Pretty Coleslaw

Who doesn't love creamy, crunchy slaw on top of a nice big juicy burger? Or on a hot dog?

Ok, so I realize that there are probably many, many people in this wide world that don't like coleslaw.  But I, am not one of them.

I love it!  With its slightly sweet, slightly tangy, crunch, its the perfect (or so I think) summer salad.

I've never made homemade slaw before, and so when I found a recipe for it that looked fairly simple, didn't require me to heat up my kitchen (hallelujah!) and I had (almost) all of the ingredients, I jumped on it.

Pretty Slaw
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

What you'll need:
1/2 head of cabbage
1/2 head of red cabbage (the pretty factor)
1/2 C milk
1/2 C mayo (I suppose you could use Miracle Whip, or something but...why?)
1 t. white vinegar
1T. sugar (I used truvia)
1/4 t. salt
A few dashes of cayenne pepper

Slice the cabbages in half

I never quite picked up the hang of coring cabbage. I've banged it on the counter, the floor, you name it. And I haven't ever felt the urge to buy cabbage in large quantities to practice on. So I cut it out. Don't judge me.

Isn't it preeeeetty?

Incidentally, why do they call it red cabbage?  It's...purple.  A pretty, pretty purple.

Slice both cabbage halves thinly and put 'em all in a bowl.

In a separate, smaller bowl, add the milk,

vinegar,

mayo,

salt, sugar, and cayenne pepper.  Mix it all together really well.

Pour milk mixture over cabbage.

Mix it up well, then cover and stick it in the fridge for a few hours.

You want to leave it in there for at least two hours.  The flavors need time to meld.  To marry.  To become one.

Yeah, ok I'm done now.  Enjoy!

Love, Liz

Also, I'm not really sure why this is all centered down here, and not up top.  It just kind of worked out that way.  :)

Caprese Pizza

Hey there! Long time, no see! And why is that, you ask? Well, because I’m lazy. And to be honest, I haven’t really been making anything worth blogging lately. There have been a couple of things here and there that have made me say, “Oh! I should have blogged this!” but nothing too fancy. But this time…this pizza…it deserves to be delivered to the masses. “The masses” being the maybe eight people that read this blog haha.

I love caprese anything. Tomatoes, basil, mozzarella cheese, and olive oil? How can that not sound good? Just a couple of simple ingredients and you have delicousness. So, here I give you, caprese pizza.

The music: None this time as I was watching re-runs of The Vampire Diaries. Vampires love pizza…it’s a fact…trust me.
The drink: Not coffee! Believe it or not, it was water this time.

Ingredients for the noms:

Olive oil

5 tomatoes (I used ‘on the vine’ tomatoes but use whatever looks good that day)

A couple of handfuls of fresh basil

Approx. 2 ½ cloves of garlic

A homemade or store bought pizza crust (Yeah, I used a Pilsbury one this time…sue me)

1 ¾ c. mozzarella cheese (The cheese opted to not have its picture taken today)

Preheat the oven to 425. Slice the tomatoes, not too thick, not too thin and place them on some paper towels while you work on everything else. This will help soak up the excess liquid so that the crust won’t be soggy.

Spread the dough out onto a greased baking sheet. And let me add, this can that the crust came in…scared the CRAP out of me! Why must they pop the way they do!? Stupid pop cans.

Give the basil a rough chop. No need to be perfect here.

Grate the garlic cloves. You could mince them if you’d like but I think using a grater makes the garlic easier to spread.

Drizzle the olive oil over the crust, then spread it out along with the garlic.

Add the tomatoes, then the basil.  Finally sprinkle the cheese that finally decided to crawl out of the dark and have its picture taken on top.

Bake for 10 minutes. I had done 12 and ended up with some browning…which is ok too. And viola, a delicious, beautiful pizza. PS: This pizza is very good with some red wine (but then again, what isn't good with some wine?).

Hope you like it!!

Love,

Sarah

Creamy Shrimp Salad

One of my favorite things to eat in the summer is shrimp.  Cocktail shrimp, grilled shrimp, you name it, I love it.  So when I came across this recipe, and it had nothing in it that I couldn't eat on my diet, I knew I had to make it. 

Creamy Shrimp Salad
adapted from Skinny Taste

16 oz peeled, cooked shrimp
1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 large celery stalk, thinly sliced
3 T. sour cream
1 T. mayo
1 t. Old Bay seasoning (or to taste)
Salt, to taste

Now, you could be smart, and buy cooked shrimp.  I just wasn't thinking that far ahead, and bought the frozen stuff.  So, if you buy cooked shrimp, obviously, ignore this step.  But if its the frozen, non-cooked stuff...boil some water and cook shrimp for 5 minutes or so, then rinse with cold water. 

Combine lime juice, mayo, sour cream, Old Bay and salt in a bowl.

Add the cucumber and celery.

Add the shrimp.  Mix together and keep in the fridge until ready to eat.  Simple, yes? And nice for a hot summer day. :)

Enjoy!

Love,
Liz

Lime-Garlic Pork Chops and Cheesy Cauliflower Mash

Before you say 'gross'...don't. 

I'm with you. I hate cauliflower. Always have. A friend had told me about this recipe, and mentioned, off hand, that her kids loved it, and even the teens couldn't tell it was cauliflower. So I plunged and gave it a try.

And am SO glad that I did. But first, the chops!

I had everything for this recipe in my pantry already, which is why I decided to make it. Only a few ingredients, and the lime-garlic combo sounded delicious.

Cast of Characters

4 boneless pork chops (or be like me, and cut two butterflied chops in half)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t cumin
1 t paprika
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine everything in a gallon size ziplock bag, and give it a good shake. Or rub. Just do whatever you deem necessary to get the goods onto the chops. Up to you. Stick the bag in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, minimum. You can leave them in there for up to six hours or so.

Ok, fine. I made that number up. But I'm sure six hours will be fine. Or eight. I did two.

When you're about 40 minutes or so from dinner time, go ahead and start making the cauliflower.

What you'll need:

2 16 oz bags frozen cauliflower- you can use more or less, but this will be a good 8x8 size pan
3 T sour cream
1 T mayo
Green onion, to taste
Cheese, to taste (I used a cheddar jack blend)
Salt and pepper, to taste
- you could also add bacon, which is super good, if you have bacon. Which I don't.

Boil the cauliflower in water, and prepare just like you would mashed potatoes. Add the remaining ingredients (sour cream, mayo, cheese, etc.) and mash. 

Spoon into an 8x8 baking dish and cover with more cheese, if desired. (or bacon. yum.) and bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melty and bubbly and oh-so good.

Now onto the chops.  Again. 

Line a baking sheet, or broiler pan, if your husband hasn't used yours for God-only-knows-what and ruined it, with foil, which makes for easy clean up.  Easy+clean up=very, very good.

Place the chops under the broiler  for 4-5 minutes on each side, until nice and brown. 

The aroma.  Oh, the aroma.

Serve with a nice salad.  Enjoy!



Love,
Liz

On Diets.

It's been a while.  I know, bad bloggers, BAD! *pout*

But it's summer, and sometimes, life has to happen.  And, unfortunately for me, so do diets. 
I'm such a foodie, that dieting is something that is beyond hard for me.  I always have the very best of intentions, honest!  I'll think to myself, Grilled chicken tonight.  Then I sit back and actually think about grilled chicken.  Just plain ol' grilled chicken.  It's bland. 

So I think, Something must be done about this blandness!

And I add things.  Yummy things.  Things like cheese.   And breadcrumbs, or cereal.  And what goes better with chicken than potatoes?  Mashed are my favorite.  Mmm. 

Then, when I sit down to eat, I look at my plate and I've gone from grilled chicken to...a full blown, calorie-laden, carb fest.  Don't get me wrong, its always delicious.  Always.  And fun to cook.  And delicious.  Did I mention that?

A friend of mine had been telling me about the Atkins diet for a while, and had decided to jump back on the bandwagon.  So I decided, eh, what the heck.  And jumped with her.  So I'm now starting week two of said diet.  I'm down seven pounds, and can still eat yummy food. 

So I'll still be posting, (or rather...I'll start posting.  Again.  Sigh.  Sorry.) but I'll be making low-carb meals.  Tasty low-carb meals.  And hopefully losing weight as well. :)

Love,
Liz