One Month!

Yesterday July 21st marks one month of Tad and I being married!  We celebrated by going to work and passing out on the couch when we got home.  So exciting.  However, I do have the day off of work today and I plan on making something special for dinner.  I'm thinking steak and risotto.  I LOVE risotto and my hubby's favorite food group is cheese, so how could I pass it up?


So I started this blog post almost a month ago now, and life has been so crazy I am just now getting to finish it.   I did end up making steak and risotto, and I even added some asparagus and WOW! it was the best meal I think I have ever eaten.  And I am no master chef.  I will post the recipes below.  They are much easier than they seem, and so unbelievably worth it.  The steak and asparagus are pretty easy.  The risotto isn't too hard, just very time consuming.  I started by prepping the asparagus, then I started cooking the risotto, and once I started adding the broth I threw the asparagus in the oven, and then I finished up with the steak.

Parmesan and Garlic Asparagus

• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
• olive oil
• minced garlic
• freshly grated parmesan

Notice I didn't put any measurements...purely because I made this up on the spot.

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Line a pan with foil and spread the asparagus out on it.

Drizzle the olive oil over the asparagus, enough that all the pieces are covered, but not sitting in a pool of it.

Add garlic and parmesan to your liking.  My hubby LOVES garlic, I will triple the amount of garlic in a recipe and he will still ask for more.

Fold the edges of the foil over to cover all the asparagus and cook for 12-15 minutes. (shorter will be more crunchy, longer will be softer)

*I prepped this all the way and then didn't put it in the oven until I started adding the chicken broth to the risotto*

William Sonoma's 4 Cheese Risotto

Let me start by saying, if your a risotto fan, you should most definitely buy the William Sonoma Risotto cookbook.  It is all so yummy, and so detailed so you can cook it perfectly.

• 7-8 c of chicken stock
• 1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 c finely chopped yellow onion
• 3 c arborio or carnaroli rice
• 1 c dry white wine, at room temp
• 1/2 c mascarpone cheese
• 1/3 c crumbled docelatte Gorgonzola cheese
• 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 c asiago cheese

In a sauce pan over medium heat, bring the stock to a gently simmer and maintain over low heat.

In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute until softened, about 4 min.  Add the rice and stir until each grain is well coated with oil and translucent with a white dot in the center, about 3 min. (In my experience, it always takes much longer than 3 min for this to happen)  Add the wine and stir until it is completely absorbed.

Add the simmering stock a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently after each addition.  Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed (but the rice is never dry in top) before adding the next ladleful.  Reserve 1/4 c stock to add at the end.

When the rice is tender to the bite, but slightly firm in the center and looks creamy, after about 20 min., remove from heat and stir in the reserved 1/4c stock, and cheeses.  Serve immediately.

Restaurant Style Filet Mignon

• 2, 8oz filets
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2 stick butter
• herb butter
• olive oil
• garlic

Generously season the filet's with salt and pepper, approximately 1 teaspoon of seasoning per side. Heat the butter (1/2 stick) and the olive oil in a cast iron skillet to a screaming hot temperature.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.   Sear the filets in a screaming hot pan for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until a nice brown crust has formed. While the steak is searing, continue to spoon the residual butter in the pan on top of the meat while it's cooking.  Once both sides are seared, place in the center of the oven for about 6-8 minutes, depending upon how thick your steak is.  Your steak will be ready when it is approximately 135 degrees in the center, or when you push lightly on the top center of the steak and it gently and slowly bounces back.  (Note, this is medium rare kids. Some people don't like to eat cows while they are mooing, so clearly you can cook longer if your afraid of the pink.)  As soon as you take it out, place a thick slice of the herb butter on the top, and let it melt. **In the original recipe, there are instructions on how to make the herb butter.  I have had a nice organic grocery near my house, so I already had herb butter in my fridge, which is why I didn't make it myself.  I will like the original recipe here.

Have fun cooking!

Dinner in 15!

Working retail isn't the most condusive to a domestic life.  Working 9 hr shifts 5 times a week (plus a 30 minute drive back and forth) doesn't make it easy to have dinner on the table every night.  The other night I got home from work and collapsed on the couch.  Tad came in and said hello and then retreated back into his man cave to give me some time to cool down (good man).  About an hour and a half later Tad send me a text asking about dinner.  I had just worked for 9+ hours dealing with annoying screaming customers and had no patience to slave over the stove for an hour preparing dinner.  Tad said he wanted pasta , I had no intentions on going to the grocery and no pasta sauce in the house (we eat that much that we ran out) so to Google I went.  And success was found!

Creamy Bow Tie Pasta

• 1 c uncooked bow tie pasta
• 1 1/2 tsp butter
• 2 1/4 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
• dash salt
• dash dried basil
• 3 tbsp 2% milk
• 2 tbsp chicken broth
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp sour cream

1. Cook pasta according to package directions
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter.  Stir in the oil, flour, garlic, and seasonings until blended.  Gradually add the milk, broth and water.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened
3. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese and sour cream.  Drain pasta; toss with sauce

This was seriously soooo good and crazy easy!  By the time the pasta was done cooking the sauce was done.  This recipe is a keeper and I will definitely be making it again!

3 Weeks and Going Strong

June 21st, 2014 was the most magical, beautiful, and perfect day of my entire life.  June 21st, 2014 I married my best friend.  We are young.  I am 22 and he is 23.  We were engaged for two years before we got married, and I was 19 when he asked my father's permission.  We got a lot of rude comments, unsolicited (and unwanted) advice, and wayward warnings.  I can't even begin to tell you how many people asked me if I was pregnant, as if that was the only reasonable explanation as to why we decided to get married so young.  We had our own reasons for getting married so young, and I don't regret it one bit.

I saw countless articles during our time being engaged about the hardships of being married.  And each time I clicked the link to see how to avoid these pitfalls and maintain a strong relationship with my soon-to-be husband.  But each time the items in the lists seems so trivial or common sense; talk about money, think of fun date ideas, have your own hobbies.  None of that seemed like things that would put our marriage at risk because we had been conquering those items for years.  And so far so good.  That is not to say that we don't have our problems, because we do.  But we have learned how to argue with each other, we can read each other's cues when we need space, or cuddles, we take time every day to talk about the important things.  I think my father said it best in his speech at our wedding, "Remember to set aside at least 10 minutes a day to talk about anything other than work, family, the household, or the relationship.  You fell in love without talking about these things; keep that a part of your life."  

We have been married for just over three weeks now and life couldn't be better.  That is not to say we haven't had a single disagreement, or faced some sort of challenge, but we knew what we were getting into when we decided to get married, even if it was at a young age, and we were prepared to face whatever challenge came our way together.

This blog is going to be a place of relief for me.  A place to vent my feelings.  A place to post recipes and crafts that I find and I don't want to lose.  A place for me to offer up any advice that I can to other newlyweds, or even couples that have been married for years.  And a place for me to ask for advice, because I am human, I don't have all the answers either.