The Boys are Back in Town!

Well ... not ALL the boys yet, but MY boy - my husband - is finally back home from an almost year long deployment! Oh happy day! It is so wonderful to have him home again. Everything is so much more fun. Having coffee on our front porch in the morning, getting coffee at Starbucks, running errands. We've been taking full advantage of just being together, and just doing husband wife stuff.




And I'm back to cooking again! I do love to cook, I just didn't do much of it just for me. It's not as much fun. I do want to share a few of the things I've cooked up so far though.

His folks came to help welcome him home, and they brought all sorts of fresh home-grown goodies. Not home-grown from their yard, but their local farmer's market. Included in the goodies were two butternut squash. So, I looked up a few ways how to prepare it and found up a Butternut Squash Lasagna recipe on food.com courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis. I made a few healthy substitutes and followed a few of the reviewer's tips. Instead of amaretti cookies I used breadcrumbs and I also added a layer of ricotta cheese with spinach. I must say it turned out pretty delish!
However, where it says 30 min prep time, IT'S A LIE!!!! I know I'm still an intermediate beginner cook, but it took me about 30 min alone to just peel, seed and cut the squash. They definitely did not included that in their prep time.
It was a good amount of work, but yummy, and the left overs are just as good. I did end up freezing almost half of it, but apparently it freezes well too!


*Photo courtesy of minimallyinvasivenj

Onto the dish I cooked last night. Red Pepper Risotto from the Pioneer Woman. This too was DELICIOUS! I made it as a side dish to chicken, cooked on the stove top in olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. I cooked it in the same pan I had sauteed the onions in for the risotto and this is one of the first times I didn't over cook the chicken. I read a tip to not move around or flip the chicken very often. Leave it alone as long as you can and just let it cook. Also, don't cover it. Even though covering the chicken allows it to cook faster, it looses some of the flavor. Finally, I followed directions and didn't over cook it! Okay, here's a very important note. Make sure you read the serving size when making a recipe. I did not do this. As I'm cooking up the risotto - you know how this rice just continues to grow as it cook - I realized it was making a TON! Apparently I failed to see it was enough for 8 servings! Yikes! Well, at least it's good leftover!


*Photo courtesy of Ree Drummond


Now I have some eggplant to cook up. I've made eggplant parmesan before, and although it's YUMMY, I want to try something different. Maybe I'll pick up some fresh sourdough bread and have roasted eggplant sandwiches. Or maybe try this Eggplant Ravioli Recipe? Any other suggestions?

I'm linking up with the always fabulous Amanda from Serenity Now! Stop by to say hello and see what else is happening outside of Bloggy Land!