what's cookin' this week?

this week i am in the mood for trying some new autumn-y recipes.  thanks to my cooking light subscription i have lots of yummy options.  if only the weather was a little cooler....i kind of feel like october and november switched places this year!  here are three new recipes that i am going to try this week.

Pumpkin Ravioli {cooking light magazine}
Beef, Black Bean & Chorizo Chili {cooking light magazine}
Creamy Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup {cooking light magazine}

recipe {fried green tomatoes}

this year mymichael and i planted a garden for the first time & it did relatively well. we platend our tomato plants a little later than suggested, so we have gotten quite a few tomatoes in the last few weeks. we were afraid it was going to freeze a week ago so mymichael went ahead and picked a bunch of the green tomatoes so they wouldn't be ruined. quite a few have started to turn red but we still have a bunch that are a beautiful green. mymichael was raised eating fried green tomatoes from his grandma...i however wasn't. i have made them a few times since being married and they are always yummy.  the green tomatoe is a little tart and the coating is salty...it's a great combo!  with a table full of green tomatoes i decided it was time to do some more. usually i fry them with a cornmeal batter, but this time i changed it up a bit and we have now found our favorite way of doing them....

eggs

flour

panko bread crumbs {found in the chinese/japanese section of your grocery store}

green tomatoes

salt & pepper

-slice your green tomatoes 1/4" thick or so

-in one bowl beat two eggs

-in a second bowl combine flour and panko bread crumbs, salt & pepper

-dip tomatoe in egg bowl, coat well

-dip egg coated tomatoe into panko/flour bowl, coat with mixture completely

-fry in oil until golden brown, as soon as you take out of the pan, sprinkle with salt

if you have never used panko bread crumbs, you have got to try them.  they give a great crunchy texture.  you can use them when frying anything....chicken, crab cakes, shrimp, etc.  they are a great replacement for regular bread crumbs.  i have also used them when baking chicken...coat like you are going to fry and then bake instead, it gives you that fried texture that we all love!

we give this recipe

*****

recipe {cranberry orange salsa}

this is one of my favorite "holiday" recipes.  you can't make it until you can get your hands of fresh cranberries.  it is great to eat as a salsa w/ tortilla chips or pretzels or vegetable sticks, on your turkey at thanksgiving {a favorite at my house} and also as a salad dressing.  AND it's good for you!  i originally got the recipe from my boss in dallas...she had found it on butterball.com, but i have since learned that there are all kinds of recipes like it out there.  i didn't have any dried apricots on hand monday night, so instead i added some strawberries and it worked great.  i will say that if you have a food processor, it makes it SUPER easy!  here's the recipe....

3 cups cranberries, chopped

1/2 cup honey

2 oranges, peeled, pithed and chopped

1 medium red onion, peeled and grated {i didn't have red on hand so i used a yellow one...also, if you are using a food processor, just chunk it up and throw it in...not grating needed.}

1/2 cup chopped dried apricot

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped (see note)

2 tablespoons lime juice

Combine cranberries and honey in a large bowl. Fold in oranges, onion, dried apricots, cilantro, jalapeño and lime juice.

Chill for 2 hours.

Makes 12 servings.

we give this recipe

*****

which one?

i am in a book club and it is my turn to choose the book.....EEK!  you see, i am not really a reader.  the extent of my reading in the past has been nora roberts {i know, laugh all you want}, nelson demille {suspense/drama/detective/government corupt-ness, etc.}, david balldacci {similar to nelson demille} and the occasional james patterson {murder, mystery, etc.}.  most of the books i do read/listen to are from my boss's audio library {except of course nora roberts books...that would be interesting!}.  we are one the road alot for work and he is constatly listening to a new book.  that is where i got hooked on nelson demille, david balldacci & james patterson.  i think the reason i stick with those, and nora roberts, is b/c i pretty much know to some extent what the story will be.  when i go into a book store i am COMPLETELY overwhelmed!  there are thousands of books!  i mean, i don't even know where to start, so i stick with the magazines or travel books and they tend to keep me pretty well occupied. 

so, now i am in this book club {to tell you the truth, it's mainly just b/c i like the girls...not b/c i like to read} and have to choose our next book.  i also need to confess that i haven't finished the last two books...........................{one i didn't like, "Olive Kitterage" and one that i did like towards the end and plan on finishing, "the guernsey literary club & potatoe peel society"}.  after looking at many different options i am down to two possibilities and would appreciate any input.

the first one is "the next thing on my list" by jill smolinski.  it would be a fun, light read, summary is below.... 

Meet June Parker. She works for L.A. Rideshare, adores her rent-stabilized apartment in Santa Monica, and struggles with losing a few pesky pounds. But June’s life is about to change.

After a dark turn of events involving Weight Watchers, a chili recipe, and a car accident in which her passenger, Marissa, dies, June finds herself in possession of a list Marissa has written, “20 Things to Do By My 25th Birthday.” Even though they barely knew eachother, June is compelled by both guilt and a desire to set things right and finish the list for Marissa.

The tasks before her range from inspiring (Run a 5K), to daring (Go braless), to near-impossible (Change someone’s life), and as June races to achieve each goal before the deadline, she learns more about her own life than she ever bargained for.

Funny, engaging, and heartwarming, The Next Thing on My List features a loveable, relatable heroine and a story with plenty of humor and heart.

the second book is "PUSH", which was a suggestion of one of the book club girls.  it's a lot heavier of a read, but sounds good as well........

Narrated by Precious Jones, a 16-year-old African-American girl pregnant for the second time with her father's child, Push is a novel tracing her movement from anger, illiteracy, resignation, and self-contempt to some version of hope. The voice of Precious, raw and almost unintelligible at the beginning of the story, is changed when a courageous African-American teacher relentlessly inspires Precious, along with several other seemingly doomed teenagers, to learn to read, to discover what and how they feel, and to put it all down in a diary. The novel ends with everything uncertain and unfinished, but with a young woman changed by the appearance of self-respect.

Commentary This is a very disturbing novel. It is difficult to read, not only because of the language--"Underneaf what I wrote Miz Rain write what I said in pencil. li MG o mi m (Little Mongo on my mind)"--but also because of the raw, brutal language Precious uses to describe the incestuous relationship she had with her father from a very young age. This incestuous relationship was witnessed by her mother, who also sexually abused her.

The book would be a valuable addition to any syllabus dealing with incest, AIDS, and body self-image (Precious is very, very obese). The language of this novel is not for everyone.

there you have it....option #1 or option #2...what are your thoughts?

recipe {enchilada soup with avocado}

1 T. olive oil

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T. cilantro, chopped

2 cups onion, chopped

4 corn tortillas, chopped

2 pounds cooked chicken, chopped/shredded

1 can {6 oz} tomato paste

1 can {15 oz.} diced tomatoes

6 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

1 T. cumin

1 t. chili powder

2 bay leaves

1 avocado

1/2 cup shredded cheese

-in a large soup pot heat olive oil, add garlic and cilantro, saute for 30 seconds, then add corn tortillas.  saute 3-4 minutes until tortillas are soft.

-add onions to mixture, saute for a couple minutes

-add next 8 ingredients to pot

-reserve avocado and cheese

-bring to boil and let simmer for 30 minutes

-serve with avocado & cheese on top

got this recipe from our Body For Life cook book.  super easy and really yummy!

we give this recipe

*****

what's cookin' this week?

Enchilada Soup with Avocado {Body for Life cook book} - didn't end up making it last week
Breakfast....sausage biscuits & eggs {my book club night...something for mymichael}
Mushroom Ravioli & salad {pre-made ravioli from target....we'll see if they are tasty}
something with ground beef....maybe a soup...........

what's on your menu?

trunk or treat

this year instead of doing a fall festival, our church chose to do a missional "trunk or treat" at two different apartment complexes.  i got a call on wednesday from my dad asking if mymichael and i could take their place.  i agreed and after the fact googled "trunk or treat" only to find out, it's not just handing out candy from your trunk, but people decorate their trunks and then get dressed up themselves.  so, not wanting to disapoint any trunk or treater, i started brainstorming on ideas.  the rest of the day wednesday i thought about it...all day thrusday...went looking/brainstorming friday on my lunch and still had NO clue what to do.  i had picked up a cute witches hat at wal-mart wednesday night.  after work on friday i was talking with a co-worker and somehow between the two of us, the idea came......the trunk would be "the withches brew".  complete with a jars of nasty food that would go into my yummy stew.  i headed straight to the dollar store to get my supplies.  7 clear plastic jars, vienna sausages, spaghetti and meatballs, canned mixed vegetables, gummy worms, garbanzo beans, and plasticky weird looking toys.  let me just say, it was pretty fun mixing everything together....water, food coloring and oil can do all kinds of fun things!  check it out....

starting from the top left:  gummy worms in water with a floating dinosaur, spaghetti & meatballs AKA brains, weird green plastic thingy w/ gummy worms, mixed vegetables & habanero peppers, vienna sausages AKA fingers, weird platic thingys in water, garbanzo beans w/ blue water AKA snake eyes.....

so with the trunk decided upon i only had to turn myself into a witch....i'm totally not into the scary halloween stuff, so pardon my not so scary witch attire:

now onto the adorable kiddos.  we had quite a few show up.  after it was all said and done, i am pretty sure most of them went home with 3 pounds of candy.....not sure that's the best idea, but hey...it's halloween!

aren't they cute!  after our trunk or treat, which ended at 5:00, mymichael and i retired to being old fogies...we went to dinner and to a movie.  hope everyone else had a fun evening!!!