We have a con artist on our hands.

Meet Bennie, our newest member to the family, a.k.a. Bendini. Also known as Benlasimo, Benzini, or Benfasa. The names just keep on coming, thanks to Chris.

He is a cutie. He is also a mastermind escape artist. Or maybe possibly a genius.

See, I'm not big on crates. Bennie roams the apartment at his leisure (under a close watch of course), but for the sake of keeping the wee one safe on the occasion we can't tuck him away with us, he gets put up in his comfy crate. Equipped with an oversized, plush dog bed, this thing is a puppy's dream and safe haven. Bennie loves his "home"...as long as the door is open, that is. Once the crate door gets shut and safely locked, not so much. I figured it would take a few times for him to get comfortable with being left in his crate while we were out. Boy, was he fooling us. Get used to it? More like overcome it!

The other day, when I ran out to get groceries and walked up to a suspiciously quiet front door, I had the feeling something was up. Sure enough, I opened the door just to be greeted by a wagging, black ball of fur. He had escaped!

He has escaped the last three times he's been put in his crate. I'm still stumped. I have NO idea how he does it, especially since it take a certain finesse to even close the thing. Chris and I played and tweaked with the door, trying to figure out how he could manipulate the lock and door to open it on his own. No dice. He's obviously a magician. A very sneaky magician.

Speaking of sneaky. I made this soup the other day when I was craving italian wedding soup. You know the one with the meatballs? I think when I was craving it, I had the one in mind I used to order at Olive Garden back in the day for their endless soup and salad lunch deal.  I haven't been to good 'ol Olive Garden in ages, so if you have no clue what I'm talking about, just ignore what I'm writing.

Let's move on.

This soup.

Traditional italian wedding soup has meatballs and cute little pasta, and a bunch of other stuff that is amazing. Don't get me wrong, I love a good recipe and I don't mind taking the time to do it right, but on most days, especially when I have a craving (which is usually all the time), I want it then and there. If it's going to take me longer than 20 minutes to make, then I'm tempted to just eat a jar of olives and move on.

So, when I was craving the heck out of this soup, I decided to take matters in my own hands and improvise. Are you starting to sense a theme with my recipes? Anyways...

Wannabe Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground turkey breast
1 tbsp olive oil (for sautéing)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
64 oz chicken stock/broth
1 cup cooked quinoa

garnish -
parsley, chopped
green onions, sliced
parmesan cheese

Directions:

Quinoa Prep -

If you don't have any cooked quinoa on hand, go ahead and begin preparing your quinoa. I rinsed 1 cup of dried quinoa in a fine mesh strainer, then poured the quinoa into a small/medium sized pot on low/medium heat. Let the quinoa sizzle a bit (~1 minute) to help bring out the natural nutty flavor. Then pour 2 cups of water or broth over the quinoa (2:1 ratio - 2 cups liquid per 1 cup quinoa). Bring to a light boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. After cooking, remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

Soup -
In a medium sized pot or dutch oven, drizzle about 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium to high heat. Season the ground turkey with salt and pepper, then add to the pot and brown until cooked through (about 7 minutes). Remove cooked turkey from pan onto a separate plate or bowl.

To the same pot, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Once heated, add onions. Sauté for a few minutes (~ 5 min) until translucent. Add carrots, celery, garlic and red pepper flakes. Continue to sauté for an additional 5 minutes. Add cooked turkey. Season all with salt, pepper, and oregano. Add broth, bring to a light boil. Turn heat down to a simmer. Add the spinach. Simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes.

To prepare - 
In the serving bowl, add a couple spoonfuls of cooked quinoa, pour soup overtop. Garnish with green onions, chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese.

Notes:
If you happen to be super on top of your game, and have quinoa and ground turkey made in advance, this soup can be brought together in no time! Great for quick lunches or a quick dinner on those busy weeknights. Just some food for thought. Enjoy!

lazy bake a.k.a. "refrigerator surprise bake"

Growing up, my Dad would sometimes make what he coined as "refrigerator surprise." He would take all the leftovers sitting in the fridge from that week and somehow magically whip up a culinary masterpiece. I can't say the dinner always looked appealing as my brother and I would cautiously poke at the plate. But, nevertheless, it always tasted great.

At the time, I don't think I truly appreciated or understood the genius in throwing together a complete family meal made entirely from the week's leftovers. But now that I'm older... and the days are undeniably shorter...whipping up something that is not only satisfying, but also quick, easy, and reduces waste. Well. That's just pure genius!

This dish isn't exactly the "refrigerator surprise"I grew up with. I know... I got you all worked up. But, this does have a similar concept and is a great dish to throw together on those "long, busy days you come home exhausted and starved, but have nothing in your fridge and need to go to the store" days.

Yeah, those days.

This dish is super simple and doesn't follow an exact science. You can pretty much throw whatever you have on hand in this dish.

Just take some old, crusty bread and toss it in a dish. Then top with some cheese. I had a little bit of cream cheese and some shredded cheese almost at it's end on hand, so I threw both of those in the dish with the bread.

Then I took all of my four eggs left and whisked them together with my last bit of half and half. I threw in some sliced green onions, then poured the mixture over the bread and cheese. At this point, you could probably throw this in the oven, but I knew I had a few leftover scraps that would make this even better. Plus, I always celebrate a small victory when I find a way to use up leftovers.

Throw in whatever leftovers you have sitting in your fridge - chopped veggies, pasta sauce, sauteed onions, peppers, salsa, whatever! Then throw the whole thing in the oven and boom! Refrigerator surprise, folks!

Lazy Bake a.k.a. "Refrigerator Surprise Bake"
inspired by Pioneer Woman's Bagel and Cream Cheese Baked French Toast

Ingredients:
old crusty bread, cubed or torn into chunks (I used old sourdough bread)
4 eggs
1/3 cup half and half
cream cheese (enough to drop a few dollops throughout)
shredded cheese (about a handful or two)
2 green onions, sliced
salt to season
dash of cayenne
dash of ground mustard

optional leftover topping ideas:
pasta sauce/marinara
diced onion, peppers
chopped veggies
cilantro
salsa

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease a small oven-proof casserole dish (I used a 3 cup, 7x5 inch pyrex) with butter or coconut oil. Spread the bread cubes in the dish. Add in a few small dollops of cream cheese throughout the dish (I put about 7-8 dollops). Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top.

In a separate small bowl, add the eggs, half and half, green onions, salt, cayenne and ground mustard. Whisk until combined. Pour the egg mixture in the casserole dish over the bread. This is your "bake" base.

Pull out whatever leftover scraps you may have on hand to add as toppings to your base. Add whatever you choose over the top of the bread, cheese and egg mixture.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake covered for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 7-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a minute. Cut into squares and serve!
For this particular bake, I used leftover pasta sauce and some diced sauteed onion and peppers I had from the previous night's dinner. I also used leftover pico de gallo and cilantro I had on hand to garnish after baking the dish.