Homemade Playdough

This recipe for Playdough is all over the internet.  You can find it anywhere.  I got mine from fun.familyeducation.com.  This Playdough was surprising so easy and fast to make!  I have no idea why Playdough is so fun for kids, but my son is crazy about the stuff!

Homemade Playdough
Ingedients:
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
a few drops of food coloring
1 cup flour
Directions:
Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar and food coloring in a pot and turn burner on.  Heat mixture until warm.  Remove from heat and add flour.  Stir until combined.  Once cool enough to handle take out and place on parchment paper.  Kneed dough until Playdough consistency.

Cindy's Tortellini Soup

What a great recipe from cousin Cindy.  This soup is so light on the tummy, but warm enough for a rainy fall day.  This was so easy to make...even with a 1 1/2 year old tugging on my pants while I made the soup.

Cindy's Tortellini Soup
Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth

1 pkg (9oz) fresh cheese, chicken or porobella mushroom tortellini

1 can 15oz. cannellini beans, drained

1 can 15oz. diced Italian tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt to taste

1/3 cup parmesan cheese or asiago cheese

1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions:

In large pot, bring brothe to boil.  Add tortellini. Cook 4 min. Stir in beans and undrained tomatoes. Reduce heat.  Simmer 5 min. Remove from heat. Stir in basil, balsamic vinegar, and salt.  To serve ladle into soup bowls and garnish with parmesan cheese and pepper.

California CheeseBurger

It was such a nice fall evening that my husband and I decided to do a twist on the boring cheeseburger.  Hope you enjoy!

California Cheese Burger
Ingredients:
1lb hamburger meat
a few slices of Monterey Jack Cheese
cilantro
1 lime, juiced and zested
Quacamole to spread
tomato slices
lettuce
buns
Directions:
Mix chopped cilantro, the zest of the lime and the juice of the lime with the hamburger meat.  Grill hamburgers with a few slices of Monterey Jack cheese.  Top burger with lettuce, tomato and guacamole spread.

I Don't Know How She Does It

Okay I totally forgot that I had this "Book" section on my blog (obviously since I only have 1 post and have read a ton of books since then.  I will give a brief summary and then move on:
Bossy Pants by Tina Fey = Loved the book!  So funny!
If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster = Love EVERY book she writes!
Lies Chelsea Told Me by Chelsea Handler = Not as funny as her other books...Kind of disappointing.
Mommy Tracked by Whitney Gaskell = Blah..not great...ending was not good.
The Happiest Mom by Meagan Francis = Predictable

Now onto my latest book:
I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson, I loved this book so much.  What a great book about a working mom juggling her home life with a husband and two children while keeping her high paced finance job.  I was even more excited to hear that Sarah Jessica Parker is staring in the movie verson of the book.  So a few of my book club mommy friends and I went to the movie last night and even though the movie was very different from the book I thought it was the CUTEST movie ever!  The little boy (Ben) reminded me of my 1 1/2 year old and there were a few tears shed by not only myself, but the other mommies too!  I'm pretty sure i'll be buying this movie when it comes out!

Croque Monsieur Pockets

Now normally I don't make anything different for lunch on the weekend, but this was such an easy fast recipe that looked so yummy I couldn't resist.  This is similar to some ham and cheese sandwiches that I make in the oven and just as good!  I couldn't find gruyere cheese at the store so I substituted Havarti cheese (which I LOVE).

Croque Monsieur Pockets
(From the Food Net Work Magazine October 2011 issue)
Ingredients:
1 cup grated gruyere cheese
1 cup deli-sliced ham, chopped
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper
vegetable oil, for brushing
all-purpose flour, for dusting
1 11oz tube refrigerated French bread dough
1 large egg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Mix the gruyere, ham, mustard, nutmeg and cayenne in a bowl until combined.  Squeeze mixture together in your hands to make it more compact.  Brush baking sheet lightly with vegetable oil.  On the floured surface, roll out dough and fill with ham mixture.  Fold the edges to make a pocket and place the pockets seam-side down on the baking sheet.  Beat the egg and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl.  Brush the pockets with egg wash.  Bake until golden brown on top.  About 15 minutes.  Enjoy!

Egg and Hash Brown Tacos

Breakfast for dinner!!!

Egg and Hash Brown Tacos
(from the Food Network Magazine October 2011 issue)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups frozen shredded hash browns
1/2 cup small onion finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup prepared salsa
8 large eggs
salt and pepper
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
8 6-inch flour tortillas, warmed
1 avocado to top tacos
1 cup fresh cilantro
Directions:
Heat the butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add hash brown and cook until golden brown (about 15 minutes).  Heat some butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and add onion and cumin cook for 5 minutes.  Add salsa and cook until heated through (about 2 minutes).  Lightly beat eggs in bowl with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour in skillet with hash browns and cook until eggs are almost set (about 2 minutes).  Stir in half cheese and cook for about 1 more minute.  Place in tortillas and add toppings.

Baked Potato with Crab Mix

This recipe was more loved by my husband than me....So sorry I've been so down about all these meals lately.  I just haven't had something that blew me away yet.

Baked Potatoes with Crab Mix
(From the Food Network Magazine)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Poke holes in potatoes and place them on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 1 hour. 
Mix together 4oz crab meat, 1/4 cup crushed salteens, 2 tablespoons mayo, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, chopped parsley and 1 teaspoon old bay seasoning. Spoon onto bake potatoes and broil until top is golden brown.

BLT's with Blue Cheese-Buffalo Aioli

This sandwich was just okay....I'm not a big Blue Cheese person so I wasn't expecting much.  I just wanted to try something different with BLT's.  Not sure if i'll make this again, but not a food flop...just not for me.

BLT's with Blue Cheese-Buffalo Aioli
(from the October Issue of Food Network Magazine by Aaron McCargo Jr.
Ingredients:
For Aioli
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup crumbed blue cheese
2 tablespoons hot sauce
1 small garlic clove, grated
fresh ground pepper
For the sandwich
Slices of English Muffin Bread
Thick cut bacon
tomatoes, thin sliced
Bibb lettuce

Fresh Salsa

Well I know it's officially fall, but who says you can't have some great salsa (and maybe a margarita) in the fall?
This is a great recipe from my mom.  Every year we would go visit grandma and grandpa in Arizona and have grandpa's famous margaritas and grandma's fresh salsa while sitting on the patio watching the sun set, listening to college basketball finals and smelling the orange blossoms...Man I don't want to think about snow coming just around the corner...

Fresh Salsa
Ingredients:
2-3 medium size ripe Roma tomatoes, quartered
1/4 medium onion
4 sprigs of cilantro
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 jalapeno pepper
Directions:
Put all ingredients into food processor and pulse chop to desired consistency.  Let sit for a while and serve with tortilla chips

Paula Deen's Beef Orange Teriyaki Stir Fry

Now i'm a huge fan of Paula Deen (the butter queen), but when I tried this new recipe from her latest magazine issue I was very unimpressed.  I felt like the stir fry tasted like a bag stir fry you get in the frozen section of the grocery store.