New Recipe: Christine's Bacon-Cheddar Risotto

I was browsing through a magazine and a Bacon Risotto recipe caught my eye. I didn’t look at the recipe and now I can’t remember where I saw it. Since I make a mean Asparagus/Chicken Risotto, I figured I’d take a stab at a Bacon version.
(Note: I never measure anything when I cook so adding a little bit more or a little bit less of an ingredient will not destroy this recipe)


The Good Stuff:
1 medium Vidalia onion (chopped) – you can use a standard yellow onion
1 package of Bacon (12-16 oz package)
2 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup Arborio Rice
1 box (32oz) of Chicken Broth (reduced sodium, 98% FatFree is what I use)
¼ cup sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Make it Happen:

Step 1) Chop the onion

Step 2) Chop the Bacon into small pieces (I discarded the fatty ends which looked like they had no meat on them)

Step 3) In a small 2 quart saucepan bring the whole container of Chicken broth to a boil, then lower the heat to low and leave on low for the duration of the recipe.

Step 4) Heat up a heavy bottomed pot. This can either enameled cast iron or whatever you use to make a big pot of soup. (stay away from stockpots).

Step 5) Toss in the bacon (IT WILL SPLATTER –wear a sleeved shirt or stay away)
Bacon will take about 5-7 minute to get nice and crispy.
Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate for the bacon grease to be absorbed .

Step 6) Carefully pour the bacon grease into a safe container (I use cleaned paper milk cartons- since you can cut them down to have a big opening for pouring). You are going to discard the grease once it’s cool – Don’t put it down the drain.. ugh

Step 7) It’s a GOOD thing if there little bits of heaven and a light oil slick on the bottom of your pot, add the 2 tbsp of oil to the pot and heat to medium heat, add the chopped onions.

Step 8) Saute the onions until they turn translucent (about 5 minutes).

Step 9) Add the cup of Arborio Rice and sauté into the onions for 1.5 minutes

Step 10) Add a ladle (about ¾ cup) of chicken broth to the rice/onion mixture and stir.

Step 11) Once the liquid is absorbed add another ladle (¾ cup) of chicken broth – Continue this process until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed (you will probably have about 1 ladle leftover of broth in the pot that you can toss away) **It’s very important to do taste tests, Risotto should be firm, but not too hard and certainly not mushy**

Step 12) Remove the pot from the heat and add the Cheddar Cheese and the bacon and mix well. This is your final taste test, depending on the cheese/chicken stock and bacon it could be salty enough. Since I used low sodium bacon and chicken stock I typically can add about 1 tsp of salt to the pot and stir.

Enjoy!

Favorite Product Alert!

Tired of looking Tired??
Over the years I have tried an overabundance of eye creams. Here are a few of the most recent ones I've tested and ruled out:

"Clinique Rich" made my eyelids superdry (almost scaley) and burned the crap out of my eyes when I was carelessly applying it.

"Garnier Nutrisitionise Ultralift" was a nice eye moisturizer, and even though it was inexpensive, it didn't do much.. actually it didn't do anything.

"Origins Mushroom EyeSerum" made the overal area looking better, but again it didn't do a heck of a lot plus at $45 for 15mL it was a bit too pricey...

And then came a newbie to the cosmetic counter.... and it claimsed to deliver exactly what I had been seeking: diminished dark circles and reduced puffiness...

Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream

I'm in my late 20's and thus I'm not looking for an eye-lift in a jar, but something to help with the "ut-oh I was doing wedding research until 2 AM" look.

After a bit more than month of using the miraculous potion I have DEFINITELY seen results: sayonara dark circles... and it reduced the swollen bags after a night of a few too many bottles, oops I mean glasses, of wine.

Why purchase Origins GinZing?
1) it works! - this most important right?
2) it wont break the bank - it's less than $30 for 15mL
3) a little goes a long way-I've barely put a dent in my jar and I use it religiously morning and night (on my eyelids and under eyes)

Where to get it?
Stop by an Origins store of the Origins counter in Macy's and ask for a sample.
Also if you place ANY order at http://www.origins.com/ and enter EXPERT at checkout (by May 16, 2010) they'll give you a 2 week supply for free.

Resuscitating NJ-Coupon Girl

There is no better way to revive the NJ Coupon Girl blog than to rave about my CVS shopping experience today.
I absolutely love the CVS Extra Bucks program. My previous blog explains how it works. But last weekend CVS has a sick amount of Extra Buck (EBs) Deals that I took advantage of and used a slew of coupons.

For example I purchase Nivea’s new body wash which was on Sale for $4.88 and I had a $4.00 coupon- only .88 cents out of pocket! I was ultra thrilled with the deals I found and the $12.50 in Extra Bucks (EBs) that I earned.



Here is what I purchased:

• Sheik Quattro 3 Ct Women Razors (2 packs) Reg $8.99 each. On sale for 25% off - $6.36 each.


• Sheik Hydro Razor (NEW for men) Reg $9.99. On Sale for $8.99


• 3D Crest Whitestrips Reg: $39.99 On Sale for $29.99


• Kotex U-tampons 18 Count Reg: $5.29 On sale for $4.99
  

The sale prices were based solely on using my CVS Extra Care Card.

Total Should have been: $73.25
With Extra Care Savings New Total: $56.69

BUT WAIT… I didn’t include my Manufacturers’ Coupons

Note: I didn’t buy a single item that didn’t have a Manufacturer Coupon.

• Sheik woman Razors- $2.00 off of each package


• Sheik Hydro Razor - $5.00 off


• 3D Crest White Strips - $10.00 off


• Kotex U-tampons - $1.00 off

Total coupon saving: $20.00….. $56.69 - $20.00 = $36.69

BUT WAIT… I didn’t apply my EBs from last week:

$36.69 – $12.50 (EBs)
Grand Total Spent today: $24.19

BONUS: I earned $8.99 in Extra Bucks which expire June 9 and a $10 off of $50 Purchase Coupon.

Recipe: Guacamole

I'm off to South Jersey to get together with some girl friends of mine. I decided to bring one of my favorite things to eat with me. The recipe below is originally from my very good friend Amanda, but over the years I've altered it slightly.

4 Hass Avocados (DO NOT use Florida avocados)

1/2 Small Spanish Onion chopped (regular yellow or white is ok too)

- this should be about 2 Tbsp of chopped onion

1 Plum/Roma Tomato - seeded and chopped

1 tsp of chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 tsp of salt
1 lime

1 clove of garlic (minced, I prefer to use a garlic press)
1/2 of one jalapeno minced (remove seeds and ribbing)

Use the above ingredients as a starting point, adjust the flavor (spicyness or saltiness to your liking). Be aware of the guests you are serving the dip to, some people may not like the taste of cilantro, 1/2 tsp of chopped fresh cilantro is not a ton of flavor.

Cut the Avocados length wise, remove the pit and scrape the fruit of the avocado with a spoon. Transfer to a bowl (glass works well), or a mortar and pistol. Smash up the avocados to a consistency to your likely. I like a tiny bit of chunkiness to mine :)

(This mortar and pistol was a present from my Future Mother In-law, it weighs about 25 lbs!)

Add the chopped tomato, chopped onion, cilantro, 1/2 lime juiced, salt, garlic and jalapeno (you can substitute a few teaspoons of hot sauce, like Red Hot, if you don't have jalapenos). Mix it up.

Chopped tomato

Transfer to the bowl you are going to serve it in.

If you aren't ready to serve it yet, drizzle enough lime juice (from the other half of the lime) to thin layer of juice on the the top of the guacamole. Cover airtight with plastic wrap. The avocado will oxidize and turn brown make sure you follow the these steps to keep it fresh. The dip should be eaten within a few hours. Serve with Tortilla chips!

Final product, pressed with plastic wrap

Say Cheeese!

Note: This post is not for the lactose-intolerant, you might be running to the bathroom after you are done reading this! - just kidding

I love Cheese. Not quite sure about you, but I can eat cheese with anything. I typically stick with grocery store cheeses; shredded, grated, shaved, blocks, double-cream, triple-cream, green veins, chunks, balled.... give me cheese!

I've recently had a jones-ing for better quality cheese and thus started researching Cheese Shops in Central Jersey. I discovered "Bon Appetit", a specialty food's store, located in Princeton.

This past Sunday, Jason and I took a trip to Bon Appetit where we were quite surprised with the abundance of goodies they sell. They have a meats section, with a nice variety of salami's and cured hams, a bakery section with freshly baked bread and cakes, and of course a cheese area equipped with a Cheese monger to provide all sorts of recommendations on cheese. http://www.bonappetitfinefoods.com/

We sampled a few cheeses and then decided on 3 cheeses (2 Italian and 1 French) to purchase:

1)Montasio - Italian cows milk. Similar to a Parmesan, but much more mild. We enjoyed this by cutting it into small pieces and snacking on it - bread wasn't required.

2)Tallegio - Italian cows milk. Smelled pretty disgusting when we got it home, but tasted like heaven. We nixed the rind (not sure if it was edible or not) and then applied it (liberally) to slices of freshly-baked, crusty french bread (we picked this up at Bon Appetit when it was still warm).

3)Saint Agur - French cows milk. Pronounced: San-AhGEEEEr. This was a very creamy, salty, blue cheese. It was definitely mild when it comes to blue - not soo pungent. We also slathered this onto slices on french bread.


(from top to bottom: Saint Agur, Montasio and Tallegio)

Snowed-in Saturday

We had lots of plans today, but they were all curtailed with the lovely snowstorm that came in over night. I certainly do not mind since there are lots of things I can do around the house.

I love the fact that I subscribed for weekend newspaper delivery. Our local paper, the Home News Tribune inserts weekly ads and coupons into it's Saturday issue. Since most Sales begin on Sunday, this extra preview day allows me to plan my weekly shopping a little bit earlier!

The Newspaper was delivered this morning despite the 10 inches of snow on the ground. It was doubley wrapped to keep it nice and dry. To my surprise there were 4 Coupons booklets!

After clipping the coupons this is what my dining room table looked like:

Grocery Night

I spent my Sunday clipping and printing and clipping again. I looked at the ads and determined where I was going to do my weekly shopping. There are a few ways you can save money when shopping for groceries.

1) buy items that are On Sale

2) buy items that are discounted with the "Club Savings Card" (Yes, go sign up for every store you shop at, STOP using the "store's" card!)

3) use coupons, both Store and Manufacturers

4) Stick to your list

Tonight was ShopRite night:


I bought 73 items
Used 15 Manufacturer coupons - totaling $18.99 (ShopRite doubles coupons under $0.99)
Used some Store Coupons - Saved another $9.05


Total cost of Grocery Bill was $163.03
After scanning Price Plus Card and Coupons, Paid out of Pocket: $88.48
That's $74.55 in Savings

One more piece of information, all 73 of the items purchased were Name-Brand grocery items!