Roasted Green Beans

Roasted Green Beans

1/2 Pound Green Beans or String Beans
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper To Taste
Optional: Rosemary, Garlic Powder, Dill, Seasoning Blend, etc.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.  Trim ends on beans and rinse under water.  In a bowl, toss green beans with olive oil till well coated and season.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange beans so they do not overlap. Cook for 15 minutes.  Boom. Roasted.

Along with salt and pepper, my sister and I used rosemary, garlic powder... and on the second batch dill weed, seasoned salt, and rosemary.  Let your heart and your spice rack be your guide.  My sister's veggie-hating fiance said they were the best beans he's ever had!  Beans were served with Creamy Chicken Parmesan and Garlic Toast.

Root Beer Floats

Besides reheating leftovers, this root beer float is the only thing I've made in the past 5 weeks.  There are many crucial factors in making a root beer float.  First, you need quality ingredients.  Barq's is, with out a doubt, the best root beer ever. Don't even get me started about my love affair with Haagen-Daaz.  We have been serious for quite a while now.  If you've got these two ingredients stocked, you're well on your way to a rockin' root beer float.  Next important factor is the vanilla ice cream to root beer ratio.  I suggest you take your glass, or frosted mug if you'r really serious, and fill it half full with ice cream.  Too little ice cream and you got yourself ice cream flavored root beer and too much ice cream gives you root beer flavored ice cream, so you imagine how vital this is.  Once you've got the ice cream in the glass, slowly pour the root beer over the ice cream.  As you can see, it gets quite foamy and if you pour to fast you will have root beer float all over your counter, which makes you a sad panda.  And nobody wants that.

What I've Been Up To

Hello friends,
My husband and I are neck-deep in moving boxes.  We start our 6 weeks of hotel living on Monday.  I'm so excited I get to be a hotel-wife!  Anyway, during the 3 week span of eat-everything-that's-edible-in-you're-cabinets-until-there's-nothing-left I rediscovered one of my favorite food combos of all time.... pickles and pizza, together in harmony, right there in the same salty, savory bite.  Try it sometime, it will change your life!

Summer Strawberries

I love strawberries.  But sometimes when I buy them, they come home and live out the rest of their lives in the refrigerator. I'm not always exactly sure what to do with them.  So for times where you find yourself in a similar situation, I've got a few ideas for you.

Last December I gave you balsamic strawberries.  If you haven't tried this yet, you haven't really lived.

For a light breakfast or an easy dessert, chop fresh strawberries and let them marinade in a little sugar for 1/2 hour, then serve with yogurt and granola.  I just recently found some awesome granola called 'Bear Naked'.  It took me two months before the name clicked and I realized how naughty the name is.  Two months!

For another simple dessert, marinade strawberries in sugar and serve with a box mix angle food cake and a dollop of cool whip... so good!

And finally, switch up your breakfast by toasting some bagel thins (or regular bagels), smear on some regular cream cheese and top with sliced strawberries.

There you have it!  Four easy and delicious ways to enjoy strawberries.  If you have any other easy strawberry concoctions, let me know!  If you've got more time on your hands and more determination, the Pioneer Woman just had a post on different ways to use strawberries. 


I forgot to include these gems that I made way back in the beginning of BD - Strawberry Brown Sugar Gratin

Updated Wish List

I recently had an epiphany.  It was a couple of days ago when I was in the kitchen trying to figure out what to eat for lunch.  At the bottom of the fridge sat a sad, half eaten turkey sandwich that was getting soggier by the second.  Sigh.  Even in it's sad state, the sandwich had potential.  I thought to myself that I could throw it in the microwave for a minute, to get the cheese melted and attempt to bring it back to life.  But that would only worsen the soggy-ness.  The oven!  Of course!  But, I didn't  have time to heat an oven; I had to be to work in 20 minutes.  What to do?  If only there was a small appliance that could heat like an oven in the time of a microwave.  Then the light bulb above my head lit up.  I knew what had been lacking in my life.  A toaster oven!  I felt like I had discovered the secret to life. 

BS Sandwich

BS Sandwich
serves 1

2 Slices of White Bread, Toasted

3 Slices of Bacon

Spinach

Mayo

Fry bacon on the stove top or cook in the microwave.  Toast bread.  Spread mayo on one slice or bread.  Layer cook bacon then a small handful of fresh baby spinach leaves and top with the other slice of toasted bread.  Enjoy with a bowl of tomato soup.

This is my take on a BLT.  I'm not the biggest fan of the 'T' and spinach is a much healthier alternative to the 'L'.... healthy spinach to balance out the not-so-healthy bacon.  I've already discussed my preferred method of cooking bacon here.  Microwaving bacon creates a happy, stress-free, lunchtime. 

Easter Egg Nest Cookies

Easter Egg Nest Cookies

2/3 Cup Flour

5 Cups Flaked Coconut (Or (1) 14.5 oz. Package)

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Food Coloring in a Variety of Easter Colors

1 Package Candy Coated Chocolate Egg Candies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour, coconut, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add condensed milk and vanilla.  Divide coconut mixture into separate small bowls (with separate spoons) depending on how many colors you wish to use.  (i.e. 4 colours = 4 bowls).  Add a couple of drops of coloring in each bowl and stir to mix.  Spoon tablespoon-full drops onto a greased baking sheet then use the spoon and a clean finger to shape into nest shapes.  Bake 12-15 minutes.  Let cookies cool and press eggs into nests. 

I finally found my camera charger.... just in time for Easter!  Earlier this afternoon I impulsively decided to make these cookies after I saw a similar recipe online, then called my mother for her recipe.  When I went to the store to pick up the ingredients, they were practically sold out of all Easter candy.  I even went to a different store... same story.  So I settled for some foil wrapped chocolate eggs, not ideal but they'll have to do!  In other news, M just accepted a job.  We are both very excited!  In June we will be moving into a hotel for 6 weeks while he does training.  So I will be either doing a 'Microwave Month' or most likely not doing any cooking during our stay there.  In the meantime, I hope to catch up on some of the things I made over the last month!