The Windy City

For six months, I planned my trip to Chicago for November. My husband would be in meetings for 3 days. I would sleep, read, eat, photograph, and shop. It would be three entire, glorious days to do whatever whenever. I was mostly excited to dine like an adult. No leftover bread crusts, no worries about allergens, no spilled milk.

Flashback to Halloween.... Dex gets a horrendous case of the stomach flu. It lasts for 6 days! Followed by Maddie. Then, Millie. I managed to escape the dreaded disease... Or, did I?

Oh no, I did not! Twelve, yes 12, days later, while on my long-awaited sabbatical, the symptoms manifested themselves violently. There was no dining, no reading, no photography, and very little shopping (much to my husband's pleasure.) However, there was plenty of sleeping.

I did manage to take 4 random photos with my phone which don't really even resemble the vacation.

I do have to admit that it was better than the trip I took to San Francisco a few years ago when I had the swine flu. And, the saving grace of the trip was the restaurant we visited just before we flew home. Slurping Turtle was delicious. Since I was still adjusting to consuming food, I ordered "Slurping Noodles" which turned out to be perfect.

I tried to recreate the dish and came pretty close. It was a quick and easy dinner and all the kids like it. 

Slurping Noodles

Copy Cat from Slurping Turtle, Chicago

2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup carrots, match stick or thinly sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 cup napa cabbage, shredded

½ cup broccoli florets

8 ozs straight cut rice noodles or vermicelli

Shrimp, use your preferred size

3-4 green onions, greens only slice on diagonal

¼ cup cilantro,

French Fried Onion, garnish

In coconut oil, sauté carrots, mushrooms, and cabbage for 3-4 minutes over med-hi heat.

Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add shrimp, broccoli, and rice noodles. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until noodles are soft. Stir in green onions and cilantro.

Garnish individual servings with french fried onions. Slurp away.

Insalata Florentine

I haven't been to Macaroni Grill for awhile. I think the last time was when I was pregnant with my son. He is 5 1/2. But I love this salad. I have fun finding a dish I love at a restaurant and then try to break it down and recreate it. 

After I recreated it and made my version several times, I found the original recipe here.

I like my version, but I think next time I make it, I'll try the original recipe.

And sorry, we ate this to fast to take any photos. :) But it looks a lot like this only with more spinach when it's finished.

Insalata Florentine

(Spinach, Orzo and Chicken Salad)

Adapted from MACARONI GRILL

5 cups julienne-shredded fresh spinach


2 chicken breasts grilled chicken, seasoned, sliced and chilled


2 ripe Roma tomatoes, diced


¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted


¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienne cut


¼  cup capers


½ cup sliced black or kalamata olives


5 ounces orzo pasta, cooked and chilled

½ cup balsamic vinegrette

1/4 ounce shaved Parmesan
 cheese

Fresh cracked pepper, for garnish

In the order listed, place all ingredients, except Parmesan cheese, in a chilled mixing bowl. Toss and serve on a decorative wide bowl. Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese and fresh cracked pepper

Balsamic Vinaigrette

¼ cup Balsamic vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of one lemon
pinch oregano
¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
pinch of salt

Some more yummy recipes to come....

Great Harvest Chocolate Chip Cookies

Slow-Cooker Pork with Noodles

The Window

Somewhere between snack time and starvation, there is a window. A SMALL window. One night last week, I found the window and my kids ate every bite of this new recipe I dished up. Let me know if your family likes it!

Oh, and if you have a dad that is as great as mine, you can use garden fresh cabbage and butcher fresh sausage.

Fettuccine with Italian Sausage and Vegetables

Adapted from Real Simple

• ¾ lb fettuccine (white OR whole wheat)
• 1 lb Italian sausage (casing removed)
• 2-3 T Olive oil
• 6 cups thinly sliced cabbage
• 3 cups match stick carrots
• 1 bunch green onions (greens only)
• ¾ cup chicken broth
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan
• salt and pepper, to taste

Brown sausage in a skillet; remove. Add olive oil and veggies to skillet; cook over med-hi heat for about 6 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer until tender; 3-4 minutes. Toss with cooked fettuccine, nutmeg, sausage, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.

P.S. Sorry no photos. These days I can barely find clean plates and forks to eat dinner from let alone photograph it!

It's the cheesiest...

Thanks goodness she's not allergic to cheese.

Now that I’ve made it know that I’m a total food snob. I will be giving you a recipe for Mac and Cheese. Ha! What can I say, I’m two-faced. I’ve tried several times to make mac and cheese to no avail. And now I know the secret… Don’t use whole wheat pasta or 1% milk. Go for the real deal. Enriched noodles (the cheaper the better,) whole milk, all of the butter. All of my dairy, products were hormone-free and this is very important since I used some of the most fattening dairy products available. Hormone is more concentrated in fat.

The only few changes I made to this recipe were…

Ziti subbed for elbow macaroni

Fine homemade bread crumbs baked on top

½ tsp of dry mustard added to the sauce

I am going to try a combo of sharp white cheddar and Gruyere (I don’t even know what this is, but Rachel R. likes it) and I’m going to add a dash of paprika (because Martha’s mom always added it to her mac and cheese.)

We served it with steamed broccoli and sliced oranges and even had enough for me, the boy and the baby for lunch the next day. This is amazing because Dex doesn’t do leftovers. I don’t fight him over it though because I LOVE leftovers.

OH! I ALMOST FORBOT. DON'T EVER LET THE SAUCE COME TO A BOIL... THIS WILL MAKE IT GRITTY. SMOOTH IS MUCH BETTER. I LEARNED THAT LITTLE TRICK FROM GOOGLE. GOOGLE KNOWS EVERYTHING.

The Everyday Macaroni and Cheese

From Tillamook

8 oz. dry elbow macaroni

2 tbsp. Tillamook® Unsalted Butter

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

2 1/2 cups (10 oz.) Tillamook® Medium Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish.


In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add 2 ½ teaspoons salt and macaroni. Cook according to package directions, stirring occasionally. Pasta is done when it is slightly chewy to the bite or al dente. Drain pasta in a colander and set aside.



Prepare sauce while pasta is cooking. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Gradually add milk and bring just to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking often, until sauce slightly thickens, 4-5 minutes. Add salt, pepper and 2 cups of cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Remove pan from heat and fold in pasta. Pour into prepared baking dish then sprinkle top with remaining cheese. 


Bake 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and top begins to brown. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.
Serves 4-6

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Baking Time: 15-20 minutes.