Fries

Now fries are another Garland tradition that Anthony introduced to me. I believe this tradition typically included cheese and meat for toppings. My version this evening revolved around a split pea and ham soup inspiration due to the absence of traditional Garland ingredients in our freezer and refrigerator on this cold night.

Fries

Thick Cut Fries

Shredded Mozzarella

Green Sweet Peas

Lunch Meat Bologna

Chopped Onion

Black Pepper

 

Garland Knots

Okay, so my recipe name for Garlic Knots is officially switched to Garland Knots! Anthony claims them. Not only did he request them for dinner after he learned we did not have cheese for pizza, he suggested that we rename them Garland Knots after he ate them with dinner! Did I mention he loves them!

Anthony Loves Stromboli!

I used my faithful favorite dough recipe for my base. I added basil. For fillers I stuffed my stromboli with smoked ham, grated mozzarella, bell pepper, onion, and garlic!

Pics of the Chef!

Easy Corn & Beans Fajitas

This afternoon I made a meal in minutes! All you need is:

Tortillas

Corn

Beans

Minced Garlic

Cumin

Red Pepper Flakes

Salt & Pepper

Yogurt

Salsa

Doing It All At Once!

Tonight I made a dessert, made dinner, started the dishes, made a soup for later, and had fun! It was a lot at once. It's probably more relaxing to make dinner, then make dessert later, a little less hectic.

I wanted to try a new pie crust recipe because mine just doesn't seem to quite be cutting it for me any more. No point in settling. So I googled "best pie crust recipe ever," and the first one that popped up was Arron Sanchez's pie crust recipe. And that is what I used for tonight's pie crust inspiration. Of course I didn't follow the recipe to a T. I didn't do any of the refrigerating or freezing. Ain't nobody got time for that lol. I also just used the flour I had on hand, self-rising, instead of regular like his recipe called for.

 
 

Selfie, taken with my Asus transformer tablet. My Mom was asking who usually takes the pics so I thought I'd show off a little, lol.

Mixing up the pie filling, table set, Anthony grading papers in the background.

I subbed regular milk for evaporated milk and used the pumpkin can for a measuring cup. I threw an extra egg into my pumpkin pie filling to make sure it thickened up enough since I didn't use evaporated milk.

I added red pepper flakes and oregano to my favorite brand of tomato sauce, Hunt's. Tonight I used their Four Cheese sauce variety.

 I love the way the table looks kind of artsy and fresh! Never seen salad served on a cutting board before, love it. Typically served in a bowl.

The romaine lettuce and caesar salad dressing complemented the shells and pasta sauce so nicely.

Clean plates! 

 I rinsed all my dinner and dessert dishes so I can load the dishwasher after I empty it later on.

 I combined tonight's leftover sauce with last night's brown gravy and rice pilaf to make a resourceful soup for later. I try not to waste.

The finished pie.

 Doesn't the pie and potholders combination look like a sunflower? 

The pumpkin pie filling turned out great! The crust was fluffy as I had imagined since I used self-rising flour. We had a good laugh over dessert over the fact that I had finished off the salt in the pie crust and threw away the container! Very savory pie.

Anthony's quote of the night: "My python producing (programming), pumpkin pie making, pasta producing wife."