Silly Doggies

These pictures were taken over the period of a week or two and just showcase the silly girls that I have. :)


Abbey tried to get on the recliner and I think it'll be the last time, it opened when she laid down and scared her.

Mya was laying on the couch and Abbey decided that she wanted on too. Somehow, this was where Abbey chose to sit. :p

In this one, Abbey was sleeping and Mya decided that she needed to snuggle, as Mya generally does, and laid right next to Abbey on the couch and then smushed her. Abbey was not amused but stayed there for hours.

Paprika Steak and Sweet potato/spinach mash

I made this tonight for dinner. It was inspired by two people, 1 Sabine who made me paprika steak once a LONG time ago and Shelley who made a similar sweet potato dish inspired by Wegmans. :) If you don't like sweet potato dishes because they're always loaded with sugar, give this one a try! Also, if you don't eat steak, you could do this same dish with thin sliced chicken breasts (or tenders) or firm tofu for those vegetarians.

1 eye of round steak think cut (if you can afford better, please do!)
1 large sweet potato (or two small)
2 cups of spinach
1/2 yellow onion
2-3 Tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon basil (if fresh tablespoon)
olive oil
butter
salt
pepper

Heat up water to boil the sweet potatoes while peeling then slicing them into 1" chunks. Salt the water and put those babies in to boil until more than fork tender ~ 20 minutes (the sweet potatoes will start to rise during cooking). Chop up an onion and toss into a medium heat frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in it. Let onions sweat and start to become translucent. Stir in a teaspoon of salt, pinch of pepper, garlic, and basil. Add the spinach, it may seem like a lot now but just wait a few minutes. :) When the spinach is all wilted, remove from heat and place in a large bowl for mashing later on.

Put the paprika on a plate, in a baggy, or small bowl (whatever your preferred coating method is) and coat the steak with paprika until it's covered all over. Put the same frying pan form the onions (empty now) back on the heat with a tablespoon of butter. Add the steak and cook for 1 minute on each side. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Strain sweet potatoes and add to mashing bowl. If you timed the potatoes right, you shouldn't need a big strong man to smash them. ;) I like mine chunky so I don't smash too much, just until most of them are mashed and then stir with a spoon. Taste them...do they need salt? If so, add it, if not then you're done!

Enjoy!



PS: I put this one down as a meal because I feel they go well together...should I do that or always list separately??

Pizza

It's my first post of this blog that contains food! Yay!

I made pizza dough with Sabine when she was here visiting and didn't bake it up until tonight. It was yummy! I followed the basic idea from the recipe here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pizza and edited the recipe by substituting 1.5 cups wheat flour for the all purpose flour and then edited the water as needed. We also left out the sugar/honey and were careful not to add the salt until the flour had been worked in so that the yeast was at it's full potential. We set the dough in a greased baggy in the fridge for two days then I took it out this morning and put it in a greased bowl with a towel over top to sit out all day. Granted, it's cool here so I could let it sit out all day, you people in SC...don't let it sit out that long. When I got home, I pulled the dough out and pressed it into a pizza pan in a somewhat round shape.

I topped the dough with a sauce made from small diced tomatoes simmered with oregano, basil, and garlic (pretty similar to the website recipe) and scooped it out with a slotted spoon to top the pizza with. I'd say I used half a cup or so...you don't want it too moist or your dough won't cook properly. I then topped this one with prosciutto and slices of mozzarella rather than shredded for that homemade look. I preheated my oven and the put in my pizza for 9 minutes (my oven isn't the hottest thing ever...) and then checked the crust...it needed another 2 minutes and then was perfect! Here's the results!


I served my pizza with a side of spinach salad. I sliced an avocado and made a little vinaigrette dressing. Basically, 1/4 lemon juice, few tablespoons olive oil, dime size of Dijon mustard and salt and pepper to taste. The mustard helps to emulsify the dressing so that you don't have to be as careful with the measurements plus it adds nice flavor and a hint of spiciness.

Bon appetit!

New Blog!

Here's the new cooking blog. It took a lot of time to come up with the name but that's okay, it took me that long to find appropriate grocery stores, my pots and pans, and learn my way around my new kitchen in Urbana anyways. :)

I plan to post recipes, small tidbits about my life, and hopefully food related advice, pictures, and other foodie stuff. I'll start with posting things that I've been making recently (or for a long time) and go from there. I'll also welcome any and all suggestions on foods to try (specific recipes or just general notions) as well as comments or critique on recipes that I post.

Warning: I don't measure nor do I write things down so my first few blogs may measure in handfuls, pinches, or simply say "to taste" although I'll try my best to estimate.