Roasted Red Peppers

Simply that!  

Roast the whole peppers at 500 degrees for 40 mins on a cookie sheet.  Turn over every ten mins.  

Place roasted peppers in a bowl, cover with foil and let them sit for at least 1/2 hour. The skin will pull away from the meat.  When they are cooled off you can pull apart, peel and remove the seed.  Add a little olive oil and store in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. 

Add to any and every dish!  

Enjoy!!

My new box!

I am one step closer to much better food blog pictures.  This is my homemade light box.  It's super high tech!  Now I just need the right lightbulbs and a couple of lamps.  

School will finally be over soon and blogging can be more often. 

Better pictures coming soon.....

Black-N-Blue Buffalo Buck Burger

My obsession with creating delicious dishes with venison is growing daily.  I may have to start a blog dedicated entirely to venison.  We shall see! 

This one was a real winner! 

1 lb. Ground Venison

4 Chopped Shallots

1/4 C Blue Cheese

2 eggs

1/4 C breadcrumbs

Season with Blackened Seasoning and S&P

Tip: I always cook a little piece of the meat in a pan to make sure the seasoning is perfect before I cook the burgers.  I do this with all ground meat dishes.  

Patty and sprinkle with a little more blackened seasoning 

Sear in a pan or cook on the grill!  

Top with more blue cheese and some buffalo mayo (mayo mixed with buffalo wing sauce) 

Add a side of oven fries and ancho chili ketchup......Dinner is served!! 

Enjoy! 

Cream of Mushroom Soup (minus the cream)

Soups are on my mind.  Yes, soup!  It's getting cold.  I don't like cold.  Soups make me warm! :) 

This little crock-full of mushroom bliss was inspired by a $10 for $10 special at Meijer on Baby Bella mushrooms.  How can you pass that up? 

This recipe was super easy and super delicious!

1. Finely chop 4 shallots and 1 1/2 packages of mushrooms

2. Sauté in a little EVOO (don't add seasoning yet) 

3. VERY thinly slice the remaining 1/2 package of mushrooms

4. When shallots are translucent and mushrooms are golden brown, season with S&P

5. Pour 1% reduced fat Organic Milk (or whatever kind you use) into the pan.  Use as much as you want, depending on how much soup you want.  I used about 6 cups of milk for 2 servings.

6. Throw in 6 fresh sage leaves and the rest of the sliced mushrooms. Let simmer for a couple minutes. 

7. Season to taste with salt and pepper as it simmers. 

8. Thicken! You could use corn starch slurry or flour slurry, I used a gluten free rice starch.  I just sprinkled it in as it simmered and it thicken right up.  

9. Remove sage leaves and serve! 

Enjoy! 

Caprese Salad

A local Italian restaurant, La Scola, has created the most delicious "salad" ever.   Really, EVER!

It's beyond delicious!

Starting my Christmas wish list...

This would be much safer than my stemless wine glasses! 

Pepperoni and Feta Stuffed Mushrooms

That's it!  Chopped venison pepperoni, Feta and Porcini Mushrooms. 

Amazing! 

Zucchini Pizza Crust

Pizza can be healthy! 

Shed zucchini, squeeze the ever living crap out of it in a dish towel, mix with egg whites, a little flour (I used gluten free baking mix) as a binder and season.  

Cook extra well done in a skillet like a pancake.

Top with anything you wish....

Enjoy!

Maple, Almond & Cranberry Pancakes

These gluten free pancakes are by far our favorite pancakes EVER!  Instead of making eggs with mine I added the protein right in.  

A perfect breakfast for a chilly fall Saturday morning! 

A Chef in Training

My daughter cooked me dinner tonight. 

She chopped all of the veggies and made her own Vinegarette.  

Baked spaghetti and garlic bread were the main course.

So yummy and so proud of my little chef! ❤️

Sweet Potato & Brat Boat

Compromises are not only for children.   I was really, REALLY craving a brat but thought I should somehow make it healthful.  This was my compromise!  A baked sweet potato, grilled bratwurst and sautéed sweet peppers and onions.  The savory-sweet combo was perfect.  This would be fantastic with extra spicy Cajun brats! 

Caesar Salad Dressing (made with 0% Greek yogurt)

I love Caesar salad but not all of the calories that it packs, so I decided to try to make my own dressing with Greek yogurt.  I will be making more dressings with this idea. 

1 Cup of 0% Greek Yogurt

2 chopped garlic cloves

2 TBLS Worchestershire sauce

3 TBLS Red Wine Vinegar

1TBLS Dijon Mustard

1 tsp dry ground mustard

Salt and Pepper to taste

A small drizzle of olive oil

Lots of grated Parmesan cheese 

Mix in a food processor or by hand

(These are my best guesses on measurements.  I'm horrible at writing things down when I'm in the kitchen) 

It's thick but leaves a nice creamy coating when mixed with the salad in a bowl.  It could probably be thinned a little with milk if you prefer.  

Watermelon Heaven

Never, ever, ever think twice about buying produce from the back of the farmer's pickup truck on the side of the road.  I have never had a watermelon as good as this.  Yum!

Sunday Night Food Prep

Breakfast this week will be :

Venison, Mushroom and Spinach Egg Muffins...

Fill each cup with -

Ground venison sautéed with onion.  

Sautéed mushrooms and spinach.

Chives and tomatoes

Ladle each cup 3/4 full of eggs whisked and seasoned with S&P, cayenne pepper and ground mustard

Bake 30 mins. @ 350 degrees 

Cool and store in a zip lock bag

Warm up for a quick breakfast on the go 

Lunch this week will be:

Albacore Tuna Pasta Salad

High fiber rotini pasta

Albacore tuna

Cucumber and chives

Greek yogurt

Mix and season with Old Bay and pepper

I will probably serve this on top of fresh spinach or fresh tomato slices or just spring mix lettuce.

Dinner this week will be:

Ground Venison something....

I browned a pound with onion and will use it for quick dinners all week.

Tonight I made Black-N-Blue Venison Pasta

Penne and Ground venison

Tomato and chives

Blackened seasoning 

A splash of milk and handful of blue cheese

Mix and melt and enjoy! 

Now the most important part of my week, food, is all ready for me!

Mexican Pasta Salad

A full meal all in one! 

Pasta, black beans, sweet corn, tomatoes, shallots, cilantro, lime juice, blackened seasoning, cumin, salt n peppa! 

If only I would be so organized to make something like this for lunches all week.  Maybe some day I will be!! 

Homemade Pho

I made this broth with a rotisserie chicken carcass.  With thinly sliced beef tenderloin, it was still healthy and super satisfying! A great end to a stressful work day. 

This happened...

And I need to replicate...

Carolina Eggs Benedict 

English Muffin

Lump Crab Cake

Poached Egg

Hollandaise 

Irresistible... 

Fresh Beef Tenderloin Spring Rolls

Marinated (dark soy sauce, mirin, sweet chili sauce), seared beef tenderloin slices....in rice paper layered with lettuce, cilantro, bean sprouts, cucumber, jalapeño, and beef.

Roll, dip in sweet spring roll sauce! 

Enjoy! 

Heirloom Tomatoes

Meijer had all different shapes and shades. They were delicious! Especially delicious served with bacon, lettuce and mayo! 

New Favorite Pizza Topping

Mini pepperoni!  Every pizza needs just a little pepperoni grease.  I found these mini pepperoni.  A couple scattered around a veggie filled pizza is perfect!  You won't feel like you are missing a thing!