Luke and I made a pineapple casserole to go with the ham on Easter Sunday.  While we were making it, my dad came into the kitchen and asked us what we were using for the topping.  I told him we were topping the casserole with shredded cheddar cheese and crushed Ritz crackers which is the way my Aunt Claire makes her pineapple casserole.  My dad said "you should top it with crushed Marshmallow Crispy Oreos".  Then he added "Now that would be good!"  I had to remind him the Oreos wouldn't go good with the ham but he just gave me a look that said I didn't know what I was talking about.  I didn't bother saying anything else so my dad left the room.    When Luke and I were almost done with the casserole, my dad came back into the kitchen and said, "I still think you need to top it with crushed Marshmallow Crispy Oreos".  I just looked at him and then it occurred to me that we could make two small casseroles instead of one big casserole.  So I told my dad that we'd make one of each and his response was "the one with the Oreos will be the better one of the two".  I told him that if he was right, Luke would take all of the credit for it and say it was his idea because that's what Luke does. ;)   My dad was right, the Oreo topped pineapple casserole was delicious but it's definitely a dessert.  You don't want to eat that one with your ham!     This is how you make the 2 pineapple casseroles...   2 20 oz. cans crushed pineapple, juice reserved 2 sticks butter/margarine, softened 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 2 egg whites 5 tbsp. all-purpose flour    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray your 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Drain and reserve the pineapple juice.  Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Then add the eggs and egg whites.  Once combined, add the reserved pineapple juice and flour and continue mixing until combined.  Then stir in the crushed pineapple.  Next pour the pineapple mixture into your greased baking dish.   For the Ritz topping:   Crush 2 sleeves of Ritz Crackers (about 70 crackers).  Sprinkle 2/3 shredded cheddar cheese over the pineapple mixture and then pour the crushed Ritz Crackers over the cheese.  Bake for 35 - 40 minutes.   This is a picture of the Ritz topped pineapple casserole.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of the Oreo topped casserole.     For the Oreo topping:   Crush 2 rows of Marshmallow Crispy Oreos (about 20 Oreos).  Then sprinkle over the pineapple mixture.  Bake for 35 - 40 minutes.   If you want to make both recipes, use two 8 x 8 baking dishes and divide the pineapple mixture between the two dishes and half each of the recipes for the toppings (for the Ritz topping, use one sleeve of crushed Ritz crackers and 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese and for the Oreo topping, use one row of crushed Marshmallow Crispy Oreos).

I don't think you can ever go wrong with sweet potato casserole.  It's one of my favorite things.  For spring, I added some lemon extract to the recipe which gave it that fresh flavor.  I got the idea from a sweet potato casserole in one of my mom's magazines.  When we have sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we've never added lemon extract but we do always add mini marshmallows to the top and brown the marshmallows in the oven.  I can't even begin to tell you how delicious it is.  Sometimes I eat that for dessert instead of my Memaw's pumpkin pie or her delicious pumpkin cake.  Oops, I got a little off track.  Okay, back to the Easter sweet potato casserole.  This is how you make it.   2 40oz. cans of yams or sweet potatoes, drained 2 eggs 2 tbsp. butter/margarine, softened 1/3 cup milk 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. lemon extract 1/4 tsp. cinnamon   Topping:    1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar 1/2 all-purpose flour 6 tbsp. butter/margarine, melted   Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and spray your 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.  After draining the yams/sweet potatoes, pour them into a mixing bowl and mash with the sweet potatoes with a potato masher.  Then add the eggs, butter, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract and lemon extract to the sweet potatoes and mix with the mixer until combined.  Then pour into your greased baking dish.   Next, start on the incredibly yummy topping.  Melt the butter (I melted it in the microwave for about 15 seconds).  While melting the butter, pour the brown sugar and all-purpose flour into a medium bowl.  Then pour the melted butter over the brown sugar and flour and combine with a fork.  Once combined, spread the brown sugar mixture over the sweet potatoes.  Bake in the 375 degree oven for 35 - 40 minutes.  

While grocery shopping a few weeks ago, I found BellaFina sweet peppers (baby bell peppers) in Publix.  I bought a package of them because I thought they'd be great for an appetizer or a side dish.  When I got home, I noticed a recipe on the back of the package so then I was even more excited!  The recipe included ricotta cheese which you can't got wrong with!  However, I did have to make a few adjustments to the recipe.  This is how we made our cheese stuffed baby bell peppers...I baked mine and Luke grilled his. :)

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp. oregano, chopped
1 tbsp. basil, chopped
1 tbsp. flatleaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup arugula, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a medium skillet.  Add the onion to the skillet and sauté until the onions soften.  Once softened, remove from the heat and set aside. 

Next, cut the baby bell peppers in half and remove the core and seeds.

In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, onions, herbs and salt and pepper.  Spoon the mixture into each pepper. 

Spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Place the peppers on the cookie sheet and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes. 

Or you can grill your stuffed peppers which is what Luke did.  Either way, they're delish!!!

I love the fact that it's 7:20 in the evening and the sun is still out!  It's such a great feeling to know there are still a couple of hours of daylight left when I get home from work!  To me that's worth losing an hour of sleep.

The weather was perfect today too.  It was 75 degrees when I left work this evening.  I came home today and took Izzy for a walk around the neighborhood, and I didn't feel the least bit rushed to get back to the house to start dinner.  I feel like I still have time left in the day to enjoy.  That's such a great feeling!

Dinner tonight was super easy.  Publix offers the most amazing Stuffed Clams and Stuffed Scallops.  They're on sale 4 for $5 through tomorrow.  So they're not only delicious but they're cheap. ;)  If you like crab cakes, you'll love these and even if you don't like crab cakes, you'll love these.  Luke doesn't like crab cakes very much, but he LOVES these.

You can find them in the fresh market section (the fish counter) of the store.  The cooking instructions are printed on the price label.

To cook the stuffed clams and the stuffed scallops, you preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place the stuffed clams and/or stuffed scallops on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 18 - 20 minutes.  Then they're ready to serve!


The green beans:

1 lb. of fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

First, blanch the green beans (in a pot of water, bring the green beans to a boil, remove from heat as soon as they start to boil and use a slotted spoon to put the green beans into a bowl of ice water).  Pour 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a pan over medium heat.  Then add the cooled green beans to the pan.  Add the salt and pepper and toss the green beans to make sure they're all coated with the EVOO, salt and pepper.  Then add the minced garlic and cook for a few more minutes.


Don't forget to run over to Publix before Wednesday to grab your stuffed clams and/or stuffed scallops!!! :)

Luke and I have decided it's time to buckle down and post on our blog on a regular basis.  It's not always easy to find the time to jump on the blog to share our recipes and ideas with both of us working full time and commuting to work. 

Over the weekend, we came up with a plan so we'll see how well we execute the plan.  We're going to do our best to share our recipes with you Monday through Friday each week.  Each day will have a dedicated title with recipes to follow.  Mondays will be "Meaty Monday" or "Meatless Monday" depending on what recipe we post that particular day.

Today we wanted to share the grilled Mahi Mahi recipe we ate for dinner.  Luke is always in charge of the grill so this is his recipe in his words...

Per Mahi Mahi fillet:

1 tablespoon of EVOO
Pinch of Kosher salt
Pinch of Black Pepper
Dash of Ground Rep Pepper
1 Lemon Sliced (placed on top of Fish)

First of all I like to use aluminum foil on the grill just to make sure it does not get burnt to much.  So get the fish and place on aluminum foil.  I put the EVOO on the Foil and make sure there is enough so the fish will not stick.  At that point, sprinkle the salt, pepper and the ground red pepper on both sides of the fish.  Place the lemon slices on top of the fish and then make a tent with the foil place on the grill and cook for 8-12 minutes and then it should be ready to go.  If you like the char of grill on the fish do the same thing and then flip over around 6 min and then put the lemons on top. 

For our side dish, we roasted about a pound of asparagus.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Trim off the woody ends of the asparagus and drop the asparagus spears onto the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper over the asparagus spears.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.



We also ate stuffed mini bell peppers but I'll share that recipe with you later this week.  :)

Well mom got me this new Charbroil infrared oil less fryer/grille and I had to test it out.


I love pork and with New Years coming and myself being responsible for the main course in our New Years day dinner I had to make a trial run.  I got to give a little cred to Guy Feiri show that was on TV the other day as the recipe for the stuffed part came from him.  It consist of Garlic, Rosemary, Salt/Pepper and then mixed in some Pesto.  Cut the Pork open and then slathered it in the middle.  Close it and then put in a baking dish big enough to hold the 5 LB Pork Tenderloin and then throw in a Cup or so of white wine and then about a cup or so of Chicken Stock. I marinated it overnight and then I flipped it over once I got up the next morning.  About an hour before getting the pork ready to go on the grill I cut the pork in half. I tied it up with some butcher string I covered one half with course ground pepper and salt and on the other half I covered it with pesto. 

5 garlic cloves
Rosemary (2 or 3 stalks/branches)
Salt (tablespoon)
Ground Pepper (table spoon)
Oil (Olive or Grapeseed) Enough to mix everything up
Pesto... Half of a small jar

Cup or so of white wine
Cup or so of chicken stock




This cooked for about 2 hours in the infrared (between 160/170 on the thermometer) and then came out and I let it rest for 10/15 minutes. Cut and ate and I have to say it was pretty dang good.  I preferred the Pesto outside but my friend who came over seemed to be indifferent as they both had good flavors. 





While Luke worked on the pork tenderloin, I was in charge of the side dishes and the dessert.  I'll tell you about the dessert later this week.  ;)  One of the side dishes was green beans, but I decided to change the green beans up a little bit.  I brought 2 pounds of fresh green beans up to a boil, then drained them and soaked them in ice water.  Once cooled, I sautéed the green beans and sliced about 6 white mushrooms in extra virgin olive oil.  While the green beans and mushrooms were sautéing, I whisked a Dijon concoction together.  Once the green beans and mushrooms were tender, I drizzled the Dijon mixture over the green beans and mushrooms and tossed them together in the pan.

2 lbs. fresh green beans
6 white mushrooms (sliced)
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper