Roasted Lamb with Orange-Honey-Thyme Glaze

I got inspiration from a couple different recipes when perusing lamb and decided to take some of their ideas on glaze and roasting and then completely change them haha.  Which is usually how I cook.  And I must admit that this recipe turned out to be amazing delicious!  I love lamb and any time I can find it on sale, I will buy it.  Hope that you can enjoy this delicious recipe as much as I did.

Lamb
Ingredients:
3 Lamb Loin Chops
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Orange Peel (Grated)
1 Tbsp Thyme
1/2 Tbsp Dried Mint
1 tsp Oregano
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
*Optional  Cutie Oranges (peeled & separated to garnish)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.  Combine all ingredients except for the lamb and orange garnish and mix together.  Set up a deep baking pan lined with foil.  Put a roasting rack on top of the foil.  Take the lamb one at a time and completely cover it in the glaze and place on the roasting rack.   Roast for 25 minutes and check the temperature.  Cook for another 10 minutes and you should be around the 125 degree mark for medium rare.  Continue to cook as desired.  Serve with optional orange garnish and honey drizzle on top.  Enjoy!

Sweet Potato
Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato (peeled & chopped)
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
Dash of Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Mini Marshmallows

Directions:
Place the chopped sweet potato in a pan and cover to the top of the potatoes with water.  Cook on high and boil until water is almost completely gone.  (Potatoes should be soft and easy to mash) Turn heat to low and add remaining ingredients.  Mix thoroughly and serve with a dash of cinnamon on top. 

Combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl

Cover the lamb with the glaze and place on the roasting rack and put into the oven

Add the potatoes to the pan and cover with water

Add remaining ingredients to the potatoes and mix thoroughly

Remove the lamb from the oven

Ready to eat

Serve & Enjoy!

Easter Ham Recipe

This Easter I wanted to make a delicious ham, since I didn't get to for Christmas due to one of my guests being a non-pork eater.  Easter provided me with the perfect opportunity to cook one up.  I always love sweet or smokey ham, and went with sweet this year.

Ingredients:
Ham (bone in, the size is up to you, mine was almost 8 lbs)
Brown Sugar
Honey
Pineapple (pare off the outside)
Toothpicks
Cherry Coca-Cola

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Get a deep oven safe pan and line with tinfoil.  Place the ham fat side up.  Cut the pineapple and set aside.  Take the brown sugar and rub generously all over the exposed part of the ham.  Drizzle with honey.  Take the pineapple slices and stick all over the ham to cover.  Attach with toothpicks.  Drizzle over the pineapple with honey.  Pour the Cherry Coke all over the ham until almost filling the pan.  Cover with foil and place in the oven.  Cook for 15 minutes per pound.  Remove the foil when 30 minutes of cooking time remain and continue to cook.  Take out of the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before carving.  Enjoy!

Place the ham in the pan and cut the pineapple

Generously rub the ham with brown sugar

Drizzle with honey

Place the pineapple around the ham and attach with toothpicks

Drizzle with honey

Pour the cherry coke on top of the ham almost to the top of the pan

Cover with tinfoil and place in the oven

Peeling the dyed eggs

Peeling eggs is fun

Deviled eggs ready to eat

Boiling up some corn on the cob

The remains of an Easter feast

Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash

This afternoon I was looking for inspiration on how to utilize all of the produce (mostly veggies) that I have lying around in my fridge before it goes bad.  As I was looking through recipes, I remembered that I had an acorn squash in there.  Having never before purchased an acorn squash I wasn't quite sure what to do with it and if baking it would work in the same manner as it does with a butternut squash.  I came across a lot of delicious different things that you can bake in the squash and since I knew I had apples I had a golden opportunity!  The recipe was fairly easy and delicious, just took some time to bake completely.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients:
1 Acorn Squash
2 Apples (Cored, Peeled, & Sliced/Chopped)
2 Tbsp Butter
4 Tbsp Honey (you can also use some brown sugar to make it taste a bit sweeter if you would like)
Cinnamon

 Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out all of the seeds (once you no longer see anything stringy, just like with a pumpkin than you are done.)  Score the squash (make long cuts into it for flavor) and place into a loaf pan.  Get he apples ready and fill the middle of both sides of the squash.  Cover the pan with foil and cook for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Combine the butter and honey and microwave to melt the butter.  Drizzle over the apples in the squash.  Sprinkle the cinnamon on top and cook for about 20 min or until the squash is soft with the poke of a fork.  Allow 5 minutes to cool and you can serve as a meal itself or you can scoop the apples and part of squash onto a plate as a side dish.   

Acorn Squash

Cut it in half

Scoop out the middle

Score the squash and place int he loaf pan

Add the apples into the middle of the squash

Cover and bake for 30 minutes

Remove from the oven and chop the apples some more if you would like

Mix the melted butter and honey together

Drizzle over the apples in the squash

Sprinkle with cinnamon and return to the oven

Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy the deliciousness!

The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh

I know I watched and loved Winnie The Pooh as a child and it has been so great to share it with Liam and watch him become completely attached to it.  So haven't watched it multiple times recently I decided to do a review on it.

I was very surprised by how old it was and how relevant and recent it still seems when you watch it.  Netflix informed me that I was way off base and that it was actually released in 1977.  How crazy that it can still be so timeless and wonderful.  Having loved this for as long as I can remember I always love Tigger, but it was Eeyore that really stole my heart and in high school and right after I started collecting Eeyore's each time I went to a Disney Store.  Unfortunately I have lost some of the most awesome special edition ones in moves :(  But I still love Eeyore all the same and will buy one if I find any different than I already own.  Liam has also taken to loving the many wonderful characters of the movie.

Liam especially loves the songs, most notably "I'm Just a Little Black Raincloud."  I catch him around the house and in the car saying "Tutt Tutt Looks Like Rain."  This movie is great for little attention spans because it is really just a compilation of shorts linked together to create the movie.  The topic changes help keep smaller people more interested throughout the entirety of the film.  I love the way that the story is a part of a book at times :)

The characters are wonderful and loveable-even if they have been linked to the faults of man in each character, which only a negative person would look for in the film.  Although the timeless question of whether Eeyore is a boy or a girl with the pink bow on his tail, is definitively answered, at least in this movie with a deep many voice for him, leaving no other option. I love that Pooh sings a song about being "short fat, and proud of that."

The songs are catchy, there are Heffalumps & Woozles, many lessons about friendship and sharing.  Overall I definitely recommend this movie with 5 stars.  Don't miss this, due to it's age especially if you have children of your own now.  They are sure to love it, just as much if not more than you did as a child.  If you ever missed out on this 1970's classic, be sure to add it to your repertoire.  It is definitely worth the time to sit down and watch it! 

Here is a link to the official site: Winnie The Pooh: Disney

Cheese-Stuffed Meatloaf and Honey Cornbread Recipe

This was delicious, but not quite as yummy as the Cheesy Italian Meatloaf.  Still definitely worth trying and a great alternative if you don't have any ground sausage on hand. 

If you would like to check out the Cheesy Italian Meatloaf Recipe: Cheesy Italian Meatloaf

Ingredients:
3 Eggs
1 Cup Breadcrumbs (Tightly Packed)
Seasoning (Alpine Touch, Garlic Salt, Mediterranean Oregano, Mediterranean Basil, a couple of dashes of red pepper flakes)
2 lb Ground Beef
1 Cup Mixed Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese (grated)
1/2 Cup Smoked Gouda (grated) (or another smoked cheese)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the eggs, bread crumbs and seasoning.  Mix thoroughly.  Crumple the meat over the mixture and mix all together.   Press half of the meat mixture into a loaf pan.  Sprinkle 3/4 of the cheese over the top of the meat.  Pat the remaining meat mixture on top of the cheese.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.  Meat thermometer should read about 160 degrees.  Turn off the oven.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and let sit in the warm oven for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese.  Remove the meat loaf from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes.  Serve & Enjoy!

My sous chef helping with the cornbread

Honey cornbread serve and enjoy

Add the bread crumbs, eggs, seasoning and hamburger

Press half of the meatloaf into the pan

Add 3/4 of the cheese on top of the meatloaf

Press the remaining meatloaf on top of the cheese

Cook for 50 minutes

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the meatloaf

Melt the cheese in the oven

Serve & Enjoy!