Lasagna Rolls
Posted: April 16, 2012 Filed under: pasta recipes | Tags: date night, dinner, food, lasagna, lasagna rolls, menu, noodles, Pasta 16 Comments »
lasagna rolls
Ahhh another Pinterest find! I can spend hours upon hours pinning delicious discoveries, actually I do! And all these said delicious discoveries go right onto my now very organized boards. Yes, I am pretty proud of myself. How do you organize your Pinterest boards? Perhaps we can swap tips? :)
These oh-so yummy lasagna rolls came from the mastermind behind Cooking Classy. Please check her out, her recipes are so amazing! I’ve practically pinned everything she’s ever made! With that said, I am so happy I finally got the opportunity to make something from Cooking Classy. I wanted to make these lasagna rolls ever since I stumbled upon them and since it was rainy and gloomy all week in LA, I figured lasagna would be the ultimate comfort food for date night.
I was a bit worried at first because I’ve never boiled lasagna noodles and I was terrified of them falling or breaking apart during the cooking/handling process but it turned out being a lot less stressful than I thought. I think these lasagna rolls take a little bit more effort than my all-time favorite Paula Deen Lot’s O’Meat Lasagna but it’s so worth it! I did tweak the recipe around to suit our tastes, but nothing drastic…just a add more/take out kinda thing.
Let’s get started with the best part, the meat sauce!
Heat a large skillet with some olive oil, and brown some ground along with one diced onion….
Once the beef is nice and browned, add in crushed tomatoes and minced garlic (lots!!). Season with lots of s+p (heavy of the p), a smidge of crushed red pepper flakes, and tons of oregano.
I omitted the food processing part only because I love my meat sauce nice and chunky! Anyways, let the sauce simmer over low heat and be sure to taste test along the way! I caught by boyfriend helping himself to a few rounds of taste testing :)
Could Thursday be the new Friday?
Posted: December 15, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: date night, food, sushi 3 Comments »
Sushi date at RA Sushi :)
The crispy rice with spicy tuna is one of my favorites! What’s your must-order at sushi restaurants?
Oh, and can you believe it’s almost Friday? Happy date night everyone! :)
xo kat
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it’s Paula’s world and we just live in it.
Posted: December 1, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: date night, food, garlic bread, lasagna, menu, Paula Deen 7 Comments »I made Paula Deen’s Lots O’Meat Lasagna (original post here) and her Zesty Roasted Garlic Bread! One word, YUMMMM!
Please please please make this! I promise you, this is the dish to make if want to: impress that special someone, land a second date, end the date on a positive note, have him (or her) wanting more, and/or receive lots of compliments all week long!
This is what I call the “relationship sealer” or “relationship enhancer” meal. If your guy is nostalgic for those home cooked meals the way mom used to make, then this is the one dish that you should make for him! I swear, this is a relationship booster… No more wandering around that awkward iffy relationship stage, when you make this and he eats it, you’ll be boyfriend/girlfriend status, you-are-the-best presents, shiny sparkly slightly bigger than my tiny hands pink diamond (or Chopard) engagement ring status hehe (just saaaaaaayin’… :) This lasagna is a love potion! Hehe.
Ok, enough with my run-on sentences and excessive babbling! Enjoy some delicious pics from date night dinner last night!
paula deen's lots o'meat lasagna
look at all that meat! what guy would turn down this? ;)
paula deen's zesty roasted garlic bread
How can he say no? :)
Garlic bread recipe coming soon (it’s my new fave!). Hope you have a great date night this week!
xoxo, kat
it’s a date!
Posted: October 23, 2011 Filed under: babble | Tags: caprese salad, date night, food, menu, pork tenderloin 15 Comments »For once in my life, I finally have a set menu plan for date night and do not have to go “what to make? what to make? ughhh” the night before. I feel happy.
Here’s what I have planned for the main…
balsamic-garlic crusted pork tenderloin (click for recipe) || photo kitchenconfidante.com
And a simple basic salad for the side…
caprese salad (will do a chopped version) || photo thepioneerwoman.com
What do you think? Are these two great pairings or simply odd? I have very little experience and am terrible at pairings. I would love some pairing suggestions! Only one request though, it has to be light. I want something that counteracts the heaviness of the meat, since eating meat always tends to put me in a heavy state of coma. Haha!
This will be one of the very few times that I will venture into cooking meat. I don’t cook meat. And definitely not meats of this epic portion! Aren’t pork tenderloins huge?!
I’m not going to lie and say I don’t eat meat, because I do. I love bacon for goodness sakes! The only meaty thing I’ve ever cooked are chicken breasts, and I’ve excelled that by the way :)
Being a newbie in the kitchen, there are just so many concerns I have when it comes to cooking meat. I plan on roasting the pork tenderloin in the oven since I’m sans grill. Any tips on ensuring that the meat stays nice and juicy and not overcooked and dry?
Eeeeeeek! Wish me luck!! What’s your menu plan for the week?
Hope everyone’s enjoying the very last few hours of the weekend!
xoxo, kat
make-your-own-pizza anniversary special
Posted: October 13, 2011 Filed under: sides recipes, thank you babble | Tags: date night, food, menu, pizza, pizza sauce, sauce 5 Comments »Remember when my boyfriend texted me a pic of pizza dough and how excited I was for a make-your-own-pizza date night??
Well, it finally happened this week! For our twenty-something-odd month anniversary, he wanted us to make something together so he suggested pizza. You bet I was excited when he mentioned that! :)
Check out our fun anniversary date night below…
the usual list of pizza ingredients :)
we used rosemary focaccia dough from Fresh And Easy
For our make-your-own-pizza, there were only 2 requirements….he had to have meat, and I had to have some sort of veggie.
gentleman's choice: pepperoni and Calabrese-style salami
lady's choice: broccoli, white button mushrooms, grape tomatoes (I apologize for the word "ass" on the can. that is my boyfriend's can of whoop ass...when I beat him at sudoku, I make him open my cans because every time we go shopping we always forget to buy a can opener haha)
Making your own pizzas is great because you can use up ingredients that have been hogging up precious fridge space…
cheese: havarti, muenster, parmesan (who knew there were so many different types of cheese just lying in the fridge?) PS. In no way am I a cheese connoisseur, so this may be a strange combo for some, but melted cheese mixed in with yummy tomato sauce all taste the same to me :)
Since I made whole wheat spaghetti caprese and Marcella Hazan’s Tomato and Butter Sauce with Onions in the past and discovered how amazingly simple and easy making your own sauce was, I vowed to never buy any kind of red sauce from the grocery store again! I guess that vow included pizza sauce too (non-recipe recipe below…sorry, I never measure! But I have guesstimates :)
Kat's pizza sauce in the making! just canned tomatoes, garlic, oregano, fresh basil, red pepper flakes, s+p
While the sauce simmered, I chopped up all of the ingredients (even the onion! :) and tried my best at plating like my idol (I love how freakishly neat she is).
I must admit, I munched on a few slices of pepperoni and salami (very yummy!)
The pizza was assembled in this fashion… slices of muenster/havarti cheese, top with sauce, sprinkled parmesan cheese, place toppings. To bake the pizza, we used our Williams-Sonoma cake pan which turned out pretty good.
pre-bake
post-bake
i love square-shaped pizzas (maybe for Valentine's, I'll make mini-heart shaped pizzas)
happy anniversary nom nom nom :)
Although it turned out great and was yummy, I wasn’t extremely satisfied with the crust… Any tips for me when it comes to baking pizza crust in the oven?? I like my crust crunchy! Would it be okay to pre-bake my crust for a few minutes before I add all the toppings? If so, how long? Sigh… I need help!! :(
What do you guys like to do for anniversaries? Do you prefer to stay in? Or get all gussied up and head out? If so, do you go back to where you had your first date? I would love to go to Gordon Ramsey’s Boxwood Cafe at The London West Hollywood for a fancy daytime brunch (we both love Ramsey!). And one place that always brings back happy/funny/awkward memories is Viva Madrid, it’s where we had our first date :)
Till the next monthly anniversary!
xoxo, kat
Thank you for your tremendous amount of support, love, and encouragement. Only 77 years + 6 months to go, thanks for figuring out the math :)
Kat’s Pizza Sauce
serving size: 1 medium pizza
- 16 oz. can organic tomato sauce
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 5-7 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
- 2 tbsp dried organic 0regano (more or less depending on taste)
- sea salt (to taste)
- fresh ground pepper (lots of it)
- Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan.
- Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Simmer for 20 minutes, or until it’s no longer watery in consistency.
- Let it cool for a few minutes, then spoon sauce onto pizza dough.
he calls it “arroz con pollo”, she calls it “chicken and rice” because she butchers the spanish language like no other…
Posted: August 30, 2011 Filed under: meat recipes, sides recipes | Tags: Arroz con pollo, chicken, chicken and rice, date night, food, menu, mexican rice, Rice, Spanish rice 6 Comments »
arroz con pollo
Welcome to another he cooks, she eats edition!
He was so sweet to take over cooking duties for date night since I was stuck in my indecisive phase. I hate to brag, but he is quite the cook himself and makes the best mexican food I’ve ever eaten, and a mean steak! I consider myself to be one lucky girl! By the way, what is it with guys and their amazing steak cooking skills? I myself, refuse to cook a steak just because I rarely eat red meat and I’m terrified of messing it up!
For dinner, he did a healthy spin on the classic arroz con pollo. The chicken is baked in the oven and takes very little prep time and less than an hour to bake. It was simply delicious…the skin was crispy, and the meat was moist and so flavorful! The rice…let’s see, the rice is my absolute favorite!! It’s spicy! If you love spice then you’ll love it! If spice is not your cup of tea, then you can omit the spicy tomato sauce, but then again it really wouldn’t be mexican rice without the spice! This is one of my favorite dishes that he makes. In fact, I ate a giant bowl of his leftover rice the following day and took a two hour nap afterwards. Yes, it was that good.
Check out the recipe below! What do you guys make for date nights? And ladies, what are some of your fave dishes that your boyfriend has made for you? :)
Arroz con Pollo
serving size: one happy couple :)
Mexican Rice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup rice
- 1/4 cup of spicy tomato sauce (used El Pato, or if not available use enchilada sauce)
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- half an onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- oregano
- salt/pepper
- In a pot, melt butter with rice and brown.
- Add garlic and onions, and season with salt/pepper, and oregano to your desired taste. Stir well.
- Add water and spicy tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally for 1-2 minutes.
- Cover, reduce to simmer. Leave a slight gap between the pot and lid. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Make sure to check occasionally and stir so that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
- After 10 minutes, the liquids should have evaporated. If there is a lot of liquids, leave for another 5 minutes. The rice should be moist. Take off the stove and cover with lid . When ready, serve.
- 2 chicken thighs
- olive oil
- salt/pepper
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Clean chicken thighs, and pat dry.
- Lay chicken on a baking dish and drizzle the chicken with olive oil.
- Season both sides with salt/pepper.
- Bake the chicken for 35 minutes.
- After 35 minutes, take the chicken out of the oven to check if it is done. If clear juices are running, then put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
- Serve.
maple garlic ginger chicken wings
Posted: August 8, 2011 Filed under: meat recipes | Tags: chicken, chicken wings, date night, Garlic, ginger, maple, maple garlic ginger chicken wings, wings 9 Comments »
maple garlic ginger chicken wings
Last Friday, I mentioned one of my new favorite DIY date night meals. Meet maple garlic ginger chicken wings…they were simply deeeeelicious! I love date nights, and DIY date nights are especially my favorite because there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to cook a meal for someone you care about.
These maple garlic ginger chicken wings were yummy! The sticky goodness of the maple syrup makes it finger licking worthy! The freshly grated ginger really adds to the flavor, and the soy sauce…okay, I’ll stop now! I bet you’re thinking, “why is she babbling on and on about these wings”…well, I love them because: (1) it does not require a lengthy list of ingredients; (2) the chicken can marinate in the morning and you can walk away and forget about it until your tummies are rumbling and ready for dinner; (3) I made it with love, and (4) it’s so easy!
Let’s get started so you can find out why it’s worth babbling over! Oh, and can you guess how long it took us to devour that whole plate of super yummy chicken wings?
Here’s what you’ll need…
chicken wings/drumettes, garlic, soy sauce, maple syrup, ginger, sea salt
Rip open that package of chicken and rinse clean with water. Then pat dry with paper towels…
chicken all prepped!
Next, make the marinade! All you need for the marinade is soy sauce, maple syrup, couple gloves of minced garlic, freshly grated ginger, and a dash of sea salt. Then…
add the chicken to the marinade
