Baked hashbrowns and kitchen gadgets...

Did you ever watch those Ron Popeil infomercials in awe and want to steal your parent's credit card to purchase each and every amaaaaaazing product he showcased and sold because you simply couldn't live without it? Oh, that was just me. I'm fo sho going to be one of those little old ladies spending her fortune on cool schtuff she sees on tv...yeah, I'm planning on having a fortune, hopefully that part of my life plan comes true.

 

Anyway, I was always mesmerized by the gizmos and gadgets that would make life so easy and do a million things in one little box, and was sooooo cheap (3 easy payments of $19.95 and it's yours)! And I haven't changed much. Main Man and I went to the Home and Garden show earlier this year in Des Moines (yes, this post has been sitting here waiting to see the light of day since February) and there was a man putting on a demonstration with this Miracle Kitchen Plus. He made salsa, he made eggs, he sliced, he diced, he grated, he chopped.....BUT WAIT, there's morrrrrre! He squeazed, he juiced, he julienned....whew! I NEED this thing. And lucky for me, Main Man knows when to argue and when to just pull out the wallet. So I scored me a Miracle kitchen Plus (for the low, one time price of $19.99)!!

 

 

Normally, when impulse buying, I use the crap out of the item at first and then when the initial after purchase glow of cooking fun wears off, the item sits in the closet collecting dust. Not this time, folks (I pinky swear I'm not getting paid for this)...

We made homemade hashbrowns by shaving potato strings....

We seasoned them with olive oil and Paul's Gunpowder, which was another impulse buy at the home and garden show that I just adore...going to need to buy more of that stuff this year. No MSG, the perfect amount of heat without any of that saltiness...I use it on everything.

Bake them up and you got breakfast browns, my friend...not fried.

 

We minced veggies up all perfect and tiny to add to our omelettes...jalops, onions, tomatoes, garlic.

 

Omelette and hashbrowns, anyone?

But wait...THERE'S MORE! Main Man decided he wanted apple juice with his breakfast...so he squeazed himself some fresh from the fruit...no big D.

 

I will admit you need more than one apple if you like more than a shooter of juice though...sorry, we're noobs at this.

 

 

Anywho...this was our initial day of fun with the gadget but I have since begun using it instead of the food processor when I make salsa and spagetti sauce. I also use it to whip eggs with milk to make the fluffiest omelettes, and to grate cheese. I still don't juice much, it seems a lot easier to buy that stuff at the store. All in all, this thing was well worth the one easy payment we made, and probably fueled my addiction of buying weird kitchen gadgets even more. I guess if one in 3 work this well, it's worth it right? Right?!?

 

I just looked this up on Amazon to give you guys a link if you're interested in it...most reviews are just like mine, people love it! I did however find out the price is a bit lower on Amazon...you win some,  you lose some.

 

Kratoska wedding shower

It's crunch time, people. It's not even getting down to crunch time, crunch time is upon us. And I realized I haven't shared ANY of my amazing showers with you over the last couple of months. I'm losing my head, I tell you. I have now been thrown three wedding showers, by three very loving families (the Kratoska side, the Jamison side, and my loverly lady friends who are family as well in my opinion). The first one was in August, although it seems like it wasn't that long ago, these last couple months have evaporated in my busy mind. My 2nd cousin Betsy threw the Kratoska shower in her lovely home in Rochester, and her hubs and two boys even cleared out for the day and night so us ladies could take over! It was so very nice to see everyone and I was in awe of the spread that Betsy and her mom, Teri laid out for us. This was a foodie's dream, you guys...

 

Here's my analogy: you know when you played Super Mario Brothers on the Super Nintendo when you were younger? Yes, it does date you to admit that you know what the game is but it also gives you awesome points, so it evens out. Anyway, you know those vines that you had to climb to get up to the cloud world and gather all the good stuff like one ups and coins and all the heavenly fruits of your labor and knowledge of the game? You know when you get up there and you frolic and float through the cloud world collecting all these bonuses? Well, the drive to Rochester was like the climb to the heavens, and when we saw the spread it was like seeing the heavens filled with coins and extra lives....blissful.  I hope I'm not creeping you out with my Super NES obsession. I kinda want to dig the old one at work out right now. Anyway, I hope you get my drift. This shower was amazing, and I truly appreciate all the hard work Betsy put into the planning and execution of this celebration. It was the perfect kick off to wedding events and made the whole getting married thing seem real to me.

 

So thank you, Betsy, although thanks isn't enough. And I will leave you all with a link to the lovely Betsy's blog, Blessed Beyond the Storm, in which you will be able to feel her love through her writing as well. I shall also leave you with pics of the fantabulous bonuses, coins, and one ups I worked my way through at her house that day....get a napkin beforehand to wipe up the drool from your keyboard.  Happy Tuesday, all!

 

Tortilla wraps

Amazing variety of breads

Fresh fruit bowl

Grey and yellow m&m's (the wedding colors)

Pound cake

Flourless chocolate cake

 

Mini cheesecakes (to. die. for.)

Chicken bruschetta (going to need this recipe)

Bacon wrapped filet

 

Massive spread of cheeses (gahhhhhh)

The Lovely Betsy

My cookbook to add all the Kratoska recipes that I was given that weekend :)

 

My mother was given this dish as a wedding gift at her shower in 1978

My great Grandma Maude's wedding china, Betsy gave up a piece of the set for me, what a perfect gift!

We played the dice game!

We made our own wine glasses to take home

My cousin Emma and I

 

Spicy avocado and shrimp pasta

Crash, bang, boom. It's Monday, people. Nothing witty or charming over herrrrr...it's been one of those days already. Wedding checklist is in full force, fingers are crossed for a little warm up around these parts (my shoulders are going to have quite the chill in my strapless wedding gown otherwise), and we are now less than two weeks away from learning how to write my new last name. Eeeeek!

Nothing cute or fancy going on with dinner anymore...we're hitting the frozen stash this week.  And this is why I'm proud to be a food hoarder :) Stressful weeks get a little bit alleviated when dinner is already figured out...

1 package spagetti/fettucine noodles
4 T olive oil
1 lb shrimp
2 ripe avocados, seed and skin removed
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 T lemon jice
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 (6 oz) containers greek yogurt
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 package fresh spinach
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1 can mushrooms
fresh mozzerella cheese
crushed red pepper to taste (I used a lot, which is why this is called spicy avocado and shrimp pasta)
italian seasoning

Cook pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is boiling, add 2 T olive oil , avocado, 2 cloves of garlic, lemon juice, and greek yogurt to a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are smooth and creamy.

In a large skillet, heat the other 2 T of olive oil. Add uncooked (but peeled and deveined) shrimp, 2 minced garlic cloves, mushrooms, pine nuts, spinach, sundried tomatoes, and crushed red pepper to the skillet. Stir constantly while cooking until spinach is wilted, shrimp is pink instead of grey, and garlic is aromatic. Add the marinara sauce and the avocado mixture to the skillet and mix together to make your sauce.

When noodles are done, drain and add to the sauce. Mix thoroughly and layer into a 9x13 baking dish. Add slices of fresh mozzerella to the top, and sprinkle with italian seasoning. Either place in freezer (like I did) for another time, or throw in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. If you freeze it, you can bake it at 400 degrees for an hour when you decide you have a hankering for avocado pasta sauce. I tasted this before I froze it, and I'll tell you it wasn't long before I wanted to dig it out of the freezer!

 

Egg sandwich

Easy post Friday, all! Busy, busy this week! We had my bachelorette party last weekend so getting things put back together after that, plus helping get ready for Main Man's bachelor party this weekend, as well as preparing to help throw a baby shower for one of my bridesmaids (shoutout to Baby Loeffelholz and Mama Amanda!) so this week has just flown by...the wedding is really sneaking up on me, you guys....it's creepy to think I will only be a Kratoska for a couple more weeks.

 

One of the Kratoska family traditions was Grandpa Jim's chili making on Sundays. There are pics of him in his undies with his apron on, getting his chili all set to simmer all day on Sunday morning. I love the feeling that photo gives me, and wonder if that's the reason I love to make breakfast on the weekends, when I'm not really a breakfast person during the week. Normally I just grab a Slimfast shake to head to work and that's that. But when we're home for the weekend, and lazying around getting the day started, I love to make a little (or big) breakfast for Main Man and I to sit at the table together to enjoy. Sometimes he even cooks, as you can see with his breakfast burritos that are out of this world. There's something about breakfast with the one you love on a sunny Fall morning...especially when you have a new Kuerig coffee maker that your bridesmaids got you for your wedding shower!

 

This is a pretty easy, very quick one if you're not looking to be in a food coma afterwards. Toast a piece of bread, fry up an egg with some seasoned salt, fry a piece of ham and layer all this stuff together....open faced egg sammy for the win!

 

1 egg, fried

1 piece pepperjack cheese (2% is what I use)

1 t mayo (olive oil mayo is my fave right now)

1 piece toasted bread

1 piece real ham

 

Heat up a skillet with some fat free Pam and put an egg in there to fry once it gets hot. Put the ham on the other side of the skillet to cook. Flip the ham after a couple minutes and put the cheese on top of the ham to melt. Toast your bread at this point. When the bread comes out of the toaster, spread the mayo on it. Put the ham with the melted cheese on top of that, then nestle the egg on top. I enjoy dippy eggs, but Main Man wants his hard. To each his own, but I love the yolk to run all over everything once I puncture it. A little love to sop up with every part of the sammy...doesn't that just give you a weekend warm fuzzy? 

 

The best part of this? I almost always have all these ingredients on hand so there's no store trips needed. Hope you all enjoy your weekend as much as I plan to enjoy mine...happy Friday!

 

Gumbo dip

When Manda comes to town, I always try to whip up something Cajun, southern, or Louisiana style as a special treat for her. You remember when we did the gator sausage boil when she was visiting over the week of the 4th of July? Anyway, she's one of my great friends who is from NOLA, but lives in Houston now, so I try to keep her coming back to Iowa to visit by enticing her with food from her home...and it seems to be working! She came up this past weekend for my bachelorette party and I made her this dip the night before while we sat and had some beers and chatted with Mama K and Leslie...it was a perfect night!

 

4 T butter (I used light Country Crock)

1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced

3/4 cup sliced okra pods (I had to leave this out since the store was out of okra, sadface)

2 ribs celery, diced

6 green onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 t Cajun seasoning (I use Tony C's religiously)

1 lb large cooked (pink) shrimp with tails removed

8 oz cream cheese (I used fat free)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 andouille sausage, sliced (I added this since I omitted the okra, and am very glad I did, yummmmm!)

 

Preaheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper, okra (if you have a store that keeps stock), and celery to the pan and saute until beginning to soften, about 6 minutes. Stir in the green onions, garlic, and cajun seasoning. Cook 1 more minute, just until fragrant. Stir in the shrimp, andouille, cream cheese, and Parmesan. Stir over low heat until cream cheese is melted and everything is evenly mixed. Spoon the mixture into a baking dish.

 

Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is browned and bubbling. Serve with toasted baquette slices. I had a loaf of focaccia and a loaf of baguette to dip that we just warmed in the oven. The first bite was a little disappointing, I was underwhelmed. But the second bite and all the subsequent bites after that...I win. Actually, my mouth wins. My waistline doesn't win. But we can't all be winners, now can we!? If you got a bite with a little sausage and a little shrimpy in it, your mouth hit the freaking lotto, I'm telling you!

 

Pepperoncini goat cheese chicken

This is one of the simplest recipes I've found in a food magazine in my life. It sounded good but I'll admit the only reason I tried it was because it had 3 ingredients, and I had a plethora of one of them coming from my garden at the time. Pepperoncinis are absolutely perfect to dice up on a salad, or put in an omelette, but what else do you really do with them? You dice them up, mix them with goat cheese, stuff them in some chicken, and grill...that's what!

 

1 large pepperoncini, diced

4 oz goat cheese (I used herb and garlic flavored)

2 chicken breasts

 

Slit the chicken breasts down the middle and open up so it looks like a...you know. I'm not going to say it...but you know. Plop half of the mixture of goat cheese and pepperoncini in each of them, and throw them on the warmed up grill! You obviously can't flip these, so you have to cook low and slow to prevent burning, but there's not much work involved besides checking on it every few minutes.

 

I don't even know what else to say...and I'm never at a loss for words. This stuff was great, Main Man asked what was in it and I didn't even want to tell him how easy they were, it's slightly embarrassing. I served them with some twice baked cauliflower and the last batch of sweet corn on the cob for the year (most likely). It was just what I was craving, and literally took 5 minutes to put together. Can't beat that with a stick. Enjoy your hump day, everyone!

 

Skinny meatball subs

This recipe came from my lady crush, Kristin over at Iowa Girl Eats, who inspires a lot of my cooking my her beautiful photos and mouthwatering descriptions of her recipes. I am a tweaker though...wait, that sounds bad. I tweak recipes...I inevitably sub something for something or go with light or fat free version of whatever, or skip something I don't like. This recipe was the exception to that rule. I've never made meatballs and figure consistency and ingredients are very important for a non-fall-apart-y meatball that will stick to it's guns and then stick to your ribs. So I followed the recipe word. for. word. And WOWZA, am I glad I did!

Shout out to Mallory for all the zucchini she's been sharing with me from her garden, I didn't grow any this year and that was a big mistake...she's been very graciously sharing the fruits of her labor with me so I could try all these yummy zucchini recipes I have been hankering for lately, so I am indebted to her for allowing these little balls of meat love to enter my world (and by world, I mean mouth).

1 small zucchini
1/4 small white onion
4 garlic cloves
1 lb ground white meat turkey
1 egg white
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T Italian seasoning
1 t cracked pepper
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
hot dog buns
1 cup marinara sauce
5 oz mozzerella

Grate the zucchini, onion, and garlic in a food processor with the grating blade attached, then remove the contents to a separate bowl. This was my first time using my grating blade...it was a blast! I know that probably sounds weird, and might not be as fun for most people as it was for me...but that thing was whirring and whizzing and grating whatever I threw in there into smithereens....I have to find more recipes that need grated veggies. If you don't have a food processor you could use a box grater for the zucchini and onion, and just mince the garlic.

Move to a mixing bowl and add the ground turkey, egg white, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, pepper, and bread crumbs to the bowl to mix with a fork (or your hands if you don't mind getting down and dirty). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees now.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick Pam and ball up your meatballs into 2 T sized hunks. Place onto the cookie sheet so they're not touching each other. This recipe made me about 25 meatballs. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until no longer pink in the center.

Turn the oven to broil, then open up the hotdog buns and place three cooked meatballs in the center. Spoon marinara sauce on top of the meatballs, then top with 1 oz mozzarella cheese per sub. Broil until the sauce is warm, and the cheese is golden brown.

If you want to freeze your extras (I fed 3 people and still have 16 meatballs left). cool them completely then place them into freezer bags or a freezer safe container. To reheat, microwave for 4-5 minutes, or place onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. You could add these meatballs to pasta as well, I'm thinking of doing that with my frozen leftovers.