It's All Good

Thursday Night Dinner:
Josh's Review: "It's Good"

Another kind of taco... A warm tortilla shell with Chicken (marinated in chili powder, cumin and s&p), Cabbage, Diced Tomatoes & Goat Cheese. The chicken had a nice flavor, but I liked the seasoning for the other tacos I made. The cabbage had a hard bite, the tomatoes were fresh and light and the goat cheese was delicious and creamy. I was going to use light sour cream, but we didn't have any, so I substituted with goat cheese. Goat cheese is good on anything, right? Yes! But for this dish, I would prefer the cool sour cream.

Saturday Night's Dinner:
Josh's Review: "It's Good"
We grilled a steak, potatoes and onions on the outside grill. I didn't take a picture, but the meal was delicious! I mentioned to Josh, "Do you realize that for everything I'm making your only review is "It's Good"?" His response, "Well, that's because everything is good. I like everything. That's a good thing." Well I'm not going to argue with that.

Josh's Breakfast & Lunch To-Go

 This morning I made Josh two Bacon, Egg and Cheese wraps. For his lunch I made him an egg salad sandwich - with toasted wheat bread, chopped lettuce and cilantro and two hard boiled eggs (that I cooked yesterday) mixed with light mayo and s&p.

Use What You Have

Josh's Review: "It's Good" Did you expect anything else? ;)

Last Night's Dinner

I had more ground turkey that needed to be used, so I decided on another version of turkey burgers. I mixed the turkey with salt and ground red pepper. I also had two more ciabatta buns, goat cheese, an avocado, tomatoes, cilantro and a lime. 

I mixed together diced tomato and avocado, chopped cilantro and lime juice & zest. After cooking the burger, I topped it off with crumbled goat cheese. The turkey was very spicy, which Josh really liked. I loved how the goat cheese and tomato/avocado cooled down the spice. 

I had a few potatoes on hand, so I cut them and tossed them with s&p, italian seasoning and olive oil. I grilled them for a bit and finished them in the oven.


Making dinner with things you already have on hand isn't difficult. I feel as though, if you like all the ingredients you are using, chances are, you can make a meal that you will enjoy. It saves time, not having to run out to the grocery store to get ingredients for a recipe, and it saves money!

Guilt Free & Delicious!

Josh's Review: "It's Good"

Grilled Pineapple and Avocado Salad

Josh has never been a big fan of pineapple. He also said this about bananas. One night I made him Bananas Foster and ever since then he has been hooked; and plain bananas - not just sugary bananas! So, I guess the trick is to lather things he says he doesn't like in sugar and butter in order for him to change his mind. I decided to try this same technique with pineapple. I took pineapple slices, sprinkled them with a combination of sugar and ground red peppers and grilled them.

The ground red pepper was so strong while being grilled. When Josh walked in the door, immediately after the pineapple was done grilling, and smelled the pepper in the air, he said, "That really tickles your throat." ...and then I started sneezing! But the end result is worth it!!

While the pineapple cooled completely, I chopped the other ingredients for the salad: Lettuce, Cilantro, Avocado, Cucumber and Red Onion. Adding a little black pepper, salt, lemon juice and olive oil, the salad is complete!

Shrimp & Mango Kebabs

The salad is ready and the kebabs are prepped. On skewers I put shrimp, seasoned with s&p, red onion, mango and red pepper. Looks pretty even before it's cooked!

It is always nice to be able to have dinner ready to go, so I'm not busy in the kitchen when Josh gets home. This way we have more time to talk before he falls asleep in three hours! haha

I grilled the kebabs until the shrimp was cooked through. 

The onions, red peppers and sweet mango were an incredible combination! I loved the flavors together. The salad was so flippin' amazing. There is no other way to describe it. The pineapple was sweet, yet had a spicy bite to it. The cilantro brought a freshness to the lettuce. The avocado brought creaminess and the onions and cucumbers brought a crunch to round out the entire dish. 

The Complete Meal !

Easter Weekend

* ~ * Special Guests: Patrick & Abbey * ~ *

For Easter weekend, Josh and I went to my cottage with Patrick and Abbey. It was such a nice weekend, with beautiful weather, good company and yummy food.

When we arrived Friday, Abbey and I made a few snacks and we all enjoyed some spirits. I made my chicken wonton cups & Hormel chili dip and Abbey made her Mexican layer dip with chips and celery sticks. :)

Saturday morning, I put out some fresh fruit (Strawberries & Grapes) and started on making brunch. I made Julia's diced potatoes sauteed in butter and chives. I added my own touch, by adding crumbled bacon. Yummy! With that, I made a fried egg placed on a bed of spinach sauteed in butter. We enjoyed a couple momosas and ate our brunch on the deck over-looking beautiful Lake Huron. Not a bad way to start the day, huh?

We spent the afternoon walking on the beach, tossing rocks in the lake, drinking, eating & talking on the porch. Abbey & I whipped up some snacks that we enjoyed on the porch while playing a drinking game. Abbey brought out her delicious Mexican layer dip & I made stuffed Mushrooms.

I have to say, that I probably will never make this recipe again. I love stuffed mushrooms, but I have always found it very difficult to find a recipe that I love. And I think I now know that I do not like mushrooms stuffed with cheese. In my opinion, mushrooms and cheese are not a combination that I enjoy.

Champignons Farcis (Stuffed Mushrooms)

Saturday night, Patrick and Abbey made a delicious feast! Steaks, Onions & Peppers, Salmon, Salad, Rice, Bread & Dip, Oh My! We definitely ate very well that night!

Rapee Morv Andelle 
(Gratin of Shredded Potatoes with Ham, Eggs & Cheese)

Sunday morning we weren't staying very long, because we all were going to Josh & Patrick's parents' house for Easter dinner. I made a little breakfast to tie us all over for a little bit. I wanted something that I could quickly put together and wouldn't have to worry about timing - When would everyone be up after drinking all day yesterday?  I mixed together shredded potatoes, eggs, finely sliced ham, herbs & cheese - threw it in a pyrex dish and into the oven! [A gratin is simply a quiche mixture that is put in a pyrex dish without a pastry shell.] I put the dish on the table and we all grabbed our forks and dove in. No other dishes to clean. Simple. I really liked the flavor and would definitely make this & any variation of it again!

I had such a nice time this weekend. It was the perfect way to have some time alone with the two of them before they moved away. 

Abbey has officially moved, and I miss her already. Looking forward to the next time the four of us are together again. :) Love you, Abs!

My Kind of Tacos!

Last night, I made chicken tacos. But, not just any kind of chicken tacos! This is a recipe of my own! It is quick, simple and ... not to toot my own horn... Delicious!

Josh's Review: "Really Good. Remember this recipe." 

First, I made pickled onions. I sliced a red onion in thin strips, boiled them, and plunged them in ice water. After draining the onions, I combined the onions with a mixture of fresh orange juice, lime juice, sugar & ground cumin. And then I popped them in the fridge.

*~* Tip *~* You'll get more juice from room-temperature citrus

Next, I cut chicken breasts into thin strips and tossed them in a dry rub of Italian Seasoning, Ground Cumin and S&P.

The prep work is done. All that is left to do is cook the chicken, heat the 6 in tortilla shells and assemble! Inside the tortilla shell, I placed the seasoned chicken strips, pickled onions, avocados and goat cheese. The chicken had strong, but not overpowering, flavor, the onions brought a fresh crunch and the avocados and goat cheese brought a rich creaminess. Fresh, flavorful mouthfuls! [Josh loved the pickled onions and he thought they were the best part.] As a side dish, I made corn with butter and s&p.

Complete Meal! :)

Josh has been telling me for years, and mentioned it again last night, that I should write my own cookbook. And my response always seems to be, Who would buy that?

Cooking in Heels

Yesterday, I took back half of the bottles from our party (wow there are a lot!) and stopped at Joe's Produce & Costco ...in heels, of course. When I got home and started washing fruits and veggies and prepping dinner, I noticed I didn't even bother to take off my heels.  & I find myself often cooking with my heels on...I thought, Should my blog be re-named "Cooking In Heels"?

Starting Up The Grill

With the weather warming up and swimsuit season... here!... I can't cook exclusively Julia. I feel her meals are very hearty and comforting (butter, butter, butter) and summer doesn't allow for too many sweatshirts, if you get my drift. I will continue to use her cookbook, but I am definitely going to blog about 'non-Julia' recipes.

Josh's Review: Burger & Fries: "Good" Mayo-Dijon Dip: "Really Good"

Last night, I decided to make Grilled Buttery Burgers and Grilled Steak Fries with a Mayo-Dijon Dip. I found the recipe in one of my cooking magazines and tweaked it a bit to make it a little healthier.

"Almost addictive, buttery burgers are something of a Midwestern phenomenon. They got their start in Milwaukee, where these thin beef patties are served with a hefty pat of real butter. Instead of schlepping a lot of toppings to your favorite cookout spot, just toss this butter log into the cooler."

Condiment Butter ~ What a great idea! I love, love, love this concept. I mixed together unsalted butter, ketchup, yellow mustard, red onion, pickle and a little kosher salt and formed it into a log in parchment paper and placed it in the freezer. Make sure you take it out of the freezer while the burgers are cooking, so it softens before being placed on the burger. I think it makes the burgers look so pretty! Look at that color!

Mayo-Dijon Dip ~ For the Dip for the Steak fries, I mixed together Light Mayo, Dijon Mustard and Turkey Bacon Bits. Light Mayo tastes the same as regular and Turkey Bacon is very good and Half the price of regular bacon. I put the dip in a cute serving cup and put it in the fridge.

The Steak Fries were very simple. I sliced potatoes into wedges and tossed them with olive oil and s&p. They are prepped and ready to be grilled.

When Josh got home from work, I said, "I'm going to start up the grill. We are having burgers tonight." What was his response? "I'll do it." So, I said, "No it's okay, you don't have to do it." Well. Apparently, women can't grill. Did you know this? "Grilling is a man's job." So, I must give credit, where credit is do. Josh did the grilling... with my supervision. :)

The Steak Fries were grilled to perfection and placed in a pyrex dish. After I put the grilled steak fries in the dish, I sprinkled them with cheese and placed the dish on the grill to melt the cheese.

Turkey Burger ~ Instead of beef, I used ground turkey mixed with a little relish, red onion, yellow mustard and worcestershire (whats this here) sauce. I decided to dress the burger with shredded lettuce mixed with cilantro and slices of Roma tomatoes on a ciabatta bun. Cilantro brought such an amazing freshness to the burger. And ciabatta buns are the only way to go when it comes to burgers! With the addition of the slice of condiment butter to top it off, the burger was so colorful. How often can you say that about a burger?

It was so nice to sit outside at our picnic table. What a beautiful night. I didn't tell Josh what was in the dip... and he was definitely using a lot on his fries! Halfway through the meal, he was in love with the mayo-dijon dip and asked what it was... After I told him, he stopped using as much for each fry, because he wants to watch his figure. :)

Complete Meal! :)