Katie-Did

For our weekly Game of Thrones watch party, we had 2 of our friends' birthdays to celebrate!! We decided to make cherry pie, and it was surprisingly easy (aside from pitting the cherries!), and definitely delicious. I'm glad we sent them home with leftovers, because I might be rolling around all cherry-shaped myself by now! I googled "how to pit cherries" and came across some interesting tips, the best being, "if you're going to pit enough cherries for a pie, for Pete's sake, buy a cherry-pitter." I did NOT take that advice, and it wasn't the worst  decision I've made, although it probably would've been worth the $10 to get one! The other tips were solidly ok - 1) Use a chopstick and push out the cherry pit. I tried this one time, and decided it was too dangerous and not for me!! 2) Use an icing tip, big end on a hard surface and pointed end up, and push the cherry on the tip to squeeze the pit out - that worked pretty well!! I hurt mys...

I am so excited about the soup I made last night - I was in the grocery store and walked by the cilantro section and it smelled SO YUMMY, I decided to make pozole, which I've never done! One of the main ingredients is hominy (it's what grits are made of, and a relative of corn, so OF COURSE I love it!). I did a quick google search of recipes, but really didn't want to go through a big rigamarole, and ended up cobbling together a super delicious, fast, and healthy version! What's even cuter is that one of our neighbors was having a backyard fiesta complete with a mariachi band (!!), so it was definitely the right night to make this! Ingredients (Serves 4) 1 Tbsp bacon fat Chicken broth (3 cups or so) One can of hominy Shrimp (however much you'd like to eat) Bunch of cilantro, chopped Red pepper flakes, to taste 1-2 tsp Chili powder 1-2 tsp cumin 1-2 tsp Oregano (or Italian seasoning, since that's all we had!) Juice of one lime Onion (...

We are excitedly in charge of Game of Thrones viewing parties this season, and have begun making themed cocktails each week! Last week we made one, and I completely forgot to post it - it was a Pina Crow-lada ;) Coconut milk, black rum (for the Night's Watch, of course!), and ice in a blender. Delish, and easy! Much like this week's - dragon fruit with rose bubbly! Dragon fruit is a little intimidating-looking, but actually is super easy to use! It kind of tastes like a cross between a kiwi and a melon, with maybe some berry in there? Very interesting, but also not very strong (at least the one we bought - how does one know when a dragon fruit is ripe??).  Whole dragon fruit All you need is a sharp knife - just cut straight through from top to bottom. It's even cute on the inside! I used a melon baller to make them more like "dragon eggs", but they could really be just chopped into little squares like I've seen in other pictures. Just don't eat...

I am back on a health-kick (NO FUN!) and decided to try a new veggie that I've avoided for years... the turnip.  I absolutely love potatoes - as my mom said to me, you can take the potatoes away from the girl, but you can't take the girl away from the potatoes! AND IT'S SO TRUE!!! Alas, Weight Watchers says I shouldn't eat so many... so I decided to mix a turnip and a potato to make mashed poturnips!  Ingredients 1 russet potato 1 turnip Garlic 1/4 C low-fat milk, heated 1 Tbsp butter, melted 1/2 tsp sugar Salt & pepper to taste How To It's easy, too! Just peel and chop the potato and turnip, and place them in boiling water with a few cloves of garlic. Boil for 20-30 minutes, until easily poked with a fork. Using your electric mixer, add the potato/turnip along with the heated milk and butter, and mix away! Add the 1/2 tsp sugar to reduce the bitter flavor, and then salt and pepper away.  I would honestly redo the ...

I am on a fish kick this week (yay Weight Watchers!) and I made a SUPER tasty meal last night with some " what's in my kitchen ?" tricks up my sleeve!! We had butternut squash "fries" and kind of a Mexican street corn-style fish that ended up being super flavorful and obscenely healthy. Ingredients (2 Servings) Butternut squash zigzags (thanks HEB! Pre-cut and washed!!) 2 tsp olive oil Seasoning: I used garlic salt, a "chip dip" seasoning that I scrounged around for, some Cayenne pepper, cumin, and cinnamon 1/2 lb white fish (we used cod) 2 oz (or less) cream cheese Juice of 1/2 lemon 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 avocado Cilantro for garnish Salt & pepper to taste How To Preheat oven to 400. Put the squash in a bowl and drizzle the 2 tsp of olive oil and shake it around. Add the seasoning, just some shakes here and there until it smells yummy! Plop those in the oven (frankly, I overcooked them - clearly, by th...

It's official: I've gotten back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon... yesterday was a VERY HARD DAY (it was day 1... I was so hungry!!!) but it ended on a good note!! I accidentally ate too much breakfast, had a sad salad for lunch and was taunted by free desserts (but I WAS STRONG!!) - and my beloved nemesis... CHIPS. Oh, it was so hard! But I did well, ate only my 30 allocated points EXACTLY, and made a tasty yet healthy, low-fat meal! Ingredients (for 2 servings) 1/2 lb Dover Sole (or other white fish) 1 bag brown rice (1.5 C cooked) Handful or 2 of spinach, chopped 1-2 zucchini squash, sliced 1/4ish onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 Tbsp dijon mustard salt, pepper, seasoning to taste 3 tsp olive oil How To Preheat the oven to 375. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a skillet on medium heat and chop the garlic, onion, zucchini and spinach. Sautee the onion and garlic until just softened, and add the spinach - remove from heat. ...

We have our little one in a fun little day care at a wonderful woman's home, and she wanted to do something special for the babies! But what do you make for 1 year old kids since most of them aren't eating sugar??  I have been on an omelet kick for Ruby - I send her to "school" with little muffin-tin sized omelets each week in a baggie, so I thought, "hey, I could make these and use a cookie cutter to make them heart-shaped!" And I DID!!! It is so easy - just mix up whatever veggies/protein/dairy you like, and some eggs and milk, and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. I sauteed some red pepper, mushrooms, and bacon, added cheese (it's a special occasion!), and heated them up in some small flat cake pans. Place the goodies on the bottom of the pan, then pour the beaten eggs and milk (usually one egg per serving size) over the top, and bake. Once it is no longer liquidy if you shake the pan, they're set!   I took them out, let them cool ...