Happy Super Bowl week folks! The anticipation building up to the big game eats is my favorite part of the Super Bowl. I mean seriously, I don’t even know who is playing. I know Madonna is doing the half time show and there will be some Ferris Bueller commercial but that’s about it. Well that isn’t completely true, I also know that I will be eating a lot. And these sandwiches will be numero uno on the list.

Chances are I won’t be making as much for this year’s Super Bowl as I have done in the past. In between tummy time, nursing, cuddle time with little man and the commercials I know I just won’t have the time to make 4 different kinds of chicken wings like I did last year. That is where dishes like this sandwich come in handy because it uses already made pulled pork making the cooking time almost null. Gotta love that.

If you don’t have a pulled pork recipe that you like, here is mine from way back.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, stem removed, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (divided)
• 2 cups pulled pork
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon lime
• 8 slices crusty french bread, toasted
• 2 avocados, pits and skins removed, sliced

1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Stir in onion, jalapeno, garlic powder, cumin and 1/2 teaspoon chili powder. Stir in pork and cook just until warmed through. Stir in cilantro. Remove from heat.
2. In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, lime and remaining chili powder.
3. To make one sandwich: spread mayonnaise on toasted bread, top with 1/4 of the pork mixture and 2 slices of avocado. Serve.

Enjoy!

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, I’ve got a plethora of recipes floating around in my head.  From a new recipe for wings, to more dips to these scrumptious, crispy wontons. I’ve had these wontons in my head for quite some time and yesterday, when my little man went down for a nap, I finally got the chance to try them out. They were easy, delicious and gone in a split second. Everything a good Super Bowl snack should be.

I originally was going to simply make guacamole wontons sans bacon but when I opened the refrigerator to get the wonton wrappers I saw the bacon. EUREKA! Guacamole and bacon is like a match made in heaven. Guacamole Bacon burgers anyone? But to take the guacamole and the bacon and put that inside a wonton wrapper and fry until crispy and golden, man oh man. It was like a little pocket of heaven.

Makes about 12 wontons

You will need:

• 4 slices bacon
• 2 medium avocados
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 red onion, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 wonton wrappers
• oil for frying

1. Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and allow to cool. Once cool crumble into pieces.
2. Cut the avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pit. Scoop the flesh of the avocado into a bowl. Mash the avocado with a fork, until mostly smooth.
3. Mix in lime juice, cumin, chili powder, red onion and salt. Stir in bacon. Chill for at least 30 minutes to give the flavors a chance to meld.
4. When you are ready to cook the wontons, place 1 heaping teaspoon of the guacamole in the center of the wonton wrapper. Dip your finger into a bowl of water and run your finger along the edges of the wrapper. Fold bottom corner of the wrapper over the filling  and press all edges to close the wrapper, you’ll have a triangle. For presentation purposes, with the top of the triangle facing away from me, I folded up the left and right corners, but it is not necessary.
5. Heat 1 inch of oil in a pan to 350 degrees. Fry wontons, in batches if necessary, until golden brown. About 1 minute. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with kosher salt. Allow to cool several minutes. Serve.

Enjoy!

We had our first snowfall of the year on Sunday. I had been waiting for snow for quite some time. I love snow days. I love how cozy they are. I love how the world gets silent when the snow falls. I love sipping hot chocolate and making snow angels. However, I must say there is one thing I do not like about snow days. I do not like when snow days happen to fall on the day that I scheduled a massage. So instead of relaxing and spending the day in the spa, I spent the afternoon in the kitchen making these comforting meatballs. After eating them I almost forgot about the massage. Almost.

Anything with roasted garlic is bound to be a favorite in our home. And these meatballs are no exception. The garlic is sweet and fragrant. The herbs add a lovely earthy flavor. And the turkey that the recipe calls for makes a meatball that is much lighter than the traditional beef meatball. While I served these meatballs for dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans, I think that with some toothpicks stuck in them these would make the perfect addition to any cocktail party or say… the perfect snack after a rescheduled massage.

Makes about 15 meatballs

You will need:

• 1 bulb (or head) of garlic
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• sprinkle kosher salt
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut 1/4 inch off the top of the bulb of garlic to expose the cloves beneath, but do not peel the garlic, you want to roast it in the skin. Place bulb on a piece of aluminum foil, place butter on top, pour lemon juice over the garlic and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bring up all sides of aluminum foil and twist together to close. Cook for 60 minutes or until garlic cloves are soft and golden in color. Allow to cool.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
4. Combine turkey, shallots, egg, rosemary, sage, thyme, kosher salt and pepper in a bowl. Use a fork to remove garlic cloves from the skin and add to the mixture. Mix well. Roll into approximately 15 meatballs.
5. Place meatballs in a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Turn on the broiler for 5 minutes to brown. Serve.

Enjoy!

I know I know, as everyone has their  New Year’s resolutions to start eating better, I have to go and share this.. erm… hearty recipe. But what can I say, I’m a nursing mother, I need my calories and these spicy, cheesy mashed potatoes are the perfect way to get them. They are also great side dish on these cold January days and would be perfect with the Jalapeno Garlic Pork Shoulder.

You will notice that I chose to use chicken broth in this recipe instead of cream. I started doing that recently as a way to lighten up traditional mashed potatoes and find that I really like the flavor. With that said if you would prefer more of a creamier mashed potato substitute milk or cream for the chicken broth.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, diced
• 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 green onions, diced

1. Place potatoes in a large pot of water. Bring to a boil and cook just until fork tender.  Drain.
2. Return potatoes to the pan. Add in chicken broth, butter, chipotle, adobo and kosher salt. Use a handheld mixer to whip the potatoes.
3. While potatoes are piping hot stir in cheddar cheese so that it melts. Stir in green onions. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

These last two months have been a whirlwind. I know Thanksgiving happened. I know Christmas came, followed by the New Year but man oh man has it gone by in a split second. I didn’t even have a chance to make Christmas cookies this year.  I suppose when you live your life in 3 hour nursing session increments then that is bound to happen. However in between these sessions, I did manage to make this succulent, spicy, garlicky pork shoulder. With it’s easy prep, long but inactive cooking time, this is the perfect dish for this new mama.

I didn’t eat a lot of pork during my pregnancy. First of all salami and ham were off limits. And second, aside from the two things I couldn’t eat, pork just did not sound good to me. Like. At. All. I am making up for lost time now as I have eaten my fair share of salami, ham and I’ve actually made this pork twice in the last two weeks with another dinner planned this week. What is great about this dish, the pork is great as an entree by itself but it can also be used in many different recipes, a couple of which I hope to share with you in the coming weeks. In the meantime you’ve got to try this. And if you have one, it would be great cooked in a slow cooker.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 2 jalapenos, stem removed
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2.5 pounds boneless pork shoulder

1. Combine jalapenos, garlic, salt and vinegar in a food processor. Pulse until jalapenos and garlic are finely diced. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in olive oil.
2. Use a knife to put shallow cuts all over the pork shoulder. Place the pork in the marinade and turn to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Place the pork in a baking dish. Pour the excess marinade over the top. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 3 hours or until a thermometer reaches 160 degrees. Remove from oven and allow to rest 10 minutes before slicing or shredding.

Enjoy!

Hey everyone! I know it’s been a while. We’re just trying to get to know our little man so I haven’t been spending any time in the kitchen aside from making myself some toast. I was planning on taking this time all along, what I wasn’t planning was for little man to come 3 weeks early so I don’t have as many recipes ready to share as I hoped. I did however happen to make this yummy curry in the days before he came. It’s quick, easy, creamy and the use of the pumpkin makes it the perfect pasta for fall.

As much as I love sweet pumpkin recipes like this or this, I really enjoy using pumpkin in savory dishes as well. It’s a nice change of pace. I’ve found that the deep earthy flavor of curry pairs very nicely with pumpkin. And because I like dishes with a little kick I add a little garam masala to the mix too. If you find that curry powder is enough spice for you feel free to leave out the garam masala.

Serves 2 – 4

You will need:

• 8 ounces dried penne pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (optional)
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 2 green onions, diced

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Cook onion just until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and garam masala. Stir in the pumpkin. Slowly pour in the chicken broth and heavy cream. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until thickened slightly, 3 – 5 minutes.
3. Add pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Stir in salt. Add more if desired.
4. Transfer pasta to a serving dish, sprinkle with green onions and serve.

Enjoy!

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you had a great pre-Halloween weekend. Ours was relaxing, we finished the nursery, carved pumpkins, watched horror movies and ate comfort food. What was even better than the fantastic weekend was that I had a bit of an energy burst yesterday. I spent the day cooking in the kitchen. It felt great. I made chili that I let simmer all day. And then I decided to make these cupcakes. These vanilla flavored, chocolate loaded, cute as a button cupcakes.

I’ve always been a bit shy about making any kind of super decorative cupcakes. I usually just stick to piping on the frosting. But this year, I decided to let my inner artist take over. And as you can see by the masterpiece like quality of my jack-o-lantern face, you don’t need to be particularly artistic to make these. It’s really just more about having fun because regardless of what the final product looks like, trust me, they taste amazing.

Makes 12 cupcakes

You will need

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 – 5 tablespoons milk
• orange, yellow and green food coloring
• 1 (0.75 ounces) tube of black decorating gel

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat sugar and butter until well combined. Beat in eggs and egg white one at a time. Beat in vanilla.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Stir in milk. Add remaining flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Place cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Fill each liner 2/3 of the way full.
5. Bake cupcakes for 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs on it.
6. Remove cupcakes from the oven, allow to cool a couple of minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. While you are waiting for your cupcakes to cool, beat together powdered sugar and butter until fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Stir in milk until the frosting reaches a stiff but spreadable consistency.
8. Divide frosting into bowls. Use the yellow and red food coloring to make the orange for the pumpkin. Use the green to make the color for the stem. Use enough of each color to get your desired color.
9. Frost the cupcakes with the orange frosting. Use the green frosting to make a stem. Use the black decorating frosting to make desired faces on the cupcakes.

Happy Halloween!

I really love pasta dishes. I love them because I love pasta, I love them because they are comforting and most of all I love them because if you have a box of dried pasta and some meat or veggies, in this case fettuccine, broccoli and Italian sausage,  you’ve got yourself a meal. A meal that can usually be put together in about a half an hour. Which for me, at this point in my pregnancy has become more important than I ever thought.

I am currently 9 months pregnant. Yet I have about 4 more weeks to go. I feel like I’ve been lied to my whole life. Word to the wise you are actually pregnant for 10 months. Not that I am complaining, I’m just starting to get really uncomfortable. I have even noticed that these past few weeks I’m having trouble standing long enough to do any experimenting in the kitchen. As a result I have gravitated towards dishes like this pasta that are easy to make, sure to be crowd pleasers, limit the amount of time that I am standing and satisfy my pregnancy craving for anything creamy.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound Italian sausage links
• 1 pound dried fettuccine
• 2 crowns broccoli, chopped into florets
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook sausage until cooked through. Slice and set aside.
2. While you are cooking the sausage, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. During the last 3 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli florets to the water. Cook until they are bright green and have softened. Drain.
3. Melt the butter in the pan, stir in the garlic, cook for 30 seconds. Return the sausage, pasta and broccoli to the pan. Add in cream cheese and heavy cream. Stir continuously until cream cheese melts. Stir in shredded Parmesan cheese. Toss until combined. Turn off heat and let pasta set for 5 minutes while sauce thickens. Toss once more. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Alright, so I know I just said on my last post that I should be eating healthy snacks. But what I didn’t say was that I should be eating healthy snacks all the time. You see, a girl is allowed a splurge every now and then. Although the way that I like to splurge on jalapeno poppers would probably be considered obscene by some. There is just something so good about the spicy jalapeno, the melted cream cheese and the crispy, salty breading. Just typing about them makes me want to go make some more right now. It’s a good thing, or not depending on how you look at it, that these are super easy to make.

With all of my talk about how obsessed I have been with jalapeno poppers throughout this pregnancy, I was surprised when I looked through my recipe index and noticed that I did not post a recipe on the blog for them. Sure I have these bacon filled gems, oh and you cannot forget these ones loaded with chorizo, or my most recent mac n’ cheese but there is far little that compares to the original. Simply put: These. Are. Heaven.

Makes 8

You will need:

• 4 fresh jalapenos, sliced in half lengthwise, seeds and stems removed
• 4 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 – 2/3 panko bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
• oil for frying

1. Divide cream cheese evenly and press into jalapenos.
2. Set up an assembly line with flour in one bowl, beat the egg and milk together in another bowl. In a third bowl combine 1/2 cup panko, granulated garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Dredge the the cream cheese stuffed jalapenos in the flour, dip in the egg and then press into the bread crumbs until completely coated. Repeat with all jalapenos adding more bread crumbs if needed. Place on a plate, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow to set.
4. When you are ready to fry the jalapenos, heat 2 inches of oil in a pot over medium-high heat. When it reaches 350 degrees, or when bread crumbs sizzle if dropped into the hot oil, fry the jalapeno peppers until golden brown. About 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Allow to cool a couple minutes and serve.

Enjoy!

With only 5 or so weeks left of this pregnancy, I’ve reached the point where I can’t eat 3 large meals a day. Instead I need to snack. As much as I want to snack on Oreos, french fries, potato chips and a host of other things that I dreamed of eating day and night while pregnant, the truth of the matter is I should be eating stuff that is a little bit healthier. Something that satisfies my need to snack as well as my tummy. This protein packed, spicy hummus does just that.

Not only is this the perfect food for a snacking pregnant woman, it also happens to be a really good party dip. Whether it be a super bowl party, world series party or a night with the girls. It really is a crowd pleaser, just make sure you keep an eye on the heat. I used two chipotle peppers and it was a tad bit spicy. If you like things a little less spicy use 1 pepper.

While this dip would be great with veggies or pita chips, I actually decided to fry some flour tortillas and sprinkle them with salt and cumin. It was a nice twist, and super easy to do. Just slice the flour tortillas into triangles and fry them until golden, 1 – 2 minutes.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

You will need:

• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, 3 tablespoons of the liquid reserved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 – 2 chipotle peppers in adobo
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon lime zest

1. Combine garbanzo beans, reserved liquid, olive oil, chipotle peppers, paprika, cumin, lime juice and kosher salt in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.
2. Transfer the hummus to a bowl, sprinkle with lime zest. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.  Serve.

Enjoy!