Sunday, April 28, 2013

Lazy Day......

Today the hubby and I were/still being lazy as lazy as can be.... It's been raining and cloudy out all day.... We both felt like we needed to do something so as I made dinner the hubby cleaned the bathroom.... I think I got the better end of the deal ;)

I was going to make perogies sauteed with onions but then I saw a recpie on the back of the box and of course I tweeked it....

Tree's Italian Perogie Bake
  • 1 box Mrs. T's 4 Cheese Perogies
  • 1/2 jar pasta sauce (8 oz.)
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with basil and oregano (drained)
  • 1 bag fresh spinach
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

  1. Saute the bag of spinach until wilted
  2. Grease a 9x13 pan and place the Perogies on the bottom of the pan.
  3. Layer the following ontop of the Perogies: pasta sauce, spinach, diced tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese
  4. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes until cheese has melted and is bubbly.
There you have it! Perfect cross between Italian and Polish food :) Which fits me perfectly, considering my background :)

Now if the next hour and 15 minutes just go by a little faster.... Can't wait for Game of Thrones tonight!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Epic Cooking Fail.....


Yep...... There is no bottom to this pot.... I was warming up the chicken and gnocchi soup for dinner for myself, the hubby and a friend and POP! The bottom of the pot broke.... What I thought was an enamel pot was actually ceramic... :(

Alright, I'm signing off for the night.... time to watch the Louis C.K. special on HBO and relax.... Cheers.

Mad Mex

It's been a while since I've done a restaurant review and well this one dates back to St. Paddy's day.... The hubby and I recently bought a house and have been pretty busy with moving and now getting unpacked.... So I thought tonight I'd catch up on the blog, while watching the Pens game.

So, back on St. Paddy's day we went to Mad Mex in Monroeville. While looking over the menu we came across this... Honey Boo Boo BBQ wings..... I just love the description!



We didn't get the wings....awwww, I was really craving some ketchup-butter too! I already had my fix of Go Go Juice..... We ended up getting the XX Cheese Dip. Which is Cheddar cheese with Dos Equis, jalapeƱos and tomato.Can't go wrong with that! :)


 We both ended up getting burritos for our entree's which were dressed up for St. Paddy's day. They used green tortillas :)

The hubby ended up getting the Chicken Mole Burrito, which has grilled chicken, black beans and Jack cheese with rich, dark Mexican mole sauce. Cotija cheese roasted on top. 

I got the Dance Marathon Burrito which is filled with spicy spinach, portobellos, grilled chicken, black beans and Jack cheese. I think it is my favorite one I've had so far form there. I normally always try something different when I go out to eat, but this burrito may have changed that for the next time I go there!




And yes, they are some big azz burritos! It was very hard for us to finish them.. I ended up picking out all the chicken and portobellos from mine since I was getting so stuffed!

Mad Mex is one of my fav's in the area and always get's and A++ in my book!

Mad Mex on Foodio54

Mad Mex on Urbanspoon

Copy Cat....

Last week I had some potatoes I needed to use. I ended up making Gnocchi and freezing them for dinner later in the week. So, last night for dinner I made a copy cat recipe of the Olive Gardens Chicken and Gnocchi Soup. I found the recipe at Jamie Cook It Up but did a few changes to make it "Tree's Way" :)

Here is the recipe:

Tree's Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
4 stalks celery, chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 rotisserie chicken
8 cups chicken broth (I used homemade)
16 ounce Potato Gnocchi (also used homemade)
 4 cups half and half
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cups cold water
5 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper 



1. Chops the onion and garlic, peel and grate the carrots and chop the celery. 
6. Pull the skin off of the chicken, and take the meat off of the bones. Shred it with your hands or cut it up and place it to the side.
2. Heat a large pot up over medium high heat. Pour 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil into it.
3. When the oil is hot toss your chopped veggies into the pot. Cook them over medium high heat, stirring occasionally for about 5-8 minutes or until the onions are translucent.   
7. When your veggies are done cooking pour broth.
8. Add the chopped chicken and bring the soup to a boil.
9. Once boiling add the Gnocchi into the pot. Let the soup come to a boil again. The gnocchi will be cooked  through when they float to the top of the broth.
10. Then add the chopped spinach
11. Pour in  half and half, dried thyme, nutmeg, sugar and butter. Stir it around a bit and let it come to a boil.
12. In a small bowl combine the 1/4 C cold water and 5 tablespoons of cornstarch. Mix it well and pour it into the soup pot. (I had to add a little more than 1/4 cup water, as it was a big clump)
13. Bring the soup to a boil, while you stir. It will thicken as the soup reaches a boil.
14. Taste it and season it to your liking with salt and pepper. 
 
And here is the finished product :)



I had some left over sour dough bread from the night before and I also added some Romano cheese, turned out pretty damn good and got 2 thumbs up from the hubby.
 

Say Cheese!!

So, Thursday was National Cheese Fondue Day.... I decided to surprise my hubby, since he loves cheese fondue, to have it for dinner.

I ended up combing 2 recipes together and using a beer base, Sam Adam's Dark Depths, and also used Vermont White Cheddar and Jarlsberg with a few other secret ingredients :)


As for dippers I picked up some Bratwurst

Also Keilbasa and Little Smokies

And Sour Dough Bread, which I toasted a little...


Not the healthiest of dinner but turned out pretty good and the hubby loved it :)