day 34 (part I) = jazz up your leftover papa john's pizza

sarah:
on sunday, charley and i woke-up and both hit our computers to watch intensely as our fantasy football players racked-up "points." if you are unfamiliar with fantasy football, you probably have 3 more years left on your life. check it out here if you are interested, but it's probably best if you don't get too attached...

anyway, we were lazy, and ordered Papa John's pizza. we got "the works", but it wasn't as good as i remembered. i made sure charley ordered the side of garlic sauce (yummy) and hot peppers. so tonight i wanted to finish up the leftovers, but really wasn't looking forward to it. then it came to me, jazz it up! here's what i did:

- put the pizza slices on a plate
- drizzle remaining garlic sauce overtop
- add cauliflower from day 33
- put it in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds on 50% power
- add the remaining hot peppers
- chow down!

(you'll notice the picture has a bite out of it and that's because i really wasn't intending to blog on this, but it tasted so good i couldn't resist).

jazz up your leftover pizza with any fridge leftovers and let me know how it goes. can't hurt!

enjoy!

day 25 = sleepy salmon part II

sarah:
costco salmon is our go-to favorite. charley made this the other day --- soooo simple and so delicious. here's what he did:

- preheat oven to 400 degrees
- put foil on a cookie sheet
- place salmon in the center
- sprinkle with: garlic powder, chipotle powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes
- place mini red, yellow, and orange peppers (from costco) around salmon
- cook for 15 mins

we buy all our spices now from penzy's. i highly recommend!

charley:
i begin to wonder who is the better cook between the two of us because this came out awesome! (all kidding aside, sarah is the better cook), but this was excellent.  the heat and texture of the fish was wonderful.  the peppers just add to the flavor and are a must have for this dish!

if you want to check out sleepy salmon part I, see day 3...

enjoy!

day 21 = is it steak or is it salad?

sarah:
i haven't had the energy to melt the chocolate and finish up the boston creme pie cupcakes, so we've just been eating up what's in the fridge. i ran out of my favorite dressing, so i needed to come up with something to put on my salad. i tried this odd combination and surprisingly it tasted like eating a steak (well... not exactly, but close). i think this is a keeper recipe if you want to have a steak flavored salad. i'll see if charley will try this tonight so he can rate it, but i wouldn't hold your breath because it's not ranch!


in a small dish combine:

• a french vinegarette dressing (bottled or your own)
• a few drops A1 sauce
• a few drops worcestershire sauce
• a sprinkle of curry powder
• a sprinkle of salt
• a sprinkle of pepper
• a sprinkle of oregano

enjoy!

day 15 = laundry detergent for "no cheese, no nuts"

i've always been a bit of an allergic kid. i am extremely allergic to nuts and dairy (every restaurant i go to I ask for "no cheese, no nuts") and i've always had trouble with perfumes. lately, i've tried almost every laundry detergent on the market and always seem to wind-up "itching" by the end of the day. so, i did some research and learned it's much better to make your own.

now, i have to admit, i did have another motive. making your own laundry detergent costs all of $8.77 for the ingredients and you probably get 3 years worth of detergent! here's what you need to do:

step 1: buy all the ingredients

• borax (laundry detergent aisle)
• washing soda (laundry detergent aisle)
• ivory soap (soap aisle -- comes in pack of 3)

step 2: make a batch

• measure: 1 cup borax & 1 cup washing soda
• grate: 1 bar of ivory soap on the smallest holes

step 3: mix together, put in your favorite container, and you are all set!

• use 1 tbsp for a light load or 2 tbsp for a heavy load

that's it! we've been using it now for a few months and it works great. well, i can't really comment because charley does the laundry, but he tells me it works great! please let me know what you think :)

enjoy!



day 13 = 5 minute crab legs

this is all it takes:

1) set your oven to broil

2) put crab legs on a broiler pan. broil 2-3 mins 

3) mix together dressing (in place of butter) for your crab

4) eat!

sarah:
i spent too much money, but it was good! we went to costco to pick up more chicken wings that were on coupon (why not save $4), and i got an itchin' for crab legs. as i recall they used to be $10 a pound, but it must be double that now. you can imagine my shock then when i got 1 1/2 pounds for us for dinner and it cost $29!! oh well, charley, i hope you enjoyed it because i won't spend that again :)

this is quite possibly the easiest meal you'll make. when costco has their fresh fishmonger, grab 1-2 legs per person (i bought 3 today for the 2 of us). they are precooked so you just turn your oven to broil and put them in there for 2-3 mins. that's it!

while they were in the oven, i mixed together equal parts olive oil and red wine vinegar and added a few pinches of each of the spices above. this made for a great dipping sauce and i also added it to my salad. the entire meal took all of 5 mins from refrigerator to stomach!

**i got a tip today on how to freeze fish and have it still taste fresh. before you put it in the freezer, stick it in a ziploc bag and add just enough water to cover the fish. when you defrost you won't have any freezer burn and it will retain it's texture. i haven't tried this yet so if you do, please let me know how it works!

charley:
it is Friday, end of the week, and we typically try to do something nice.  i suggested sushi, but sarah wanted to stop at costco and pick up a few things that were on sale.  needless to say we made it to costco and sarah saw the fish stand and made the executive decision for crab legs.  she didn't get any argument out of me as we have been working to clear out the remaining food in the fridge so a light dinner wouldn't be bad.  i think i added the kitchen sink to my salad along with the crab legs, but in the end the crab legs were the star.  being easy to heat up they were a pain to crack open.  the legs from costco actually had a good deal of meat on them so it made it worth it.  sarah likes to dip hers in sauce where i like mine straight up.  tasty tasty!!!

enjoy!

day 4 = oreo bliss

alright... time to change it up a little. since tonight's was soooo good, i'm going to put my comments in and then charley is going let you know what he thought of the food. here it goes...

sarah:
you've got to try this one! i got the recipe from a co-worker today and stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up the ingredients. it cost a total of $11.97, but i have an extra bag of chocolate chips (about $3) leftover that i never used. not bad, but you could do better if you hone in on some extreme couponing techniques.

anyway, these really are great. all you do is take a 16.6oz package of oreo cookies (i used reduced fat) and crush them up in a food processor until fine. add an 8oz bar of cream cheese (i used 1/3 less fat) and process until smooth. roll into balls and stick in the freezer to harden. you'll get about 30 pieces.

about 30 mins later, melt one 11.5oz pkg of milk chocolate chips in a microwave bowl on 50% power for 1 min stopping after 30 seconds to stir. after the 1 min is up, stir for a little. put back in microwave for another 15 seconds and stir. if it needs more time, put it in for another 10 seconds and stir again. repeat if needed, but you should still have some chips that have not fully melted. you want this so your last few stirs melt them together (this ensures you have smooth and not clumpy chocolate).

take the balls out of the freezer and use a toothpick or skewer to dip each ball into the chocolate. i dipped them most the way, but you can roll them around so they are completely covered (this may require another bag of chocolate to melt so you may want to buy 2 just in case). after i dipped all of them, i went back over the tops and spread a little chocolate in the space that was open and topped with M&M's and chocolate chips. freeze about 20 mins till firm. this is great because you can do all chocolate or experiment with any topping you like!! 

charley:
Sarah has now asked me to type up my thoughts on each of these meals and I believe this is the start of me getting really fat!!!!  I thought that I wasn't supposed to get fat until we were married, but it seems she wants to start early.  I must say this is the second dessert she has made this week (and for those who know me, that is my weakness, huge sweet tooth).  Both of these desserts, brownies and oreo bliss, will need to make their way to Sarah's office because I will sit down and eat them all in one sitting.  Very tasty and when she first handed me one I didn't know what to expect, but they are deceptively excellent.  Highly recommended and I have requested they be added to the list for her second cookbook!!!

enjoy!

day 3 = sleepy salmon

tonight i'm on my own. charley is out to dinner so i decided to put one of my favorite quick and easy meals together. i had salmon in the fridge from our Costco trip and leftover sauce and spice rub from last night's meal (see day 2 post). this is great! you can probably get 2 nights of chicken and 2 nights of salmon rub out of the recipe.

if you need to make a meal that takes little effort, turn your oven to 450 when you get home for the night and go change into "comfy clothes". pull some salmon out of the fridge, place it on a foil lined baking sheet, drizzle some Black Pepper Vinegar Sauce over the top, sprinkle with Sixteen-Spice-Rub, and stick in the oven for 14 minutes. THAT'S IT! it was excellent and a great way to use the leftovers!

i make this recipe all the time with just olive oil and any combination of spices so don't be intimidated by the spice rub recipe :)

here's a link for the sauce and spice rub: vinegar sauce and spice rub.

oh... i added some greek chicken pasta salad i made over the weekend. it's just rotissarie chicken, pasta, feta cheese, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and greek dressing. another simple, but spectacular dish charley has now been able to eat for lunch!

enjoy!