Coconut Curry Lentil Soup

Yesterday was the first legitimate totally 100% Fall day at home. It was in the low 50's and raining. The only answer for dinner was soup. It had be a nice spicy one too to really warm me up since by a certain individual's house rules the heat can't be higher than somewhere around 62. I begged to turn the heat on yesterday to a balmy 63. My wishes were granted. At least the soup and my fleece bath robe kept me warm. I definitely needed some warming to the core too especially after being at the Steelers game in upper 40's temperatures and rain. This was a great cure.

Coconut Curry Lentil Soup
Yield ~ 8 servings

2 cups split red lentils
1 red pepper, diced
1 jalapeno
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 cups cauliflower, chopped
1/2 pound shredded chicken (you can buy prepackaged chicken or boil your own to shred)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup tomato paste
5 cups water
2 cups chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
1 can chickpeas (I used northern, doesn't matter much)

In a dutch oven or large pot, heat a tablespoon of oil and add in the red pepper, onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Cook on medium high for about 8 minutes, then add in the tomato paste, curry powder, cinnamon, and salt cooking for another 3 minutes. Add the water, chicken broth, chicken, coconut milk, cauliflower, lentils, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil then let it simmer for 25-30 minutes.

Steelers Game

This forgetfulness keeps getting worse and worse. Once again, I forgot my memory card to my camera. Which means I don't have pictures for the risotto recipe I was going to share. I will have to wait until next week to spread the risotto love. Until then, all I can do is give you a recipe we came up with a few weeks ago that I am currently obsessed with and we've made it every week. I eat it for dinner, and lunch, and snacks. It's my favorite thing ever and probably not what you're expecting. I am making it though for our tail gate this weekend.  I am going to the Steelers game with my Dad since he has season tickets. I love going to the games and my Dad has an awesome tail gate set up with a tiki bar and sound system. It's a great party. Exhibit A.

This is just us getting everything set up too! It's such a fun time and I can't wait so I am bringing this cabbage dish we made up. I'm not sure what to call it, maybe braised cabbage. We'll go with it. Unfortunately, no picture though.

Braised Cabbage

Yield ~12 servings or more (depending how you eat it, for me, it's less)

2 head cabbage, sliced into salad size pieces

1/2 package of bacon, diced

1 onion, sliced

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 12 ounce beer (light preferably)

1 cup water

salt and pepper, to your liking 

Place all your ingredients in a large pot and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling, let it simmer on low heat until cooked through, about 30 minutes. 

Peach Pie with Pecan Brown Sugar Struesel

I am getting really bad at remembering to do posts or maybe it's just that I've been super busy. Then, when I finally  make something you get a picture like this because 1) my good camera dies right as I try to take a picture and 2) because I can't even wait 5 minutes after it's taken out of the oven to take a picture before I indulge. Alas, you get what you get and hopefully that's good enough.

I've been so busy because I got a new job! I start on October 22 and since then it's been a roller coaster ride of celebrating and home improvements.It started with the new light fixture I showed you last week and then we painted the kitchen this past weekend and now we are putting in new floors and wainscoting. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. See how pretty it looks! Ok, I know it's really not that great but before the walls were light blue and the dry wall was peeling and there was leftover wallpaper. So from that to where we are now, it's a big deal so I'm happy!

Peach Pie with Pecan Brown Sugar Struesel

Yield ~8 servings

Filling
2 1/2- 3 pounds peaches, sliced
juice of 1/4 lemon
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

Frozen pie crust (or you can make your own)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare your pie crust or take your frozen pie crust out to thaw. In a bowl mix together the peaches, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon. Let it sit while you make the topping. In another bowl mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, pecans, and salt. Cut your butter into slices about 1/2 tablespoon large, then add them in. With you fingers mix it together until it becomes crumbly. Next pour about half the juice that will accumulate from the filling bowl out down the drain, then pour the rest into the pie shell. Then place all the topping on top and spread out evenly. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. After that, lower it to 350 degrees and bake for another 25-30 minutes. If the crust is starting to brown quickly you can cover it with tin foil.

Queso Mac N Cheese

Big things are happening in our household! Big things in the form of... new light fixtures? Yes, this is the sad truth. I unlike most of the people my age do not own a pet, am not married, and do not have any babies. The new light fixture I got yesterday is my baby because I've never been so excited about something. And that's what's supposed to happen when you have a baby right? You've never been so excited...? Look how beautiful she is! We can just call her Gem.

She came into my life yesterday around 3:15 PM and was officially home in her new place by 6:35 PM. This is getting a little creepy, isn't it. Ok, ok, well I'm just excited because we are finally starting to do some upgrades since I moved in! Wait til you see our kitchen. I already replastered two walls and sanded them down (which resulted in me looking like a ghost cause I was covered in so much dust). Then last night I got all the old wallpaper off of one of the walls. Next up, painting! For now, let's move on to this highly addictive spicy mac n cheese.

Queso Mac N Cheese

Yield ~6 servings

1 pound pasta shells, cooked

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 pound bacon, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

4 ounces cream cheese

4 ounces Velveeta cheese

salt and pepper

small can of diced jalapenos

~20 grape tomatoes, sliced in half

Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook your pasta until noodles are al dente. While they're cooking in a saucepan, cook your onion and bacon until done. Next add in the milk, cream cheese, and velveeta until melted together. This will be very soupy. In a small bowl mix together the corn starch and water to make a slurry. Then pour this into the cheese mixture to thicken it up. Shortly after, take the pan off the heat and let sit for a minute. Once the cheese sauce is finished, mix it in with the pasta, jalapenos, and tomatoes, then pour it in a baking dish. Bake for about 20 minutes. 

Pumpkin White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie Dough Bars

That is a mouthful but it's an extremely tasty mouthful. Ehhhh, anyway Happy Monday! Not so sure if it's really happy but still, it's a new week and you can start it off with this amazing Fall inspired dessert. Since Saturday was officially the first day of Fall we can now officially have pumpkin in our food, right? That's what I tell myself at least but I did have one slip up which involved some pumpkin and cheesecake a couple weeks ago. There was one little minor detail though that really stopped me from having pumpkin in my food. The grocery store somehow did not have any pumpkin puree! How on Earth is that possible? It's late September and they don't have any!?!? I had to settle for canned sweet potatoes. At first I was a little skeptical of sweet potatoes but I really shouldn't have been because they still tasted just as fantastic. With that being said, the initial idea for this recipe was pumpkin so if that's what you want by all means use pumpkin. But if you're feeling adventurous go ahead and try it with sweet potato, you won't be disappointed.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie Dough Bars

Yield ~25 bars

4 tablespoons unsalted softened butter

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

1 cup flour

1/2 cup oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup white chocolate chips

8 tablespoons unsalted softened butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 cup oats

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl cream the butter, oil, and sugars together. Next add in the pumpkin and egg. Add in all the dry ingredients (oats, flour, salt, baking soda) then fold in the white chocolate chips. Line 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil, then pour dough in and level it out. Bake for 35 minutes or until tooth pick inserted into middle comes out clean. Meanwhile in another bowl cream together the butter and sugars, then add in the vanilla and pumpkin. Once again mix in all the dry ingredients and fold the white chocolate chips in. Once the baked cookie part is cooled, remove it by flipping it from the dish and place it on a cutting board. Cover it with the cookie dough, then slice into squares.  

Stuffed Crust Buffalo Chicken Pizza

All I have to say is you  know it's football season when recipes like this come around. And it's a really good thing my friend just happened to say 'Hey I made this last night, want another guest blogger?' I say 'YES!' This is my same friend who gave us the good old Eastern NC BBQ and Lexington Slaw. Thank goodness for friends who know how to cook since I have majorly been slacking lately. I get all excited about buying a fig tree and planting it that I forget to cook. Without further ado here it is...

This recipe came to me when I was too lazy to cook Chicken Marsala, but didn’t want a boring pasta dinner. Having just gotten home from the Harris Teeter, I had already thawed chicken, on sale Franks Red Hot, and 10 for $10 raw pizza dough. Threw this together on the fly and I have to say, it turned out pretty damn good!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Yield ~4 servings

Time 45 min.

1 Package of chicken tenders (.5 – 1 lb) worth

5 – 10 oz Franks Red Hot Sauce

1 Raw Pizza Dough ball

Flour

Jar of Pizza/Marinara sauce

1-2 packs of shredded Mozzarella cheese (2-3 cups worth)

Begin by browning the chicken in a skillet with ½ of the Franks Red Hot Sauce. After a few min of browning, add the rest of the sauce to the skillet. Start to break up the chicken in the skilled with any utensil so that it begins to look shredded. Once the chicken looks sufficiently browned, transfer it to a cutting board and chop the chicken so that the pieces are small and manageable, and place to the side for later.

On a surface with flour, roll out the pizza dough so that it is just slightly larger than the device you will be cooking on. For me, I use a pizza stone, so I make sure it goes 1 inch or so over the edge. Place the rolled out dough on the device and sprinkle Mozzarella cheese on the edges. (Here you can use legitimate Mozzarella cheese from a ball of cheese, or the shredded cheese works just fine.)

Take some water and wet the surface just inside the cheese on the edge and roll the dough, tightly over the cheese to make the stuffed crust. Then pour pizza sauce in the middle of the dough, spreading evenly. Add the chicken on top of the sauce (how ever much you desire at this point). Top with cheese and there you have your pizza!

Place the pizza in the oven for 17-20 min at 400 degrees. You can leave it in longer if you want the cheese to get darker on the top, so it is basically up to you. Remove the pizza, let it cool, and then slice up and enjoy with your beverage of choice – mine being a nice, cold beer!