Friday Firsts - Breakfast Nachos

Happy Friday everybody!

My first for this week was making Biz's breakfast nachos as a midnight snack. Yummy yummy!

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



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Friday Firsts - Lipton's packet

Hi everybody, sorry I'm so late with Friday Firsts this week! After taking a few days off from the blog world while out of town, it's hard to catch up and jump back into things.

I always have some Liptons packets in the pantry. I mix them with sour cream for dip, since the majority of salad dressings and dips have whey in them. This week I used one in a recipe. That is the first time I've cooked with the packet and it turned out pretty good!


To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - 3 new ingredients

Happy Friday everybody!! This week just flew by, for me at least.

This week my first was definitely using a bunch of new ingredients. I used just three alone in my fish tacos: coconut sugar, Tepin chilis, and Szechuan peppercorns.

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!




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Friday Firsts - Quinoa Crust

Happy Friday everybody! Today is my little brother's 23rd birthday! Happy Birthday Michael!

If you haven't already, could you please take a second to vote for my Lucia Buns? It's one click to vote, no registration required. (Voting ends TODAY!!) Thank you!


This week my first is baking a dish with a quinoa crust! It turned out really cool and I hope to use the method in the future with more dishes and casseroles! I tend to forget about this little grain and how versatile it is.

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Roll Success

Happy Friday everybody!

I have tried, and failed miserably, a few times at rolls. Try as I might, I just always end up with hard, dry blobs. This has been mighty discouraging, since I'm able to make pie crusts, quick breads, yeast breads, and pizza dough no problem.

Well, I'm proud to say that I had my first roll success! And, it was with a recipe I tweaked, no less! I made saffron rolls with dried cherries for the Marx Foods challenge. Voting will be open March 1st - 4th. I'll be linking to it on the blog and tweeting when it comes time to vote, I'd really appreciate your support!

If you haven't already, please stop by and give me some wedding shoe advice! I could use some 2nd opinions!

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - One Year Anniversary!

Happy Friday everybody!! This is a very special Friday Firsts, because it marks the 1 year anniversary of starting this little brainchild of mine! (If you're new to Friday Firsts, please click the image above for more information!)

To celebrate and as a thank you to the many faithful contributors, I'm going to have a little give away! There are two ways to enter:

• Each first linked up below will count as one (1) entry. (Please feel free to link up more than one first!)
• Spread the word: If you refer another person to link up you will EACH get one (1) additional entry. Just let me know in the comments who referred you/who you referred and you'll both get a free entry!

The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate for one of my favorite sites - nutsonline.com! This is a fantastic, family-owned company that I love. They sell an awesome assortment of goodies and I've always been pleased with their customer service and quality.

The give away will be open from 12:00 a.m. (CST) Friday, February 18 until the entry form closes at 12:30 p.m. (CST) Saturday, February 19th so act quick! I will announce the winner later in the day Saturday.

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Mandolin

Happy Friday everybody! The wedding planning is chug-chug-chugging along! I've officially ordered my dress and booked the venue!

Another Christmas gift I got from Johnny was a mandolin. I've wanted one for a really long time to make some prep work easier.

I used it for the first time to julienne my carrots for the Cold Thai Peanut Salad. It was scary and I don't think I got the hang of it. I'll have to ask Johnny to take a look at it. (Sometimes men are just better at figuring things out, especially if you're an impatient girl that ignores skims directions.)

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Piggy Whisk

Happy Friday everybody!! If you need more information about Friday Firsts, click the image above!

When I was in NY last week with my mom, we hit up Marshalls. I love browsing their kitchen aisles for some hidden gems. I found a few jars of my favorite fig jam and this adorable little piggy whisk! I love pigs, so I had to snatch it up.

While making dinner (Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree - recipe to come this weekend), this was the first time I got to use it!

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Griddler

Happy Friday everybody! I'm so excited to see a burst of new participants! If you need more information, click the image above.

My first for this week as using a Christmas present Johnny got me - the Cuisinart Griddler. I've been toying with the idea to get a George Foreman because I know Sophia loves her so much.


Much to my surprise, Christmas morning I opened the Cuisinart's take on the George Foreman - the Griddler! It can open flat to be a griddle or be used as a press. The plates come out and can be used with a flat surface or ribbed surface. The absolute best part!? Dishwasher safe!!! (Do you hear that Mara?!) So I can cook dinner on this little baby and besides a quick sponge off if necessary, the rest of it goes in the dishwasher. Easy peasy, just how I like it!

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Turkish Delight

Happy Friday everybody! A few weeks ago Johnny and I stumbled upon a new restaurant, Pita Oven. Inside its humble strip mall storefront are three components. On one wall is a small restaurant counter where you can order food to eat there, or take to go. The opposite wall is a bakery with a huge open stone oven and a little man, crisply dressed in white, tirelessly cooking batch after batch of fluffy pitas. The center has a small grocery store of unique items and a few tables to eat at.

Being the gluttons that we are, we enjoyed all three - ordering food to go, purchasing a batch of the best pitas I've ever tasted (still warm) from the bakery, and buying a few things at the grocery to sample.

One was this candy, Turkish Delights. It's hard to describe. Kind of a gummy, jelly texture with hazelnuts in it, rolled in coconut. Not overly sweet, and nothing like anything I've ever had. It's not my favorite, but I wouldn't say it's bad. It just kind of tastes like "old people candy," if that makes sense.

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!




If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Dried Beans

Happy Friday everybody! Since Johnny started his new job I'm really starting to love weekends. We see a lot less of each other during the week with him leaving for work earlier, getting home later, and needing to go to bed earlier for the dreaded alarm clock. I know it sounds weird because we live in the same house, but I miss him!

Enough with the sappy stuff, though. My first for this week was cooking dried Northern white beans in my slow cooker. I don't use dried beans very often, but I should because of how cheap they are. This was the first time I threw non-soaked beans in anything and I wasn't even sure they'd cook properly. But I took a leap of faith and it worked! Four hours on high and they were tender and velvety soft.

At the top of the blog you'll notice I've added another tab for the Pound for Pound challenge. Please let me know if you would like to pledge to lose some weight this year. For every pound you pledge, a pound of food will be donated to a food bank through Feeding America. Together we can feed the less fortunate and motivate each other in our journey towards getting fit and healthy!

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!

If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

<a href="http://www.dinneratchristinas.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://glc.dinneratchristinas.com/i/fridayfirsts.png" alt="Friday Firsts / DinnerAtChristinas.com" style="width: 220px; height: 220px; border: none"/></a>

Friday Firsts - Falafel

Hi everybody, Happy Friday!

First, I'd like to again say thank you to those of you who donated to help my brother's cat. If you hadn't seen already, I added a (happy) update to the bottom of the post.

My first for this week was attempting to cook falafel from scratch! I've made it from a mix before and eaten it out a few times, but never made it from scratch. I was not very pleased with the final outcome, but Johnny loved it. So, I'll tweak and play around with it some more before I post it for you guys! You win some, you lose some - but at least you tried, right?!


To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Last of the Year

Hi everybody! Happy Friday! I can't believe it's already the last day (and Friday) of 2010!

Sorry, I don't have a first to share with you today, unless you count me sharing the sweet potato bread. I've been sick in bed the past two days so have just made it down to the kitchen for tea, water, and soup.

To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Merry Christmas!

I get my Friday Firsts posts set up on Thursday so they can post at midnight. Thus, it's Thursday as I type this.

As soon as I woke up my initial thought was along the lines of "Thursday?! Oh no, it can't be Thursday, it's too gruesome!!" (Name that movie - but don't be lame and google it first.)

What on earth was I going to share and would that many people really be concerned with sharing their firsts on Christmas Eve? I thought not.

So, let's just sit back and admire Johnny's and my Christmas cards from this year, and years gone by. If you have your act together and would like to share a first, I'll add the form below for your links!

2010

2009

2008

Friday Firsts - Kale

Happy Friday everybody! (Click the image above if you need more information on Friday Firsts!)

My first for this week is trying and cooking Kale! Unless I've had it without my knowledge in something, I cannot ever remember eating kale. And I've certainly never cooked it- until now!


The result!? I loved it! I was a bit nervous because I've heard others' dislike for it. I will be sharing the recipe in the next post because I have a few announcements to share:

Holiday Baking Giveaway - going on HERE. A 3 pack of Gladware, Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix, and a $25 grocery gift card up for grabs. Ends Sunday 12/19.

Cans for Comments - going on HERE. Each comment left on the linked post will equal one can of food donated to a local food pantry. Please help me help others this holiday season! Ends Monday 12/20.

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Carbonara

Happy Friday everybody! Please click the image above if you need more information on Friday Firsts!

It's scary how close we're zooming towards Christmas! I swear I've been to the post office pretty much every day this week between shipping Amazon orders, Etsy apron orders, and Christmas presents.

My first for this week is Carbonara! Not only was this the first time I ever made carbonara, it was also the first time I'd ever eaten it too! Definitely a keeper!! I'm only sad that I didn't try it sooner.

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

<a href="http://www.dinneratchristinas.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://glc.dinneratchristinas.com/i/fridayfirsts.png" alt="Friday Firsts / DinnerAtChristinas.com" style="width: 220px; height: 220px; border: none"/></a>

Friday Firsts - Chipotles

Happy Friday everybody! If you're new to Friday Firsts, click the image above for more information.

My first for this week was using chipotle peppers. A chipotle is a smoked jalapeno. I happened to use a dried chipotle, but nevertheless, it was my first time working with this pepper!

I made Grilled Cheeseburger Chili, which I entered into Marx Foods A Chile & A Spoon recipe challenge. You can vote for me here!

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Thanksgiving

Happy Friday everybody! I hope you are all recovering from yesterday nicely.

My first for this week was hosting Thanksgiving! This was my first time ever hosting and I had a blast. You can see from my menu that I took plenty of liberties with the traditional fare.

We had 10 people, including myself. Everybody was here for almost 12 hours and we had a blast. We played board games, video games, and crafted our little hearts out. Oh, and we also ate and ate and ate our way through pounds of food!

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Pork Shoulder Steak

Happy Friday everybody!! (Click the image above for more information on Friday Firsts.) Is anybody else really excited that Thanksgiving is next week? It's not my favorite holiday, but I'm looking forward to it this year because I'm hosting!

My first for this week is cooking with pork shoulder steaks. While perusing the meat aisle, I came across 4 large pork steaks, for a little over $6. It looked like a great deal, with the dark marbelized meat that was sure to be tender and flavorful. I called my dad to see how to cook it, and took his advice with vegetables in a kind of braise situation.

4 pork shoulder steaks
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
~2 cups red wine (I used a Pinot Noir)
glug of olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

In a heavy bottomed pot with a lid, add a glug of olive oil over medium high heat. Throw in the vegetables and let cook until fragrant. Remove to a bowl and turn the heat to high. Sear both sides of the meat in the bottom of the pot. Add the wine, stirring and scraping the bottom to deglaze. Add the vegetables back, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a slight simmer, place the lid on, and let it cook for about 20 minutes.

I chose to serve mine with the braising vegetables and roasted cabbage with cheese sauce (a favorite in our household).

Johnny and I both really liked the pork shoulder steaks. And $6 for two huge dinners is not a bad deal in my book. Just as I hoped, the meat was really juicy, tender, and full of flavor. The wine and vegetables complimented it beautifully!

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

<a href="http://www.dinneratchristinas.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://glc.dinneratchristinas.com/i/fridayfirsts.png" alt="Friday Firsts / DinnerAtChristinas.com" style="width: 220px; height: 220px; border: none"/></a>

Friday Firsts - Muffin Tin Frittatas

Happy Friday everybody! (If you're new to Friday Firsts, click the image above for more information!) Is it fall where you're at yet? We're still enjoying some beautiful weather here, something I'm thrilled about!!

A few things I want to bring attention to before I post my first!

• Our Chicagoland Blogger Meet-up is approaching quickly! We're going to be meeting in Schaumburg on Sunday, November, 21st. Any bloggers or readers in the area who would like to join in, please send an e-mail!
• I'm an entrepreneur! The all natural dog bones I bake for my dog have gotten a cutesy name and logo. I've sold out of three batches of Corky Crisps at two local craft shows. They're now available on Etsy, too!

Now, onto my first! Ever since Biz started South Beach, her crustless quiches have been making my tummy growl when I read her blog. I thought it'd be a cute idea to make them in muffin tins, like a mini frittata.


15 oz. can new potatoes
4 eggs
1/2 cup cheese (I used skim mozzarella)
11 oz. can of Southwestern style corn (*see note)
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°. Mix the last 4 ingredients in a small bowl until well blended. The Southwestern style corn is from Green Giant and contains corn, black beans, tomatoes, and I think chiles.

Spray 12 muffin tins with non-stick spray. Crumble enough potatoes in each well to fill the bottom. Spoon the egg mixture over top each, until the muffin cups are about halfway full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

These will keep in the refrigerator for a few days, so they're perfect for weekday lunches. Just re-heat in the microwave for a minute or two and you've got a hot breakfast!

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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