Chance for EXTRA GIVEAWAY ENTRY! Can You Say LAST CHANCE??? Giveaway entry closes at midnight!

Just a quick reminder that at MIDNIGHT my FIRST GIVEAWAY closes out.... a CASE, yes, you heard me correctly, a 12 box case of POMI Chopped Tomatoes to one lucky U.S. Winner!

All you had to do was confirm IN A COMMENT on any of the 3 posts related to this giveaway on my blog that you had done ONE of each of the following things to ensure you never miss another giveaway! 

#1 ~Followed/Joined my site OR signed up to receive my emails

[both in right margin]

#2 ~Liked my Facebook page or followed me on Twitter or Pinterest

The way I set this up you got one entry for doing both things.... 

The way to get a  SECOND entry.... vote for which of my remaining 11 FAVORITE things you'd like to see in May's Giveaway :)click here to see the list and full details so far I only have 2 votes.... both for a Sea Salt Collection!

Want a THIRD ENTRY? repost this to your Facebook page and let me know in a comment here or on MY FB page that you did!

BONNE CHANCE!

My Awesome Foodie Pen Pal & a recipe... Lake Shore Drive Chicken & Noodles

I stumbled across this fun thing called the Foodie Pen pal Club that Lindsay over at the Lean Green Bean runs and I thought how flippin' fun.  So, I signed up and WHAT FUN indeed! 600 Pen pals matched up in both the U.S. & Canada.


My Pen Pal to send to was Amber in Corpus Christie TX.  Amber didn't express any major dietary concerns  and was a young calorie burning girl and I thought she could certainly handle some of Ruthie's Scotcheroos... so, I made some and packaged them up and then put together a "Scotcheroo Kit" for her to make a batch too!  All that in a lucky four leaf clover tin... I really had fun putting it together.

Date Night Daytona Style {Ronin Review}

Ronin in Daytona Beach

Probably the "hippest" place you can eat in the Daytona area is Ronin.    I mean we are pretty old but we are not "early bird" age quite yet and finding anything cutting edge around here is no small feat... Ronin fits the bill.  They offer a full Sushi menu and have a fairly small "regular" menu {which I like} with well thought out and definitely chef composed offerings  {including Japanese Grill type offering served as plated dinners if you aren't a Sushi-lover}.  Located down on International Speedway just west of Beach Street with lots of parking behind it, it's convenient and in a great area.  Ronin has a very versatile atmosphere with efficient, friendly service: we've taken the kids, gone with friends and it's perfect for Date Night... a REALLY nice dimly lit place where you can quietly catch up with each other after a long week of doing for everyone else!
Last night I enjoyed a nice Pinot Noir but they have a fun Saketini that you should try if your in the mood for a fruity libation.  Drinks in hand, we started with a bowl of Miso this time, which was good but all things considered not their BEST offering.

Seared Scallop appetizer

We then moved on to the seared scallop appetizer.... now, THAT is something you really shouldn't miss.  I cannot go to Ronin without enjoying this.... pan seared Scallops with a Ponzu based sauce served with tempura asparagus, 4 each, so a perfect sharing plate.  

Kobe Roll

For our main course we have tried a pretty big variety of their rolls but always come back to the Kobe Roll.  It's possibly the best roll I've ever had, anywhere.  It's described as "Crunch, Krab, Spicy Mayo topped with seared kobe beef, avocado, truffle oil and eel sauce". We ordered two and were stuffed to the gills.... as an aside, I always order a Salmon Nigiri as my test of freshness of sushi and they always pass!
If you haven't checked out Ronin you really should, they offer fresh Sushi, creative rolls & appetizers and a nice variety of Japanese Grill items as well.  Two Yums Up!

Happy National Blueberry Pie Day & A Guest Post

Dylan & Ruthie a/k/a Nana
berry picking

Berry Ramekin Pies

I'm very happy to have the opportunity to do my first guest post and to meet the Food Stories' followers on this auspicious food holiday: National Blueberry Pie Day. I've followed C.J. and her stories since she began and just love the premise of her blog and I think you will too. When I saw she was looking for folks to celebrate food with her, this just seemed the perfect holiday for me to pop in with my own food story. You see, Ruthie was a huge fan of the Blueberry Pie and she would spend endless hours picking blueberries in Vermont and then more hours baking the perfect pie, hope you will pop over to Food Stories {CLICK HERE} to check out my guest post and get the recipe cause these little pies rocked!

Featured 5 {& a few thank yous!}

My FAVORITE 

time of the week

yup. Young Grasshopper's FEATURED FIVE

just in time for your weekend cooking!

Pie Anyone?  Stefanie @ eat drink love posted an incredible looking Strawberries & Cream Pie 

We have a thing for coconut here at Chez Webb and Lizzy at that Skinny Chick Can Bake  was singing our song when she posted Coconut Friands on French Fridays with Dorie :)  

Journey of an Italian Cook brought it for Small Bites Sunday with her Asparagus-Cheese Melts, PERFECTION.

Christi at Mom What's For Dinner served up an awesome FOUR ingredient Hot Caprese Dip this week that looks to die for!  

 

Baker Street rocked Muffin Monday as usual with her Sugar Crusted Raspberry Lemon Muffins!  

And my "one for good luck" goes to 

Shelle at Southern Shelle 

for her super cute app, the BLT Bite, yum!

****ALL PHOTO CREDITS TO THE POST REFERENCED,

HUGE Thank you to all for letting me repost****

While I have your attention, I wanted to take a quick minute to thank Jaquelineand.... at Blether for her generous Recipe contributions to Courtney's Girl Scout Project! 

WOOT WOOT!

 p.s. there's still time to send your recipes in this weekend!

And last but not least a huge Shout to Katja at Katja's Kitchen for my second Versatile Bloggers Award, stop by her awesome blog this week :)

The Search Is Over {Wild Rice Risotto}



Wild Rice Risotto

If you've been with me a bit, you know I LOVE Risotto :)  I love it with Short Ribs, I love it with Pork, I love it with Chicken, I love it with Spring Vegetables, I love it in a house, I love it with a mouse.... you get the idea.

A few weeks ago I was introduced to Wild Rice Risotto at a great restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico called the Artichoke Cafe.  Since then I've been mildly obsessed and thought I'd do some experimenting and By George, I think I've got it!

Happy National Pigs In A Blanket Day Matt Coleman!

Today marks a day near and dear to our hearts across America..... Yes, National Pigs In A Blanket Day. These little babies are mummies at Halloween, lady bugs at 3rd birthday parties, a staple at Super Bowl Parties and a real treat whenever they are made. Here at Chez Webb they are also the confirmed favorite food of our favorite teacher, Matt Coleman 

This is the boy slaving

{Who by the way is current reigning Teacher of the Quarter at our school}. So to celebrate this auspicious occasion.... the boy & I slaved away and made pigs in a blanket for the class.

So, what's our secret?

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 pkg little smokies

1 can Pillsbury extra thick crescent rolls

makes approximately 35 pigs :)

WHAT YOU DO:

Preheat oven to 350F

open the can of crescents and cut each triangle into 4 or 5 triangles; starting at a skinny point roll the wiener in a triangle.  Place on parchment lined jelly roll pan and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.  They don't need to be spaced too much on the pan, Siamese pigs are GOOD LUCK!

CELEBRATE THE DAY!

Ruthie's Orzo Made Heidi's Way

My Mom made the best Orzo.  Now, I make the best orzo.  And I have a complicated way of doing it AND an easy way.  Interestingly enough, the healthy one is WAY easy and still WAY yummy. 

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 tsp grapeseed oil {or olive}
1/2 sweet onion chopped
3 slices bacon crumbled {I had Hormel "real" bacon crumbles tonight cause I'm a cheater!}
2 cups Orzo {I used whole wheat tonight}
2 cups Chicken broth
2 tsp granulated garlic
sea salt to finish {approximately 1 tsp}

WHAT YOU DO:
Heat oil in saute pan over medium high heat; add onion and saute until soft about 4 minutes, add bacon and saute another minute before adding Orzo.  Stir until orzo is lightly coated and combined with onion and bacon.  Stir over heat for 2-3 minutes before adding the broth.  Bring broth to a boil, add garlic and then reduce heat to a LOW simmer and cover.  It will be done in about twenty minutes but if you turn to warm it can sit for an hour and still be FABULOUS.  Right before serving sprinkle with sea salt, I use the grinder kind.

I served with sauteed chicken with asparagus and zuchini.  YUM.  Gotta love a thirty minute meal after a busy day!

p.s. I'll share the COMPLICATED one some weekend <3

I adore berries! {Raspberry Tilapia with Raspberry Salsa}

I love this time of year and all the fresh berries!  And I think Berry Salsa & Fish are made for each other..... and this recipe is a great weeknight meal, less than 40 minutes from start to table....

If You Are Offended by Strong Language This Post Is Not For You {What The F**K Should I Make For Dinner? Review}

OK, I saw this in the sidebar of someone's blog and just couldn't resist.  I'm so glad I didn't because this cookbook is fucking hilarious.  Sorry, there's no other way to state it.  And best part it's got some awesome recipes, ole Zach can cook as well as he says the word Fuck {And he does that very well}.

It comes in a hard back spiral with glossy pages that will withstand a splatter or two {or your tears of laughter} over the years of well worn use.  

I'm a Salty Girl {Salted Roasted Chickpeas}

Salted Roasted Chickpeas

I decided to make some snacks this weekend to head into the week with so I made some of my Trail Mix Cookies.  YUM.  But need something salty too.  I had seen Roasted Chickpeas on The Lean Green Bean and decided that was exactly what I needed.... a crunchy, salty, protein filled treat! 

These Chickpeas are super easy and soooo yummy. I went very simple and simply salted but if you check hers out she did a sweet & spicy version or you could do any spice you wanted [when I was googling for the recipe I even saw a recipe out there for cinnamon and sugar ones!].

GIVEAWAY REMINDER & Chance for "extra" entry because I care

Just a quick reminder that a week from Monday my FIRST GIVEAWAY closes out.... a CASE, yes, you heard me correctly, a 12 box case of POMI Chopped Tomatoes to one lucky U.S. Winner! 

All you had to do was confirm to had done ONE of each of the following things to ensure you never miss another giveaway!  

• ****Followed/Joined my site 
OR signed up to receive my emails
• ****Liked my Facebook page or followed me on Twitter or Pinterest

The way I set this up you got one entry for doing both things.... here's a chance for A SECOND entry.... vote for which of my remaining 11 FAVORITE things you'd like to see in May's Giveaway :)click here to see the list and full details

BONNE CHANCE!

Pizza Night {Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Dough & Super Easy Homemade Sauce too}

Whole Wheat Pizza with Ricotta, onion & mushrooms

David has been DYING for pizza ever since we started the "you can eat anything you want BUT not THAT" Diet.... so decided we'd make homemade pizza today and although Publix sells "wheat" dough I have to assume it's like most wheat bread.... it has an element of wheat but still has white flour and sugar in it.


So, to stay true to the evil diet I searched the web for recipes, and ended up having to piece them together because I found one that I liked most of the ingredients and then saw it was for a bread machine and found all the way instructions but then had to look up parts because it assumed I knew too much.  I will say this, I honestly don't know how you could do this without a mixer or processor, it took a good 5 minutes or more for my Kitchen-aid.


All said, I came up with a pretty awesome recipe that had no evil flour or evil sugar and that everyone really liked a lot!  I mean don't get me wrong it wasn't Jersey pizza.... but it satisfied the need for now.

GINSANITY Chapter VIII: Southside Cocktail {Guest Blog by Anita from The Hungry Couple}

I'm very excited to say that I have a guest blogger today.... Anita from The Hungry Couple.  {applause, cheers} When Anita accepted my invitation to share their latest Gin Cocktail with my readers I was REALLY excited because you see, The Hungry Couple was one of the original blogs I started following and so it's like inviting "an old friend" over to help you bake.... or in this case to help you mix cocktails.  I originally started following their blog because we are similar.... good food {some healthy/some notsomuch} & of course good drinks.... both at home and out {and not necessarily in that order}.  That's my kind of couple :)

Anyhow, Anita is an awesome blogger and photographer {recent recipient of the FoodBuzz nod, need I say more?} and I hope you will check out their blog BUT enough from ME, I'm honored to introduce to you, Anita and the....

Southside Cocktail

Hello Young Grasshopper fans! First I'd like to thank Heidi very much for inviting me to her blog in sunny Florida for a Gin-sanity guest post. She and I are still getting to know each other as bloggers but anyone who has a separate cocktail section on their site is pretty much OK with me. I'm always impressed by the fact that she has a husband, three children and a career as an attorney but still finds time to cook and blog. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Ours is a peaceful existence with two mature humans, a quiet dog and a well stocked liquor cabinet. Speaking of which, I hope those kids have been sent off to play because we're going to be discussing some hard liquor here today, folks.


We get inspired to invent or recreate drinks in lots of different ways. For example, a while back we were watching an Iron Chef America episode where the secret ingredient was mint and one of the chefs served a minty cocktail. We're big fans of mint drinks and any cocktail containing copious amounts of it is sure to get our attention. The drink in question that day was the Southside Cocktail and research into its history points to it being around since the 1920's but with the exact origin up for debate. Some say it originated among the gangs on the south side of Chicago. Others say it was among the lounge tables at the 21 Club in New York. Most agree its currently the summer sipper of the Hamptons crowd and the beautiful people. Well...we're beautiful, too. Serve it up!

Per Serving:
2 oz. Gin
1/2 oz. Lemon juice
1/2 oz. Simple syrup
Large handful of fresh mint

Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and muddle the mint with a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon. Add ice cubes and shake well. Pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a sprig of mint and/or a wedge of lemon. To make the Southside Fizz version of this drink, simply top it off with 3 to 4 oz. of club soda.

Please check out our blog, Hungry Couple, for lots of other drink and food inspirations. And once again, thank you Heidi for giving me the honor of being here today. Cheers!

Young Grasshopper's Featured Five :)

What have YOU been up to this week?

I've been keeping an eye on things....

and here's my FEATURED FIVE

 just in time for the weekend!


how do you like my new  "Featured 5" pic? feel free to add to your awards page.... Kelly at Eat Yourself Skinny in all of her awesomeness created it for me :)

Laura at Wylde Thyme celebrated National Grilled Cheese a little late with an insane Loaded Baked Potato Grilled Cheese which got on my list early in the week... and then pulled my heart strings later with her Just Like Grandma's Potato Salad that looked just like Ruthie's!  YUM!  I couldn't pick so they both made the list!

Moo at Moo's Pantry posted

 a most very amazing

 coconut cake that David

 is DYING for me to try! 

 Great blog to check out!

Jenn at the Home Skillet dreamed

up some Pulled Pork Sliders with Jicama Slaw 

on my favorite King's Hawaiian rolls

while sitting in her dentist chair.....

I am dreaming of these sliders all day

every day since I saw them....

time to get cookin'!

For probably the 100th time since reading her blog Deb at Smitten Kitchen make me gasp Shut. The. Front. Door. with her Banana Bread Crepe Cake with Butterscotch. 

I don't know what else I can say.

And my "one for good luck" goes to The Chef in Me (Michael Chang) and his Chilled Yuzu (Japanese citrus) cream soup with raspberry red wine reduction sauce. Served with cinnamon puff stick.... craziness if this was his dessert at home!

While I have your attention, I wanted to take a quick minute to thank the following Bloggers for their generous Recipe contributions to Courtney's Girl Scout Project! 

WOOT WOOT!

Alex at Life, Liberty &
The Pursuit of Foodiness

Cindy at Traveling in the
WriteLane

Urvashi at Go Bake Yourself

 p.s. there's still time to send your recipes in!

****ALL PHOTO CREDITS TO THE POST REFERENCED,

HUGE Thank you to all for letting me repost****

Ginsanity Chapter VII: Love is All Around {One Flew South in ATL International Review}

I have these days I call Mary Tyler Moore days.... I buzz through them smiling at everyone, saying Hi to strangers, kissing babies [well maybe not kissing babies]. Anything seems possible on my MTM Days.... but not necessarily everything.... for instance yesterday.  A total MTM Day except I didn't get my standby flight to get home at a reasonable hour;  BUT because it was an MTM Day I wasn't pissed that I had run from Concourse A to Concourse E for this disappointment.  I simply went to the ladies room, chucked out the salad I had bought from a kiosk in Albuquerque "just in case" and I headed into One Flew South.  

Did Someone Say Risotto? {Chicken Risotto with Spring Vegetables}

Chicken Risotto with Spring Vegetables

Did someone say Risotto?

Oh, it was me talking to myself?

I'm thinking about changing my name to Gordon and speaking only of Risotto going forward. I'll be The Risotto Blog. Young Risotto.

I do love it so. 





And all these great spring veggies, who can stand it?  They deserve a Risotto.  YOU deserve a Risotto.

So, yes, I have a new Risotto for you.... and no, it's not the Mojito Risotto.  At least not yet.

FCAT Breakfast When Mommy is Away {Ham and Cheese Breakfast Muffins}

Ham & Cheese Breakfast Muffins

Boy was this weekend BUSY getting the family ready for me to be out of town during standardized testing.... I still wanted them to have hot, healthy breakfasts without me there so I made breakfast burritos and these awesome popovers.  All easily nuked and taken on the go.... They are a hit!

Help A Girl Scout Out.... Recipe Drive for Ronald McDonald House Project

This goes out to my friends both in and outside of the foodie community, a close friend of mine has asked if I can help this Girl Scout with a very worthy goal that is right up our alley.... here is her story in her words: 

"Hi, my name is Courtney and I am currently working on my Girl Scout Gold Award Project, which is the highest award that can be earned in Girl Scouting. For my Gold Award Project, I will be providing new bedding, which is called mattelasse (a type of quilt) for the 40 beds that the residents stay in at the Ronald McDonald House. In order to earn money for the new bedding, I am putting together a cookbook for busy families to sell at the Ronald McDonald House and throughout the community. If you have any recipes that you would like to be put in the cookbook, you can email them to me at ****. 

The categories for the recipes that are going into the cookbook are:
- recipes that take less than 30 minutes
- quick and easy casseroles
- quick and easy desserts
- recipes with 5 ingredients or less
- crock pot recipes
  Thank you so much!"

I blacked out her contact info since this is not a closed blog but if any of you want to comment or email me, you can submit them with whatever credit you want.... for instance I'm going to submit mine as

Heidi-Young Grasshopper

http://heidi-younggrasshopper.blogspot.com/ 

I hope you all take a moment to help!

XXOO Heidi

shhhh, I'm lazy but it's a secret {Some Seriously Amazing Shrimp}

No big long story, just good food. This is one of those recipes that you keep in your hat and you can look amazing with really no effort. VERY EASY.... 

Not the P Word! {Trail Mix Cookie Recipe}

Trail Mix Cookies

I found this great little Blog called Butter vs. Burpees.... those of you who know me from my Crossfitting days know that I had to go look and see if I could sign up to cheer on the Butter.... but instead I found this most incredibly yummy recipe for PALEO {nooooooooooooo} cookies.  I tweaked ever so slightly but want to be sure I nod to the originator.... go check out her blog there's this and more, but in meanwhile try these, 20 minutes start to your first bite of heaven...