Christmas Cookies #1 - Pecan Sandies

I love Christmas cookies! These pecan sandies are so easy, you will have no stress and all smiles putting them together. Better yet, get the kids in on it! 

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Powdered sugar for decorating

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, flour, and pecans, stir until well combined into a stiff dough. (I used my hands for that step - easier!) Chill for half an hour. Preheat oven to 350. Divide dough into 12 portions and roll each portion into a ball, flatten slightly with your hands, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then roll in powdered sugar or dust the tops. 

More cookies to come. Enjoy. :)

Easy AND Yummy Vegan Chili

In addition to being easy and yummy, this chili is very inexpensive to make and it's also very healthy.

1 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil
1 onion, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 15oz can black beans
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste, optional

Heat the oil in a pot and cook the onion until it starts to turn translucent. Add the corn and cook until heated through. Add the beans, tomatoes, cumin, oregano, and cayenne if desired. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes stirring occasionally; if it gets too thick, put a lid on. If it's not thick enough, cook it longer. Top with cheese and sour cream. (unless you're vegan. :)

The Perfect Indoor Cookout

I love my apartment! The only thing missing is a yard...or a porch...or a balcony. Basically, no outdoor space whatsoever. Not to worry! With a few handy kitchen hacks (and a gas stove), you can bring the outdoors to you!

Make a vegetable packet

Back in scouts, we would make up packets like this and throw them on the campfire. You can do the same with your gas range. For mine, I used a combination of quartered purple/white potatoes and a chopped onion. I added 1 Tbsp olive oil, then some salt, pepper, and herbs. Wrap your veggies up TIGHT using 2-3 layers of foil. You can cook this right over the stove for 25-30 minutes, turning halfway through.



Grill meat in a grill pan just like you would on the grill...

For added ambiance, wear an apron and use a coozy!


























Just for fun, you can use Christmas lights as regular lights. Candles are nice too. Your cat can help with any additional prep work; they're very good at helping.

     I like to keep it seasonal and use bright colors. Of course, the important part is the taste! With a little imagination and a lot of love, you can throw a perfect outdoorsy cookout in your own kitchen.

Lovely Lasagna

This lasagna is a real crowd pleaser; it's not messy, and it doesn't contain ricotta. I came up with it because I wanted a nice traditional Italian lasagna, but I wanted the result to be firm and sliceable. Adding the eggs to the traditional bechamel works wonders.

The ragu:
2lbs ground beef
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes
2 6oz cans tomato paste
2 cups water
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Crushed red pepper to taste, optional

The bechamel:
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
dash of nutmeg
3 eggs

15 lasagna noodles
4 cups mozzarella cheese (or pizza blend)


Brown the ground beef and drain fat. Heat olive oil. Cook onion and garlic until they begin to turn translucent. Add browned beef, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, and seasonings. Allow sauce to simmer for an hour.
To make bechamel, melt butter in a saucepan and stir in flour. Allow this to cook down for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly stir in milk and seasonings. Cook sauce until thickened, then remove from heat and allow to cool COMPLETELY before beating in eggs.
Cook lasagna noodles as directed. You will need 12 for assembly, but cooking 15 allows room for mess-ups.
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Assemble lasagna as follows, using 4 noodles for each pasta layer:
Ragu, pasta, ragu, cheese, bechamel, pasta, ragu, cheese, bechamel, pasta, thin layer of ragu, cheese.
Bake covered for 20 minutes then uncovered for 20 minutes.

(special thanks to miss Techno for helping me blog.)

Potato-Tomato Bake with Sausage

This one's a keeper. It's made like Au Gratin Potatoes except with a chunky tomato sauce instead of creamy cheese sauce. You can add cheese if you like, remove the sausage and you have a hearty vegan dish. Serve as a side or as a meal with a salad. Me? I served it with fresh baked bread and vegetable pasta for Sunday dinner. :)

Grease a good sized baking dish and preheat oven to 375. 

Take 2-3 potatoes and slice them into thin rounds with a mandoline or knife. Place the slices in a bowl of water so they don't brown. Also, slice up a small onion.

Place a layer of spaghetti sauce or seasoned diced tomatoes in the bottom of the dish. This would work very well. Add a layer of potato slices, a layer of onion, and a layer of Italian sausage (raw or cooked, mine was raw and it added a nice flavor). Add another layer of potatoes, then another layer of sauce. Top with Italian breadcrumbs and bake for 1 hour covered, 30-45 minutes uncovered. 

Cookie's Marinara Sauce

My alter ego's nickname is Cookie.

Why Cookie? Because she's Cookie the cook, and her friends are Drunkie the drunk, Studdie the stud, and DJ-ee the DJ. 

She thinks she's an Italian-American socialite. 

Any good Italian-American Sunday dinner needs good bread, red wine, and a nice homemade marinara sauce.

Cookie's Marinara

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 15oz cans diced tomatoes

2 15oz cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup red wine

Up to 1 Tbsp crushed red pepper, optional

Heat the oil in a large pot. Sweat the garlic and onion. Add remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. 

Mangia. :)

To make true Sunday gravy, simply add sausage/meatballs/porkbone/ meat etc... ;)

The Clean Food Rundown

Hello all!
I just want to highlight a few of the meals I made this week. The rules: No white starch, no refined sugar, no additives. I focused on green vegetables and whole grains, and I didn't skimp on the olive oil. And yes, 7 days in, I feel amazing. 2 days to go.

1 - Brown rice with greens, spinach salad with homemade apple cider vinaigrette, cranberry tea

2 - Spinach and onion omelete with a side of mango and honey

3 - Memorial Day cookout fare; lentil patty, vinegar slaw, broccoli casserole

4 - Chinese food! Vegetable lo mein with fried rice

5 - Wheat pasta with spinach, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and olive oil

6 - Lentil and quinoa chili soup

7 - Tilapia and brown rice "sushi"

8 - Spinach salad with boiled egg, raisins, carrots, onion, and homemade vinaigrette

9 - Herbal tea, Home Stretch Soup (split peas, lentils, cabbage, onion, carrot, brown rice, quinoia, garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper, homemade chicken stock)