An Amazing Salad

Last week DH and I had a chance to go out for dinner sans kiddos. At dinner I was able to experience one of the most amazing salads I have eaten in a LONG time. The restaurant, Vivace, billed it as a 'seasonal' salad, and it was absolutely delicious. I've been thinking about that salad all week, and since a trip into Charlotte isn't on the books daily, I figured it wouldn't be that hard to replicate. So here's the end result!

Seasonal Salad:

2 c. of mixed organic baby greens

1/4 cup diced roasted sweet potatoes, cooled

1 T. crumbled goat cheese

1/2 oz. sweet and spicy pecans from Trader Joe's

2 T. Roasted Lemon Vinaigrette

I have also used my favorite ready made dressing with this salad, Trader Joe's Champagne Pear Vinaigrette with Gorgonzola, and it is also heavenly. (It's found in the refrigerated section of TJ's.) And who knows, my kiddos are on spring break this week with NO baseball or ballet, so I may actually have time to make a craft! I think I remember the craft room, it's upstairs somewhere...

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

The weather in the south has been gorgeous the last couple of weeks. Mid to upper 80s and sunshine all the way! With the warm weather, I was inspired to try out a summery dessert and decided on these, raspberry lemonade cupcakes.

Oh my goodness these were delicious! I found this recipe on Pinterest a few days ago and was instantly inspired to try them. I didn't have any raspberries on hand, so I substituted strawberries in the frosting, and they were fantastic! I will say, if you use strawberries, you will probably need to cut the amount of berries in half or be prepared to add extra powdered sugar. I found that the strawberries were juicier than raspberries would have been, so I used four cups of powdered sugar to make the frosting the right consistency instead of three. Regardless, I highly recommend you try these! Enjoy!

Miss Me?

I'm back. I never really left, but I did take a hiatus and went (are you sitting down?) an entire week without so much as turning on my computer. I know. The devil is wearing earmuffs and gloves. Anyway, something I noticed that surprised me was that I didn't miss it at all. Not one bit. I checked my email by phone a couple of times a day, but overall I was much more productive and a much better mommy with it off. Not to mention the fact that we don't let the kids have any electronics during the week and I thought I should start living more by example. In addition, the Professor now has baseball three times a week and Mistress still does dance and tumbling two days a week. Add in DH's work schedule and I am one busy Mama! So, my plan from now on is to turn it on once a week or so, do blog posts that can post during the week, and turn it off again. My plan is to return to the much simpler time before the time sucking internet. After all, my kids need me more than facebook does. :)

Getting back to posting, last night I made the most amazing dinner! I found this recipe for Tilapia over at Scissors and Spatulas a while ago and finally got around to making it last night. It. Was. To. Die. For.

Seriously.

(I also borrowed the picture from Scissors and Spatulas, ours didn't last long enough to get a photo!)

The Professor had FOUR helpings and we had to cut him off since the other two wanted a second helping as well. I will most definitely be making this one again soon!

I added a side of our favorite oven roasted broccoli (minus the lemon juice this time) added a salad, and we were good to go! Absolutely delicious!

So try it out, seriously. Run to the store and get this fish. You'll be glad you did!

New Recipe Saturday

In keeping with my healthy approach to eating I have been trying a ton of new recipes this week off of Pinterest.

First off, Marsala Chicken and Mushroom Casserole. Very good, although I think when I make it again I will double the sauce and grease the pan a bit. The rice stuck a LOT. Overall it was delicious though, and the whole family liked it. I also substituted evaporated milk for the cream to save on the calorie and fat content. I do that a lot, and can honestly say that I have never noticed a taste or consistency difference. Definitely recommend this one!

Second, I tried a healthy banana bread recipe. Made with whole wheat flour, honey in place of sugar and unsweetened applesauce in place of oil, it was moist, rich, and delicious. It most definitely doesn't taste like the banana bread you are used to, but it was fantastic in it's own way. The kids all loved it and so did the grown ups!

Finally, Quinoa Bites. I have to say these weren't my favorite thing ever, but I think that's because they didn't taste how they looked. Does that make sense? If I tried them again, I would probably add more cheese and some more flavoring. (Onion, garlic, pepper, etc) The Honey Dijon Sauce that I made to go with them though was really delicious!

Happy cooking everyone!

A Healthy Approach

Normally I don't do New Year's resolutions, but January 1st does seem to be a good kick off date for a household change. I have slowly been changing our diets over the last several years towards more healthy food. Chips, store bought cookies, and soda, (to name a few) have all been absent from our house for years, fast food a rare treat, and we always ate a ton of fresh fruit in our house, but this year we finally bit the bullet. We cut out all additives, preservatives, pesticides, and artificial junk COMPLETELY. We added more fresh produce, lean meats, whole grains and beans. The kids still get some of the things that they love, but everything has been replaced with a more natural brand or variety. Strangely enough, I found that it was much easier than I thought it would be and two out of three of our kids completely embraced the new eating style. Bug, well, he's working on it. He'd still rather have a cookie or a lollipop than an apple, but slowly he's becoming more accustomed to it and accepting the new menu. And you know what? My kids come in the house after school and gravitate to the fruit bowl now instead of looking for a cookie. We still have desserts a few nights a week, but there is an emphasis on portion control and making good choices. We read the ingredient lists together to make healthy choices and talk about vitamins and what's good for us. I'm not going to lie, eating this way is a touch more expensive, but what we spend now on better food will go a long way towards making us healthier in the long run which is worth every penny. You know what? After about six solid weeks of these changes I honestly don't miss the junk. (I miss my Diet Dr Pepper, but that's a love affair that's been going on since I was 13 so missing it is only natural. Besides, I still have one every now and then. Shhh. Don't tell!) I'm not the only one either, the kids don't ask for the junk anymore and DH is happily eating his way through every vegetable I cook. Plus he got me to cook fish. That is a true miracle. Ask anyone, I am not a fish person. Or at least I didn't think I was, turns out I actually do like fish, I just wasn't exposed to it growing up. You can keep your shrimp though, that stuff still makes me gag.

You all know how much I LOVE Pinterest, and I have been cooking my way through my recipe boards. Tonight, I made a Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi, with a side of roasted broccoli (that I picked fresh from my garden. Yes, in February. I LOVE SC!) a large salad of mixed greens, and carrots. And you know what? It was delicious! The kids ate it all. Two of three loved it, and Bug ate it without gagging. I'll chalk that one in the win column!

And now I've learned to cook fish. Join me in the near future as I venture into another uncharted territory...quinoa.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas Crafts: A Reprieve

Just missed it. I didn't get that last craft done. But you know what? I did make:

Baked French Toast Casserole

Buckeyes

Gingerbread Cookies

Potato Casserole

and

Cheese Fondue

And I wrapped all the gifts, sent all the cards, cleaned all the house, did all the shopping, ran all the errands, and took care of all the kids. So I'll just apologize for missing #12, and wish you and yours all the merriest holiday ever! See you all in the New Year, as I will be taking the next week off to visit my family in Ohio. Sadly, leaving DH and the Dog behind.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Cinnamon Apples

Ever since I was a little girl, my Nana would make her cinnamon apples for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not only were they good on their own, they did a fantastic job of chasing away the taste of squash, which we hated but always had to eat at least one bite of it. (And no, despite claims to the contrary, I never learned to like it.) As a child it was a true treat to eat these cinnamony little treats, and when my Nana died my mother took over making them. Fast forward five years and we move several states away, so if my kids (who love them as much as I do) wanted to be able to eat them for the holidays we don't make it back north, I would have to be the one to make them. Truth be told they are really easy, albeit a little time consuming, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you!

Nana's Cinnamon Apples

1c. cinnamon imperial candies

2 1/3 c. boiling water

8 apples, halved or quartered and peeled

1/3 c. sugar

Begin by pouring the candies into a saucepan.

Next pour your boiling water over the candies. Turn the heat on (medium-high) and stir to complete the melting process.

Begin to poach your peeled apples in the liquid. My mom and Nana always did halves, I do quarters. It's easier to cut them that way! Cook in small portions at a time until the apple begins to get fork tender and the red color darkens. You don't want to be able to make applesauce with these, they should hold their shape.

Remove each batch as they are done and place in a heat resistant dish.

I don't have a picture of this, but after all your apples are done add 1/3 c. sugar to the remaining liquid and cook, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the apples and refrigerate. At least overnight, the longer they sit the better the flavor!

And bon appétit! Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at the Southern Stitcher!

Sunday Dinner...Kid Style!

I know I know, it's Tuesday. Read my blog long enough and you'll find that I'm not always the most punctual person in the world, and sometimes there are more important things that come up in life, like a picnic at the park on a sunny afternoon with Mistress. But I digress...

DH has been away for the last five days, so I have obtained a whole new level of respect for single parents. I have also been trying out some new kid friendly recipes to keep the Monsters fed around here. Ya'll know that I LOVE Pinterest. Well I decided that I should probably do more than just pin the recipes and crafts, so I'm working my way through my boards. My goal is to try ALL of the recipes I have pinned (while limiting myself to one or two sweets a week so as not to become a very unhealthy individual) and do more cooking and crafting and less pinning. Oh who am I kidding, I'll continue to pin...

First off, Corn Dog Muffins. Rave reviews, the kids loved them, they re-heated well, and when paired with a glass of milk and some fresh grapes made for a fantastic Saturday dinner!

Second, Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers. These had mixed reviews, Mistress tolerated them (although keep in mind that she's not really a meat kiddo...) Buggy wolfed them down, and the Professor methodically picked off all the breading and ate the chicken. From what I have been told the Y chromosome does tend to predisposition the male species to not like coconut, so that may have been my problem. I loved them though, so we'll chalk these into the 'keep' category, although for the boys in the family I may do two breadings and leave the coconut off half of them in the future.

Finally, Apple, Ham, and Cheese Dinner Cups. Mistress, Buggy, and I all LOVED these, they really were tasty and filling. Perfect for a light but satisfying dinner. I struck out with The Professor, he did not appreciate them as well as the others did. I will say though that he ate the entire thing without gagging to get his dessert so they couldn't have been that bad.

All in all, it was a good weekend for new recipes and we survived without Mr Southern Stitcher. I have put him on notice though that tomorrow is "me" time. :)

Cilantro Lime Garlic Chicken Tacos

Recently I've been participating in a local produce co-op service. It's a great way to get a ton of local fruits and veggies for a terrific price, and I'm finding that the items in the bag are nearly always things that we will eat and use, and if not it's a good way to try new things! Anyway, this past week I picked up my bag and got a huge bunch of fresh cilantro, a large baggie of garlic (and it was peeled!) and a half dozen limes. Immediately my mind went to Mexican cuisine, and so I just decided to throw a bunch of stuff together and see what happened. I combined three cloves of garlic, the equivalent of about 2 cups of cilantro leaves, the juice of one lime, and about 1/2 c. of canola oil. (Alas, I was out of olive...) I pureed them all together to make a thin pesto-ish type of stuff.

Poured the entire cup of it over some frozen chicken breasts in my slow cooker and let it cook for about 5 hours on high,

Then shredded it up and added fresh lettuce, tomatoes and onion (also from my produce bag,) a sprinkling of shredded cheddar and a smattering of sour cream in a soft shell taco and made up an amazing fresh dinner that ALL THREE of my kiddos ate with gusto. Looking forward to seeing what I get in my next bag!

(Oh, and with three of the other limes I made these for happy hour on Friday. Very light and refreshing!)

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars (And other things I haven't blogged about in the last week...)

It's been an insane week. DH just got back last night from a four day business meeting, so I've been by myself with all three kiddos all week. I'm pretty used to going it alone since his work hours are so insane, but it doesn't exactly allow for extra crafting time! Just in this week alone we have had dance classes, tumbling classes, volunteering in classrooms, special school events, and curriculum nights. Whew! It all makes for one tired momma, but I did get a few new recipes tried out so I thought I'd share!

First off the AMAZING: Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars. I can't really say anything bad about these other than the fact that they took a little while to mix up. (It's really four recipes in one.) The kids all loved them, I loved them, and they will definitely go in my "make it again" file. I LOVE fall desserts! (Well, any dessert really. I'm not picky!)

And then the "I'm not sure about this one" recipe: Crockpot Hawaiian BBQ Chicken. It was okay. The adults of the house liked it well enough, but the kiddos weren't thrilled with the spice level. (The sauce was pretty spicy, much more so than I was expecting.) The Professor and Bug ate it, but only to get dessert. Mistress turned her nose after one bite and got Daddy to make her pasta instead. Normally what's on the table is what you get at our house, but it was pretty spicy for her three year old palate. All in all, I'm not sure this one will get made again, but if you like spicy it may be the dish for you!
This weekend officially begins one of my FAVORITE months! October is by far my favorite month of the year. Pre-holiday rush, cooler temperatures at night but still nice and warm during the day, the leaves will start to change here by the end of the month, Halloween and all the fun that goes with it, trick or treat, pumpkin patches, apple picking, mums...I LOVE OCTOBER!!! Hopefully we'll have a few great treats to share soon!

Great Recipe and the BEST Way to Clean a Crockpot

Last night for dinner I made the most amazing dish:

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin.

It was amazing, the kids loved it, DH and I loved it, it was pretty easy to make and will definitely go on my "make again" list. Unfortunately, the sugar glaze also left a baked on sticky mess in my crock pot. Yuck. I didn't even know where to start and thought I'd tackle it in the morning, but in a sudden stroke of genius I filled the pot with water, added some dish soap, and plugged it in on high overnight. This morning with a simple swirl of the dish brush it all came off in seconds. From now on all my baked on crock pot messes will cook overnight!

Aunt Hattie's Apple Cake

I'm actually not sure whether Aunt Hattie was an actual relative or just a name from an old cookbook. What I am sure of is that my grandmother made this cake my whole life and it was one of the recipes that I made sure to copy from her when I was starting my own recipe box! Every time I eat a piece of this cake it takes me right back to her kitchen table. With all the apples we picked, I figured it was the perfect time to make one!

Aunt Hattie's Apple Cake

Filling:

2 pounds of peeled and sliced apples

1/3 c. sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together and set aside

Cake:

1/2 c. butter

1 2/3 c. sugar

3 eggs

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 c. orange juice (which I never seem to have on hand when I make this cake. Apple juice or apple cider both work equally well.)

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each is added. Sift flour and baking powder together; add alternately to batter with orange juice. (Or just dump. That's what I do.) Mix until blended.

Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan and spread pan with half of the cake batter. Add layer of the apple filling and cover with remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees (325 for glass pan) for 1 hour. Should be brown and firm to the touch when done. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Sunday Dinner

Tonight I went with General Tso's Chicken Sliders and my favorite recipe for Apple Crisp. I know, they don't really go together, but I had a bag of apples in the fridge that needed to be used up and figured I'd be daring.

First, the sliders...

Amazing. They were SO good, and ALL of the kids liked them. Both boys ate 1 1/2 sandwiches each which in itself is miraculous. I did make a couple of changes though, first off I couldn't find the brand of sauce that the recipe called for so I used Iron Chef's brand of sauce. I also omitted the red pepper on purpose (the kids don't really like spicy all that well) and the garlic by accident. I wouldn't have changed a thing though! We will definitely put this recipe in the keep pile! I added to some fresh fruit we had a great dinner.

Next, the Apple Crisp...

This is my favorite recipe for apple crisp. It is really delicious and easy, although I do cut the white sugar in half and omit the water. I find that the apples are juicy enough without it. I also add a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to the topping. Top with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

See you tomorrow with some new stashbusting projects!

Monday Dinner

Hey there! Sorry about yesterday, my parents were in town visiting and so we all headed off to Jim 'n Nick's Bar-b-que for dinner. YUM!!! Anyway, instead of Sunday dinner this week I'm posting Monday Dinner as an alternative. Better late than never, right? In an attempt to be completely honest though, I have to tell you that I actually cooked all this on Friday...

So on the menu was The Easiest Dinner EVER, a Mexican crockpot concoction that I was just dying to try. It was SO good and really lived up to it's description of the easiest dinner ever. Seriously, maybe a five minute prep time.

And second, we had the Two Ingredient Lemon Bars. Again, super simple and I will most definitely make them again. They were light with a fantastic flavor. I will say though that I baked them for about an extra 10 minutes, 20 minutes just didn't cut it in my oven.

So there you have it, my fast and easy Sunday turned Monday cooked on Friday dinner. Hope you enjoy! Don't forget, in just a few more days begins Stashbusting September, and I'm taking it a step further. Not only am I not buying any crafting supplies in September, I am also doing a budget freeze! Yup, more on that later, but suffice it to say September will be a lean month in the household!

Sunday Dinner

The garden is going CRAZY!!! Well not all of it, but the tomatoes are plentiful and I haven't yet killed my basil plant. :) I have a TON of tomatoes, and there is nothing better than cooking with something that you picked fresh from your garden. So with that in mind, I used these:

And this:

Added some garlic...

And made an AMAZING Chicken Bruschetta Bake. Yum! It's actually a pretty light dish, so it's great for summer. I also like that it's a one dish meal, it's colorful, and most importantly, my children eat it without complaining. (Everyone except Buggy who doesn't like chunks of tomatoes. Can't win them all...)

Then for dessert I made Brown Sugar Banana cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting. A friend of mine showed up at my door with a plate of these several weeks ago and the kids LOVED them, so I wanted to make them as a special treat for them. If you're brave, let me know how the avocado buttercream turns out, my friend used homemade caramel icing and I was going to do the same but didn't have all the ingredients to execute my plan. Cream cheese frosting turned out just as well though!

By the way, I'm finding LOADS of amazing recipes and ideas these days on Pinterest! If you haven't checked out this fabulous new website, run on over to check it out for yourself. You'll be as hooked as I am! Feel free to follow me at http://pinterest.com/thesostitcher!

Sunday Dinner

I'll bet you thought I forgot this week, didn't you? Well, I kind of did. The thing is though that we didn't have anything worth posting. Mistress turned three, and the kids in the house get to pick their birthday dinner. She picked tacos. Follow the recipe on the back of the package, they aren't difficult. :) We also had cupcakes from a box and cantaloupe. I'll be back next week with a real dinner, but until then here are her cupcakes and I'll finally reveal her birthday party theme later this evening!

Sunday Dinner

For the first time, I am doing all recipes from my own repertoire! I spent the day in the playroom cleaning out, so I wanted to do something that was slow cooker friendly so that I didn't have to spend a ton of time in the kitchen. Therefore I started my day by putting together dessert, (start with the best first, right?) and loaded up the crockpot for dinner!

For dinner today, we had:

Honey Butter Pulled Pork with

Rice and Corn

and

Strawberry Pie for dessert!

First off, the pie. I don't know where my mother got this recipe, but I have been eating it since I was a little girl. It is fairly quick, easy to make, and DELICIOUS! It's great for a summery dessert.

Strawberry Pie:

1 envelope Strawberry gelatin

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/4 cup water

First, bake a pie shell. Maybe you are one of those people who can make a good pie crust, I am not. So in my case, I follow the directions on the box. Next, combine all the ingredients together in a saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat. The liquid starts of opaque and changes to clear with cooking. After the mixture clears:

Set it aside to cool. Meanwhile fill your cooled pie shell with washed, hulled, and sliced berries. A little over a quart will do it nicely. Then pour the mixture over the berries and place in the fridge for at least two hours. It's best to let it sit all day. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. (Or both if it suits you!)

Next, Honey Butter Pork Tenderloin. This is one of those recipes that started off as one I made from an actual recipe and I have modified it to my liking over the years. When I was pregnant with Mistress I ate it at least once a week. DH got sick of it and we didn't eat it for at least six months after she was born.

Start by putting two tenderloins in a crock pot. Cover with water and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8. You basically want it to be at that falling apart stage. Yum.

Next, in a skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter and add

1/2 cup(ish, I never really measure but I squirt four to five good sized dollops) of honey, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Get it mixed up and simmering and add your tenderloins:

Then using two forks, shred it up in the honey butter sauce.

Let it simmer for 15 minutes or so, turning it frequently to get the sauce soaked in. Serve over rice and enjoy. Seriously addicting!

Happy eating everyone, and enjoy! See you next week!

Sunday Dinner

So welcome back to the second installment of Sunday Dinner by the Southern Stitcher! Things didn't go exactly as planned today, but we still ended up with a good dinner and a few new recipes to add to the file. Hopefully you'll find one that you'd like to try for yourself!

So here's today's menu:

Tropical Island Chicken from Taste of Home

Shanghai Noodles from Food.com

Gooey Butter Cake from Extreme Personal Measures

plus

Egg Bread made using my bread machine and fresh green beans from the garden. Yum!

First off, the chicken. I know I made chicken last week, but that's kind of my fall back in the summer. I'm not that into cooking heavy stews and casseroles when the heat index is in the triple digits, so I tend to do a lot of marinades for meat that can be grilled. (Apologies to DH who is the unfortunate recipient of the grilling chore.) Since there was already chicken in the fridge that was thawed and no one in the house feels all that great this weekend, (yippee for a summer cold) chicken it was. This week I did the Tropical Island Chicken from Taste of Home. I stumbled across this one by accident this morning and had all the ingredients on hand, so I decided to go for it. Boy am I glad I did!!! Both DH and myself LOVED this one, the kids ate it too so I'll call it a success.

Second, the part of the meal that didn't go as planned. With the Asian inspired chicken I thought it would be good to do a simple Asian noodle side dish. I found the one listed above and thought it sounded good. Unfortunately, nearly every fresh item listed was bad in my fridge, so it ended up being a pea/pasta/parm side instead. I'll try to get this one in for review in the near future though, since it still sounds good to me!

I finished up dinner with some homemade egg bread in the bread machine (which with my slow cooker and coffee pot make up my three must have extra appliances for the kitchen) and some fresh green beans from the garden. All around a great dinner!

Finally, the Gooey Butter Cake. To. Die. For. Seriously, SO good! The only problem is that I can only make it a couple times a year so we don't end up dead at 40 from heart attacks. Worth every extra minute of exercise though!

So there you have it, thanks for stopping by for Sunday Dinner and we'll see you next week!

Sunday Dinner

I'm starting a new feature here at The Southern Stitcher today called simply "Sunday Dinner." I love finding new recipes and really do enjoy cooking for my family. In the past, Sunday Dinner was a family affair where the good china came out and Mom or Grandma spent the entire day in the kitchen cooking a fantastic spread for the whole family. Sometimes it was eaten at noon, sometimes later in the afternoon, but it was a great time for everyone to get together and enjoy each other's company.

We recently had an entire month where, because of either work or travel, we did not sit down to a family dinner even once. Pathetic. So to make up for it, I spent most of the day today cooking. I have gotten a ton of new recipes and wanted to try them and figured I'd share with all of you! Today I tried three new recipes, and based on the reviews of the entire family, am standing somewhere between second and third base. So, here you go!

Sunday Dinner Recipes:

Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken, from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

My Variation of Garden Rice Pilaf, from Pinkapotamus

Cucumber Bread, (yes, you read that right) from Chronicles of a Frugal Gardener

and for dessert (because you can't possibly have a Sunday Dinner without dessert)

Cup-O-Cobbler, from Martha Stewart

First off, the Lemon and Garlic Chicken was TO DIE FOR!!! The Professor wasn't overly thrilled with it, and Mistress Monstress didn't eat it, (I'm fairly certain that she will end up as a vegetarian someday, plus she's got a summer cold right now) but DH, Buggy, and I all loved it. I will seriously make this again soon!

Second, the Garden and Rice Pilaf. Other than the idea, I kind of did my own thing based on the original recipe just because I didn't have all the ingredients on hand. I used garlic infused olive oil to start, changed the water to chicken stock for more flavor, and used only mushrooms and peas as the veggies. It came out really yummy and was a perfect compliment to the chicken.

Third, the Cucumber Bread. My friend gave me a bunch of cucumbers and since I am the only one who likes them in our family, I decided to branch out so they weren't wasted. I stumbled across this recipe and decided to throw caution to the wind and try it. It is kind of like a zucchini bread, but you can definitely taste the cucumber in it. DH, Buggy, Mistress, and I all liked it, The Professor did not. I suppose 4 out of 5 ain't bad though.

Finally, The Cup-O-Cobbler. This is the only recipe I made that wasn't a new one. This is my FAVORITE cobbler recipe, it takes about 15 minutes to make up and is really delicious with vanilla ice cream. The only change that I make is that I just do all of it in a casserole dish rather than individual cups. I almost always make it with peaches, but it is easy to substitute other soft fruits like berries, nectarines, or even plums. I will say though that it is best on the day you make it, so it's best to eat it up right away. (As if you need an excuse, right?)

So there you go! The first Sunday Dinner post. Bon Appetit and check back next week for more recipes!