Spring Mix Salad

My mom makes the best salads!  I love going to my parents house for dinner, I always know I'm going to get a great meal and a delicious salad!  For some reason I hate making salads, so my new goal is to make a salad for dinner once a week to go along with my meal!  This Spring Mix salad is one of my new favorites that my mom makes, it turned out delicious!  Enjoy!  Cheers!

1 package mixed salad greens

1 ripe avocado - peeled, pitted and chopped
1 ripe tomato, chopped
1 (6 ounce) can black olives, drained (I cut the olives in half)
6 Greek pepperoncini peppers (I took the seeds out of the peppers and sliced them)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons white vinegar (I was out of white vinegar so I used Red Wine Vinegar)
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
Pine Nuts, toasted

In a large bowl, toss together the mixed greens, avocado, tomato, olives, pine nuts and pepperoncini peppers. Set aside.


In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic salt, oregano and basil. Pour over the salad mixture and toss to coat. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve.

Pizza

Monday nights are typically my lazy nights.  I like to find something quick and easy to make for dinner.  Pizza is kind of my go-to for an easy meal.  I love it because Brandon and I can put our own toppings on the pizza (which works out perfectly right now since I'm not eating meat)!  I decided to make my half of the pizza a veggie pizza, and Brandon's is the typical pepperoni and sausage pizza. 

Last week I made a batch of pizza dough.  My recipe for pizza dough makes enough for 2 pizzas, so I split the dough in half and freeze the dough for a quick and easy meal.  When you are ready to use the dough just take it out the morning you want to use it, when thawed you can just roll it out and you're ready to go! 

Pizza Dough Recipe
1 c. warm water
1 packet dry active yeast
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 - 1 3/4 c. organic unbleached flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 tbsp. EVOO

Add water, yeast and brown sugar to a stand mixer bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Add flour and salt, turn mixer on low (with dough hook) and mix for 5 minutes.
Pick up dough ball, it should be slightly sticky.
Spray the bowl with nonstick spray, place dough ball back in, cover.
Let sit in bowl for 1 hour, punch down, let sit in bowl for another hour.

This recipe is enough for 2 pizzas.  Either use right away, or put in freezer.


Cheers!

I started by cutting up all the veggies I wanted to put on my side of the pizza.  Heated olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Put all the veggies in, seasoned with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and cooked for about 8 minutes (or until tender)

On rolled out dough I put EVOO on my half of the pizza dough.  Sprinkled a little mozzarella cheese on the dough.  Piled on the veggies.  Sprinkled more mozzarella over veggies.  Added a little feta cheese and toasted pine nuts

Brandon's side I put Marinara sauce over the dough.  Sprinkled with a little pizza cheese.  Added pepperoni and pizza sausage.  Sprinkled a bit more pizza cheese and a little feta cheese.

Bake pizza at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. 

Brandon's Meat Pizza

Carrie's Veggie Pizza

Lentil and Veggie Stew

I have an odd obssession with soup.  I could eat it all day, everyday.  If it was the only thing I ever ate again it would be ok with me!  A couple of weeks ago (ash wednesday) I decided that I wanted to give something up for lent.  This is something I have not done in at least 8 years.  I decided this was the year.  No, I did not give up soup!  Instead I decided to give up meat.  I am still eating all seafood, I just gave up all red meat, poultry etc.  The most difficult part of giving up meat for me has been my lunches.  I'm a typical sandwich person for lunch.  I decided that every Sunday I would make a healthy veggie soup and that could be my lunch for the week.  Last week I tried a minestrone soup, it was ok...I was a little nervous about this lentil stew.  To me it looked like it wouldn't have any flavor.  I was wrong, it's amazing!  I am so looking forward to my lunch today!  Enjoy and Cheers!

Start by cutting up all the veggies and cooking them in a pot for 10 minutes on medium heat.  Make sure to season well with salt and pepper!  I also added some red pepper flakes to give it a little kick!

Add Veggie Stock, White Wine, Tomato Puree, Diced Tomatoes, Black Beans, Lentils and Herbs.  Bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down to Low and simmer for an hour.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Lentil and Veggie Stew

1 cup lentils
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 onion, finely diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 small yellow summer squash, diced
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper (I use a garlic infused black pepper)
Dash Red Pepper Flakes
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups veggie stock
2 15oz. cans Italian style diced tomatoes
1 15oz. can black beans (or your favorite type of beans)
1 tbsp. dried Italian herb mix (I used Herbes de Provence)
2 Bay Leaves

Heat Olive Oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.

Add Onions and saute for a couple of minutes.  Add the rest of the cut veggies.  Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Make sure you don't under season the veggies.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add one can of diced tomatoes and juice to a blender, puree.

Add veggie stock, white wine, tomato puree, diced tomatoes, beans, lentils, herbs and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low, and cook for 1 hour. Remove Bay Leaves and serve immediately.

Note:  If the stew is not thick enough, add 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

Let me start by saying I love to make chocolate chip cookies. I'm pretty sure I love making them more than I love eating them (and trust me, I love eating them too!). In High School I swore by the typical tollhouse recipes, you know the one that is on the back of the chocolate chip package...yep, that one. They always turned out PERFECT. Chewy, moist, delicious! Somewhere along the line they started to get really flat, and I gave up on making chocolate chip cookies.

A few days ago I came across the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies. Let me tell you these things are to die for. Seriously. I was a doubter, a total non believer. I even tried some of the uncooked dough and decided I would still love the tollhouse recipe better. I was wrong. These cookies are crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle. Whether they are cold or hot, they are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had!

The recipe calls for the dough to be put in the fridge for 24-36 hours. The fridge time does make a difference in the flavor, but I do confess that the night I made the dough I just HAD to have a cookie right then and there. So I made two cookies (Brandon HAD to have one too!) and they were incredibly delicious even without the dough being in the fridge. Fridge or not, hands down best cookie ever!

Side Note: The recipe calls for chocolate disks. I did half ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and half milk chocolate disks. I highly recommend trying the same, I liked the mixture of two different flavors of chocolate, and the disks melt different than the chips so it makes the texture of the cookies a little different!

Enjoy the recipe! Cheers!

Carrie


Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Jacques Torres, recipe from the NY Times
Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter1
1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Cheers!

Welcome! The past year cooking has become a hobby for me.  It is something I consider relaxing (when my husband is out of the kitchen!), look forward to it almost everyday and love trying new recipes! Food blogs have become a bad addiction of mine, and after viewing so many blogs for the past couple of months I decided it was about time I started my own!

The blog name. My husband and I decided if we ever win the lottery, we are going to buy a bar in upnorth Minnesota, and name the bar Skeeter's. Since we will never win the lottery (have to play to win!) we ended up naming the "bar" at my parents cabin Skeeter's. This blog is dedicated to the cabin bar and in hopes of someday openinig up my own Bar and Grill!

I can't promise everything I make will turn out, but I can promise a variety of options, some easy and some a little more difficult. Note I am not a photographer, but I will include pictures of my food...good or bad!

Here is to the start of my new food blog adventure. Thanks for looking! CHEERS!

Carrie