Gorgonzola Sauce

Oh my god this sauce....how have I lived without this sauce??!!! I've had this recipe on my Pinterest for a while now but it was attached to a steak recipe and then I discovered I could just make the sauce instead, which is what I did and I made up my own steak using the recipe I always did, with onions. You could actually put this sauce on anything, ANYTHING!!! Its that good and so much more!!! It's so cheesy and smooth and velvety. I ate it over 3 days and I don't think it would have lasted more than that because it was starting to separate more & more. It still tasted good but I couldn't get it to stay together after the 3rd day. Make sure you pay attention on how to reheat it-the consistency startled me when I tried to reheat in the microwave. Go make this sauce RIGHT NOW!!!!

You can find the recipe here

Chicken Salad

I saw this recipe being made on the Food Network by Jamie Deen, one of Paula Deen's sons. I grew up eating chicken salad and this recipe looked really good so I decided to try to find it to make it myself. It was really easy to make & it was really good. You are supposed to serve it in toast cups but I didn't do that-I just ate like regular chicken salad. The addition of the grapes makes it have a sweet flavor, which is nice. I'll definitely keep making this!

To find the recipe click here




Enjoy!...

Pastina Soup with Easy Homemade Meatballs

I made this soup almost a year ago, way back in August, when I was diagnosed with GERD, which is a severe form of acid reflux. I had to go on a bland diet, which was not a lot of fun, but the alternative was painful so I stuck to the bland diet as best I could. Not eating the foods I liked was hard, since I like eating foods with a lot of flavor. This soup was really bland, so I decided to add some flavor by baking meatballs. Luckily the meatballs had enough flavor to make eating the soup bearable. And the peas added enough taste as well. I didn't do a whole lot of cooking during my time that I had to eat my bland diet-not a whole lot of experimenting, mainly because what I tried didn't agree with me. Which is why I didn't post a whole lot. Luckily I can eat almost anything now, thankfully! The only thing I can't eat yet are tomatoes or anything tomato-based so no spaghetti sauces or ketchup or anything red-sauced but if that's the only thing I have to stay away from, then that's okay with me! And I also tend to stay away from a lot of citrus and high salty foods as well, just to be on the safe side. I have book-marked the recipes I did try, so I'll post those now. Bear with me while I post a bunch in a row!

Pastina Soup (4 servings) (Food Network):

*Soup

1 tbsp EVOO
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 shallots, minced
3 sprigs thyme
Salt
1 2-inch parm cheese rind
1 qt chicken stock (I used broth)
1 3/4 c star-shaped pastina (I could only find a small shaped pasta, which worked just as well)
1 c frozen peas
1/2 c grated parm
1 tsp grated lemon zest, optional

For the meatball recipe, click here




Cooked meatballs...

Soup simmering with the meatballs added...

Enjoy!!

Balsamic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I have a new love of Brussels sprouts that only started within the last couple of years. And they have to be cooked a certain way. Usually roasted so that they are crispy with lots of really good flavor. Most steak places know how to cook them really well. There's a place here in Vegas called Lucky Foo's that cook their Brussels sprouts so well that we almost always get them and devour them every time! I attempted to make my own a couple years ago and burnt the crap the out of them and gave up right away. I was watching Barefoot Contessa about a week ago and she roasted some Brussels sprouts and made it look so easy and I thought to myself that I could give that a try again. So I did today and it worked! And I think I knew what I did wrong the last time! I think I added too much stuff the last time instead of going with just the basics. And I even had the syrupy balsamic vinegar that Ina Garten used in her recipe because I've been to Italy and I rarely use the stuff that we brought back with us. If you don't have good aged syrupy balsamic vinegar, you can boil regular balsamic vinegar until it's reduced to a syrupy consistency. Make sure you're generous with your salt-I had to add more salt after my Brussel sprouts were done roasting. I will definitely be making these again and again! Yum!!!!!!

Find the recipe here




Ready to be roasted...






Fresh from oven...







Syrupy Balsamic Vinegar...






Enjoy!...