BLT Roll-ups

I made these this past week for a co-worker's wedding shower luncheon. They went over well, which always makes me happy! :)

6 - 9in tomato basil or garden spinach tortillas
8oz cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp - ranch dressing
1 pound bacon cooked and crumbled
1 cup shredded lettuce
3 Roma tomatoes, diced

Directions:

Lay tortillas out on flat surface. Combine cream cheese and dressing in small bowel and mix until smooth. Divide between the 6 tortillas and spread into a thin even layer. Sprinkle with a sixth of bacon, lettuce and tomato over each tortilla. Starting at edge roll each tortilla up tightly into a spiral shaped log. Wrap each log in saran wrap and chill for 2 hours. Cut each log into 1.5 - 2in sections.

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

Ingredients:

1-lb ground beef (cooked and drained)
5 cups shredded hashbrowns
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped onion
8oz mexican blend shredded cheese

Preheat oven: 350 degrees

Set aside 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Combine all remaining ingredients in large bowel and mix well.

Pour into 8x8 inch glass baking dish.

Bake 50-55 minutes or until center is hot and edges are golden brown. Sprinkle with reserved cheese over top. Return to oven for 2 more minutes to melt cheese.

(As a side note: I tend to leave the cooked beef out of the rest of the mixture and then layer it into the dish. It's just a personal choice, either way it will turn up with the same results)

Warm Bacon Potato Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon coarse-grained mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 pounds red potatoes, diced into 1-inch cubes
salt
6 bacon slices, chopped
1 medium sized red onion, diced
black pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup freshly chopped dill leaves

Directions:

For the Vinaigrette:
Mix together the white wine vinegar, mustard, sugar in a small bowel and set aside.

Add potatoes to pot of salted cold water. Bring to boil, over high heat then reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes until tender. Drain and place in large bowel. Cover with foil to keep warm.

Add bacon to large saute pan and cook until crisp over medium heat. Remove to a paper towel lined sheet tray and reserve. Add onion, garlic and dash of pepper to bacon grease and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add vinaigrette to vegetables, let cook until reduced and thickened, about 2-3 minutes.

Add potatoes, dill and bacon to the pan and toss to coat with dressing. Allow to cook for 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

09.05.10

This Sunday Sam and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary! I feel very blessed to share my life with someone so amazing. We started our celebration Saturday night with a campfire and some wine. Sunday morning we went to breakfast at a place called "Burnt Toast". Then we headed out to Yorktown mall, mostly to look for a dress for me to wear for dinner that night but didn't find anything I liked. So instead we ended up buying a blu-ray player as Sam's anniversary gift. My gift was a new ring. It's a white gold band that has 3 blue sapphire gemstones in it. It signifies our wedding month stone. Later that night we went to dinner at Fox Fire, a nice restaurant right across from where we had our reception 1 year before. We walked along the river and took a few pictures to remember the day by.






When we got home we toasted each other using the flutes we received at our wedding shower and watched our wedding video. The night before I had attempted to make a replica layer of our wedding cake. However it didn't turn out so well. The cake was yummy but the decoration was not so pretty. Cake decorator successfully removed from my "what I want to be when I grow up" list.

It was a lovely day but just like the actual wedding day it went by all too fast. :( I look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries with my hunny!!!

Back To School

Yesterday began a new school year for Claire. She started 6th grade, next year she's off to jr. high school, yikes!

This is my last semester for my AA degree (FINALLY). I hope to finish the BA part of my degree, in elementary education, starting either next semester or next fall.

To celebrate the first day back at school I made a nice dinner, red wine pot roast. Word to wise don't attempt to prepare dinner in a hurry. I was trying to start the roast in between my classes (1 hour of time) and was cutting onions and almost sliced through my finger! Eek! I really enjoy this recipe it's very flavorful.

Red Wine Pot Roast:

3lb boneless chuck roast
2 tbsp canola oil
Herb and garlic blend seasonings (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
8 large cloves of garlic smashes and chopped
1 large onion chopped
1/2 cup red wine
3 large carrots (I didn't add these as we don't like cooked carrots)
3 large russet potatoes peeled and cubed

In a large heavy pot (with lid) heat oil, sprinkle and rub seasonings over all sides of roast.

Then sear the roast (brown it) on the stove on both sides over med to high heat (approx 3 mins each side). Do not move roast during searing or it won't brown up nicely.

Once browned lift roast out of pot and place onions and garlic at bottom of pot and place roast back on top. Add the wine and cover. Simmer for 3 1/2 hours. Then add cut potatoes and carrots (you may add additional seasoning at this time as well) and simmer for additional 45 minutes.

ramblings

(Sorry no new recipes this post.)

I was hanging out on my favorite forums (the nest on FB) and someone posted a link that dares you not to cry. So I thought I'd share it here...
http://www.wimp.com/coupleromance/

It's so very sweet. In my line of work I deal with cancer on a daily basis. So I couldn't help but think of some of the patient's we've taken care of and their relationships with their loved ones.

Sam and I are approaching our 1 year wedding anniversary this Labor Day weekend. I'm so lucky that God has blessed me with such a wonderful companion with which to share my life. This first year has flown by so fast. We've seen our fair share of rough days but the good days far out weight any bad ones we may have had. I look forward to (God willing) the many years ahead with Sam by my side.

I've been trying to come up with some good ideas of how to spend our first anniversary. It's harder than I thought. I'd like it to be memorable and yet not too expensive. One idea I've thought about was heading to some of our "first" spots we've shared over the past 8 years of our relationship. But whatever we decide to do will be documented in a journal that we will use every year to record how we spent the day and it will include a current picture of the 2 of us. I also plan to take on a small project. Sam and I did not save the top tier of our wedding cake (in fact it didn't make it past the 1st week. LOL). So I will attempt to make a replica layer of our wedding cake. Only difference will be the cake flavors. Sam and I both wanted chocolate cake with banana filling but the cake people didn't recommend it (said it wouldn't freeze well. We should have never listened to them) so we're going to have it in this cake. :)

This weekend has been pretty eventful. A co-worker of mine (who's wedding I attended last year) gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Baby's name has yet to be determined. She wasn't due till our anniversary date actually so she's a couple of weeks early. I'm very happy for her and her husband!

Here's the trouble...I wish it were Sam and I welcoming a new baby to the family. Ever since Claire was a baby herself I've wanted another baby but knew the time wasn't right. The next baby would be done in the right order. All my ducks would be in a row, so to speak. Well now, happily married and officially trying to conceive since January, the cards are not playing out the way I'd like. I used to think God was mocking me...now I'm convinced he down right dislikes me. I must have done something to piss him off. On a daily basis I feel like I'm surrounded by pregnant women. Every other day it seems another girl announces she's expecting "and they weren't even trying!" Ugh gag me. When people find out that we've been trying for this long with no success they try to make it better with "It will happen" or "Don't try" I despise both of those phrases. How do you not try?? It consumes my daily thoughts. My doctor tells me to come back closer to September/October time and they'll do some blood work up. In the mean time I just keep getting to experience the frustration of month after month of negative pregnancy tests.

I could go on about this topic forever, but I won't. I'll leave it at that. I just wish God would answer this one prayer for me.

Jam Packed Fun

(I do have one new recipe to share towards the end of my post.)

Sometimes I like the hussle and bussle of fun activities to keep me busy on my weekends off. Other times I love spending the whole weekend at home with no plans, it's quite relaxing. This weekend was one of those jam packed fun weekends.

Friday started out as an impromptu date night with my hubby. With Claire off at her grandparents for a sleepover, Sam and I decided to go out to dinner. We had plans to see a show but with the weather changing fast we headed home for a movie night at home instead. FINALLY my rain showed up! It was quite the storm. We left the restaurant with the dark sky quickly rolling overhead. I love when the sky changes so much it's daytime one second and dark as night the next. In our 5 minute drive home the sky opened up. The roads were flooded in a matter of minutes. The run from the car to the front door soaked us as much as if we had just jumped in the shower for 20 minutes. CRAZY but awesome!!!

Saturday was a typical errand running day. We made tentative plans to go to the drive in that night (depending on what time Claire got home from a party with her grandparents. I threw a pork roast in the crockpot to make some pulled pork sandwiches to bring with us to the drive-in, and last minute I decided to make some brownies for dessert. Claire arrived home and we made it out to the drive-in. We saw "The Other Guys" and "Salt", both good movies. I love the drive-in it's some good old fashion fun.

Sunday was my brother and soon-to-be sister in law's wedding shower. It was very lovely. They both looked so happy. It makes me happy to see them happy.

Their wedding date is October 10, 2010. After the shower Claire and I met up with Sam and his parents who happen to be in town that day.

Today is my relaxation day. I have plans to do nothing all day long. AHHHH. It's so nice.

As for my recipe... Thursday night I made Singapore noodles. If anyone knows anything about my husband it's that he is a HUGE fan of Chinese food. He enjoyed it. My own criticism is to be careful with that soy sauce. I love soy sauce and get a little carried away with it. Hubby said it was a little too salty because of it. Next time I'll limit my soy sauce in the main pot and just add to my own serving. Oh and just so you are aware it is a bit spicy.

Singapore Noodles:
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup vegetable broth
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 lbs angel hair pasta (cooked and drained)
1/4 cup chopped scallions (white and green parts)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 tbsp toasted sesame seed

Stir coconut milk, broth, soy sauce, curry powder, honey, ground cumin, and ground red pepper in small sauce pan over medium heat.
Add sauce to cooked pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with scallions, red bell pepper, and toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot.

(as a side note, I added some cooked diced chicken to the dish. You can also add pork)