Pizza!

My husband LOVES pizza. Every time I ask him what he wants for dinner, his answer is always, "pizza." Sometimes I'll ask him a question that is completely unrelated to food and his answer will still be, "pizza."

I've always wanted to make homemade pizza but I've failed many times...the crust has always given me a hard time. While grocery shopping a few weeks ago I stumbled upon frozen cornmeal crust pizza crusts. I was elated! Finally I could make homemade pizza! They were gluten-free which is a plus for many people and they were smaller so we could still use portion control.

Next I needed to find the toppings, our family friend gave us a jar of her homemade marinara sauce, so we definitely wanted to use that. Then I decided on leeks, chipotle sausage, and mozzarella cheese. But you can put any toppings you like on it. Leeks are a great alternative to onions, especially when they are all caramelized...yum!

Leek-Sausage Pizza on a Cornmeal Crust
2 frozen cornmeal pizza crusts (or make your own or get regular crust)
1 lb chipotle sausage
1 large leek, sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup marinara sauce

I baked my crusts just a tad so they were a little crisp. Meanwhile I sauteed my leeks until they were tender and caramelized. I also cooked the chipotle sausage until mostly cooked through. Once the crusts were ready, I ladled the homemade marinara sauce on top, a big scoop of sausage, leeks and finally, shredded mozzarella. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. This pizza was outstanding, we can't wait to make it again.

We served this with a simple romaine lettuce salad, raw mushrooms and southwest cheddar dressing.

This is a fantastic meal if you need to whip something up quickly, if you are craving pizza but don't want to ruin your healthy eating habits or just want a yummy dinner for a Friday movie night.

Enjoy! xo Lo

All Wrapped Up- Part One: Making Frozen Meals for Family

Now that I am 36 weeks pregnant I am making all those last minute preparations for our sweet girl's arrival. Of course, one of my biggest concerns is food...what will we eat? Thankfully, my best friend has rounded up some helpful family and friends who have offered to cook us meals during those first few weeks home with our Halen. But I know they can't provide every meal for us, so I've decided to do a frozen food series for new moms, families on the go or even for family reunions.

My first recipe for my frozen food series is breakfast burritos. My husband and I are huge fans of breakfast...especially me. So I wanted to make sure we'd have something yummy and satisfying when we're up in the wee hours.

Breakfast Burritos

24 tortillas
10 eggs
1 package of sausage
1 can black beans
2 large red potatoes
1 cup (+) colby jack cheese
salsa

When I originally found this recipe it wanted everything to be pre-made, frozen hash browns, etc. Well even though I am trying to save time by making food ahead doesn't mean I want health aspects to suffer. So I bought everything as naturally as I could and cooked it all myself. You can get any tortillas you like, I really like the ones that are half flour, half corn. Eggs, I always purchase free-range, brown eggs. For the sausage, I purchased hatch green chile sausage for a bit of a kick. I love my black beans and think they add not only extra protein to my burritos but they're so yummy. Red potatoes are healthier than your regular potatoes, colby jack cheese melts really well. And any salsa you prefer.

First thing you want to do is dice up your potatoes rather small and cook them in a large bottom

skillet with some olive oil. Once they start to brown, add in your diced sausage (you can also use ground sausage). Once those two are fully cooked and on the crispy side, scramble your eggs and pour them in the skillet. Turn your heat down and gently fold in your egg mixture. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, continue to fold. Once the eggs start to hold together and don't look runny you're about done. Add the egg mixture into a bowl and set up your wrapping station.



 You'll need plastic wrap, two large freezer Ziploc bags, your grated cheese and black beans ready to go. I would tear a few pieces of plastic wrap at a time so I didn't have to stop my process each time I needed more plastic wrap. Lay your tortilla down on the plastic wrap, fill with egg mixture, top with grated cheese, and a spoonful of black beans. Use the plastic wrap to wrap up the breakfast burrito nice and tight and set to the side.

Continue process until you've used all your eggs and tortillas. Then date and label your freezer bags, add the wrapped breakfast burritos inside, let out all the air, zip shut, and add into your freezer.









When you're ready to eat your frozen breakfast
burritos, simply take the number you want out of the bag, heat up add salsa on top and dig in! These are perfect for any mom-to-be preparing for her little one to come home, for a mom on the go preparing food for her family or even preparation for a family reunion coming up (since summer is around the corner!).

Enjoy! xoxo Lo

Winter Dinner Party

During the winter people tend to "hibernate" and long to be comforted by warm, toasty friends and food. What better way to achieve this than planning a dinner party?

This is my mom, her best friend and I with a holiday cocktail before everyone else arrived! The menu my mom and I chose was: 


- Pomegranate Lemon Drop with a Candy Cane garnish
- Dried Cherry-Pistachio Brie en Croute
- Bacon Wrapped Stilton-Stuffed Dates
- Roasted Potato-Leek Soup 
- Winter Salad with Fennel and Apples
- Holiday Pasta with Crusty Bread 
- Pistachio-Cherry Chocolate Ganache Tart


Starting off with the holiday cocktail we combined 1 part vodka to two parts lemon drop mix and a slight pour of pomegranate with a mini candy cane as a garnish. We added the pomegranate to add red color for the holidays but you could keep the cocktail as a lemon drop or add any of your favorite Italian soda. 


Brie en Croute Appetizer
- 1 medium wheel of brie
- 1/4 cup of chopped pistachios
- 1/4 cup dried cherries roughly chopped
- 2 Tbsp agave nectar
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 sheet of puff pastry


Let puff pastry thaw and mix the pistachios, cherries, sugar and nectar together in a small bowl. Slice brie in half so you have two flat, thick pieces of brie that can be placed on top of each other. Add 3/4 of the nut mixture into the middle place the other half of the brie on top. Cover with the puff pastry dough and place the folded part down. On the flat side place the rest of the nut mixture and back at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serve with crackers or crusty bread and prepare to be amazed! 

Stilton-Stuffed Dates
- 16 dried dates (you want about 2-3 per person)
- 8 slices of bacon (cut in half)
- 1/2 cup stilton cheese


Slice a line lengthwise through half of your date and stuff with cheese, wrap with bacon and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until bacon is crispy. This appetizer will blow you away, after one bite my taste-buds were doing the happy dance. Not a fan of blue cheese? I promise you with the bacon you cannot even tell it is blue cheese. 

Roasted Potato-Leek Soup
- 1 pound of diced Yukon gold potatoes
- 2 sliced leeks
- 2 diced shallots
- 1 bunch of arugula
- 3 cloves of chopped garlic
- 4 leaves of fresh sage chopped
- 1/2 heavy cream
- 1 carton of chicken stock
- 1/2 white wine
- a few pieces of crumbled bacon
- shredded Parmesan cheese 

Roast your potatoes, leeks and shallots on a baking pan for 30 minutes, in the last 10 minutes add arugula...roast until wilted.

Start your Dutch oven with olive oil, add garlic and sage on low heat. Once the potatoes are roasted add to the Dutch oven and add half of the chicken stock and white wine. Let simmer at medium heat for 15 minutes. 

Use your emulsion blender to blend the mixture until smooth. Add heavy cream and cook on low for another 15 minutes. You may need to add more chicken stock if the soup is too thick. Once the soup has finished, pour into small bowls (this soup is very filling!) and top with crumbled bacon and parmesan cheese. 

Winter Salad
Sadly we got so excited about this one that I forgot to take a picture but hopefully my description can help create one in your imagination :)

- 1 bulb of fennel
- 1 Gala apple
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 2 beets
- stilton cheese

After cleaning all your salad ingredients, roughly chop your beets. Mix the beets and pecans with maple syrup and roast for 20 minutes. Slice the bulb of fennel into thin slices, as well as the apple. Keep the top part of the fennel as a garnish. Crumble your Stilton cheese and once the beets are done assemble your salad with the sprigs of fennel on top. The licorice flavor of the fennel, crispness of the apple, creaminess of the cheese and crunch of the pecans will be a lovely palate cleanser before your pasta dish.

Holiday Pasta
Even though it's not Holiday season anymore...doesn't mean the wintery days doesn't call for a velvety, luscious pasta dish to warm your soul. This dish is named the way it is because it's like a Holiday party in your mouth!

- 1 pound of whole wheat penne pasta
- 4 cloves of crushed garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 3 13-oz cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 celery stick
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 pound of Italian sausage
- 1/4 pound pancetta
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- grated romano cheese for topping
- 1 loaf of ciabatta

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and add bay leaf, diced pancetta and garlic for 7 minutes. Add half of the Italian sausage (out of the casing) and brown and crumble up. Chop up veggies,  add to pot after about five minutes add the wine, let wine cook off for one minute and add beef stock and tomatoes.

Stir in allspice and chopped parsley along with salt and pepper to taste. Bring sauce to boil then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes to let the flavors merry. Meanwhile cook the other half of the Italian sausage (with casing on, sliced) in a separate pan.

Bring your water to boil, add pasta and cook to al dente (aka slightly underdone). Plate the pasta on a large platter and spoon the sauce over. Serve with sprigs of rosemary as a lovely garnish. Cut up your crusty bread and sprinkle the grated romano on top. Your dinner guests will be pouncing to dig in!

Pistachio-Cherry Chocolate Ganache Tart
- 8 biscotti cookies
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup cherry preserves
-12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup dried cherries
- 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
Himalayan sea salt flakes

Chop up your biscotti cookies in a food processor, add in diced pieces of cold butter and brown sugar. Push into the bottom of a well greased spring-form pan and back at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Once cooled (15-20 minutes) evenly spread the cheery preserves on top. Then make the filling- heat the heavy cream to just below a boil and add to chocolate chips, mix until the chocolate melts into a smooth ganache. Add pistachios and dried cherries, pour over the crust and top with pistachios. Refrigerate overnight and when serving top with Himalayan sea salt flakes.

Enjoy this delectable, healthy, comforting winter dinner party menu...this will surely impress any company you have over during this chilly season. 


xoxo Lo

Southern Breakfast with a Flair

Every weekend I wake up slowly without an alarm and dream about what breakfast might be. This particluar morning I decided to go with my Southern roots, an egg sandwich with cheesy grits and homemade bread.

Firstly, I started off by cooking my grits, I added water to a sauce pan and once it came to boil I added grits, salt and waited for them to absorb. While that was cooking I took two links of chicken, feta and spinach sausage out of the casing and made a patty then I put that onto a bit of olive oil to cook. In the meantime the grits had absorbed the water, one of the best things about grits is it is so versatile. You can pretty much add anything to them and the flavors will blend in. I decided to make cheesy grits and grated up some colby jack cheese and stirred that into my grits.

Next I flipped my sausage patties and added two thick slices of homemade white bread to the pan to get a nice crispiness to it. Once the cheese melted into the grits I added some salt and pepper to taste and put them on low heat to keep warm. Once the patties were done and bread was crisp, I removed them from the flame and cracked a few eggs into the pan. After my eggs were ready to go I plated my bread, sausage patty then egg on top with my cheesy grits on the side. Poured a mimosa & ta da!

Enjoy xo! Lo

Wiatrek-Style Brunch

Every Saturday morning my husband and I love to cook brunch, while our coffee is brewing in our French press I look in the fridge to see what I have to work with. Our brunch philosophy is to grab onions, any other veggies, saute and throw some fried eggs on top...yum! Today we had, smoked bacon sausage, red potatoes, yellow onion, button mushrooms and eggs. The first thing I did was to dice up my potatoes and onions to get them on the grill pan. It is important to cook the potatoes first because they take awhile, the smaller you cube them the faster they will cook. To make yummy home fries, you want them to be crispy on the outside and a little soft on the inside. Next I decided to chop up and saute the rest of the onion and button mushrooms.

Once my base was on it's way I chopped up the sausage to add that to the extra onions and mushrooms. Add some salt, pepper and continue to stir your breakfast items. Once everything is almost done, put a bit of olive oil into a hot saute pan and crack in your eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste then flip after they start to bubble. Once you flip them, turn off your heat. I plated by putting the sausage, onion mushroom mixture on the bottom, potatoes in a sidecar plus your luscious fried eggs on top.

When you cut into this egg, the yolk will flow all over your sausage, put that and some potatoes all on your fork and dive in!

xo Lo