August Ipsy

 

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day everyone!  I have three new posts up with the recipes for everything I made for our Labor Day cookout.  Everything I made was cooked on the grill.  Below are all the links.  I hope everyone had a great day with family and friends!

Citrus Marinated Shrimp

Potatoes on the Grill

Veggie Skewers

Veggie Skewers

More Labor Day food!  Veggie Skewers are a really easy way to add some nutrition to your meal.  I love all the colors!  I just picked my favorite veggies, skewered them up and poured on a quick marinade for some extra flavor.  These skewers are so versatile.  You can change up anything you want.  You can use different vegetables and herbs and they will still turn out great.  I served these with Citrus Marinated Shrimp and Potatoes on the Grill.  You can use any kind of vegetables you want for this, but here is how I made mine:

Potatoes on the Grill

So here is the last thing I made for my Labor Day cookout.  Potatoes on the Grill!  Potatoes are one of my favorite things.  I love finding new ways to cook them.  They are so versatile!  You can flavor them and cook them in so many different ways.  I wanted everything I cooked for our Labor Day meal to be cooked on the grill, so I made little foil packets of potatoes.  I've seen a lot of different people use this method but I hadn't done it before so I wanted to give it a try.  How hard can it be?  You just throw everything in packet and sit it on the grill!  It's easy and there is barely any clean up.  I served these with Citrus Marinated Shrimp and Veggie Skewers.  Here's how to make them:

 

Citrus Marinated Shrimp

Happy Labor Day!  Time to grill!  I was excited to be off work this Labor Day so we decided to grill out by the pool.  These shrimp are really easy to make and perfect for a hot summer day.  I love any food you can eat with your hands.  With these shrimp I also made Veggie Skewers and Potatoes on the Grill.  I hope everyone had a great Labor Day!

Country Green Beans

I was really in the mood for some "country cooking" the other night.  I was born and raised in the South, so it's food I'm used to.  And I can't get enough of it!  I limit how much of it I eat because Southern food is full of fat, but that's what makes it so good!  I've been making these green beans for years.  They are satisfying and super tasty.  I love the crunch that the fresh green beans give, the saltiness of the bacon and the tang from the red wine vinegar.  Here's how to make them:

 

Herb Roasted Baby Potatoes

This is great recipe for a quick side dish.  I love potatoes because they are so versatile.  My favorite way to have them is roasted in the oven with a lot of herbs.  The combinations are endless.  This is a recipe I came up with a few days ago using herbs from my garden.  I threw in some onions and garlic for extra flavor.  It's really easy and really tasty!  Potatoes are awesome because they are a natural starch.  It makes me feel healthier to eat some potatoes instead of pasta or bread.  Here's how to make them:

Cream of Broccoli Soup with White Cheddar and Bacon

"Uhh, what is the Soup du Jour?"
"It's the soup of the day"
"Mmm.. that sounds good.  I'll have that."
-Dumb and Dumber


Soup!  I love making soups.  There are so many different kinds and most are so easy to make.  And not to mention everything is in one pot!  I love one pot meals too.  They make life easier.  At work a few days ago, I needed to make a soup for service.  I decided on cream of broccoli because it's simple and delicious.  I also love broccoli cheddar soup, so I decided to combine the two.  It turned out great!  My co-workers and our guests really seemed to like it so I quickly tried to write down everything I put in it.  I've cut this recipe down a bit because I made several gallons for the restaurant!  Here's the recipe: :)

Mussels in an Herb Tomato Sauce

It has been really nice living right next door to a grocery store!  A lot of days on my way home from work, I stop in and see what they have in the seafood section. On this day, they had mussels for 4 dollars per pound.  I picked up a pound, not realizing that I didn't have any stock, wine or beer at home. All three are ideal for steaming mussels. So I dug through the pantry and fridge to see what I could come up with. Here is it!  Keep in mind most of my recipes are for 1 or 2 people!

Buffalo Shrimp Salad with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

I love a big, hearty and filling salad.  I also love buffalo sauce on anything and everything.  This recipe combines a lot of my favorite things.  The colors are really vibrant and beautiful, which to me, is always a huge plus.  This salad literally has every color of the rainbow.  You eat with your eyes before your mouth!  I have always heard the more colorful your plate, the better it is for you.  This one salad has everything you need all on one plate.  Packed with protein and fresh vegetables, this salad won't let you down!

Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

Roasted garlic is good in so many different recipes.  I think the best way to use it is in a salad dressing.  It keeps the garlic pure, and it isn't masked by other flavors.  Here is my recipe for a Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette.

Oven Roasted Garlic

Oven roasted garlic is so delicious.  It becomes very sweet and has a mild flavor.  It's great for salad dressings, marinades or even just spread onto a piece of bread.  This method is foolproof!

Ellen's Buffalo Sauce

Oh buffalo sauce, I love you.  I love anything spicy, especially anything tossed in buffalo sauce.  I put hot sauce on almost everything.  I haven't figured out buffalo ice cream or buffalo cake yet, but if I could, I'd probably eat it.  Buffalo sauce really isn't as bad for you as people think.  Sure, it has a lot of butter in it, but other than that it's just vinegar and spices.  As long as you limit how much you eat of it, just like everything else, it's not so bad.  It's a great way to add lots of flavor and spice to pretty much anything you want.  Wings, pizza, proteins on salads, sandwiches, buffalo mac and cheese, buffalo chili... anything! The list goes on and on.

Onion Dip

Having company is a great excuse to eat junk food! ... Well it's true.  I usually only eat junk food when there is some kind of celebration going on.  Having guests staying in your home is a celebration to me!  Today was the Carolina Panthers' second preseason game and Drew's dad was in the mood for some onion dip so I whipped some up for the game. Yum!

Breakfast Frittata

It's been another busy weekend. Drew's dad has been visiting so I've been cooking a lot of things for breakfast. I wanted to come up with a recipe where I could feed a lot of people without using a ton of dishes and ingredients. So I thought a frittata would be perfect. A frittata is an egg based dish that's similar to a quiche or an omelet but has a lot of other ingredients inside.  Everything is cooked in one pan, it's inexpensive, feeds a crowd and is easy to make.