Sangria and Baked Brie!

When our friends were visiting, I decided that I'd make some sangria!  I had never made any before, and so I looked around at a bunch of different recipes to try and figure out how to make it.  I kind of picked parts from several different recipes, and this is what I came up with.  It was absolutely delicious!

The first step is to cut up all the fruit.  I used 2 lemons, 2 limes, 1 orange, 1 red apple, and one green apple.  You slice the citrus fruits and dice the apples.  Throw them in your pitcher.

Then you add the booze!  I decided to do a bottle of Spanish red wine (it's one of the cheapest bottles that I could find at Trader Joe's, all the recipes I read said to use cheap wine, so here you go).  Then I added a cup of orange flavored vodka and a cup of Triple Sec.  Then you should pop it into the fridge for several hours so that the fruit can soak up everything.  

This is the finished product.  We started drinking it, and I felt like it was missing something.  A few of the recipes mentioned adding something with bubbles like ginger ale or sprite.  Well, I didn't have any of those, but I did have a bottle of Prosecco.  I added a splash of that into each glass and it was perfect! Something worth mentioning, the fruit really soaks in the alcohol, so be prepared to be shocked when you take those first few bites of fruit.  It is seriously like taking a shot.  whew.  

Besides wine, one of my favorite things to buy at Trader Joe's is cheese.  They have very affordable cheese.  While I was there picking up the Spanish wine, I got some Brie and French bread.  This recipe is super easy and really delicious.  Put the Brie on a baking sheet and bake it at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Also throw your sliced bread in there too, so that it can get crusty and toasty and delicious.  While the cheese and bread are cooking, toast some sliced almonds in a skillet.  When the cheese is good and oozy then pull it out of the oven, put it on the plate, throw the almonds on top and drizzle with honey.  NOM.  I mean, SO GOOD!

You should make both of these of your next get together.  I think that you should make a double batch of the Sangria if you are entertaining people.  YUM!  I hope that you guys enjoy this as much as we did.  Happy eating!

Big Fat Spicy Sate Noodles (with Chicken)

Okay, so I was hesitant to blog this because one of my vegetarian friends just went on a rant about people adding meat to dishes that don't call for it... BUT it was delicious and I wanted to share! I added chicken to this because I wanted it to be the main meal instead of a side dish.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  :-)


Now, if you have been following the blog then you already know that I am lucky enough to have the entire month of August off!  The family that I was nannying for moved to Philadelphia last week, and I don't start with my new family until the end of the month.  So, what's a girl to do?  Well, I decided to pull out a bunch of old Rachael Ray cookbooks that I have stored away.  You want to know what I realized?  Greg eats such a bigger variety of food now than he did when we first lived together and got married!  These cookbooks have so much in them now that I know he will eat.

Exhibit A: Big Fat Spicy Sate Noodles (with chicken)

Here's the recipe- if you can read it then I guess you don't have to read my long post... But if you want to see how it goes instead of trying to read that tiny print then be my guest!  

Here's the line up- I forgot cilantro, but if you are one of those people that have a very strong aversion to cilantro then please just use flat leaf parsley.  I have two things to say about the line-up: I just dry roasted peanuts because that's what we have in our house, and I wish I had peeled the ginger and put it in the freezer for a few hours because it grates up SO much easier when it's frozen (so do that if you have time, okay?).

Chicken- not called for in the recipe.  If you are a vegetarian or you want to make it as a side dish, or if you want a meatless dinner then GO FOR IT!  It's totally amazing, and I'm sure it would be without the chicken too.   But I used the chicken and thinly sliced it.  A trick that makes that easier would be to throw the chicken in the freezer for about 15 min- so so so much easier to cut it thinly!

Umm, wine?  Check.  Need I say more?  

Cook the chicken with some salt and pepper, but don't over do it!  Remember, sliced thinly?  It only takes 4-5 minutes.  

Put the chicken in a bowl, or a plate.  Whatever makes you happy.  

Mince your garlic (far right), grate the ginger (middle, grating works way better than chopping because frankly, fresh ginger is a pain in the ass to chop up), chop up the cilantro (or parsley), and halve two limes.  I would like to note that my juicer (the yellow thing in the back) is BY FAR my favorite kitchen gadget.  If you don't have one then I think you should go by one... asap.  

Did I mention that you should boil some water and cook the noodles to al dente?  Well, do that.  While the noodles are cooking make sure to reserve a cup of starchy cooking water.  It kind of marries everyone together at the end.  (go Bulls!)

Now put the oil in your skillet and add the garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes.  Cook those for a few minutes.  It will smell delicious!

Next you are going to add tamari, chicken stock (vegetable stock if you want it to be meat free), and some of that starchy cooking water that you put in your favorite mug. Cook this out!  I think the recipe says to cook it on high 3-4 minutes.  I might take it a little further than that.  

Add the peanut butter- yuuuuuum!  Mix it in with a whisk.  I didn't use my whisk because it was rusted (YUCK- and I can't believe I just admitted that to you guys)- we will be buying a new one very soon.  By the way, you should reduce the heat to low at this point.

Once the peanut butter is incorporated then throw in the chicken (or not).

Squeeze in the juices of your two lemons.  Did I mention how much I love my juicer?  Seriously, you need to go to the store and buy one.  It will change your life.  

Add the noodles!  Mix them in, if it's too thick then add some more of that starchy cooking water from the noodles.  

Add the peanuts and the cilantro (or parsley) and mix that all together.  

 EAT!

I hope that you guys enjoy this!  Give me some feedback!