Sunday Brunch

The other day I was searching through the fridge looking for inspiration for a side dish to go with our hamburgers that Jake was grilling up. I found sliced zucchini, a baggie of mushrooms, & lots of cheese. I thought an Italian style veggie casserole would be good. So I started gathering ingredients & here's what I came up with.

Italian-style Veggie Bake

What you need:

*1-2 (depending on size) thinly sliced zucchini, spread out & dried on paper towels for at least 20 minutes.

*Approx. 1 pint of mushrooms, sliced; I had not dried these on a paper towel, but I would definitely recommend it. Drying the veggies helps them soak in the flavor of the sauce when it's cooking.

*Cheese; we use lots of cheese. Medium & sharp cheddar and parmesan are staples in our house. Other favorites are asiago, romano, blue, mozzarella & cotija. For this dish I used medium cheddar and parmesan

*1/3-1/2 of a large (16 oz?) jar of pasta sauce

*Casserole dish with cover

Pre-heat your oven to 425F.

Layer your ingredients. I put a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Add zucchini, mushrooms, and other veggies you may like to add, more sauce, cheese. Repeat.

Looking good.

Cover & cook until the cheese is melted. Remove the cover and continue baking until the cheese gets that lovely browned color.

For this dish I baked it at about 425F for approx. 25 minutes, then baked it for another 10-15 minutes or so without the cover. I just keep an eye on things & when it looks done, it's done!

As you probably noticed, unless I'm using someone else's recipe I don't measure things out or time things. I'm trying to get better about it, but often times I just don't think about it.

Dish review: This is definitely a recipe to keep and make again & again. Even "Where's the Meat" Jake loved it! :)

I used 1/2 of the large can of pasta sauce. Next time I will probably only use about 1/3 because it was a little too "saucy" for my taste. I liked this because you can make it as complex or simple as you want. You can add olives, onions, peppers, basil, spices, artichokes, whatever your tastebuds are asking for.

If you happen to try this or any of my other Sunday Brunch recipes I'd love to hear how they work out for you. I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday, we're off to the Devils Tower for a cowboy poetry/music gathering. :D

Fave 5 Friday

Sewing Fun!

I don't think I've shared this with you yet. I made this picture holder wall hanging for my friend Bree who just had a handsome little boy last month. The beads in the lower left say "Goose" which is what they called him while she was pregnant.

I also made her this really cool Obi Wrap (from the One Yard Wonders book) with a scented rice bag. I used lavender & rosemary essential oils to scent the rice.

Another amazing quilt from the Neversweat Needler's Quilt Show in Dubois, Wy.

An awesome pillowcase I made with Heather Ross' Far Far Away III.

Close up of the band.

And for you foodies... homemade walnut pesto. YUM!

Fave 5 Friday link party:

Post your 5 favorite pictures from the last week (or so) & link up here. Easy peasy!

I still haven't figured out the button completely, but if you would like you may use the Fave 5 Friday picture I have at the top of the post. Just be sure to link the picture to this post.

Sunday Brunch

Sunday's in the Tuckey home are set aside for Sunday Brunch. Sundays are usually the only day that Jake has off. We either end up staying home, watching movies, & working on projects or we'll go out for a drive and explore the area.

Since today is a cold, windy, rainy day we decided to stay home, have a delicious breakfast, & watch Firefly.

Here's what we made:

Fried eggs. I don't like runny yolks so I break my yolk, but I do have the skill (usually) to not break the yolk for Jake's over-medium eggs. :)

Last night we had BBQ. We had so many fabulous appetizers that by the time we got to the steaks I was too full. Jake cut up the steak into bite sizes pieces for a delicious hash.

Next he got the potatoes ready. Peel the potatoes and "pre-bake" them in the microwave for a few minutes. (If you've never cooked potatoes in the microwave before be sure to stab the potatoes a few times with a fork before heating them, otherwise they'll explode.)

Throw the potatoes on the skillet, which has been preheated with plenty of olive oil. Brown the potatoes for several minutes.

Add the steak & continue to brown. We like our hash on the crispy side. Don't forget to add your favorite seasoning. I think he added garlic powder & pepper, and most likely some Lawry's season salt too.

While we were making the hash & eggs we also had some bacon baking in the oven. Serve up, drizzle with some Tapatio for a little kick, add some fruit, & enjoy!

Isn't teamwork great? :)

Jake's mom is visiting from California right now and yesterday we took her to Ft. Laramie, which was a military post and also a stopping point along the Oregon/Mormon/California Trail in the mid-1800s. It's a pretty amazing & historic national park that most don't know about. If you're ever in Eastern Wyoming it's definitely worth the $3 entrance fee!

I'll share more pictures later this week, but I thought you might like to see a picture of the decor of the bar. It has been restored, but this is an exact replica of how the bar looked in its day.

Isn't the wallpaper beautiful? The wife of the barkeep wanted the men to have a little culture.

CSN Product Review & Sunday Brunch

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was asked if I would like to review a product from CSN Stores. After taking some time to cruise their many online shops (and adding several items to my shopping cart for future reference) I remembered that I've had a wok on my wishlist for ages and ages.

I did some research on what makes a good wok and then entered my criteria. From there I chose the 14" Professional Carbon Steel 7-Piece Wok Set by Concept Housewares. During my research, I found that cast iron seems to make the best woks, but they are WAY out of my price range at this time. I wanted a wok that wasn't non-stick. I despise non-stick and love my cast iron pans. This wok does require a few layers of pre-seasoning before the first use and careful care and seasoning after each use. But since I use mostly cast iron cookware I'm used to this kind of care already.

I got my order very quickly and couldn't wait to use my wok, but I still had lots of unpacking to do so it took me a few days to actually make anything. I was a little disappointed when I pulled it out of the box because it seemed a bit flimsy, but I think that's the point of carbon steel, light yet sturdy. Because of the light weight I didn't even need to use the helper handle. I had made sure to order a wok with a helper handle because I wasn't sure how heavy it would be.

I had read some reviews on the website that this product was prone to rusting, but I also read a review warning people not to soak their wok, especially in soapy hot water. It needs to be treated like cast iron; no soap, scrub gently, and season with lots of oil. It will change colors with use. After just one use the bottom 1/3 is already getting a nice seasoning, I can't wait until the whole thing is well seasoned.

In my opinion, you can't review cookware properly without sharing a recipe and pictures. So here is what I made the other day...

Garlic Fried Rice

Are any of you familiar with the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen? It's a great recipe sharing website where amateur and professional cooks alike share recipes and make new friends. I only use it occasionally, but if I'm looking for a new recipe I usually look there first. I found this recipe several months ago and it has become a regular on my menu, but there was a problem. I didn't have a large enough pan and I would always end up with half the stir fry on the stove top. This time, with the wok, I had plenty of room and didn't spill anything. :)

Cut and cook chicken. I used my only "non-stick" pan while I was pre-seasoning my wok.

Gather my ingredients.

After sauteing the onions and adding the chicken I pushed it to the side to scramble the eggs.

The rice was a little chunky from being in the fridge all day. I broke up the pieces and continued to mix ingredients. As you can see everything fit very well in the wok with room to stir and not make a mess.

Served with a Thai coconut soup. Yum! Yum!

My final thoughts: This wok is a great addition to my kitchen! It has a great price point and as long as I continue to treat it well I see it only getting better with age. I can't wait for many more stir frys and am interested to try the bamboo steamer rack and other accessories.

Thank you to Sean and CSN Stores for allowing me to review this product. I had fun and look forward to more reviews and hopefully some giveaways in the future!

Sunday Brunch

When I think about Sunday brunch I don't just think about omelettes and cantaloupe. I also think about catching up with friends, reviewing the past week, and planning for the upcoming week. So I've decided that on Sundays I will share a favorite recipe and anything special that might have happened during the previous week.

Last week Jake got a job offer from a ranch back in Wyoming. As much as we like living in Montana it's just not right for us and this job is just what he's been looking for. He'll get to be horseback a lot more and we'll be a bit closer to town. The job starts March 1st so the majority of this week has been spent gathering boxes, sorting out junk for the garbage, beginning packing, and working on my February swaps.

Today and yesterday were spent cutting. Cutting for my Modern Stash Quilting Bees blocks, my Block-a-palooza blocks that I'm catching up on, and the applique pieces for my Birdie Big Block quilt. This week there will be more cutting, sewing, and packing. Jake will spend his days feeding the cows and supposedly the snow will let up for a few days and things will begin to melt and mud up. I guess that means that spring is on her way.

As for my recipe* this week...My favorite food lately has been pizza. Actually, I've always loved pizza, but I received the Pioneer Woman's cookbook for my birthday and I can't get enough of her pizza dough. It's fabulous! Usually I make pizza one night with half the dough and a couple days later make calzones with the rest. Tonight I made a pesto chicken calzone and it was delicious! I split the dough into 4 pieces (remember this is half the recipe) and flattened them onto cookie sheets. I made a creamy pesto by reducing part of a jar (1/3 - 1/2) of pesto into about 1/2 cup of milk. I spread the sauce onto the dough then added mushroom, olives, cooked chicken, cheese, and onion onto half of each piece of dough. Then I folded the dough over and pressed the ends together. I baked them in the oven until the dough had a beautiful crispy brown color. I served these with a hearty ground elk and veggie soup that had been simmering for a couple hours on the stove. Dessert was some Tollhouse cookies that I had made this morning. I wish I had taken pictures because the meal was definitely a success.

Since I decided to begin these Sunday Brunches at about 9.00 this evening I didn't get pictures this week, but I hope to have plenty for future weeks. If you would also like to participate in future Sunday Brunches just let me know. I would love to turn these into a linky party. If you're not a cook your "recipes" can be a favorite tutorial instead.

Have a wonderful week and thanks for stopping by. :)

*When I cook (unless I'm baking) I do not measure things out. I eyeball everything. I use a little bit of this and a lot of that and taste test often.