I really miss food..I miss my blog..I miss looking at pictures of food..

I'm 14 weeks now..and I almost went a whole day without meds yesterday..but then each time I opened my mouth to talk I would gag and had to take the meds...I still can't eat much..I am limited to veggies and plain noodles...potato soup with no meat...

Hopefully before long I can eat again..and share my love of food..I tell ya..once I can eat food again, I am hitting all the local buffets...Tippys Taco all you can eat, Chinese all you can eat, and Golden Corral...but you know even thinking about this is making me gag..so I gotta go...Hopefully once I am better I can catch up on all your creations. Thanks for your patience during this difficult time...but in the end..I get a baby...so its all worth it. :-)

Happy New Year!

Bun in my oven-still here but sick as a dog!

For those of you wondering where I went....I am still here...and still cooking..just not literally. In fact, food has not been my friend the past few weeks. I can't eat anything except plain toast, crackers, and ginger tea and no one wants to see a picture of that. Please know, this shouldn't last forever and hopefully once I pass the first trimester I will be able to share in my love of cooking once more.

P.S. I can't even look at pictures of food right now...unfortunately, it all makes me gag and sick to my stomach. Please don't take it personally that I have not been around to post comments on your blog.

Arroz con Gandules (Rice & Pigeon Peas)

My mother in law makes this all the time. I thought I would try to make it and it's not as hard as it looks. This recipe was a little off (or maybe just my stove heat wasn't matching with the Goya's kitchens) but the end result after a little tweaking was that this rice is good!

Here is the recipe I got off the Goya website:
(I tweaked mine just a little)

Arroz con Gandules (Rice & Pigeon Peas)

Ingredients:
1 lb. pork, in ½ inch cubes (I used pork sausage already seasoned)
2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup white onion, finely diced
½ cup green pepper, finely diced
1 tsp. Minced Garlic or 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tbsp. Goya Recaito (I didn't have this so I left it out)
½ tsp. Oregano
½ cup Tomato Sauce
1 packet Sazón Goya with Coriander and Annatto
1 can Green Pigeon Peas, undrained (15 oz.)
0.333 cup Pitted Alcaparrado, sliced ( I left mine whole..easier for my kids to pick out)

2 cups water

2 cups Goya Medium Grain Rice

Directions:

1. In caldero or large deep skillet, heat oil on medium-high. Stir in pork and cook until lightly browned about 15 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to medium, stir in onion, pepper and garlic and cook until lightly browned about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in oregano and tomato sauce and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
5. Stir in Sazón, pigeon peas, Alcaparrado olives and water and bring to boil. Stir in rice, return to boil, cover, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir and turn rice from bottom up, cover and continue to cook on low about 30 minutes or until rice is tender.

(I added more water and cooked longer to get rice to a nice tender consistency)

Changed blog name ...tell me if you like it!

I was whenambercooks.blogspot.com because I felt like I hardly ever cooked...or really had the time to cook. Since I've been documenting what I am making it turns out I actually cook very often! I thought I needed a new name...something that reflected more of who I am. I came up with http://cookinginsuburbia.blogspot.com. Nothing too creative or fancy...I am just a soccer mom living in the suburbs of DC so I think this fits my cooking style. Tell me if you like it..any suggestions...good or bad..I can take it! :-)

Should I change it back or keep it..or think of something more creative?

THANK u SO much for your feedback! :-)

Chocolate Scotcheroos

I saw these on A Blog About Food and thought I would try them since I had all the ingredients on hand. They were fun to make...my 4 year old had a blast with it. I won't make them again since they are too sweet for my taste and I didn't realize they had peanut butter in them (of which I am not a fan). This recipe is also on Allrecipes here and has great reviews. I took the bars to work to share and the result was that they are REALLY sweet and people liked them but weren't fawning all over them or anything. If this is your type of dessert treat and you like peanut butter be sure to try them.

Ingredients:

INGREDIENTS
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

DIRECTIONS
Butter a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and corn syrup, and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter. Mix in the rice cereal until evenly coated. Press the mixture into the prepared pan.
In a glass bowl in the microwave, melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips, stirring occasionally until smooth and well blended. Spread over the top of the bars. Chill until set, then cut into bars.

Italian Wedding Soup

I usually buy this soup canned and have always wanted to try and make it. The difference of fresh is so noticeable. I found a recipe online here. This recipe is awesome...simple, flavorful, and the turkey meatballs are soooo good. My husband doesn't like soup so he picked out meatballs to munch on and said they were delicious. I forgot to pick up parsley so I was missing that ingredient and the soup was still amazing. Next time I will make the meatballs smaller so I can have one with each bite. I used turkey meat instead of chicken which is the only change I made. I loved getting a big gob of half melted Parmesan cheese too. Thanks to the Boatwright family for a great recipe. :-)


My 4 year old helped me make the meatballs. She loves to help me cook. These meatballs were sooo sooo good that I am thinking to make subs with them. :-)


Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground turkey breast
2/3 c bread crumbs
1/3 c water
1/4 c grated Parmesan
1/4 c chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
3 Tbsp olive oil

Soup:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb spinach or escarole
8 c chicken broth
1 c small pasta (I used orzo)

For the meatballs, put the bread crumbs and water into a large bowl to rehydrate the bread crumbs. Add the other ingredients except for the olive oil and mix well. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Form small meatballs and cook in the pan, turning often, until browned and cooked through. Remove meatballs from pan onto platter. Add the onion, celery, and carrot to the pan, stirring until tender - about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper. Stir in the spinach or escarole until just wilted. Add the chicken broth and simmer. Add the turkey meatballs, cover and cook 5minutes. Add the pasta and cook until al dente - another 10 minutes or so on simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Shave large shards of Parmesan to garnish.

YUMMMMMMMMM!

(Meatballs while cooking)

EASY, PEASY CHICKEN LEGS

These were so easy and very good! I have seen this recipe on different blogs but the lady who started it was Denise from Keeper Worthy Recipes and let me tell you...this is a keeper! Thanks Denise for a great recipe!

Easy, Peasy Chicken Legs

Ingredients:

*jumbo package of chicken legs( usually contains around 14 legs)
*olive oil
*salt and pepper
*garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Place chicken legs in large bowl and drizzle with olive oil, enough to cover them all, generously.

Sprinkle with salt,pepper and garlic powder.

Place on large baking sheet and bake for 1-1 1/2 hours, turning them to ensure crispiness on all sides. ENJOY!