"Been gone for a little while, but back with lots of Randomness"

Happy Sunshiney Monday morning!

Have been away from the computer for a couple of weeks busy as a little bee..

But back in the saddle again, well for the time being anyway..

Such a busy time of year..

Its finally decided to be summer here somewhat in good ole Spokane and I have to say I am lovin every second of it..

So here are a few things on my list for this week..

Cooking and trying some new recipes

Painting furniture

Brave Girls

Lots of painting on canvas for the upcoming "Perry Street Fair"

Journal pages

The "Joy Love Club" celebration

and your basic

reading, writing and arithmetic!!

Not to mention the laundry that never goes away and the cleaning which is always staring me in the face in at least 1 or 2 rooms if not more..

Whats on your list? 

So here are a couple of recipes to share that are on my menu for this week.

This first one is absolutely delicious and I am totally craving crab!!!

Crab Stuffed Portobellos and Citrus-Mustard Dressed Greens

THANK YOU RACHEL RAY!!

These are absolutely so darn yummy...I have to really contain myself when I am making  them as the stuffing is just scrumptious and I keep wanting to dip while cooking..

ENJOY!!

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 large portobello mushroom caps, wiped clean with a damp cloth

Grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)

2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon cut into small dice

1 bay leaf

2 ribs celery from heart of stalk

1 small onion, chopped

1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped

Salt and Pepper

2 teaspoons crab boil seasoning (recommended: Old Bay) or 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning plus 1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons hot sauce

6 ounces lump crabmeat, available in the fresh seafood section of market in 6 ounce tubs (or you can get a bigger tub at Costco, which is what I like to do)

3 slices white bread, toasted (potato bread is delightfully yummy for this recipe) cut into small cubes like stuffing

1 cup chicken stock

A handful of chopped parsley 

1 bag, 8 ounces, mixed baby greens, any brand or variety

Dressing:

1 rounded tablespoon lemon curd, available near jams and jellies

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, eyeball it

2 teaspoons Dijon style mustard

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Heat a grill pan or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Pour extra-virgin olive oil into a small dish.  Using a pastry brush, coat mushroom caps with oil.  Grill 10 minutes, until tender and season with the grill seasoning blend.

Meanwhile, preheat a medium skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  Add remaining oil to pan..leftover from brushing mushroom caps..to skillet and combine with 2 tablespoons butter.  Melt butter into oil and add bay leaf and chopped veggies, season with salt, pepper and crab boil seasoning or, poultry seasoning and paprika.  Saute until veggies are tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add hot sauce to veggies.  Run your fingers through the crab to make sure there are no pieces of shell in the meat.  Break up crabmeat with fingertips and mix into veggies.  Butter toasted bread with remaining 1 tablespoon of diced butter.  Add toast cubes to veggies and moisten, to your liking, with chicken stock.  Adjust seasonings if needed.  Top the grilled portobello caps with stuffing and garnish with chopped parsley.

Pour lettuce into a bowl.  In a smaller bowl, combine lemon curd with vinegar and mustard using a whisk.  Whisk in oil in a slow stream and season dressing with salt and paper to taste.

Serve salad alongside mushrooms...

Soooooo yummy!!!!

It sounds like allot of work, but it really isn't...the prep is only about 15 mins and cook time altogether is just about 10...

The next recipe is a delicious pasta recipe to use the remaining crab, that is if you bought the bigger container from Costco...which of course I would suggest because then you get to have crab 2 times in the same week...HEAVEN!!!  Well if you love crab as much as I do...

Spicy Crab and Pasta

Another goodie from Rachel Ray...

1 pound pasta of your choice (my fav is always linguini)

Salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan

1 tablespoon butter, cut into small bits

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, eyeball it, medium to spicy heat level

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced

1/4 cup dry Sherry or Marsala (not cooking Sherry)

8 ounces, drained weight, lump crabmeat

1 (28 ounce) can crushed San Marzano tomatoes

1/4 cup half and half or cream

Shredded Romano or Parmigiano, your pick

10 to 12 fresh basil leaves, cut in ribbons

Directions:

Place a large pot of water on to boil.  Add pasta and salt water.  Cook to al dente.

While water comes to a boil, heat a deep skillet over medium heat.

Add olive oil and butter.  To warm oil and butter add crushed red pepper flakes, garlic and shallots, saute 3 minutes, add crimini mushrooms and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes more.  Deglaze the pan with Sherry or Marsala wine, scatter in crabmeat feeling for shell bits as you go.  Warm the ingredients through, a minute or so, stir in tomatoes and heat through 2-3 minutes.  Stir in half and half and reduce heat to lowest setting.

Drain pasta when cooked to al dente and toss with sauce and crab.  Top with cheese and basil.

UMMMMM!!!

I am totally in a cooking mood today so these are what I am cooking today...

As I have stated before my husband is a vegetarian although he does allow himself to have fish and seafood from time to time.  Anyway he absolutely loves these homemade veggie burgers, so I am doing up several to put into the freezer for him. Doing them homemade is not only fun, but a huge savings, as 4 of the "Garden Burgers" are now running almost $5.00. I can make 10 homemade patties for the price of 1 cup of brown rice, 2 cans of black beans 1 small onion, 1/2 of a red pepper, 1/2 of a green pepper, a little frozen corn-thawed, 1 egg and some bread crumbs. I use leftover bits of bread that I put in the freezer to make bread crumbs.  So all in all the total cost for 10 comes out to about $4.00 so quite a savings. And they are much bigger, thicker patties.

I serve them with onion, tomato, lettuce, cheese, pickles, sprouts if you like and you have to have a really good bun...potato, whole wheat or onion buns are all delicious.  He actually likes them on regular whole grain bread as well.

I basically just smash the black beans a bit, add the cooked rice, onions, peppers, corn, egg, bread crumbs and salt and pepper.  Then form patties and fry up in olive oil.  When they are cool I package them up individually for my hubby.

And for the boys to munch on whenever..

from The Pioneer Woman-Spicy Pasta salad with smoked gouda, tomatoes and basil

Oh my gosh I love her..everything about her!

Be sure to visit her site, if you haven't already..she is such a joy and always makes this girl smile!!!

Well thats about it for cooking today...

Now on to other things..

Next thing on my list for this week is painting my Grandma and Grandpa's picnic table.

That story and pictures coming soon!

Ta Dah...Me