Veg Cream Cheese

I debate even posting this "recipe". But it is so so good. If you are lucky enough to live in Utah and have had the opportunity to visit Rich's Bagels in Salt Lake you have had the chance to taste the BEST veg cream cheese ever! If you visit Salt Lake make sure you go there and try their veg cream cheese on an Asiago Cheese bagel...to die for! However, I no longer live in Salt Lake, so I have to make my own veggie cream cheese. Yes, I know you can buy it in the grocery store, but let's be honest the veggies are really just specks of flavor. I want veggies in my cream cheese, not specks. So I came up with this Super Simple recipe for homemade veg cream cheese. Feel free to add other veggies and try experimenting with different herbs or season salts. Get a great bagel (I like the everything bagels from Costco) add some cucumbers, freshly ground pepper, and you have yourself a great sandwich.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I spent the past week back in Utah visiting my sister and her new baby Sophia...and Caroline and all the other friends I've been missing so much since moving to DC. It feels like I've been gone for ages and like I never left. Kind of surreal. 

One night our friend Lindsey hosted a picnic in my honor and made these pulled pork sandwiches, one of her many specialties. So we thought we'd share it with you.

Bacon Egg and Avocado Sandwich

If I could skip the meal of lunch, I would be one happy woman. It's my least favorite meal and I generally do my best to ignore it. For a while I just tried not eating lunch, but then I wound up so famished by 2:30 that I felt I couldn't go on with life. No really. I occasionally collapsed. Low blood sugar, you see. Then I moved into the "bird food" phase: carrot sticks, nuts, yogurt, apple/other form of fruit. This was less dangerous to my blood sugar, but I was still ravenous by early afternoon. If I'm lucky, I make enough dinner the night before to have at lunch the next day, but even that is pretty sketchy. I'm exceedingly picky about leftovers, and if it doesn't involve rice or rice or possibly soup, I'm probably not interested.

Chicken and Cheese Corn Enchiladas

I admit, I am a fan of Mexican food. Most importantly, it is just really tasty. For another, it is often pretty easy to make, which I am a huge fan of. Enter this recipe. This recipe lets you use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken; easy!! (Plus I guarantee you will have loads of left over chicken for sandwiches, soup, or snacking). Because of the simplification of using a pre-cooked chicken, I decided to simplify the original recipe even more and omit the husking of fresh tomatillos and substituting canned ones, which can be easily found at your local grocery store.

Shredded Chicken and Black Bean Quesadilla

"A quesadilla" you say, isn't that kids food? Well, I would say yes if it is full of an overwhelming amount of yellow cheese. But add some shredded chicken, some veggies, and beans and you have yourself dinner. And let's admit, there is something refreshing about eating your dinner with your hands. Really you only get to do that on rare occasion, like the other night when my husband and I ate a juicy hamburger at Five Guys Burgers, which was delicious, but very messy. So juicy and messy in fact that I had to scrub my ring with soap when I got home from all the grease that ran down my hand and solidified on my ring (yes it was gross, yes it was delicious, and yes that grease also solidified in my stomach that night giving me a slight stomach ache, but I'd do it again).

Toasted Pita with Hummus and Vegetables

This might possibly be the easiest meal we've ever posted, and for that, I must thank my dear friend M. As we were chatting the other day, or rather as I was moaning about the heat- she lives in Seattle and has been donning a sweater the past few days, so I'm not sure she could truly sympathize- M suggested that I make these lil babies as a fast and heat-free meal.

And may I just say that M is a genius, for these are delicious! A little hummus, a little cheese, a bunch of vegetables, and maybe a sliced peach or fresh cherries on the side, and you have a perfect, fast, healthy lunch or dinner. Now I'd highly recommend using your own homemade hummus (preferably our very own recipe found here), especially because you might end up with some kind of weird tomato mixture on top like mine had (I've never been particularly fond of that), but there are plenty of tasty substitutes to be found. For a little variety, consider adding alfalfa sprouts or sliced green/red peppers.

Creole Chicken with Corn-Avocado Relish

I pulled out the grill this afternoon and made myself a very healthy, low fat, and tasty, tasty lunch. I have a long drive tonight and felt it was my duty to eat a good lunch. Actually, I had planned to make this for dinner last night, but ended up eating take out at 8pm instead...luckily this was an easy fix and worked as a lunch.

If you have never had Creole seasoning, go buy some. It is inexpensive and works well on chicken and fish. It is a bit spicy, due to the red pepper, but it isn't hot; hmmm does that make sense. Anyways, I paired the chicken with some fresh veggies and lemon juice. I cut my chicken into bite size pieces and ate it salad style. However, I would suggest serving it as a chicken breast with the relish on the side and top giving it a very fresh and summery,but sophisticated look. Try it and love it!

Chicken Salad with Grapes and Walnuts

I told you we were entering salad season.

As I was making this, my husband told me that as a kid, he considered chicken salad to be half a step above a tuna sandwich. Apparently whoever fed it to him (and I don't think it was his mother) would use canned chicken with nothing but mayo. Ick. So when I started making this one with real chicken and added yogurt, not just mayo, and grapes and walnuts and celery (ie. food with texture AND flavor), he was quite intrigued. Surely this isn't the same beast served in small-town elementary schools!

Nope, not really. This chicken salad is full of flavor and texture and crunch. I would even eat it plain. I ate it for both lunch and dinner yesterday, and I think my husband is going to take it horseback riding today. I'm sure all the other guys will be very jealous.

Cottage-Cheese Egg Salad

Summer time means it is time for picnics. This egg salad recipe is a healthier variation on your typical egg-salad using cottage-cheese for moisture rather than mayonnaise. It is not quite as tangy as you may be used to, but the dill adds a fantastic flavor and the celery adds a nice crunch. Put this egg salad on some good quality whole-wheat bread, add a slice of watermelon, and you have yourself a well rounded picnic lunch.

Midweek Margherita Pizza with Artichokes

This is an easy, midweek lunch, and it is good. The aromatic fragrances of fresh basil make it seem gourmet. And the blend of fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, artichokes, and basil are a refreshing combination of flavors for a midweek lunch. This pizza is easy enough to make any day, especially if you use premade dough like I did, but looks and tastes complex enough to serve at a baby shower or brunch with the ladies. If you want to make it even a little more unique, try making it with a whole wheat crust, or sprinkling the top with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Or keep it simple like I did, and make everyone’s lunch a little tastier today.

Macaroni and Cheese

This is it folks, this is mine and Kelly's 200th post! Hooray for us! I want to personally thank all of you that use our website and an even bigger THANK YOU to those of you who comment on the recipes. We greatly encourage feedback to help keep us motivated...yes, that means you!

Okay with that said, today I am featuring some good ole' Mac n' Cheese. All day I have been craving comfort food - something simple, creamy, and delicious. More than that, I wanted some homemade Macaroni and Cheese. Truth be told, I have never had homemade Macaroni and Cheese, almost blasphemous I know. So I looked through, I don't know 20 different recipes and compared them to the one I choose, which I actually printed out about 4 months ago, but had yet to make. Long-story-short, I chose the one I already had on hand, this simpler recipe, one without scallions, expensive cheese, or complicated directions. And ta-da, I loved it!

Macaroni and Cheese
Recipe from Martha Stewart.com
Picture by Caroline

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 cups elbow macaroni
2 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk
1/3 cup skim milk
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 (8-ounce) packages extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 (8-ounce) package Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Paprika, for sprinkling
½ cup French’s French Fried Onions (this was my addition*)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish; set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt and macaroni. Cook until al dente according to package directions. Drain, and return to pot. Add butter, and toss until pasta is coated and butter has melted; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together evaporated milk, skim milk, and eggs. Add seasoned salt, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; set aside.
2. In another medium bowl, combine cheeses; set aside.
3. Place 1/3 macaroni in an even layer in the bottom of prepared baking dish; cover evenly with 1/3 cheese. Repeat with remaining macaroni and cheese mixture. Pour milk mixture evenly over contents of baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake until top layer is lightly browned, 35 to 45 minutes. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
4. *If you want to add the French Fried Onions to the top of your Macaroni and Cheese, sprinkle the top with the onions the last 5-7 minutes of the regular cooking time.

Brocolli-Cheese Quiche

Quiche. Quiche in essence is an egg pie, which does not sound appetizing, but quiche is so much more than egg pie. It is creamy goodness. I like to combine the flavors of broccoli, onion, cheese, and bacon, but you could definitely experiment with other combinations. And quiche is great because you can serve it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Broccoli-Cheese Quiche
Recipe and pictures by Caroline

1 pie crust (I used a pre-made crust, or you could try this)
4 beaten eggs
1 cup half-and-half
½ cup milk
½ med yellow onion, chopped
½ cup chopped broccoli
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Dash ground nutmeg
4 or 5 pieces thick slice bacon (or ham), cut into ½” pieces
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon flour

1. Cut bacon into ½” pieces and fry in a skillet until cooked through. Put bacon on a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl beat together eggs, half-and-half, and milk until well combined. Add the onions, broccoli, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in the bacon (or ham).
3. In a small bowl toss together the flour and cheese. Add to the egg mixture.
4. Pour egg mixture into pie crust (I like to place the quiche on a baking sheet while cooking to ensure that the quiche doesn’t overflow onto the bottom of my oven). Bake in a 325° oven for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Sweet-Pepper Balsamic Sandwich

So I was making one of my favorite sandwiches for lunch the other day, and figured I should share the goodness. Lunch is always a tricky menu for me, because I want something delicious, but I don't want to take a lot of time to make anything. If this sounds familiar try this sandwich. It is simple, healthy, and so so tasty. This day I enjoyed it with a simple fruit salad made with apples, bananas, and pineapple with a bit of honey and lemon juice



Sweet-Pepper Balsamic Sandwich
Recipe and Photos by Caroline

This is an approximate recipe, meaning add and subtract how you like. The amounts below are enough to make 2 sandwiches

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
2 full slices of red onion
1 white mushroon, sliced
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Italian Seasoning
salt and pepper
1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese
4 pieces white bread, toasted (wheat bread isn't very good with this sandwich)
2 tbsp veggie cream cheese or plain cream cheese

Directions:

1. Slice all of your vegetables. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-low heart; saute peppers and onions for a few minutes until they begin to become tender, add mushrooms.
2. Season vegetables with salt, pepper, and the Italian Seasonings and let saute another minute or two. Add balsamic vinegar and cover with a lid for about one minute (note: when you add the vinegar it is going to sizzle, so watch out and cover the pan as quickly as you can to avoid a mess on your stove).
3. Once the vegetables are soft turn off the burner, but leave the pan on the stove. Leave the vegetables in the pan and pile them into the middle and cover them with the cheese; replace the lid and let the cheese melt.
4. In the meantime, toast your bread and slather each piece with the cream cheese. When the cheese on the vegetables has melted, place on your toast and make the sandwich. Enjoy!

ps..these sandwiches really are tasty!