Tag Archives: cooking

Feb6

Cooking Extravaganza

Posted on February 6, 2024 by lifewithlilred

Hello!! To me, there is nothing better than grocery shopping. I love that first week of groceries feeling when you have all of the ingredients you need to make delicious meals. Despite a crazy busy schedule, I try to cook dinner as often as I can. Cooking is something I take a lot of joy in and it makes me feel good to make something that other people are going to enjoy. Whenever I make anything, I like to bring a serving to my beloved downstairs neighbor and parents too and I live for when the food is praised! I am seriously one of those people that ask “Do you like it?” ten times during a meal lol. What can I say, I thrive on positive reinforcement!

This past week, I truly outdid myself with fried mozzarella sandwiches, jalapeno popper quesadillas, and baked cacio e pepe. Everything turned out amazing and we had leftovers for days! Check it out:

When I go grocery shopping, I like to get the ingredients to try at least one new recipe. Other than that, Johnny and I have a lot of tried and true meals and will both be happy whenever I make them. This is my second time making the baked cacio e pepe and it turned out even better than my first attempt. I thought the sauce turned out much creamier, it wasn’t as overpoweringly peppery, and the gnocchi was cooked to perfection. I was thrilled about this because I hosted a friend for dinner when I made it and I never want to serve anything that is less than awesome.

Last weekend, Johnny and I had some friends over for a viewing of the Royal Rumble. Jalapeno popper quesadillas were the way to go to feed our guests and they are always a huge hit. Although the prep work is a bit tedious, it’s such an easy meal to make and turns out fabulous every time. Literally all you have to do is cut the jalapenos and broil them. Then you assemble the quesadillas with cream cheese, shredded cheese, crushed up tortilla chips or Nacho Cheese Doritos, and the jalapenos. All that’s left is to fry them up!

While I love cooking for just me and Johnny, it was a huge treat to be able to share meals with our friends too. And also a huge treat to have tons of leftovers! 😀

What are some of your favorite meals to make? What is something that you take pride in? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb2

Fried Mozzarella Sandwiches

Posted on February 2, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! This past week, I have been able to cook a lot and it has been awesome. Don’t get me wrong, I love a frozen pizza as much as the next person, but there is something about a home cooked meal for dinner that hits SO much harder. It is always exciting to go grocery shopping with Johnny because I like to find one new recipe to try out each time along with our tried and true favorites. I usually find inspiration on Pinterest and Facebook and while scrolling through The Book, I found a recipe for Fried Mozzarella Sandwiches by The Petitecook. This was something I knew that both Johnny and I would enjoy and I was dead on. They were the bomb.com! Check it out:

When I am looking for meals to cook throughout the work week, I want something with minimal ingredients and prep time. This recipe had that in spades and required only eight ingredients (Most of which I already had) and took about twenty minutes to make. You just can’t beat that! The process was simple and the end result was delicious. All that needed done was to coat the sandwiches in flour, dip them into a wash of egg and milk, coat in breadcrumbs, and fry up in oil. Easy peasy lemon squeezie!

These sandwiches tasted exactly like a gigantic mozzarella stick and Johnny and I were SO there for it. They were ooey gooey from the huge slices of buffalo mozzarella and crisped to perfection on the outside. This was an incredibly filling meal too – I couldn’t even finish mine!! As soon as we were done eating, Johnny declared that he wanted me to make them again, making it a great success. While Johnny opted to have his plain, I made mine with pesto and sun dried tomatoes. Next time I make them, I plan on doing fresh tomato slices, basil, and a balsamic glaze for me. I can’t wait to try it. 😀

The Fried Mozzarella Sandwich (compliments of The Petitecook) was a true game changer in my dinner roster. It is a tasty take on a classic grilled cheese and I highly recommend it!

Have you tried any new recipes recently? How did it turn out? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan30

The Joys Of Eating And Cooking In Your Backyard

Posted on January 30, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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The Joys Of Eating And Cooking In Your Backyard

One of the best ways to enjoy food these days is to take a seat outside and put something nice on the grill. The smell of grilled food, the warm sunshine hitting your skin, and the relaxing conversations of your friends and family members in the background – these are the types of things you can expect when you start eating and cooking more in your backyard. All that and so much more:

Encourage socializing in your family:

If you want to create a family-friendly backyard that also makes your friends and neighbors feel welcome, then consider cooking and eating outdoors. You don’t need to be in a separate room cooking food while your guests are interacting with each other. Instead, you can cook food in the open and have conversations with people. You won’t feel glued to the burner, watching things closely to ensure they don’t cook. In short, cooking in an open area such as a backyard is often a great way to encourage more socialization because we’re not stuck in the kitchen with our back to our guests and family members all the time.

Fresh air is always a plus:

Enjoying some fresh air is always nice, especially if the climate allows for it. Far too many of us are cooped up inside, working from home, and cooking indoors. Opening the windows and doors doesn’t cut it either – it doesn’t replicate the joy of cooking outside and breathing in the fresh air as we enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal.

Even putting together a backyard bar just to enjoy a refreshing drink outside can be a great idea. People often underestimate just how relaxing and soothing it can be to enjoy some good food outdoors surrounded by nature. It’s something we urge you to try at least once to see what it’s like!

More cooking options:

Most people who try grilling food indoors will quickly realize that the flames rarely get hot enough, and it generates a lot of smoke that fills the kitchen and makes things harder for you. Grilling outside on a more powerful cooking device means you can get to higher temperatures, and you don’t have to worry about the area getting filled with smoke or heat from your cooking.

And that’s not to say you can’t use your kitchen either. You can bake goods or prepare food in your kitchen that is ready to be cooked outside. Combine cooking and preparation methods to open up more cooking options that you can try.

Eating and cooking outside might be different at first, but it’s well worth the try. It can transform your cooking, give your family a new place to socialize, and you’ll be encouraged to invite friends and neighbors over too!

Featured Image By: Unsplash (CC0)

Dec27

Creamy Lemon Ricotta Pasta

Posted on December 27, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! I always enjoy trying out new recipes and had a few random odds and ends of ingredients that I didn’t end up using for other meals. This included some lemons and a container of ricotta cheese. I originally planned on using the ricotta for baked ziti, but decided that I wanted to try something different. I knew that I could turn lemons into lemonade with these randos in my fridge and found a recipe by Savoring Italy for Creamy Lemon Ricotta Pasta on Pinterest. Both Johnny and I really enjoyed it and it is definitely one that I will make again! Check it out:

I am a huge fan of lemon pasta dishes. Well, let’s be real – any pasta dish lol. What I like about lemon pasta specifically is how light it is. The zingy flavor reminds me of summertime and after lots of snow in Ohio, it is just what I needed! I thought the last lemon pasta recipe I made was good, but the one by Savoring Italy was infinitely better. The ricotta cheese made it so rich and savory and every bite was a little slice of heaven. My only qualm with the recipe was that it tasted much better the second day. While it was very good freshly made, I always prefer something that I am making to taste its best immediately.

The recipe for this pasta was insanely easy and other than cooking the angel hair pasta that I opted for, the prep time took less than five minutes. All I needed to do was zest and juice the lemons, brown some butter in a pan, and mix it all together with the noodles and cheese. This is probably the fastest recipe I have ever made, which was excellent on a work night. It also used under ten ingredients and I didn’t have to buy anything different to make this recipe in its entirety. There is nothing better than that!

I am eager to make the Creamy Lemon Ricotta Pasta by Savoring Italy again. Now that I have made it once by staying true to the recipe, I plan on doctoring it up with some garlic, spinach, and pine nuts to give it a bit more variety. This meal was a huge success because Johnny was SO sure he wasn’t going to like it and ended up having seconds!

Have you tried any new recipes recently? How did it turn out? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec17

Chipotle Taste Alike Recipes

Posted on December 17, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! Taco Bell will always be my A1 ride or die fast food establishment. However, I also have a very soft spot in my heart for Chipotle too. I like to think that my homemade guacamole is very similar to their recipe and I found an awesome cilantro lime rice taste alike recipe on Pinterest that I love to make. I decided to try making the additional fixings for a Chipotle burrito bowl from home this past week and it turned out pretty good! Thanks to Pinterest, I found tons of recipes for black beans, fajita veggies, and steak for Johnny that all claimed to be just like Chipotle’s. Take a look at some pics and let’s discuss further:

Recipes Used:

Cilantro Lime Rice: Downshiftology

Black Beans: Dinner Then Dessert

Fajita Veggies: Downshiftology

Steak: Culinary Hill

To make my at home Chipotle burrito bowls, I cooked five different recipes that took about two and a half hours to make in total. None of these recipes were difficult to make and the most time consuming thing was chopping all of the different veggies. To start, I prepared my own personal recipe for guacamole which wouldn’t have taken long at all, but the avocados were really hard. To rectify this, I cut each avocado in half, wrapped them in paper towel, and microwaved them to soften them up. It worked like a charm even though it was a slow going process and I was able to cross it off of my “to cook” list.

Next, I started prepping the fajita veggies and black beans. Overall, I was happy with the fajita veggies but they were missing that extra something. The only seasoning this recipe called for was oregano and salt and pepper to taste. When I make it again, I plan on adding a bit of spice to give the veggies some more kick. The black beans was my biggest bugaboo from this cooking session and is the one recipe I wouldn’t make again. This recipe turned out really saucy and I didn’t care for the amount of onions it called for. I almost think I would be better off cooking the beans in vegetable broth along with the seasoning so I will be winging it the next time I have a taste for Chipotle taste alikes.

The final steps in my cookathon was making the rice and steak. As always, the cilantro lime rice turned out delicious and was easily the best copycat recipe out of all of them. It definitely helped invoke all of the Chipotle vibes and I really think it tastes exactly like theirs. This was my first time ever cooking steak and I can’t say if it was a true Chipotle taste alike or not as a vegetarian, but Johnny loved it and that’s good enough for me! The only thing that I would do differently about the steak is marinate it longer. I let mine sit for over an hour and we both felt that it could benefit from some more time. I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when Johnny gave me his stamp of approval, though, because I had no idea how it would turn out!

The finishing touches on my burrito bowl was adding lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and salsa on top. Even though I wasn’t wowed by the black beans, I was pleased with everything else and it was fun to try and make recipes from one of my favorite eateries from scratch!

What is your favorite copycat recipe? What is your favorite fast food spot? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec9

Linguine With Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Posted on December 9, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Linguine With Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Howdy!! Johnny and I finally went grocery shopping this past week and I could not wait to try out some new recipes. I am planning on doing a Chipotle taste alike meal this weekend and I am most excited for that! During the week days, however, I am always looking for recipes that are easy to make with a limited amount of ingredients. My original plan for a meal this past week was to make sun dried tomato, spinach, and ricotta stuffed shells. Unfortunately, jumbo shells weren’t available at the grocery store, but I bought the ingredients anyways thinking the filling would still be good over linguine.

Later that evening, however, I began to pivot as I was fearful that the filling wouldn’t have enough sauce to coat the noodles with. I decided to start searching for a sun dried tomato sauce that would use some of the ingredients that I already had. After lots of scrolling through Pinterest, I found a recipe for a Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce by Midwest Foodie that I thought would work. The end result was, sadly, one that I was not pleased with. Let’s discuss:

The Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce recipe was an incredibly easy one to make. All I needed to do was blend the tomatoes, oil from the jar, and garlic in a food processor. After everything was blended to a pesto like texture, I put it in a pan with more oil from the tomato jar and let it cook for about a minute. Herbs and vegetable stock came next and once that mixture had a chance to simmer, all that was left was to add the cheese and heavy cream. I followed the instructions to the letter and the only things I changed was using dried parsley instead of fresh and grated Parmesan instead of shredded.

This meal took me about thirty minutes to make and I was really excited to try it. I wanted to like it so badly and Johnny and I both agreed that it was good, but not great. The flavors in this sauce were fairly subtle and they didn’t pack as much of a punch as I would have liked. Granted, this might be due to the fact that I didn’t have fresh parsley or shaved Parmesan. This wasn’t a huge deal and could be fixed with some additional seasoning. The biggest issue was the sauce’s consistency. It was very, very thin and runny. Was it because I didn’t use the shaved Parm? Who’s to say? But, I don’t think it would have made that big of a difference.

I expect this sauce to thicken in the fridge and I’ll add more seasoning to it as I heat it up on the stove top for leftovers. I think that will help a lot, but I do not plan on making this Midwest Foodie recipe again. It’s always disappointing when a new recipe doesn’t go accordingly to plan, but it was fun to cook something brand new!

Have you tried any new recipes recently? How did they turn out? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov1

Roasted Corn Queso Fundido

Posted on November 1, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! Johnny and I had a fabulous Halloween weekend and I hope that all of you did too! On Friday, we hosted our bestie, Cliff, for dinner and scary movies and we helped pass out candy in my parents’ neighborhood on Saturday. We had a blast and I wish the weekend could have lasted forever! For Friday night’s dinner, I made all of the fixings for tacos including cilantro lime rice and my homemade guacamole. I also wanted to try something new by making a Roasted Corn Queso Fundido dip from closetcooking. The recipe sounded awesome but it was not that great in execution. Check it out:

This Fundido dip required minimal ingredients and simple steps. Literally all I had to do was chop some peppers and onion and let it start to char in the pan. Once the veggies were ready, it was time to add mayo, lime juice, and the cheese and mix it all up. In theory, I thought that this recipe would be really yummy and it was good. However, it wasn’t great and I definitely wouldn’t make it again.

My biggest qualm with this dip was its consistency. It wasn’t ooey gooey like I was hoping for and was essentially just veggies wadded up in melted cheese. With little to no liquid in this recipe, it makes sense and I should have thought to add some cream to it while the cheese was melting. Hindsight is, as always, twenty/twenty and I don’t really like to make tweaks on the spot with a brand new recipe. Even if this dip did have a thinner consistency, it still wouldn’t have blown me away. The flavor of it was okay, but it didn’t pack a punch and would need some doctoring up for sure.

New recipes can’t all be winners and this one from closetcooking was not the best and I don’t recommend it. I would like to try and make a Queso Blanco dip next and will hopefully have more success with that!

What is your favorite snack food? What do you like to cook when you have guests over? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct27

Cacio E Pepe Baked Gnocchi

Posted on October 27, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hellooooo! Johnny and I finally went grocery shopping and it couldn’t have come a moment too soon. We had literally nothing to eat at the apartment and there were several Pinterest recipes that I have been dying to try – one of which being a Cacio E Pepe Baked Gnocchi by Simply Delicious. I am pleased to report that it turned out amazing and both myself and my picky eater husband absolutely loved it. This recipe had minimal ingredients, took under an hour to make, and allowed for plenty of leftovers too. Check it out:

When it comes to cooking during the work week, it is a must for the recipes to be easy peasy. While I really enjoy cooking, I really enjoy relaxing after a long day too lol. The Cacio E Pepe recipe by Simply Delicious was extremely straight forward. All I did was cook the gnocchi, prepare the sauce, stick it in the oven for fifteen minutes and dinner was served. There were no crazy techniques or a litany of ingredients involved and that is something I appreciate. Although I am a great cook, I am definitely no Master Chef!

Speaking of ingredients, there were only ten needed to prepare this dish. The beauty of this recipe is that a majority of the ingredients are things that you more than likely already have. The only items I needed to purchase was the milk, cream, and gnocchi. Not only was the recipe completely new to me, but it included an ingredient that is new to me too – cream!

I have never made a recipe that called for cream and even if it did, I probably would have used milk because that’s what my mom would do. However, I decided to go all out for this dish and use the cream and calories be damned lol. I am so glad that I did because I don’t think the end result would be the same without it. My baked gnocchi turned out divine. It was incredibly rich and just one serving filled me up. Despite it being a short lived meal, each bite was heavenly. The sauce was so bold and flavorful, the gnocchi was tender, and it is one of my favorite things that I have ever made.

As per both mine and Johnny’s request, I will one thousand percent be making the Cacio E Pepe Baked Gnocchi again. Huge shout out to Simply Delicious as the mastermind behind this dish!

What is your favorite kind of pasta? What do you normally cook during the work week? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug22

New Tor’s Prints Chopping Board

Posted on August 22, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! Today, we are going to check out the last purchase I made at the Punk Rock Flea Market! Then, keep it posted for a brand new Bath Bomb Blitz once I get around to using the super cute bath bomb that Johnny got for me. 🙂 When I shop, I only buy the things that I feel like I have to have as soon as I see it. What’s the point of spending money on something that you don’t absolutely love? This chopping board by Tor’s Prints definitely fell under that category and I think you can all understand why. That is, if you are familiar with the Papa Roach song “Last Resort” lol. Take a look:

The Tor’s Prints booth had all kinds of cool goodies like keychains, stickers, and earrings. I was most enamored, however, by the custom chopping boards. When my eyes locked in on the Papa Roach inspired board and I learned that its price was only ten dollars, it was as good as mine. Johnny and I thought it was the funniest thing and it will also come in very handy because my current chopping board sucks. Then again, it’s such a hoot that I might just keep it on display on a knick knack shelf. 😀

I love everything that I purchased from the Punk Rock Flea Market, but the chopping board is my favorite. It was so neat to shop around because every booth had something completely one of a kind. While TJMaxx will always be my happy place, you will never find anything like the stuff at the market there! This was such an awesome event to attend and Johnny and I have a lot more plans in the works… Stay tuned on lifewithlilred for when your fave Elder Emo couple hits up the county fair lolol.

You can shop Tor’s Prints on Etsy and follow all of the latest and greatest on Facebook too. And, as always, support your local artists!! ❤

Where is your shopping happy place? Have you ever been to a county fair? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun2

Roasted Garlic Butter Parmesan Potatoes

Posted on June 2, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! Memorial Day was the first week day that I have had off since the holiday season and it was wonderful! I caught up on paperwork, did very minimal other work, binge watched Top Shot with Johnny, and cooked up a storm. I cooked a few favorite recipes like mac n cheese and tried out something new by following Eatwell101’s recipe for Roasted Garlic Butter Parmesan Potatoes. While there were parts of this recipe I would change, Johnny freaking loved it so it was a GREAT SUCCESS in that regard! Check it out:

This potato side dish recipe was insanely easy to make and took less than fifteen minutes of prep time to complete. All I had to do was chop the potatoes and garlic, melt some butter, and mix a few ingredients together for the sauce. Then, all that was left to do was pop it in the oven and wait. Even before I placed the dish in the oven, it smelled SO good and while it was cooking it smelled even better – our hungry selves were very eager to try it out!

As I said, Johnny was most pleased with the outcome of this recipe and asked me right away if I could make it again lol. That always makes me happy, regardless of if I liked it or not! I thought that the base of the recipe was great, but it wasn’t as flavorful as I had imagined it to be; especially considering the amount of garlic used and I even added some onion in for good measure. The next time I make this, I will be opting for fresh herbs (Which I didn’t have) as well as some lemon juice. I love lemon and Parmesan together and I think that it will help bring more of the flavors out that kind of got muddled.

As per Johnny’s request, I will be getting the ingredients for the Roasted Garlic Butter Parmesan Potatoes again for our next curbside order. I will also be getting my modification ingredients and am hoping it will be even better the next time around. This is a recipe worth trying and putting your own spin on too!

What is your favorite side dish? How did you spend Memorial Day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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