People request my Balsamic-Glazed Brussels Sprouts recipe all the time. It is originally Rachael Ray’s recipe Balsamic-Glazed Vegetables, using several veggies, but the first time I made them for a client, I used only Brussels sprouts, and they were delicious! In fact, they were so delicious that I kept popping them in my mouth like candy. It was so hard to stop myself. I had to buy more Brussels sprouts on my way home and make them again that evening.

They immediately went on my Thanksgiving Prep menu. I like them best because they’re simple and quick, but also because they are perfect with any protein preparation, they have a little sauce if you serve them with a plain chicken, meat, or fish, but they are simple enough if you serve them with a meat with a sauce or gravy.

Balsamic-Glazed Brussels Sprouts

2 lb Brussels sprouts
½ c water
½ c Balsamic vinegar
1 T butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place Brussels sprouts in a shallow pan with water and Balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil and cover. Reduce heat to medium and cook 10 minutes. Remove lid and raise heat back up. Allow the water to boil away and the vinegar to reduce and glaze the Brussels sprouts, about 5 to 7 minutes. When the Brussels sprouts are glazed, to a sweet, rich brown color, add butter to the pan. Turn Brussels sprouts to coat lightly with butter. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Slow-Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

A friend of mine sent me a link to this recipe and asked for my opinion on converting into a slow-cooker meal. I gave her my take, but thought you all might have some good ideas as well. Thoughts?

http://www.2equalparts.com/content/easier-chicken-and-dumplings

Buffalo Chicken Chili Recipe

This looks worth a try for Football parties or Winter!
http://www.pillsbury.com/Recipes/ShowRecipe.aspx?rid=46171&WT.dcsvid=NTE4OTI3Mjk0NgS2&rvrin=61A15436-7004-4164-94FA-DAE9035F9033&WT.mc_id=Newsletter_PB_01_22_2010&rvrin=61A15436-7004-4164-94FA-DAE9035F9033

Oatmeal Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes

On a long holiday weekend what is better than homemade pancakes. Here is a link to Oatmeal Blueberry ones that are very good. They take extra planning, start the night before but well worth the effort, and not difficult. Erin made them for us.

Ladies Luncheon Ideas

I may be having 4 or 5 ladies over on Monday for a Luncheon. I was looking for some good winter luncheon ideas. What do you thik?

New Year, New Recipe

I like Katie's idea of a food related goal for the new year. Fish is not so much a problem for us. It is beans. I really like beans but my family does not. I want to work on adding more beans to our diet. I got a pressure cooker for christmas with this in mind. So I told my family once a week we are going to have meatless meals. I'm thinking beans. but we need to start slow. I cooked curried lentils as a side dish with a meal they all like. Then I froze the lentils in small batches and have been adding it to soups and stew. I also made a Minestrone with great white northern beans. Brad seems to like that, so I'm sticking with the great white northern and going to try Bridget's Brazilian Black Beans w/o black beans and meat. 

1 med onion, chopped

2-3 Cans black beans, drained

1-2 T olive oil

1 lb Cut up Chorizo, Linguica, kielbasa, pork, or ham (any combination of 2-3 meats work well)

2 cloves garlic chopped

8oz can crushed tomatoes

Topping: 1 med tomato, 1 med onion, fresh cilantro, chopped olive oil and vinegar to taste.

In a large sauce pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add meat to brown add tomatoes and black beans. Simmer 20 -30 minutes, if time permits flavor is enhanced with additional simmering.

Serve beans over rive, garnish w/tomato, onion and cilantro.

2 good new recipes

This week I made these 2 recipes from BHG's January 2009 issue.
Garlic Basil Shrimp with Pasta http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pasta/garlic-basil-shrimp/
and Aromatic Beef stew with butternut squash http://www.bhg.com/recipe/beef/aromatic-beef-stew-with-butternut-squash/

We enjoyed them both. The beef however, was a bit tough still after 45 minutes of cooking, so next time I would most likely make it in the Crock Pot. Also, I would experiment with making it vegetarian, adding celery, beans and carrots to it.

Let me know if you try either of them:)

virtual dinner group: Cheese fondue Recipe

virtual dinner group: Cheese fondue Recipe

Cheese Fondue Recipe?

Anyone have a recipe for cheese fondue that they love? I tried it years ago and it was ok. I have lots of cheese in the fridge from the holidays and thought it would be a good way to enjoy it. Not a Swiss fan, so hopefully the recipe can be changed:)

Holiday favorites?

I'm the 1st to post in 2010! Are we all still full from the holidays? What were your favorites of the holidays? Share any new recipes, please!

I've never been a big resolution person, but this year, I am going to make my best effort to do a couple of things. Today, I am one attempt closer to eating more fish in 2010.

Some of the best effort part is simply making it simple. Half the time I'm at the grocery store it's because I am missing an ingredient (or more) for the meal I'd already planned for dinner that night. But, to make my best effort toward eating more fish more simple, I'm planning to have fish for dinner on any day, like today, when I don't already have dinner planned and am at the grocery store for a regular grocery shopping trip (regular grocery shopping trip n One kid had a Power Bar for breakfast, one had a granola bar (I'm not guaranteeing that it wasn't stale, he found it behind the shelf in the pantry), one had leftover pancakes from yesterday, and one had the last Eggo waffle (I'm pretty sure that was stale too). Hubby stopped at the Dunkin' Donuts drive-through, and I waited for lunch, because there was literally nothing left. I even made homemade butter from the last cup of heavy cream to go on the waffles and pancakes because I had cream, but not one pat of butter.)

So, tonight's best effort at eating more fish is catfish (a combination of these two recipes from Guy Fieri on Food Network: Not Lackin' on the Blackenin' Catfish and Pan-Fried Catfish Sandwich. In addition, I'm making a best effort to serve more vegetables at every meal, more about at another time, but tonight it will be broccoli and cauliflower and a green salad, with couscous, and of course, the catfish.