Taste of Italy

OOH! I found this sicilian pesto recipe that I tried out last night. We loved it!! And its so much cheaper than buying pesto at the store. I put the pesto on a baguette and topped it with chicken and cheese and put it in the broiler till the cheese melted. Then we put some lettuce, tomato , roasted pepper, and voila! A delicious sandwich! Its one of the easiest recipes I've ever made! And very delightful! It made a lot of pesto, so tonight I'll probably put it on pasta, yum!
Gotta try it! But you have like pesto...or at least the tast of basil because that's pretty much the recipe! 2 TBS equals 51 calories, so don't be afraid of the 1/4 cup olive oil! Enjoy!

Sicilian Pesto

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 3 garlic cloves
• 4 cups loosely packed basil leaves (about 2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 2 cups chopped seeded tomato, drained (about 2 large)

Preparation

1. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add nuts to pan; cook 4 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring constantly. Remove from pan.

2. Combine nuts and garlic in a food processor; process until minced. Add basil, oil, salt, and peppers; process until blended, scraping sides occasionally. Add cheese; process until smooth. Spoon into a bowl; fold in tomato.

SUN DEVIL FOREVER!

I'm now an ASU graduate!! Yay!

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards -- Benjamin Franklin

I haven't posted wedding pics and some people have been asking to see them for a while! Here are just a glimpse of our favorites! Our photographer was AMAZING!! The colors in these pictures are incredible. I thought the hitchhiking idea was so fun! All Ryan's idea! :) If you ever need some phenomenal photos, call Ryan Hoffman!









I'm pretty proud of the last picture, I got him so good!
Our wedding day was perfect!

The best birthday!

So for those of you who know me, I absolutely LOVE sushi! Its my favorite by far. For my birthday, that's what I really wanted! But being married and all, its kinda...out of our budget :)
Scott and I decided to make sushi!!!! It was so much fun, and turned out much more delicious than a restaurant! I made some good sushi rice (with the help of my mom's amazing recipe) and Scott made some perfect rolls!
We got the fish pieces from our favorite sushi restaurant, Temari's which worked out perfectly with our sushi adventure!
We'll definitely do this one again! We did all the sushi for about $20!
Scott made my birthday incredible! And so much fun :)

Here's the Sushi Rice Recipe

• 2 cups rice: Japanese short grain white rice
• 3 tablespoons Japanese Rice Vinegar
• 2-3 tablespoons Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Salt

Perfecto!

Scott got a pasta machine from Maria for Christmas! He helped make pasta on his mission and wanted to see if he could make it. We found a basic pasta recipe and he went to work. I've never had home made pasta before, and let me tell you it was the best pasta I have ever eaten!
I was in charge of the sauce, and I wanted a white sauce. Of course, its completely unhealthy, so I went to my cooking light magazine in hopes that I would find a healthier one, and I definitely found one. It was delicious! And it was only a little over 400 calories per serving including the pasta! Our recipe made 4 servings so we had left overs! Try this sauce recipe, it was AMAZING!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups 1% low-fat milk
• 1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups hot cooked fettuccine (8 ounces uncooked pasta)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley ( I didn't have this so we just sprinkled a little dry parsley at the end and it was still delicious!)
  
• Cracked black pepper

**I also cut one chicken breast into slices, and grilled it in a separate pan and put it in the sauce at the end

Preparation

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese, and salt, stirring with a whisk until cheeses melt. Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.