Lemon & Lime

iEnchiladas Deliciosas!

2008-09-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

So, as some of you know, I am really trying to live a more organized life [code language for anal retentive, OCD, etc.]. In the process of organizing, I stumbled upon the concept of "prepare ahead meals." So, I decided to print out a calendar and actually sit down and plan out a meal for each day of the month [this goes back to that whole OCD concept above]. Lo and behold, about 45 minutes, the Publix ad, and two cookbooks later, I had chosen dinner for every night in September. This has completely eliminated the "what's for dinner" quandry that Marc and I go through each and every night. Not to mention the ease of grocery shopping, as well.

So, with my two weeks worth of groceries in hand [well, not literally...], I attempted to prepare a few meals and freeze them. As we go through the meals, I will post them here if the recipes were keepers. Last night we enjoyed these amazing Vegetable Enchiladas! Good thing I froze two batches of those! Here is the recipe:

Vegetable Enchiladas (a recipe copied directly from Everyday Food and Martha Stewart)

To freeze: Prepare enchiladas through step 3; top with cheese, and cover baking dishes with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Place sauce in an airtight container. Freeze enchiladas and sauce for up to 2 months.

To bake from frozen: Thaw sauce in refrigerator overnight (or microwave on high 2 minutes, stirring once halfway through). Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove foil and plastic wrap from baking dishes, and pour sauce over enchiladas; cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; remove foil, and bake until bubbly, about 15 minutes more. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Ingredients
Serves 8
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for baking dishes
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium vegetable broth
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 cups grated pepper Jack cheese (12 ounces)
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 box (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 box (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels, thawed
6 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated [I substituted one white onion, chopped]
16 corn tortillas (6-inch)

Directions

1) Make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add 1 teaspoon cumin, flour, and tomato paste; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Whisk in broth and 3/4 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

2) Make filling: In a large bowl, combine 2 cups cheese, beans, spinach, corn, scallion whites, and remaining 1 teaspoon cumin; season with salt and pepper.

3) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil two 8-inch square baking dishes; set aside. Stack tortillas, and wrap in damp paper towels; microwave on high for 1 minute. Or stack and wrap in aluminum foil, and heat in oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Top each tortilla with a heaping 1/3 cup of filling; roll up tightly and arrange, seam side down, in prepared baking dishes.

4) Dividing evenly, sprinkle enchiladas with remaining 1 cup cheese, and top with sauce. Bake, uncovered, until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes; serve garnished with scallion greens.

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=58bbb31018936110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

These are absolutely delicious and freeze so easily!!! Marc even reheated them for lunch today! Definitely one of the best Enchilada recipes I've tried. Enjoy!!

Honeymoon Day 7 - Junneau, Alaska

2008-08-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Our final port: Juneau, Alaska! We were so excited to see this [relatively] big city in Alaska! As soon as we got off the ship, we signed up for a bus tour of the city and a ride to Mendenhall Glacier. The tour was great!!!We saw great scenery, but the most wildlife we saw was some salmon swimming up-stream and a pile of bear droppings . . . .

After a long day in Juneau, we got back on the ship to get ready for dinner. The family that we sat with in the main dining was so kind, and treated us to a delicious dinner at Chops on-board. There even was a surprise dessert with happy honeymoon wishes!!!

Thanks to Marc's parents for a wonderful trip, and thanks to my parents for a beautiful wedding!!!! We couldn't be happier!!!!

Honeymoon Day 7 - Skagway, Alaska

2008-08-24T15:30:00.001-07:00

We were so excited for Skagway - we had watched a little bio about the city at least twice on t.v. [hey, the channels on the ship were limited!]. We were up early and ready to get off the boat a.s.a.p. Of course, the city didn't look quite as it did on t.v., but, nonetheless, it was WAY better than Icy Straits (scroll down if you forgot about that "port").

From Skagway, we took a bus tour that took us deep into Alaska (so deep, in fact, that we ended up in Canada . . .). The tour was great!! We saw such beautiful scenery, and got a few great photos, too. The only downside was the large number of mosquitos we encountered along the way . . . .

After a long day touring the Alaskan wilderness, we headed back to the ship to find a pretty cool surprise waiting for us in our stateroom . . . .

We spent the rest of the evenings watching the scenery from our balcony as we made our way to Juneau . . . .

Honeymoon Day 6 - Hubbard Glacier!

2008-08-24T15:18:00.001-07:00

Seeing the Hubbard Glacier was quite possibly the highlight of the entire trip!!! We got up super early and waited on the deck for at least an hour to make sure we had a prime glacier-viewing spot. Not to worry, there was plenty of hot chocolate available . . . .

We had such a wonderful time looking at the glacier!!! It was SO cold though - it had to have been at least 40 degrees with the wind chill out on the deck. We toughed it out though...and then spent the rest of the day eating and sleeping. Duh.

Shera and Marc, Landscape Extraordinaires

2008-08-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Well...we can't take complete credit for our newly crafted landscape - the plants and placement were my parents' idea. But hey, Marc and I did plant all the dang things [and Marc mowed that jungle of a lawn all by himself]!! Oh, one more thing....we can thank my parents for their flamingo donation, too . . . .
Now back to cleaning up the inside of our house . . . .

BREAKING NEWS

2008-08-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

We are sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled honeymoon photos . . . .

This just in! A cephalopod has landed at the Anderson residence! The octopus was seen for the first time the night of Aug. 22, 2008, and has introduced himself as Reggie "Mush" Anderson.

Apparently Reggie is a retired musician - he used to play the steel drums and marimba with a calypso band. Now he has retired in South Florida.

Here are pictures of the few sightings we have had:

Honeymoon Day 5 - Icy Straits (Hoonah), Alaska

2008-08-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, it was pretty amazing to wake up and see trees and mountains everywhere - we had arrived in Icy Straits, Alaska!

We were so excited to finally get off the ship and start exploring! It was pretty cold and overcast. Nonetheless, we were determined to be amongst the first to head off the ship.

We hadn't signed up for any excursions, so we started walking around and exploring. After throwing a cedar chip into the fire, and talking to a "local," we decided to catch a bus to "downtown." Little did we know that there was nothing to see downtown, with the exception of a few dozen dilapidated homes, two bars, a church, and a mini-mart . . . .

Apparently, however, we were lucky as there was a lot going on in Hoonah that day - we witnessed a [minor] mudslide [as we were walking the few miles back to the port to get back on the dang boat!] . . . .

Needless to say, we were [extremely] happy to head back to our beautiful stateroom . . .

. . . and sleep . . . .

When we awoke, we were pleasantly surprised by the scenery as we left Icy Straits (Hoonah), Alaska.

After a strange day in Icy Straits, we enjoyed a great dinner and some wonderful entertainment before going [back] to sleep!

Honeymoon Day 4 - At Sea

2008-08-20T18:32:00.001-07:00

We spent the entire day at sea, but that gave us plenty of time to explore the ship and take in the scenery.After a relaxing day, we got all dressed up for the first formal night on the ship - I wore glitter, of course! Before dinner the captain hosted a little champagne party in one of the lounges. My favorite part, however, was meeting an authentic Canadian mountie. I totally thought of Dudley Do-Right . . . .After a whole day of doing nothing, and eating a delicious dinner at formal night, we were exhausted and called it a night!

Honeymoon Day 3 - Off to Alaska!

2008-08-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

After eating the usual Denny's breakfast, we [excitedly] waited in the hotel lobby for our transportation to the port to board the Serenade of the Seas! We waited for awhile . . . . This was my first cruise [ever], so we went right out to the deck before exploring the rest of the ship. I was excited just to see the port . . . .

We had some time to explore the ship before our stateroom was ready. The ship was beautiful - and our stateroom was great! We especially loved the balcony - we had breakfast on the balcony almost every morning. Woohoo for room service.

At about 5:00pm, the Serenade of the Seas set sail for Alaska. We went up to the top deck to join the party! I thought it would be a good idea to get one of the Margaritas in the fancy glasses that they were selling - that drink was wicked strong!

Needless to say, we called it a night shortly thereafter . . . .

Honeymoon Day 2 - Vancouver

2008-08-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

After sleeping in a bit, Marc and I ventured out in search of food (what else is new?). Lo and behold there was a Denny's right across the street. Clearly we had arrived in heaven . . . .

After finishing [a deliciously unhealthy] breakfast, we scooted back to our hotel to catch a cab to Stanley Park.

Our most favorite part of Stanley Park was by far the Aquarium!! They had so many different animals - from frogs to seals to sloths and alligators! The one animal that kept us talking the entire trip, however, was the two month old baby beluga whale. She was absolutely adorable. She was born at the aquarium, as was her mother. We had such a great time at the aquarium and spent a good half day just looking at everything!!

After we explored all that the Aquarium had to offer, Marc and I hailed a cab and headed [at the cabbie's suggestion] over to the Planetarium. We also enjoyed a tour of Vancouver along the way . . . .

After we finished at the Planetarium, we went in search of food [again], and wound up at a hot dog cart near our hotel called Japadog. They served all kinds of crazy hot dogs. Marc and I stuck to a traditional one, but apparently Anthony Bourdain went all out when he visited the stand!

We finished our hot dogs and went back to our room....where we continued to snack until we fell asleep . . . Vancouver was awesome!!!

Honeymoon Day 1 - Vancouver

2008-08-19T13:23:00.001-07:00

We checked in at the Sutton Place Hotel after a [long] cab ride from Vancouver International Airport. The hotel was right in the center of the city, so we had a fabulous view!!

Unfortunately for us, however, there was a flood the night before and NONE of the elevators were working! We schlepped our tired behinds up fourteen flights of stairs for a much needed nap. When we woke up starving, we scoped out our favorite type of food - Hibachi!!

The food was great! The people at our table were so nice. We met a sarcastic Canadian RV salesman and his wife, and a family of four celebrating an anniversary. After we ate [a whole lot of food] we explored the city a little before returning to our room, only to realize that the sun didn't set until 10pm!

We're Back!

2008-08-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since I've posted, but that's because Marc and I took a nice (long) vacation to Vancouver and parts of Alaska!! Check out the next few posts for our pictures!!!

(Us at Stanley Park in Vancouver)

It's Official!

2008-08-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

Marc and I got married on Sunday, Aug. 3 and could not be happier! We had a wonderful rehearsal dinner - courtesy of Marc's parents - and a beautiful ceremony and reception courtesy of my parents. We had such a blast!

The day went by so quickly, and we cannot thank everyone enough for sharing this special day with us!!! Check back in a couple of days for more photos because we are off to ALASKA!!

It's gone to the dogs....

2008-07-30T20:51:00.001-07:00

A couple of years ago I had become intrigued by the concept of creating homemade treats for my precious canine-american children. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to dig up the old recipes and bake some yummy treats for the furballs tonight. Turned out to be a good idea. Well, at least the dogs loved it - and hey, the house smelled like peanut butter for hours.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies - Doggy Style

2 c. flour

1 T. baking power

1 c. peanut butter

1 c. milk (I find that lactose free milk such as lactaid is easier on their stomachs)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the milk and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl. Don't worry, it's supposed to be a sticky mess. Then add the flour and baking powder. Mix well until you have a soft dough (I find it easiest to mix with my hands).

Flour your countertop and roll the dough into a ball on the countertop. Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough and roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out as many cookies as you can. Place cut outs on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake cookies for about 10 minutes (or until golden brown on top and slightly firm to the touch). Allow to cool completely before spoiling your pooch. My resident taste-tester, Miss Emma, definitely gave this recipe two paws up.

Veggilicious

2008-07-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight's dinner consisted primarily of leftover veggies from last night's fondue. In an attempt to be creative, I whipped up some vegetable lasagna with a side of roasted asparagus in a homemade vinaigrette. Despite my lasagna fears, everything turned out pretty well.

I started out by sauteeing minced garlic in extra virgin olive oil (cold pressed, of course, Mr. Wilson) for about one minute, in my beautiful new Emeril cookware, courtesy of Josh and Edith.

Then I added one medium onion, diced, and continued to sautee. Once the onions started to turn clear, I added sliced white mushrooms (about 6oz give or take), chopped broccoli, and chopped celery.

After about 10 minutes of sauteeing, the vegetables had started to soften, and I added a jar of supermarket spaghetti sauce (Roasted Garlic is what I had on hand) and laid about two handfuls of baby spinach leaves on top. I reduced the heat to simmer and let it stand for a good 20 minutes. This became my "sauce" for the lasagna.

In the meantime, I prepared my lasagna noodles and the ricotta-mozarella cheese mixture (one small container of ricotta, and about 3/4 cup of mozarella), including some of the leftover "veggie cheese" we had in the fridge.

After getting my lasagna pan all greased up, I began the layers: sauce, noodles, cheese. Repeat. I then baked at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

The asparagus was easy, too. After trimming the woody ends of the asparagus, I placed them in a baking dish and tossed with olive oil. I then seasoned with salt and pepper, and placed them in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the vinaigrette dressing:

1/3 c. olive oil
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
2 T. sugar
1 T. spicy brown mustard
1 T. low-sodium soy sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
Pinch of thyme, oregano, basil, salt, pepper

I combined the above ingredients in a jar and shook until combined. Quick and easy, and delicious - especially when topping roasted asparagus.

Oh don't worry...there were other kitchen projects tonight....

iFeliz Cumpleanos!

2008-07-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday was Marc's birthday, and we celebrated by baking a Red Velvet cake. This was my first attempt at making a Red Velvet cake, so I was a bit insecure, and unsure of the recipe we were using (see below for complete recipe). Nonetheless, it turned out alright. Next time I would try a recipe that had a smoother taste - this recipe was a bit crumbly. That didn't stop Marc from icing the cake though . . . .

We had such a good time baking - despite our lack of cake pans and spatulas (hence the knife being used to apply the frosting). Here is a look at the finished product, birthday candles and all (courtesy of Marc's mom):

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 ounces red food coloring

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease 2 (9-inch) cake pans. In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk. Beat in food coloring and vinegar, then add vanilla. Spread the batter evenly in the pans.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before frosting.

For the frosting, since Marc wasn't too keen on the idea of cream-cheese frosting, we cheated and used pre-packaged vanilla frosting. Hey, it was still delicious!

Does anyone have any different Red Velvet cake recipes?

Onto our next project . . . .