Cooking Ideas

Sweet Italian Pork Sausage with Veggies

If you are one of those people that needs precise directions for cooking, you have come to the wrong blog. I LOVE to cook. To me it is all about creativity. I may make the same recipe over and over but every time it is a little different. My “chef” crush is Nigella Lawson. That woman is sexy and brilliant and to her cooking is a hands on love affair.  Watching her inspires me to create beautiful, fun food that I can share with my family and friends. I am going to try to share some of those creations with you. Since my measurements are not very precise, don’t worry if your “creation” turns out differently from mine.

You want something fast, easy and still interesting to eat? Try this favorite of mine. First you need a package of Sweet Italian Pork Sausage. My favorite is from Trader Joe’s. While you are there pick up a jar of their Tomato Basil Spaghetti Sauce, an onion and a package of Bell Peppers (red, yellow and orange). Now you may prefer Green Bell Peppers and that’s cool. Feel free to substitute the veggies you prefer. I’m sure this would also be good with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, spinach or any other Veg that you think will cook to a semi tender texture. You really don’t want anything that will get too soft or the dish will be entirely too one note (I learned that one watching CHOPPED). Also be sure you have garlic, olive oil and salt at home. I think it is always a good idea to have a jar of crushed garlic in the fridge and sea salt on the counter as these are staples in most of my favorite dishes. Oh, don’t forget the fresh basil.. also a staple in my kitchen.

Now that you have everything you need it is time to assemble the ultimate dish. In a deep fry pan heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil with a teaspoon or so of crushed garlic and a sprinkling of sea salt. Lay in the sausage gently. Trust me, you don’t ever want to toss anything into hot oil. It can only end badly. I have the burns to prove it. Your goal at this point is to brown the sausage nicely on all sides for a little color. I would suggest put a grease spatter screen over your pan while it is cooking.  Now you need to cut the vegetables - half the onion and half of each pepper into long slices and add it to the pan. Once you have a nice color on the sausage you can pour in the jar of sauce, fresh, chopped basil and cover with a lid. You then pop the pan into the oven and cook for 30-45 minutes at 425 degrees. The best way to test if the sausage is cooked all the way thru is to cut one open and check that the color is a nice brown. Once this is the case you can take it out and let it cool for a few minutes. The sausage goes well with either rice or pasta depending on your mood and preference. I usually put this on to cook about 20 minutes after the sausage goes in the oven. If you are trying to go low carb this dish is amazing without anything more than a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. And the best part is that the leftovers are great as breakfast with an over easy egg.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Gift Ideas Week 1

I have 5 nieces and 4 nephews (and one godson) and they are my favorite people on the entire planet. Their ages range from 18 to 1 year old. Every year my goal is to give them the best birthday and Christmas presents I can come up with. I spend months researching and dreaming up the best gift ideas. It is a contest I have with myself – can I top last year’s PERFECT gift. Trust me – this is beyond stressful but since my main goal in life is to be there favorite Auntie it is soooooo worth it.

Last Christmas I hit upon the perfect idea. I found a website that can turn photos into black and white line drawings that are pretty amazing coloring pages. This gave me the perfect idea. I would make personalized activity books for each of the little kids. Now I have to admit I didn’t realize how time consuming this project would be so if you are doing this for more than one child at a time you better allow a few weeks to make it happen.

First things first I picked 5 photos of each of the kids that I had taken over the years. I then logged into  http://scrapcoloring.com/convert-images-to-coloring-pages and converted each photo to a coloring page.  Here is a sample of one of the pages.

Next stop was http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages where I downloaded activity pages – connect the numbers and games. I also decided to rewrite some of our favorite fairy tales to be about the kids. Their favorite was my version of the Three Little Pigs which became The Three Little Cousins. Once I had created all of the elements I was ready to assemble the books which only required a trip to Kinko’s where they printed and assembled the pages and covers I had created. Then before wrapping them I wrote a special note to each child on the inside cover of their book.

When they opened their present they had a special, personal activity book that they could spend hours enjoying and then keep as a memory of that time of their life if they wanted.

Organizational Week

 

 

Ok, I have to start this first posting by admitting something all of my friends already know… I am a full fledged NEAT FREAK. I HATE clutter. It literally makes me lose my sh*t, break out into hives, sweats, and shakes.  I have literally had to stop myself from organizing other people’s cabinets. One night my friends thought it would be funny to move everything in my kitchen around. I didn’t speak to them for a week! Who does that kind of thing???? I mean……..  This isn’t a newly acquired CRAZY either. This is “deep seated, long running, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest” crazy. At age 4 my parents found me standing on the bathroom counter “cleaning”. I was organizing our medicine cabinet.

 

This is why people pay me to organize their world. I was born to do it. And since I’m not a stingy person (just a little left of normal), I plan to share all my organizational wizadry with you. Once a month I will give you a tried and true, sure fire way to streamline your life. Whether you implement these pearls of wisdom is up to you. But seriously, why wouldn’t you?!?!?!

This month we are going to start in the HAVEN of a woman’s life…. THE BATHROOM. Over the course of her life a woman spends countless hours in her bathroom; showering, exfoliating, plucking, primping, teasing and just straight up enjoying all the ways we have at our finger tips to get beautiful. Unfortunately, all this beautifying means more bottles, tubes, bands, brushes and canisters than we can possibly have room for.

My linear brain couldn’t handle all of this so I found a way to deal with the clutter and mayhem. And it only required a trip to Target and saving deli containers - Oh and my trusty label maker. Ok I have to admit I have two of them. One is a nice mini option that I can haul around with me (you never know when there will be a labeling emergency.. seriously) and the other is the mother of all label makers with a full keyboard and 12 different type styles. Who knew you needed to use different fonts for different labeling projects – ME.

For those of you who don’t have a label maker, you can make labels on your printer using label stock or just plain paper and some tape but seriously where is the fun in that? Sigh….. definitely not as pretty either.

From Target purchase stackable, storage bins. I like the ones with pretty blue snap closures. I find the process of sealing them closed VERY satisfying. (please see above admission that I am INSANE). I also recommend reusing the plastic food containers that your take out orders come in. From there it’s a breeze.

 

Start by sorting your bathroom paraphernalia into categories and containers-  First Aid, Nail Stuff, Facial Items, Dental and Vision, Extra Make Up, Hair Bands, Clips, Bobby Pins, etc. Then label your containers and seal. Each container is now labeled and stacked neatly in my bathroom cupboards and drawers. It is beyond easy to find what I need when I need it. I don’t break out in hives when I am in the bathroom. And even better is the look on my friends’ faces when they ask for a band aid and I show them the FIRST AID container. YEP INSANE!