Forgive Me, This is Cheesey!

Hi friends!

I'm so very sorry that I've been so remiss in publishing. It's not to say I haven't been cooking, though that has come second to moving, finals and sleep. Sorry!!
Now with finals over, its time to get back to business.
I've been on a cheese kick of late, however, so I've got a few gems ready and rarin' for me to post.

First up. Chorizo and Sweet Potato Enchiladas!

It's about time I cooked again...

I could watch the Food Network all day.  Sometimes, I do! But for some reason, I'm not inspired by many of the things they are cooking. Maybe it's my picky eating tendency, but a lot of the recipes they show are just are not appealing to me. They may look nice, but that's not what I want to eat!

That said, if there's one Food Network chef I can rely on to make something I want to eat, it's definitely Giada De Laurentiis. Maybe the title of one of her shows, Everyday Italian, shows some of our shared interests, but the food Giada makes almost always looks and sounds delicious to me. Not to mention that she, herself, is also easy on the eyes! The last episode I saw she cooked a white bean and chicken chili and for dessert a lemoncello granita, both of which were practically making me drool.

So my desire to make this recipe coincided perfectly with my new effort to have meals in mind before I go grocery shopping.  Pretty logical, right? Well, this is a novel idea for me. So I went to the grocery store this morning and got everything I needed for Giada's White Bean and Chicken Chili and a side of rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes.  The chili was exactly what I was looking for. Even though it's a little healthier than regular chili, it still packs that warmth and heartiness you expect from chili.  The potatoes were a great addition for a truly hearty, comforting meal. Don't forget the bread to soak up the chili!  Recipes after the jump.

Cheese Cheese Cheesey Cheese

So I'm only a few posts in, and I've already put my love (obsession?) for Italian food on display.  Pasta? Delicious.  Italian sausage? Maybe my favorite protein choice.  However, I have been faced with a problem lately.  I can't seem to find a pasta sauce that I like.

Even if the rest of the meal is perfect, a so-so sauce can completely ruin the meal. I've tried a bunch of different brands, different flavors, but I still haven't found a really good pasta sauce.  I could make my own sauce, but that tends to take a long time.  When I get home after work, I'm hungry! I don't want to wait for a sauce to develop flavor.  So the solution is... compromise.  I found a pasta bake that looks delicious and starts off with a regular pasta sauce with a few added ingredients to spice it up a little bit.  So I gave it a try.

I'm amazed how adding a few ingredients can make a sauce taste so much better! The recipe I found adds Neufchatel to the sauce, which gives it a nice creamy flavor and texture. The original recipe calls for chicken, but I subbed Italian sausage because, as I mentioned earlier, it is probably my favorite type of meat.  Delicious.  With three different types of cheeses, this hearty pasta bake is the perfect dinner after a hard day at work (and then again the next day for lunch!).  Definitely making this again!  Recipe after the jump.

Surprise!

Today we had a going away party for one of my good friends at work, Sunny.  Unfortunately for us, she's moving across the country to our Seattle office.  It's kind of weird because we won't really see her anymore, but she'll still be working in our department.  I had a meeting during her going away party and couldn't go. What poor meeting scheduling!

So in my stead, I made cupcakes for the party! I decided to bake them kind of last minute, so I went with a box cake mix.  To make it a little more special, I decided to fill each cupcake with a delicious marshmallow creme filling! Then, I made a chocolate glaze to cover up the top and hide the filling.  This is a great way to spice up a basic box cake and make something delicious!  Recipe after the jump.

Filled with creme prior to frosting.

Chocolate Chubbies!

Last week, I was hankering for something chocolatey, and was willing to put in some extra effort for it to taste really, really good. Naturally that took me to Food Gawker and I typed in a couple of search terms that I had been keeping in the arsenal for a while.

Brownie + Cookie

The antithesis of a Blondie, I wanted brownie-taste in cookie form.

Oh and how these Chocolate Chubbies delivered.