Beef Empanadas

Hello, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I just realized today that I have Mexican dishes on the menu through Cinco de Mayo!  Yum!  On Tuesday, I did a post about Mexican inspired chicken chili, today we're talking about beef empanadas, and next Tuesday (Cinco de Mayo!), I'm going to be writing about some pulled pork tamales.  Yes.  Ugh, so good.

Mexican inspired chicken chili

Hello, everyone!  It's Tuesday, and for the last couple of days here, we have had SUNSHINE!  It's been raining so much here lately, that I've almost forgotten what it looks like!  However, while the sun has been out, it has been pretty chilly here, which I'm kind of surprised about.  It's almost May, it is supposed to be warmer than 60 degrees outside...although, it'll go from being 60 degrees to 110 degrees in a matter of a couple of weeks, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much.

Anyhoo, my husband was out traveling for work the last couple of weeks, and while he's out of town, I just don't cook that much.  I don't like cooking huge meals for just myself (my daughter doesn't care for grown up food yet....she's still happy with a sandwich and some carrots).  So, what I usually end up doing is making a pot of soup to eat off of while he's gone.  

I figured, it's chilly out, so I should make up some chili!

Arancine (fried risotto balls)

Hello, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  The weekend is well on its way, so why don't we celebrate with some fried stuff with cheese?  I don't know if you're familiar with arancine, but these little lovelies are just leftover risotto, surrounding a filling of choice (mine just happened to be little balls of mozzarella cheese), coated in panko bread crumbs, then fried until golden brown and delicious!

Tabbouleh

Hi, everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  Today I'm going to make up one of my favorite side dishes, a lovely tabbouleh salad.  If you're not familiar with tabbouleh, it is a quinoa with vegetables and feta cheese!  What's not to like?!

Surprise Lemon Pie with Homemade Pie Crut

I may have mentioned before that I love to bake, but some of my favorite desserts don't require baking at all.  Well, I say at all...there is a little baking, because this is a homemade pie crust, but if you use a store-bought pie crust, then its no bake!  However, since I enjoy baking, I wanted to make my own pie crust, and believe me, this recipe is so easy, and the crust is tender and flaky, everything a pie crust should be!

Challah Bread

Hello, everyone!  I hope you're having a lovely Tuesday!  On the weekends, my daughter likes to have either pancakes or French toast, so I figured I would take an afternoon this past Saturday, and make some Challah bread for French toast on Sunday morning.  

This bread looks very impressive, but it really was very simple to put together.  The most difficult part of all of this, was waiting for the dough to rise!  That doesn't sound too hard, does it?

Garlic Chicken Spring roll

Hello, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  Today, we're going to make some really lovely, fresh spring rolls!  These little lovelies have raw veggies, chicken, and noodles!  Finish it off with a nice salty dipping sauce, you have a real winning combination!
The best part of this is that you can really customize it.  Don't like chicken?  Swap it out for beef, or shrimp.  Don't like carrots?  Swap 'em out for some bell pepper, or maybe cucumber!  

Rice pilaf

Hello, everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  The other day, during my brown rice (beef consume rice) post, I spoke about the boxed San Francisco treat rice that is a very common side dish, and it got me thinking about doing a post on a homemade version.  

The perfect sugar cookie

Hi, everyone!  Welcome back!  For this months cookie-of-the-month, I thought I would put up the perfect sugar cookie recipe!  These are great for decorating, either with royal icing, or with piping icing!  I decided to frost them, and put some cute little egg candies on the top - my daughter loved this!