Pie oh my

Now it might be a coincidence that I just titled this post the name name as Tony Soprano's horse. Since I've been slightly obsessed with this amazing series it's no wonder it slipped into my subconscious. But 'pie oh my' just seemed to fit this very delish picture and truly it tasted ten times better than it looked. So it's 'Black Friday' night. I've shopped, prepped cooked, washed, cleaned, swept,set, ate  and ate some more. Then I sat down to a plate of my own delicious creation. I have given up counting calories a long time ago. I've really just adopted the idea of everything in moderation. So I sunk my fork into the pumpkin pie. The creamy texture filled my mouth immediately followed by the warmth of spice. Cinnamon. Ginger. Cloves. And the slight crunch of the flakey crust. I took a breath and savored that moment. If this was the reward for all the hours of prep, then I was all for it. Truth be told, I love the prep. The lists. The anticipation. I'm not really sure why I do. But after we ate, my twelve year old stood up and came over to me. Hugged me and said 'thanks mom that was delicious' wow. Talk about a blue ribbon mom moment. I must be doing something right. So often I doubt that. But today that was put to rest or at least quieted a bit. So I do believe two pieces if homemade pie with (ok fine it was canned whipped cream but that's only because there were dishes barricading my mixer and I couldn't actually get to it) whipped cream. I think a son kissing his mom and saying thank you is about the best reason to sit and celebrate. So I did. Happy Thanksgiving. 

Back from a long (too long) of a break...

The last time I posted was a year and a half ago. I hadn't even looked at my blog in months. Then for whatever reasons I read it and realized not only did I really enjoy it and miss it but it really did serve as a memory bank for times spent with my kids. Little things that were said and done that often are forgotten in the shuffle of life. I don't want that. I want to remember much more of my children's life than I am. This blog will help me do that along with many other things. My past posts have been about everything from cooking to organizing to books. That's how I plan to continue because that's who I am. Lots of different interests and passions and most often they change daily. One thing I hope to do more of is paper crafts and things like that. I have a few ideas for cooking and baking and am excited to get started again. Here are two beautiful pics I took last night while out walking with my friend...

Mom... whats for dinner?

My son: mom whats for dinner Me: Stew... My son: what kind of stew.... Me: stew stew.
HA! Im so funny. I was saying this as I was loading in my 239th load of laundry that day. I wasnt in the mood for such complicated questions!
So I started off with two beef boulion cubes and some butter. Probably half a stick...

 While that is melting together I grabbed flour and emerils seasoning and seasoned up the flour for the stew meat

 Then I gathered the rest of the ingredients. Mushrooms. Baby carrots. And an onion.

 Seasoned the flour...ALOT

 Coated the meat

 After the onions were soft and everything had melted together I added the meat and carrots

 The meat browned up really nicely. YUM

 Added the mushrooms ...

 Added the potatoes and more seasoning...

 After the meat was browned I put the pot in the oven at 350 for about an hour or so. It tasted really really good but the meat was still a little tough so I would have liked to have kept it in a little longer. There was alot of spice to this dish. Really warmed me up. yum

Sausage and Egg mess....but sooo good

I made up this recipe one nite when i wanted to make breakfast for dinner but didnt want to use 38 pots and pans or fuss with an omelet. So I started off by browning up some trusty old Jones breakfast sausage. YUM. Its in the frozen section. Its not the links its a roll of it for lack of a  better description.

 Here is the sausage you can see it sorta in its original 'log' form. I just browned it up

Then once it was all cooked I added a chunk and I do mean chunk of frozen hash brown potatoes. I just took it out of the freezer and threw some in. Maybe about a cup or two.

I let this cook for a while on high heat because I really wanted a crispy tater

Then I added some eggs. It was probably 4 or 6. I cant really remember. Whatever you think your family will eat. I scrambled them with a little milk salt and pepper and put them in the pot and turned the heat down to keep them from over cooking .

I let the eggs cook a while on low because I was going to add cheese and I wanted to be sure the eggs were fully cooked before I added the cheese so I didnt mistake uncooked eggs for melted cheese.... ick

 After I dished it out I added a little more cheese to the top. It was just shredded cheese in a package. I think the mexican blend. It doesnt have any mexican seasoning or anything I just like the way it melts... and tastes!

 Thats it! I have no idea why the picture quality is so poor. I apologize! You could very easily add all sorts of ingredients that you would to any type of omelet. Mushrooms onions peppers ham... I just had these 4 ingredients and it really came out delicious and was very easy and quick to clean up!

Some Quick and Easy Dinners

Since I blogged about a long time consuming I thought I would follow it up with a few easier ones that are great for busy weekenights. The first was artichoke pasta. There are some easy  variations to this. You can add mushrooms, spinach or chicken. I usually dont add chicken because its an easy meat free meal that you can make with items in usually in your pantry. Ok here we go!

Atrichoke Pasta
Gather your ingredients. There is only a few! A can of artichokes a lemon some parm cheese and o I forgot, a pot of boiling water for whatever pasta you want to use. I used penne.

Star with about a half a stick of butter in a pan and chop up 2-3 cloves of garlic.

Chop up your artichokes into quarters. I wouldn't go any smaller because they may just fall apart and we wouldn't want that!

 Throw those in with the garlic.

 ....add a handful of pecorino romano cheese (aka parm cheese)

 Squeeze in juice of one lemon and about a cup of water. Let this simmer while the pasta cooks...Then drain the pasta and stir in with the artichoke mix. I added some shredded mozz cheese at the end and tossed it all together. You can absolutely leave this out. I usually do!

Another pic of this creamy tasty easy pasta dish...enjoy every bite!