Obama discusses nominees who will fight for American people

In this week's address, President Barack Obama discussed two nominees he has selected to lead agencies that will help protect the American people from corporate greed. This past week he nominated Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission and Richard Cordray to continue on as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Angel hair pasta with shrimp and tomato sauce

Another night and another recipe from my new favorite recipe website, Skinnytaste. I was running out of things to eat and had this recipe to save for sometime later so I thought tonight was as good a night as any. It was quick and easy to make and tasted delicious. The original recipe can be found here.  

Review: As I said above, this recipe was quick and easy to make. I'd say it took no more than 30 minutes to fix. It's certainly healthy and one I will make again soon. I followed the directions exactly but for me, the sauce was a little more liquidy than I prefer but that might have been, in part, because I used the juice from the diced tomato can instead of draining it. Next time I might add some cornstarch to help thicken the sauce a bit or first see how it does with actually draining it and then if it still has too much liquid for my liking then I'll add the cornstarch. It was basically a sauce similar to Ragu or Preggo so think about how you like your sauce and go with whatever works best for you. This also could be good with some ground beef. That also would help thicken the sauce a bit. The wine and oregano gave it a punch of flavor that kept me wanting more. I don't like whole tomatoes so I was a little skeptical of using diced tomatoes but once everything mixed together I could barely taste them. They really just blended in with the sauce. Still, if you don't like whole tomatoes you could just use the juice from the can or even try using a tomato puree or petite cut tomatoes in the can. As far as the white wine goes, I used Chardonnay but if you have a white wine you prefer to use than go ahead and use it.

Recipe:

• 1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 cup half and half
• oregano
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 8 oz. angel hair pasta (whole wheat, low carb or high fiber)

Boil the water for the pasta. Cook according to the package instructions. Meanwhile, season the shrimp with salt and oregano. Cook the shrimp and garlic in olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine, salt and pepper and cook an additional minute. Add the half and half and cook 1 more minute. Add the lemon juice and parsley and serve over the pasta.

Summer vegetables with turkey sausage and sweet potatoes

I had to go to the grocery store today because I was out of food. Before I did that, though, I took the time to find a few meals I wanted to cook in the upcoming days and weeks so I went to one of my favorite websites, Skinnytaste. I can always count on this site to have some delicious recipes and tonight's meal did not disappoint. It might have taken a little time to prepare and cook because of the different ingredients that needed cut and sliced, but the end product was worth the wait. It originally can be found here. 

Review: Tonight's meal was healthy and flavorful. My favorite vegetables are those that are cooked and even more so peppers. I simply love the flavor of cooked peppers and this meal had four of them. The recipe calls for yellow, orange and red bell peppers but I also added green to give it additional color. This meal would be good enough with just the vegetables so adding the sausage and the potatoes makes it even heartier and tastier. Also, you could add any type of meat you wanted whether it's sausage, pork, chicken, shrimp, etc. It wasn't spicy at all but you could either add some red chili pepper to give it some heat or add some hotter peppers along with the bell peppers such as jalapeno, for example. It took a little longer to prepare than I normally prefer but that was because I had to cut potatoes, four peppers, an onion and sausage. If you know in advance you're going to make it you could cut those things early so it's just a matter of cooking them, which will cut the time in half before you can serve. It also took me a while because I added extra amounts of the ingredients because I wanted to have enough to have leftovers for a few days. Had I used the amounts listed it might have given me 3 or 4 days worth of meals instead of double that. There really isn't anything major I would change about this meal, though, but just like the ability to change the meat product you also could add whatever types of vegetables you wanted. If you wanted to add some carrots or corn or celery, for example, you could. I also should note that the recipe calls for red potatoes, and that's fine, but I made it healthier by using sweet potatoes instead.

Recipe:

• 1 lb baby red potatoes, cut in half or quartered (I used two sweet potatoes and quartered them)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• fresh cracked pepper
• 14 oz Italian chicken sausage, sliced 1-inch thick (I bought and used two packages of turkey sausage)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of the knife (I used 3 tsp of minced garlic)
• 1/2 orange bell pepper, diced 1-inch squares (I used 1 whole pepper)
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced 1-inch squares (I used 1 whole pepper)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced 1-inch squares 
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary (or other fresh herb such as thyme)
• 2 cups zucchini, 1/2 inch thick and quartered (I used 1 whole zucchini)

Place the oil and potatoes in a large, deep non-stick skillet with a tight fitting lid on high heat. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. When the skillet gets hot and starts to sizzle, reduce heat to low and cook with a tight lid on for about 20-25 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent the potatoes from burning (or stir with a spatula). Remove from the heat and let them sit 5 minutes without removing the lid. Set potatoes aside on a dish.

Add the sausage to the skillet and saute on medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally until browned but not quite cooked through, about 10 minutes. Season the chopped vegetables with salt and pepper. Add onions, peppers, garlic and rosemary to the skillet and mix. Continue cooking stirring occasionally until the onions and peppers become slightly browned. Add the zucchini and cook an additional 5 minutes, mixing as it cooks until cooked through.

Return the potatoes back to the skillet and mix well. Adjust salt and pepper as needed. Cover and cook 5 more minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked through.

Obama calls on Congress to get fiscal deal done, protect middle class

There are two days left until the so-called "fiscal cliff" and no deal has been struck to avert steep spending cuts and massive tax increases on all Americans. President Barack Obama used his weekly address on Saturday to insist Congress pass a deal that would protect the middle class from being the hardest hit if the country went over the cliff and lay the groundwork for deficit reduction and economic growth in the coming months. He said if a deal could not be reached then at the very least Congress should have a simple up or down vote on middle class tax cuts so paychecks will not increase at the beginning of the year.

President, first lady extend holiday greetings, thank troops

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama used the weekly address to wish all Americans a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. They took time to thank the troops for their service and urged everyone to visit joiningforces.gov to find out what they can do honor and support veterans and military families. They also called on everyone to come together and care for each other this holiday season.

Kool-aid pies

We are having a carry-in at work for Christmas Eve so I decided to bring some desserts. When we had a carry-in at my previous store someone brought Kool-aid pies. I loved them and asked for the recipe so I could make them for family later. Well, I made them and the family enjoyed it so I thought I'd make them again for my work this year. To make sure there would be enough I made two different kinds: fruit punch and mixed berry.

Review: These pies are quite tasty and quick to make. Depending on the Kool-aid flavor you choose it might be a little sweet or it might be a little sour. In an ideal situation you would want to use a mixer but I didn't have one so I just used a wooden spoon to mix everything. That left them a little chunkier than I'd like but they turned out OK. You might want to taste it before you pour it into the graham cracker crust, though, because if you don't think it's strong enough flavor-wise you could add a little bit of sugar. You also could add a second packet of Kool-aid if you wanted, but the proportions I used and will list below seem to be a good mix. As far as the Kool-aid packet goes, the flavor you choose is up to you, but my coworker who brought it in said she would not recommend anything with a lemon flavor. She also recommended using brand name because she tried generic packets and said they weren't the same as brand name Kool-aid.

Recipe:

• 1 package of original cream cheese
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 packet of Kool-aid, flavor of your choosing
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 graham cracker crust
• sugar as needed, optional

In a mixing bowl whip the cream cheese then add the condensed milk. Continue mixing the ingredients together until smooth. Add the Vanilla extract and mix some more. Finally, pour in the Kool-aid packet and mix until blended together. Once the Kool-aid is added in, the mixture will start to thicken a little. Once the filling turns the color of the Kool-aid and everything is mixed, pour into the graham cracker crust. Use a spoon or fork to get the filling even throughout the crust then chill for 2-3 hours before serving.

Seasoned pork chops with pineapple

About a week ago I bought some pork chops and wanted to cook something with it but I didn't know what. I looked around various websites and nothing really stood out for something I wanted to cook tonight; however, the basic ingredients of some of those recipes caught my eye so I basically took the ingredients and just did my own thing.

Review: This meal was quite tasty. The pork chops were juicy and flavorful and will probably be how I cook pork chops from now on unless I find another recipe that calls for cooking it differently. While the meal might have been better cooked on the grill, it still came out pretty good on stovetop. With a couple minutes left of cooking I put the pineapple in the pan and just let them get warm and cook with the juices from the pork chops. I used chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder but none of them were overpowering. They actually mixed quite well together. I also just sprinkled each pork chop and each side of each pork chop with the spices; however, the spices I listed below in the recipe portion I'll put approximate amounts that everything equaled to. I used eight pork chops just because that's how many I bought but you can use however many pork chops you want and you also can choose if you want bone-in or boneless.

Recipe:

• 4 boneless pork chops
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup chili powder
• 1/2 cup onion powder
• 1/2 cup garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups diced pineapple

Pour the olive oil in a pan and heat. Mix the chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper together in a small bowl and sprinkle on both sides of the pork chops. Cook one side of the pork chops for about 5 minutes or until brown. Flip and cook the other side another 5 minutes or until brown. With a couple minutes remaining in the cooking process, pour the pineapple pieces into the pan and cook until warm.