Pantry Revisited

Tonya of What's On My Plate was the host this week for Barefoot Bloggers.  She chose Ina Garten's individual meat loaves.  I love meatloaf so I was anxious to try Ina's.  Since there are only two of us, I did cut the recipe down and made only two loaves.  They were delicious!  Usually I use bought breadcrumbs, but I was out so I made my own breadcrumbs in the food processor with frozen wheat bread.  And I used dried thyme instead of fresh just for convenience sake.  I also used tomato paste from a handy tube rather than ketchup on top.  I will definitely be making these on a regular basis.  Be sure to check out Tonya's blog to get the recipe!   Guess I could have made my tomato pattern a bit prettier on top, but it's the taste that counts, right?  Have a great week everyone!

I was inspired after seeing the movie Julia and Julie to make Beef Bourguignon but for some reason it scared me!  So I made my own version this weekend and it was fabulous so I wanted to share.  I used the crockpot which made it doubly easy.   Here's my recipe: First, spray your skillet with non-stick spray and fry 1/2 lb. of bacon.  Put that in the crockpot when it is done. Then, take a roast (I used sirloin tip) and cut into large cubes.  Roll in flour and brown in olive oil.  Place in crock pot. Add one cup of red wine (preferably burgundy). One onion chopped in large wedges. One bay leaf. Top with potato chunks, carrot chunks, celery pieces, mushrooms (if you like) and salt and pepper.  Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. I served with some crusty french bread.  It was a great meal, easy to make, and will impress your dinner guests!  Bon appetit!

Rachel Hearts Food chose our Craving Ellie choice this week of Peppercorn Pork with Wine Sauce.  I love pork and pork tenderloin is an excellent choice.  However, I have never cooked pork tenderloin in a skillet!  New experience.  First you slice the tenderloin lengthwise and spread dijon mustard on it.  Then cut it into four piece and panfry it in a bit of olive oil.  It was very easy to make and very tasty.  I served, as you can see, with a Waldorf salad, green beans, and carrots glazed with a little butter and brown sugar. As I drove out of my parking deck tonight, I couldn't help but think how blessed I am.  Blessed that my job is NOT a parking lot attendant.  My hat is off to those people (if I wore a hat which I don't) because they sit in the tiniest cubicle possible all day long, with a space heater, and a bottle of water, staring at cars going by.  I think I would be pulling my eyelashes out in about an hour of that....

One of my very favorite bloggers, Chocolate Chic over at chocolatechic.wordpress.com chose these brownies when she hosted our TWD group in early February. Illness prevented me from making them at that time, but I am posting now. I know if Ms. Chocolate Chic picked these, and they are Dorie's recipe, they will be good! You mixed them up in two bowls, something I have never done before. Of course, I did something wrong because mine did not rise as they should have. Or maybe because I halved the recipe my pan was too big. And I don't think I cooked them long enough. I am always scared I will overcook brownies and they will be hard, so instead I took them out of the oven too soon. They are very gooey. And very chocolatey. I'm not sure I will make this particular recipe again, but if you want to try them I'm sure Chocolate Chic has the recipe on her webpage. Tomorrow I am helping with a friend's baby shower. I am supposed to bring mints so I decided to make them bec...

Our host this week for CEiMB is Chez Zero I love breakfast foods so I was excited to prepare this. However, I'm not a huge fan of broccoli. I substitute spinach and it was, in my humble opinion, genius. It is delicious. I cannot wait to eat it for breakfast tomorrow morning! okay my photos will not load correctly in here and for some reason I cannot move them around. Obviously, one of my photos is not in focus. Forgive on the photos, but try try try the recipe!! Thanks for hosting and choosing this recipe Chez Zero.

One of my favorite bloggers, Michelle of Flourchild , chose these cookies for the TWD challenge this week. I have been sick lately, and I just could not bring myself to make cookies that had wheat germ in them! Knowing Dorie, I bet they are great. But when you have been taking all kinds of medicines that make you gag and want to throw up, something about wheat germ just did not appeal to me. But if I were you, I would head over to Michelle's blog site and check them out and get the recipe. Wheat germ! I've had enough flu and cold and other GERMS in my house in the past week without adding one more GERM to the list! :) Sorry Michelle.

When I was a child, my mom made the most delicious lemon pies. My grandmother made the real lemon meringue pie, my mom usually made lemon icebox. I loved them both. But my favorite that she made was called Sour Cream Lemon Pie. Last night I decided to make my DH one since he is wild about his mother's lemon meringue. (I must admit it is great.) I've been sick this week with a fever and a bad sinus infection. Missed several days of work! I thought I was better until this morning when I woke with a monster headache. I guess I can't complain too much since I have not even had a sniffle all winter and it seems to be one of those winters for a lot of flu and colds. If you love lemon, try this. 3/4 c. sugar 3 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch 1 tbsp. lemon rind, grated 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten 1 c. milk 1/4 c. butter 1 c. sour cream (I use "light" cream) 1 baked 9" pie shell Heavy cream, whipped (opt.) Lemon twists (garnish) Combine sugar, cornstarc...