Hodge Podge

Hello, and welcome to Carrie's Hodge Podge of cooking!  Today, I am featuring two recipes for our vegetarian friends, to they can totally be made non-veg by the carnivorous.  : )  Like me - I added meatballs to both dishes.  

Tonight's dinner was a delicious baked potato, with Country Crock, sour cream, diced Roma tomatoes, cheddar cheese, sliced mushrooms, salt & pepper.  Mmmmm!  I added meatballs w/ KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce as a side.  I know it's a simple dish, but not something I thought of until Bret bought potatoes, so... I thought maybe someone else could use the idea!  : )  


I thought I had another veg dish for you, but I guess it was just my normal pasta dish (bowtie pasta, cream cheese, tomato sauce (I use Ragu chunky mushroom & green pepper), basil, oregano, salt & pepper, and cinnamon).  It's good with no meat, chicken, or beef.  : )  

And then we have a savory dessert!  

Crescent rolls with cream cheese, cream cheese & walnuts, cream cheese & chocolate chips... And oh snap!  I just thought of what I will make next time - cream cheese & cinnamon!  : )  Ooooh!  Easy peasy cinnamon rolls!  


So, I know my food pictures aren't the height of gloriousness, and are really crappy compared to the rest of the food-blog-o-sphere.  I just wanted to let you know I know.  *laugh*  And I don't really care.  I just like to share.  


Until next time - what new thing have you been cooking lately?  And did you take pictures?  ; )  

More Ovaltine Please!

I'd never had Ovaltine before, even tho I've seen their commercials for years.  "More Ovaltine, please!" rings out like a chant in my head.  Still, the marketing didn't work on me!  For chocolate milk, it was always Hershey's syrup or Swiss Valley jugs.

Then, the other night Bret & I went grocery shopping at WM, and he said, "Oooh, let's get some Ovaltine!  It tastes great on vanilla ice cream."  Truthfully, I was thinking, "Why not get Hershey's syrup?"  *laugh*

Tonight, I scooped a bit of vanilla ice cream into a dish & happened to see the Ovaltine container out of the corner of my eye, sitting on top of the fridge.  I thought, "Hmmm," and sprinkled a little onto the scoop of ice cream, added a splash of milk & stirred it around... Voila!

Chocolate malt.  : )

Until next time - what's your favorite way to eat ice cream?  Sundae?  Shake?  Do you like a good Malt flavoring?  Do share!

Buffalo Wild Wings

Today Aunt Jan & I went to BWW (as the cool kids call it) for a late lunch/early dinner.  We'd been trying to get together for months, but one or the other of us was always busy!  So today we got to hang out, and she had some gift certificates for BWW, and she shared one with me!


Most of  you have probably been to this mecca of sporting events and bar food.  They have 20 or more big screen TV's all around, showing everything from basketball (Texas/Kansas, I think, and Kansas was up 8-0) to hockey (Go Chicago!).  There are screens with games or something in the booths.  We were at a table in the middle, so I just barely saw the booths.  


The menu is quite a bit more eclectic than I'd thought it would be.  I mean, there are the things I expected - ribs, burgers, potato wedges, pulled pork sandwiches - and then things which were a surprise, like the mini corn dogs and flips served with chips & salsa.  


Jan ordered a burger which was a little spicy for her, but oh so good.  I ordered a delicious steak & potato flip, which is steak & fries, cheese & their signature, hickory BBQ sauce in a thin pizza crust shaped like a quesadilla.  

As I said, it's served with chips & salsa.  The flip itself was DIVINELY delicious!  There's a reason their honey BBQ is their signature.  Mmmm!  The chips were light & crispy & perfect, as well.  The salsa I probably wouldn't order again, tho.  It wasn't bad, and I ate it all (LOL) but it had a peculiar flavor that I just didn't enjoy 100%.  


It was an amazingly yummy lunch, and only cost $2.99 with the coupon Jan gave me!!!!  I tipped on the amount of the bill before the coupon, tho, just in case anyone was worried.  : )  This is definitely a restaurant I'd like to go back to!


Until next time, what's your favorite thing to get at BWW?  What should I try next time I go?  Before I decided on the flip, I was thinking about the pulled pork.  Good idea/bad idea?

New Year's Eve

For NYE this year, I met my friend Becca at our favorite sushi and hibachi grill, Osaka!  I ordered the Peanut Roll, which they make differently than the other Osaka across the river.  Isn't it pretty?  I actually prefer the other one, but this was still very good, and between the two of us, we dispatched it nicely!  : )  

We sat in the bar, but ordered hibachi as well.  Sure, we didn't get to  watch them make it, but it tasted just as delicious!  It was funny, tho - I ordered off the side order menu, as I usually do because it's cheaper.  : ) Yep, I'm all for eating out, but since I want to do it often, finding ways to do it for less is the plan!  Coupons, lunch deals, etc.  

So, I ordered the hibachi side order of steak, and Becca ordered the filet hibachi dinner.  The waiter ended up giving us the wrong meat portions, which was okay cuz we just switched!  But, what I noticed was that my portion of steak was so much more!  I think they gave me more than the side order... Anyway, I had leftovers twice, so I'm very thankful for that!  

that's actually becca's portion of filet mignon.  when we switched, mine filled the plate!  

It was only a week ago, and I am already ready to go back!  Wonder what Mom's doing for dinner tonight?  ; )  Until next time, what fun did you get up to on NYE?  Did it involve delicious food stuffs??  

Granite City

My dear cousin, Jenni, lives in Alaska.  I had the wonderful blessing of traveling to see her walk for her Master's in Juneau several years ago, and really can't wait to go back!  : )  Meanwhile, I look forward to her visits home, such as this month for Christmas.  


Today I met her, her mom (Aunt Judy), Aunt Nancy & Uncle Gene (y'all know them from the Key West guest-posts!) for lunch at Granite City.  I adore GC, but don't get to eat there very often.  Their Cheddar Ale soup is, in a word, amazing!  

Today I tried something new, called The Overhill.  It's a simple, delicious sandwich made with turkey, bacon & tomato, and some sort of flavored mayonnaise.  Are you a fan of delicious flavor?  LOL  (And if you know where that quote is from, please tell me, because I can hear it in my head, but can't remember who's saying it!)  Loved also the pickle, but the cole slaw was not my favorite.  

Uncle Gene chose the 3 Cheese Ravioli, which I have had before and enjoyed.  

Aunt Nancy's Bedda Chedda burger, well-done, was quite beautifully put together, as well.

Aunt Judy had a lovely salad of some sort, whose name escapes me.

And finally, we have Jenni's scrumptious Chicken Caesar Chalupa.  I'm thinking of ordering one all for me during our next visit!  

Aside from the food, it's just nice to hang out with family & share stories & laughter!  : )  Until next time - who's your favorite family member to hang out with during a meal?  Or are you also blessed with many relatives you can hang out with?  I hope you are!!  : )  

Corn Cakes

Tonight, Mom & I braved the Christmas Eve snow to partake in something new at Applebee's.  We got stuck in the parking lot, and some very kind & helpful wait staff came out to push us into a parking spot.  Thanks, again, Applebee's wait staff!  : )  


Mom had one of my favorite salads, the spinach shrimp salad w/ warm dressing.  Mmm!  

via 

I had a delicious new dish, called ... erm... Oh dear.  I didn't write it down, and it's not on their online menu?  So, I don't know what it was called!  But it was yummy, and kinda spicy.  Corn cakes on the bottom, grilled chicken breast, topped w/ ham & cheese, bacon, and a sweet bbq sauce, with a spicy corn salad thingy on the side.  *laugh*  Wow, what a great food blogger I am today?!  

Anyway, I ate half & brought the other half home, so mom & I could split a blondie for dessert.  Also yummy!  : ) 


Until next time - what did you enjoy for eats this Christmas Eve?  Do you have a traditional family meal?  Do you eat out?  Do share, and Happy Christmas Eve!!   

Sushi!

I called Mom to see if she wanted to go to Osaka for lunch & she did.  : )  We sat in the bar area because neither of us really wanted the "show" of the hibachi.  It's an awesome show, but we just wanted to chat & have a quiet lunch.  : )  


I decided to order something new, because even tho I love the Philadelphia roll, it's what I've ordered the past two times I was there.  So, today I ordered the lunch special which allowed me to try three new rolls!  What a deal!  *bounce*  I ordered the Tuna Avocado, Alaskan, and Crab Asparagus.  The presentation was amaaazingly cute!

I liked the Tuna & Alaskan, but wasn't that fond of the Crab Asparagus.  I think I might not like asparagus as much as I think I do?  Not sure, but at any rate, it was a super nice lunch, and only cost me $5!  (Note: this is because Mom bought lunch & I took care of the tip.  Lucky server, too, since it was a $20 meal!  Hee!) 


Until next time, what's your favorite sushi roll?  : )