Tasty Tuesday Olive Caper Vodka Pasta!

Looking for a single-serving meal that's quick and easy and incredibly good? Ever wonder what you could do with those amazing spicy olive medleys on your supermarket's olive bar? Next time you're at the grocery, get some of those olives, along with a jar of capers, a box of penne pasta, and a jar of vodka pasta sauce. You won't be sorry. I had to search Google images for a picture of something similar because by the time I'd eaten a few bites and decided this would be a great Tuesday recipe, I didn't want to stop and get my camera.
Yeah. It was that good.

Olive Caper Vodka Pasta

Ingredients
1 cup (dry) penne pasta, cooked and drained
Olive oil (If you have any flavored oils--garlic or Tuscan, etc--now's the time to use them)
1/4 cup assorted sliced olives
1 tbsp capers
1/2 cup vodka pasta sauce (I used Gia Russa's Alla Vodka)
Parmesan cheese
Black pepper

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions while you're slicing (and pitting, if necessary) the olives. Drain the pasta and set aside. Add the olives and capers to the empty saucepan along with a drizzle of olive oil and cook until they're sizzling nicely. Add the sauce and cook until heated through. Add the drained pasta and stir. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and Parmesan cheese, serve and enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday Rich and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup!

I got this recipe from my pal Kendra Leigh Castle a while back, and since I have lots of basil coming up and will be setting out my tomato plants soon, I figure I ought to keep it handy!

RICH AND CREAMY TOMATO BASIL SOUP

Awesome for lunch with grilled cheese!

Ingredients

4 tomatoes peeled, seeded and sliced OR 2 cans diced tomato (um, I always use canned)
4 cups tomato juice
14 leaves fresh basil (I have done this with dried as well, just depends what's on hand)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Place tomatoes and juice in stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves and return to the stock pot (I do this in batches with a ladle, a blender, and a big bowl, which I empty back into the pot at the end).
2. Place the pot over medium heat and stir in the heavy cream and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. Do not boil.

Tasty Tuesday Ice Cream Bread!

It was kinda rainy in Myrtle Beach yesterday, so we went to the mall and then to Crabby Mike's for dinner. As a result, I didn't take many pictures.

Just the rain...

And Sam and the dinosaurs. 

 

Hoping for better weather tomorrow!

A friend sent me this recipe, and I can't wait to get home and try it. Can you imagine making it with Rocky Road?????

ICE CREAM BREAD 

Makes One 8 x 4 loaf

Ingredients
2 Cups Ice Cream, any flavor, softened
1 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray and flour a 8 x 4 loaf pan, or line it with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl mix the ice cream and flour together until just combined.
Scoop into the loaf and smooth out.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the loaf comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it.
Remove from the pan and allow to cool.
For best results..use full fat ice-cream!

For those that are scratching their heads wondering how this could work - let’s consider that most ice cream is made of eggs and fat/dairy. Toss in some self-rising flour and you have some basic ingredients for a bake-capable product. Just choose the flavoring of ice cream that seems promising and have a fun weekend of experimentation.

Oh, one more thing...others asked about the self-rising flour (or if they didn’t have it, could they simply use regular flour). You must - MUST have a rising agent in the flour. Self-rising flour is an easy solution (and commonly available). However, if you don’t have self-rising flour accessible, you can make it very simply:
For every cup of flour add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt (sift together).

There you go, now you have self-rising flour!

Tasty Tuesday No Bake YUMMY Strawberry Cheesecake!

This looks easy enough that I could have made it yesterday. That is, if I'd bought the ingredients...

No Bake YUMMY Strawberry Cheesecake!

Ingredients
1 Keebler Graham Cracker Crust
1 (8oz) tub Cool Whip
1 (8oz)  pkg Philadelphia cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
For topping:
1 pt. fresh strawberries
OR
1 can premade strawberry topping (Comstock brand)
Directions
Mix softened cream cheese and sugar in medium bowl until fluffy.
Fold in Cool Whip.
Pour into crust and garnish with fresh strawberries or strawberry topping. Refridgerate for 1 hour until firm.

Thanks for the recipe, Donna! Looks fabulous!

Tasty Tuesday Tuscan Shrimp!

I was going to post this recipe last Tuesday, but at midnight on Monday, it was only an idea in my head. Now, it's a reality, so here it is. I've been trying to watch the fat, so I cooked this in broth rather than sauteing everything in olive oil, figuring there was enough oil in the olives and pesto to make up for it. The butter was mostly for flavor.

Tuscan Shrimp

Ingredients
12 oz medium tail-off shrimp
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
Broccoli flowerettes (about 1 cup or the tops of one stalk)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tbsp basil pesto
1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives (I used a spicy olive medley from the olive bar at the grocery)
1 tbsp chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped roasted bell pepper
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper 
Pasta of choice (I used angel hair) cooked and drained
Shredded Parmesan.


Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat the broth in a skillet and add the butter, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, roasted peppers, tomatoes, and olives. Cook until onions are translucent. Add the shrimp, wine, and pesto and cook until shrimp is pink. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooked, drained pasta and toss to mix. Top with Parmesan cheese.
Makes 2-3 servings depending on how hungry you are. If you use the spicy olives like I did, this dish packs some serious heat!

What's in a name?

By now I hope you've all heard that Unbridled is now live on Nook and Kindle. It's still processing on Kobo, and I may republish it because of formatting issues. The Smashwords edition was a real pain to format, so those versions may be a bit longer in coming. I hope to have book 2, Uninhibited, ready to go next month.

Indie publishing is risky, but Sourcebooks has struck again. I received word yesterday that they're retitling Rascal as Renegade (which, as you may recall was the original title of Virgin) and have set a publishing date of July 2014. I'm not happy about either of those things, but since they've ignored every other issue I've had, I'm sure they'll ignore me on this one, too.

Happy Hump Day!

Tasty Tuesday Shoyou Chicken!

I think I'm out of recipe ideas, so I must dip into my files for one that Donna sent me a while back. Haven't tried it out yet, but it looks quite tasty! I didn't even fix dinner last night. We had Chinese takeout--per Sam's request as opposed to because I didn't have time to cook.

Well... maybe I didn't have time. I've been working on getting Unbridled published and getting fallen limbs out of the yard and getting the weed trimmer started (Budley did it with 3 pulls. Grrr...) and then he had to start the chainsaw for me and get it out of its chain break mode so I could cut the dead limbs out of the trees--at least the ones I could reach. But the lawn mower started right up, thanks to its new battery, and the yard is starting to look decent again. Ah, the joys of spring...

Take it away, Donna! 

"Shoyou Chicken is  Hawaii's answer to Teriyaki Chicken. Chicken thigh meat is marinated in a sweet spicy soy sauce marinade, then grilled and served with rice.

SHOYOU CHICKEN(12 servings)

Ingredients

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika (optional)
• 5 pounds skinless chicken thighs

Directions

1. Whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, water, garlic, onion, ginger, black pepper, oregano, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and paprika in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Add the chicken thighs, and toss to evenly coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil the grate.
3. Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade. Discard the remaining marinade. Grill the chicken thighs on the preheated grill until cooked through, about 15 minutes per side.

And in case anyone is interested, Unbridled is now live on Amazon!
http://www.amazon.com/Unbridled-Unlikely-Lovers-ebook/dp/B00CHFGK82/ref=sr_1_25?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1366719304&sr=1-25&keywords=Cheryl+brooks