Two New Recipes

Last night we needed a quicker dinner, as we were heading to our nephew's football game for 6:00. 

We made chili verde with sausage and pumpkin, and started by broiling this tray of veggies.

Then everything went into one pot, starting with some onion, then sausage meat, garlic, oregano, cilantro, and chopped pumpkin or squash.  It called for canned hominy too, but we couldn't find any, so we just added a can of corn, and it tasted great.

I thought it needed more liquid, as it wasn't saucy or liquidy enough for chili, in my opinion, so we added a can of beef broth that we had on hand, and about a 1/4 cup of water.

We made this dinner, ate, and were only five minutes late to the game.  I call that a win!  (And the team won too!)

This chili was so good, and it had just the right amount of kick.  I loved the leftovers for lunch today.  We'll add this to our make-again list, and you can find the recipe here if you want to try it out.

Tonight we made another new dish - grilled chicken thighs with ginger scallion noodles, but had mixed feelings about it.  I didn't think it was anything special, although Christopher really enjoyed it.

I thought this dish needed something more.  I added sriracha, but it still wasn't really doing it for me.  Anyway, the recipe is here, and it's an even quicker one.

I used to subscribe to many food and cooking magazines, but now I only have one subscription - Food Network Magazine.  Often, when we are menu planning and can't think of what to make, we turn to this magazine for quick and easy ideas.

(Note: I am not affiliated with them; I just like the magazine).

What's on the menu at your house this week?

Do you have any magazine subscriptions?

Where do you look for new ideas when you're meal planning?

In Like a Lamb

March has always been a great month for us, and I love the new feelings that it brings, with hopes of warmer weather, and the anticipation of spring growth that is just around the corner.

Today I started looking back to see what we were up to in March of previous years ...

In 2013 we were in Mexico for our friends' wedding, and then took off to New Orleans for the first time, about a week later.  A fun memory from March of 2014 was a snacky evening we had.  The next year Christopher's parents were treating the family to a lovely dinner to celebrate our marriage.  The next March brought a trip back to NOLA, where we had one of the most interesting tasting menus we've ever had.  Last year we were cooking up food with a theme; we had an Irish weekend, as well as an Indian-themed weekend.

I am excited to see what this March has in store for us; it's already looking like it will shape up to be fun-filled and fantastic.  I just heard on the radio this morning that this February was the coldest we've had in 18 years.  Fortunately today was beautiful, and March officially came in like a lamb.

Speaking of lamb ...

Last night we made lamb meatballs, with an eggplant mash.

This meal was so good, and I was happy that there were leftovers for lunch today.  It's one we'll be repeating for sure!  You can find the recipe here.

We couldn't find a pomegranate in the store, so we had to omit that garnish, as well as the pine nuts, as I am allergic to them.  Although this dish isn't too visually appealing, the taste made up for that.

If you are unsure about lamb, or haven't cooked it before, I'd suggest starting with ground lamb.  These meatballs have an excellent flavour, and are really easy.  They call for a bunch of herbs, and if you're going to make them, I'd definitely use mint as one of the herbs.  We also used cilantro and basil (all fresh).  Everything paired together beautifully.

Another Food Network recipe we tried this week was shrimp pad Thai:

We've made pad Thai before, and it has been more labour intensive than this recipe is, yet this recipe was really good - another that we will make again #score!  It was perfect for a week night, because it took no time at all.

How is your week going?  What are you looking forward to this month?  Did March come in like a lion or lamb where you live? 

Mocha Mousse Pie

Are you looking to put on a few pounds?  Perhaps that new bikini you bought for summer is a tad too loose? 

Haha, welllllll, have I got the solution for you!

This pie uses an entire litre of heavy cream.

And if that's not enough calories for you, don't worry - it also contains butter, sugar, and chocolate.  Oh, and vodka.  Weird, I know.

This was from the November issue of Food Network Magazine. 
You can find the recipe here.

I found the dough for the crust a bit annoying to work with, compared to other pie dough I've made (it shrunk a lot in the pie dish), but it tastes great.  I kept a close eye on it, and baked it about 10 minutes less than what the recipe calls for.  I'm glad I did, as it would have been way overcooked had I followed the recipe exactly.  I also skipped the chocolate syrup, as I felt that the pie was already very chocolatey and I wanted the coffee flavour to come out, so I just went with the espresso powder and no syrup in the topping.  Again, I was happy with this choice.

I was kind of hoping this pie would be terrible ... but nope, it's delicious.

Christopher has been devouring this all week; it's a good thing his job involves a lot of exercise.  But truthfully, we don't care about calories around here.  It all comes out in the wash #balance.

If you're feeling sassy, I recommend making this pie.  It would be great to serve up for company.  Also, the recipe doesn't state it, but definitely keep it refrigerated.

Do you like mocha/coffee flavoured desserts?