of the salsa over the top tortillas. Top each pizza with half of the cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and olives. Return the pizzas to the oven, bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Slice each pizza into 4 pieces and serve.

Pumpkin Spice Eggnog Muffins

Guess what was sold out at the store when I went in search of ingredients for this recipe...eggnog. Well, plain  eggnog at least. I improvised and picked up a carton of pumpkin spice eggnog which gave the muffins a nice flavor. These are best served the morning you bake them. I had a few leftover the next day and they got a little too dense for my taste.

Pumpkin Spice Eggnog Muffins

adapted from King Arthur Flour

Batter
1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) butter
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon eggnog flavor or 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) eggnog or half and half

Topping
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon eggnog flavor, optional
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) butter, melted

I added 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon and ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar till smooth. Add the eggs, beating for several minutes and scraping the bowl, till the mixture is smooth and light colored. Beat in the baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and eggnog flavor or vanilla.

Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the eggnog or half and half, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups.

Stir together all of the topping ingredients JUST till crumbly. Stir gently, and don't overmix; you don't want to turn this crumbly topping into a solid mass. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins.

Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until they're a pale golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm, or at room temperature.
Yield: 12 muffins.