Taste of Home Field Editor

Ok, I know I told you I'd do the DC trip recap, but first I have to show you this!

Last Christmas my Aunt Annie got me a subscription to Taste of Home magazine. After a couple issues, I applied to be a Field Editor and was accepted. My name has been printed in the magazine for a good 6 months, much to my amusement.

Well, early October an editor emailed me and asked my permission to use me as a spotlighted editor to be printed in an upcoming issue! I was so excited, I screamed for Johnny, we gushed for a few minutes, and then I decided to keep it a secret!

She wasn't sure which issue it'd make it into, but sent me a little preview of what they'd say and asked to use my photo. Yesterday when we received all of our held mail I not only had the new issue, but a separate envelope with a complimentary copy and letter of congratulations, letting me know which page I was on!

I'm so excited it made it into the Dec/Jan 2010 issue! If you guys receive the magazine, or spot it at the store, it's this one:

And then when you flip to page 8, you should see:


Ahhh I'm so excited! Thank you guys for following me and being a part of Dinner at Christina's. My life is completely different now than it was a year ago!

Banana Trail Mix Muffins

I'm sorry for the delay in posts. We went out of town for a week and I accidentally forgot my memory card reader, so couldn't update as I would have liked! That's ok, we'll just back track a bit and play catch up!

These muffins were in the back of the August/September issue of Cooking Pleasures, a magazine I receive for being a member of the Cooking Club of America. I'd had them marked forever because I knew I'd make them.

Banana Trail Mix Muffins

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large)
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups trail mix*

*If your trail mix does not have chocolate in it, you can substitute 1/2 cup chocolate chips. I just used trail mix and left out chocolate, since neither of us are big fans, though.

Heat oven to 350° and line pans with muffin cups, or non stick spray. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Add in mashed bananas, melted butter, and beaten eggs. Mix at medium speed until well combined. Fold in trail mix. (The trail mix I used was a combination of many nuts and dried fruits. It made each bite really interesting and a suprise.) Spoon into baking dishes and bake per the instructions below.

For muffins bake 20-25 minutes, yields 14 muffins
For 9 X 5" loaf pan bake 50 minutes, yields 1 loaf
For 5 1/2 X 2 3/4" loaf pan bake 30 minutes, yields 4 loaves

I made 24 mini muffins and 6 regular muffins with this mixture, with the mini ones baking slightly less time. We snacked on a few the morning of our trip in the car, and the rest Johnny ate for breakfast in the hotel room each morning. We have a few left a week later, stored in a zip bag and believe it or not, they're still moist!

Unfortunately, with the hustle and bustle of leaving for the trip, I did not get any pictures of them! I thought I had, but I just uploaded my pics and don't see any. The ones left have been in a plastic bag for a week so they aren't pretty! The picture shown is from their website.

Skillet Sausage

I love grilling the homemade sausage my dad made for maximum charred smokey goodness, but that's not feasible half of the year.

That's ok, because cooking them in a skillet is almost as tasty!

Bring a medium skillet up to heat and add just a touch of oil. Brown both sides of the sausage (this was the sweet Italian links) on medium high until they get a nice color. Then turn the heat to medium, add about a half of a cup of water, and cover the pan. Let cook for about 10 minutes on each side, then drain off the water. Leave the lid off and let both sides crisp up again a few minutes on each.

My dad also showed me this trick while he was here. It works for the grill or the oven. Wash a whole green pepper and rub with a little bit of oil. Cook for about 20-30 minutes, flipping a few times until the entire pepper is tender. Cut in half, remove the seeds and stem and pull off any loose skin. Ohhh man, this is so delicious, it steams itself and is so tender and juicy.

I never fully appreciated green peppers until I moved here and had the option of adding "sweet peppers" to sandwiches at local eateries. Chicagoans really know how to treat the green pepper! During Lent there is a pepper and egg sandwich that will knock your socks off. I'd never heard of this before living here and the first year I thought it meant an egg with black pepper on it! Boy was I mistaken. Scrambled eggs, these sweet green peppers, melted, gooey cheese, all on a big crusty roll... can it get any better?

Oh. Sorry ... back to the sausage!


After letting it rest for a few minutes, I cut three of the links on a bias for Johnny and me to split between us. I love smelling this sausage as it cooks, it's such a familiar scent in my memory!

These were served alongside Laura's cheesy cabbage I've made once before. It has definitely reached "staple" level at our house. Generations to come in my family will hear about the wonderful Queen of All and her magnificant dish!

Everybody all together now! "Cheeeeese!"


If you guys haven't tried this cabbage dish yet, you really need to. My cousin, Anne-Marie tried it out, but with a twist!

Instead of cooking just the cabbage as a side dish, her recipe made a more substantial main dish by adding potatoes, onions, and other spices!

Mail Goodies

A few days ago I had a really good mail day.

First, I received $12.00 in coupons from Stella cheese. I buy their Parmesan wedge because it is whey free and grate it myself. I had a brick that developed mold, even though the package was still factory sealed and didn't expire until May 2010. I wrote them an email, informing them of this and the UPC codes, in case they needed them. I've never had any other problems with their cheese and had already bought my next wedge. I love when companies listen to their customers and go above and beyond to keep you happy! This is enough to buy at least three more wedges, which is really generous on their part. I always try to write a company if I have a really positive or negative experience with their product, how about you?

I also received some free samples from companies that I sign up for. I love testing products before I buy them, and most times they include a coupon off your next purchase. Some places to scout for free samples are Walmart, Start Sampling, and Slick Deals.

And, I also got a belated birthday gift from my friend Brittany. She recently moved back to the Netherlands to marry her fiance Mark, whom she met there last year while she was au pairing! I unwrapped a beautiful green scarf (my favorite color, in case you hadn't noticed) and these awesome Krudnoten cookies! They are spiced cookies, also called ginger nuts. They're traditionally eaten during Sinterklaas, a feast celebrating Saint Nicholas in early December! I love unique and foreign goodies with traditions! You can read more about them here and here. They taste like tiny little ginger snaps! So crisp, crunchy, and yummy -- they catapulted me immediately into the Christmas spirit with the first bite!


Have any of you, or are any of you going to order the Schwan's Top Chef meals to try out? I like that they always try to make some dishes accessible to viewers, but unfortunately I never made it to Red Lobster last year, and this year they contain whey! Which is a darn shame because they're really affordable. Let me know what you think if you try them! My old work used to order from the Schwan's man a lot, and a co-worker got a few items from them for parties at her house. They're actually really tasty!

Southwestern Rice and Bean Bowl

Thank you, past and present veterans for your services, bravery, commitment, honor, heroism, and in some cases, your lives, in keeping America and her citizens safe and free!

This past June Johnny and I went with some other family members to a memorial of the 65th anniversary of D-Day. There were 250 WWII veterans there, including over 50 who were on the beach in Normandy during D-Day. Many wore their uniforms, a lot were in wheelchairs, but all held their heads up high and just nodded a quick, modest acknowledgement if you thanked them for their services. During the raising of the colors and singing of the national anthem, all of them, even the wheelchair bound, stood and put their hands on their hearts, or saluted. I had never seen anything like it, and it brought tears to my eyes then and now, remembering it. If you ever have a chance to experience something like that, visit a memorial, visit a museum, or even talk to a relative that's a veteran, I highly suggest it. I will never look at Veteran's Day or Memorial Day in the same light for the rest of my life.

(The above picture is a portion of the crowd bowing their heads in prayer and remembrance as a 92 year old chaplain and D-Day veteran speaks.)



I posted this dish way back when I started the blog, but I rambled on forever and didn't even post any pics! Bad food blogger!

This is a stand-by favorite in our house. We have it maybe once or twice a month.

1 cup white rice
2 cups water
1 cup salsa of choice (we use Newman's Own)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 can black beans, drained
toppings of choice

In a medium pot add the rice and water (you could substitute quinoa, which I've done before). Bring to a boil, stir, and reduce to simmer, covered. Set the timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir in the salsa, corn, and black beans. Turn the heat up just a hair, return the lid, and set the timer for another 10 minutes.

Serve in a big bowl.

Then sprinkle cheese over top.

Then put a dollop of sour cream.

If you wanted, you could also slice up avocados, serve with chips, or other toppings of your choice. Get creative!

We continued with the southwestern theme and served up with big glasses of icy margaritas, rimmed in salt!


We won the glasses, tequila, and margarita mix at the Halloween party, remember?!

Whey-Free Lasagna

As mentioned before, I've had a bit of a problem converting my family's traditional Italian recipes into whey-free form.

The last item on the list was lasagna because ricotta cheese is whey. Hrmmm? What to do?

Johnny's mom makes lasagna from a box recipe using cottage cheese. While it tastes like lasagna, there's a bit of a texture disconnect for me. But, with this recipe I solved that and a successful whey-free lasagna was born!

9 lasagna noodles
sauce
meat or vegetables of choice (I used some of my dad's breakfast sausage)
1 pint cottage cheese*
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
dried parsley
1 egg
black pepper
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

If you're using the no-boil lasagna noodles you can get to work assembling, otherwise pre-boil your noodles and run them under cold water to cool them and avoid sticking and tearing. (I used the boiling ones.)

Dump the cottage cheese into a medium mixing bowl and with an immersion blender, blend until a smooth, creamy consistency - almost exactly like ricotta! Add the Parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, and pepper. Stir until everything is mixed.

To start your layering, begin with a little bit of sauce in the bottom of the pan so the noodles do not stick. Then, a layer of noodles, the cheese mixture, any meat or veggies, and sauce. Repeat noodles, cheese, filling (if using), sauce two more times. You should have three layers in an average-sized casserole dish.

When you get to the last layer, cover the pan with foil and bake in a 400° oven for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling. Remove the pan from the oven, take off the foil and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top. Put under the broiler until the cheese is melted and begins to brown. Watch closely!

Let sit 10-15 minutes before cutting into. Serves about 6. Leftovers freeze well.

*Please make sure to check the cottage cheese label. Not all are whey-free. Only one brand in our grocery store is, and just their low-fat version.

Shredded Brussel Sprouts

I was an odd child and even loved brussel sprouts, which my parents usually cooked whole, or cut in half and steamed. We then put butter, salt, and pepper on them at the table to suit our own tastes.

Brussel sprouts are a love them or hate them food. The reason most people hate them is the common way of cooking them is to boil until tender. This usually results in overcooking, which releases sinigrin, which smells and tastes like sulphur. Bleck. I've seen many a cooking show that stresses a light cooking process until they are wilted or lightly steamed, which doesn't allow sinigrin to pronounce itself so greatly.

If you hate them, give them another try and cook them properly! The absense of sulphur-like scents and tastes just might change your mind!

brussel sprouts (5-6 per person)
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
3 Tbsp pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste

Serves 3 as a side dish


To start, remove the outermost leaves of the brussel sprouts and wash them under cold water. Cut off the bottom of the stem and then slice the sprouts very thinly, as if you were shredding lettuce or cabbage. (Johnny walked in at this point and admitted to never eating or seeing brussel sprouts in his life, and his answer was "Barbie lettuce" when I challenged him to guess what they were.)

In a large skillet, add the olive oil and garlic over medium heat. Once the garlic starts to soften, add the white wine and bring up to temperature.

Once boiling, throw the brussel sprouts into the pan in an even coating and let them sit and get some nice color on them, seasoning with salt and pepper. Once they start to wilt, stir fry them around for a few minutes and stir in the pine nuts. You'll only want the sprouts to be on the heat for about 5 minutes, so adjust the temperature as needed, while watching to make sure they're not becoming soggy and overcooked.

They were bright and fresh, with a little bit of a crisp to them still. The pine nuts lend a hearty, nutty background. The white wine was not enough to add that alcohol flavor, but more of a citrussy freshness, which you could easily achieve with some lemon juice if you don't cook with alcohol, or don't have any on hand.


I call them a success because Johnny really liked them! They were also the perfect accompaniment to the ribs and teeny tiny potatoes.