it's like they write it just for me!

even though i'm not pregnant, sometimes my intense food cravings make me think i am. for the last few months that i haven't been pregnant, i've been craving eggs. all the freaking time. i've been eating at least 1/2 dozen eggs a week, all by myself. and this has been going on for months! i blame it on the switch to organic eggs, those things are so darn good!

other things i've been intensely craving are tuna, yogurt, bananas and weird vegetables like kale. what can i say, i'm on a healthy food craving kick!

well, once again, real simple has tapped into my mind, and said, "let's write another magazine just for lisagrace."

in this months issue, they had a whole TEN ideas for eggs! it's a beautiful two pages in the magazine.

i'm trying out their recipe for spaghetti with herbs, chilies, and eggs [sorry, it's not on their website, email me for it or pick up the april issue of the mag], and their awesome egg in a hole idea.

oh how i love you, real simple.

my favorite meal ever.

I don't know what has come over me the last two weeks, but i only have eyes for poached eggs.

I finally figured out how to poach eggs and now I can't stop eating them. It took several failed attempts and wasted organic eggs to get it right, so for those of you who have been craving poached eggs like I have [i'm sure that's all of you, right?], here are some helpful tips to poaching your own egg.

Step One: boil water in a small sauce pan.

Step Two: pull out your toaster [if it's in the cupboard like mine is], the butter and a slice of bread. don't start toasting yet, it's all about timing.

Step Three: crack one egg in a bowl or cup

Step Four: once the water is boiling, turn down the heat to medium high and give the water a good stir so there is a mini tornado in your boiling water. dump the egg in the center of the "storm."

Step Five: stick your bread in the toaster and start toasting. it should pop up in 1-2 minutes so you'll have just enough time to butter the toast before the egg is cooked. the egg will take 3-4 minutes to cook.

Step Six: using a slotted spoon, scoop up the cooked egg and drain the water off, place on your piece of toast. pop the egg and salt until taste.

i'm gonna go make myself some poached eggs right now!

Chopped Onions-Piece of Cake!

That is when I'm using my food processor!

Pizza Bagels

I think the picture says it all. YUM!

I made these little creations for lunch a lot last week because I was desperately trying to stay under my grocery budget. I just so happened to have a little leftover pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni and bagels were on sale at the bread store! Therefore, voila!

Ingredients:

• Plain Bagels
• Pizza Sauce
• Mozzerella Cheese
• Pizza or Italian Seasoning
• Pepperoni

Directions:

1. Pre-Heat Toaster Oven (or regular oven) to 450 degrees
2. In order, top bagel with sauce, cheese, pizza seasoning and pepperoni
3. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until cheese starts to brown
   

Enjoy!

Mom's Meatloaf

Just a confession: I loooooooooove meatloaf. I even order it at restaurants when I (rarely) find it on the menu. It's always been one of my favorite meals.

Needless to say, I was broken-hearted when my husband told me that he, in fact, did not care for meatloaf in the slightest.

But, I was confident enough in my mom's recipe (as she has had her shining moments in the kitchen) that I made this for him anyway. His response? LOVED IT! I hope you will too!

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. Ground Beef (thawed)
  
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Packet Onion Soup Mix
• 2/3 c. Bread Crumbs
• 1/2 c. Brown Sugar
• A few squirts of Milk (if necessary)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
   
2. Mix first 5 ingredients until completely incorporated
3. If you're having trouble mixing, use a little milk
   
4. Press into loaf pan
5. Squirt ketchup on top
6. Bake for at least an hour or until completely cooked
   

It's that easy! We had ours with Asparagus the other night, yum!

homemade chicken & spinach alfredo pizza

As far as extremely delicious and slightly healthy meals go, we found a definite winner in the Alsbury household! I got the idea from Lauren's Kitchen, used a homemade pizza crust from Money Saving Mom, and made a homemade alfredo sauce from Tammy's Recipes. Yes, I love blogs.

This recipe caused Bryan to say, "This is greatest thing I've ever tasted," for the second night in a row! (the first being when I whipped up some Grilled Panini's)


For the crust:

• 1 Tbsp. Active Dry Yeast
• 1 cup Warm Water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
• 1 tsp. Sugar
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
• 2 1/2 cups Flour

Dissolve yeast in water. Add remaining ingredients in and mix. Dump onto a floured surface. Knead into a smooth dough. Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan.

For the sauce:

• 3 Tbsp. Flour
• 1 Tbsp. Cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Pepper
• 1/4 tsp. Dried Basil
• 1/4 tsp. Parsley
• 2 1/2 cup Milk
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 1/2 Onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. Oil
• 8 oz Cream Cheese, cubed
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, all spices and 1 cup of milk. Set aside. Cube the block of cream cheese. Set aside. In a large saute pan, saute the garlic and onion in the oil. When the onions are translucent, stir in 1 1/2 cups milk and bring to a boil. Gradually pour the flour mixture into the hot skillet. Heat until thick and bubbly. Reduce heat, add the cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Stir until smooth.

*Note: This batch of alfredo sauce will make at least enough for two whole pizzas. Just store in the refrigerator and use on pasta later! Or better yet, see my time saving tip at the bottom!

For the Pizza:

• 1 cup Chicken, cooked & cubed
• 1 cup (or desired) fresh Baby Spinach leaves
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Red Onion Slices
• 2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
  

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Pour warm alfredo sauce onto prepared crust, spread evenly to edges. Add toppings in the following order: spinach leaves, chicken, cheese, onion slices, italian seasoning. Bake on center rack for 12-13 minutes

Time-Saving Tip:
Admittedly, this took me about and hour and a half to make everything from scratch, but it was so worth it!

To save a little energy later in the month, I made two pizza's at the same time. It added nothing to my prep time. As I noted above, the sauce is more then enough to cover two pizzas, and doubling the crust is really simple.

I prepared the second pizza on tin foil (as opposed to directly on the pan) and stuck the pizza on a pan in my freezer for two hours. Then, I removed the pan, covered the pizza completely with saran wrap and replaced it in my freezer for whenever we feel like eating it again.

grilled paninis

This is a fun little meal I kind-of made up when I didn't want to cook a full out dinner after a big grocery shopping trip. Unlike most of my culinary creations, this one actually got rave reviews from my husband! YUM!

Ingredients:
(dinner for 2)

• 2 thin Chicken Breasts (or one sliced in half the long way)
• 1/4 cup Italian Dressing
• 4 slices Pumpernickel Rye Bread (or a yummy bread of your choice)
• Butter
  
• Swiss Cheese
• Red Onion
  
• Romaine Lettuce Leaves

Directions:

1. Marinade chicken in dressing for 30-45 minutes
2. Place chicken and remaining dressing in pan, cook completely
3. While chicken is still in hot pan, place cheese and onion on top
   
4. Butter one side of each piece of bread
5. Put chicken on UNbuttered side of bread, top with lettuce and another slice of bread, buttered side up.
6. Place sandwich on a hot griddle, in a hot pan (preferable not the one with chicken juice in it), or if you're really fancy you could put it in an actual panini press (a george foreman grill works fine as well)
7. Cook both sides for about a minute or two, remove and enjoy!

The sandwiches are pretty filling, but they go great with a salad or chips and dip if you're extra hungry!

menu plan monday

Monday: Pizza Balls & Salad

Tuesday: Scalloped Potatoes & Sausage

Wednesday: Taco Quiche & Corn

Thursday: Meat Loaf & Green Beans

*Bryan has yet another retreat this weekend, so I'll be home trying to eat up all the leftovers!

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Chicken Caesar Salad

I'm very excited for this weeks menu, yum-town!

I'm going to post a few recipes soon, hopefully my mom will give me permission to post her amazing meat loaf recipe!

menu plan monday

well, we DID end up eating last week! : )

we had a date night at cafe milo on tuesday, chicken ceasar salad on wednesday, grilled paninis on thursday and chicken alfredo pizza with spinach on friday. not bad!

here's what's on the menu for this week:

can i just say how excited i am for cooler weather? i LOVE soups and baking. 'tis the season!

MONDAY: White Chili & Corn Bread
TUESDAY: Enchiladas & Leftover Corn Bread
WEDNESDAY: Spinach Apple Salad & Pita Bread
THURSDAY: Stuffed Manicotti
FRIDAY: Leftovers
SATURDAY: Escape 22 Connect Event Meal
SUNDAY: Gyros

happy fall!

menu plan monday?

FAIL! it's tuesday, if you didn't notice.

DOUBLE FAIL! bryan and i ate b-bops yesterday.

this week there are only 3 days of september, and even though i have meals planned through tomorrow, i've been less then inspired.

so, yeah. today, i'm probably just going to make something up for dinner.

next week will be better.

bacon, pasta, parmesan!

my friend morgan asked me to post this recipe and her wish is my command!
actually, i was totally already planning on posting this recipe as it is one of the few that i can kind-of claim as "my" own. my mom made up this recipe for a contest when i was just a kid! she didn't win, but it has stuck in our family and has also made its home in the alsbury house!


ingrediants:
8 strips of bacon
1 cup of green beans
2 cups penne noodles
1/4 cup parmesan
salt to taste

directions:

• cut up bacon into bit-size pieces and place in a large saute pan
• cook bacon at a medium heat until cooked thoroughly
• do not drain grease! this acts as your "sauce."
• meanwhile, boil water and cook pasta as directed
  
• toss green beans in with the bacon until cooked all the way through
• add pasta and parmesan and stir it all together

that's it! it's super easy, pretty frugal and surprisingly yummy!

also, all of the ingredients amounts are just estimates so add more bacon or green beans or just throw in whatever kinds of pasta you have in your cupboard. i usually add a little salt too.

menu plan monday

here's what we're eating this week!

monday:
homemade velveeta mac n' cheese & salad

tuesday:
bacon pasta parmesan (yep, you did see this last week-we love this meal!)

wednesday:
homemade lasagna & french bread

thursday:
homemade pizza (here is the pizza crust recipe i use)

Bryan is leaving me on friday to play at a retreat in KC with the rest of the Anthem Band

friday:
leftover lasagna

saturday:
leftovers, clean out my fridge!

sunday:
leftovers, clean out my fridge!

menu plan monday

well, i've finally come to point in which i'm confident enough to post what we eat for dinner every week. seriously, the first months of marriage were full of frozen pizzas and eating out.

but the month of september has been a great cooking month for me so far, so i'm excited to share with anyone who cares...

*drumroll please*

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?!?!

monday:
chicken ceasar salad
garlic bread

tuesday:
cheeseburgers
fried veggies/leftover salad

wednesday:
pizza soup

thursday:
bacon, pasta, parmesan

friday:
broccoli quiche

saturday:
leftovers

sunday:
grilled paninis
salad

so that's what we're having. if you need any more information, let me know!