Fried Cabbage

It is officially fall. We’re sure you already know that by now but we figured we should mention it – especially since we are going to start making more fall-y meals! This past weekend we kicked things off by trying …

Roasted Broccoli

So since school has started and everyone is busy with classes and work already, we thought we would share one of our favorites, the EASIEST side dish ever. Even if you think you don’t like broccoli, you’re wrong. You just …

Paris Inspired Creamy Leeks

So when we were in Paris over Christmas, we discovered the most amazing vegetable – the leek. Now, we had had leeks in dishes  or soups before, but they never really stood out to us.  Until. One of the best side dishes ever.  Plain old creamed leeks. Nothing fancy, just absolutely delicious.  We’ve tried to make them at home and this is the closest we’ve gotten to the true French dish.

If you’ve never had leeks before, they’re in the same family as onions and garlic and are very mild in flavor.  Because they have so many leaves and layers, use this video to learn how to properly clean and chop a leek. Trust us – it’s not hard and it’s totally worth it.

Creamy Leeks

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Simple French cuisine!

• Servings – 3-4
• Prep time – 5 minutes
• Cook time – 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 leeks
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan (optional but totally worth it)
• Salt and pepper

Protocol

1. Clean and chop your leeks.  Watch the video (linked above) if you’ve never done this.

2. In a non-stick pan, melt your butter over medium heat. Add the leaks, water, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the leeks are soft.

3. Stir in the cream and parmesan and cook for another minute or so to let everything come together. If you want the sauce to be thicker, cook for longer.

4. Serve and enjoy!

-D&E

Easy Broccoli Salad

Erica really likes salads.  She orders them at restaurants, makes fun ones at home with lots of toppings, but sometimes lettuce just gets boring. We have the solution! Instead of using lettuce as the base for a salad, why not… broccoli?

Broccoli is full of all sorts of good stuff – like vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants. It’s fun to mix up your veggie side dish routine and try something different.  This recipe was really what we had on hand, so any variations would be just as delicious! If you try it out with any different ingredients, let us know if the comments below!

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But really, raw veggies are so much better for you!

• Servings – 4-6
• Prep time – 5 minutes
• Cook time – None!

Ingredients

• 1 bag broccoli florets
• Handful of baby carrots (about 10ish, or use 1 medium carrot)
• 1 stalk of celery
• Handful of sprinkly cheese (we used about 1/2 cup of mozzarella)
• 2 or 3 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped or crumbled
• Dressing of choice (we love using Penzey’s Italian Dressing base with balsamic vinegar and olive oil!)

Protocol

1. Make sure all your veggies are washed and dry. Chop to whatever size you like.

2. Mix everything and add your dressing!  It’s best to add the dressing over each individual portion, so the rest can be refrigerated and saved for later.

3. Serve and enjoy!

-D&E

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

So we wanted to fit one post in this week to help you guys out with Thanksgiving. If you are totally out of side dish ideas for tomorrow we have a really easy and tasty one here for you – Brussels Sprouts with Bacon! You might be thinking “Who ever eats Brussels sprouts?” and you probably have a good reason to think that. However, before this recipe Erica thought she didn’t like Brussels sprouts but changed her mind after her second helping of this dish! Bacon can do magical things. Now hurry up and get to a grocery store before tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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They’re magically delicious!

• Servings – 4 to 6
• Prep time – 15 minutes
• Cook time – 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds of Brussels sprouts
• 8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

Protocol

1. Cut an “X” into the stem of each Brussels sprout. Set aside.

2. In a large pot, melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté the garlic for 3 minutes over medium heat.

3. Add in the Brussels sprouts into the pot and toss to evenly coat.

4. Add in the chicken broth and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer for 12 to 15 minutes until Brussels sprouts are nice and tender.

5. Drain the liquid and mix in the other 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the bacon crumbles and mix all together.

6. Serve and enjoy!

-D&E

Cheesy Potato Casserole

We can’t believe it is almost Thanksgiving! Only a few weeks of the semester left (and of Declan’s undergraduate career). This semester has been very busy for both of us, hence only one post a week. We promise the posts will pick up once Declan starts working full time and doesn’t have homework/reports/projects to worry about.

Anyway, we have an exciting weekend coming up. We are going to be hosting a little house warming brunch with some of our friends on Saturday and then driving over to Declan’s parents’ house for a “Yay you got a grown up job” dinner. And then Sunday we are making a vegetable lasagna, yes we are so excited we had to announce it and yes, it’ll make an appearance on the blog!

Today’s recipe has nothing to do with Thanksgiving (that seems to be the theme for most food bloggers this time of year). Technically we still haven’t hosted Thanksgiving dinner on our own so we have no credibility in that department. However, we do have credibility with casseroles, cheesy potato casseroles that is! Let us know what you think about it, but make sure you use Ore-Ida Hash Browns. Here is a link to the original recipe which we followed pretty closely.

We just think this is a perfect recipe for college students!

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Can’t think of any words to describe this…deliciousityness maybe?

• Servings – 8
• Prep time – 15 minutes
• Cook time – 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 26-ounce bag frozen Ore-Ida hash browns
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 3 cups cornflakes, lightly crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Protocol

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

2. Take your Ore-Ida hash browns out of the freezer and set them out onto the counter to begin thawing.

3. In a large pot, saute the onions with a bit of olive oil over medium heat until they become soft, about 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the flour and continue to cook for another minute.

5. Add in the broth and the milk and whisk together slowly until everything is evenly combined.

6. Add in the salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring to a boil and then turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes until mixture is nice and thick. Stir in the cheddar cheese at this point and remove from the heat.

7. Break apart the hash browns in the bag to manageable size pieces. Add these into the cheesy mixture and stir until hash browns are completely combined. Stir in the sour cream at this point.

8. In a separate bowl, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the microwave and toss the crushed cornflakes in the melted butter until evenly coated.

9. In a casserole dish or 9×13 inch pan, evenly spread the cheesy potato mixture and top with the cornflakes.

10. Bake for 45 minutes.

11. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

-D&E

Mini Ham and Cheese Quinoa Cups

Well the election is finally over, at least we do not have to listen to any more political ads! But Tuesday had even better news for us – Declan was offered a full time position at the company he has been interning with for the past two years! He will be starting in January once we return from our honeymoon. We aren’t sure yet if we are allowed to disclose where he will be working but we will give you three hints:

• They are headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA
• They make really good ketchup
• 57

Good luck solving that! We celebrated Tuesday evening by going out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Union Grill here in Oakland. Overall, we are just so grateful to know that we will have a steady income  soon.

So we made this recipe awhile back when we had dinner at a friend’s house.  They were really simple to make and turned out very well!  They’re a great appetizer and easy to travel with because they can be served warm or cold!  But we definitely have to credit where we got the recipe – thank you Kristin from Iowa Girl Eats!

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Don’t be intimidated by this recipe; it’s super easy! We also made some without ham for our vegetarian friends!

• Servings – about 30 mini cups
• Prep time – 10 minutes
• Bake time – 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked quinoa (3/4 cup uncooked – we cooked ours in the microwave while we were prepping everything else!)
• 2 eggs PLUS 2 egg whites
• 1 small zucchini, shredded
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup diced ham
• 1/4 fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• pinch of salt and pepper (I think we used seasoned salt and a dash of garlic powder, too!)

Protocol

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. To separate your egg whites, carefully crack your egg in two pieces.  Over a bowl, gently pour the yolk between the two pieces of shell, letting the white fall into the bowl and keeping the yolk intact. (Use this website for recipes to use up the extra two yolks!)

3. Shred your zucchini using a grater.

4. Combine all your ingredients into a large bowl and mix to combine.

5. Spoon the mixture into a well-greased mini muffin pan so each cup is full.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  Let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

7. Serve and enjoy! These little cups refrigerate and freeze well, but good luck not eating them all!

-D&E