Subject: Goo Goo Ga Ga and What's for Dinner

Good morning Kara,

I have one really great reason why I haven't posted until now.  

My cousin gave birth to her third baby boy, Cooper Aiden, on January 20th at 11:58 a.m.  He is absolutely adorable and now I have baby on the brain.  I think Hubby is getting a very teeny tiny itch too because he suggested we give the baby thing a trial run by having my other cousins sleep over some weekends.  This weekend my cousin's 16 month old, Maddox, will have his first sleepover at our house.  Should be fun!!

So, back to one of our conversations from last week...what's cooking at The House of Peach.  I figured we could first focus on staples.

During the week, I like to have a mix of "easy" and "more time consuming" meals.  Here's a breakdown of our staples in the two categories.

Easy

Grilled Cheese - I like to make it on bread from the bakery with cheese from the deli.  Also, I could not eat a grilled cheese sandwich without mustard either, although Hubby is not into that!

Pigs in a Blanket - Childhood favorite?!?  It's the only other way I like a hot dog besides on the grill.

Sloppy Joes - The theme here is turning into, "What did you eat when you were 5?"  This one cooks up in no time and according to the commercial includes a full serving of veggies!

Pizza - Pillsbury dough + pizza sauce + whatever veggies you want

More Time Consuming

Spaghetti and Meatballs - This is probably my all-time FAVORITE.  I've been perfecting my meatballs for about two years now, but the recipe is based off of Ina Garten's.  I also buy a jar sauce to save time.  Recently, my favorite has been MIDs.

Shrimp Scampi - Another top recipe.  It's relatively easy to put together, as long as you have good time management in the kitchen and know when to put your pasta in the pot and start your shrimp.  It always tastes fresh and I think a lot of that is due to the lemon zest.  Thanks again to Ina!!

Chicken Mushroom Quesadillas - I came across this recipe years ago and Hubby really likes it.  I sometimes have a weird chicken thing though, where I'm not in the mood for it, so I make mine vegetarian style.

Roast Chicken - When I am in the mood for chicken, there is only one recipe I turn to.  I can't find the exact one I use online, although it's similar to this one.  The one I love can be found in her "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook."  Ina you are a G-D!!

Omelet For Two - Ina again!!  She really is amazing.  Love this recipe because you can add in every veggie you have left in the fridge.  I definitely mix it up and just follow this recipe for the baking instructions.  Yes, it's an omelet in the oven, which makes it super fluffy!  And no flipping required.  Oh, I don't do quite as much cheese as she does though, and I use about 1/2 egg whites and 1/2 whole egg.

French Onion Soup - I recently shared this one with you.  One word besides YUMMY...INA.

Tacos - We love to have a Mexican fiesta in our casa.  I prefer my tacos with ground beef in the hard shells.

Favorite Meatloaf - I've been making this Kraft recipe for years and it really is a favorite.  Minus the salad dressing and cheese on top though!  I just omit those ingredients completely.  But the addition of stuffing as opposed to breadcrumbs is what has kept me hooked.

So, what recipes are included on your list of staples?  Out of my 12 staples, 5 are Ina's.  I definitely have a crush!

By the way, where do you like to store your recipes?  The Anthropologie recipe book I bought isn't going to work out.  I need to get organized though.  I'm not loving my current set-up.

Hope all is well in Tally!!

xxx,
Mel