Meals to make your mouth water.

I don't always make my own recipes for things, and if I don't, then I feel silly posting someone else's recipe up here (unless it's fantastic enough to warrant it). However, I still take pictures of every meal I eat that I'm proud of or...just that I'm eating at the time and is pretty. ;) So I thought I would share the pictures and what the meal consisted of for your amusement and viewing pleasure. It might be useful for meal planning? And if you do see something here that you want the recipe for, I will gladly give it to you.

Lasagna from the Old Spaghetti Factory. 

Not as yummy as I was hoping... there really isn't anything that can beat homemade lasagna.  

Buttermilk Brined Fried Chicken with Basil Alfredo Pasta.

SO YUMMY. I was very pleased with how this turned out. The buttermilk brine brought out all sorts of flavours in the chicken and made it very moist and nice. Mmmmm... Aaron also loved it cold as something to take for his lunches. I need to make this again.

Frisco Beef Burger (topped with cheddar cheese, bacon and fried mushrooms) with Yam Fries and Chipotle Mayo at the Bird of Paradise Pub.

 Also very yummy. In a testament to how much I'm eating as a pregnant woman in her second trimester, I ate the ENTIRE thing. Holy wow.

Super Beef Burritos.

Yummy, although I think next time I'll half the rice. It was good though, with lots of good flavours. About the rice, something that gives any rice you're cooking another shot of flavour is cooking it in beef broth or coconut milk. SO good.

Baked Ravioli with Buttermilk Onion Dinner Rolls

Aaron's favorite rolls are the buttermilk onion ones. He could eat them 'til they came out his ears. As far as the ravioli...I think I'm going to try making them myself next time, but the sauce was very good!  

BBQ-ed Steak with Parmesan Potatoes, Fried Mushrooms, Caesar Salad and BBQ-ed Bacon-wrapped Pineapple Chunks (dinner at the Eisenhuths, I brought the bacon pineapple)

I ATE SO MUCH OF THIS. Seriously, it was SO YUMMY and I am a bottomless pit now! It's funny, though, you put something like bread or even pasta in front of me and I'll eat about how much I would normally eat, but stick meat and potatoes in front of me and I become a food hoover!

Super Duper Chili (my recipe) and Buttery Cornbread.

Mmm... nothing goes better with chili than cornbread. 

So there you go! If anything I hope it helps with meal planning! I know just typing this out and looking through the pictures I've decided what I'm going to make again soon.

Basil Alfredo Sauce

I love Italian cooking. Seriously, I could eat pasta every meal of the day and their bread creations make me all happy inside. However, I'm not the world's biggest fan of garlic. So whenever I make something Italian I always tone down the garlic, and since I did not grow any basil this year to make my own pesto, I can't use store bought because it is too much garlic and not enough basil. SO. If you are a garlic lover, you can use more garlic in the recipe, or even just put pesto in it. 

Basil Alfredo Sauce

3 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 small garlic cloves, minced

2 c. heavy cream

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

3/4 c. mozza cheese

2 tbsp. frozen minced basil

1 (12 oz) box angel hair or capellini pasta

melt butter with olive oil on low heat. add the garlic, cream and pepper and bring mixture (slowly) to a simmer, stirring frequently. add parmesan cheese and simmer sauce for 8-10 minutes or until sauce has thickened and is smooth. remove from heat and add basil and mozza cheese, stir 'til smooth then add the noodles. Serve as a side dish or a light main course!

Thick Beef and Beans Chili

I don't like soup. It's a sad but true fact. They are just too...swishy. They make you feel hungry again in twenty minutes. I don't appreciate this. The closest I get to soup is chowder (my mother's corn chowder is DELISH, I need her recipe) and chili. The stew-ish end of soups---although, I really don't like stews, either.

I've made chili I liked before, but, silly me, I never wrote down what I did (that is one very nice side affect of this blog, I have to write down what I do otherwise I don't have anything to show you). So today I was feeling particularly ill (I've had a head cold for days) so I decided to do some therapeutic cooking and come up with a chili recipe.

So I did. And here it is.

A warning, I like spicy food and I also make a TON of chili when I make it because it just keeps tasting better and better the longer you keep it.

Thick Beef and Beans Chili

2 lbs ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped small
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, chopped small
1 green pepper, chopped small
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp Montreal Steak Spice
1/2 tsp cumin
4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp salt
1 114 ml can of diced green chilis
1 19 fl. oz can of navy beans
1 19 fl. oz can of kidney beans
1 28 fl. oz can of diced tomatoes
1 28 fl. oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 c. broth (doesn't really matter what kind, though beef would be best)
1/8 c. brown sugar

In a HUGE pot, fry onions and garlic until brown. Add beef, salt and spices and cook 'til brown. Then add green, red and chili peppers. Stir and cook for another minute then add beans, tomatoes, broth and sugar.
It really needs a while to fully 'woogy', so I made mine in the morning and we'll eat it for dinner tonight. You could even make it the day before. It is REALLY good with fresh cornbread.

I hope you enjoy!