Risotto is an amazing dish. You cook rice in broth, stirring in liquid as it gets absorbed by the grains, and it creates this dish with a creamy consistency and amazing taste. You feel like you are eating something sinful, but there's no cream in it at all. The only downside is making it. It requires a lot of babysitting, since you have to stir it frequently (some people say constantly) and add liquid for 20 minutes or so. The results are worth it, but it's still a lot of standing by the stove and watching a pot. Some people really enjoy this process, but I'm not one of them. Even for those who enjoy standing by a hot stove becoming...
Heat Oven To 350
Answering the question, "What's for dinner?" (and breakfast, and dessert, and mid-afternoon snack . . .)
Latest Food Blogs from Heat Oven To 350
Thursday Thoughts - May 23, 2013
Some random musings for your Thursday - 1. The car situation mentioned here is still not resolved. Husband and I went to a dealer the other weekend and we learned two things - that 0% financing will still not make a new car free, (sad, I know) and that according to the sales manager, my current vehicle will depreciate by $1600 in about 500 miles when it rolls over from 94,500 to 95,000 miles. This is according to a little book of car...
Taco Rice
Do yourself a favor and make this dinner before you even try to describe what it is to your family. If you are anything like me, you just won't do it justice and your family will flatly refuse it before you even get to your stovetop. Later, of course, when you are eating the bowl of taco rice that was rejected earlier by said family members, they will look at you like you tricked them and demand a do-over. "I didn't understand what you were...
Southwestern Chicken Foil Dinner
Camping - fan or hater? While it is something I think I romanticize between the times that I'm NOT laying on some hard ground, freezing/sweating, trying to sleep despite it being completely bright out at 6 AM, I would still say I'm a fan. There is something about being outside, making do with what you brought, and being among nature that is invigorating, even if it requires me to to take a long nap once I get home. Before I start the long...
Pizza Wheels
Hypothetically speaking, say you have a two door car. Said car is about 8 years old. You've owned said car for 7 years. It has been great to you, but you had a baby about a year ago and getting baby in and out of a two door car is annoying. To say the least. The plan is to replace the car when your husband graduates from school and starts working, hopefully within 7-9 months. Then imagine that said car needs new tires, new brakes and is closing...
Baked Greek Tilapia
Tilapia.I know.Isn't that a fish? Yes, I'm posting another fish recipe. I can hardly believe it myself. When I mentioned before how much cooking fish scares me, I got some great suggestions in the comments that made me brave enough to try it again. For one, I found this site that helps take some of the mystery out of buying fish. They list the sources and which ones are best, which ones to avoid, and have a nifty app that you can...
Cobb Chicken Salad
If you've never had a Cobb salad before, do yourself a favor and run down to the nearest restaurant or deli and order one. Savor the crispy lettuce, chicken pieces, bits of bacon, avocado, the cheese and the hard-boiled eggs. Enjoy the tangy dressing and the beautiful presentation. Chances are, you will be a fan for life. In my experience, even people who don't normally like salad make an exception for Cobb salad. It is the salad that my picky...
Secret Recipe Chocolate Chip Cookies
I think everyone has a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Ol' reliable. The chocolate chip cookie recipe that comes out perfect every time, that is the perfect amount of sweet/semi-sweet, chewy/crunchy . . . The recipe that has drips of vanilla extract and a little bit of flour on it from multiple uses. Your recipe. I have my own personal favorite recipe, and since I found it I've rarely bothered to try other recipes. Why mess...
Oven Shredded Pork Tacos
This post will be blessedly short because I have family in town and I want to make sure they see all Amelia's skills and tricks. You just can't trust that they'll discover them on their own, you know. Basically, my feelings on this shredded pork could be summed up in two words - Make. This. Well, make this if you want an incredibly moist, tasty taco filling that requires little hands on time and is easily scaled up to feed a large crowd....
French Toast Breakfast Wraps
I've been on a big losing streak when it comes to new recipes lately. So much so that my husband has started pouring himself cereal even before I get dinner on the table. Given the overly chewy, incredibly bland veggie pasta bake I served a few days ago, I don't blame him one bit.That's why, when he saw me editing pictures of these breakfast wraps this weekend, he acted like I had betrayed him. "What are those? Seriously, why didn't you give...
Oatmeal Creme Bars
My mom sat me and my siblings on the porch one summer day when I was growing up and handed us each a Swiss Roll. None of us had eaten one before and just the way she handed them to each one of us individually made us feel like we were getting something special. We tore open the little plastic packages and devoured them in seconds. I remember her sitting down and eating one with us, a little more slowly than the rest of us, and telling us that...
