Archives for November 2012

Brussels Sprouts with White Wine & Pancetta

Nov292012

As I mentioned earlier this week, we had a really wonderful Thanksgiving this year. There was a lot of hoopla trying to get everyone to the streets to see the Macy’s parade (which conveniently takes place right outside our apartment), so there wasn’t a whole lot of time to do some serious cooking. We decided to skimp on the mains and ordered the turkey and ham, then my mom, grandma, and myself split up the sides and desserts. In the end it was perfect – a very relaxed but beautiful meal. The main point was to be together and for my dad to see the parade, which has been a long time bucket list item for him. Although it’s super crazy crowded, we hit the streets early (6!) and had a great spot. Brandon especially loved the marching bands and balloons. In fact, that’s the first thing he mentions when he wakes up now. Sorry kid – there’s a while to go before the next one!

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· Filed Under: Our Family, Recipes, Sides · Tagged With: brussels sprouts, holiday, pancetta, Sides, vegetable, white wine

Navy Bean Soup

Nov262012

Happy Monday! We are still getting back to normal around here, after celebrating our first Thanksgiving in NYC. Although I’m going on 8 years in NYC, we’ve always hightailed it out of here around the holidays to go and visit family. This year we were lucky enough to have family come to us. I will put up some pictures and recipes from our Thanksgiving table later this week, but I wanted to quickly share this awesome way to use up your leftovers. This soup is a fantastic way to utilize a leftover ham bone. My mom makes it after nearly every holiday, and my husband especially loves it. It’s super easy and delicious. If you have additional ham left on the bone, it will just fall off into the soup, making it even more yummy (and probably salty, so watch how much you add). Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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· Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes, Soup · Tagged With: beans, dinner, ham, leftovers, soup

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nov162012

With the holidays quickly approaching, you undoubtedly will be inundated with lots of festive cookies. I love a good Christmas cookie as much as the next person, but I thought I would change it up a bit and instead give you my go-to cookie recipe. I have made these amazing peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies more times than I can count. Frequently, they’re made post dinner when that hankering for something sinful sets in. There simply is no better cravings cure than chocolate and peanut butter. The trick, and this applies to almost every cookie out there, is not to over bake them. I’m sure you will love this recipe just as much as I do. And hey, the diet doesn’t start until Jan. 1st anyways, right?

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· Filed Under: Recipes, Sweets · Tagged With: chocolate, cookies, peanut butter

Baked Rigatoni with Sausage and Eggplant

Nov142012

This is the kind of meal you need in your life. Just the kind of thing you want to eat when it’s chilly outside. Earmark this one for when you are all turkeyed out in a few weeks, but still want something warm and satisfying. Feel free to use whatever kind of sausage you like – spicy if that’s your style, but in our house we stick with sweet Italian to appease the younger appetites (and we tend to be wimps where spice is concerned). The leftovers will be perfect to stick in your freezer or share with your (sure to be very appreciative) neighbors!

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· Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes · Tagged With: baked, dinner, eggplant, Pasta, recipes, sausage, tyler florence

Rylan 8 Month Summary

Nov82012

This has been an interesting month for Rylan. He’s had constant cold like symptoms for the majority of the month, which has thrown him off a bit. It’s left him congested and not wanting to eat as much as he normally would. He’s still been really happy, but had more fussy moments than ever before. I finally took him to the doctor and they said he was totally clear, so I’m attempting to resume our normal life of play dates and gym/church nursery visits (I’m a crazy stickler for not bringing your sick kid around others – my attempt to put out good mommy karma).

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· Filed Under: Baby Summaries, Our Family · Tagged With: 8 months, Baby, crawling, schedule

Honey Plum Soy Chicken

Nov52012

When I first met my husband, the only things he had in his fridge were beer, ketchup, and a large bottle of soy sauce. I’m sure he wasn’t the only bachelor to live this way, but I would like to think his culinary requirements have expanded since marrying me. Although we try and stay away from super salty dishes, I couldn’t resist trying this knowing that Brad would absolutely love it. I mean the recipe calls for an entire bottle of soy sauce. It practically had his name written on it, and I do aim to please every once in a while. I did knock the soy sauce down to about half (I just couldn’t bring myself to do the whole thing), and I can’t imagine it could have been more delicious. An easy and elegant meal for the soy sauce lover in your life.

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· Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes · Tagged With: chicken, dinner, egg noddles, honey, pioneer woman, plum, soy sauce

Veggie & Bacon Breakfast Hash

Nov22012

Every couple of weeks, I will clean out my veggie drawer by either making a fritatta or a hash like this one. They both make for fantastic dinners – quick, easy, warm and filling. And there’s always something fun about having breakfast for dinner. This would, of course, make an amazing breakfast as well (especially if you’ve had a few too many cocktails the night before). And I doubt you would need lunch afterwards! We still (thankfully) have power here in nyc, but the pickins at the grocery store were slim, so this was the perfect meal to use up what we already had on hand. I’m sure a few fellow New Yorkers could benefit from a meal like this. Have a great weekend everyone, and a special good-luck to all the marathoners out there – although I’m still a bit torn as to whether or not the marathon should go on, we will be out cheering!

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