Lenten Penance

Hello All,

Since the Baron and I are Catholic we have decided to sacrifice during this season of Lent.  We have both given up meat for the entirety of lent, he has given up sweet drinks, tea, and good coffee (he assures me the coffee at work is terrible and can not be enjoyed especially with no sugar or cream.)

We have also committed to helping out for our Parish's Stations of the Cross, meditation and soup supper.  This means I am making a meatless soup for everyone to share.   It is actually quite a nice thing and doesn't feel very penitential however it can sometimes be a inconvenience which is penitential.  I will try to post the recipes for the soup I made for the soup suppers.  The 1st soup I made was Soup Julienne.  It was quite nice and made a large quantity of soup.  This past week I made Shrimp and Corn Chowder.  It went over quite well.  I really enjoyed it also.

I have also made Saint Antorny of the Dessert soup the 1st week of Lent.  It was quite nice.  I had never used barly in a recipe before so it was a new expeiance for me.  I think I like it.  This also made alot of soup.  We ate on it for a few days.

I will try to keep up the recipes for soup suppers as well as any other new recipes I use try during my Lenten journey.

Quick Shrimp Chowder

• Ingredients
  2 tablespoons butter or margarine 
• 1 medium onion, chopped 
• 2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans cream of potato soup, undiluted
• 3 1/2 cups milk 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds medium-size fresh shrimp, peeled
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 can of extra sweet whole corn
• Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
• 
  

Preparation

1. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion, and sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Stir in cream of potato soup, milk, and pepper; bring to a boil. Add shrimp; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately. Serve with oyster crackers, if desired.
2. *1 1/2 pounds frozen shrimp, thawed; 1 1/2 pounds peeled crawfish tails; or 3 cups chopped cooked chicken may be substituted.

Soup Julienne

This was the 1st soup I made for out Parish's Friday way of the cross, meditation and soup supper. The Knight's of Columbus run the this event every year and the wives make meatless supper. It was quite a nice soup.  This soup makes about 3 quarts.  It is quite nice if not time consumming due to all the cutting of the veggies.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Soup Julienne

3 leeks (White part only)
4 carrots
2 medium turnips
1/2 medium head of green cabbage
1 onion
3 quarts water
3 bouillon cubs
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cups frish parsley, minced

1 Shred the cabbage and cute the vetables into thin strips, 1 1/2 inch long, and place them in a large soup pot with the water.  Add Bouillon cubes and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook the soup slowly for about 45 minutes, stirring from time to time.

When vegatables are done, add the salt, pepper and parsley; Stir few times, cover and simmer for another 15 additional minutes.  Serve hot.

Saint Antony of the Desert Soup

This was a great soup but it does may quite a bit of soup.  The recipe states it makes 4 serving.

Saint Antony of the Desert Soup
Ingredients
3 tablespoon oil of choice
1 cup of barley
1 carrot, finely grated
2 leeks, sliced
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup fresh parsely, minced
salt to taste
7 cups water
1 bouillon cube, if desired
chopped mushrooms, if desired

1) Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the barley, stirring continously for one minute. Immediately add the carrot, leeks, bay leaf, parsley, salt, and water.

2) Cook the soup over low the meduim heat, covered, for 40 to 45 minutes, until the barley is tender.  Add more water if needed. For extra taste, add the boullon and the mushrooms during the last 20 minutes of simmering.  Remove the bay leaf. Serve hot.

Pasta salad

Note: This was a draft for a long while back that I forgot to post but now it's up.  So the date is wrong.



Today I made pasta salad for a potluck at church. The recipe is below. Unbelabley I did end up following the recipe as was.  (ok so it is my own recipe so maybe that's why I followed it.   Sorry no picture I forgot to take one before I left for the potluck and now it's gone. 

Seafood Salad

1 ½  pound shrimp, peel                                                                 

1 (16 ounces) package noodle shells (#27)

1 (12 ounces) package imitation crab meat, cubed

½ cup chives, finely chopped

1 cup mayonnaise (For some reason it sometimes need more than 1 cup)

1 cup frozen peas (optional)

black pepper to taste

Season shrimp and cook (without adding water) over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes.  Be careful not to over cook shrimp; drain and cool. Prepare noodles according to package directions; drain and rinse.  When shrimp and noodles are cooled combine all ingredients in a salad bowl; mix well.  Refrigerate and allow to chill thoroughly before serving.

You may wish to set a few shrimp aside in order to garnish

A stolen recipe with tweaks to make it my own

I stole the basic recipe from Allison at Broken Fortress.  She called it Hamburger Soup.  I call it quick veggie soup.  Below is her original recipe and my improvements and notes follow.  It's a super quick and easy soup.  The things that take the longest are coping the onion and garlic and in my version heating the frozen veggies and cooking the pasta. 

Original Recipe 
Ingredients:
1 Tbls Olive Oil
1/2 a med sized onion, chopped
2 Tbls minced garlic
1 lb ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup, plus 1 can water
2-14 oz. cans beef broth
1 small can of corn
1 cup cooked macaroni, wagon wheel, or small shell pasta

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion and garlic until the onions are just soft. Add ground beef, season with salt and cook until meat is longer pink.

Meanwhile, in a 5 quart soup pot, pour in beef broth, tomato soup and water. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer. In another pot, cook pasta to package directions.

When meat is cooked through, add to beef soup mixture. I highly recommend draining as much of the fat as possible. I didn't do such a good job and after storing in the fridge it all came to the top. So rinse your meat before adding or drain fat really well. Add corn and pasta and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

My Notes: 
We had this for dinner tonight. I made a few changes to the basic recipe. I cooked frozen mixed veggies on the side, boiled my pasta in my beef broth which gave it flavor. I strained the pasta allowing the person to put as much or as little pasta in their plate and makes it easier to keep leftovers.  This way the liquid in your soup isn't being absorbed by the pasta.   I also added fresh black pepper to taste. It was really good.  The Baron served himself twice. In the past I've used Progresso Fire Roasted tomatoes. I find it gives a more complex flavor to the soup than the condensed tomato soup does.  YUMMM!

Two weeks of Creations

I've been very crafty in the past two weeks.  I've been honing my sewing skills with making burp cloths and matching teething necklaces.  I am now moving on to making baby butt ruffles. 

My baby girl set

My first butt ruffles 

Burp cloths and teething necklace

Personalized gift 

I also made a really good chicken Marsala.  I didn't know how it would turn out so I didn't take pictures as I went and it was so good that I didn't take pictures before we ate.  All I can show you is my left over sauce. I quadrupled the sauce because last time I made it we ran out of sauce.  I am including the recipe. (just so you know I'm making more chicken tomorrow so we can have left overs. because it was SOOOO yummy. 

Ok so since my looks so icky there I'll steal some off of the Allrecipe.com site. It's from the same recipe I just added stuff as can be seen in my modification section. 

Chicken Marsala

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded 1/4 inch thick
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup Sweet Marsala wine (pick a good one not a cooking quality) 
• 1/4 cup cooking sherry (drinking quality) 

Directions

1. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown three minutes on one side and two on the other. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in wine and sherry. Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

My improvements 

-  Season chicken before putting in flour with black pepper (I used fresh ground), dash of ground red pepper, Italian seasoning, pinch of salt, dash of parsley.  Whatever you have left in the way of seasoning and be added to the above amounts in flour. 

- Take the chicken out after browning it and set aside so the breading doesn't get mushy.  (just make sure it's cooked through but if you pound it I promise it will be cooked) 

- At least triple the sauce if your having it over pasta.

-Thicken with corn starch water slurry if eating over pasta so it coats your noodles

- Add fat free half and half at the end (or regular if you don't mind the calories) 

- I put I can't believe it's not butter to add flavor at the end.  (use about a table spoon) 

If you make it let me know how yours turned out. 

Pepper Shrimp Alfredo

I made Pepper Shrimp Alfredo the other night. It was pretty good. As usual I made a few changes.

I put fat free half and half instead of cream.

I also used 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper because it was so hot.

I also added more mushrooms.

Pepper Shrimp Alfredo

Ingredients

• 12 ounces penne pasta
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, diced
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 (15 ounce) jar Alfredo sauce
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter together with the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic, red pepper, and mushroom; cook over medium-high heat until soft, about 2 minutes more.
3. Stir in the shrimp, and cook until firm and pink, then pour in Alfredo sauce, Romano cheese, and cream; bring to a simmer stirring constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir drained pasta into the sauce, and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Broiled Tilapia

Hello Readers,

I know I've been gone for a while but my parents came into town, we did some minor home improvements, did some major spring cleaning and then we had lots of company over. While my parents were here I made something new. It's pretty good. I discovered it's best if you use thin tilapia. I made it as directed but used I can't believe it's not butter and olive oil mayo. I liked it and thought I'd pass it on to all my readers.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

8 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
• 2 pounds tilapia fillets

Directions

1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Strawberries just like I promised

Ok so I promised if it was good I'd post my recipe for Strawberries 'n' cream Trifle. Well it was good so here you go.

_________________________________________________________________
Strawberries 'n' cream Trifle.

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 (1 ounce) package sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (8 ounce) container frozen reduced-fat frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (9 inch) prepared angel food cake
4 cups sliced fresh strawberries
3 whole fresh strawberries

Directions

In a bowl, whisk the milk and water. Whisk in the pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set; fold in the whipped topping. Cut cake into 1/2-in. cubes.
Spoon a third of the pudding mixture into a 4-qt. trifle or glass bowl. Top with half of the cake cubes and sliced strawberries. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining pudding mixture. Garnish with whole strawberries.
__________________________________________________________________


I made it just like it says except I made the pudding out of reduced fat milk instead of condensed milk because I didn't read the direction well and didn't understand that's what they meant when they said milk. Next time I will make it the right way and I'll add some bananas to it. I think you could make it with blueberries too. Everyone at the party loved it.

Curry Shrimp Recipe

Hello all,
I made this last night but didn't have time to post it. It was very good. I made it as posted. Next time I will put some celery in while I'm sauteing the onions. My husband really enjoyed it. In fact I had to make an extra cup of rice because he wanted more than I originally served him.

Curry Shrimp

Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of shrimp soup, undiluted
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 pound frozen uncooked small shrimp - thawed, peeled and deveined
1 cup sour cream
Hot cooked rice

Directions
1.In a large saucepan, saute onion in oil until tender. Stir in soup and curry powder; bring to a boil. Add the shrimp; cook and stir until shrimp turn pink. Reduce heat. Stir in sour cream; heat through. Serve over rice.

Greek Pizza (1st lenten meal I cook)

Surprise! Two posts in one day. Wow!

For lunch we had Greek Pizza. I actually made is as prescribed except I put some black olives in it too. It was really good. The Baron was upset when I only let him have three pieces. It was a nice start to no meat. I get the feeling it will make a few rotation in the 40 days. O I just realized I forgot to put the onion it it. Ops. It was great even without it.

Greek Pizza with Spinach, Feta and Olives

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese, divided
• 1 (12 inch) pre-baked Italian pizza crust
• 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon oil from the sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix mayonnaise, garlic and 1/2 cup feta in a small bowl. Place pizza crust on a cookie sheet; spread mayonnaise mixture over pizza, then top with tomatoes, olives and oregano. Bake until heated through and crisp, about 10 minutes.
2. Toss spinach and onion with the 1 Tb. sun-dried tomato oil. Top hot pizza with spinach mixture and remaining 1/2 cup feta cheese. Return to oven and bake until cheese melts, about 2 minutes longer. Cut into 6 slices and serve.

Another Heart Attack meal

(late edition)
Written Feb. 4th

I know it's Friday and I should be posting a Fish Friday recipe but today's Champagne Shrimp wasn't great. It was edible but was not worth the calorie count. So instead I'll write about last night's meal. Due to the weather, the Baron came home early from work. I decided to make an early dinner and to fancy it up a bit. We had Bow Ties with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream. I am including the recipe below. As usual I changed it up a bit.

Bow Ties with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream
Ingredients

* 1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/2 cup diced onion
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 (28 ounce) can Italian-style plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
* 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
2. Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage and pepper flakes until sausage is evenly brown. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, cream, and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir cooked pasta into sauce, and heat through. Sprinkle with parsley.



Changes:
1. Used Turkey Italian sausage instead of regular Italian sausage.
2. Used half fat free half and half and half heavy whipping cream.
3. used 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes but probably could have used it all.
4. Cut an entire onion and used it all
5. Used Italian seasoning, black pepper, salt, and garlic powder to taste.
6. Added 3 cups of mushrooms.
7. Cooked (in separate pan) 4 strips of bacon (I'd use more next time added a nice layer of flavor)
8. Sauteed the mushrooms in some of the bacon grease (I know I know terrible for you but O SO GOOD!)
7. Added some green onions at the end because I had them.
8. Cooked the pasta al dente then finished cooking it in the sauce.

Update:
We had left overs and ate them on Saturday. We almost fought over them it was so good. I'd say it was almost better on Sat. than when it was freshly cooked. This is going to be a redo. Next time I'll make it with fat free half and half to help with the calorie count (but I'm still adding the bacon. Think of it as a balancing system. hehe).

Passing it on Recipe

I've been reading A Broken Fortress lately. She is a much better recipe person than I am because she includes pictures. The recipe I'm sharing from her blog is Chicken with Broccoli Cheese Rice About a week ago The Baron and I had this for dinner. I really enjoyed it so I thought I'd pass it on to anyone who reads my blog. We are having it again tonight by the way. It's so easy and I have left over broccoli.

Chicken and Bowtie Pasta with Asiago Cream Sauce

Hello all you blog readers,
I made the best artery clogging terrible for you dinner last night but it was SOOOO GOOD. It was Chicken and Bowtie Pasta with Asiago Cream Sauce from the Allrecipes.com page. We decided to have Dayna and her family from "Trying to be the change I want to see.." over. We had green salad, croissants, the Chicken and Bowtie Pasta with Asiago Cream Sauce and Lucky Duck Cabernet Sauvignon. Chewbaby had pigs in a blanket and Maria cookies. Over all it was a good night with friends.

Some improvements to the Chicken and Bowtie Pasta with Asiago Cream Sauce were made.
(Made 10 servings instead of 6)
1. I added 3 slices of crumbled bacon.
2. I seasoned my chicken with Cajun seasoning, ground red and black pepper and some Accent.
3. I poured most of the bacon grease out and I cooked my chicken in what remained on the bottom. (I know terrible for you).
4. I used half whipping cream and half fat free half and half instead of all whipping cream.
5. I added finely chopped onions (about 1/4 cup), 3 cups of mushrooms ( we love mushrooms), and cooked it in 2 Tbs butter, 2 tbs olive oil and some of the bacon grease (I know your rolling your eyes but I don't mind. I started telling you it was SO bad for you.)
6. I only cooked one box of bowtie and it was enough.

I am kind of sad I didn't make more because I wouldn't mind having it for dinner tonight. Instead I'm going to make the semi-homemade pizza.

An Early Fish Friday Recipe

Today the Baron's car lost all of it's radiator coolant so I had to drop him off at work after lunch. The Baron and I went to mass after I picked him up from work and by the time we got home from Mass and Adoration it was getting a bit late. I wanted something quick and easy that was filling and warm because this southern girl thinks it's cold when it's in the mid to low 30s. I decided on Campbell's Brothy Shrimp and Rice Scampi. It is much more like a soup than shrimp scampi. It's very yummy on a cold night. Serve immediately. This is not something that you can let stand because the rice keeps absorbing the liquid and you end up with soggy rice and no broth. (A mistake I've made twice). Let me know if you make this and tell me what you thought of it. To make it easier on some of you who can't figure out how to use the hyperlink I'll include the recipe below. The recipe claims that it serves 4 but I know it fills up 2 adults very well.

Campbell's Brothy Shrimp and Rice Scampi

3 1/2 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth or Swanson® Chicken Stock

3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound fresh or frozen large shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 medium green onions, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)

• Heat the broth in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat to a boil . Stir in the rice. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender.
• Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and garlic. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through.
• Divide the shrimp among 3 serving bowls. Stir the lemon juice into the saucepan. Pour the rice mixture over the shrimp. Top with the onions.

As usually I have a few improvements.
1. Season the shrimp with Accent (MSG) and/or Cajun seasoning.
2. I tend to leave out the lemon.
3. I also tend to but a bit more chicken broth to extend the soup.

America: Crumbling Nation

"As I have often said, moral standards are the measure of society. Every great nation and every great empire in history had a moral falling away before they eventually collapsed.” Robert Walter's words are very disheartening, for we as a nation have seen the values we hold dear fall by the wayside. Cheating and lying run rampant in schools, while sex and violence are found not only in the slums but also in our own homes via television. How can we as a society stand around and watch our great America crumble before our very eyes? On September 12, 2001, we stood up to the terrorists, saying that we were Americans and would not be dispirited. At the same time, we were allowing our great country to fall into ruins by permitting immorality to surround us. America is a society with deteriorating values. This decline is shown by our lack of honesty and integrity, our allowance of the media to justify immorality, and our disrespect of ourselves and others.

Honesty and integrity are two of the qualities upon which this great nation was built, yet today we do not seem to find them very important. Cheating has always been a problem, but these days it is an everyday occurrence. Everyone from elementary children to CEOs of companies are doing it. According to Joseph's Institute of Ethics, 71% of all high school students have admitted that they cheated in an exam at least once. Jane Esiner reports that when students were asked if they would report another student for cheating, 93% said they would not. These traits lead to trouble not only in schools but also in the work place. Corporate CEOs are cheating both their companies and their investors out of money under the pretense of “compensation packages." As if that is not bad enough, our former President was allowed to remain in office even after he was impeached. Have we sunk so deep that we do not demand more of our Presidents?

The American public may be dismissing these [unethical] behaviors as commonplace because they are. Betty Wein said “I think Americans are insidiously being desensitized to decadence, to violence, and to barbarism." This desensitization may be a result of the messages that the media is sending out. For example, soap operas have made sleeping around and divorcing look easy.] According to The Catholic Weekly, “We have come to know that ‘I do’ professed at a soap opera wedding really means, ‘I do, until someone better comes along’” The music we listen to is also full of immoral messages. According to Billboard Magazine, "Popular music is a vehicle for racism, sexual hatred and the encouragement of sociopathic violence. Whenever a culture condones or accepts such practices because of their lucrative aspects, or pretends they are to be isolated or ignored, then the inherent falsehoods can flourish, infecting and despoiling the social contract itself."

Another problem we are facing is our lack of respect. People today do not seem to respect anything. Women today do not even respect themselves. Brown University's Children and Adolescent Behavior Letter states, "At one time, exposed midriffs and bare backs, shoulders, arms and legs were found mainly at the nearest beach or poolside. Today, however, this mode of dress--or undress-- appears regularly at public middle and high schools across the country." This may be one of the causes for the rise in premarital sex. According to several surveys, as many as half the teens age thirteen through nineteen are saying they have had oral sex and nearly one-tenth are reporting they lost their virginity before the age of 13. Even more alarming is the rise in pornography profits. According to the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography in its 1996 report, peep shows are the biggest moneymaking portion of the porn industry, with annual national net profits projected at $2,000,000,000. Porn is a very lucrative business. In fact, Ginger , a former peep show entertainer, put herself through New York University performing in the peeps and maintains that the shows are innocuous fun. "It's a safe, harmless way to have some erotica in one's life. It is certainly victimless and should be accepted in society." Eve (a peep show performer) states, “It's a job just like any other job. You're going to make money. You're going to do things that are going to give you nightmares, but you deal with it. You count your money and you don't think about it." How can women think so little of themselves that they are willing to put themselves *[their bodies] on display for money?

Our society is descending immorality at an alarming rate. If something is not done soon, we, like many of the great empires before us, shall crumble, only to be read about in history books. If American society is to continue to thrive and flourish, we must find ways to reestablish the values we have lost. Honesty and integrity must become our common goal if our nation is to survive. Americans must demand moral programs and music from the media, and we must learn to respect ourselves as wonderful creatures. With these and admirable values, America can return to being the great nation it can be.

Semi- Homemade pizza

So tonight was pizza night. When I asked the Baron what he wanted for dinner he said... Pizza sounds good. So pizza it was. I'm going to let all of you know about my little pizza secret. Buy Red Baron pizza on sale (2.99 or less) and them help it along. Not really sure how much the pizza ends up costing because most of the time I tend to have the ingredients on hand. But I'm pretty sure it's less than the $26.00 that the chain stores want for it and mine has a lot more toppings. Mine looks more like deep dish. I usually start off with a layer of pepperoni, then cheep pre-packaged deli ham cut into triangles, then olives, bell pepper, and mushrooms, another layer of pepperonis and ham then cheese. Put it in the oven for about 25 min or until the cheese is starting to turn golden. I tend to use my pizza stone because I find it adsorbs some of the water and helps to keep the crust more crispy. After it's done I put caramelized onions on it. I caramelize my onions in the microwave with a garlic roaster.

Tonight I had some ingredients I don't usually put on my pizza but they needed to be used so I took the leap of faith and just did it. Added to the above ingredient I added 3 strips of bacon I forgot in the fridge from who knows when that was turning brown. I cut it up and cooked it before putting it on the pizza. (I wanted to taste it to make sure it wasn't bad before I put it on the pizza). I also had some sun-dried tomatoes and the Kalamata olives from yesterday talpia. I was very impressed. I think everyone was happy and we still have 3 slices of pizza left for tomorrow or a late night snack. Now you know how to make The Baroness's whatever's in the fridge pizza.

Another Fish Friday

I know it's Saturday but I meant to post this yesterday. This Friday's meat free meal is Mediterranean Tilapia. I found it allrecipes.com I will admit it's not the best fish dish I've ever had but it's a nice light dish. I think it would be great to pair with a nice Italian noodle salad, maybe a nice Greek salad and a glass of white wine.

Improvements I would make.
Lightly season talipa with salt and pepper. (it was a bit bland)
I left out the cloves because I don't think I like the flavor.
Make more topping than recipe. I'd all more sun-dried tomatoes.

Veggie Chicken soup recipe

Thank you Betty Crocker for a great quick and easy recipe. I made Betty Crocker's Healthy French Peasant Chicken Stew last night for dinner. It was great. The baron even commented on how flavorful it was. I made a few improvements (really it was a mistake/ accident but we'll call it an improvement). 1st I bought a 3 lb chicken this gave me more meat then I needed but I put it all in. I'd recommend it for a larger family but I'd also tweak the recipe to incorporate that much chicken. I also put a bit more chicken broth than required because the can holds 2 cups and I didn't want 1/4 th of a cup of broth sitting in the fridge. I put 2 times the amount of mushrooms and sliced them large because we love mushrooms. It could have used more potatoes. I'll know for next time. We ate it for dinner last night, had lunch this afternoon and I'm thinking we might have it again for dinner tonight so we can finish it off. Over all it's a great cold night dinner. I think it even works well for those newly solid finger food eaters because you can take out the carrots cut them up into small pieces, feed them the peas, and cut up the chicken. I paired it with some jalapeno cheese loaf and it was delicious. I think it would go nicely with some warm Italian bread sticks and a salad. A wonderful soup salad and bread sticks dinner night. Curl up after and watch a good black and white classic movie and the night would be complete.