What to do with leftover food

I'm guilty of throwing away leftovers because I don't want to eat the same thing a few nights in a row. Usually, we will save an extra portion for Justin's lunch the next day, but I often have extra ingredients in the fridge.

My quick and easy solution is to make leftovers into pizza toppings. Everyone loves pizza and this is a great way to clean out the fridge. My latest leftover night was this shaved asparagus, goat cheese, and prosciutto pizza. I made a cheesy sauce with white cheddar and Parmesan, assembled the toppings, and baked until golden brown. It was the best leftovers I've had in a while.

  LESSON LEARNED: Find ways to be creative with leftovers!

Pasta with Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Carrots

I love pasta dishes where half the plate is veggies. This dish screamed "Spring" to me with asparagus, snap peas, and carrots. I loved the flavor of the quick sauce made from chicken stock, heavy cream, and Dijon mustard. As a bonus, it was super fast to make for a weeknight dinner.

LESSON LEARNED: To make this dish in even less time, prep the veggies the night before. That's what I did!

Recipe for Pasta with Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Carrots

Salmon with Rhubarb Marmalade

Rhubarb is one of our favorite spring vegetables! We love it in all sorts of sweet applications, but I wanted to create a few savory dishes as well.

In this dish, I made a rhubarb marmalade to top over grilled salmon. The tartness of the rhubarb cut through the richness of the salmon, so I really thought the two flavors worked well together. I served it with a green salad and it was a quick (and restaurant quality!) lunch.

LESSON LEARNED: If you have extra marmalade, it is excellent mixed into yogurt for a healthy breakfast.

Recipe for Salmon with Rhubarb Marmalade

Beef Kabobs

It was Justin's birthday a few weeks ago and he requested this meal as his birthday dinner. In fact, all 3 birthdays that I've known him, he's requested this same meal! We've now made this birthday dinner in Tucson (AZ), Hudson (OH), and now Maumee (OH). Hopefully there's no more moving for us!

Pieces of steak are marinated in a mixture of dry onion soup mix, ketchup, oil, mustard, and vinegar plus a few other ingredients. This may sound a little strange, but the marinade is simmered on the stove for a little bit, then cooled, and tossed with the steak. The steak is threaded onto skewers with cherry tomatoes, onion, and green pepper and grilled until charred. The whole thing is served over rice with extra marinade sauce.

LESSON LEARNED: Marinate the beef at least an hour in the refrigerator.

Recipe for Beef Kabobs

Caesar Salad with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts

Looking for a hearty main dish salad? This is it! You begin by making a creamy Caesar dressing with garlic and lemon juice. The dressing is tossed with crispy bacon, fried capers, browned Brussels Sprouts, shaved Parmesan cheese, and two types of lettuce. Usually Justin isn't a big fan of having salad for dinner, but he was thoroughly satisfied after eating this dinner.

 LESSON LEARNED: Fry the capers and Brussels Sprouts in the same pan you cooked the bacon. It creates less dishes to clean later.

Recipe for Caesar Salad with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts

Cheesy Veggie Dip

Oh my gosh! This is a FABULOUS snack. Imagine a homemade white cheddar cheese creamy dip with chopped spinach, scallions, and asparagus. It is topped with crumbled goat cheese and baked until bubbly and golden. YUM! We served it with tortilla chips, but it would be equally good with bread or fresh veggies.

LESSON LEARNED: Use any veggie you have on hand to make this dip.

Recipe for Cheesy Veggie Dip

Curry Beef Noodle Bowls

I never worked with curry before, so I was super excited to try this recipe. I thought the curry paste that I chose was really flavorful because I tasted spices first and the heat slowly built up. It wasn't too spicy, but you can add as much spice as you like. Who knows, if I keep using curries, I might start making my own blend!

Thin slices of steak are browned in curry and stir fried with onions, garlic, red pepper, scallions, and edamame. A quick sauce is created from fish sauce and chicken stock. After the sauce simmers for a few minutes, you toss in cooked whole-wheat noodles and you are ready to enjoy this Thai inspired stir fry!

LESSON LEARNED: Don't be afraid of using curry. It adds a lot of flavor to a dish with little effort.

Recipe for Curry Beef Noodle Bowls

Creamy Mac & Cheese

Put away the boxed mac and cheese! This mac and cheese is quickly assembled on the stove top and is incredibly flavorful with no artificial flavors. It's really as simple as boiling pasta and adding ingredients to a pot.

First, the pasta is boiled and drained (remembering to reserve a bit of the pasta cooking water in case you need to thin the sauce). The pasta is returned to the pot and you add minced onion/garlic. Next, stir in your favorite cheese with a little milk, butter, and yogurt. Yes, yogurt! It's the secret ingredient that makes this dish light and creamy. You stir until the cheese is melted and you are ready to serve. Really, there is no excuse to not try this mac and cheese!

LESSON LEARNED: Use your favorite cheese. I used cheddar and Parmesan.

Recipe for Creamy Mac & Cheese

Roasted Red Pepper & Pistachio Pesto

There is one word to describe this sauce: FLAVORFUL!

This quick pesto uses only 6 ingredients and is quickly assembled using a food processor or blender. It is nutty from the pistachios, sweet and smokey from the roasted red pepper, salty from the Parmesan cheese, and tastes bright and fresh from the basil.

We tossed cheese tortellini with the pesto and it was FABULOUS!

LESSON LEARNED: Make a big batch of this pesto. It keeps in the refrigerator for at least a week.

Recipe for Roasted Red Pepper and Pistachio Pesto

Pork with Grapes & Tarragon

This dish looks deceptively fancy but is surprisingly easy to make. I made it for dinner one day when I wasn't really in the mood to cook, but I didn't want to go out to eat. As I was eating this meal, I kept smiling and remarking on how I was glad that I decided to make this new recipe.

Boneless pork chops are first seared and cooked in a medium hot saute pan. Then, a quick sauce is made by browning grapes, then adding minced onions and a pinch of sugar. Vinegar and red wine are added to the pan along with chicken stock and reduced into a quick sauce. Finally, the pork chops are added back to the pan to briefly simmer in the sauce and topped with fresh tarragon. It's really that easy and takes about 20 minutes.

I served the pork chops with mashed sweet potatoes and roasted asparagus. So YUMMY and really COLORFUL! :)

LESSON LEARNED: Quick cooking dinners can look fancy and time consuming.

Recipe for Pork with Grapes and Tarragon

Orzo with Tomato Vinaigrette

If you feel like you don't have enough time to spend in the kitchen, this is a perfect recipe for you. It's a simple tomato & basil sauce that provides a TON of flavor with little work.

You begin by charring cherry tomatoes in a skillet until they become brown and smokey. You then blend the tomatoes with fresh basil, a little honey, a bit of vinegar, and salt to taste. Finally, you mix it into cooked pasta and top with cheese. SUPER easy and SUPER yummy!

LESSON LEARNED: Use any type of pasta you have in the house. It will be equally delicious!

Recipe for Orzo with Tomato Vinaigrette

Sauteed Broccolini

Did you know that broccolini is a cross between broccoli and Chinese kale (called gailon)? Nope, neither did I until I read the label on a couple of bunches of broccolini that I bought at the store last week. This post is part of my quest to try a new vegetable every week.

To prepare this veggie side dish, I heated some olive oil in a saute pan with a smashed garlic clove. Once the oil was hot, I discarded the garlic clove, add the broccolini, salt, and red pepper flakes. After cooking them for a few minutes while tossing them in the hot olive oil, I transferred them to a plate and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Really, this entire dish took about 5 minutes! It was super easy and pretty healthy too!

LESSON LEARNED: Cook this vegetable quickly so it stays crisp and bright green.

Recipe for Sauteed Broccolini

Easter Round Up

Whew! It's been a hectic couple of weeks. On top of moving in, unpacking, and doing small DIY home improvement projects, I decided to host Easter lunch at our new house. Whenever I'm asked to host anything, I get really excited and tend to go overboard with the amount of dishes I plan to make. That's why I started baking Friday night, prepared make ahead dishes Saturday afternoon and evening, and finished hot food Sunday morning. It was a lot of time in the kitchen, but I really enjoyed having my family over.

On the savory side, we had honey baked ham, mashed potatoes, frizzled Brussels sprouts, Strawberry salad with homemade Poppy seed dressing, potato salad, broccoli salad, cheese tortellini with Spring veggies, ciabatta bread, and rustic rolls.

Since I was hosting and trying to set everything up, these aren't the best pictures, but they give you an idea.

LESSON LEARNED: Making dishes ahead of time saves on last minute stressing and preparation.

Chicken Toastadas

Last week, I made a roasted chicken and needed a way to use up the leftovers. I first made chicken stock from the bones, but then I came across this recipe for a Mexican inspired dish. The recipe used a homemade roasted tomato chile de Arbol salsa, and since I'm a sucker for good Mexican food, I thought I would give it a shot. The salsa ended up tasting slightly smokey (from charring tomatoes in the oven) and a little spicy from the dried chile de Arbol peppers. My leftover roasted chicken stewed in this silky smooth salsa and was layered over toastada shells, homemade fried beans, cojita cheese, sliced radishes, and sour cream.

LESSON LEARNED: You could take this recipe and modify it to include as many pre-made (salsa, refried beans) or homemade ingredients as you want.

Recipe for Chicken Toastadas

Sausage Ragu

Moving is exhausting! We moved about two weeks ago and from the week before until right now, there's been a million things to do everyday. I decided to make this pasta sauce for two main reasons: (1) it makes a ton of sauce so you can easily freeze it and pull it out for a quick meal and (2) the simmer time is long - about 3 hours - which was the perfect excuse to take a nap. Yes, this recipe takes a little time up front, but the payoff is huge.

Onions, fennel, celery, and garlic are browned in olive oil until they are deep & rich in color and almost burnt. Then tomato paste is added and browned to further enhance the flavor. Everything is then deglazed in red wine. Sweet (or spicy) Italian sausage is added to the pan and browned to add another layer of flavor. Finally, water is added and the whole pot simmers for about 3 hours. The result is a rich tomato sauce which has TONS of flavor. It's perfect with any type of pasta and would be AWESOME in a lasagna.

LESSON LEARNED: Don't be afraid to let the veggies brown - this step adds a ton of flavor.

Recipe for Sausage Ragu

Cucumber Blue Cheese Dressing

A few years ago Justin and I went to a cooking demonstration at one of our favorite restaurants in Tucson. It was over an hour and a half and they showed you how to create a three course meal. After they demonstrated the dish, everyone was served the dish. We had a blast! (On a side note, we found out from some friends that they closed this restaurant last year and we were both really bummed.)

As part of the demonstration, they gave us the recipes, so luckily I'm still able to make the food even though the restaurant is closed and we live a long distance from Tucson. This salad dressing recipe is one of the dishes that was demonstrated (as part of a wedge salad).

It's super refreshing from the cucumber, tangy from the blue cheese, and creamy from mayo and sour cream. We had it alongside a salad with some crispy bacon, fresh tomatoes, chopped cucumber, and hard boiled egg for dinner last week. DELICIOUS!

LESSON LEARNED: This recipe makes a lot of dressing. It will keep for a week in the refrigerator.

Recipe for Cucumber Blue Cheese Dressing

Carbonara with Bacon

Carbonara is definitely not a new, inventive dish, but it's a new dish for me to make at home. I'm not the biggest fan of eggs, so I never order carbonara in a restaurant. I decided to make it at home figuring that I could always eat something else if I didn't like it. I was pleasantly surprised with the taste!

The flavors of this dish are a little deceiving if you don't know how it's made. Justin asked me if it had butter or cream in it because the sauce was creamy, buttery, and very smooth. The recipe has no butter or cream - just egg yolks tossed hot pasta along with a touch of pasta cooking water, a tiny bit of fat from the bacon drippings, and salty Parmesan cheese. I also mixed in some crispy bacon and topped the dish was freshly ground black pepper. It was DELICIOUS!

LESSON LEARNED: Reheat any leftovers of this pasta very gently. If you are not carefully, the eggs with conceal to create a scrambled egg sauce.

Recipe for Carbonara with Bacon

Honey Roasted Golden Beets

Every week I try to make a point to buy and eat a new ingredient. I think this is a good way to become familiar with different types of food and I love creating new recipes. This week I picked up a bunch of golden beets. I don't think that I've had the red varietal of beets, so this almost counted as a double new ingredient. :)

I first tasted the beets raw and they tasted tangy and had a similar taste to other root vegetables such as carrots. I thought if I thinly sliced them, toss the beets with yummy flavor boosters (olive oil, honey, cinnamon, salt), and roast until cooked through, I might get my husband to taste them. I was right! As they were baking, the house started to smell like cinnamon and he came to the kitchen to investigate. Ha! My plan worked!

LESSON LEARNED: Adding familiar flavors to unfamiliar ingredients encourages other people to taste them.

Recipe for Honey Roasted Golden Beets

Cherry Tomato & Tortellini Soup

My husband is always willing to try a new tomato soup recipe. He was even more excited when I told him that this recipe has cheese tortellini in it!

I really like the technique of forming the tomato sauce base in this recipe. You begin by heating some oil in a large pot with a lid, add the cherry tomatoes, cover, and shake occasionally until the tomatoes pop open. It really reminds me of cooking popcorn! The sauce is further flavored with minced garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Then you add chicken (or vegetable) stock, bring to a boil, and cook the tortellini. I accidentally grabbed pasta that was shaped like little purses, so it really doesn't matter what shape you go with.

The flavor of the soup is very light and pleasantly tomato-y. I garnished the soup with sliced scallions, basil, and strips of Parmesan cheese. It was even better with hunks of homemade bread!

LESSON LEARNED: Adding a little spice really adds depth to the flavor in this simple soup.

Recipe for Cherry Tomato & Tortellini Soup

Chicken Cutlets with Orange & Arugula

I absolutely LOVE using this three step breading method to make crispy & crunchy pan-fried chicken. First, you dredge pieces of chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Next, the chicken is given a quick bath in beaten egg. Finally, the chicken is dipped in a bread crumb mixture flavored with whatever seasoning you choose. In this dish, it was grated Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, and orange zest. To cook the chicken, you heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a shallow pan and cook until lightly browned and cooked through. It's as simple as that!

I served the chicken along side a salad of baby arugula, sweet oranges, and chopped orange heirloom tomatoes. The salad was simply dressed with a little olive oil and salt. If you ate a piece of the crunchy chicken with the sweet and peppery salad, it was the perfect bite!

LESSON LEARNED: Cook the chicken in batches and keep the cooked pieces warm and crispy in a low oven.

Recipe for Chicken Cutlets with Orange & Arugula

Citrus Noodle Stir-Fry

Looking for a quick weeknight meal? This noodle stir fry dish is sweet, spicy, and chock full of vegetables and chicken. I used red bell pepper, snow peas, edamame, and scallions, but you can change up the vegetables depending on what you are in the mood for or what's in season. The yummy sauce is a mixture of orange marmalade, chicken stock, soy sauce, and hot sauce. This meal was ready in under half and hour and gobbled up even faster in our house!

LESSON LEARNED: The recipe I used called for whole wheat noodles. Even though I'm usually not a fan of whole wheat pasta, I really liked the nuttiness and texture they added to the stir-fry.

Recipe for Citrus Noodle Stir-Fry

Frizzled Brussels Sprouts

This is an awesome winter side dish! I've made this 4 or 5 times because it's so good. I made it for Christmas dinner and it was really well received by everyone in my family - even by people who normally don't care for this vegetable!

The hardest part of the dish is separating the leaves from each sprout. It takes a little bit of prep work because you need quite a few Brussels Sprouts. Just to give you a heads up, from beginning to end, they cook down to about a quarter of the volume.

You begin by crisping pieces of bacon, removing them with a slotted spoon, and reserving the rendered bacon fat. Then, the Brussels Sprout leaves are placed in the pan and cooked in the bacon fat. This is where the magical frizzled part happens! They will begin to wilt, become crispy, and deliciously brown. After they brown a few minutes, you toss in chopped walnuts, red pepper flakes, and salt. Finally, you add the cooked bacon and enjoy!

LESSON LEARNED: Don't be afraid to let the leaves brown while they cook. This is where all the flavor comes from!

Recipe for Frizzled Brussels Sprouts

Cheddar Cheese Chicken Pot Pies

Whenever it rains I feel like comfort food. I think it's because makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside whenever it's cold and damp outside. Last week, it was cold outside and I was in the mood for this chicken pot pie: especially after I thought about the delicious lobster pot pie I made last month. :)

I made individual pot pies because I feel that this achieves the right crust to filling ratio (being food nerds, my husband and I have frequent conversations about the correct ratio of ingredients in many dishes I make!). Instead of using a plain pie crust recipe, I decided to add in a good amount of shredded cheddar cheese. This was definitely a great decision! While these guys were in the oven, the whole house smelled like cheddar cheese crackers. Seriously! I used up some cooked chicken from a roasted chicken along with my homemade chicken stock and some leftover veggies from the refrigerator. This is the way I like to use leftovers! DELICIOUS!

LESSON LEARNED: When adding cheddar cheese to the pie crust, mix it after the dough is formed. If you mix it in before the water, it makes the cheese stick together and not distribute evenly throughout the dough.

Recipe for Cheddar Cheese Pot Pies

Mac & Cheese Soup

My husband LOVES mac and cheese. I think I could make just about any type of mac & cheese and he would happily eat it. We discovered this recipe in a food magazine last year and we've made it 4 or 5 times. This is a lot in our house because we try new recipes for almost every meal. I do a majority of the cooking, but he has made this by himself about half the times we've had it. That's how much he loves this recipe! Personally, I could take or leave mac & cheese, so he usually makes this when I don't feel like eating much for dinner.

The base of this recipe has much of the same components of a soup (sauteing onion, carrot, celery & adding chicken broth) and some components of a traditional mac & cheese recipe (milk, cheese, and macaroni). The soup isn't as dense as typical mac & cheese and it has a lighter, fresher flavor from the added vegetables. I would almost dare to say this is healthier since there is less pasta and milk compared to a traditional mac & cheese!

To add extra flavor, I chopped up some roasted tomatoes for my bowl.

LESSON LEARNED: As you make the soup, make sure you taste the soup for salt. It can go from being bland to overly salted pretty fast. One time when my husband was making this soup by himself, he asked for my opinion for flavoring and I was a little heavy-handed with the salt. Opps!

Recipe for Mac & Cheese Soup

Roasted Tomatoes

This is my absolute favorite way to eat tomatoes in the middle of winter! They are so DELICIOUS and SIMPLE to prepare. I sliced Roma tomatoes in half and sprinkled them with salt/pepper and olive oil. Then, I roasted them in a low temperature oven until they appeared dried out and smaller.

The tomato flavor is very concentrated and tastes 1000 times better than their fresh counterpart during the winter months. Sometimes I used cherry tomatoes (they just take less time to bake) and sometimes I drizzle them with pure maple syrup (they are additively sweet like candy). You could toss them in pasta or on top of a salad. There are so many possibilities!

LESSON LEARNED: This is such a simple preparation, but the results make you look like a culinary genius!

Recipe for Roasted Tomatoes

Orange Roughy in Paper

This dish looks deceptively fancy. It's really easy to make and extremely versatile. For example, I used orange roughy, but you could use any whitefish. For the veggies, I used zucchini, yellow squash, onion, red pepper, and green pepper, but you could use any veggies you have on hand.

The fish and veggies are encased in parchment paper with a slice of lemon and white wine, then baked in a hot oven until the fish is gently steamed. The fish was buttery, light, and slightly lemony. The veggies were swimming in a white wine sauce. So DELICIOUS!

Incidentally, the recipe idea came from Anne Burrell's Cook Like a Rock Star cookbook and after I tasted the fish, I proceeded to dance in the kitchen signing "I cooked like a rock star". Sometimes I get a little excited when I make good food :)

 LESSON LEARNED: Steaming fish in parchment paper adds a ton of flavor! Shhh...don't tell anyone that this could be considered diet food!

Recipe for Orange Roughy in Paper

Spice-Roasted Cauliflower

My love of roasting vegetables continues! First, it was these roasted brussels spouts and now it's cauliflower. This is the perfect side dish for any dinner and it only requires a few ingredients. Cauliflower florets are tossed with olive oil, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper. After they are cooked for 50 minutes in the oven, the cauliflower becomes brown, crunchy, and so DELICIOUS! The cauliflower is sweet, smokey, and slightly spicy. I think I could eat a whole bowl by myself :)

LESSON LEARNED: Roasting vegetables make them extra delicious! You could easily change up the spices and the vegetables. There are so many possibilities!

Recipe for Spice-Roasted Cauliflower

Italian Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

OK, I have a confession to make. Some times I try new recipes and they don't turn out. As I've been cooking more and more, it's easier to look at a recipe and have an idea if the flavor work together or if it will be something I'll like to eat. Last week, I pulled a few recipes some higher-end cooking magazines that feature recipes from famous chefs. I had some success, but I also had a couple failed dishes. At one point in the week, I threw away two dinners in a row and we ate grilled cheese for dinner. I didn't burn the dinner, under cook it, or drop it on the floor. I just didn't like the way it tasted (my husband also agreed with me so at least it wasn't just me!).

This recipe was one of the successes of the week. I didn't have much faith given my previous experience last week, but I thought I would give it a shot. Surprisingly, it tasted REALLY, REALLY good. The chicken was super juicy from cooking it in a mixture of red wine, vinegar, and freshly squeezed orange juice. It was sweet, yet tangy and was perfect with the veggies that were braised in the same liquid.

LESSON LEARNED: Don't be discouraged when recipes don't turn out the way you expect them to.

Recipe for Italian Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

Hummus with Whole Wheat Flatbreads

This dish would make the perfect light lunch or snack. I've been experimenting with mixing up different homemade dips and healthy snack foods, so this recipe fits right in.

I started with dried white beans (I couldn't find dried chickpeas in my store, but I probably didn't look hard enough!), soaked them overnight, and cooked them the next morning. That's the hard way to do things, but you could easily use canned beans.

I was most impressed with my whole wheat flatbread. I let the dough rest for 30 minutes, so I was able to roll out the dough pretty thin. I cooked the flatbread in a dry cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. They cook up super quickly and can burn (the smoke detectors in my house might have gone off!), so watch them carefully. However, the brown spots on the bread really add a TON of flavor!

The bean dip is smooth, lemony, and slightly smokey from a bit of cumin. The flatbreads are soft and nutty from using whole wheat flour. YUMMY! We decided that they would make the perfect appetizer by adding a halved cherry tomato on top.

 LESSON LEARNED: These flatbreads cook up quickly in a dry cast iron pan!

Recipe for Hummus with Whole Wheat Flatbreads

Roasted Salmon with Whole-Grain Mustard Crust

Before moving to Arizona to attend graduate school, I never ate much salmon (or a lot of the other foods I've come to love!). One of my graduate school friends introduced me to oven roasted salmon at our weekly dinner get-togethers. Even though we now live hundreds of miles apart, I still think of her when I make salmon.

This recipe is super simple and can be easily adjusted to taste. The mustard crust only contains 3 ingredients: whole-grain mustard, minced chives, and olive oil. Once you season the salmon filets with salt and pepper, you spread as much of the mustard crust as you want on top and let it roast (i.e. bake) in the oven. Then, you finish off the salmon by broiling it so the mustard turns a deep brown. When we ate this dinner, I rounded out the meal with steamed green beans and buttered fresh fettuccine noodles. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

 LESSON LEARNED: Roasting is an easy way to prepare salmon! When it gets closer to summer, I'll share my favorite cedar plank grilled salmon recipe :)

Recipe for Roasted Salmon with Whole-Grain Mustard Crust

Pretzel Dogs

These little guys are perfect for a snack or lunch. My husband saw this recipe online last weekend and emailed me the link as a "hint, hint, want to try and make these?". I don't think I would have picked this recipe myself, but they were mighty yummy!

You begin by making a homemade pretzel dough and wrapping it tightly around pieces of hotdog (I cut each hotdog into thirds). Each piece of pretzel wrapped hotdog gets a quick bath in a baking soda/boiling water hot tub (i.e. large pot), brushed with egg wash, and sprinkled with salt & pepper. They are then baked until golden brown.

There were two major lessons I learned while making this recipe. First, I experience cognitive dissonance while buying hotdogs (a nod to my training in social psychology!). I needed to buy hotdogs for the recipe, but they are typically not an item I would buy since I stay away from processed, pre-packaged food. I ended up buying an all beef, organic, no hormones added hotdog figuring they were at least a higher quality of ground-up meat. Second, if you make these, wrap and seal the dough very securely around the hotdogs. If you don't the dough will unwind when they bake. It's really no big deal because they taste the same, but they won't look as pretty.

LESSON LEARNED: These will freeze well too! Just heat in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until warm.

Recipe for Pretzel Dogs

Coconutty Chicken with Spinach & Pasta

When I first mentioned to my husband that I was making a coconutty chicken dish, he was not very excited. He absolutely hates coconut. It's one of the foods that he won't even try to eat, so consequently, I don't make very many sweet or savory dishes with coconut. So, needless to say, I wasn't expecting very great reviews of this dish. I was SHOCKED when my husband ate two helpings of this dinner!

I'm pretty sure that it was the sauce that made this dinner EXTRAORDINARY. I would describe it as a creamy, Asian inspired sauce. It contains coconut milk, cider vinegar, and soy sauce with garlic and an earthy flavor from bay leaves. The chicken is cooked in the sauce, then broiled to give crisp the skin. The sauce is tossed with spinach and served along side orzo pasta.

 LESSON LEARNED: A sauce can make a typical chicken dish taste special.

Recipe for Coconutty Chicken with Spinach & Pasta

Kiwi, Goat Cheese, & Toasted Walnut Salad

I'm always looking for new lunch ideas and this salad is the perfect way to re-invent your typical lunch. I could easily imagine this on the menu at a cute bistro. I would definitely order it!

The salad is a spring mix tossed with a kiwi-vinaigrette. It's topped with cubed kiwi fruit, toasted walnut halves, and small dots of goat cheese. The end result is a sweet, nutty, and tangy salad that will brighten up your day. At least it made me smile last week for lunch :)

LESSON LEARNED: A kiwi-vinaigrette is made by mashing a kiwi to extract it's juice, then whisking in olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and salt/pepper.

Recipe for Kiwi, Goat Cheese, & Toasted Walnut Salad

Lobster Pot Pie

We decided not to go out to dinner on Valentine's day. Instead, I decided I would make a dish that I normally would never make: lobster pot pie. A while ago, I saw an episode on Food Network where Ina Garten made these adorable individual pot pies and I filed it away as something I wanted to make in the future. When I decided I didn't want to eat at a crowded restaurant, I immediately knew I would make lobster pot pie at home.

At first, I was intimidated because I haven't worked with lobster before. I knew I didn't want to get a live lobster and cook it at home, so I settled on lobster tail. I still had to cook it (I boiled it very briefly in salted water), but at least I wasn't dealing with a whole lobster. I only bought a single lobster tail because I only needed to make two portions, but the dish ended up with a BIG lobster flavor. The filling is a thickened seafood stock with sauteed fennel and onion along with peas, corn, parsley, and chopped lobster tail. Around the filling is a homemade pie crust which is thick, flaky, and buttery.

This was a DELICIOUS Valentine's day dinner at home!

LESSON LEARNED: We decided that making these pot pies (or any pot pies) in individual servings is the best way to achieve the perfect ratio of filling to crust.

Recipe for Lobster Pot Pie