Creamy Baked Fettuccine with Asiago and Thyme

I don't remember where I got this recipe, but I made it and it actually tasted better than any Fettuccine Alfredo I've ever had! I made this once by adding some chicken to it, which is also great. Enjoy!


Creamy Baked Fettuccine with Asiago and Thyme

1 pound fettuccine pasta
2 cups grated Asiago cheese, plus ¼ cup
2 (8-oz) containers crème fraiche
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 ½ tbsp fresh chopped thyme leaves
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid.

2. In a large bowl, combine the 2 cups Asiago cheese, crème fraiche, Parmesan, thyme, salt, pepper, cooked pasta, and pasta cooking liquid. Gently toss until all the ingredients are combined and the pasta is coated. Place the pasta in a buttered baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup Asiago cheese. Bake until golden on top, about 25 minutes. Let sit for at least 5 minutes and serve.

Color Coding Salvation

Stuff Christians Like is one of my new favorite sites. It's one of the funniest things I've ever read! So, go check this one out. It was hysterical today!!!

Food Pairing

OK, I don't quite get this yet, but I LIKE! Check it out :) http://www.foodpairing.be/

Find-A-Husband Advice

I got some fascinating advice and how to get myself a husband last week and thought I would share. It was a typical, hilarious comment from my friend Chuck, but stuck with me as entertaining as we as containing some merit! So, I'll set it up for you:

I was over at Chuck and Ginger's house some night last week after taking a walk with them and some of their friends. Chuck was laying on the couch beside Ginger (his wife) and Ruby (his new daughter). Ginger and I were discussing dating, marriage, boys, authors on the subject, good books about it, etc. (which, I'll recommend the book in a bit). So, we're discussing how to be godly women in singleness and in marriage, and what God has called us to do in those seasons. I was probably talking about dating/marriage and men, when Chuck just sits up and says "OK, all you have to do to get a husband is catch him with you boobs, don't let him touch them until you're married, and then he's all yours b/c you're stuck together forever!!" First, I thought it was HILARIOUS and a very typical Chuck response...but, also had a bit of merit to it!!

I hope someone found that entertaining, I'm just going to go with it being an endorsement of there "not being a hint of immorality in your relationship until your married" instead of it being an endorsement of "just catch a man with your sexy self and figure the rest out later" because I'm sure that was the intent coming from this godly man.

Anyhoo, the book I was talking to Ginger about is called Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? and while it sounds a little funny at first, it was an EXCELLENT book. I would highly recommend any of you single gals to go buy this book. It's written by Carolyn McCulley. It was just such an encouraging read! It was more about how to live well single by serving others, how to prepare for marriage, and how to use our womanly calling even if we're single (be involved with other people's kids, invite church staff over and feed them, etc). It was so great because it didn't sit and talk about how to find/trap a husband, but how to live well single, and how to prepare to be an excellent wife. Go buy it here!! Also, Carolyn has a great blog that is very worth reading.

Just thought I'd pass that recommendation on....

Turkey Burgers

I made turkey burgers for lunch yesterday and they turned out SO GOOD. It's times like that when I'm really thankful that I work from home!

Turkey Burgers

Homemade buns (Buttermilk Bread recipe (subbed White Whole Wheat flour for White Flour) from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day)
Avocado
Tomato
Basil Pesto
Chipoltle Mayo (if cannot find, take regular mayo and add chipoltle chili powder)
Swiss Cheese
Red Onion, thinly sliced
1 pound ground Turkey
1 tsp Spike
1 tsp Ground Sage
1 tsp Chili Powder (I used Ancho or Chipoltle)
2 tsp Mrs. Dash's Southwest Chipoltle Seasoning
Salt & pepper

I just mixed the turkey with the spices (you can add more/less spice if you like), then cooked them in a skillet on the stove.

I then assembled the burger with pesto on the top bun, chipoltle mayo on the bottom, and meat, cheese, avocado, tomato and onion on the burger.

YUM!

Practice Husband

I couldn't have said it better myself! Check it out...

Super Fast Homemade Bread!

I know this is going to sound insane, but this book/method of bread baking has truly changed my life! Ok, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm still ecstatic about it!

When I was young and homeschooled, I used to keep a sourdough starter and make fresh bread every day or two. I loved it, but that was back when I was home all the time and had the time to keep up with it. I don't like bread machine bread too much, it always seems to come out kinda funny to me. I am also completely fed up with store-bought bread since EVERY BRAND has high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated soybean oil in it. EWW!!

I was absolutely shocked when I got this book and the basic loaf has 4 ingredients in it: flour, water, salt and yeast. CRAZY, huh? I should know that's all that goes into it, but it's been so long since I've made it and I've been looking at labels of read in the store for so long and reading a mile long list of ingredients...

Anyhoo, that was way off on a tangent. So, the basic idea for this bread is: you dump the 4 ingredients into a big tupperwear tub, stir them up, put the lid on it, leave it sitting on the counter for 2 hours, stick it in the fridge. It keeps for up to 2 weeks, or can be frozen for forever. When you want some bread, you hack off 1/4th of the dough, make a little ball out of it, and let it rest for 40 mins. Then, you stick it in the oven for 30 mins, and voila! fresh bread...

There are also tons of variations of this, you can make: pita, chibatta (sp?), baguettes, flatbread, naan, cinnamon rolls, brioche, etc. I made brioche dough the other day and made sticky buns out of it and it was BY FAR the best cinnamon roll-type food I've ever eaten.

I've also made several if the plain, regular loafs with substituting King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour (one of my all-time fave things) for White Flour and it's excellent. The loaf comes out crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. I made a variation of that, also, by adding herbs and cheddar cheese, and made hamburger buns and they were de-lish!

So, check it out! I highly recommend buying this book here or you can also check out their website here.

Also, I have bread out my ears, so let me know if you would like a loaf :)

Zone Analysis

I just spent 9 straight hours working on one spreadsheet for work, ARGH! It was quite a frustrating day. I had to scrub a lot of data and then scrub some more because the person who setup to spreadsheet/data did it all wrong. Oh, and it had to be done by tonight. And I found out about it this morning. Fun times! I really can't complain too much, I have a lot of days that are very relaxed and I work for a fantastic company.

Anyhoo, I'm also a little sad! All my friends seem to be very busy or vacationing this summer and therefore I am quite bored :( I don't have any plans for the forseeable future, so it's a little depressing. I figured this is a good time, though, to really dig into the Word, and volunteer more at the church. That's something that will keep me very busy and I'll be strengthening my relationship with the Lord and serving others. Can't go wrong there!

So, morals of the story: spreadsheets suck and if you're bored too, call me!

Purple Hull Peas

Just a quick update....went to Canton today and the Farmer's market. I got some Purple Hull Peas, which are just like Black Eyed Peas, except purple. And, I got some okra. I shelled my peas today, blanched them and froze them for later. I'm super excited! I love fresh black eyed peas and I can never find them anywhere! Anyhoo, I'm also sick with some cold or upper respiratory thingy, all I know is that I'm up coughing all night and can't sleep, ARGH!!!!!!!

That's about it, my mom, youngest sister Kathryn and Nana are here until Monday. They got here Wednesday night and have been hanging out for an extended weekend. Kathryn and I went to Van's Warped Tour Thursday....got to see Family Force 5, they were AH-Mazing! Look them up and listen to them sometime, Love Addict is the best song ever.

Smoothie Popsicles

Since it's summetime, I am naturally craving popsicles! My sister bought some of those Flavor Ices (you know, the sugar and water things that you cut the end off of and suck on). They are some of our favorites, but kinda bad. So is ice cream, popsicles, etc. But, I LOVE stuff like that. So I decided to make my own popsicles. I know this is far from original and hardly creative, but I was very excited to have thought of it on my own and make some. So, they turned out very, very good!

Smoothie Popsicles

About 1 cup frozen (or fresh) strawberries
1 banana
1 small container vanilla yogurt (you could also use plain)
1-2 tbsp honey

I put all of that in the blender, blended until smooth, and then poured into a popsicle mold (those can be found here or probably Wal-Mart or Target). Then, stuck them in the freezer! I did, however, have an idiot moment where I couldn't for the life of me get the popsicle out of the mold. I eventually just turned it over and ran a little hot water over it and it popped right out.

I'm sure you can use all types of fruit, smooties, etc, if you like. I think I'll be making lots, and right now some lime sounds really good in one!

Also, I got my bread book that I'm so excited about and started some dough last night. I'll bake some bread today and then do another blog about that whole process, I'm very excited about it!!