Friday, September 27, 2013

Polenta & Sausage Bake

The other day after work I stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up something quick to make for dinner.  They were sampling this polenta bake but with vegetarian sausage.  I've made this before and loved it.  It's a quick meal that is very satisfying.  I purchased chicken sausage instead of the veggie kind.  And dinner was made...

Here are the ingredients....
1 Polenta Log
1 Can Marinara Sauce
1/2 tub Ricotta Cheese
1/2 bag Mozzarella Cheese
1 package sausage -- cut into circles and cook until done.

Preheat oven to 450.  Cut the polenta into  1/2 inch circles.  Place half of polenta at bottom of baking dish and then add half of the sausage.  Next add half of the Marinara sauce and the cheeses.  Now add the rest of the polenta, sausage, sauce and cheeses.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  And done!

Unfortunately, the photo of it plated did not come out, but trust me it looked good!  And tasted delicious!  The polenta comes out soft and the cheeses melt into the sauce.  And the sausage...it marries so well with the rest of the ingredients.  5 ingredients...one yummy meal!  

Until next time!

Luna ready for bed.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Fingerlaces

As you know I purchased a lot of charms from eBay a while back.  I mean A LOT of charms.  Trying to use all of them will be difficult to do, but oh so fun!  Here is my first attempt.  I call them "fingerlaces"...basically necklaces for your fingers!  I'm thinking of copyrighting the name as I know they will be a HUGE hit!  OK, maybe not, but they sure are easy to make. 

Supplies needed...
1. Charm
2. Chain...measure to size of ring
3. 2 jump rings
4. A tool to open and close jump rings

Close chain with one of the jump rings.  Add the charm with the other jump ring to the center of the chain and done!  Super easy! Super cute!
I made this one for Vivian...
Fingerlaces!  
I made other rings too...
Vivian kept all of them.  I also made her this necklace...
Cuz I love her!   
Until next time!
Smiley Luna!  

Thursday, September 19, 2013

What I've made...

I made these this past week.  

And these...
Oh, and in case Vivian forgets her name, I made her this...
Until next time!
Luna relaxing after a long walk.   


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Roll-Ups Fail

I was catching up on The Chew and a Mexican chef by the name of Pati Jinich was on making something delicious with pork so I thought I would google her to get some recipes.  I found her website Pati's Mexican Table and, while going through it a recipe caught my eye.  It looked both yummy and easy to make and totally adaptable with ingredients I had on hand.  This past Sunday I volunteered Vivian to help me make Pati's French Toast Roll Ups Pati's French Toast Roll-Ups. All was going well, until I decided to bake them instead of frying them.  I baked them in our toaster conventional oven....
Not very appealing but oh so good!
That's Nutella busting out of the seams.  {sigh}  BUT!  They still tasted good!  Like a rolled-up french toast with Nutella & banana in the middle.  We also made some with strawberry jam and fresh strawberries.  I think it was a combination of too much stuffing and not rolling tightly enough.  Anyway, here's the recipe.

French Toast Roll-Ups
adapted from Pati's Mexican Table
makes 12

Ingredients:
12 slices of white bread 
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon + 1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

filling of choice -- I think any jam and/or fresh fruit combo works.  
We used Nutella with bananas for half of the roll-ups and
strawberry jam with fresh strawberries for the other half

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 

Cut the crust from the bread.  Using a rolling pin, roll the slices gently until half it's width.  


Add the filling -- about a teaspoon (don't over fill!) and the fresh fruit.

Now roll the bread with the filling.  (Pati suggested like a "cigar or a rolled-taco".  Definitely do that as otherwise will get busted up roll-ups!)  Finish stuffing and rolling all.

In a shallow bowl whisk the egg, milk, vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and nutmeg together.  Place each roll up in the bowl and let soak for about 5 minutes.

Foil or use Silpat over baking sheet and lightly spray or grease the tray so the roll-ups don't stick.  Place each roll-up on tray, seam side down, and bake for 8-10 minutes.  Flip each roll-up and spray or butter the other side.  If using butter make sure you melt it first and brush on.  Now bake that side for 8-10 minutes or until completely baked.

In a plate mix sugar and rest of cinnamon.  Once roll-ups have finished baking you will roll each one in the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  And done!

Until next time!