Menu Plan Monday

Monday: leftovers

Tuesday: Roasted Butternut Squash, Broccoli, and Navy Beans with Brown Jasmine Rice

Wednesday: CEiMB: Broccoli & Cheddar Stuffed Potato Skins with Avocado Cream

Thursday: Work Holiday Party @ Tyler’s Taproom and Husband’s 30th BIRTHDAY!!! :)

Friday: 30th Birthday Celebration at Herons Restaurant

Saturday: Spinach Stuffed Cannelloni with a Sundried Tomato Sauce

Sunday: leftovers

Sloppy Buffalo Joes

Today was holiday shop, shop, shopping with Kate and her boys. Ok, we really didn’t do all that much shopping, we just hit up some of our favorite stores including World Market and Gap. We each had a couple small Christmas gifts left to purchase.

Last night I made Sloppy Buffalo Joes for the first time. Very good, I loved the traditional sweet tomato sauce paired with the spicy buffalo!

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds ground chicken (I used local beef from Brinkley Farms)
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped or grated
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup hot sauce
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 8 good quality burger rolls, split and toasted
• 1 cup blue cheese crumbles
• 2 large dill pickles, chopped

Heat a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and break it up with wooden spoon, cook 5 to 6 minutes. Add in carrots, onions and garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, cook 7 to 8 minutes more. In a bowl combine the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, tomato sauce and stock. Pour into the pan and stir to combine. Simmer a few minutes more. Pile sloppy Buffalo filling onto buns and top with blue cheese and chopped pickles.

Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray

I served these open faced on top of toasted and split Ninth Street Bakery Poppy Seed Kaiser Rolls – these were so chewy and delicious!

Sugar Plums

I’ve always wanted to make sugar plums, I' don’t recall ever having them before and I have no idea if this is close to the original variety or not, but when I found this recipe I thought it was quite doable. It turns out that these remind me of one very delicious thing…Larabars!!

For now these are still fresh in the fridge, but when I package them up to give to my favorite Gluten-free friend, Kelly, I plan to dust them with snow (aka powdered sugar).

• 1 cup whole almonds
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped)
• 1/2 cup pitted dates (chopped)
• 1/2 cup dried figs (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar

1. Pulse nuts and dried fruits in a food processor. Add honey and spices and pulse until slightly sticky clumps form.
2. Roll small balls out of the mixture.
3. Dust with powdered sugar.

Recipe courtesy of Closet Cooking

Saturday – Bloggers, Showers, and Victory!

This morning, I gradually eased into the day. It began with a mug of hot coffee with milk and some blog reading. Thankfully, I had already cleaned up from last night at the tale end of the party so I got to enjoy walking down the stairs to a beautifully lit Christmas tree and a nice clean, coffee aroma filled kitchen.

Midmorning, I headed out for a Blogger Brunch at Mad Hatter's Cafe with Kath and Matt along with local bloggers/readers Meg, Lacey and Craig, Sarah, Allie, Me, Lauren and her boyfriend.

Check this out, Kath is currently featured on Oprah!! She is part of the “Deck The Blog For Oprah” series. So cool!

Today, I’m only 2 clicks away from Oprah. com (ha ha) See for yourself - click on Deck the Blogs >then select Kath > finally scroll down and select Jessica :)

I ordered the “Mad Hatter” with sunflower toast, knowing that I had more food to come at the shower in a couple hours.

From there I headed to the baby shower for my sweet friend Reed, downtown at Pop’s Tattoria.

The mother and grandmother-to-be

We were served a gorgeous selection of Italian appetizers.

And then back home to join Andy and our friends cheer on UK v UNC for the second half of the game…which was a HUGE win!!

This evening is going to be low key. I’m making Sloppy Buffalo Joes and perhaps a holiday treat.

Christmas Cookie Exchange

P-A-R-T-Y!! I highly recommend hosting your next cookie party with spouses, our guys added so much life and humor to the party :P 

We enjoyed a night of merriment with 9 friends last night. Not only did we each take home an assortment of 3 dozen cookies, we had a great cocktail hour too. Along with the selection of beer, wine, and wassail we had Sundried Tomato and Olive Tapenade, Veggies with ranch and hummus, Oil Cured Olives and Spinach Artichoke Dip– yummy!

Later in the evening the group came to a conscience to start up “Muppets: Christmas Carole”…but in the end the night just turned into even more chatting :)

Here’s the loot we each went home with: Soft Ginger Cookies, both Peppermint Sugar and Peppermint Chocolate Cookies, Gingerbread Men, Brownie Bites, a Holiday Assortment (Bourbon Balls, Almond Cookies, and Candy Cane Cookies), and White Chocolate Cranberry Oat Cookies.

Today is full of several fun events…a Brunch with Kath and some local bloggers, a baby shower, and the UK v UNC game with friends! Sunday I’m Christmas shopping with a good friend too :)

Brinkley Farms Winter CSA - Week 4

• 1 head green leaf lettuce
• 1 bag lettuce mix
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 lb ground chorizo
• 1 lb ground pork

Cranberry Oat Cookies with White Chocolate and Nuts

I am participating in Diana’s Holiday Cookie Challenge. “Bake a new cookie recipe every weekend through Christmas (or just one time this season). Spread the holiday cheer by vowing to gift some of your sweet treats to someone deserving. ”

These cookies were baked for distribution at our Holiday Cookie Exchange tomorrow. My churches 20s-30s Group decided that we’d like to have a cookie swap and I volunteered to host it. We each bake 6-8 cookies per family attending and packaged the cookies individually. I served Spinach Artichoke Dip and Hot Apple Cider; a few others are planning to bring a light appetizer as well.

• 1 c all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 c butter, softened
• 1/4 c packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 oz bakers white chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 c macadamia nuts, pecans or walnuts, chopped
• 2 1/2 c old fashioned oats
• 1 c dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Mix well.

In another bowl beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add flour mixture. Mix well. Stir in coarsely chopped white chocolate and nuts, oats and cranberries. Mix well.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 14 - 16 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool and store in a tightly covered container.

Recipe courtesy of The Pampered Chef

CEiMB: Confetti Chili

Hosted by I'll Eat You

This is our favorite chili recipe. Sometimes I change it up a bit by deglazing the pan with half of a light beer, throwing in some fresh tomatoes, or a pinch of cinnamon. This time I stuck to her classic recipe but added light sour cream, cheddar cheese, and diced avocado as toppings.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can of chipotles
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the oil in large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the cumin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ground beef; raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, water, chipotle and adobo sauce, oregano and salt and pepper. Cook, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and continue cooking, partially covered, 20 minutes longer. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.