This blog is movin' out folks!

I have finally been sucked into the world of using Wordpress for my blog instead of this site. Please change all of your links to my new blog which will be:

http://wineloverscookingdiary.wordpress.com/

Keep visiting and keep the comments coming! : )

See you all on the other side!

Random Things About Me - Part 1

Many of my great foodie blog friends have been doing a "100 random things about me" blog in which basically they just shoot out a bunch of random facts about themselves. I have been literally laughing my arse off reading these random facts. I mean, who knew Amanda was afraid of lettuce? LOL So, I will split this up into 4 parts so you don't go into random April overload. : )

1. I am highly allergic to poison ivy (I have the scars to prove it)
2. I can't stand the taste of coffee but I like the smell
3. In college I got into 3 wrecks in ten days
4. My favorite Yankee candle smell is Harvest
5. My mom has a one eyed dog that she rescued
6. We had the same dog for 14 years - a black poodle named Claude
7. My brother graduated from Basic Training for the National Guard the summer before his senior year of high school
8. I have a habit of accidentally breaking wine glasses
9. I only use plastic wine glasses at home
10. I can't stand the texture of mushrooms
11. I have yet to find the perfect shampoo and conditioner for my hair type
12. I am the oldest of 5 including my brother, two half sisters, and a stepsister
13. I love expensive purses
14. I pass out very easily
15. I had braces during high school
16. I used to have the messiest room on the face of the earth
17. I am a neat freak
18. I have a really big rubber band ball at work that I have made over the past 6 months
19. I am scared of the dark
20. My favorite cake is banana
21. I don't like yellow gold
22. I will be 27 this year
23. I ran cross country all 4 years of high school and was MVP 3 of those years
24. I do not like elevators or subways
25. I have a birthmark on my right hip

More to come later... : )

Baked Good Exchange January - part 1

Saturday morning Tommy and I were working on Sheridan's bedroom when the doorbell rang. Of course I'm thinking, "Oh crap! The house is a mess, I'm in my pj's...etc." You know, all of those things you think when the doorbell rings unexpectedly. : ) However, when I opened the door, there sat a box on our doorstep and I glanced at it and saw it was a cheesecake box!!! From New York!! I knew it had to be one of my awesome JFacie friends sending me something for our January exchange! Sure enough, there was a note on it from Kat Graz saying that even though she was sending this awesome New York famous cheesecake, she was baking me something as well. She is supposed to be my nutritionist/personal trainer friend! What is she thinking?! LOL : ) I took it in the house and yelled for Tommy to come see it and he literally started jumping up and down like a little kid. Cheesecake is his absolute favorite thing ever!

We had some of this finally Sunday evening - we were so busy that we didn't have time to really enjoy it until then - and we literally had this for dinner. LOL It was SOO good! I think it's the brownie marble cheesecake flavor - so freaking amazing! I can't get cheesecake like this around here so the fact that Kat thought to do that makes her awesome in our book! Tommy says he really likes Kat now a lot. LOL : )

Thank you Kat for this unique and awesome foodie gift!!!! You are the best!!!

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

So, I have this lovely menu all typed out on my blog for this week - to make things easy on myself. Um, yeah. Except for when I don't want what is on my menu. LOL I was going to make chicken parmesan except that T and I both had baked ziti leftovers for lunch. I couldn't do pasta twice in a row, so I spent the afternoon begging my foodie friends for recipes and scouring every blog I could find. I finally found a recipe that looked pretty yummy on Katorade's blog.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.
In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt.
Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Pig Rating: The pig thought this was pretty good for something different. He was just excited that I was making roasted red potatoes again. LOL

Mrs. Pig Rating: I like this for an easy chicken recipe that I typically have all of the ingredients on hand for. It had a really good flavor to it and was pretty good. I think I'll definitely save this one for the make again list. :)

Rachel's "Chicken Dorito"

So, I have seen a recipe for "Dorito chicken" floating around out on foodie blogs. I was pretty leary of this. I mean, throwing Doritos on chicken seemed a little odd to me even though I love Doritos and I love chicken, therefore I never really thought much about this one.

When my friend Clara asked a question on her blog this week about her readers' favorite proteins AND made them put recipes down (geez...so needy), I found that the "Chicken Dorito" made the list from our great friend Rachel. The recipe that Rachel posted is from her grandmother and it looked a lot better to me than a lot of the other recipes I had seen for this. So, why the heck not try it right? I'm always willing to try new chicken recipes to shake things up a bit. My changes are in red.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded (I didn't shred - I cut into strips)

Cheddar cheese, grated

2 cans cream of chicken soup

milk (1/2 a soup can’s worth)

1 can diced green chilis (you decide the spicy level)

1 bag Toasted Corn Doritos

(I only made 2 breasts so I halved everything)

Directions

Combine soup, milk and green chili’s in a sauce pan and cook until blended and warm.
In a 9×13 pan (or use a casserole dish) layer 1/3 amount of the Doritos, Chicken, Soup, and Cheese. Repeat twice ending with cheese on top. Cover and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Pig Rating: The pig took his first bite and was like, "Eh, it's okay," but then he had a 2nd bite and actually got some of the "dorito crust" in it and he said it was much better. Plate was cleaned by the pig. : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: I think that this would be great with the shredded chicken and put over nachos. Now, of course, anything on nachos is good to me, but I think this would be awesome. I like it pretty well though I have to say. I retract my previous thoughts about Dorito Chicken now. Thanks Rachey : )

PS- the pictures of this suck. It's just not pretty. Sorry. : )

Roasted Red Potatoes

As you have probably figured out, we love potatoes in our house - love them fried, mashed, baked, roasted, etc. While Tommy's favorite is fried, I've been trying to find a recipe that is more health friendly to make with things when we want potatoes. I love red potatoes so I went on the hunt for a good roasted red potato recipe today and stumbled across one on one of my favorite blogs to stalk - Amber's Delectable Delights. I love her blog - great recipes, great instructions and reviews, great pictures, etc. Thanks for another great recipe Amber!

Ingredients

4 red potatoes

2 Tbls bread crumbs

1 Tbls olive oil

1 Tbls Parmesan cheese

Your choice of seasonings (I used garlic power, onion powder, and parsley)

Directions

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees

- Slice potatoes into wedges and place into medium bowl.

Season with all the remaining ingredients and place into preheated oven.

Cook for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are done to your desired crispness.

Pig Rating: The pig really liked these! He said they were a great substitute for fried potatoes and he couldn't believe that they were really TOO bad for him as far as potatoes go.

Mrs. Pig Rating: Like I said, I love potatoes, so these were no exception. I loved the flavor as well as how crispy they were on the outside and soft on the inside. I will most DEF be making these again and adding these as a staple on our menus.

Menu: January 20th - January 26th

I so have to get back in the habit of posting my menus... : )

Sunday- L: 5 Minute Southwest Salad, D: Dorito Chicken ala Rachel, via Clara's blog, roasted potatoes, salad
Monday- (T & I both off work-woohoo!) L: Out to lunch, D: Chicken Paremesan, salad
Tuesday - Chicken Nachos (Okay, not so healthy but haven't had them in FOREVER!)
Wednesday - (Kids) Taco Pie (healthy style)/Tacos
Thursday - Crockpot ribs (from Lorena's Blog), corn on the cob, salad
Friday - Date Night
Saturday- L: Chicken & Potato pizza, D: Company Party

I'm being not SO good this week with dinners. I have some things I need to use up so back on the super healthy train next week, though hopefully I can make everything with enough substitutes to not be too terrible for us. : )

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Cordon Bleu means “blue ribbon” in French, and in French culinary tradition, the Cordon Bleu is awarded to food or chefs of particularly high quality. Neat huh? : ) I have never really even thought about eating chicken cordon bleu because I am not a huge ham fan. However, I saw this on a blog a week or so ago and thought I would give it a try since I know Tommy likes it. I wasn't so sure about it but I made sure to get really thin shaved ham so it wouldn't freak me out too much... : ) I served this with corn and salad.

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices cooked ham
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 7x11 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness.
3. Sprinkle each piece of chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Place 1 cheese slice and 1 ham slice on top of each breast. Roll up each breast, and secure with a toothpick. Place in baking dish, and sprinkle chicken evenly with bread crumbs.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from oven, and place 1/2 cheese slice on top of each breast. Return to oven for 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted. Remove toothpicks, and serve immediately.

Pig Rating: He said, "This is good!". I told him it makes me proud when I make something and he likes it so he said, "Then you should be proud of this!", so he must really like it. : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: Like I said, I was kind of worried about the ham, but it gave it a really good taste. I'm glad I tried this one - a new chicken recipe to add to our collection of "save to make again" : )

Recipe from allrecipes.com

As for the picture...well...for some reason I couldn't hold my hand steady enough tonight to take a good picture, so I just didn't put one on here. Just trust me on this - it is good. You must try it!

Italian Stuffed Chicken Breasts

There are so many blogs that I just love to look through every day. One of my favorite's is One Tiny Pink Kitchen. She has great healthy recipes and I just love it. There was a recipe for Italian Stuffed Chicken Breasts on there that looked so super yummy that I knew I had to try it. When one of my other fellow foodies Nina tried it recently and I saw it on her blog, I knew it had to be soon! So tonight I decided to try it. It was the first time I have ever made stuffed chicken of any sort but it sounded yummy so....

Ingredients

4 – 4 oz. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1/8 tsp. Salt
3/4 tsp. Dried Basil – divided - I used about 2 tsp total
1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
1/4 cup Minced Green Bell Pepper I omitted
4 (3/4 oz) Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
2 Tbsp. Fat-Free Italian Dressing
1/8 tsp. Paprika - I used 1 tsp
1/4 cup Dry Breadcrumbs
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
Cooking Spray

Directions

Pound chicken to 1/4” thickness; sprinkle with salt, 1/4 tsp basil (I didn't really measure), and crushed red pepper, and garlic powder. Sprinkle each breast with 1 Tbsp. minced bell pepper. Place 1 cheese stick lengthwise down the center; roll up jelly roll fashion. Brush rolls evenly with Italian dressing. Combine paprika and breadcrumbs, and a dash of oregano and basil; dredge chicken breasts rolls in mixture, turn to coat. Place on a baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray – seam side down. Lightly coat with non-stick spray; sprinkle with remaining basil. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until done (mine took about 22 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Pig Rating: He liked this but he is kind of weird about textures and breading on the outside of meats kind of freaks him out sometimes. He said he did like it but maybe not so much breading next time.

Mrs. Pig Rating: I really liked this one!!! I love chicken and cheese and everything that is in this one! I would eat it every night. : ) Definitely try this one!

I "potato" You!

Tonight, I decided that I would make Tommy fried potatoes. Not good for you, but he has been being really good lately working out and eating right so I thought I would treat him. So I came home and pulled out my bag of potatoes and out falls a potato and I about died when I saw it! It was in the shape of....a heart!!!!!! Or a butt depending on how you hold it, but I prefer to think of it as a heart!! I

was so excited about it that I didn't use it in the potatoes, but I saved it for when Tommy got home instead to show him. He walked in and I showed him and he said, "Aw, I "potato" you!" HA! Who ever thought you could substitute the word "potato" for "heart" and it have meaning?!

So, to all of my foodie friends....I "potato" you!!

Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms

As part of my new "back on the wagon" phase (again, don't be fooled by "back on the wagon"...I have a glass of wine in my hand as I'm typing this), I decided to make some different recipes this week. I saw a recipe on Clara's blog awhile back that I though I should try since we like chicken and T likes mushrooms. And in my attempt to not make every meal include butter, heavy cream and pasta....

Ingredients

2 tsp Vegetable or olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tsp dijon mustard

1 large garlic clove, crushed

1 pound uncooked chicken breasts

2 cups small halved mushrooms

1/3 cup chicken broth or white wine

1/4 tsp dried thyme

[NOTES: I used about 4-5 tbsp balsamic vinegar b/c I love the flavor.]COOKING

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix 2 tblespoons vinegar, mustard and garlic. Add chicken to mixture and turn to coat. Heat 1 tsp oil in nonstick skillet. Transfer chicken and marinade to skillet. sautee chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to platter and keep warm. Heat remaining oiland saute mushrooms for about one minute. Add broth, thyme and remaining vinegar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are deep brown, about two minutes. Serve chicken topped with mushrooms

Pig Rating: He said this was okay. He said it was like something I would have made before I "became a professional chef". HA! Okay, brownie points for Tommy. : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: I kind of felt the same as Tommy. This was okay - the chicken was really moist and it was good, it just wasn't anything special really to me. Maybe I needed to add more vinegar?

I'm like so in the popular crowd now! Yippeee!

Well, as of today, I have been tagged. That's right, I am now part of the cool, popular clique of bloggers who are so awesome that they are tagged by their fellow foodies. One of my fave foodies Clara tagged me along with some of our other foodie friends this afternoon.

Apparently she thinks I will NOT answer it because I have been called a blog slacker on several occasions today. Um, excuse me. Some of us actually have to work during the day and can't play with our blog. Oh, okay. Who am I kidding? My work has blocked me from updating my blog during the day! ARGH!! I would so be doing it if I could! Anyway...this one is for you C!

What were you doing 10 years ago?
10 years ago I was 16 years old! I had just gotten my drivers license and was a junior in high school. Probably doing a lot of running for track, hanging out with my friends, and studying.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Well, I had to think about this so I looked at some old emails. I was obsessively planning my wedding one year ago. I saw emails about bar costs, table cloth sizes, colors of chairs, etc. in my email. Thank goodness the planning is over. Such a great day, but man! : )

Five snacks you enjoy:
(Just a note...these are my fave snacks...doesn't mean I eat them often)
1. Cape Cod chips - my fave is jalapeno and aged cheddar
2. Chicken nachos
3. Skittles...the kind in the purple bag
4. strawberries with sugar
5. popcorn

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
Hmm...let me think back to the piano bar we just went to...
1. Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks
2. Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
3. Bubble Toes by Jack Johnson
4. Turn Me On by Norah Jones
5. Blister in the Sun by Violent Femmes

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Take care of my family and that means making sure they are fine financially forever - medical, etc.
2. Build our dream house
3. Buy homes in many other places and travel to them regularly
4. Buy every piece of Victoria's Secret and Louis Vuitton that I could afford
5. Donate a ton of money to the Make A Wish Foundation

Five bad habits:
1. Biting my lips
2. Leaving the caps off of pens (so my husband pointed out)
3. Breaking wine glasses (I'm such a breaker)
4. Being too much of a planner
5. Waiting to clean things like the oven and refrigerator until it is just beyond bad and it takes me forever

Five things you like doing:
1. Spending time with Tommy for sure
2. Having a relaxing weekend with no plans
3. Reading a good book
4. Having a nice dinner with good wine
5. Traveling - anywhere, whether it be somewhere with Tommy, somewhere with my mom, etc.

Five things you would never wear again:
1. biker shorts
2. tight rolled jeans
3. New Kids on the Block T-shirts
4. a perm
5. converse high tops with the slides that change colors...you know what I mean...LOL

Five favorite toys:
1. the computer
2. the DVR
3. my wine refrigerator
4. my digi camera
5. my ipod

Okay, so there you go CLARA AND NIKKI you big haters!!! ::sticks tongue out at Clara and Nikki::
At least I'm mature about things....

Now....for the next step...okay friends, you have been tagged!! GO!

Nina

Michelle

Suzanne

Menu Week of 1.07 - 1.12

I guess you could say that I fell off of the wagon over the past month or so. I don't mean that in the sense that most people mean it in - what I mean is I fell off of the "I need to eat right" and "I need to workout" wagon. Not a good one to fall off of. So, now that it is the New Year, I am climbing right back up into the wagon with the help of my husband who is now getting up at 5am to go workout. Ick. Thank goodness I can go at lunch!

Anyway, I have decided I need to get back to making menus so that I have a good plan for the week and it will help me better plan out more healthy meals. I am easing back into things but here it is for this week....

Monday: Balsamic chicken with mushrooms, baked potatoes, salad
Tuesday: Pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn
Wednesday: Chicken tacos
Thursday: Italian stuffed chicken breasts (WW style)
Friday: Southwest salads
Saturday: Date night