Amy's Risotto

Last night we had risotto for dinner. I absolutely love risotto. I found a recipe in Rachael Ray's Orange cookbook that I was planning on making - butternut squash risotto - but about 10 minutes before our friend arrived I found out that we didn't actually have the butternut squash for said risotto. So I improvised. And this is what I came up with. Make it. It is good.

Chop up a medium sized onion and a couple of garlic cloves. Saute them in olive oil over medium high heat for 5 or so minutes. Add 1 1/3 cups of arborio rice (whatever it's called. You know, risotto rice.) and saute for a minute or two. Add half a cup of white wine and cook for about a minute. Oh, while you're doing this have some chicken broth simmering on another burner. Then, once the wine cooks off, ladle in some chicken broth - about 3 or 4 ladles. Cook it down, stirring frequently. Repeat. Repeat again. Keep repeating until the rice isn't hard. Takes about 1/2 hour or so. Once the rice is cooked, turn off the burner, add in 3 handfuls of parmesan cheese, a can of artichoke hearts (drained and chopped), and a can of black olives (drained and chopped). Oh, and a splash of lemon juice. Let it sit up for a minute or two, then eat. It's good. Really, really good.

Quick, Easy, GOOD food

So the next time you don't know what to have for dinner, you must have this. We had one of those nights the other night, and I had no motivation whatsoever to go to the store. So I went to allrecipes.com and searched for something we could make with what we had on hand (which wasn't much at all). And did I find a hit. A Good Easy Garlic Chicken was just that. Even Keith liked it! And it's easy. And good. And REALLY easy. Throw some rice and a veggie with it and you have dinner. Unfortunately, you probably won't have any leftovers.

Hey, this looks good!

And Ed just LOVES buffalo chicken, AND he's Italian... I'm thinking I need to break out the crockpot for this!

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

Crockpot recipes!

So, it's a windy, rainy, overall crappy day today. It's cool though, and it got me thinking about the fall, and the winter, and my favorite cooking utensil, the crockpot! And, fortunately, it got someone else thinking about crockpots and they linked me to this blog. So here are some of the recipes that I'm going to try (except the first one!)...

Crock Pot Haggis Recipe - OK, first off, there is NO WAY I'm making Haggis. If you don't know what it is, don't worry - you're definitely not missing much. But you have got to read this entry about the pluck. I was almost crying I was laughing so hard!

Crock Pot Blue Cheese and Dried Cherry Meatloaf - I'm certainly not a meatloaf fan (I hate ketchup, and apparently you must always have ketchup on top of meatloaf. Who knew?) but this actually sounds like I could eat it! Maybe because I love blue cheese!

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Little Dipper Recipe - I also love goat cheese. And dip. Enough said.

Crock Pot Chicken Cordon Bleu - can't go wrong with chicken Cordon Bleu. Trust me.

Baked Brie Crockpot Recipe - I love Brie, too. Actually, I just love most kinds of cheese. But Baked Brie is REALLY good.

Crock Pot Swiss Chard Soup - Swiss Chard is pretty good. I never had it before I made a Rachael Ray recipe which called for it (I think it was the REALLY REALLY GOOD pasta recipe - swiss chard, bacon, ricotta, lemon juice, pasta... it was good). And soup is good.

Crock Pot Blue Cheese Potato Soup with Olive Tapenade - did I mention I'm a fan of blue cheese?

Crock Pot Vietnamese Roasted Chicken Recipe - I don't know what, exactly, Vietnamese Roasted Chicken is, but it sounds good.

Crayons! - OK, we won't be eating this recipe, but it sounds like a fun thing to do. Lord knows we have some crayons around here.

Crock Pot Spinach and Feta Quiche - Yup, I like Feta, too. And spinach. And quiche.

So, there's more, but I figure this is a good enough start. Did I mention I love crockpots? And the fall?? And cheese?

Yes, I'm a slacker

What else is new? So I figured I'd post a couple of recipes to make up for it.

One is the amazingly easy and amazingly delicious blackberry cobbler by the Pioneer Woman. That lady can cook! And who can resist the pictures?!? Her cinnamon rolls are pretty good, too. Trust me :)

And the other is...

crap. I forgot which one I was going to post. Damn pregnancy brain! And then after I posted it I was going to go make it, but no, now I have to try to remember what I was craving all of 10 minutes ago. Ugh. Stay tune for the update once I remember....

Hot Feta Artichoke Dip

Yeah... it's good.


1 can (14oz) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
8oz crumbled Feta cheese
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
optional: 2oz diced pimentos, drained
(I just chop up some black olives. But, do whatever you want)


1. Mix all ingredients
2. Spoon into 9in. pie plate or 3cup shallow baking dish
3. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes


I TOLD you it was easy!