Taste Buds

Slow Cooker Pot Roast- freezer update

2012-01-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

I took my frozen bag of pot roast out and made it yesterday. I don't think that I will try that again. The carrots and celery were mushy, some of the potatoes were done and some weren't, and the meat didn't fall apart like it was supposed to. Maybe I did something wrong, I'm not sure. It cooked on low for 5 1/2 hours, then high for 3 hours. I think next time I will just freeze the meat, then thaw it out all the way before using it in the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

2011-12-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

Last week when my daughter and I went shopping, they had pot roast on a good sale, so I got a package. I was thinking that it had one good size roast and one small size roast, but it ended up having two good size ones. As I stated in my last post, I've been looking on Pinterest for recipes and cooking tips. There were quite a few links to blogs about cooking one day and puting together multiple meals for the coming month. So when I was browning my pot roast before puting it in the slow cooker, I decided to follow some instructions and make up a second one to freeze. We had a great dinner last night (with leftovers for my lunch and some to give to my father too) and now I have one in the freezer just waiting for me when I'm low on ideas for meals, or we are going to be gone much of the day.

Here's my simple pot roast recipe:

5-6 medium red potatoes, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
two handfuls of baby carrots, cut in half
three stalks celery, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
salt and pepper to taste
onion powder (my husband can't eat onions, but you can use fresh instead of powder if you like)
1 can beef consumme
your choice of pot roast

I spray the slow cooker, then place the vegetables in the bottom. I then add the seasonings. I brown the roast on each side for about 2-3 minutes, then add it to the slow cooker. Add the can of beef consumme and cook on low for 7-9 hours or high 4-5 hours.

When the meat and vegetables are done, I take them out and put them in a serving bowl and cover to keep warm. Then I transfer the liquid to a saucepan and make a gravy. I won't give you directions for thickening because I haven't perfected that part yet. When I use cornstarch, my gravy is wonderful the first day, but its more like jelly after being refrigerated. When I use flour, it tends to get a bit lumpy, but the flavor is wonderful. I wish I had paid more attention when my grandma was teaching me how to make gravy!! If anyone has any great tips for gravy, post them in the comments.

For freezing: I used a gallon freezer storage bag. I put the vegetables and the browned roast in the bag. I didn't add a can of the beef consumme because I didn't have a second one. From what I have read on other food blog sites, if you add the marinade/liquid to the bag and then freeze it, when the food is thawing the meat gets a little extra flavor. So my bag has the vegetables and meat ready to be taken out of the freezer and put in the slow cooker. Some people suggest that when you take it out of the freezer, let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes before adding it to the slow cooker. Your cooking times will have to be adjusted.

2011-12-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

In the last month I've been introduced to a new (well, new to me) website called "Pinterest". I have to admit that I'm addicted to it. People "pin" pictures that they find online of different things that they are interested in, which then lead you to the website they got them from. I've found quite a few recipe ideas that I would love to try.

I have tried out a couple recipes from the site. A few for the girls have been fun and good (ideas for rolled up tortillas instead of sandwiches). I tried a baked chicken parmesean (not that great) and a Chicken Marsala (mix of two recipes) that was AMAZING.

So if you are looking for a neat new website that has ideas for recipes, decorating, organization, crafts, repurposing, do-it-yourself tips, books, clothes, travel, and, well, just about anything....you should check it out. You need to be invited by someone that already uses it, so ask me or a friend to send you an invite.

Yoplait vs Jamba Juice frozen smoothies

2011-10-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

I love to make smoothies, but don't always have the mixture of fruit to make them. In the past year, different companies have started to put out frozen smoothie mixes you can find with the frozen fruit at your local grocery store. These mixes include frozen fruit and frozen yogurt in small easily blendable sizes. All you have to do is add liquid (juice or milk depending on the product).

The first product we tried was Yoplait strawberry-banana. We did not like it very much. There was a distinctly unappetizing taste to the yogurt. We decided to to try Yoplait again with the strawberry-mango-pineapple flavor. It still had an odd flavor.

Then we tried the Jamba Juice frozen smoothie mix. We bought the Carribean Passion (which I actually didn't like at the local store). It was a great product. There was a good mixture of the fruit (strawberry, peach, and mango) and the yogurt didn't have a strange taste to it.

So here's the comparison (out of 5 stars):

Taste:    Yoplait 2 1/2 stars        Jamba Juice 4 1/2 stars
Consistency:  Yoplait    4 stars          Jamba Juice    5 stars
Overall:   Yoplait 3 1/2 stars       Jamba Juice 4 1/2 stars

Mama Express

2011-04-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

My 6 year old daughter has a new favorite restaurant, "Panda Express". I'm not sure why she loves it so much. When we went to Costco a few weeks ago they had a frozen meal of Orange Chicken. We got some and tonight I made that along with white rice (I was too tired to attempt a fried rice) and potstickers. When I told her what I was making, she said "Oh, like Panda Express". I said yes, but called Mama Express. So all throught dinner she kept saying how much she liked Mama Express. It made me smile.

Favorite kitchen tools

2011-04-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

I unpacked two of my favorite kitchen tools tonight. They have been sitting in their boxes in my pantry since we moved in November. One is my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, the other is my Pampered Chef loaf pan. I'm baking some "Best Banana Bread" right now and the apartment smells so good.

While I was unpacking I was thinking about some kitchen related things and since it's been a month since my last post, I thought I would share my random thoughts with you.

The Kitchen Aid mixer is so wonderful. I generally use it a few times a year (I need to make this bread more often!) for birthday cakes and chocolate chip cookies. But it has some great uses. When I was living at home with my parents, my step-mom would make the most wonderful meatloaf. She would put the meat grinder attachment onto the Kitchen Aid and we would have a mixture of fresh ground chicken, steak, and pork. The flavors were so good....now I'm thinking that I want to save up for one of those. The other neat thing you can make is perfectly smooth mashed potatoes (I haven't done this in about 8 1/2 years though). They are so creamy and fluffy. It takes a few more minutes, but then again your arm doesn't get tired from all that mashing.

Another thing I was thinking about was how much I love Pampered Chef stoneware. We use the round pizza stone all the time. It just stays in the oven, partly because we don't have any storage space for it and partly because we use it so much. If I had unlimited money and storage space, I would buy all the Pampered Chef stoneware. I have the pizza stone, the loaf pan, and a small baking dish. It cooks so evenly and I've never burned anything.

Which led me to think of my ideal kitchen. It doesn't have to be huge, but it has to have lots of storage. The only other specific thing I would like would be a sink that you didn't have to use your hands to turn on. I hate having high bacteria food on my hand and then having to touch the faucet to turn on the water. I saw an episode of a kitchen planning show on one of those decorating channels one time that had two surgeons who installed the same type of system in their house that they use at the hospital. I would love that. No more raw meat or egg germs having a party on my faucet handle.

So those are my kitchen thoughts for the night. As an added note, I was not paid any endorsements from Kitchen Aid or Pampered Chef for my post tonight. =)

Delicious homemade pizza

2011-03-08T18:07:00.000-08:00

Yet again, no picture to go with my post. But I had to share this wonderful culinary experience.

A few weeks ago we went to visit some friends up in Salt Lake City. The husband is a friend of Shane's from South Carolina. In his spare time (when he's not being a physics professor and working on mixing techno music) he is a wonderful chef. If you've tried the Tomato Pie recipe from this site, it is based on a recipe I first got from him. Where I buy my pie crust and mayonaise at the store, he makes his from scratch. When he offered to make us homemade pizza, I knew that it would be a great experience.

He started by making the pizza crust with a mixture of whole wheat and regular flour. He showed me how to make it with the Kitchen Aid. I've never had good luck with making homemade bread or rolls, so he showed me what the consistency should be and the key to kneeding the dough. He even made sauce for two of the pizzas from scratch too. One cheese and pepperoni with mushroom for the kids, one veggie pizza for his wife and brother in law (peppers, olives, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, mushrooms). Then he made a chicken ranch pizza for us.

The pizza was wonderful. The nice part about making your own pizza at home is that you can add whatever ingredients you want and what amount you want. You can be creative and it tastes so much better than ordering it from somewhere and it is more healthy (well, as healthy as pizza can be).

Stroganoff

2011-02-14T21:55:00.000-08:00

Delightfully creamy! Very easy!

4 T butter
1/2 lb beef, cubed (1 X 6)
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 T flour
1 1/2 c. Chicken or beef broth
1/2 c. sour cream
2 T. Italian flat-leaf parsley, minced
S & P
Noodles (wide egg or fettuccine), cook as directed.

Boil water for the noodles. In a skillet, saute the meat. When med done, remove meat, but leave the drippings. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until most of the moisture has been released (about 5 mintes). Add the butter, stir until melted. Add the flour and stir to incorporate. Stir in the broth and cook for a minute or two, until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat, add sour cream and parsley. Season with s&p. When noodles are done, strain. Mix into sauce and enjoy!

Roasted Sweet Potato Fries w/Rosemary

2011-01-31T15:32:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I'm not fond of sweet potatoes or yams, but I love these!

3-4 Yams, washed, peeled and cut into chunks
Olive oil
A couple pinches of rosemary
Sea Salt

Toss all ingredients. Bake at 375 for 30-60 minutes depending on the size of your chunks. We broil them for a minute or two at the end to add a bit of crispness!

Inside out Sundae

2011-01-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

Just a fun little trick!!

Make cake batter, fill cupcake tray with liners, fill the liner. Add a maraschino cherry to the center. Bake as directed (may need an extra minute or two). When cool, Pipe whipped cream into the center of the cupcake. Frost & decorate as you'd like!

This makes for a great surprise--biting into a cupcake filled with whipped cream and a cherry! So fun!

Photo: My whipped cream had lost its volume by the time I piped it into these cupcakes, which is why they looked filled with milk. But... if you use stiffer whipped cream you'll end up with great results! It worked well for me last time!!

Salmon-- how do you love it?

2011-01-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

What is your favorite way to prepare salmon?

A couple of days ago I tried a new recipe. I mixed some chipotle powder into honey. I added a few drops of sesame oil and spread onto the raw fish. After covering the baking dish with foil, I baked at 300 for 30 minutes. It was really tasty. I especially enjoyed the sweet sesame flavor, but I felt that the honey didn't penetrate the fish, so only the outer layer was seasoned.

I usually make salmon with lemon juice and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and cook them in little wrapped foil packets. Sometimes, I add a coating of mayonaisse or a few capers. I love how this flavors all of the fish and is delicious and simple!

What do you love?

Very Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

2011-01-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we had a spiral cut ham and there was plenty of leftovers. I searched for a recipe where I could use some of the leftovers. This recipe was SO good! I would have posted a picture, but we ate it too fast. I think that next time I will double it so I can have some leftovers. The good part about using the food processor was the veggies were so small that you could add other vegetables without anyone noticing.

Ingredients

2-3 stalks celery, diced or chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 T oil of your choice
3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1 cup diced cooked ham
3 3/4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground pepper, or to taste

5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk

Directions

1.I used my small food processor to chop the celery and onion. I sauted them in canola oil in my stockpot. Add the potatoes, ham and water. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the water level, you may have to add more during cooking. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.

2.In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes.

3.Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately. Garnish with shredded cheese or green onions.

Soup in a Pumpkin

2011-01-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting to make pumpkin soup in a pumpkin since I read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle book a couple of years ago. Since we grow pumpkins in our garden, I was set to do it last year, but didn't get around to it before the mold did.

This year, I set aside the pumpkins to try again and decided I better hurry up. So, tonight was the night!! I have been eating very limited gluten, dairy and sugar the past couple of months, and so I didn't follow the recipe to a tee. Which, I'm sure is why I have only rated this three stars. I'm sure that this soup is great!! But... alas, mine was very fun to make but didn't quite make the cut for me. I do have to say that it tastes a bit better to me now (10 minutes after making it) than it did right after it came out of the oven, so perhaps, I'll try again in the morning and it will be fabulous! And, my pumpkin shell got too soft and the bottom burst out when I tried to remove the soup to puree it. Maybe I cooked it a bit too long.

Since it isn't fabulous, try Barbara's recipe if you decide to brave it. I omitted the sage (I have some but couldn't find it) and the milk and added parsley and thyme. I like the consistency and the flavors of the garlic and spices. Maybe its the pumpkin flavor that I'm not so fond of, but it is ultra healthy so I gave it an extra star! (In the picture, I've added a dollop of yogurt after the pureeing.)

But... its got me to thinking that I might be able to figure out a way to make pumpkin pie soup in a pumpkin as a dessert. Hmm.. Sounds yummier to me, but it might not be gluten, dairy and sugar free. Oh, well.

Beef Noodle Casserole (like Hamburger Helper)

2010-10-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Very rarely do I make something with on hand ingredients that I just throw together. Most of the time I plan out what I'm going to make and have it ready. This weekend didn't go according to plan. I had made macaroni noodles to try to make a macaroni salad, but I never got around to it. I had ground beef thawed out to make meatloaf, but there ended up not being enough. So I thought I would make something like hamburger helper. I like the ease of hamburger helper, but I don't like that there is so much sodium in the boxed meals. So I did it myself.

I preheated the oven to 350, then browned the ground beef. While it was browning I added the spices I wanted. I used a dash of pepper, salt, onion powder, parsley flakes, and garlic powder. When it was browned, I added 1/4 of a small can of tomato paste (I would add more next time if I was not planning on freezing any of it), 1 can of stewed tomatoes (I use a wooden spoon to make the pieces of tomato smaller), and 1/4 can tomatoe sauce (or spaghetti sauce if you want extra flavor). The I added the macaroni noodles. I mixed it all together, then added 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Mix again, then add a layer of shredded cheese on top. I put my skillet (mine is oven safe. If you do not have an oven safe skillet you can transfer to a greased casserole dish) into the oven and let it cook for about 10 minutes. My noodles had been cold from the refrigerator. If you cook your noodles and add them while they are hot, just wait for the cheese to melt. Remove and serve with a yummy vegetable.

The rating for the meal is from my husband, and the fact that both my girls ate it. My older daughter even asked for a second helping!

Kitchen Tip

2010-09-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

I was cutting onions to make a salad today and I couldn't see because I was crying so much. I was thinking-there has to be a better way to cut onions so I don't cry. I know that they make onion-cutting goggles you can wear (much like swim goggles). Then I remembered a scene from one of my favorite TV shows "Veronica Mars". They were cutting up onions with metal spoons in their mouth and they said that it stopped them from crying. I was thinking to myself that it was a TV show and probably just made it up, but I decided to try it anyway. It worked! I could still smell the onions, but it didn't bother me at all. I guess you can learn something from watching tv.

Sante Fe Quinoa Salad

2010-09-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Healthy, healthy, healthy... and yummy, too!

3/4 c quinoa (rinsed)
1 1/2 c. water
Salt
2 t Cumin
2 T lemon juice
6 T Olive oil
Pepper
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed
1 small red pepper, finely diced
1 med cucumber, diced
1/2 small onion, very finely diced
1/2 c. finely chopped cilantro
1 lg ripe tomato, halved and then sliced for garnish

In a med, saucepan, combine quinoa, water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Spread quinoa on a baking sheet and refrigerate for about 20 minutes while preparing the dressing.
Combine lemon juice and cumin in a blender. Blend and then add oil and blend again. Season with s&p. Pour dressing into a lg bowl. Add beans, cucumber, cilantro, onions and pepper. Toss. Add quinoa and mix. Season with s&p. Top with slices of tomato. Makes 4 servings.

*optional -- lime juice can be used instead of lemon, but I have tried both ways and find the lemon more appealing!

Yummy extas!

2010-09-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

This is a great way to use a little extra pie dough (if you can resist making elephant ears!)

I made a pie but had a bit extra dough and filling. I'd seen something similar in a recipe book and so I tried this out!

Lay the rolled dough out in a baking dish, add some pie filling, and fold up the edges around the filling.

Its a great way to use up the extras and it was delicious (far better than the pie turned out!!) and its a great way to get a little slice of dessert!!

Peaches and Cream Pie (and Blueberries too)

2010-09-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

I've used this recipe a few times and love it! As you can tell by the pic... I had to scrounge up what was left to get a photo! =)

Crust:

1 1/2 c. all purp flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 c. cold butter
Filling:
3 c. fresh peaches, peeled & sliced
1 c. fresh blueberries (or blackberries)
1 c. sugar, divided
2 T all-purp flour
1 egg
1/4 t salt
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 container (8 oz) sour cream

Topping:
2/3 c sugar
2/3 c all purp flour
2 t gr. cinnamon
1/2 c cold butter

Preheat oven to 400 F.

For crust, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until a crumbly mixture forms. Press into 9" deep pie dish. Set aside. Place peaches in a bowl; sprinkle with 1/4 c of the sugar. Combine flour, egg, canilla, salt & remaining sugar. Fold in sour cream. Stir into peaches and then pour into crust. While baking, make topping. Combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl; cut in butter til it is a crumbly mixture. Set aside.

Bake at 400F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and bake another 20 minutes or til the pie is mostly set. Remove from oven, sprinkle on topping. Increase heat to 400F again and bake for another 15 minutes.

Optional: Leave out the blueberries, but increase the peaches to 4 c.

Easy chicken dinner(s)

2010-09-02T05:55:00.000-07:00

I like to make meals that can be used more than one time, or making meals ahead of time. Most nights it's 4 o'clock and I'm thinking....hmmm, what can I throw together for dinner tonight? So one day I put some frozen chicken tenders (about 10) in the crock pot and put a can of cream of chicken soup over the top. I sprinkled a little pepper too. I cooked it on high heat for 3 1/2 hours. By then the chicken was done. I made up some rice and steamed some veggies. It was a good dinner. There was even some of the chicken mixture left over. So the next day for lunch I cooked up some spaghetti noodles, heated up the chicken mixture, added some parm cheese, and made some green beans. It was tasty.

Basil e Garlicky Pasta

2010-08-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

I love this dish. An Italian friend told me the recipe, but I don't remember exactly what she does, since I've modified it!! Here's my take on it!

1 pkg egg noodles
5 T of butter
1- 2 handfuls Basil, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt
1/4 c. pine nuts, toasted (opt)
1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese (opt)

Cook noodles as directed for al dente. Drain. Meanwhile, melt butter in a heavy pan on medium. Reduce heat to low, add garlic. Let garlic cook for a minute til just slightly brown. Add noodles to pan, toss. Add basil, salt, and pine nuts, toss. Keep heat on until the basil has slightly wilted. Remove from heat. Serve. Sprinkle cheese on pasta. YUM!

Cheese makes any dish!

2010-08-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

So, I love cooking from the garden. But there are a few things that I don't especially love--zucchini, to name one! Well, I've realized that if I grill or roast a bit of pretty much any veggie with a bit of cheese smothering it, it tastes fabulous! These zucchini rounds were fried in a pan... and delicious! Another variation: Take a zucchini or yellow summer squash that has overgrown and split it down the middle. Scoop out the seeds. Fill the hollow with a bit of cheese (or cheese and garlic and basil (or any veggie, actually) if you have them on hand. Grill or roast in oven til tender. They are fabulous!

Gyros... Glorious gyros!!!

2010-08-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

I LOVE gyros... and I HATE that I only get to eat them once a year at Fair time... but I found a recipe that curbs my craving!!.. and I don't even buy them at the Fair anymore!!!

Tzatzki Sauce
1 1/2 c. whole plain yogurt (drain off excess water, if needed)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
10 mint leaves, chopped
1/2 large onion, diced
2 med cucumbers, de-seeded and diced

1 lb sausage
1 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large onion, diced
1/4 c breadcrumbs
salt & pepper
Handful of basil (optional)
Lettuce, washed, thinly sliced
Tomato, thinly sliced
Naan* or Pita Bread, warmed in oven or grill (in foil) or lightly toasted

In a mixing bowl, add yogurt, garlic, salt, mint leaves, onion and cucumber. Stir to mix. Cover and refrigerate until needed. I try to prepare this a couple of hours to days in advance because it gives the flavors more time to mix.

In another bowl, mix sausage, beef, garlic, breadcrumbs, onion, s&p and basil. Mix together with your hands (knead, mush) until all ingredients are well dispersed. From into patties and either grill or cook on med until well done. Remove from heat and slice the patties into thin rounds. (so you'll end up with 3-4" circles of very thinly sliced burger).

Place meat in warmed bread, add lettuce and tomato and top with Tzatkzi Sauce. And devour!

* I've always used split Pita bread.... until last week! The Naan worked great and didn't fall apart when you filled it too full!! I'm sold. I will be using the Naan from now on. It was fabulous!

THE best tomato!

2010-08-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

This is the best heirloom tomato--Black from Tula. They are absolutely delicious... and this is the first ripe one of the season!

Sunshine Rays

2010-08-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

These these little lemon bars sure do pack in the flavor

Crust

1 cup butter, room temp

1/2 cup sugar

2 cup all purp flour

Lemon Filling

2 c sugar

4 eggs

2/3 c. lemon juice (pref from fresh lemons)

2 T. lemon zest

4 T. flour

Powdered Sugar for topping rays

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 9 X 11 or 11 x 13 baking dish (or use two 8 x 8 pans).

Crust: Beat *butter* and sugar with electric mixer or hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour and mix just until mixture comes together. Press into prepared dish. Cook for 20 - 25 minutes (will depend on the size of your baking dish) until lightly browned. While baking, prepare filling. With mixer, beat eggs and sugar until smooth. Hand mix in the lemon juice and zest. Fold in flour. When crust is ready remove from oven, give the filling a quick stir in case it has settled, and pour lemon filling on top. Return to oven for another 20 minutes until the filling has set. Remove from oven and place dish on wire rack to cool. When lukewarm, sprinkle with powdered sugar. When completely cool, cut into squares and then again into diamonds/rays. Enjoy!

This recipe will make about 64 rays. Half the recipe if you don't need quite so many!!

Pasta Alfredo

2010-08-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

Pasta Alfredo

1 lb/box pasta
A bunch of broccoli
2 med Tomatoes, sliced or diced

Sauce
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
¼ Tbsp salt
1/8 Tbsp pepper
2 c. milk
1 c. cheese (any kind), grated
¼ c parmesan cheese, finely grated

Cook pasta according to pkg directions. Steam
broccoli.
While cooking, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over
medium heat. When melted add the flour and whisk
together. Let the mixture bubble a little, but do not let it
burn. Turn heat to very low. Add salt & pepper. Add
milk. Turn heat back to med-high til the mixture
thickens. Again reduce heat to very low and add
cheeses.
Serve pasta with broccoli. Spoon sauce on top. Add tomatoes on sides.

Adding grilled chicken is a yummy addition too!

Meatballs

2010-08-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

I made some yummy meatballs the other day and cooked them in a sweet and sour sauce. I need to fix the recipe for the sauce, but the meatballs were really good. I don't usually do green onions, but they sounded good that night and I thought they went well with the sweet and sour. This recipe makes about 18 meatballs.

1 pound ground meat (1/2 lb beef and 1/2 lb turkey)
1 egg
1/3 c breadcrumbs
dash pepper
dash salt
1/4 t onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder
dash italian seasonings
5 baby carrots, finely grated (you can add any vegetable of your choice, or leave them out)
2 green onions, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Heat skillet over med to med-high heat.
Shape meatballs to be about 1 1/2 inch wide.
Spray pan with cooking spray. Brown meatballs on all sides. (about 8-10 minutes)
If skillet is oven safe, then put into the oven to bake for 10 minutes. If skillet is not oven safe, transfer to a small casserole dish and bake.
Add sauce of your choice to meatballs and return to oven for an additional 15 minutes. Check a few times and re-cover meatballs with sauce if needed.
Serve with spaghetti, mashed potatoes, rice, or other pasta.

Note to add to Cheesy Mostaccioli

2010-07-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

When I made this meal I froze about half of it (after cooking it). I've thawed out a couple portions and have some suggestions. You will definitely need to add some spaghetti sauce to this when re-heating. The pasta noodles soaked up all the sauce. I added a little extra cheese on top too.

Cheesy Mostaccioli

2010-07-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe in an old Pampered Chef cookbook. I was looking for easy meals to cook. I took their recipe and made a few changes. My 5 year old liked it a lot and even asked for it for lunch the next day. I call that a hit! It makes a lot, so be prepared to either half the recipe or freeze some (i opted to freeze about half of it in single serving sizes). When I first got this recipe I went to the store to look for "mostaccioli" pasta....nothing. I went home and did some research and it's what they call any pasta that is similar to penne.

1 (16 ounce) package mostaccioli (penne) pasta, uncooked
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 (28 ounce) jar *spaghetti sauce
1 (11 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
black pepper to taste
1-1 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 c Parmesean cheese, shredded

Directions

Prepare the pasta according to the package directions; rinse and drain.

In a non-stick skillet, cook and stir the beef over medium-high heat until meat is browned; drain.

Add in spaghetti sauce, soup, pepper, and Italian seasoning; stir to combine.

In a 4 quart baking dish, mix together the pasta, sauce, and 2 cups mozzerella cheese.

Sprinkle remaining mozzerella cheese and the Parmesean cheese over the top.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until heated through.

*when I was at the store I accidentally picked up a jar of no sugar added spaghetti sauce. I used it in this recipe. Before cooking it I tasted the sauce and it was kind of bitter. I didn't make any additions to it though. Just baked it and the taste was great.

Note: Make ahead instructions--To freeze: Complete recipe but stop before baking. Seal with foil or place in a zip top bag. Freeze. To serve: Thaw in fridge overnight. Bake as directed.

Ranch Burgers

2010-07-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

I made these burgers for the 4th of July when we had my dad over for dinner. I usually like to make a few extra so I can put them in the fridge and have one the next day for lunch. No such luck this time. They were such a hit that there weren't any leftovers!

When I make meatloaf or burgers I usually just throw things together as an experiment. The down side to that is when I get a really good batch made and I can't remember how much of what I put in. These Ranch Burgers are like that. I was tired of the plain old burger everytime I make it, so I happened to have some ranch dressing mix and threw some in. It made a great burger. There is a recipe on the back of the package, but it's kind of plain and I add extra ingredients. Here's an approximation of what the recipe would be.

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (feel free to make a mixture of beef and turkey if you are looking for lower fat)
2 shakes Worchestershire sauce
1/4 t onion powder
2 shakes Johnny's seasoning salt
1 egg
two palmfuls of bread crumbs (prob abt 1/2 c. I used whole wheat and it didn't change the taste)
a sprinkling of dry Hidden Valley Ranch mix (prob abt 3 teaspoons)

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and squish together. Separate into 6 balls and make patties. I make mine thick and they still fill a large hamburger bun. Cooking time varies depending on how thick the burgers are, how you are cooking them, and how you like your burger done. I put a whole bunch of toppings on mine. Tomatoes, sliced pickles, lettuce, onions, ketchup, mustard, mayo. I think with the ranch taste they would be good with a special sauce, but I haven't made one yet.

Sunshine Salad

2010-06-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

I found this cute recipe and had to try it with the girls. They don't like cottage cheese (it's a texture thing) so I told them that they didn't have to eat it if they didn't want to. To my surprise, they ate the whole thing! Even the lettuce. It made a great snack for them. Hope you (and your kids too!) like it.

This recipe is for two servings

1 orange (or can of mandarine oranges)
1 8oz can pineapple rings (or tidbits arranged)
4 lettuce leaves
1 cup cottage cheese
2 maraschino cherries (or fresh cherries, pitted)

Peel and section the orange (or drain from can).

Open the can of pineapple and drain the liquid.

Place 2 washed lettuce leaves on each plate. Place 2 pineapple rings on top of the lettuce on each plate.

Place 1 scoop of cottage cheese on top of the pineapple rings (I use my Pampered Chef scooper that is great for cookies).

Place the orange segments around the cottage cheese to look like sunshine. Place a cherry on top of cottage cheese.

Memories

2010-06-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

Cooking and food for me is something the evokes memories. The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking reminds me of making them with my step-mom while growing up. Banana bread makes me think of my dear friend (and co-blogger) Jen. Pumpkin pie reminds me of my grandma and the lovely dinners that were had at her house over the years. Making Rodeo Ranch Chicken Salad reminds me of my aunt who introduced me to that wonderful recipe on a visit home. I remember going to Long Beach every summer and eating salt water taffy and ice cream from a wonderful restaurant (now closed). One of my favorite memories of a trip to California was eating at a fancy (to an 8 year old) restaurant and getting to eat not only my chocolate mousse dessert, but my uncles too.

Why was I thinking of this and decided to blog about it? It made me think of the memories that I can start making with my little girls. We make brownies together (in matching aprons lovingly made for us) and muffins. The girls love the smell of food in the crockpot when we get home from church. My older daughter loves her treat of going out with her grandpa weekly for lunch and an ice cream. Sharing my cooking moments with the girls can help them have good memories too, and I can share my memories with them also. I regret the times that I missed out not learning to cook with my grandmas. They are from the generation that starts with a basic recipe and over the 60 years of cooking, they perfect it. I never learned the special little changes made to make it "just right". So I'm making notes now when I use a recipe that I will pass along someday.

My half-year resolution is to make some good memories this summer.

Italian Breaded Pork Chops

2010-06-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 pork chops

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and milk. In a separate small bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and parsley.

Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook until lightly browned. Remove garlic, reserving for other uses.

Dip each pork chop into the egg mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating evenly. Place coated pork chops in the skillet, and brown about 5 minutes on each side.

Place the skillet and pork chops in the preheated oven, and cook 25 minutes, or to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. If you do not have an oven-proof skillet, you may cook the chops on the stove at medium-low.

How to be a "sneaky chef"

2010-06-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

In my house I have a few eaters that are kind of picky and I've wanted to get us eating more healthy and it's been hard. My two year old won't eat a whole list of things: pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, cooked veggies (except corn and sometimes broccoli), fresh veggies, cottage cheese, and so on. You may be wondering what she does like after seeing that list. Well she likes peanut butter and honey sandwiches, anything breakfast related (unless I try to put chopped veggies in the eggs), fresh fruit and smooties. My husband doesn't eat as many veggies as he should and doesn't like whole grain. So I've been trying out recipes that incorporate some of the more healthy items and it hasn't been working. Then I was searching Amazon.com for cookbooks (last time I got 3 cookbooks for a total of $3.25 plus shipping!) and saw a title of a cookbook that said "Sneaky Chef". I clicked on it and found the answer to my problems. This woman (Missy Chase Lapine) has about 4 different cookbooks out that help you add protien, whole grains, veggies, and fruits to meals that your family loves already....and they won't be able to tell that the items have been added. She has one book specifically for "man food" (chicken wings, alfredo pasta, meatball subs, potato salad, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fancy french toast, ice cream), two for kids meals (recipes that adults like too), and one regular all around recipe book.

She spends about 100 pages giving information on the benefits of healthy living, how to gradually add healthy items, and how to combine foods so you can lessen heartburn, increase the benefits of vitamins and antioxidants from fruits and veggies, and tells us which foods interact to increase digestion and absorbtion of nutrients and protein.
Then she has a section of recipes for what you add-in to regular recipes. Some of those include veggie/fruit purees (purple puree includes blueberries, lemon juice, water and baby spinach for smoothies, brownies, and cake), white bean puree (white beans and water to add to tomato sauce, egg salad, mashed potatoes, meatloaf), flour blend (white flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ to make donuts, cookies, pancakes, muffins, brownies, cake), better breading (pulsed almonds, bread crumbs, wheat germ and salt to make fish sticks and parm chicken), and mashed bananas (for ice cream, muffins, and smoothies).

After that section she has the regular recipes with the add-ins. I've tried about three or four recipes and my husband and girls didn't even know about the things I had added. My favorite so far has been just to buy Stage 2 baby food carrots and add them to spaghetti sauce, Sloppy Joes and maccaroni and cheese. We are getting extra veggies, but it's not noticable to the people that might object. We've switched from white to whole grain bread and tortillas and the girls don't seem to notice at all. Tomorrow I'm making smoothies for breakfast and we will see how the "purple puree" works out. We get the V8 juice that is veggie and fruit mixed. I still serve veggies as a side dish so they knowingly get vegetables, but I'm just adding extra.

Blonde Reminiscence

2010-05-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, yes, yes, I know the know the name of this recipe should be the title of the newest harlequin novel, but I couldn't think of anything to adequately describe it! And it almost reminds me of a Blondie from Applebee's. And...although I think its delicious, there is definitely room to play with this dessert--add something, change up the amounts--be creative! I'm sure it would be great with zucchini bread.. or leftover cake edges???

4 slices almost stale banana bread
1/2 c. pecans or wanuts, chopped
4 T butter
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 bananas, cut in 1/2" rounds (optional)
2 c. Creamy-ness (ice cream, whipped cream, etc--I used some leftover banana cream cheese frosting that I had... it worked too)

Melt the butter in a thick skillet, add nuts and toast til light brown. Add brown sugar to butter nut mixture (you may need a bit more butter so that the br. sugar has something to melt into...) (if you are using bananas, add then to the skillet and warm til heated through. Toast the banana bread if it won't fall apart in your toaster (otherwise, warm in a pan or the mic**wave... isn't that a swear word on a food blog??)

Place banana bread on a small plate, pour the brown sugar/nut mixture over the bread and top with your ice cream, whipped cream, frosting. Enjoy!!

Everything Frittata

2010-05-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

Last week, I wanted to make something 'different' for dinner and I realized that I had a bunch of veggies in the fridge. I remembered making a yummy frittata from a Family Fun cookbook, which I hadn't written down and couldn't find the recipe online, so I just made this up. I loved it.... Quick and easy dinner!! These are estimates on amounts, because I just threw things together and didn't measure, but if you add a large amount of veges/sausage, then add a couple more eggs!

6 eggs, beaten
s & p
1/2 small Onion, minced
2 cloves, garlic, minced
2 -4 T Olive oil
2 Cooked Sausages (optional-- I used a delicious Chicken & Apple sausage that I get at Costco, sliced in to 1/4" rounds)
1 c. Broccoli, washed and cut into 'trees'
1/2 c. peppers
1/2 c. asparagus, washed and cut into 1" pieces
1/2 apple, washed and cut into chunks
3/4 c. cheese, shredded (I used mozzarella)

Beat eggs and add salt and pepper. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350. Cook onions in olive oil on medium heat until almost translucent. Add garlic, sausage and broccoli and asparagus. Continue cooking until the onions are translucent and the remaining veggies are about halfway cooked, then add the peppers and apples. Cook for a minute more. Remove from heat. Pour the egg mixture over the veggies/sausages. Sprinkle cheese over egg mixture. Immediately, place in oven and cook for 15-20 until the frittata has set and the top is golden!

*I would have added tomatoes right before I added the egg.... if I'd remembered!

** I would have added mushrooms with the broccoli.. if I'd had any!!

Blueberry muffins

2010-05-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

While shopping last week, I found a box of Blueberry Streusel muffins by Duncan Hines. They are 100% whole grain and have real blueberries in them (not the hard, dried, sugared kind). We had that for breakfast with some fresh fruit and they were very good. It's an easy way to have something tasty, but also somewhat healthy. I've checked out a book that has recipes for making muffins, pancakes, cookies, and donuts with equal parts white flour/wheat flour/wheat germ. I'm excited to try the recipes to see if we like them.

Strawberry Shortcake

2010-05-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I tell you this blog is requiring a lot of sacrifice on my part. This morning, I remembered that I had made a strawberry shortcake last night that I should have photographed to put up on the blog, but forgot. So, in my willingness to devote all my energy to this blog I decided I would use the leftover ingredients and have another for breakfast... Haha! So here it is!! It was just as delicious as it was last night... too bad I didn't forget to take pics again!!

I love this strawberry shortcake, because it is NOT sweet! It is tasty and I love that I can feed it to my family and not have to deal with the 'sugar high'!

2 c. all purpose flour
2 1/2 T granulated sugar
1 T baking powder (yes, that is Tablespoon)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter
1 egg, beaten
2/3 c. milk
3 c. strawberries, sliced
1 c. whipping cream
1 t. vanilla
1 T. granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 450 F. Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (it will look dry). Add milk to the egg and mix together. Add the egg-milk mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring by hand just until moistened. Grease a 8 X 8 pan and spread the dough into the pan, making the edges a bit thicker than the center of the shortcake. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes. Let cool for a couple of minutes, remove from pan, let cool another 5 minutes. Split into 2 layers. While shortcake is cooling, pour cream into a tall bowl or large mixing cup, add sugar and vanilla. Beat until medium peaks form. Serve with alternating layer--shortcake, cream, strawberries, shortcake, cream, strawberries! Enjoy!

Kitchen gadget #2

2010-05-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

My new favorite kitchen gadget is the kitchen shears. For years I've seen them at the store and never knew why anyone would need them. I had a pair in my drawer and decided to use them really quick to cut up some green onions. Amazing! So I was in a hurry and tried it on cooked chicken tenders. Fast! Now I use them for anything that I can. It's so much faster than chopping. I'm all about saving time when cooking and these have helped me a lot.

Smiley pudding

2010-05-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

My girls love to eat pudding and I was thinking of a way to make it a little more fun and healthy. This is what I came up with.

We also do this with our yogurt too.

Chicken Salad

2010-04-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

5 chicken tenders, cooked and chopped
1 rib of celery
1 green onion
dash of garlic powder
dash of pepper
dash of celery salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup of mayo (depending on your preference)

Mix all ingredients and serve on bread, croissants, or stuffed in tomatoes. Makes 4-6 sandwiches.

Yummy Yogurt Parfaits with fruit

2010-04-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

This is a great and easy breakfast. I made some cinnamon rasin toast to go with it.

½ c sliced strawberries

handful of blueberries

1 banana sliced

1 c vanilla low-fat yogurt

Alternate layers of fruit and yogurt in 2 bowls or glasses, beginning and ending with fruit. Top with granola or almonds.

Dutch Baby

2010-04-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

This was a breakfast treat for me when I was growing up... I loved it! I made this a couple of weeks ago and was sloppy about my preheating/pan heating, but it didn't come out puffy, so make sure you follow the preheating to a T!

1 1/4 c. all-purp flour
1/4 teas. salt
1/4 teas cardamom seeds, crushed (optional, but so wonderful!!)
1/4 c. sugar
2 c. milk
1/4 c water
2 lg eggs
2 T butter
Fresh berries (opt)

Preheat oven to 425. Whisk together flour, salt, cardamom, sugar, milk, water and eggs in a large bowl. Let stand, covered, 20 mins.

When oven is 425, heat a 12" cast iron skillet in the oven for 10 min. Remove from oven and immediately melt the butter in the skillet. Immediately pour in batter; bake until puffed (about 25 min). Cut into wedges. Serve with fresh berries. Yummmmmy....

Crumb the Cake

2010-02-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

I am not a cake decorator. Not even close, but I just learned a trick I wish I'd known long ago. Crumb the cake.

I decided to make a shaped cake (without a mold) for a 5 year old friend's birthday. I had an idea and went with it, but until I was 90% I was sure I was going to have to rush to the store and start over by making a FLAT rectangular brithday cake, but it turned out surprisingly well.

Its the shape of a 5, but the circular part of the 5 continues to swirl up and around into a hill.

So here's the trick: Bake, cool (overnight is best), shape/cut the cake, then make a batch of thin frosting. Use this frosting to glue the cut pieces to eat other and then frost the cake. At this point it will look horrible b/c all of the crumbs will get caught up in the frosting. Don't stop. It will be okay! Let the cake dry for an hour or so. Make another batch of frosting the consistency you like (I made butter cream) and spread it on. The first layer of frosting will keep the crumbs and you'll end up with a nice smooth (non-crumby) finish. Decorate.

Since I had about 1/2 a cake left over, I crumbled the remaining cake up and turned it in to the road. I also made a pile of dirt (chocolate cake crumbs) in the corner, so I didn't have to be so careful about being tidy while applying the road. If I dropped some, I just swept it over to the corner with a pastry brush and added a dump truck when I was finished!

Heavenly Chocolate Mousse

2010-02-11T05:10:00.000-08:00

My favorite dessert of all time is chocolate mousse. I have tried to find a good chocolate mousse at a restaurant for the past 6 years or so. Nothing has been what I was looking for. My pudding with cool whip recipe is a good substitute, but lately I've wanted the rich, thick, creamy chocolate mousse that I remember from restaurants when I was growing up. So I have done some research and found a recipe that I think will be good. I'm going to try it this weekend and I'll update the review after.

Ingredients

8 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water, divided
2 tablespoons butter (no substitutes)
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups whipping cream, whipped

Directions

1.In a microwave or double boiler, heat chocolate, 1/4 cup water and butter until the chocolate and butter are melted. If you use a microwave, melt in intervals and stir after each minute. Cool for 10 minutes. In a small heavy saucepan, whisk egg yolks, sugar and remaining water. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees F, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat; whisk in chocolate mixture. Set saucepan in ice and stir until cooled, about 5-10 minutes. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into dessert dishes. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Craig's Cheesy Bread

2010-01-27T22:23:00.000-08:00

Fabulous, easy bread. Goes great with soup, salad and pasta!

I've made this for almost 15 years! Thank you Craig!

6 pc Sliced bread (White, Wheat, Hoagies, Hamburger buns, etc) *
4 T butter *
2 T Parmesan Cheese * (grated)

Preheat the oven to 400 F to heat your oven. You will later switch to broil, but make sure that the oven is hot before you put the bread in the oven. Lay pieces of bread out on baking sheet. Melt butter in a frying pan. When melted, turn off heat, add the cheese, mix together. Using a rubber spatula, spread the mixture on each piece of bread. Broil on high for 2-3 while watching. When the bread is brown and cheese has browned, remove from the oven. Try not to eat the whole loaf before you serve it for dinner. Beware, its difficult!

*these are estimates--I have never measured using this recipe, but have noticed when I have added too much cheese to the butter, it is difficult to spread and you'll end up having to make more mixture to cover all of the bread. I think that the 4T/2T should be a good ratio, but play with it.

* this is one of the only times I recommend using Parmesan in the can/jar rather than fresh grated. The consistency works better when mixing with the butter. I had to use the fresh grated tonight (in the pic), but still recommend the can as it makes it more consistent and more delicious the whole way through!

* I don't recommend using heavy wheat, multigrain breads. They detract from the 'flavor' of the cheese!

Cheesy Potato Soup

2010-01-25T13:59:00.000-08:00

Cheesy Potato Soup

8 med potatoes; diced
1 onion; chopped
5 c water
6 T butter
6 T flour
2 c milk
1 ½ c grated cheese
1 t salt
1/8 t pepper
2 green onions, sliced
Optional add ins: broccoli, ham, carrots, celery

Combine potatoes, onions, and water in big pot. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer until potatoes are tender (abt. 15 minutes). Do not drain. In separate pan, melt butter, add flour. Stir and cook until mixture bubbles. Slowly add milk while stirring. Cook and stir until sauce thickens. Stir sauce slowly into potato mixture. Add cheese; cook until cheese is melted. Serve and top with green onions if you desire.

Usually when I make this I add in broccoli. Last night I decided to cut baby carrots into small pieces and celery finely chopped. I added them with the potatoes. I think that it would be really tasty with ham. I would add it before the cheese (if it was fully cooked already).

Easy Instant Chocolate Mousse

2010-01-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

milk

1 tub cool whip topping (thawed)

1 Hershey's bar

Mix pudding and milk as instructed on package direction. Let set in refrigerator. Add half the tub of cool whip adn mix well. Let sit 5 minutes. Spread remaining cool whip over the top of pudding mixture. Finely grate part of the Hershey's bar over the top. Serve.

unexpected surprise

2010-01-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

I was going through some CD's my husband made me that have info from my old computer. I put one in and it had all the recipes I thought I would like to try about 5 years ago! I put them on my new computer and will be trying them out soon. It was such an unexpected surprise. I've gotten some really good sounding recipes that are healthy (they are for people with diabetes) that I want to try. In fact, after looking through them, I saw that my White Chicken Chili recipe comes from them. I'll have to try some out soon and post if they are good or not.

Apri-Oaty Bars

2010-01-10T22:35:00.000-08:00

1 c dried apricots *or any dried fruit
3 T water
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. oats
1/2 t. salt
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 T honey

Preheat to 400. Line 9X9 with parchment. Puree the apricots and water. Set aside. Stir the flour, oats, and salt in a mixing bowl. Melt butter, sugar, and honey in a saucepan over low heat. When completely mixed, pour over dry ingredients and stir until combined. Press 1/2 of the oaty mixture in the bottom of the pan. Press flat. Spoon the apricot mixture carefully on top of oaty mix and smooth--leaving 1" border around edges. Press remaining oaty mixture on top. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Divide bars into squares and let cool completely in pan, before scooping them out. Yummmy....

Kids cookbooks

2010-01-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

I went to the library yesterday and decided to try looking for kids cookbooks again. Searching for them on the computer site for the library hasn't been very promising, so I just went looking at the shelves. The computer said that there are 5 total cookbooks for children in the whole library system. When I went to the shelves, there were three whole shelves of them. All kinds of cookbooks: cooking for parents and children, fun kids recipes, cooking by country (foods from Germany, foods from France, foods from Brazil, foods from China, and so on and so on), how to make food fun for kids, recipes made up by children. It was a wonderful find! I take a reusable shopping bag that I bought at Target (all the grocery stores have them too) to the library because the bags they provide always break on me. This time I wasn't able to fit all my books in the bag because I got so many cookbooks! I've looked through three of them so far and have found that many of the recipes are the same.
My favorite one though is "Paula Deen's My First Cookbook". It has many of the same recipes as the others (ants on a log, smoothies, pancakes, pasta with cheese sauce) but there are some good other ones also (Porcupine Balls, Gelatin Blocks, Campfire Stew, Applewiches, Monkey Bread, and Green Eggs and Ham). Not only the recipes sound good, but I like the way the book is set up. The first page of a recipe has a picture of everything that you need for the recipe (mixing bowl, utensils, what to cook in, ingredients), the recipes are easy to follow if you want to have the kids make it on their own (if old enough) or help you out. To make the book fun for kids, all the pictures are realisitc looking cartoons. It also had a small section for making playdough and bubbles.

Gnocchi update

2009-12-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

I went to a grocery store the other day and was walking down the pasta aisle. They had hard, dried, thin pasta that was named gnocchi. I think that if you were to do a baked gnocchi with that, it would be tasty. If you find the soft, plump rounded gnocchi, find a different recipe. So the gnocchi recipe is this:
Cook the gnocchi in boiling chicken broth. Follow the directions on the package. Drain the gnocchi. Place in baking pan and sprinkle mozzerella and parmesean cheese on top. Broil for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with crusty bread and a nice salad.

Grandma's Pumpkin Pie

2009-12-29T11:59:00.000-08:00

3 eggs
1 1/2 c pumpkin
2/3 c sugar
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg (or pumpkin pie spice)
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c evaporated milk
1 pie crust

This recipe is for 1 9-inch pie. Preheat oven to 425. Beat the eggs together in a large mixing bowl (or electric mixer). Add the pumpkin to the eggs. In small bowl combine the sugar and spices. Add this mixture to the pumpkin. Add the vanilla. Slowly add the milk. Line pie plate with crust (homemade or store bought) and add pie filling. Cover pie crust with a pie guard or aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie guard from crust. Turn heat down to 350 degrees and bake 45-50 minutes.

Company Potatoes

2009-12-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

I've heard these potatoes called by a few names: Company Potatoes, Funeral Potatoes, Potato Casserole, Cheesy Potatoes. Whatever you call them, they are good.

1 bag shredded hash browns (1 lb 4 oz or so bag)
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 c sour cream
1/4 c butter, melted
2 T onions, chopped
dash of pepper
Topping:
2 C crushed Ritz crackers
1/2 c margarine/butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 2 quart baking dish and place hash browns in bottom of dish. Mix all remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Add mixture to the hash browns and stir until well mixed. Combine the topping ingredients and put on top of casserole. Bake 45 minutes. Makes about 10 servings.

We had this meal served with ham and veggies. I've never tried it, but I think that if you add ham to the casserole it would be a good complete meal.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

2009-12-29T11:33:00.000-08:00

Maybe I've been living in the South too long. Before living here I would have said, "Sweet potatoes? No thanks." Then a few years ago a friend of mine made them and I thought they were really good. So this year for Thanksgiving I decided to try. I didn't do the casserole with the marshmallows though, I just mashed them. It was simple and pretty good.

3 Sweet potatoes (or yams, I'm not sure how you can tell which is which)
3 T butter
2 T brown sugar

I washed the sweet potatoes (but not peeled) and put them in water to boil. If they are the larger size you may have to cut them in half. When they were soft I drained them and let them cool. When they are cool to the touch take off the peel. In the pan add butter and melt. Add the potatoes and "smash" (intentionally leave some pieces not mashed) then add brown sugar.

Shepherd's Pie

2009-12-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

I've made the basic recipe for this a few times. I decided to use up some of the veggies I had in the refrigerator this time and just added what I had. It ended up turning out really good. So if you don't like my veggie choice, put whatever you want in. I used to just use canned corn, but anything works.

1-2 lbs ground beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or broccoli, celery, potato)
1/4 can water
dash of pepper
3 shakes celery salt
6 shakes garlic powder
4 shakes onion powder
6 oz mushrooms, halved and sliced
handful of baby carrots, sliced
3 hadfuls of broccoli, small pieces
5 medium potatoes (i like yukon gold), mashed
Grated cheese (as much as you like.

Preheat oven to 350. Brown the beef in a frying pan. Drain most of grease. Add seasonings. Add mushrooms and saute 3 minutes. Add carrots and broccoli. Add can of soup and water. Mix well. Pour contents into a 9x13 pan. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake additional 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Baked Gnocchi

2009-12-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I found a book that I just love. "Under the Tuscan Sun". It is much different than the movie. The way she writes makes me feel as if I am there with her. Throughout her books (I think there are 3 on Tuscany) she has recipes that she learned while living in Italy. One was gnocchi. It is a dumpling made of potato. The way she described it made it sound wonderful. So I've been thinking about it for the past 5 years. A few months ago I checked out quite a few childrens cookbooks and one had a recipe for Baked Gnocchi. I was very excited and looked at 5 different grocery stores to find some. The recipe was simple, boil the gnocchi in chicken broth for 5-8 minutes until they float. Put in pan and cover with cheeses. Place under broiler. Unfortunately it didn't tast very good. The gnocchi was very chewy (maybe they weren't done even though it said when they float they are done?) and I was so dissapointed. So here's my cooking flop. I don't know if maybe the brand I bought wasn't very good or if to have good gnocchi you have to make your own. Either way, I'm not trying that recipe again.

Menu Planning

2009-12-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

Lately when I've gone to the store I just pick up stuff that I think will be good with what I have at home, but no real plan on what to have and when. I noticed that my grocery bill was getting higher than it should. So last week I sat down and went through my cupboards and freezer to see what I had. I checked my list of meals that I know how to make (about 50 different ones I know we like), and tried to figure out what meals I could make without having to buy many groceries. I came up with 13 meals that I just needed a few things for. So my shopping bill was only $50 last week! That was great for me. I decided that I would make a schedule for two weeks of meals. That way I don't have to start thinking at 4:00 about what we will have for dinner. Of course, if something comes up I can move the meals around, but it's nice to have a general plan. Here's what my list looks like: Baked Spaghetti, White Chicken Chili, Pot Roast with veggies, burritos, Chicken rice casserole, Homemade tomato soup, breakfast, meatloaf, Baked Gnocchi, Chicken Rice Soup, Crockpot pork chops, Shepherd's pie, fish sticks, Beef casserole. I had all the meat for the meals, I just needed to buy salad makings and other veggies, and some bread to go with the meals. The only thing I have to buy this week is snacks for the kids (apples, goldfish veggie crackers, yogurt).

Snowmen ...

2009-12-08T21:54:00.000-08:00

A fun winter cake topper ... or can be done on individual cupcakes!

Cake or Brownie Mix
Whipped Topping
Large Marshmallows
Black icing
Assortment of sprinkles/candy to decorate.

Make cake/brownies. Cool. Spread on the whipped topping snow. Find the perfectest marshmallows and cut about 1/4" off the bottom of 1/2 of them. Squish these a bit to make them seem smaller. Stick to the uncut marshmallows. Decorate with icing, sprinkles, candy pieces. I just used things we had at home!! I borrowed this idea from one I found online. They used Jr. Mints as a beret for the snowman, which was very stylish! But.. I didn't want to make ANOTHER run to the grocery store, so we went for eclectic!! Very fun and easy!
Tip: Wet a toothpick and poke it into the place where you are going to poke in arms or the nose. It will make it much easier to get it in the snowman!! Happy Holidays!

Polar Bear Cupcakes

2009-12-03T23:35:00.000-08:00

Cake Mix
White frosting
Coconut flakes
Chocolate Frosting
Blue food coloring
Live Saver Mints (halved)
Small black candy (optional)

Make and cool cupcakes. Frost with white frosting, sprinkle coconut (for fur). Mix blue food coloring into chocolate frosting and put in a pastry bag with a fairly large tip. Pipe on a nose. Change to a small tip and pipe the mouth. Place the ears and the eyes. (I used little black bat sprinkles I had leftover from Halloween for the eyes, but any small black circular candy would work... or a bit of the piped frosting, too!) Super easy!

Kitty Cupcakes

2009-12-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

Cake Mix
White frosting
Pink frosting (in tube or pastry bag)
Green M&Ms
Saltines (quartered)
Pink pastel mints (halved)
Pretzel sticks (halved)

Make and cool cupcakes. Frost with white frosting. Place M&Ms as eyes and pastel mints as a nose. Pipe the mouth on with the pink frosting. Stick saltine quarters into the cupcake so that they make a pointy ear. Place pretzels in as whiskers. All done. Super easy... and lots of fun!

Chicken Rice Soup

2009-12-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

49oz Chicken Broth
2 cans Hormel Chunk Chicken (or 1 lb shredded chicken)
26oz spaghetti sauce
2 T chopped parsley
3 cups cooked rice
Grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, combine first 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add rice; simmer 10 minutes. Serve with cheese.

Kitchen Gadget

2009-11-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

I used to sell Pampered Chef products so I have many of their items. Surprisingly one of the things I use most often is their Bamboo Tongs. They are for getting bread, bagles, and English muffins out of the toaster. I think they sell for about $3.50. Definitely worth the money if you have the chance to buy them. I'm sure you can get a similar product at a kitchen store or Target.

Crockpot chunky applesauce

2009-11-21T23:53:00.000-08:00

6 med granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into fourths
2/3 c sugar
¾ c apple juice
2 T margarine, melted
1 t ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat setting 2 1/2 to 4 hours or until apples break apart. Stir well to break apart bigger pieces.

Award Winning White Chicken Chili

2009-11-19T23:41:00.000-08:00

Every year at our church we have a chili cook off. A few years ago I decided to enter...and I got the Grand Champion award. What a surprise! It is a really good chili recipe. Not a hot chili (but that can be changed by ingredients you put in if you want it hotter), but very nice flavors. Hope you enjoy it.

This recipe is set for using a slow cooker. Can be modified for making on the stovetop.

3 cans white Great Northern bens, drained
2 c shredded cooked chicken
1 c finely chopped onion (or equivalent to onion powder-which is what I use)
1/4 t garlic powder
1 4oz can chopped green chiles
1 T ground cumin
1/2 t salt or 1 chicken flavored bouillon cube
2 cans chicken broth

1. Place all chili ingredients into a 4 1/2 to 6 quart slow cooker. Stir to combine.
2. Cover and cook until the ingredients have cooked down and the liquid has thickened (4-5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low).
3. Spoon the chili into bowls and garnish with your choice of toppings: sour cream, cilantro, lime wedges, monterey jack cheese. You may serve with tortilla chips or cornbread.

The Best Banana Bread

2009-11-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not being vain... that is really the name of the recipe! (but it is very yummy!)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

2 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. butter
1 1/4 c. sugar
2-4 ripe bananas
2 eggs
3/4 c sour milk (buttermilk, or regular milk with lemon juice added) or sour cream

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and soda in a large bowl. In a separate large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat eggs and add to butter/sugar mix. Mash bananas; add and mix. Add milk; mix. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix. Bake 45 - 50 minutes in 2 greased loaf pans in the center of the oven.

Verde

2009-11-03T14:25:00.000-08:00

I love green salsa. I really prefer it to red any day! This is such a simple recipe! I use this recipe to dip chips in, on tacos, as enchilada sauce. Its great! I grow them in my garden--easy to grow and super easy to preserve!!

Tomatillos (enough to fill one layer in a 9 X 13 pan), paper skins removed, rinsed
4 cloves garlic, peeled whole
1 med onion, peeled and quartered
1 small Jalapeno (remove seeds for a milder salsa, include seeds if you like it spicier!)
Handful of Cilantro, washed
1/2 teas Cumin
1 T Salt (or more to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

Preheat the oven to 350. Place rinsed tomatillos in a 9 x 13 baking dish with the onion and garlic. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the tomatillos are soft and starting to shrivel. Let cool. When cool enough, puree tomatillos, garlic, and onion in the blender. Add cilantro and blend again. Add cumin, salt and pepper to taste. Blend again. Chill in refrigerator. Serve

Pumpkin Seeds

2009-11-02T06:38:00.000-08:00

I made these last night. They are a very good snack. I also have a granola recipe that calls for mixed types of nuts and seeds that I use the pumpkin seeds for.

2 c pumpkin seeds (the seeds from about 2 medium pumpkins)
1 1/2 T butter (melted)
1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 t seasoning salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix the seeds, butter, Worcestershire sauce, and seasoning salt in a bowl. Spread the seeds on a large baking pan (I use a jelly roll pan). Bake the seeds for 45-50 minutes or until golden bown. Stir seeds ever 15 minutes.

Tomato Pie

2009-10-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

4 large tomatoes or equivalent volume of smaller tomatoes (about 2 to 2 1/2 cups peeled and sliced)
1 sweet onion
1/8 to 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 c grated cheddar cheese (I used Colby/Monterey Jack cheese)
1 c grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 c grated sharp cheddar, or other strongly flavored cheese
1 c mayo
salt and pepper to taste
1 pre-baked 9inch pie crust (deep dish, if available)

1) If making the crust from scratch you can bake it while you do the following 3 steps. Be sure to apply a glaze to the crust so that it doesn't get soggy during the second baking. Otherwise, preheat a store-bought crust in a 350 degree oven for around 10 min just before adding the filling.

2) Peel and slice the tomatoes. Tomatoes can be easily peeled by scoring the ends with an "x" then plunging them into boiling water (eg, with a slotted spoon) for a few seconds. The skins should then come off easily by hand.

3)Slice the onions and quarter each slice so that there are chunks of onion no longer than a couple of inches (the fastest way to do this is to quarter the onion along the root axis and then slice across the quarter cuts)

4) Stir approximately 1/2 of the grated cheeses and all of the chopped basil into the mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

5) Layer the filling in two levels: cover the bottom of the warm pie crust with tomato slices and sprinkle lightly with salt, then add half of the onions and half the remaining grated cheese. Spread half of the mayonnaise mixture evenly over the top. Repeat for the second layer. If desired, reserve a few of the best looking tomato slices to decorate the top.

6) Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for around 35 minutes or until the filling seems set and the top mayo/cheese layer is browning noticeably

Italian Meatloaf

2009-10-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

Give it a chance! I generally don't like meatloaf, but I LOVE this one!!

2 lbs lean ground beef (or 1/2 ground beef/1/2 ground turkey)
1/3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb sausage
2 - 3 cups FRESH whole basil leaves
2 c. breadcrumbs
1 med onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 T dried oregano
1 teas ground black pepper
3 large eggs
2 cups of your favorite Marinara sauce, divided
Garnish:
Mozzarella slices
10 small basil leaves
Optional: 1 c. chopped, drained, rinsed oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mash all meats and shredded cheese in large bowl. Saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil til the onions are translucent. Add the remaining ingredients to the meat mixture-- mash between every few ingredient to get a thorough mix. Mix 3/4 cup of the Marinara into the meat mixture. Shape into a loaf. Place into 3 loaf pans. Brush the tops of the loaves with remaining Marinara. Bake meatloaf until cooked through (about 160 - 170F). Check at 65 minutes.
Serve meatloaf hot, with a slice of mozzarella melted on its side. Garnish with a leaf of basil.

artichoke chicken

2009-10-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

1 (15 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, dried and chopped
3/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c mayonnaise
1/2 c sour cream
1 t lemon pepper
dash garlic powder
skinless chicken breasts
2 T parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix together the artichoke hearts, Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon pepper, and garlic powder. Place enough chicken to fill a greased 9 x 13 baking dish, and cover evenly with artichoke mixture.

Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center and juices run clear.

Note: I made this for our anniversary dinner and served it with the tri-color rotini pasta. I also made the caprese recipe available on this site with toasted french bread.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2009-10-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Whole Chicken

3 1/2 qts Water

1 Onion, peeled, quartered, and sliced

2 t. Italian seasoning

2 t garlic powder
1 1/2 t. lemon pepper seasoning
3 bouillon cubes
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a big pot. Cook until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool.

Remove and throw away onion. When chicken is cool, pick all chicken off the bones. Throw the bones away. Set chicken aside.

Next ingredients:

2 cups sliced carrots (about 4 regular carrots)
2 cups sliced celery with leafy tops (about 4 also)
3 cups uncooked egg noodles
salt and pepper to taste (if needed)

Bring stock back to a boil, add carrots and cook for 3 minutes.

Add celery and cook about 6 minutes.

Add egg noodles and cook according to package.

Add chicken and cook 2 more minutes.

Add salt and pepper if needed.

Note: When I made this today, after adding the carrots and celery I added the chicken back in. Then I took out half of the soup (about 8 cups) to cool so I can put it in jars and freeze it for future use. When I make this soup we eat it for a few days, I give some away, and we still have a lot left over. I've tried to freeze it with all of it put together, but the noodles don't unthaw well. So this time I decided to freeze it before the noodle stage. I can add those when I unthaw it later.

Creme Brulee ... Pear, too.

2009-10-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

My all time favorite dessert...

1 vanilla bean
4 c. heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 c. superfine sugar
3 T. almond extract
1/3 c. brown sugar (not shown in pictures)

Preheat the oven to 350. Place 6 (1/2 c.) ramekins in a roasting pan and set aside. With a small, sharp knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the black seeds into a medium saucepan (put the remainder of the whole bean in as well). Add the cream and bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for 15-20 minutes. Remove the bean.
In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, superfine sugar and liqueur, if using, until well blended. Whisk in the hot cream. Pour into the ramekins.
Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan (to make a water bath for the ramekins) to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan with foil and bake for about 30 minutes, until the custards are just set. Remove ramekins from the pan and let cool. Drain pan. Return to the dry roasting pan and chill.
Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of each of the brulees. Using a propane kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar. (Careful not to burn yourself or the sugar!) Let sit for a few minutes to harden.

Options:
Don't run to the store option: Use 3T of vanilla extract. The better quality vanilla extract, the better it will taste.... Superfine sugar isn't a necessity--just make sure you whisk the egg/sugar mixture very, very well! Don't have a torch? Just preheat the broiler. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the custard and broil for 30-60 seconds until the sugar melts and caramelizes. (Do not let the sugar burn or the custard curdle) Place in fridge to set the crust and chill completely.

Pear Brulee:
10 pieces of dried pear
Tear 7 of the pieces of pear into small pieces. Tear the remaining 3 pieces in half to get 6 halves. Set the halves in the bottom of the ramekins. Set aside. After bringing the creme to a boil, add these small pieces. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes. Remove vanilla bean, but leave the pieces of pear. Follow the above directions, but the almond extract is left out or reduced to 1 T. Pour the finished mixture over the pear halves and follow the rest of the above directions. Very yummy.

Slow cook: My recipe book calls for 300 degrees, but we have to cook it for about 50 minutes. We tried the 350 last time and it turned out great...

Kids snack mix

2009-10-05T02:47:00.000-07:00

Around Christmas time, my aunt makes Chex Mix (with Crispex now though). She does a regular flavor and a spicy flavor. I always love it, but never make it for myself. My daughter was looking through a cookbook we got from the library and she pointed to a recipe and said, "Can we have chex mix?" It is a great recipe that doesn't involve the oven, so my 4 year old did the whole recipe by herself.

6 cups rice/corn cereal (we used the Walmart brand and it tasted just the same as the brand name)
3 cups pretzles
1 10 oz package oyster/soup crackers
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 package dry Ranch seasoning mix

When we made it, I halved the recipe thinking that it would be too much, but after putting it in our container it wasn't that much. So next time I'm going to make the full amount. Also, I added some of my dry Italian seasoning mix to it to give it extra flavor and it was tasty. It'd been a hit all week. The great part is that it's a basic recipe that you can change for your family. I'm going to put some slivered almonds in next time because we like those.

Hawaiin Haystacks

2009-10-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

This is a tasty dish that I learned during my college years. We had a social get together on Friday called Friday Forum where we had a nice lunch for $1 (very in a college student budget). I thought it was a little weird the first time I heard about it, but it was tasted great. I didn't have it again for years. My husband loves it (just this week asked for it for his birthday lunch) and its good because you can adapt the toppings to fit different 'tastebuds'. You can put basically whatever you like on top. It's also a nice meal to make if you are having company because you can feed lots of people for not much money.

Recipe for 2 adults and 2 children. You can double or triple the sauce and rice for more.

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
3 c water
6 chicken tenders, cooked then shredded or cubed.
1 can cream of chicken soup
chicken broth
pepper to taste

Cook the rice in water for amount of time on bag of rice.
For the sauce, mix the soup and half of a can of broth (or water when you are done with cooking chicken). Heat and add as much pepper as desired. Add chicken.

Serve rice onto plate, top with sauce/chicken mixture. Then add the toppings of your choice.

When I have all day, I will put the raw chicken into the crockpot and top with soup and broth. Cook on low for 4-6 hours (longer if you will be using breasts instead of tenders). The chicken is so tender it just falls apart when you go to shred it.

topping ideas:
pineapple tidbits
green onions, sliced
grated cheese
crunchy chow mein noodles
chopped tomatoes
chopped mushrooms
black olives, sliced
slivered almonds

Baked Spaghetti

2009-09-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

I love to have spaghetti. Sometimes it's nice to have it a different way though. We had this last week and everyone seemed to like it. It's a basic recipe. Feel free to replace the ground beef, add vegetables to the sauce or different spices that your family like.

10 oz spaghetti
1/2 lb ground beef
dash italian spices
dash garlic powder
1 jar spaghetti sauce
mozzerella cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Cook the spaghetti according to box directions.
Brown the beef while pasta is cooking. Add the spices to the beef and stir. Add the jar of sauce.
Grease a 9 x 13 pan. Add the pasta and sauce mixture and combine. Make sure there is enough sauce to mix evenly with the pasta. If there isn't, the pasta will get hard and not taste good.
Sprinkle as much cheese on top as you would like.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Eggs in a roll

2009-09-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

We like scrambled eggs, but sometimes I like to add things to them. This morning I decided to add tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheese. We had some rolls so I decided to make breakfast fun and put the eggs in them. Just a different way to eat a yummy meal. I was telling my daughter that she got a serving of all the food groups too, so that's a healty bonus. You could add any vegetables that you like. I had tomatoes and mushrooms on hand, so that's what I used.

1 roll per person

2 eggs per adult, 1 per child

few mushrooms

3 campari or roma tomatoes

cheddar cheese

splash of milk

salt and pepper to taste

Cut tomatoes in half and take out the seeds, then dice into small pieces. Slice the mushrooms into bite size pieces. Grate as much of the cheese as you would like.
Remove the tops of the rolls, then take out some of the filling. For children, leave a bit of the inside of the roll because 1 egg won't fill a whole roll.
Saute the mushrooms, then add tomatoes. Remove from pan.
Beat the eggs with milk, salt, and pepper.
Spray pan with Pam so the eggs won't stick. Cook egg mixture until it just starts to get firm, then add tomato and mushroom mixture and the grated cheese. Continue to cook until done.
Serve eggs in the hollowed out roll. Eat and enjoy!

Roasted Veggie Sandwich

2009-09-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

1 - 2 c. mushrooms
1 small/med zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1 orange or yellow bell pepper
1 Onion
1 head garlic
Olive oil
Seasoning salt or S & P, for taste
Hoagies/Outdoor rolls

Preheat oven to 350. Wrap onion in tin foil. Place in oven while heating. Prepare veggies as follows: clean mushrooms; remove stem and seeds from pepper and cut into 4 flattish pieces, slice zucchini into for long slivered quarters. Place all in large mixing bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Mix around so oil covers most of the veggies and season with seasoning salt. Lay veggies on baking trays--mushrooms stem up, peppers & zucchini skin down. Place garlic whole on tray. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until veggies are tender but cooked through.

Toast hoagie rolls. Spread with butter or mayonnaise. Slice off the tops of the garlic and squeeze out roasted garlic. Spread on top of the butter or mayo. Lay veggies on bread... and eat!

Optional: Add Insalata Caprese (bake & flip) to sandwich. Adds a few more flavors! Very yummy. (in photo)

Semi-homemade pizza

2009-09-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

I've been checking out children's cookbooks from the library lately since Jen told me about some of the ones that she's read recently. All of them listed mini pizzas as fun for kids to make and eat, so I decided that we would give it a try. I bought the premade dough from Publix (a local grocery store). I've tried to make dough, but kneading and I don't go well together so this was a good solution. The great part about homemade pizza is that you can add whatever toppings you want, and as much as you want.

My daughter doesn't like red sauce on her pizza, so she made the pizza with ricotta, mozzerella and parm cheeses.

On my dough I put a light layer of Bertolli spaghetti sauce, then topped it with ricotta, calapari tomatoes, green pepper slices (from my garden!), pineapple, mozzerella, and parm cheese. It was so good!

My advice: when using fresh dough, brush it with olive oil and cook for about five minutes, then top with what you would like and bake until the cheese is melted and crust is done. The time it took to get the crust to be done made the cheese a little browner than we like. Also, for the white pizza, I would mix the ricotta with oregano, parsley, garlic powder, and onion powder. Just to add a little more flavor. They were really good though. My youngest daughter doesn't usually like pizza (or dinner in general) and she ate two pieces.

Sushi

2009-09-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not a sushi chef. But in the last month I have become a sushi eater. About 11 years ago I tried it for the first time when my friend Sabrina made it while I was visiting for a college graduation. It was good, but at the time there weren't lots of sushi places, so I forgot about it. In the past two months, my husband would bring home the mini california rolls. So after a while of my being a little skeptical about them, I decided to try them. I figured...well, I love avacado, so I might as well try it. Avacado-yum Cucumber-yum sticky rice-yum. green wrap-no taste so it's okay fish-barely tasteful So all around it was a good experience. Now I stop by the local grocery store that has a nice man that makes sushi. I always buy it and tell my husband that he can take it to work for dinner, then I have one before he leaves. This week he didn't take it with him. So I took out the package and had two rolls for dinner. My 4 year old daughter asked what it was and I told her. She asked if she could have a bite and I let her. Then she wanted the whole thing. She really liked it a lot. I was proud of her for trying something new and liking it. It's always hard for me to get my girls to try anything. I guess it just had to look fun. =)

Herbed Tuna with Sesame Dressing

2009-09-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor brought over about 3 lbs of Tuna that her husband had just caught. I had never made Tuna before so I found a few recipes online and melded them. I am quite happy with the way that this turned out. Even my husband with top shelf tastes, said, "Its actually really good!" Whoo hoo!

2 lbs fresh tuna (ie.. not from the can)
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil
2 teas black pepper
1 teas coarse kosher salt
1/4 teas salt
Olive oil for searing
Basil and cilantro for garnish... (ooops, I forgot to do this with mine!)

1 T soy sauce
1 T honey
1 t. pure sesame oil (in Asian food aisle)

Rinse tuna steaks. Pat dry with paper towls. Cut tuna into long blocks (1X1X5"). Mix together the basil, cilantro, salt, and pepper; cover fish with the mixture. Let sit for 30 mins.

Using a heavy bottomed saute pan or cast-iron pan, warm olive oil. Heat pan to high. Place tuna in pan. Sear for 2 minutes, turn over carefully. Drop temp to med (pan will still be hotter than this) and sear other side for another 2 minutes. (Do not over cook tuna or it will become dry and flavorless. It will be med-rare) Remove from heat.

Prepare plates. Add tuna and garnish. When pan has cooled a bit, add soy sauce, honey and sesame oil. Mix well. Drizzle over tuna.

Storing fruit

2009-09-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever bought too much fruit at the store? Do you like to have fruit that tastes good in the fall and winter? I've got a tip for you. We love grapes, watermelon, honeydew, peaches, and nectarines a lot. During the fall and winter though, the fruit is never ripe and doesn't taste as good as it does when you get it in season. What I do is spray a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Then I slice up my fruit and put it in a single layer on the jelly roll pan. I put the pan in my freezer. When the fruit is frozen (in individual pieces) I put it in freezer Ziplock bags or in tupperware type storage boxes. Then you can take a few pieces out and enjoy when you want them. Grapes and bananas are really good as a snack. The fruit is also good to use in smoothies too because it is already frozen and makes it a little thicker than when using fresh fruit.

Creamy Chicken Veggie Soup

2009-09-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

This is a really easy recipe for a good soup. I think it took me about 45 minutes to make this meal.

2 T butter/margarine

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 c skinny strips of onion

1/2 red pepper in strips

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/4 c chicken broth

1 1/2 c milk

2 chicken breasts or 6 tenders, cooked and cut up

pepper

garlic powder

parsley flakes

bit of nutmeg

half of a small bag of frozen broccoli

In a large saucepan saute mushrooms, onions, and pepper in butter until the veggies are tender. Stir frequently.
In a bowl, combine soup and broth until smooth. Add milk and stir until combined. Add this to the saucepan.
Stir in chicken. Season with herbs as you like. Add broccoli and heat until just boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cook until broccoli is tender-about 5 minutes.

We like to eat this with dinner rolls or crusty bread. You could add as many vegetables as you want.

Insalata Caprese

2009-09-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

We have these 3 or 4 nights a week when the garden is producing tomatoes and basil. Simple and yummy!

Italian Salad Dressing
1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced 1/4" thick
2-3 ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick
20-30 basil leaves
Salt & Pepper to taste
Italian bread, thinly sliced

Slice cheese and 'marinate' in dressing. This struck me as strange the first time I made the recipe. I thought it would make the cheese all slimy and gross, but it didn't. Let sit for an hour or two. On a plate, lay a piece of cheese, then a basil leaf--slightly staggered, then a slice of tomato--slightly staggered. Repeat this pattern in a circle around the plate. Sprinkle on a bit of S & P if you want... Enjoy on top of a slice of Italian bread... or just eat as it is!

Variations:

Flip and Bake: Lay the tomato on a baking sheet, with a piece of basil directly on top, then a slice of cheese on top of that. Don't over lap these as they will all melt together. Bake 350 for about 10 minutes until the cheese has melted. Don't over bake as the cheese will run everywhere and the basil will crisp up or get too chewy.

Shredded cheese: My daughter likes these made with a shredded 4-cheese mix. Prepare like flip and bake, just sprinkle some shredded cheese on top of the basil leaf and bake!

Baked Apples

2009-09-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

A fun recipe for little helpers!

Small to Medium Apples
Raisins
Butter
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Salt

Preheat oven to 350. Core each apple. Place whole apples in a baking dish. Fill cored area with some raisins, a 1/2 T of butter, dash of cinnamon, sprinkle of salt and a T. of brown sugar. Cover with foil. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the apples are cooked through. Let cool for a few minutes. Serve in bowls and drizzle the cooking juices over the top of the apples.

Although these aren't beauties, the aroma while baking is worth the whole experience! My kid's think they are great to make and great to eat! Tip: If you pierce these with a fork before baking, they may not split like the ones in the picture. (let me know if you try it and it works!)

Measuring cups are worthwhile... every once in a while!

2009-09-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

When I make soup, I make enough for an army. So, I haven't been cooking much, since we've been eating soup at least once a day! Anyway, I was thinking that since I don't have a recipe to post, I'll post another aha 'kitchen' moment. So, if you've read many of my posts, you know I don't follow recipes much. I've tried to create the recipes here from my head so that you can get a general idea of how to make the dish, but I like to improvise. By being creative with your recipes and ideas, you can make a dish that will suit your tastes to a tee! BUT... I realized there is a time and a place for measuring!! I am a stickler for measuring the ingredients when I make oatmeal and rice, etc. I always measure those! I've realized that texture is a big deal to me. I don't do well with clumpy food and its inevitable if I don't measure the rice or oatmeal, that I end up with mushy clumps! So, be creative, but be wise!

Butterfly

2009-09-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

I love to butterfly or thin cut my chicken breast. I love it. I'm almost adamant about it! Here's why. First, it cooks much more quickly (saves time for last minute planners, like me) and doesn't dry out before the center is cooked through. Also, the seasoning/marinade goes all the way through because the pieces are thinner. And... it saves money (not theoretically proven, but I'm working on it). My theory is that when you serve a breast of chicken, it will be eaten, regardless of its thickness. I've noticed that 1/2 thickness is usually filling enough not to need seconds. So, you are stretching out your chicken budget! Okay, so if you've never butterflied, here's the quick version: Take a chicken breast, remove fat, rinse in water, lay chicken on cutting board, cut through the chicken (knife parallel to the cutting board) to halve its thickness....

Raincheck

2009-09-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Just another 'thrifty' reminder. Always get a raincheck if the store is out of a sale item that you wanted! Its a great way to have your own personal sale... whenever you need it! I do this with roasts, chicken, Fishy crackers, etc--when the store is having an especially great deal. Sometimes they won't raincheck, but 90% they do!!

Tangy Crockpot Pork Chops

2009-09-02T17:58:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from a friend who had us over to dinner one time. I thought this recipe was great! It was the start of my using the crockpot.

4 pork chops
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
med onion, sliced in strips
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 green pepper, sliced in strips
1 can stewed tomatoes (14.5oz)

Sauce:
1 beef bouillion cube (or 1 T granuals)
2 T cider vinegar
2 T brown sugar
2 T Worchestershire sauce
1 t lemon juice
1/2 c ketchup

Thickener
2 T cornstarch
2 T water

Place pork chops in slow cooker, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add onions, celery, green pepper and tomatoes.
In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients. Pour sauce over veggies and chops.
Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours if chops are thawed. 8-10 hours on low if frozen.
Mix thickener until smooth. Stir into liquid in slow cooker. If you don't stir well enough, it just goes to the bottom of the crockpot.
Cover and cook on High for 30 minutes.
Serve with hot cooked rice.

Smoothie

2009-08-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

Emma loves it when I make smoothies for breakfast. It's a nice way to get fruit in the mornings. The amounts depend on how big you want the smoothie to be. My recipe makes about 36 oz (enough for my 4 year old, my husband, and myself).

16 oz orange juice
3 small scoops orange sherbet
8 frozen whole strawberries
handful of frozen peaches
half a sliced banana

Add the ingredients in that order to a blender. Blend until smooth. You may have to turn off blender periodically and shake blender to move the frozen items so they don't get stuck in the blender blades.

If you want a thicker smoothie, add a scoop of ice after the last of the fruit. You can use any juice you would like paired with any fruit you like also. For a creamier smoothie you may use frozen yogurt or ice cream instead of the sherbet.

Hide-the-Healthy Chicken Soup

2009-08-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

Chicken cut-ups or Whole chicken, skinned
Veges of your choice
Herbs
Seasoning
S & P

Chicken Soup is a great way to get nutrients to your kids. Shhhhh.... I've learned that my kids will pick out certain foods they don't like, so I hide them! When making Chicken Soup, I cook the chicken cut-ups and remove the meat. Continue cooking the bones to make more broth. While I am doing this, I skillet-fry onions, garlic, celery until well cooked. (Very important to cook well or the broth will taste like raw onions!) I transfer these ingredients (or any other that my children dislike at that moment in time) to the blender and puree away. The kids love the flavor of the broth, the just don't like the slime of the onions, celery, mushrooms... All the nurtrient and flavor... just hidden!! Then I prepare the rest of the veges--thick chunks of broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, etc. (Thick chunk help prevent mushy (hence, slimy) veges. After removing the bones from the broth, I add the pureed mixture and season with rosemary, thyme, and sometimes basil. Then, toss in the rest of the veges and cook. Season to taste with salt and pepper... Add noodles or rice. My love it with the Fluffly Spanish Rice--tastes fabulous!

Trying new things...

2009-08-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well, since I'm trying new things with this blog--new recipes and blogging for that matter... I thought I'd just go ahead and try my new mortar and pestle. Okay, its not new. I bought at IKEA about... uh, ... oh, ... a year ago. Anyway, it isn't that I haven't had a chance to use it, I just haven't. So, I'm making soup and ready to add the dried rosemary and the thought comes to me--I shouldn't put this in whole, he kids will complain about 'the sticks' and not eat their soup. Aha! The mortar and pestle. It worked great! Brings out more flavor than chop, chop, chopping! Hmmm... hope I use it again before another year goes by.

Now its here, now its gone Cini Rolls

2009-08-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

Very fun recipe for kids! Very yummy treat for everyone! When cooking with your children... help them see the magic of the disappearing marshmallow!

1 pkg Crescent Rolls
10-15 large marshmallows
3 Tbsp butter
Cinnamon
1/3 c. Sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Open pkg of cresent rolls and separate. Do not roll yet. Melt butter in a ramekin or small bowl. In another bowl, mix sugar with a bit of cinnamon. Dip/roll the marshmallow in butter, then roll in cinn-sugar mix. Next, place the covered marshmallow on the wide end of the crescent and roll up as usual. Repeat until you run out of the crescent dough. Place on a greased baking pan. Bake for 11 - 13 minutes or until the rolls are lightly brown. Let cool for a few minutes as the goo will be extremely hot and sticky. Remove from the sheet to a rack within 10-15 minutes!

Cool Cuc & Mint Slush

2009-08-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a great recipe from a kids cookbook. Very simple, very quick and healthy! ... but my 6 year old wouldn't finish it (or even close, for that matter)!! A great recipe when your garden starts over producing cucumbers! Let me know what you think!

2 medium cucumbers
3 Tbsp honey
sprinkle of salt
1 c. yogurt
15 mint leaves

Peel cucs. (Optional: Cut lengthwise and remove seeds. I didn't remove them and like the thicker texture) Cut cuc into chunks. Put in blender with the rest of the ingredients and puree! I think it taste better after chilling in the fridge for a couple of hours, but if your ingredients are cold to begin with, you can enjoy immediately!

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

2009-08-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

2 packages crescent rolls
5 T butter, softened
1/3 c packed light brown sugar
1 T sugar
1 t cinnamon

Icing:
2/3 c powdered sugar
1-2 T milk
1/4 t vanilla

1. Heat oven to 375. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans.

2. Open packages of crescent roll dough and divide each log of dough in half at the middle perforated seam. Unroll each of the 4 pieces of dough (the two halves from each package). Firmly press together the diagonal perforations within each of the 4 pieces of dough.

3. Place the butter, brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl and stir to combine. Spread mixture over the 4 rectangles of dough, dividing the mixture equally between the 4 pieces. Starting at one of the long ends, roll up each of the rectangles like a jelly roll. Pinch the long edge of each to seal it. Using a serrated knife, but each roll into 12 half inch slices. Arrange rolls in pans so that they are touching.

4. Cook the pans 10-12 minutes or until they are golden brown. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 10-15 minutes.

5. Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add vanilla and stir. Add enough milk to make a smooth glaze. Drizzle over baked rolls.

Patty's Yummy Chicken Rice Casserole

2009-08-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

I had a friend 4 years ago who made this for me shortly before she moved away and we lost contact. Thankfully I asked her for the recipe...but forgot to ask for the name of it. So I just made it up. It's really tasty and easy to make. I usually add green beans or steamed carrots as a side to add some color and a fresh garden salad also.

1 c uncooked rice

1 10oz can of chicken (do not drain)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 c mayo

1/2 c evaporated milk

salt and pepper to taste

4 oz shredded cheese

Cook rice according to directions.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl mix all ingredients except cheese. Pour into greased 9 x 13 casserole dish.
Bake 25 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.
NEW STEP: Turn the broiler on. Broil casserole for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown on top.

My notes: I never have evaporated milk, so I use regular milk. The evaporated milk does make it quite a bit richer and sweeter. Also, I don't use the canned chicken. I boil 4 chicken tenders to use in the recipe and either shred the chicken or chop it. I add 3 tablespoons of the water that I boil the chicken in to make up for the liquid from the canned chicken. To add more taste to my rice I use the chicken water to make the rice also.

Beef on a dime!

2009-08-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

I love getting a great deal! And this is the best deal I've come across!! If you buy your beef at a grocery store (Safeway, Albertsons, etc), they will custom slice meat. Watch the ads... and when you see a roast on sale (ours usually come thru on sale between $1.99 and $2.49/lb), head to the grocery store. I love Carne Asade (usually about 5.99/lb, but never buy it at that price), so I have at least two large roasts sliced very thin for that. You can also have them slice it a bit thicker for fajita style meat! Usually at this sale price, the roast will be cheaper than ground beef. They will grind it up for you, too. Make sure you find a roast that has as little fat as you can, if you are going to have it made into ground beef. Buy a bunch, take it home, freeze it in 1lb packs, and use it when needed! You'll probably have enough to last you until another great sale comes your way! And some stores will even throw in free seasoning when you get your meat sliced! Now that is what I call a deal!

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

2009-08-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

(recipe from Lion House International Recipes cookbook)

3 med tomatoes, sliced in 1/8 inch slices

2 med cucumbers, peeled and sliced in 1/8 inch slices

1/2 small oncion, chopped

1/4 c red wine vinegar

1/4 c veg oil

2 t sugar

1/2 t salt

pepper to taste

1/2 t cilantro (optional)

In medium bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. In small bowl whisk together oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Pour over vegetables and toss to mix well. Let stand in refrigerator for one hour before serving.

Personal notes: I use canola oil when making this recipe. I've also used many other vinegars to change the taste slightly and they have all worked for me. Lemon juice can also be used to substitute vinegar if you want. When I make this recipe I do not slice the vegetables as directed in the recipe (and in the picture). I just chop the tomatoes and cucumbers into squares and have found that I like the flavor a lot the first day, and even better the second day for leftovers.

Starfruit

2009-08-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

I first tried starfruit about 15 years ago. I liked it then, but forgot about it until lately. I was at the store with my 4 year old daughter when she saw a starfruit and wanted to try it. So we got one. It was a hit with both daughters. We got another one this week. I'm always glad when I can add a new fresh fruit to what the girls will eat.

As you can see, it is shaped like a star which you can see better when it is sliced up. It has the consistency of a firm but ripe pear. The taste is a mixture of a not-too-sweet pear and a sweeter-than-usual Granny Smith apple. It is very juicy and refreshing.

Twice baked potatoes

2009-08-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I went through a Rachael Ray phase. Can you blame me? 30-minutes to make a whole meal? I thought that was great. I had a Barnes and Noble gift card, so I picked up Rachael Ray's Classic cookbook. I've tried a few recipes and liked the ones that I've tried. One was her twice baked potato. If you get the big baking potatoes you can have one of these as your meal. A smaller one could be a side to a meal.

Super Stuffed Potatoes with the Works

4 slices bacon, chopped

2 potatoes

1/2 cup sour cream

2 scallions/green onions, chopped fine

1 cup shredded cheese of your choice

1)In a non-stick skillet brown bacon pieces, then drain on a paper towel.

2)Pierce potatoes with a fork. Microwave on high for 12 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes before handling.

3)Preheat broiler.

4)Carefully split potatoes and scoop our flesh into a bowl. Combine with sour cream, scallions, cheese, and browned bacon. Scoop back into potatoe skins and place under broiler to lightly brown the tops.

My notes: I add 1 tablespoon of margarine to make it a bit more creamy. It is also easy to make as a "light" dish. Substitue turkey bacon, reduced fat sour cream, and low fat cheese.

Mint Majesty Brownie

2009-08-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

A simple way to dress up a box of brownies!
Make as directed. Add about 1/2 - 1 tsp Mint extract to the batter. Mix well. Bake as directed. Cool for 10 minutes and then dollop a spoonful of chocolate frosting on the top and allow it to ooze/melt. Top with mint white chocolate chips. Yum!