Go Giants!

Opening Weekend at AT&T Park

Little Sis & I at a game

The brick @ AT&T Park we got our Dad for Father's Day last year

HELLO SF HERE WE COME!

We're off to SF tonight to see the Giants/Padres game.  I'm super excited!  We haven't been to a game since opening weekend (gasp! whaaat???) do to what has seemed to be the busiest summer we've ever had.  Little sis from Reno shall be here shortly, then we'll scoop up Mr. B & his buddy and head to the city to see my favorite boys in Black & Orange.  Garlic fries here we come :)

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

I saw THIS recipe on SkinnyTaste.com and knew it had to grace my kitchen.  I love stuffed cabbage and this is a great way to capture all the essence with out all the tedious rolling and stuffing.  Unfortunately I discovered after I spent all the time making it, that Mr. B does not share my love for cabbage, but oh well more for me!

I will definitely make this again (probably when the Mr. is not around one night).

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 lb. 95% lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 tbsp finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp sweet Hungarian Paprika
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 heads green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes with juice
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese  (I used a combo of cheeses I had on hand)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a large glass casserole dish with non-stick spray.  In a large pan on medium heat; cook ground meat until it's browned and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, chopped onion and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic, dried thyme, and paprika and cook about 2 minutes more. Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and ground meat. Add water to the pan. Simmer until it's hot and slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the cabbage coarsely into 1 inch pieces.  Heat remaining olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven; add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks. Season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.
When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.

Layer half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, remaining cabbage, and remaining meat mixture. Cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes, or until the mixture is just starting to bubble on the edges.  Remove foil and sprinkle on cheese.  Bake uncovered an additional 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown. Serve hot.  Enjoy!

The Best Shredded Chicken

Remember this post?  Well if you do, think of this post as a reminder to make this tasty chicken.  If you missed this one, you can thank me for the repost after you've made this tasty & EASY dish!

It doesn't get any easier than this tasty Mexican style shredded chicken! On a hot day there's nothing better than coming home to a dinner that it practically done. Hot, delicious & no need to turn on the oven! How so? The crockpot! Most of the time we tend to only pull out the crock pot during the cold winter months... but warm days are perfect for your slow cooker, since it doesn't heat up the kitchen. And with the beautiful weather outside, anything that minimizes the time spent in the kitchen preparing dinner is a friend of mine!

I decided to pull this together for Football Sunday dinner with some friends.  In the morning, I threw all my ingredients in the crockpot... then we went about our busy day.  Came home that afternoon and the house smelled great! A few quick steps at that point and dinner was on the table no time.

Simple Shredded Chicken
(This can easily be doubled - this amount fed 4 of us with leftovers)
3 to 4 chicken breasts (mine were frozen)
1 jar of salsa
1 beer
desired seasonings (optional)

Combine all ingredients in crock pot. I chose a medium heat salsa that happened to be on sale.  In the past I've used one w/ black beans and corn.  Any salsa will do.  For the seasonings I went with a couple tsp of my homemade taco seasoning, fresh ground pepper, garlic, and some sriracha for a little extra kick. The lid went on & I set it to low for 8 hours, since that's when we would be ready for dinner.  You can certainly put it on high for 6 hours with great results as well.

When I got home, I removed the chicken from the crock pot and dropped them into my Kitchen Aid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mixed for a few seconds and had perfectly shredded chicken.  (So easy this way!  no need to stand there with 2 forks shredding, or burning your fingers.)

Return chicken to crock pot and and all those yummy juices while you prepare whatever it is you'd like to use this yummy filler for! We had chicken tacos & burritos. I warmed some tortillas, shredded some cabbage and whipped up some smashed black beans and Mexican rice. Served with desired toppings and we had a fantastic meal! Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I had bread bowls and I had broccoli...  what to do, what to do?  I turned to the ever so popular Pioneer Woman for inspiration & came upon this recipe.  I could eat soup anytime of year.  This soup was incredibly simple to make and oh so delicious!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 Onion, Diced

1 stick 1/2 Cup Butter
1/3 cup Flour
4 cups Whole Milk
2 cups Half-and-half
4 heads Broccoli Cut Into Florets
1 pinch Nutmeg
3 cups Grated Cheese (mild Cheddar, Sharp Cheddar, Jack, Etc.)
Small Dash Of Salt (more If Needed)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Chicken Broth If Needed For Thinning

Melt butter in a pot over medium heat, then add the onions. Cook the onions for 3 to 4 minutes, then sprinkle the flour over the top. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute or so.  Slowly add in milk and half-and-half, stirring while adding. Add nutmeg, broccoli, salt, and black pepper.

Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender.  You will want to stir periodically.

At this point you can pick your consistency.  I wanted a good amount of texture to my soup, so I decided to go with some pureed, some chopped, and some left as is.  You could absolutely leave it all as is, or blend it all up nice and smooth.  If you choose to blend it, make sure to use caution.  Always blend hot liquids in smaller batches.  Or is you're lucky and have an immersion blender just use that.

Once you're satisfied with your consistency and everything is back in the pot and the heat is back on, stir in cheese and allow to melt.

Taste seasonings and adjust if needed.  At this point I added a little hot sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Serve in a bread bowl if desired.  But this soup is tasty enough to be served in a regular ole bowl with some crackers.  Enjoy!

Get paid to shop???

Have you signed up for Ebates yet??  If you haven't heard of it's it's a Website that pays you a % money back on purchase made on your online purchases.  If you're like me you already do a bunch of online shopping, so you may as well get money back for it.

I signed up a few months ago & I've already gotten a check in the mail.  Plus I got a $10 gift card to Target just for signing up.  You can choose your email options as to if you get notifications from them or not.  They feature great online sales, promo codes, and you can find pretty much any store you'd want to buy something from anyways.

It takes a couple of minutes to sign up, just click HERE.

I just racked up cash back for my Apple TV from Target, my new Michael Kors watch from Nordstrom, new shampoo & conditioner from Ulta, a bunch of novelty toys for a bachelorette party gift, and the list goes on... all things I needed anyway.

If you do any online shopping whatsoever, sign up.  Even if it's just for the $10 Target card!  Who couldn't use one of those??

Yum!

What is this delightful looking pasta you ask?  Stay tuned...

Oatmeal Biscoff Cookies

Have you tried the newest crack in a jar yet?  First there was Nutella.  Need I say more, I mean come on... it's Nutella! But then the blog-o-sphere chatter got louder and louder and everywhere I turned it was Biscoff Spread (a.k.a Speculoos) this and Biscoff Spread that.  I probably should have heeded the warnings.  Many bloggers out there said, "don't do it!" "say away" "Hide your spoons, hide your knives!" 'cause this stuff is addicting in a major way!  I mean what part about pulverized cookie spread doesn't sound addicting??  I tried to resist.  I walked by the tempting little glass jar at the store many times.  Looked at it many times.  Picked it up several times.  Put it back several times.

Until one day.  One spoonful at a time.  Wow.  This stuff is good!  Too good.

After a few weeks and about have the jar, I figured it was time to make something yummy out of this stuff and end the spoonful madness.  As luck would have it, this recipe popped up on one of the blogs I follow My Culinary Story.  I loved that I had everything on hand to make them.  They were really easy to make and the only slight modification I made was to sprinkle them with sea salt right out of the oven.  YUM!  Enjoy!

Oatmeal Biscoff Cookies
1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup flour, plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup Biscoff spread
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a few pinches of sea salt for tops of cookies
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In a bowl whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, add the butter, Biscoff spread, sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Chill the dough 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  Form the cookie dough into rounded tablespoons and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are golden and just firm around the edges.  Sprinkle with sea salt immediately upon removing from oven. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then remove with a spatula onto a cooling rack.