Happy Easter!

Here's a picture of Sawyer when he was a little over 6 months old cuddled up next to his favorite bunny toy (one of the few stuffed toys he hasn't ripped to shreds and decorated my house with the cotton).

I hope you all enjoy this time with your families and make some delicious food together! If you have leftover ham, you might want to try this delicious Ham, Bean, & Spinach Soup recipe to warm you up on those chilly spring evenings.

Organic or not?

I always try to buy local & organic when I can. However, as anyone who subscribes to this same philosophy knows, buying organic can break the grocery budget. I have come across several articles in the past recommending which foods you really should buy organic and which food's you don't necessarily need to buy organic. For anyone trying to eat healthy on a budget, I find this a necessity in deciding on which fruits and veggies to "splurge".

I recently discovered the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15" via pinterest (my love). These two lists are compiled from Department of Agriculture data on residual pesticides on fruits and veggies. The dirty dozen represents 12 fruits and veggies you should buy organic (because they have highest rates residual pesticides) and 15 fruits and veggies that tend to be least contaminated with pesticides (and you might not necessarily need to buy organic).

So here is the list to answer the question I have often asked myself "What should I be buying organic in the produce section?"

SOURCE: Environmental Working Group

                              DIRTY DOZEN                              

1. Apples

2. Celery

3. Strawberries

4. Peaches

5. Spinach

6. Nectarines (imported)

7. Grapes (imported)

8. Sweet bell peppers

9. Potatoes

10. Blueberries (domestic)

11. Lettuce

12. Kale/collard greens

                                  CLEAN 15                                  

1. Onions

2. Sweet corn

3. Pineapples

4. Avocado

5. Asparagus

6. Sweet peas

7. Mangoes

8. Eggplants

9. Cantaloupe (domestic)

10. Kiwi

11. Cabbage

12. Watermelon

13. Sweet potatoes

14. Grapefruit

15. Mushrooms

Very Berry Sangria and a birthday

We had some friends over this past weekend, and I always take this as an opportunity to make a big pitcher of Sangria to sip & enjoy. Since it is the spring time and the berries are usually on sale at the grocery store this time of year, we made a very berry Sangria using four kinds of berries!  I wasn't head over heels for  this batch that I made, but then I remembered my mother's recipe where she uses blackberry brandy. Remember - drink responsibly!

Apologies for my lower quality IPhone picture

I also celebrated my 24th birthday yesterday! Which seems a bit meaningless in the scheme of birthday milestones, but I had a very nice day --- the husband made me pancakes for breakfast, had some physical therapy on my wrists, and a hike in the woods with our pup Sawyer (pictured below). 

The car gives him some funny hair do's

Mmm, pancakes

Home-Brewed Iced Tea

I am a northerner. My husband, on the other hand, is also a northerner but with a serious sweet tooth. He loves Southern sweet tea. I order unsweetened tea when we're out and add nothing to it. I tried to find a happy medium between our tastes (but he still complains it's not sweet enough). Nothing is quite refreshing as a cold glass of iced tea on a warm day in the spring or summer.
(Recipe makes 1 gallon)

What you need
10 tea bags
3 quarts water
+ 1 quart ice cold water
1-1/2 cups cane sugar
1 lemon sliced

What you do
1. Boil 3 quarts of water. Once boiling, remove from heat, place on hot pad, and allow tea bags to steep for 10 minutes
2. Once done steeping, remove tea bags and add sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved and then allow to sit and cool for another 10 minutes.
2. Fill 1 gallon pitcher with 1 quart total of ice cubes & water. Place lemon slices on top. Pour hot tea into pitcher and stir to combine.
3. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Spring is here! (and where I've been hiding)

2011 was a busy year for us. In the beginning of the year, I started this blog and remained faithful to it for 8 months until August came and we bought a house, a puppy, and a lot of responsibilities. Oh, and did I mention I also decided to go back to school for my masters degree a midst all the chaos? I haven't been able to commit as much time as I'd like to cooking, recipe searching, and typing blog entries. Instead, there's been a lot of painting and DIY projects around the house to bring our 100 year old home to the 21st century. Also, there's been a lot of playing with a very hyper German Wirehair Pointer named Sawyer, taking him to the vet (since he decided to break his leg at 13 weeks old and several other miniature disasters since with this clumsy little pup), taking him on lots of long walks, and going on puppy play dates and to obedience classes. I never knew owning a pet was so time and energy consuming.

Then, in February 2012, I broke both wrists snowboarding. Yes, both. Endured splints up past my elbows for two weeks, then surgery on one wrists and a cast on the other, and now physical therapy. I miss blogging, and I look forward to starting back up again. However, it is like having a second job to make it entirely about cooking and recipes. It's much more realistic for me to post a recipe once a week and include more personal posts - whether it be chronicling the triumphs, hazards, and mishaps of raising an energetic puppy or projects around our 100 year-old house that results in finds such as pea green painted hardwood floors under our carpeting. So until I get back into the swing of things here, I am going to think of a new blog title and will post a link to forward you there. Any suggestions for titles appreciated!

Beer 'n' Cheese Mac

I was so distraught over how to name this recipe, combining beer, cheese, caramelized onions, bacon. Beer Mac 'n' Cheese... Mac 'n' Beer Cheese ... Mac 'n' Cheese with Beer 'n' Bacon, Beer-Cheezy Mac (yeah, with a z)... so that's the ever-so (not) creative title I have. Beer, bacon, cheese, caramelized onion, awesomeness... can you dig it?

This recipe is a great example of accidental ingenuity. I often start out with one idea in my head that turns into something completely else once I start cooking (and realize I don't have half the ingredients I need in the house), or I will have no idea what I want to make and just start looking for food that needs to be used up in the kitchen. I was going to make mac 'n' cheese... but then that ever so important ingredient just happened to be missing, MILK. So beer and flour it was. It's days like these I wonder if I could be on top chef or chopped one day... and then I come back to reality (and realize I took an hour to make everything and the timer would've run out light-years ago... not to mention I'm not the first person to ever make this food).

A natural pairing for this recipe is whatever beer you cooked with. I used a run-of-the-mill light beer because it's what I had on hand, but lager would probably be best to cook and drink. But if you must pop the cork, opt for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

Puppy, Rain, & Baked Potato Soup

Where have I been this past month or so? Well, Mr. B. and I have had a busy end of summer/start of fall. We bought and moved into our first home (yaayyy but so stressful!), I started grad school (yay, but so stressful...), and we became the parents of a handsome German Wirehair Pointer named Sawyer.

Yeah, he's pretty much the cutest, craziest thing ever.

And then, just when we thought we were getting the routine down... Sawyer hurt his leg on one sunny Saturday morning at obedience class. Now, we have a 14-week old puppy who would love nothing more but to run, run, run, and run some more but should be resting & healing (which he only did for the first few days... then went back to running, splint & all). 

So this is our cute puppy, down for a nap, with his new blue cast :(

Mommy (as I now refer to myself in the third person...) gets to come home from being orthopedic nurse at hospital all day to orthopedic nurse at home for a stubborn puppy. Moreover, his splint must stay dry and it's pretty much done nothing but rain for the last two months.

And again, it's raining outside. No suprise. Hurricane season is no fun for anyone... and it's a shame because September is one of my favorite months here in the Northeast; sun-soaked days in the 70s, flip flops and jeans. My September was held hostage by rain, and now it's October. Perfect weather at night to sit around the fire with friends.

So to comfort myself in this mopey weather, I've made a baked potato soup will all the fixin's. This recipe yields A LOT so cut down if you don't want to be eating this for days. Pair your bowl of yummy baked potato soup with a Chablis or Sauvignon Blanc.