Creamy Tomato Baked Ravioli

It has been awhile since I've made anything more elaborate than peanut butter and jelly...I wish I was joking. I have become super busy this past month.  I work at an elementary school, with the marching band, giving lessons and working a few hours at the grocery store. I've worked out once so far this month and the way it's looking I will only work-out once in the month of September. Luckily I've been eating right, for the most part.

Uncooked version of Creamy Tomato Baked Ravioli 

w/ Mushrooms

This September brings an addition to my friend and her husband. On Sept. 22nd Levi was born! I was able to put The Good Neighbor Cookbook to good use. Under the "Bringing Home Baby" section I found a recipe for Creamy Tomato Baked Ravioli and Spinach. This recipe is VERY easy to make. The recipe says it serves 6-8 people, but I decided to cut the recipe in half. I didn't want to give them too much extra food. It smelt so good when it was cooking so I made some for myself. My version had a few variations.

For the new parents, I followed the recipe (cut in half) and added a can of mushrooms. When I made the dish for myself I didn't really measure ingredients, I just started putting things together. I used elbow macaroni instead of ravioli and no mushrooms. It was so good! I made enough for 3 servings: one for dinner and two leftover servings for lunches.

Variation of the recipe. SO GOOD!!!!!!

Pumpkin Goodies!

The cooler weather hung around! Fall is approaching! The leaves are starting to turn!

I love the changing of the seasons. I enjoy all seasons and their individual qualities. Fall is probably my favorite season hands down (I think I've mentioned this before). The leaves changing, cooler weather (aka sweatshirt weather), bonfires, Halloween, Thanksgiving and tons of delicious, heartfelt recipes to make/eat-up! And of course this means PUMPKINS and the various goodies made using them!

Today I was in Muncie helping Sonny move into his new house. We stopped at Concannon's Bakery for breakfast before we got started. Not seeing the donut I was planning on purchasing for my breakfast I became sad. But my disappointment was quickly turned into excitement when I saw a sign for the arriva; of their Pumpkin Donuts!!!!! A pumpkin donut with cream cheese icing, YUM! I should have taken a picture of my delicious breakfast treat, but I was so distracted by enjoying it...I forgot.

If you find yourself in Muncie, you really should stop by Concannon's. They've got tons of delicious treats: donuts, cookies, cakes, muffins and TONS of chocolates. There is something you will enjoy, I guarantee it.. There are two locations: one is downtown Muncie and the other is on the west side of town off of Morrison. (I'm really surprised they don't have a website). Prices are very reasonable too. I like stopping and picking up a donut from this bakery, but I think I'm going to search for a recipe and try making my own pumpkin donuts this fall.

Marinara Envy

The moment I walked into my sister's house and took a sniff, I knew what she was cooking: Toasted Garlic Marinara from The Good Neighbor Cookbook. I was excited to see how her second batch of this recipe was shaping up.

I have now tasted three different interpretations of this recipe. I've made it twice: once with canned whole tomatoes and once with fresh tomatoes I diced from Sonny's mom's garden. Both batches tasted fine, just chunkier than I was hoping for...I was thinking more sauce-like. Sonny's interpretation used fresh tomatoes that he put in a food processor before adding to the pot, but was still chunky-ish. My sister's batch used fresh tomatoes from her garden mostly (and some from our aunt's). She blanched her tomatoes first before using them for the marinara. She also spent a good chunk of time letting the tomatoes simmer and break down, but it turned out sauce-like and left me very jealous at her outcome. All three were delicious, but my sister's was the best in the texture I was looking for.

I learned that I need to have more patience when letting the tomatoes simmer...and I might try the blanching step. If I followed the recipe, it took way longer for the tomatoes to break down than stated in the recipe. One of the best things about cooking (besides eating the final creation) is learning from "mistakes", improving recipes and making it up as you go. Sonny has taught me that last one: making it up as you go. And he's right...recipes are (for the most part) general guidelines to follow. If you understand what kind of things work well together you don't have to rely on the directions so much. I hope to make another batch soon and freeze it for the upcoming winter months. I also have friends having babies and they are due later this month and want to use the marinara in a frozen meal for them. We'll see how that turns out with my crazy busy schedule. 

Chicken and Rice Soup

Hello chilly weather! Hello jeans and sweatshirts! But being that I live in Indiana means that in a few days we could be wearing shorts and tank tops. Although I hope the cooler weather stays. I enjoy fall: leaves changing colors, football season, chili/soup, pumpkins and of course Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks! 

The past few days have left me longing for some delicious soup. Monday was a crisp and refreshing change from the hot days before hand. Tuesday was a nice, but between a brisk recess duty and a very windy band rehearsal, I was chilled most of the day. And today was the icing on the cake: cold and rainy...and spending time outside. Between a sprinkle during recess duty and being out in the rain during rehearsal I was ready for warm soup when I got home. So I went through my cookbooks and found a recipe in one of them that I used as a guideline and got cooking.  The soup turned out delicious! It made the kitchen smell wonderful. I can't wait to have some tomorrow for lunch!

Chicken and Rice Soup

Adapted from The Healthy College Cookbook's recipe: Quick Chicken Soup 

Ingredients

2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth

1 cube chicken bouillon

8-10 carrot sticks, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 c. onion, chopped

2/3 c. brown rice

1 c. chopped cooked chicken

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add the bouillon cube, carrots, celery, onion and rice; return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer (uncovered) for 10 minutes, or until veggies are soft.

2. Add the chicken and simmer for a couple more minutes. 

My Birthday Creation: Chocolate-Berry Ice Cream Cake

September starts off right with my birthday! I turned 25 this year...the big quarter-of-a-century.  I have a big sweet tooth, so I love birthday treats, but I'm not a big cake fan. As a kid I ate cake but I didn't (usually) eat the frosting. I ate around the frosting. But there are two types of desserts I LOVE: brownies and ice cream cake. I found this Chocolate-Berry Ice Cream Cake recipe in the magazine Everyday Food and decided I wanted it for my birthday. Yes, I know some of you may be thinking, "Why is she making her birthday cake?" Answer: I like to cook and bake so I had no problem making this for myself. 

Step 1: Bake cake base

Step 2: Add ice cream layer and let it freeze

The cake had three layers: a chocolate cake base, vanilla ice cream w/ blackberries center, and a raspberry sorbet top layer. It tasted wonderful. Next time I might try strawberry sorbet instead of the raspberry. I enjoy strawberries over raspberries. It was very easy, just time consuming. First you had to bake the cake. Then you add the middle layer and have to let that freeze. Finally you add the sorbet layer on top and have to let that freeze too. Overall the cake was a big success! Even my young nephews enjoyed the treat! 

The final product! 

Three layers of deliciousness!

I received some nice gifts for my birthday. My sister got me a copy of The Good Neighbor Cookbook by Sara Quessenberry and Suzanne Schlosberg for my birthday. I've made one recipe out of her copy of the book so I'm excited to have my own copy (that way I don't have to keep borrowing hers). I'm looking forward trying more of these recipes. Sonny gave me an athletic watch with a heart-rate monitor. I was happy just to receive a more sporty looking watch...the heart-rate monitor was a nice bonus. Now I can keep track of my workouts and various stats. My birthday was a great time with family and brought news of a new job! Best birthday present to date. Now my schedule will be super busy between teaching, band, lessons and the grocery store! Let the chaos begin! 

Fingerless Gloves (and a Matching Hat)

Ever since a hole developed in my favorite pair of "glittens" or hooded gloves if you prefer (fingerless gloves with a flap to pull over the fingers)...I vowed to knit my own pair of fingerless gloves. That was freshmen year of college, 6 years ago. I had the pattern in a book that bought when I started making hats, which also happened to occur during my freshmen year. It took me this long to finally attempt gloves for a few reason. One, the patterned intimidated me. Two, life happens and other things got in the way. Quite frankly my knitting took a backseat for a few years, except for making baby blankets for my nephews.

After my knitting hiatus I decided it was now or never for the fingerless gloves. I discovered that the pattern is in fact quite simple and very easy to follow. I got the pattern for the fingerless gloves from Cabled Accessories by Patricia Kim. The yarn I used was Naturally Caron - Country, color: peacock. I used the same yarn for the hat, but the pattern I used I found in the November 2010 issue of Creative Knitting. I used the pattern on page 38, "Go Green Gaiter & Hat"...I knitted in rounds, but you can knit in rows too. Also I didn't use multiple colors like the pattern calls for, maybe next time.

I'm excited for the colder weather to arrive so I can sport these new items. I bought two skeins. I made three fingerless gloves from one skein, with some leftover. (Yes three, I made a slight error when piecing together in between fingers). I'm sure I have enough left over from the second skein to make another hat or maybe another pair of fingerless gloves. Where I enjoy these types of gloves I don't think I'll be making a pair for my sister for Christmas...she tried one on and started singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"...maybe it's our age difference. Here's a picture of the final products:

Can't wait to wear these with my coat and scarf this winter!

Using the "Go Green Hat" pattern I made two other hats using scrap yarn from past projects I had lying around. They turned out very well, but I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet. Perhaps I'll give them to people I know or donate them...either way I'm giving them away. Now to find a new projects...perhaps socks.

*Update on 12/4/11*

As excited as I was about these gloves and a matching hat. After a month of seeing them sit in my closest I discovered I'm not so excited about the color. So I made a new scarf and hat from the same book the fingerless gloves came from. Currently I am in the process of making mittens that match the scarf and hat. When I'm done with those I'll post about all three projects.