spinach and artichoke dip.

A few years ago my mom found a recipe for spinach and artichoke dip on one of her favorite recipe websites, Epicurious. She showed it to me, and it's become my tradition to make it every year for the holidays. Thanksgiving, maybe Christmas, definitely New Years. Without fail, someone is always asking for the recipe. I mean, who doesn't LOVE spinach and artichoke dip? It's the perfect appetizer. It's the perfect mix of garlick-y and creamy. And its so easy to throw together before your guests arrive.

BAKED SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP
2 (6 oz.) packages fresh baby spinach
1 tablespoon butter
1 (8 oz.) package 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1. Microwave spinach in a large, microwave-safe bowl at high 3 minutes or until wilted. Drain spinach well, pressing between paper towels. Chop spinach.

2. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add cream cheese and garlic; cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until cream cheese melts. Fold in spinach, artichokes, sour cream, and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese; stir until cheese melts.

3. Transfer mixture to a 1-qt. shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese.

4. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve immediately.

You can serve with bread, crackers or pita wedges. We like ours with nice little pieces of bread! Enjoy!

the tomato sandwich.

...better known as my favorite lunch.

Your favorite sandwich bread + a dab of mayonnaise + sliced tomato + spike seasoning* + lettuce = your perfect lunch equation.

Please excuse me, I do math equations all day long. ;-)

*Spike is a seasoning that my Dad used to use on a lot of our foods when we were younger. Especially tomato sandwiches. He used to sell it at his produce market, so we had an abundance of its flavor in our daily diet. One day, he wasn't able to order it anymore, and we were all sad for a long long time. Until...he started searching for it online and found the real thing a few months ago. He ordered a few jars of it, and gave one to me. Seriously...do yourselves a favor and try it out. I love it on my tomato sandwiches because I just think it enhances the flavor of the tomatoes so much. Yum yum.

What's your favorite lunch?

mix-up.

I know it's turned into fall, and you're all enjoying your nice, cool weather. But we are still sweating it out down here in good 'ole Florida. We think we can feel fall in the air when the humidity level has gone down a little bit and the temperature is 89 degrees.

We are also still enjoying the refreshing fruits of the summer time. The last peaches, watermelon, good and juicy tomatoes. Yum yum. We are also enjoying tastes of the fall here and there, too. Apples, pumpkin bread, soup (we're crazy).

What are your favorite foods of the summer and fall?

I've been doing an awful lot of cooking lately. Honestly, I don't really know what's gotten into me. It could partly be because my mom has been sick with pneumonia for the past week, but all of this cooking has really been good for me, I think.

Well, like I said, my mom has been pretty sick lately. What's the best thing to eat when you're sick? Chicken noodle soup, of course!

Simple Chicken Noodle SoupIngredients: 1 whole chicken

Water
Chicken broth (if you have it on hand)
Celery
Baby carrots
1 yellow onion
Half a bag of frozen peas and corn
1 bay leaf
Your favorite noodles

Preparation: Clean chicken and celery
Fill pot with water and chicken broth until halfway up the the chicken.
Throw baby carrots, celery stalk and whole onion in pot.

Get it cookin': Bring to a boil, scoop foam off of the top of the broth, then let simmer on medium-low for an hour.
Take chicken out of pot and let it cool. Throw away veggies that were cooking with the broth.
Chop up baby carrots and celery and throw it in the pot.
Cut as much chicken as your heart desires, throw in the...you guessed it...pot.
Do the same with frozen corn and peas, noodles and bay leaf.. (I used lasagna noodles which are as big as my face, so I broke them into small pieces.)
Bring to a boil, then let simmer until noodles are soft.

Eat and enjoy!

soft & chewy chocolate cookies.

Today I was a busy little bee. I had dance practice for 2.5 hours, vacuumed, mopped, dusted, and cooked a whole meal with dessert on my own. I've been doing quite a bit of this cooking thing lately, and I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it. 

So I really want to talk about this dessert. Right now. We can talk about the rest later.

soft & chewy chocolate cookies

What you need: 4 squares unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup (1 -1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour

Heat: oven to 350 F. Microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar; mix well. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour (Do not overmix.) Refrigerate 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

Shape: into 1 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets (parchment paper is better ;-)

Bake: 8 min. or until set. (Do not overbake.) Let stand on baking sheet 1 min; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: the recipe that I used was found on the back of a Bakers chocolate box. It calls for cool whip as a topping with chocolate in it, but... 1. I hate cool whip/ whipped cream. 

I was going to make some sort of other chocolate topping, but I had been cooking/cleaning/dancing all day and my feet hurt. Peanut butter did work wonders, though.

sensational strawberry & blueberry smoothie

what you need.
7 very ripe fresh strawberries
handful of fresh blueberries
1 yoplait strawberry yogurt
handful of ice cubes

what you do.
throw it all in the blender and blend until it's all smooth.

what you get.
a wonderful smoothie where the freshness of the berries shines through in every sip. the yogurt adds the perfect thickness to it. not too creamy or sweet. just right.

this is perfect for a busy day, when you need to throw something together quick, and you're worried about not getting your daily four fruits and veggies in. you've got two fruits and a bit of dairy packed in.

or if you just need to get rid of the older strawberries in your fridge. ;-)

 

 

my first recipe - baked ziti with homemade sauce.

1. handful of fresh basil, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. (note: i didn't measure anything out while doing this, so add to your hearts desire.)

2. 2 garlic cloves

3. chop garlic and herbs. (this is a must. i forgot to chop the herbs, and the taste of them was really strong.)

4. put a little olive oil in the bottom of a medium sized pot. 

5. add garlic and herbs. 

6. let simmer for about a minute on medium.

7. have 1 can organic crushed tomatoes (bigger can), and 1 can organic diced tomatoes ready to pour in.

8.add a little salt, pepper, and a spoonful of sugar.

9. let sit on low until ready to be poured onto noddles.

10. chop one block of sargento mozzarella cheese.

11. cover bottom of a medium-sized casserole dish with tomato sauce. 

12. add a layer of pasta, sauce, cheese. do this 2 times. 

13. add extra shredded mozarella cheese to top, and put in oven at 375 for 20-25 minutes. 

ta da! the only complaint i have is the fact that the herbs were too strong, because i didn't chop them up. other than that, it was delicious! 

enjoy!

fabulous fall.

it's here! it's here! i have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this cool/cold front all week long. it is in the 70's right outside my window.

i know, i know. all my northern friends are probably laughing at me because that's probably something like their summer. what can I say? i'm just a floridian who gets excited at just the tiniest hint of something that resembles cooler weather. today marks the first day of weather that is finally below 90 degrees since summer. today marks the first day of fall in my books.

i have never lived anywhere else in my life, but i do know that when weather like this comes around, the neighborhood springs to life. you see people walking all around the place, enjoying the fresh air they have so desperately been missing since the start of summer. this is our time!

and! the food in my house suddenly changes. we put the burgers and barbeque away and bring out the pork chops and pumpkin pies and PUMPKIN BREAD! that's right! we are making pumpkin bread today. we had pumpkin pie a couple weeks ago, but i can officially get excited about these things. all because it says 73 on my termometer. yes yes yes! things are looking up!

also! i said a few days ago i would post about things i miss during the fall because i never get to experience them. well, i forgot about it until yesterday. just didn't want to put a damper on my fall party i'm having here. so that will be tomorrow!

hope you are having a fabulous fall day, friends!

things I thoroughly enjoyed today:

1. Sleeping in past 8:00, if only until 8:30. Yes, that is most definitely sleeping in to me.
2. Feeling the promises of fall in the air through the breeze.
3. Having the house to myself for half of the day, with no one distracting me.
4. Therefore I fulfilled my hopes of having a day for just me and getting through the burned out feeling i've been having.
5. Diving head first into the world of Narnia and the magic that lies within the pages.
6. Laundry.
7. Listening to Jason Gray while folding laundry and then sitting on my bed for a few minutes after I was done just to hear my favorite song on the extended version.
8. Drinking sweet tea that I made.
9. Making myself a wrap for the second day in a row. This can be our little secret. ;-)
10. Making healthy choices for dinner by eating a salad.

What are then things that you did today that you absolutely loved? I'd be delighted to know.