First post from Kalamazoo

Dear Mom,

So I figured I probably should start posting on here since we are officially in Kalamazoo.  We've had a busy past few days; unpacking, job searching, food shopping and other things.  But it's finally starting to feel more like home.

I spent a lot of time unpacking yesterday and Joel told me I made it look like our home, so that was nice!  I've cooked something every night, but the last two night were just a mish mosh of things we had in the house that I put together.  Tonight I made something, I think you would like.  I've made it once before, but this time I switched it up a little because we didn't have chicken and I wanted it to be a little healthier.  It's originally this recipe: Chicken Parmesan Pasta Bake.  But in classic Emily style I made a few adjustments, so I posted my recipe below. 

This time I also cut the recipe in half, so I would have made it in my bigger stainless steel skillet if I had made the normal version. 

Broccoli Parmesan Pasta Bake

1 head of broccoli

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 tbsp. olive oil

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups water

1 cup vegetable broth (I used low-sodium, organic)

12 oz pasta (I used organic fusilli)

3/4 cup parmesan cheese, divided

1/4 tsp. black pepper

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. dried basil (or 2 tbsp. fresh chopped basil)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Begin by cooking broccoli in a medium sized pot until soft (about 7-8 minutes).  Drain and set aside.

While broccoli is boiling, place an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil, garlic oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt.  Simmer for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Add tomatoes, water, vegetable broth, and pasta to the skillet and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a vigorous simmer, then cover the pan and continue simmering until the pasta is tender about 13-14 minutes. Make sure to stir the pasta often as it simmers. 

Once the pasta is tender, uncover and stir in 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese (saving the last 1/4 cup to put on top of mozzarella) and black pepper. * Add the drained, cooked broccoli to the mixture and cover with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and remaining parmesan cheese. 

Transfer the skillet to pre-heated oven and bake for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbles around the edges.  Sprinkle dried (or fresh basil) on top and serve bubbly hot!

*If the mixture seems dry at this point add in some more vegetable broth 1/4 cup at a time.  Mine was fine though, so you probably won't need to add more. 

In other news...

I also started some new projects for our apartment. We have bunch of mugs that won't fit in our cabinets, so we're making some mug racks to hang on the wall in the kitchen.  It's just plain right now, but in a few weeks or so we're gonna stain them a dark wood color.  I'm pretty excited about these!  

And then I made this picture that has both of our vows written in it.  It's not quite done, because I think Joel said he is going to rewrite his so it's a little bigger and easier to read.  But I still figured you might like to see it maybe. 

Joel has been applying like crazy to places around here, including a sandwich shop called Erbert and Gerbert, that i noticed while we were driving to another place where he was applying.  I thought it was such a funny name, so I said he should probably apply there.  Apparently it was thought up by this guy who told made-up stories to his kids.  The main characters were Erbert and Gerbert and then all the sandwiches are named after other characters in his stories.  It reminded me of the stories dad used to tell me on the way home from Grandmas with Farvel (Farfal? not sure how to spell the name). Maybe we should sell some kind of product dreamed up by those stories :) Part of me hopes he gets a job there just because the name is so funny and it has a cool story. 

We're getting a lot more used to the roads here and we have a list of restaurants going that we're gonna need to try sometime in our time living here.  So, in summary, it's been a lot of fun exploring, cooking, creating and getting everything set up here.  

I hope everything is going well there! Let me know if you have any cool recipes you wanna share or projects you found.  

I miss you and love you

-Emily

Dear Mom,

So, I know we haven't moved yet and I just saw you today, still I thought this would be a fun way to communicate once we move.

I decided to go ahead and post my first recipe even though i'm still in the area.  Especially since you seemed so interested in the Margherita Pizza.

Here it is...

 Margherita Pizza

Homemade Pizza Dough (see recipe below) or store bought pizza crust
Homemade Basil Pesto Recipe (see below as well)
4-5 roma tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
12 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Pizza Directions -
Lightly oil pizza pan or baking stone.  Prepare dough, roll it out and place in a prepared pan.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare Basil Pesto recipe.






 Dice the tomatoes, cutting out seeds.  Place tomatoes in a large bowl and combine with olive oil and 1/2 tsp. salt.

Spread Basil Pesto and Tomato mixture over pizza dough.

Bake 15-20 minutes on lowest oven rack.






Remove pizza from oven and arrange mozzarella and parmesan on top of tomatoes.  Sprinkle with salt and Pepper as needed.  Return to oven until cheese is melted and bubbling.  (about 5-10 more minutes)

Enjoy!

Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

1/2 tsp. active dry or instant yeast

3/4 cups warm water

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. olive oil

Sprinkle yeast over the 3/4 cups warm water.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl (with paddle attachment) combine flour and salt.  Drizzle in olive oil and stir until combined with flour.  Next pour in yeast/water mixture and mix on low speed until combined.  (I used my kitchen aid mixer to do this, but you can also do it by hand)

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form dough into a ball.  Turn to coat dough in oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap.  Let dough sit, and double in size for at least an hour in a warm area. 

Roll and press onto pan or baking stone.

Skinny Basil Pesto Recipe

1 cup basil

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup grated parmesan

salt and pepper, to taste

2 1/2 tbsp. olive oil

In a food processor pulse basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until smooth.  Slowly add the olive oil while pulsing.  Spread on top of pizza dough.

Store in a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to use or you can freeze this in ziploc bags to use at a later date.