Dinner last night

At 39 weeks pregnant I am finding myself slowing down a little in the kitchen. I have enjoyed the last few months of cooking and baking without the stress of a full time job, but I don't have many pictures (or posts) to show for it. I do however have the love and thankfulness from Chris' coworkers who often get the extra that Chris and I can't (or shouldn't) eat. My mom comes down on Wednesday and I know she'll be a huge help all around the house, but especially in the kitchen. I already have a list of meals that I want her to make and I know Chris has been mentally making his own as well.

Last night though, I wanted to really enjoy the cool fall weather (since it only plans to last a day or two for now) and eat dinner outside. This meant I needed something simple and of course something that needed to be bbq'd. I settled on BBQ chicken and baked potatoes with broccoli cheese sauce. Just looking at this pictures makes me hungry.

Here is the recipe for the broccoli cheese sauce.

Broccoli Cheese Sauce

4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
2 slices American cheese
1 tsp granulated onion
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked broccoli chopped (I like it in big chunks)

In a medium sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk together. Let cook for a minute or two, but keep stirring so it doesn't burn. Slowly pour in milk and continue stirring until mixed well. Add onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Let cook over medium heat until sauce thickens. Again make sure to stir so that it doesn't burn on bottom. Once sauce has thickened add sliced cheese and stir until all mixed in. Finally add the broccoli and let cook until the broccoli is warm.

Serve over baked potatoes. YUM!

My favorite things

I know some people who look forward every year to Oprah's show(s) of her favorite things. I personally have never seen one of these episodes and doubt I could even afford most the items on her list anyway. Despite my dislike of Oprah, all summer I have found myself making mental note of my "favorite (kitchen) things" and wondering how the rest of the world lives without such handy tools. I decided that even though my following mostly consists of my family that already own such gadgets I'd still post a blog for those of you that might not have these lovely tools. (A special thanks to Google images. I was just too lazy to get everything out and take pictures.)

Here they are in no particular order.

1: Borner V Slicer
Although my Mom bought me this 5 years ago, I had only used it a handful of times before this summer. We had one growing up so I knew it had a lot of purposes, but with our small kitchen in LA, I just didn't get it out often. Now, I use it at least once a week. It is great for slicing and dicing onions, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, celery, zucchini and so much more. I LOVE using this to make homemade baked french fries. I'll post that recipe later!

2: Vitamix 5200 Blender
I have to admit this blender was actually purchased because of Christopher. He loves smoothies and a regular blender just doesn't do the job when it comes to blending up seeds and such. I gave in about a year and half ago and bought one from Costco. Our last year at USC we made smoothies almost every day. He finished his by the time we got to school and I usually sipped on mine most the morning. We still have smoothies regularly, but only a few times a week instead of everyday. Most of you might say that is lot of money to spend on a blender for smoothies, but I also use it to grind Oats into flour, sugar into powdered sugar and so much more.

3: Martha Stewart Cast Iron Pot
This pot is great for cooking soups, stews and I always make my enchilada sauce in it. Plus, I just recently started using it to bake Tri-tip for French Dip sandwiches. The only down side, it is kind of heavy.

4. Brita Water Filters


I probably drink one of these a day (yes all by myself.) I LOVE WATER!!! But I don't like gross tasting water. The Brita water filters have been a staple in our kitchen for the last 5 years. Thank goodness Costco often has the filters on sale!

I have several other "favorite things" but they will have to wait for another post.