My Recipes: Twofer Tomato Sauce!

Why hello there.

It's been a crazy day and I'm still not done yet. So crazy, in face, that about 4pm I really wanted a BIG glass of red wine. (Handily enough, there's a recently-tapped box of vino sitting on my kitchen counter. Talk about drive-by pouring.)

But... I have to teach a little kiddo his weekly swim lesson this evening, so I figured Mrs. Instructor betta not show up toasted. Thus the wine will have to wait until after I get out of the pool.

You know what also makes me happy, though?

Food. 


You can't ever do me wrong by food. I eat a lot, which is something I'm working on lately (smaller portions just aren't as fun!). But I also love cooking and I try to keep it healthy in the kitchen. But no matter what kind of grub I'm chowing down on, food rocks!

All of that being said, you get a two-for-one deal today. What's that? Ohhh oohh ooooh, I'm glad you asked. See, you might remember the husband and I's recent trip to Sur La Table for a cooking class for my birthday. If you don't (shame, shame!), you can read all about our Tuscan courses right here.

During class, we made the most thick, hearty and delicious tomato sauce from scratch. And it was way easier than I thought it would be! I couldn't wait to replicate it at home, so earlier this week I busted out my 28 ounce can of peeled, whole tomatoes and got to work. For the full recipe and cooking instructions, hop back over to that post and scroll down to the recipe images. You can click on the recipe, then zoom in or print for yourself and keep it in your kitchen.

First things first, I did tackle that box o' wine and poured myself a glass, then set out some pepper jack cheese and crackers for when my husband got home. He's usually pretty hungry when he walks through the door and I may have snagged a couple bites for myself. Goodbye hunger pangs!

I didn't have steak handy, though, so I decided to pair the sauce with some grilled chicken. I got my onions slightly browned in a sautee pan, then added the rest of the ingredients and set it just below medium-high to get it simmering.

Next, I cut all my chicken breasts in half and slathered them with a little olive oil then sprinkled with basil, freshly ground sea salt and black pepper. For the sake of convenience, I just grilled them on our stove-top grill pan in the kitchen rather than hauling them to the big boy outside. They only took 6-8 minutes total to cook. I flipped them once they no longer stuck to the grill.

By the time my chicken had been prepped and cooked, the sauce was beginning to thicken and I'd gently mashed all the tomatoes with a potato mashers. Potato, to-mah-toe!

The hearty tomato sauce was DELISH on top of the chicken, and I'd added a bit more red pepper flakes than the recipe called for which gave a nice spice to our dinner. (We were low on veggies as you can see in the photo, carrots were it!)

But that's not all... this is a "twofer" tomato sauce post, remember?

The next night I brought home two individual pizza crusts and loaded them up with the leftover tomato sauce.

I also added hard salami (I just tore it up into pieces), pepperonis, low-fat shredded mozzarella, shredded parmesan, basil, sea salt and cracked black pepper. I threw on some quartered marinated artichoke hearts on mine. Baked for 10 minutes in the oven at 450 degrees and those bad boys were ready for fine dining... it was so good! Along with another glug of wine, of course. Trend? What trend? I don't see a trend here.

What have you made lately? I'd love to hear all about it. Leave a link to your food post or type out the recipe in the comments section if you dare!

Monday Shopping Rules!

There's something about shopping on a Monday that is so... liberating. For many, it's the first day of the week back at the office with a stack of work three times the height of your desk and Friday seems eons away. Buuuuut.... for a freelancer like me, who just cleared a stack of deadlines three times the height of my desk, this particular Monday was spent in a happy state of mind. I've long had it on my list to get back to Mai's Vietnamese restaurant in Houston for their speciality (garlic beef), and to shop for some super bling pendants to use on my necklaces over at my Etsy shop, Texas Take. And today I scored big on both!

My trusty friend Lisa (who also shares a flexible work schedule) and I hopped in our trucks and rumbled downtown for lunch. She ended up ordering the same thing and we ate up every bite. Mai sure knew what she was doing when she created the garlic beef.

Next, we shopped around the Heights and a few other areas of town looking for wholesale jewelry stores. I lucked out at one and loaded up on a whole bunch of beautiful pendants that are going to look ah-mazing on my new necklaces I have planned! Plus, I got a cool zebra-print mannequin necklace bust on the cheap so I can take better photos of my jewelry on display, rather than trying to angle my elbow in some contortionist move and snap them on my own neck. Sweetness.

I also scored this pair of flip flops that featured three of my current favorites: zebra print, bling and crosses. Now that's a swell find.

On my way home, I made one more pit stop at Hobby Lobby for some more beads (on sale, too!) and found this basket for holding magazines in our bathroom, rather than have them scattered on the floor or sitting on the edge of the bathtub (I like to read while I soak). At $2.10, it was perfect.

All in all, today was a major success. Thanks to Lisa for palling around town with me and stay tuned for an update on my new Texas Take jewelry pieces coming soon!

Makin' Like it's Sunday

Hi ya! What are you up to this fine and glorious Sunday? I'm taking a break indoors to get a little relief from the triple digit temps out there before tackling the lawn with a, well, lawn mower. The husband and I need to sweat out some beer from last night anyway. We joined our next-door neighbors for a Mexican birthday party that, despite being for a 14 year old, had tons of Modelo handy!

That's me, a few beers in...

...and a cute turquoise necklace & bracelet set I made for the birthday girl.

Today we slept in late again (until noon, it was glorious) then I made pizza, salad and garlic bread for lunch and we watched TV. After we felt like we'd already accomplished so much, it was hard to figure out what to do next... *sarcastic eye wink*

So we loaded up our two horses dogs and headed to the dog park. They love going there, especially for the big dog pool they can to swim around in and fetch their dummies we throw for them. There's also a little obstacle course that Jersey manages pretty well. She's our acrobatic dog!

Well, I better quit procrastinating and get out in the yard to help the husband. I can hear the weedeater running already... plus, we have to finish up in time to head over to a friend's house for a family dinner. I think I might, for once, actually be refreshed and ready to conquer a new week tomorrow. ;)

Have a good Sunday!!

Daily Pics: Shopping, Lake Time & Pho!

Happy Saturday, folks! What fun plans do you have for today? We're just hanging out around the casa this weekend, with a trip to the dog park and some hotel researching on the agenda. The husband and I are traveling to New York and Toronto soon, and I can't wait! Been dying to get out of dodge and leave on a jet plane...

In the meantime, here's some Daily Pics I thought you might enjoy. 

From top to bottom:

1.) A tasty bowl of Pho during lunch with a pal, I love mine with the thinly sliced beef.

2.) A cute summer dress I picked up at a random little store in Willowbrook Mall called Love Culture. I hardly ever wear dresses, but this one will look good with my brown boots during a Pat Green concert coming up!

3.) If you recall my recently proclaimed love of zebra, then you'll know I just had to snatch up this $12.50 bracelet with bling, also from Love Culture.

4.) Me and a friend out for some sun and fun at Lake LBJ in Austin!

Have a good weekend, y'all!

My Recipes: Rodeo Beef Casserole

Howdy cowboys and cowgirls, saddle up yer kitchen because it's time to rope in a new recipe!

Ha, okay, so maybe I'll drop the country-time lingo while divulging this awesome dish I came up with the other day. But it's got grilled corn, poblano peppers, jalapenos, tortilla chips and all kinds of other good stuff, er, stuffed inside and I just couldn't resist! Plus, my photos came out soooo pretty, which is always a bonus. Natural light is the best light, unfortunately my lil kitchen can only take so much and natural lighting just isn't abundant there. But it is shiny shiny over at our kitchen table... so I set up the food by the window so you can really SEE it. And it's in my pretty new blue dish from Sur La Table (where we took our first cooking class) that I scored on clearance for $12! *happy dance*

Let's get to the good stuff, shall we? I mean, aside from the most gorgeous food photos you've ever seen in your life, right!? 

It's recipe time... grab a pan, y'all!

**Note: I purchased beef patties that came with corn, cilantro, cheese and jalapenos already mixed in them. I was going to make burgers, but didn't feel like eating that after I had thawed out the meat, so I came up with this recipe instead. You can add similar ingredients to your beef before you put it in the pan, or you can go without. The same rule goes for the rice! Our HEB had microwaveable bags of frozen white rice with corn and poblano peppers already mixed in. Cook your rice of choice and add cooked or steamed corn and sliced steamed peppers as you wish if you can't find the premixed version.

INGREDIENTS

2 pre-seasoned beef patties at your grocer's butcher counter OR 2 lb. ground beef

1 bag frozen rice w/ corn & poblano pepper OR 2-3 cups rice prepared to directions mixed with one can of corn and 1/2 a sliced poblano pepper (steamed)

1 can black beans, drained

Lawry's seasoning salt

1 lime

Fresh ground pepper

Dried or fresh cilantro

Tortilla chips for garnish and serving

Shredded cheese of choice for topping

*If you are not using the pre-seasoned beef mix, it might also be good to add in some jalapenos (from a bottle is fine), onion and cilantro on your own to pump up the flavor. Plain beef can taste bland against the other items in this dish! I also had a cob of corn leftover that we'd grilled the night before, so I shaved the kernels off and added it to my pan as well. Get creative - see what's in your fridge!*

Place the thawed beef in a large saute pan over medium heat and let it begin to brown gently, crumbling the meat with a spoon or spatula. When it's half-way cooked, turn the heat up to medium-high to finish cooking the meat through. Stir often. While the meat is cooking, steam your rice mixture, then add to the pan of cooked beef. Stir in your beans, cilantro and any additional ingredients you've chosen to add. Sprinkle the pan with Lawry's and a liberal amount of cracked black pepper. Squeeze the juice from one lime into the pan, as well, and stir thoroughly. Let heat through, then pour into a large dish. Garnish with tortilla chips around the edges and sprinkle cheese on top.

Git 'er done!!!