I work full time and don’t usually get home until 6pm or later, but I really love making dinner for me and the hubs-to-be. I have really been enjoying trying new recipes and improving my cooking skills. Something I try to focus on is not wasting food and utilizing whatever ingredients I have in my kitchen.
Recently I threw together a quick sauce with gluten-free pasta {right now I’m using Barilla}. It was really easy and I liked switching up my sauce by using diced tomatoes instead of a smooth puree. I generally by Tuttorosso tomatoes because that is what my mom and Grandma use. I am trying to get better with measuring my ingredients, so I can more easily share my recipes, but I’m not there yet. These measurements are approximate. I always add carrots to my red sauce because they help to reduce the acidity. Usually, I will very finely chop my carrots in a food processor and cook them in the sauce. This time I used whole carrots and removed them before serving. I found this sauce to be more acidic than usual, but it only let it simmer for about 30 minutes or less. I think I will try to whole carrot method again, but when I have time to cook my sauce longer. This meal was so easy to put together – a great option for weeknights or when you’re short on time.
Ingredients
3/4 lb gluten-free (or regular) pasta of your choice
1 Large can of diced tomatoes
3 oz. tomato paste
1/4 medium yellow onion
3 baby carrots
1 large clove of garlic
4 cups of fresh spinach (the more the better)
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Fresh basil
Salt & Pepper
Directions
Finely chop then satuee onions and garlic over medium/low heat until onions are soft and translucent. Next, add salt and pepper cooking for another 1-2 minutes. Once your kitchen smells delicious add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, carrots, dried herbs and let simmer for 30-60 minutes. While sauce is simmering bring salted water to a boil and cook pasta as directed on the box.
When pasta is cooked and you are ready to eat remove the carrots from the sauce and turn off heat. Give the spinach a rough chop and add it it to the sauce. I think it’s important to add the spinach at the end and with the heat off because it wilts down so quickly. Next, toss in the cooked pasta and sprinkle with fresh basil.
It may still be summer, but for the past week or so I’ve been craving beef stew. Yesterday’s cool, rainy weather was the perfect excuse to make this winter meal. I have been so excited to use my new dutch oven that I received at my bridal shower {especially because I am on vacation this week too}. I’ve made this stew in the slow cooker, but since I was going to be home and could keep my eye on the stove, I went for the dutch oven. I am still learning about different cuts of beef use. For this recipe I went with cubed stew beef. I have used this recipe from NYT Cooking as my starting point, but make it my own with the changes below.
Exclusions:
Bay Leaf
Large carrots
Large baking potatoes
All purpose flour
Additions:
Gluten-free flour
String beans
Baby golden potatoes, quartered
Baby carrots, cut in thirds
Tomato Paste
Worcestershire Sauce
Garlic powder
Herbs de Provence
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Changes to instructions/preparations.
Step 1: Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and herbs de provence (1/4 teaspoon each) to flour to coat beef. After browning meat allow excess oil to drain off on paper towel.
Step : Using the same pan or dutch oven sautee onion then add wine, vinegar, a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste and a few dashes of Worcestershire.
Step 3: Add carrots, potatoes, string beans and meat to dutch oven. Season with dried basil and oregano to taste (I used approximately 2 teaspoons of each)
I am so excited to share my bridal shower on the blog! Last weekend my mom threw me the most special shower. Many months ago when she was in her early planning stages I decided I definitely wanted my shower to be a surprise. We agreed that coming up with a fake story or event to get me to the shower (without also blowing the surprise) would be tough. One of my bridesmaids shared a great idea to avoid this scenario. The mother of the bride tells the bride the morning of her shower that it’s ‘shower day,’ with cute signs, flowers, decorations, etc. I don’t live at home anymore {weird!} so my mom decided she would still figure out how to surprise me the morning of.
The morning of my bridal shower day was a bit rainy, so I slept later than usual because my room was so dark. My fiance of course was in on the surprise, so at 7am {moments after I opened my eyes} he let my mom and MOH into the house and they BARGED into my room. Decked out in rain coats with flowers and cameras they pulled off the surprise! My mom also made me a hair appointment for that morning, so I didn’t feel as rushed getting ready.
My mom didn’t miss a single detail. My shower was Pinterest perfect. We both LOVE the Gilmore Girls, so she incorporated so many details from the show. She made chocolates covered in Gilmore Girl’s sayings, decorated the tables with Fruit Loops and Pop Tarts, the center pieces were filled with coffee beans and she even found Gilmore Girls bobble heads! I love how much my mom personalized my shower because it made my day extra special. She and my bridesmaids put together so many pictures, including a “Meet the Maids” scrapbook. I love to cook, so my mom also sent out recipe cards with my invitations and collected them in a wooden recipe box. I can’t wait to continue collecting recipes from friends and family. My mom included a few special gifts such a toasting flutes, cake forks, a piece of my grandma’s shirt {something blue} to sew into my wedding dress and my christening bonnet from my great aunt {something old}.
Registry Tips
I think registering is all about finding the balance between necessities and splurge items. Your bridal shower is a time for you to get some great house hold items that you may not be able to or think of buying for yourself.
In the end, I think I over-registered because some women in my life kept telling me that I didn’t have enough. I was really hesitant to add odds and ends like wooden spoons, spatulas, whisks, ice cream bowls and decorations because I knew these were things I could easily buy for myself. I didn’t get many of these extra items, but some of the extras I added at the end were purchased over some of my sought after items. I think my biggest tip would be to register for what you really want, so you get those items. You don’t want your registry to be too small, but if it’s filled with your must-haves, you have a better chance of getting them all. I ended up getting a lot of gift cards which will allow me to buy any extra items as I need them. (Update 11/19/17 – Looking back now I think all of the gifts I got worked out great. I didn’t end up returning much at all. It just took me a few months to work through all of the boxes. The slow cooker I registered for was terrible, so I am on the hunt for a new one. I got a lot of giftcards which I have been using to buy anything else I want. My biggest recommend is to register for what you want and need, but be practical! If you like to cook get great cookware! If you hate cooking, maybe that’s not the category to splurge in. At the end of the summer my co-workers had a bridal shower for me and got me the white Le Creuset Dutch oven I registered for and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!)
We registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond and Pottery Barn. BBB is a great choice because you can always use a 20% off coupon which helps make items more affordable (especially the small appliances). PB can be a little tricky because store locations are limited and their online specials change daily. My invitations also said “Home Depot giftcards as also appreciated.” We really appreciate all the HD gift cards we got because we’re still renovating our house.
The Kitchen Aid stand mixer was a splurge item that I knew I definitely wanted. Although I am not huge into baking (yet), I have always felt that it is a staple kitchen appliance (unless you of course do no cooking or baking of any kind). Similarly, a good blender, food processor and hand blender are great staples too. The blender I linked above is awesome. I found that a lot of the appliances on the market today are bulky, but this blender isn’t too big. It is also super powerful. I love using a food processor to chop up veggies. A food processor can be a huge time saver for dinner prep. My hubby-to-be has also learned how to use it which makes it easier for him to get dinner started when I am running late. Hand blender or immersion blenders are awesome for pureeing soups! I cannot wait to use it this fall and winter.
The day we went to register an espresso machine wasn’t on our original list. The more we thought about it the more it seemed like something we would get use out of. After all, Mike and a lot of the men in my family drink espresso. I am so happy we decided to register for a Nespresso machine because we’ve used it everyday since we got it. We really love the milk frother it came with too.
Our number one most needed item was flatwear. When we moved into our house we were using hand-me-downs from my great aunts! I went with a simple design that would be timeless, but it was important to me that we got a large service. The set we chose came with serving spoons and steak knives.
I love the Shark steam mop we got. Our house has wood floors throughout, so I am always hesitant using a steam mop, but this one has three different settings. Honestly, nothing cleans the floors as well as a steam mop, especially this one because it has a huge pad.
Another item I knew we would definitely register for was a good pot and pans set. We went with a really nice brushed stainless set from Cuisinart. I opted for stainless because I think stainless wears better. Teflon eventually chips and wears down. I really like that the entire set is stove and oven safe. I can’t wait to put all of these to good use!
Our master bedroom isn’t finished yet, but I know I wanted to have all new bedding ready to go. I love simple quilts, so I opted for blue one from PB. I actually have the same one on our bed now in white which will eventually become out guest room bedding. I also registered for a white duvet cover and insert to give us more options for colder months and style.
I knew I 100% did not want china or crystal. I just don’t think they’re practical anymore and they’re very expensive which would take away from other gifts I had my eye on. Instead, I registered for good everyday dinnerware. It took me a long time to find a set that I liked, but once I found this set at PB I started my second registry. I registered for both bone and grey, so I could mix and match the colors {our entire house is white, beige, grey and light blue – makes decorating very easy}. The dinner plates for this set are HUGE. They’re so big that they don’t actually fit in our upper cabinets, so we have them in a bottom drawer. They’re also a little big for the dishwasher. I didn’t take the size into consideration at all when I picked them out, but I think they will be perfect for the holidays 🙂
redroseandhoney.com 