Life Through a New Lens

I am not one to be jealous, nor am I one to brag.

However, I would like to admit that I have been mighty jealous envious of all you bloggers out there with nice cameras.

But now, I must brag share with you… my new camera. :) Best gift ever, from my Dad for my 30th birthday. A big deal, I am just in heaven with this camera. A Canon Rebel T3. Oh, I love it so.

So, with no recipes (which I will normally not do), I present to you our dinner tonight.

Appetizer: Linguica with Mustard Sauce

Linguica again, just to show off the mad skills of my new camera. ;)

Asparagus before being grilled

Asparagus after being grilled

Smashed Potatoes

Aunt Terri's Salad

Grilled Rib-Eyes

And just a random shot, this is set at vibrant with the most blur it could get in the background. I love it. :)

I am beyond happy. :)

Oh, and also check out my 365 Project @ http://365project.org/hungryharps/365

Pizza Sauce & Wheat Pizza Crust

I have to apologize for not posting anything new lately. I have not cooked anything I deem worthy enough of sharing. Hear me out…

• I tried a Lemon Chicken Slow Cooker recipe, but it was gross – seriously.
• We had a couple of roasts on Father’s Day, but again – nothing to write home about.
• There were the BLTs (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato Sandwiches), but with spinach instead of lettuce, so I guess they were BSTs – wonderful, but not original enough to share.
• I made some homemade pizza pockets – but I did not seal them correctly…. tasty, but definitely not picture worthy.
• There were brownies, but I missed a step in the recipe and it is kind of an important step – so, another recipe that will have to wait to be shared.

Geez, who let this girl have a food blog?

Ah, now there is something new I can share with you! We are officially hungryharps.com :) Very exciting, very official. Yay!

Ok, ok a recipe. I am totally excited about this one. Pizza! We all love pizza here in the Harp House, it has the key essentials of a perfect dish; bread, cheese and meat. And I can’t lie, I like the veggies too. This was the first time I had ever made pizza “from scratch” and the outcome was delightful.

Wheat Pizza Crust
Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/3 cups wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic

Directions

1. Dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution.
3. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
4. Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface. Add garlic and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
5. Preheat oven to 425. If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
6. Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
7. Enjoy!

Pizza Sauce
Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon ground oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika

Directions

1. Mix everything in bowl
2. Let sit for 30 minutes
3. Enjoy!

The toppings I used were as follows:
Cheese, chopped spinach, more cheese, mushrooms, red onions, grilled chicken, more cheese, minced garlic and minced rosemary… and I may have put a little bit more cheese on there too. The pizza turned out delicious, Super Yum!

Pizza Sauce and Wheat Pizza Crust are both recipes adapted from Allrecipes.com

Hot Wings

Finding the perfect Hot Wing recipe was no easy feat. I tried numerous recipes with no luck, so I decided to give it a try on my own. The wings turned out pretty good, but not great. So, I started my search again – I wanted needed a recipe that fit my specifications of crispy, spicy and delicious. Well, the time has come… I have found the best Hot Wing recipe!

If you like Hot Wings, you will love these. I promise. I have made them several times, never veering from the recipe and they turn out incredible. :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 chicken wings
• oil for deep frying
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup hot sauce
• 1 dash ground black pepper
• 1 dash garlic powder

Directions

1. Mix the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt
2. Evenly coat chicken with flour mixture (I used a big stainless steel bowl, but I imagine putting it all into a Ziploc bag would do the trick too)
3. Place chicken in fridge for an hour
4. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees
5. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat
6. Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts of wings begin to turn brown
7. Place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together
8. Enjoy!

Recipe from AllRecipes.com

Iced Tea

Today is National Iced Tea Day, and I could not let it pass without paying a little tribute. I had a bag of Pluff Iced Tea from my Foodzie box last month, and I figured today was the perfect day to use it! The flavor was Broken Orange Pekoe, which is a black tea – my favorite. Yay!

I have to admit that I had never made Iced Tea before today, and considering how easy it is, I can’t believe I am not a regular Iced Tea drinker. Let me share with you how to make Iced Tea, just in case you have been living in a hole like me. :)

1. Boil 1 quart (4 cups) cold water
2. Put your teabag(s) in pitcher and pour in boiling water

3. Let steep for 5 minutes. Remove teabag(s)
4. If adding sweetener, you will want to add it now and stir
5. Add 1 quart (4 cups) cold water

6. Pour immediately over ice and enjoy!

I love this picture of Bubba taking the tea. He is a little food monster. :)

Deep Fried Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich

Deep-Fried Peanut Butter & Jelly

Ingredients:
• Peanut Butter
• Jelly
• Bread (I used 100% wheat and it worked nicely)
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Oil for frying
• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper; whisk into the egg mixture until smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Heat oil to 350 degrees
3. Make your peanut butter jelly sandwiches (You could probably make 4 sandwiches with the amount of batter you will have)
4. Cut sandwiches in quarters and dip in batter, then place in oil.
5. Deep fry until all sides are golden brown
6. Dust with confectioners’ sugar
7. Enjoy

Toasted Raviolis

One would think that after a few days of no blog posts I could have a nice meal to share. No such luck here, I was doing much more fun things than putting together a blog post, I was:

Finger Painting

Crocheting Finger Puppets for the Kiddos

Watching my little Spinach and Summer Squash sprout up

Making Homemade Play Dough

Basically, just being a mom. :) Best job in the world, handsdown.

Here is a recipe while I get back into the groove of things on the blogging front.

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package meat ravioli (fresh or frozen -thaw if frozen)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs breadcrumbs
• Grated Parmesan & Basil to garnish
• Enough oil to deep fry

Directions

1. Preheat oil to 325
2. Combine egg and milk
3. Dip each ravioli in egg/milk mixture then dip in breadcrumbs. Let sit 5-10 so breadcrumbs fully adhere. I put mine in the fridge during this time
4. Fry raviolis while making sure to not crowd them, about 2 minutes or until they are golden brown
5. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and basil, enjoy with some marinara :)

Adapted from this recipe