The Doctors Wife

How To Cook Brussels Sprouts

I love Brussels sprouts! I loved them as a kid, and I know that makes me weird, bust they are delicious! How I fix them is incredibly easy- 4 ingredients- brussels sprouts, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Easy!

First wash your sprouts, peel off any outer damaged leaves, then cut off the end and then cut them in half.  They should look like this:

Next liberally cover them with extra virgin olive oil, and then salt and pepper to taste and stir it all up.

Spread them around in a baking dish and pop them into a pre-heated 400 degree oven. I like mine a bit on the soft side so I bake them for around 20 minutes, but you might want to check around 15ish. Yes, I am very specific in my instructions. I should probably write a cook book. (I am totally being sarcastic, in case you didn't realize)

They should look like this:

The Brussels sprouts were half gone when I remembered to take a picture. I know that lots of people are not fans, but I love them! In case you were ever curious and wanted to give them a try, this is an incredibly easy way to prepare them. 

Small Things

When I have a project, I tend to want to complete it start to finish. While sometimes that is a very good thing, since having a second child, I have found it to be much harder to find the time to start and finish any kind of project. This means that I have all kinds of things to do, but I put them off because I don't have the time to do them. Well, I am trying to break things up and find ways that I can have smaller projects that allow me to have the start to finish feeling. One thing that has been driving me crazy for several months has been my kitchen. The cabinets and pantry have been such a mess and I have really needed to clean them out, purge and re-organize. Since I know that the likelihood of me having the time to completely empty out my kitchen is slim to none, I am taking it one cabinet at a time. (revolutionary thinking, I know) So the other day while David napped and Hannah worked on a project, I cleaned out one side of my kitchen island. It is home to sippy-cups, cook-books, take out menus, etc. and it was a mess! I forgot to take a before picture- but just imagine too many cookbooks stuffed in, lots of loose recipes and take out menus, pizza coupons and appliance manuals all over the place. Here is the after:

Ahhh much better. The two pink notebooks on the middle shelf hold take out menus and recipes. You can see how I organize loose recipes here. I use the same method for take out menus, they are divided into categories, Italian, Chinese, etc.  And perhaps the best part is I got rid of a ton of cookbooks that I never use. I am trying to take it a little at a time and get my kitchen back under control, and thought I would share my progress. I love seeing before/ after pictures from others, and it always motivates me to get something done at my own home- now if I can just remember to take before shots!

Recipe Box Swap- Holiday Favorites

It's that time again- time for another Recipe Box Swap! With the holidays right around the corner everyone is sharing their holiday favorites- and this time of year I am always looking for new things to try! This recipe is one of my absolute favorites- my family serves it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. One year my Mom was going over the Thanksgiving menu and this yummy side was not on her list. I threw an absolute guilt inducing fit, and insisted that she make it. She agreed to make it but was afraid that I would be the only one really interested and would have a huge dish of leftovers. On Thanksgiving as everyone gobbled up this favorite, I commented that it almost didn't make the menu and everyone was shocked, I joke with my Mom that if I hadn't made such a fuss she would have had a Thanksgiving mutiny. So now I offer up super delicious (and easy!) Hot Hominy:

Ingredients:

2 Cans of hominy, drained

1 small can green chilies, drained

Small can Rotel diced tomatoes and chilies

Small package of Velveeta cheese

Directions:

Melt Velveeta and mix in chilies and Rotel, add in hominy and mix well. Pour mixture into baking dish and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

See how easy? This is definitely something a little different, but still compliments the holiday classics nicely. (It also reheats well, so if you have any left-overs they are good the second time around)

I hope you enjoy! Thanks to Randi at I Have to Say for hosting, head on over here to check out other holiday favorites, or post one of your own!