More Than Just Chicken

Chocolate cookies in a Jar

2009-12-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

I made 3 different kinds of "cookie in a jar" recipes for my husbands co-workers for Christmas. The next day my children and I decided to try out one of the recipes and chose the Chocolate cookies (found on allrecipes.com). These have really great chocolate flavor and the first day they are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. But by the next day they were hard all the way through. They still had great flavor, but I think if I make them again I will under bake them a bit (I baked them for 12 min-may go for 9 or 10 min in the future). I followed the recipe with the exception of using 1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 white chocolate chips. These have some of the best chocolate flavor I have made in a cookie-so for that reason I give them 4.5 out of 5 stars since they do harden too quickly. I wish I had taken a picture of these because my jars were adorable and they layered perfectly!

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a 1 quart wide mouth canning jar, layer dark brown sugar, white sugar, cocoa, chopped pecans, and chocolate chips. Pack everything down firmly before you add flour mixture, it will be a snug fit.
Attach a tag with the following instructions: Chocolate Cookie Mix in a Jar: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) 2. Empty cookie mix into large bowl. Thoroughly blend mixture with hands. Mix in 3/4 cup softened butter or margarine, 1 egg, slightly beaten, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Shape into walnut size balls, and place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. 3. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet, then move to wire racks.

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

2009-10-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe at http://allrecipes.com/. Over 2000 people reviewed this recipe an it had an overall rank of 5 stars (the most you can give). I 100% agree with this rating. This pumpkin bread was the easiest thing in the world to make, I have a broken arm and was able to make 2 beautiful loaves of bread and 6 muffins completely left handed. So this is totally fool proof! I was concerned it wouldn't have enough flavor since it only uses one can of pumpkin, but I was wrong-it's full of wonderful spiced pumpkin flavor and is super dense and moist. I read it was better the next day, so I didn't even try it the first day. I cut a slit in the muffins and pushed a small piece of chocolate in the middle of each muffin right when they came out of the oven. My 3 and almost 5 year old love these muffins and ask for more. The only sub I made was 2 c. white sugar and 1 c. brown sugar. They are not low fat, but so worth the extra calories. Would be a perfect item to take to a holiday pot luck!

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

INGREDIENTS
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Pesto Sauce

2009-07-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

My friend Shannon told me I should make Pesto since I have an over abundance of basil growing in my garden. I immediately shot that idea down-saying it just looked too "green" and couldn't possibly taste good. And I honestly meant it and had no intention of trying it. But then when I was out in the garden today I realized there is no way I will be able to use all this basil and since I was making spaghetti sauce anyway I figured it wouldn't hurt to try the pesto (and still have another sauce on hand in case it was horrible). Well, I was wrong-it was actually very good! I used a recipe (allrecipes.com) that uses walnuts since that's what I had on hand, now I want to try it with pine nuts to see how that changes it. The biggest shocker of all time is my son (almost 3) who hates anything green or remotely vegetable like loved this stuff!! He ate it by the spoonful while I was making dinner and then ate all his pasta I fixed him and asked for more pesto sauce when I was storing the left overs. So this was a winner recipe in our house. My husband thought it was OK and I don't think my daughter (4.5) really liked it, but she said she liked it "medium"-I'm sure because her brother liked it so much she didn't' want to be outdone:)

I used 3 garlic cloves (from my garden) and 1/2 c. of cheese. Other than that I followed the recipe pretty spot on. I don't have a food processor (mine broke after about 4 uses) so I used a blender. I didn't think it was going to work at first, but once about 1/2 c. of the oil was in it finally started blending.

Pesto Sauce

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
3 cups fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a food processor, blend together basil leaves, nuts, garlic, and cheese. Pour in oil slowly while still mixing. Stir in salt and pepper.

Southern Peach Cobbler-for Colleen:)

2009-07-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

from allrecipes.com-Mike said this was one of the best cobblers he has ever eaten. My peaches were very juicy so it's a little runny (even though I increased the corn starch to 4tsp-but still very good. I also decreased the cooking time to 25 min-because the reviews said it got too dark. I'm glad I did because mine was pretty dark even without that extra 5 min.

Southern Peach Cobbler
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

MIX TOGETHER:
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

Chicken in Basil Cream

2009-06-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

I have TONS of basil in my garden right now, so I am looking for new recipes to use it up before it goes bad. Here was one I found on allrecipes.com. I followed the tips of most of the reviewers and doubled the sauce and served it over pasta. I also left out the pimento's (because they sound gross to me) and cooked my chicken in olive oil instead of butter. I also used an egg/milk mixture prior to the bread crumbs instead of just milk. This recipe was very good. I haven't written here in a long time, so I don't remember my stars system, but both of my kids asked for seconds on the noodles (and ate all the chicken) and Amelia (4.5) even asked me to save some left overs for her lunch tomorrow (that is HIGH praise from her). I would make this again. I added some garlic salt because I thought it needed something, but it ended up bordering on too salty, next time I would add some fresh garlic instead.

Chicken in basil sauce

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 (4 ounce) jar sliced pimento peppers, drained
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Place milk and bread crumbs in separate, shallow bowls. In skillet, heat butter or margarine to medium heat. Dip chicken in milk, then coat with crumbs. Cook in butter or margarine, on both sides, until juices run clear (about 10 minutes). Remove and keep warm.
Add broth to skillet. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and stir to loosen browned bits from pan. Stir in cream and pimentos; boil and stir for 1 minute. Reduce heat.
Add Parmesan cheese, basil and pepper. Stir sauce and cook until heated through. Pour mixture over chicken and serve!

Chicken Noodle Soup

2009-06-09T20:22:00.001-07:00

I am still cooking-just not very inspired meals lately. I tend to do meatloaf one day, roast 2 days, chicken 2 days and spaghetti one day a week. The other day is usually left overs. The good thing about my cooking is Mike is now taking my leftovers (when he remembers to get them out of the fridge) for lunch. He has been eating at the same 3-5 places for lunch for 10+ years and is sick of eating out. It works out nice since I pretty much hate left overs and he could care less.

Getting my kids to eat veggies is not an easy task. We went through a horrible time when they just refused to sit down and eat and dinner at our house was a nightmare-actually EVERY meal at our house was a nightmare. They would take a few bites and then be off playing. We had tried every combination of where they/we would sit and at the end they were at their own little table. One night I just kind of lost it and said "No more". They now sit at the table and we do too-they know to sit and eat and not play. It has been amazing. We have this thing where they are the "winner of the day" if they finish their food. At first it was whoever finished first, but that caused fights (an ongoing problem at our house), so now you can still be the winner of the day as long as you finish all your food for all 3 meals. My kids are very competitive, so this has worked out great actually.

So back to the vegetables. Last night we had roast chicken for dinner and there was about 1/2 chicken left over. So I cut the meat off it and cooked the carcass with bell pepper, onion, carrots, celery, salt, pepper, sage, thyme and basil. I also added a few chicken bullion cubes for added flavor. After about 2 hours of a slow boil I pulled the carcass and all the bones out. I used my immersion blender to puree the vegetables into the sauce (if my kids see something they don't like they will be picking through their meal to make sure there isn't anymore of it in there). I added the chicken back in plus some egg noodles and cooked it until the noodles were done.

It tasted really good and I was so impressed because I got a good amount of vegetables into both kids-YEAH me:)

No more posts

2009-04-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

In an effort to decrease my time online I am giving up this blog. I have been cooking everyday still, but took some time off line and realized I need to stay away from this computer. So it's a choice between my cooking blog and the blog of my kids....the kids win:) See Ya!!

Gravy

2009-03-30T18:27:00.000-07:00

Gravy is one of those things I have just never been able to make. I do a HUGE Thanksgiving meal each year and every year the gravy is a greasy lumpy mess. But now that I have been cooking I have actually learned how to make some dang good gravy (if I do say so myself:). We have had 2 nights of left overs (well, one night was girls night out for me-so I was living it up while Mike and the kids ate left overs:). So I thought I would make a pork roast with potatoes and carrots. I filled my pot with about 3-4 c. of water, added a packet of onion soup mix, 4 potatoes cut in quarters, 4-6 peeled and cut carrots and 1 onion sliced. I placed the pork roast on top of all this (I should have browned it first, but the kids were waiting for me to go outside and play-so I thought that was more important than brown meat). I put salt and pepper on top of the roast and cooked it in my dutch oven for 2 hours at 350 degrees.

It smelled SO GOOD, I was ready for a good meat and potatoes meal. I decided to make a gravy out of the drippings. I reduced them by approx half and then melted 4T of butter in a sauce pan. Once the butter was melted I whisked in 1/4 c. flour and stirred it until it was bubbly and brown. I added 1 1/2 to 2 c. (1/4 c. at a time) of the reduced drippings to the butter/flour mixture. I whisked it continuously until the gravy was the right consistency. Unfortunately I bought the WORST roast of all time. It was so full of gristle and fat it was about 70% inedible. It was horrible. But the potatoes, carrots and gravy were great. I am so glad I finally know how to make a gravy without ending up with a gloppy mess. Too bad my meat was so bad, this would have been a great meal otherwise.

Vegetable Lasagna

2009-03-27T18:25:00.001-07:00

This is the second time I have made this recipe-the first time it was much better, but tonight's was still good. Let me tell you the problems with this meal and what I would do differently-first I made a small pan and I think there was too much liquid and not enough noodles because it was watery and last time it wasn't like that-so next time I will make a 9x13 pan (even though we had tons left over from the smaller pan I used). I make this with spinach and zucchini. Last time I made it I pureed my spinach with the sauce for one layer-this time I used chopped spinach and just squeezed the liquid out of it (I used frozen-last time I used fresh). The fresh pureed was MUCH better. Both tasted the same (in fact you can't even taste it) but Amelia did not want to eat the part that had spinach in it (and I kind of didn't want to either....lol). Taste and texture was fine, I just didn't like all the spinach that you could clearly see. Last time I used my mandolin to make zucchini into match stick sized pieces. This time I used the grater-the grater is the way to go if you want them to blend in. I couldn't even tell they were there. I really like stuff that you can put vegetables in but not really tell-my kids are not big vegetable eaters. As you can see from the picture I also didn't have enough cheese, I needed 2 bags but only bought one (even with making the smaller pan it still needed more cheese. So I will give this 3.75 stars out of 5 due to technical errors. IN recap-use fresh pureed spinach and grated zucchini (that is more for my benefit than yours in case I make this again)....lol.

Ingredients:
One box lasagna noodles (no boil type)
1 15 oz tub ricotta cheese
6 c. mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1-2 c. spinach
1 zucchini (shredded)
2 large cans of spaghetti sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with non-stick spray. Mix together eggs, ricotta cheese, 2c. of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Puree 2 c. sauce and spinach until smooth. Grate zucchini and add to spinach/sauce mixture. Put 1c. sauce on bottom of pan. Layer lasagna noodles (slightly overlapping noodles and alternating direction of noodles), 1/3 ricotta mixture, 1 c. mozzarella cheese and 1 c. spinach/zucchini sauce for 3 layers. Place one more row of noodles (4 layers of noodles total) then top with 1c sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake in oven for 50-60 min.

Filled Buttercup Squash

2009-03-26T19:02:00.001-07:00

This is from the Mennonite sight again-if you want to see a picture check out their site. My picture wasn't very good and I don't feel like messing with it. So when I picked this recipe I didn't really look very closely at the ingredients. I was telling a friend of mine today this was either going to be a really good or a really BAD recipe. The sauce that goes over the squash calls for taco seasoning and it just didn't seem to go with my vision of this recipe. First let me tell you I was wrong on that. The sauce over this is really good. The meat mixture was a little bland and my husband and I tried to figure out what it needed-I'm still not sure. I think this made into meatballs over mashed potatoes (as she suggests at the end of the recipe for leftovers) would be very good (if I could figure out to enhance the meat mixture). I really didn't think the squash (I used butternut) did anything for this dish. I like my squash baked with butter and brown sugar, so it really just was bland and didn't seem connected to the meat in the dish at all. I am giving this dish 4 out of 5 stars (it was still good even with all my complaints;) and may try it again with the potato idea. The kids both ate the meat/rice mixture.... and some of the squash-but that was with a lot of coaxing. On a side note, I don't if it is the taste or texture but squash does not agree with Jack-he will not be asked to eat it again....LOL.

Filling:
several small buttercup squash
1 lb extra lean ground beef
2 cups cooked rice
½ cup sour cream
½ onion, grated
1 tsp salt
pepper

Mix all ingredients well. I used left over rice casserole for the rice. If the buttercup squash is small, you can just cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and fill. I filled four halves and then made large meatballs with the rest of the meat. If the squash is large, just cut it into wedges and lay the pieces alongside the meatballs, in a large roaster.

Sauce:
2 Tbsp oil
½ onion, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
1 can tomato soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can water
1 Tbsp taco seasoning
¾ cup sour cream

Cook onion and pepper until soft. Add soups, water and seasoning. Bring to boil.
Stir in sour cream, until blended. Pour over squash and meatballs.
Bake 1 1/4 - 1½ hours at 350F. This makes about 6 – 8 servings. Left over meatballs are good with mashed potatoes.

Teryaki Chicken

2009-03-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from a site I have been watching for a while but never tried anything from (Mennonite Girls Can Cook). I have a few recipes from this site on my menu this week and tonight I started with a chicken dish. We only gave this dish 3.5 out of 5 stars, but it's totally my fault it didn't get a better review. I didn't decide what I was going to cook until 6 pm (bad I know) and turns out this one should have merinated for 3-4 hours, not the 50 min I was able to do. I will be trying this again and marinating it for the proper amount of time next time. I left out the orange zest since I didn't have an orange handy and cooked mine on the George Foreman Grill.

Marinade
1/2 cup oil
1 cup soy sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. vinegar
3 Tbsp brown sugar
grated fresh ginger to taste*
1 Tbsp. orange zest

boneless chicken breasts or thighs

Combine marinade ingredients, mixing well.

Place chicken in a large ziplock bag and pour marinade over. Seal bag and marinate in fridge for no more than 3-4 hours.

Place a foil pan (lwith edges) on a preheated BBQ. Place chicken pieces in pan and pour marinade over. Grill for 6-7 minutes per side, turning only once.

*Tip

I seldom kept fresh ginger in the house because it would spoil before I'd used it up. Then someone told me to keep it in the freezer. It is very easy to scrape the peel off the frozen gingerroot and grate it on a rasp. Grate as much as you need than pop the rest back in to the freezer.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

2009-03-24T17:27:00.001-07:00

See, I told you I would post tonight:) This recipe comes from allrecipies.com and had over 3,000 people ranking it and they gave it 4.5/5 stars. First let me say I am not a huge meatloaf fan (never have been) but I thought with so many people trying this it HAD to be good. I didn't really like it-sadly. I will only give this 3 out of 5 stars because I didn't like the ginger in it (I could taste it and it wasn't a flavor I thought went well with meatloaf) and it was really dense. I used minced onion instead of real and mixed the brown sugar/ketchup and 1 T. of Worcestershire sauce together and put it on the top of the loaf (as everyone in the comments suggested). I almost added a little water (which I did with my meatballs onetime and they were great) because I heard it keeps meatballs from being dense, but this has 3/4 c. milk so I didn't want to make it too wet. I won't be making this again. My potatoes were good though and my husband thought it was good (but it's the first meal I have cooked in over 2 weeks, so I have a feeling anything would have tasted good to him). Oh yea, I also used 1/4 c. brown sugar instead of 1/2 c and added 1 T. Worcestershire sauce to topping mix. It was also ugly and not picture worthy.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.
Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar.
In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the ketchup.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.

I have not lost my mojo:)

2009-03-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Two people have commented on my lack of posts lately. I have not forgotten about this blog and went grocery shopping today. Right before my last post I was taking pictures of the kids and Jack was playing around and pushed me from behind. I think I damaged a tendon in my foot and by the next day I could not even walk. I spent a week on the couch with my foot elevated and then the week after that I was still in too much pain to stand up long enough to make a real meal. All of this time not cooking has really made me appreciate my real meals. I am sick to death of fast food and precooked meals. I have a lot of (hopefully) great recipes planned for this week including a really good vegetable lasagne. Check back tomorrow-there WILL be a new recipe posted!!!

Braised Chuck Roast with vegetables

2009-03-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

No picture again, I have already posted this one. I'm really just posting to prove I haven't given up on cooking....lol. I usually cook the roast for 4 hours (since that's what all my recipes have called for) but I was at Lowes looking at wood for my garden planters and got home late. I only cooked this for 3 hours 15 min and it was still really good. I give it 4 out of 5 stars (not more due to the boring factor). It was a good hearty meal though that everyone enjoyed-so boring or not it was a hit. Oh yea, I got lazy and didn't even brown it first and it was still really good-I do think dredging it in flour and browning it gives it more of a gravy instead of broth feel-so I will do that next time-gravy would have been good with this one.

Ingredients:
3-4 lb chuck roast
4-5 potatoes-peeled and quartered
4 carrots-large chunks
4 stalks celery-sliced
1 onion-sliced
salt and pepper
4-5 c. beef broth

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place all vegetables in Dutch Oven. Top with salt/pepper. Place roast on top of vegetables-salt/pepper meat. Pour in beef broth (to about 1/2 way up roast). Cover and cook in oven for 3-4 hours.

Chicken and Rice

2009-03-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Oh, so very very boring tonight. I just grilled chicken breast, made some Jasmine rice and opened a can of green beans. What is happening to me? Where did my enthusiasm go? I am really going to try to get it back-soon!!!

Chicken Pot Pie

2009-03-07T18:24:00.001-08:00

I bet some of you have been wondering where I have been huh? I have been cooking this week, but not new recipes. One night for dinner the kids and I had a tea party (sandwiches, apples and cupcakes for dessert), one night Mike brought home fish sandwiches since I forgot about the whole no meat on Fridays during Lent thing (I had a roast ready to put in the oven) and tonight I made a chicken pot pie. It wasn't anything great and wonderful-it was just fast and easy since we had been out all day enjoying the sunshine and cooking for 4 hours was not on the agenda for the day. I would give this 4 stars out of 5-Mike and I both liked it-neither kid would touch it though (guess who went to bed hungry tonight??)

Ingredients (no picture-sorry)
2 cans chicken-breast meat-drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of potato soup
1 c. frozen peas/carrots
1 onion-grated
s/p to taste
1 pie crust

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all ingredients (except pie crust of course:), place in casserole dish. Top with pie crust. Bake in oven for 40 min.

Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

2009-03-03T18:36:00.001-08:00

I am not a big meatloaf fan. It always tastes to dense to me and greasy. But I decided to try it tonight since I had some hamburger and didn't want pasta. I don't have a real recipe since I just put stuff in but I can tell you approx what I used. It was actually really good-I put water in it just like the meatball recipe I used. I saw on a tv show that the water keeps the meatballs from being hard little lumps of meat and it worked for the meatloaf too. It was a good meal, we had meatloaf, mashed potatoes and a salad. I will give it 4.5 stars out of 5. Sorry no picture

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb ground beef
2 eggs-beaten
1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1 onion-grated
1/4 c. water
salt and pepper to taste
3 slices proscuitto
ketchup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except proscuitto and ketchup together in a bowl. Place in loaf pan and top with proscuitto and then cover with ketchup. Bake for one hour.

That's it, it was so easy and the seasoned bread crumbs gave it all the flavor it needed. I will make this again.

Chicken Soup

2009-02-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

I started out making braised chicken dish I found on the Food Network. I substituted chicken broth for the white wine and leeks for the onions (because I had them and needed to use them up). I left out the pancetta because I didn't have any and thought about using bacon but I was afraid it would be too "boiled" tasting once the dish was done. I also added my Lovelace seasoning salt (it has a little bit of everything in it-it's great) and potatoes just because I thought it would be easier to cook them in there than on top of the stove and mash them up afterward. Well, I didn't like how the braising liquid made my pretty browned up chicken soggy looking and I had too much liquid left over. I was going to take the skin off and reduce the heck out of my broth and try to make a gravy out of it when I tasted it and it was really great tasting. So instead of braised chicken I just took the meat off the bone and added it back to my pot and made chicken soup. It was really good too-my chicken wasn't dried out at all (oh yea, I had also added a carrot-I only had one- and a couple stalks of celery to my pot-just because). I would give this 4.5 out of 5 stars-which isn't bad when your dish starts out braised chicken and ends up chicken soup:)

Oh yea, I haven't been around much because I have been out enjoying myself doing girl things with my friends....it's been heaven!!! I also took Amelia to a birthday party that was from 4-6...so horrible timing for cooking dinner. I won't be posting next week. My Mom is coming into town and I will only be cooking my favorite recipes (that are already posted here) while she is in town-no experimenting for me:)

Ingredients:

1 cut up frier
1 T olive oil
1 leek-finely chopped
1 carrot-chopped
3 stalks celery-chopped
1 container sliced mushrooms-chopped
s/p
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp seasoning salt (I have a mixture from the Lovelace cookbook)
4-5 potatoes-chopped
6 c. chicken broth

Directions:

Salt and pepper chicken. Brown chicken in olive oil. Remove chicken from pan and add leeks and mushrooms. Saute approx 5 min. Add carrots and celery. Saute an additional 3-5 min. Add potatoes, chicken, seasoning salt and basil. Pour chicken broth into pan (should just cover chicken) and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook approx 40-45 min. Remove chicken from pot. Once chicken cooled enough to touch remove meat from bone and chop or shred meat. Return to pot, stir and serve soup.

Braised Beef with Vegetables

2009-02-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

Woo Hoo!! I made my first non-lumpy, greasy, disgusting look gravy tonight. I was so proud of myself! I also made this dish without a formal recipe and it turned out really good. It was really similar to a lot of things I have already made, so I can't really get too excited over it, but it was good. I am loving the dutch oven I bought-I wish I had saved my money on the new crock put and just bought this instead. It's way more versatile and is more user friendly for me (I know I'm probably the only person in the world that hates cooking in the crock pot)! I give this 4.25 stars out of 5.

Ingredients:

3 lb chuck roast (dredged in flour, salt and pepper)
2 T. olive oil
1 onion-diced
3 stalks celery-chopped
4-5 potatoes-large cubes
4 carrots-sliced
1 container fresh sliced mushrooms
4 c. beef broth

2 T. butter
2-3 T. flour

Directions: Cooked in Dutch Oven-preheat oven to 350 degrees

Brown meat in olive oil. Once browned remove meat and add onions to the pot. Saute until soft. Add all other vegetables and return meat to the pot. Pour beef broth over meat and salt/pepper to taste. Cover and bake in oven for 4 hours.

Once done remove meat-let rest prior to slicing. Remove vegetables/broth from pan. Melt butter in dutch oven. Add flour and stir until browned. Add cooking juices slowly, whisking until smooth. Add additional water if needed to make the consistency of gravy.

Beef Stew

2009-02-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

You all know what beef stew looks like, so I didn't take a picture of it. It was pretty standard-beef, potatoes, onions etc. I did use red wine in it also. I have to say I WANT to like cooking with wine. I want to make amazing dishes, everyone always says "oh the wine added a whole new dimension to the dish"....well, I don't think it does. Maybe it's because I DETEST drinking wine, but I just don't like the flavor it brings to the dishes (and I'm not using a $3 bottle of cheap wine either). It's obviously just not my thing. After my stew had been cooking for about an hour I decided to try it (I was afraid it would be too salty) and it just had this off taste-not bad, but not good either. It was a strong odd taste too-I was worried my dish was going to be inedible, but I saved it by adding a can of diced tomatoes and some spices. In the end it was OK but not anything I would make again. In the future I am sticking to chicken and beef stock for my dishes:)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs stew meat (dredged in flour, salt and pepper)
4 potatoes-large chunks
4 carrots-large chunks
1 onion-diced
1 c. red wine
4 c. beef stock
2 T. garlic
1 can diced tomotoes (with juice)
1 T. worcestechire sauce
basil, thyme, sage to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2 T. cornstarch (optional)
Directions:

Brown meat, add onions and garlic. Deglaze pot with red wine-allow alcohol to cook off. Add all other ingredients-bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours. Add corn starch mixed with water (or broth) if desired for thicker stew.

Thai Meatballs with Spicy Peanut Sauce

2009-02-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

I'm not even going to post anything about this recipe other than to say if you see it in a cookbook called "Beef for all Seasons" just keep on going. It was HORRIBLE-Mike said it wasn't that bad, but he was the only one thinking that. I won't be making it again for sure. I hope tomorrows recipe is better-I have been having another run of bad (or not so good) luck again:(

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff I

2009-02-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

This is from allrecipies.com. IT had over 1300 people review it and got 4 out of 5 stars (which is what I give it too). I thought it was good-nothing to jump up and down about though. I made some changes that were recommended in the comment section. I used 1/2 pkg dry onion soup instead of onions, doubled the Worcestershire sauce, added a can of mushrooms, used 1/2 c. beef broth instead of the water and browned my beef first. I probably won't make this again because I think I liked my other stroganoff recipe I made better, but it wasn't a disappointment. Oh yea, I substituted sour cream for cream cheese because I didn't have any cream cheese.

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 pound cubed beef stew meat
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water
4 ounces cream cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a slow cooker, combine the meat, soup, onion, Worcestershire sauce and water.
Cook on Low setting for 8 hours, or on High setting for about 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese just before serving

Chocolate Souffle

2009-02-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

Man, I had a busy cooking day today:) I have never tried to make a souffle and I have never even eaten one, so I have no idea what they are supposed to taste like, but I Googled it so I have a pretty good idea....haha. This was a fun thing to try because it sounds so hard, so I am impressed with my results (even though they were not even close to perfect). I have never whipped egg whites before, so I really had no idea you could over whip them (FYI-you can). So that was my problem, instead of my whites being in soft peaks-they were like a thick almost hard foam. SO they didn't fold into my chocolate mixture very well and the final texture was almost rubbery. It also looked pretty ugly-one side rose higher than the other and the middle was sunken in a bit. But the good thing was (other than the texture)it had a great flavor to it. I served it with whipped cream, but it would have also been good with vanilla ice cream. It wasn't too sweet (but wasn't bitter either). I will try this again for sure and watch my egg whites closely this time (I let them whip while I did the first few steps). Even though I can only give this a 3 stars out of 5 it's all because of my technique and not from the recipe at all. It was fun, I will try stuff like this again.

Chocolate Souffle

1 cup of milk
1/4 cup sugar
4 Tbsp of butter
4 Tbsp of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of good quality, dark, semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs, separated

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 375F.

1. In a medium saucepan slowly bring the milk and sugar to a gentle boil. Once boiling take saucepan off the heat and set aside.

2. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat. Whisk in the flour, a little at a time. Keep whisking for about a minute. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk until smooth and thick.

3. Return the saucepan to a medium heat. Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted and smooth. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring the whole time.
Cook sauce for about 40 seconds and then remove from heat. Set aside to cool slightly.

4. Grease ramakin (recipe called for small ramakins-I used one larger one). Set aside.

5. Whisk the egg yolks into the slightly cooled sauce, one at a time, until smooth. Set aside.

6. In a clean metal bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff with an electric mixer.
Spoon half the egg whites into the sauce with a clean metal spoon. Fold in very gently until just combined then fold in the remaining egg whites.

7. Pour in the mixture to reach the top of the souffle ramekins. Level mixture with a knife so that it's even.

8. Bake souffles until risen for about 15-20 minutes (I cooked mine for 24 min because it was in a larger ramakin)

Pork Escalopes with Mushrooms

2009-02-15T18:24:00.000-08:00

This dish is from my Tuscany the Beautiful cookbook series. It was OK, it just didn't look very good (my meat didn't get good and brown-I think I put too much in the pan at one time), but it tasted fine. It just wasn't anything special-I will give it 3 stars out of 5. I think it calls for WAY too much olive oil-if I were going to make this again (which I'm not), I would cut that down to a couple of tablespoons. I would also do my mushrooms/garlic first and then the pork. Again, there wasn't anything wrong with this dish, it just didn't have any wow factor.

Ingredients:
10 oz. fresh porcini, shiitake or button mushrooms
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 lb lean pork-thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic
1/3 c. dry white wine
1 T. fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper

directions:
1. Clean the mushrooms by rubbing them with a dampened cloth, do not wash them. Trim the mushrooms fairly thinly, set aside

2. In a heavy ovenproof pot over moderate heat, warm the olive oil. Add the pork slices and cook, turning once, until golden on both sides-about 2 min per side. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute for 2 more minutes. Pour in the wine and sprinkle with the thyme. Cook, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the wine evaporates, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with s/p and remove and discard the garlic.

3. Arrange the pork and mushrooms on a platter and serve.

Eggs Benedict

2009-02-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from the show Regis and Kelly. They had a chef come on a while ago and make eggs benedict and I have wanted to make it ever since. I made this for Mike for Valentines Day (or a day late since he worked yesterday). This is definitely something you can only make for a very special occasion since it has an obscene amount of butter in it, but it was very good. It called for 2T of lemon juice which I was afraid was going to be too much. I used 1 1/2 T and tasted the sauce on its own and thought I had ruined it-it was too lemony-but once the whole dish was put together it all worked. I am giving this 4.5 stars out of 5-it was very good. I am going to attempt a chocolate souffle tonight for dessert-wish me luck:)

Ingredients:

4 English muffins, toasted
8 Slices smoked salmon, ham or Canadian bacon, cooked

For the Hollandaise:
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
10 ounces butter, melted and hot
fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Eggs:
8 eggs
1 teaspoon white vinegar

DIRECTIONS:
Combine egg yolks and lemon juice in a blender, turn the blender on medium and drizzle the butter into the blender in a steady stream until the butter has emulsified into the eggs and is fully incorporated. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and keep warm.

Fill a medium sauce pan with about 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and white vinegar to the sauce pan of water and reduce the heat to a simmer.

Carefully break each egg into a small cup or bowl and gently slide the egg into the water; add more eggs, making sure not to crowd the pan.

Let the eggs cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and let drain on a towel lined pan or plate.

Repeat with the remaining eggs.

To serve, top each half of a toasted English muffin with a slice of ham or Canadian bacon and a poached egg. Spoon the Hollandaise sauce on top and serve immediately.

Real Spaghetti and Meatballs

2009-02-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

It is (or was) time for my Barefoot Bloggers recipe again. If ever there was a recipe I had a bad attitude about it was this one. First I don't really like spaghetti and try to avoid making it at all costs (and when I do I open a jar of Prego and call it good). Second this months recipe really snuck up on me, so I wasn't prepared (shopping wise) for it. I realized on Wed. that I had to make this meal on Thursday and I was just too worn out and unorganized to get to the store. So it was put off by a day. I really didn't want to make this today either-I didn't feel like going to the store-I am usually OK with shopping-but I always try to do it when I don't have kids because grocery shopping with a 2 and 4 year old can have it's moments (although they were great today). So after naptime I made myself go shopping (for the week-yeah for me) but it was getting really late (5:30 before I even got to start this meal). I had trouble with the meatballs-they were way too big to cook through (I ended up cutting them in half to get the middle cooked on the first batch) and a ton of mine stuck to the bottom of my pan the first batch through for some reason. I made the second batch much smaller (half the size) and they worked really well. I actually de-glazed my pan 2x-there was just too much stuck meat to the bottom of my pan the first time, I was afraid it would taste burned and ruin my sauce. So between the late shopping, sticking huge meat balls and having to waste my first batch of wine I wasn't holding out much hope for this recipe. But it really surprised me (which was a huge shock). I didn't have enough sauce and I wasn't bowled over by the taste of the sauce, but I really liked the meatballs (I couldn't find veal so I used 1 lb pork and 1 lb ground beef instead). Once they were in the sauce they were really good. The sauce was good, just not as good as I wanted it to be (not better than Prego IMO). A while back I made a meatball dish where you baked the meatballs. I think I will try this one again baking the meatballs and then just using a canned sauce (which is easy and tastes good for us). I will give this recipe 4.25 stars out of 5 (I really thought it was going to be 2 star recipe-so this is major praise for me on this one). Sorry I am a day late posting though:)

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 extra-large egg, beaten
Vegetable oil
Olive oil

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:

1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions
Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

Stay Tuned...

2009-02-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

My Barefoot Blogger "Real Spaghetti and Meatball" recipe will be posted tomorrow. I took Jack to the doctor today...so I took the rest of the day off for ME-I went shopping and to a movie. So no cooking for me tonight, but tomorrow everyone will be enjoying spaghetti (not a favorite meal of mine-but everyone else in my house loves it).

Pot Roast

2009-02-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

This is from Martha Stewart's Cooking School cookbook and for once it turned out GREAT!! Other than needing more salt I wouldn't change a thing. The potatoes were PERFECT, the meat was tender, the gravy was good (I loved how you strained it so it didn't have the cooked down onions in it). I can't say enough good things about this one. I am giving it 4.75 out of 5 stars (not 5 because it's just a basic pot roast recipe, nothing over the top fantastic or interesting). I will probably use this as my pot roast recipe in the future. Everyone really loved it. Oh yea, I bought a cast iron dutch oven a week or two ago and what a difference it makes! This pot roast cooked for over 3 hours and didn't loose any of it's liquid-unlike the braised roast I did in the oven that was bone dry and almost burned by the time I took it out. This is my new favorite pot, the only bad thing is I just know I am going to grab hold of the handles or lid one day and burn my hand since it doesn't have heat proof handles.

Ingredients:

For browning meat
3-4 lb chuck roast
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
sunflower or other neutral-tasting oil

For aromatics
1 T. olive oil
1 large onion-peeled and thinly sliced (1 1/2 c)
1 medium carrot-peeled and coarsely chopped (3/4 c)
1 celery stalk - coarsely chopped (3/4 c)
2 garlic cloves- peeled and thinly sliced
1 dried bay leaf
1/4 tsp whole black peppercorns
3 sprigs fresh thyme

For braising meat
1 T. all-purpose flour (plus more if needed)
2 T. red-wine vinegar (plus more if needed)
1 1/4 c. water

For garnish vegetables
3/4 lb. turnips (about 3) peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch wedges
3/4 lb. new potatoes (about 12)
3/4 lb. carrots (4-5 medium) peeled and cut into 3 inch lengths (half thick ends lengthwise, then cut into 3 inch lengths)

Directions: her directions are LENGTHY, I am going to paraphrase
Brown Meat Pat meat dry with paper towels-salt/pepper. Heat Dutch oven over high heat for 2 min. Add enough oil to barely coat bottom of pan. Sear meat until golden brown on all sides-approx 8 min. Remove meat from pan-discard oil and wipe out any burned bits of meat.

Cook aromatics Reduce heat to medium. Add olive oil and all the aromatics stirring approx 2-3 min or until onion translucent.

Braise meat Sprinkle flour into pot and stir to coat everything evenly-cook approx 30 seconds. Add vinegar and water and bring to a boil. Deglaze bottom of pot and add roast back to pot. Reduce the heat so the liquid is simmering and cook covered for approx 2 1/2 to 3 hours (turning meat every 30 min). Remove meat from the pot when cooking time complete. Strain braising liquid, pressing solids to extract as much liquid as possible-discard solids.

Finish Braising and garnish vegetables Add liquid back to pot. Add meat and garnish vegetables back to the pot (liquid should almost reach the top of the vegetables). Bring to a boil and then simmer until vegetables tender (15-20 min). When vegetables are cooked remove meat from pan and allow to rest approx 20 min before cutting. Reduce cooking liquid if desired (there should be about 1 c.). Pour a little cooking liquid over meat and vegetables and serve the rest on the side.

Roast Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar

2009-02-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not even going to bother posting my picture with this one. It was just kind of there, nothing special (it's from the Italy cookbook I have been using). I am only giving it a 3 out of 5 stars, there wasn't anything wrong with it, just didn't have that WOW factor I want. The directions did have you cook it uncovered in butter/olive oil and flip it every 30 min-I don't know if it was the fat in the recipe, flipping it or both but my chicken was amazingly juicy-probably the best chicken I have ever made in regards to how juicy it was (it didn't have a great flavor though for some reason). I will be trying that method again in the future-just with a better recipe (this was a pretty simple recipe-so I am going on memory here)

Ingredients:

3lb roasting chicken
12 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
s/p
3 T. olive oil
3 T. butter-cut in small pieces
1/2 c. dry white wine
3 T. balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1. Using kitchen string truss chicken-season with salt/pepper. Place bay leaves in cavity and under wings/breast. Place butter in bottom of pan, pour olive oil in bottom of pan and place chicken breast side up in roasting pan. Bake at 350 degrees (turning every 30 min) approx 1 1/2 hours.

2. When chicken is cooked remove from pan and discard bay leaves. Skim fat off top of drippings. Place pan over med. heat, add wine and vinegar. Reduce mixture to form a sauce to pour over sliced chicken.

Pork Roast with Peaches

2009-02-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from "Italy Today-the beautiful cookbook". I was unsure how to cook this dish. I was all set to follow the recipe (cook for 1 1/2 hrs) when I read the directions on the roast packaging and it said to cook at 390 degrees (vs 350 from the cookbook) for 35 min. That is a HUGE difference and I was really afraid of my roast being a little piece of dried out leather if I cooked it for an hour and a half (the first hour with no liquid in the pot). So I kind of compromised with this recipe. I cooked it until it hit 160 degrees inside (per the directions on the meat) and it took about 35-40 min-with the last 30 min of that with the wine/peaches per the cookbook. It wasn't nice and pretty and brown, but it was perfectly cooked-so I think I did the right thing. This was pretty good (I wish the peaches had tasted a bit more "peachy" but other than that it was really good-I will give it 4.25 stars out of 5. We visited a winery one time and I remember buying a peach dessert wine....now THAT would have been great in this dish!!! I think next time I will season the meat with salt/pepper, brown it and then maybe get some of that dessert wine to use next time. I can tell that would make this dish over the top good.

Ingredients:

1 pork loin, 3 lbs
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. unsalted butter-at room temp.
2 peaches
1 c. dry white wine
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. (I used a boneless pork loin, but here are the directions per this recipe). Using a sharp knife, cut the bones from the pork loin. Grease a roasting pan with the oil and butter. Place the pork loin fat side up in the pan, turning it a couple of times to coat with the oil and butter. Add the bones to the pan as well. Roast until nicely browned and tender-approx 1 1/2 hours.

3. Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the peaches and blanch for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon, immerse in cold water and slip off the skins. Cut in half, discard the pits and chop the flesh.

4. Add the peaches to the roasting pan with 1/2 c. of the wine during the last 30 min of roasting. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. When the pork is ready, remove the pan from the oven and discard the bones. Set the meat aside on a platter and keep warm.

6. Using a slotted spoon, skim off any fat from the pan juices. Scoop out the peaches and cooking juices and pass them through a sieve. Return them to the roasting pan.

7. Place the pan on the stove top over med. heat and add the remaining 1/2 c. wine. Heat, stirring to dislodge any browned bits stuck to the pan bottom, until the sauce is reduced and thickened. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

8. Slice the pork and arrange the slices on a warmed platter. Spoon the peach sauce over the top and serve at once.

Kefta with Potatoes

2009-02-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

My husbands family is Lebanese (his grandfather is from Lebanon), so his aunts/family has cooked Lebanese food for him growing up-more like on special occasions, not for everyday meals I don't think. But because of this I decided to try a Lebanese meal from my "Lebanon and it's Cuisine" cookbook. I started out with something pretty easy and not too "strange" for me. The directions were a bit vague for me-they said to "take portions of meat and mold into rolls 3 inches long". Well, I know how long to make them, but not how big. I mean you could make a skinny 3 inch snake or a big fat 3 inch log, so that was one of my problems. I made mine about the diameter of an egg and then approx 3 inches long. I think I should have made them twice as big though since they really were too cooked for my taste. The other problem I had was my potatoes not being done enough. Some were great, but others just were still too hard (it had nothing to do with the thickness either, I think some just didn't have enough liquid to cook in). Next time I am going to put my potatoes as the bottom layer. I also thought it needed salt, but Mike did not. As you can tell this was not my favorite meal (I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars), but Mike said it tasted like Lebanese food and he liked it (although he thought the meat was over cooked and the potatoes undercooked also). The kids however LOVED this one-go figure. I thought for sure I was going to have to make them a different dinner. Neither one liked the potatoes, but they both loved the meat-they didn't even say anything about the onions in it.

Ingredients:

1 kefta recipe (see below)
4 medium tomatoes
4 medium potatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 large onion, sliced
salt/pepper/allspice to taste

Directions:

Mix all kefta ingredients very well. Take portions of meat and mold into rolls 3 inches long. Place in a greased baking pan. Peel and wash potatoes. Cut into slices and spread over meat. Cut tomatoes into slices and spread over potatoes. Spread sliced onions over tomatoes. Add tomato sauce and season with spices. Bake in 450 degree oven for 45 min. Serve hot.

Kefta Recipe
2 lbs ground lamb or beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 c. parsley, finely chopped (ok to use flakes)
S/P to taste
1 1/2 tsp. allspice

Mix all ingredients well

FIRE!!!

2009-02-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

We went to Outback tonight to celebrate a family birthday. But even if we hadn't there probably would not have been a new meal on here today. A few days ago I was cooking something that kind of spilled in the oven. This morning I was making bacon in the oven and I told Mike "I need to clean out this oven today, it's smoking from when something spilled in there". IT wasn't 5 min later that the damn thing was on FIRE!! It was actually pretty scary. It wasn't just tiny flames either, they were pretty big. But luckily I just happened to look in there (I have no idea why-I never check my stuff before the timer goes off-it would have burned up my oven for sure if I hadn't opened it when I did). Also lucky for me I was going to make biscuits for breakfast, so I had baking poweder out and open. I can't remember if you are supposed to use baking powder or soda on a kitchen fire, but FYI-baking powder works just fine:) Anyway, that's my little story for the night. I have meals planned for the week and am ready to make something new tomorrow (after I clean out the oven-we were busy all day today). I did call the fire dept to ask how to know if the oven is safe to use-mine is still fine-thank God!

Farfalline with Vegetable Sauce

2009-02-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from my "Italy Today-the beautiful cookbook". It was such a winner it's not even funny. My son (2.5) is in a "I don't like that" phase (ever see that commercial for Pediasure with the Mom shopping with the little girl-well it could be based on my son lately). He says "I don't like that" before he tastes anything. He says to it every food-including those I KNOW he likes. So I was shocked when he ate this and said "this is good" after tasting it- that was HIGH praise from him. He ate two helpings of it-I can't remember the last time he had seconds of any dinner. I ran out of olive oil, so I used half olive oil and half walnut oil and I used penne pasta, but other than that I made it exactly as it's written. I thought I should have thinned out the sauce a little more than I did (it tells you to thin it with pasta water if needed) -this was a really good recipe I am giving it a 4.75 out of 5 stars.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
6 carrots, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 c. water
salt
hand full of fresh basil and parsley leaves (I used dry)
6 T. parmesan cheese
1 1/4 lb farfalline or other small dried pasta shape

Directions:
1. In a saucepan over med heat, warm the oil. Add the carrots, onion, celery, garlic and pepper flakes and saute, stirring frequently until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 min. Add the water and salt to taste, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until tender-about 10 min.

2. Remove from heat and place in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the parsley, basil and Parmesan cheese and process until creamy.

3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot filled with salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, stir well and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, reheat the sauce in a clean pan. If it's too thick, dilute with a little of the pasta water.

4. Drain the pasta and transfer to a warmed bowl. Pour the sauce on top, toss well and serve

King's Arms Tavern Boneless Breast of Chicken and Virginia Ham & Asparagus Risotto

2009-02-05T18:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, I have TWO recipes tonight since I didn't post last night (I was in a wicked mood last night and didn't cook). The chicken recipe is from my Williamsburg cookbook and the Risotto is from my friend Colleen. Both of these were very good and super easy to make. I would make them both again (I give the chicken 4.25 stars out of 5 and the rice 5 BIG stars out of 5 (but you will see why it was so good when you see the ingredients...LOL). The only thing I would do differently is cut my grapes into quarters before I cook them (I tried after but they just kind mooshed out) and I would cut the rice recipe in half (it makes A LOT of risotto-fair warning:). Other than that they were both great as is.

King's Arm Tavern Chicken:
Ingredients:
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. finely crushed crackers
4 large chicken breasts-boned
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 T. butter
2 T. vegetable oil
4 thin slices Virginia Ham
Grape Sauce (recipe to follow)

1. Combine the flour and cracker crumbs, season the chicken breast with salt and pepper and roll them in the mixture.

2. Heat the butter and oil in a heavy skillet. Add the chicken breasts and saute until golden brown.

3. Place each chicken breast on a thin slice of Virginia Ham, coat with grape saucse and serve immediately.

Grape Sauce:
1 c. chicken stock or broth
1/2 c. orange juice
3/4 c. seedless grapes
1/4 raisins
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 T. cornstarch

Combine the first 7 ingredients and bring to a boil. Thicken the sauce with the cornstarch dissolved in a little cold water.

Asparagus Risotto

4 TBS olive oil
4 TBS butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
6 cups chicken broth
1 lb. asparagus, stemmed and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 pint whipping cream
1 cup fresh, shredded parmesan cheese

1. In a large pot, saute onion in butter and olive oil until translucent.
2. Add garlic and rice and saute for about three minutes.
3. Add broth and bring to a boil. Continue to boil gently, uncovered, for fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add asparagus and continue to cook for ten more minutes.
5. Add whipping cream and cook for five more minutes.
6. Add parmesan cheese and stir until melted.

Notes: Arborio rice is best for risotto, giving it the classic creamy texture, but you can use regular rice as well.

Colleen, thank you for the recipe....you were right, it is really great:)

Couscous-stuffed cornish hens

2009-02-03T18:23:00.000-08:00

This recipe came from Food and Wine-quick from scratch herbs and spices cookbook. This is the second recipe I have tried and the second one I have been underwhelmed by. It looks so good on paper, but it was just kind of there. There wasn't anything wrong with it (and it was easy to make) but it sure didn't "wow" any of us. I give this one a 3.5 out of 5 stars because it was blah-I did like the apricots in the couscous though:) My hens were tiny-so I made 4 of these-one for each of us and doubled the stuffing ingredients.

Ingredients:
1/4 c. slivered almonds
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. dried apricots, chopped
salt
1/2 c. couscous
1 1/2 T butter
2 1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pepper
2 Cornish hens (1 1/4 lb ea)
1 T. cooking oil
3 T. water

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the nuts in the oven until golden brown 5-10 min. Remove. Raise the heat to 425 degrees.

2. In a small saucepan, bring the broth, apricots, and 1/4 tsp salt to a simmer over moderate high heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the couscous. Cover and let sit for 5 min. Fluff with a fork. Add the almonds, 1/2 tsp. of the butter, 1 1/2 tsp. of the honey, the cinnamon and 1/8 tsp each salt and pepper.

3. Fill the cavities of the hens with the couscous mixture. Twist the wings of the hens behind their backs and, if you like, tie the legs together. put the hens, breast side up, in a small roasting pan. Coat the hens with the oil, sprinkle with 1/8 tsp each salt and pepper. Dot with the remaining 1 T. butter.

4. Roast the hens for 25 min. Baste them with the pan juices and drizzle with the remaining 1 tsp honey. Continue roasting until just done 10-15 min longer.

5. When the hens are done, transfer them to a plate and leave to rest in a warm spot for about 5 min. Spoon the fat from the roasting pan and add the water to the juices. Cook over moderate heat, scraping the bottom of the pan to dislodge any brown bits, until reduced to 1/4 c, about 3 min. Add a pinch each salt and pepper. Cut the hens in half and serve with the stuffing and pan juices.

Williamsburg Inn Chicken and Dumplings

2009-02-02T18:29:00.001-08:00

This was the first time I have ever used The Williamsburg Cookbook-I don't even know where I got this one. My husband has always said he doesn't really like chicken and dumplings, so I have never tried them before...but since I am trying new things I gave it a shot. As you will see from the picture this doesn't look all that appetizing. I was fully prepared to give this one 2 stars even before I tried it. But it surprised us all-everyone really liked it. Both kids ate almost everything I gave them (which was 2 dumplings and some sauce-that was a lot) after they got over their initial reaction (kind of the same as mine) of "I don't like this" before they even tried it. My husband even made the comment that he doesn't usually like chicken and dumplings, but really liked these (he had 2 big bowls of them). I also saved the left overs (which I rarely do since we never end up eating them) since Jack (who has lost so much weight after being sick for a week) ate so much of this dish. THe only thing I would change would be maybe rolling out the dough and cutting into biscuit shapes and doing that final step in the oven-I thought if they had been crispy on top they would have been better-but even so they weren't as doughy as I thought they were going to be. This would also be an awesome filling for chicken pot pie-the filling gets 5 stars, but the overall dish gets 4.25 stars out of 5. I will be using this cookbook again for sure!!

Ingredients:

1 stewing chicken (4-5 lbs) or 2 broiler-fryers (3 lbs each) *I used one frier cut up
1 small onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
2 ribs of celery with leaves, chopped
1 tsp. salt
4 T. butter or chicken fat
6 T. flour
1/8 tsp. paprika
1/2 c. light cream
white pepper to taste
Dumplings (recipe below)

Directions:
1. Simmer the chicken, onion, carrot, celery and salt in enough water to cover until the chicken is done (1 1/2 to 2 hours).

2. Remove the chicken from the broth. When it is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones and dice the chicken.

3. Strain the stoc and, if necessary, add enough water to make 1 quart.

4. Melt the butter or chicken fat in a heavy sauce pan. Stir in the flour mixed with paprika.

5. Add the chicken stock gradually, strirring constantly, cook for 2 minutes.

6. Add the chicken, cream and pepper and adjust the seasoning to taste.

7. Spoon the dumplings on top of the gently bubbling chicken mixture and cover. Cook for 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Serve at once.

Dumplings:
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1 T. shortening
3/4 c. milk

1. Sift the dry ingredients 3 times

2. Blend in the shortening with a pastry blender or fork

3. Add the milk and mix well

4. Dip a teaspoon in cold water and then into the dough. Spoon the dumplings on top of the gently bubbling chicken mixture and cover. Cook for 15 min. without lifting the lid. Serve at once.

It's Chili by George!

2009-02-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe online at allrecipes.com (I am loving that site!). I made this chili plus Colleen's Parmesan Chicken Wings for my husband and brother in law as they watched the Super Bowl (the wings were a 5 for sure this time-great recipe Colleen-thanks:). I am not a huge chili fan, it's usually too spicy for me or I don't like the taste or whatever. But this chili was really great. The reviews said it was a little "soupy", so I cooked mine (on the stove) for 3 hours with one of those being uncovered-it was perfect. It was a tad spicy (I am the biggest spice wimp of all time), but I put a little sour cream and some cheddar cheese on top and it cut that spice perfectly. My husband likes spicy food and it was good for him-so it really was the perfect balance of spice for both of us. I messed up and forgot to have my husband buy the tomato sauce, so I had one 15 oz can of tomato sauce already and I used another 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, I will do that again for sure-I liked the tomato chunks in it. Other than that I didn't change a thing-great recipe (we all gave this 4.5 out of 5 stars-not sure what I would change to make it a 5, but I would make it again for sure). This picture is from the original recipe since I forgot to take one of my individual bowl and the big pot didn't look as interesting.

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice
1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup chili powder

DIRECTIONS
Place ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, and crumble.
In a large pot over high heat combine the ground beef, tomato juice, tomato sauce, kidney beans, pinto beans, onions, bell pepper, cayenne pepper, sugar, oregano, ground black pepper, salt, cumin and chili powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours. (Note: If using a slow cooker, set on low, add ingredients, and cook for 8 to 10 hours.)

Seared Black Bean Chicken on Crisp Noodles

2009-01-31T18:50:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from a cookbook I have called Asian Noodles. I really need to make more of an effort to make Asian meals for the kids. They LOVE noodles and this meal was a huge hit. It was really good-the more I ate it the better it became-which is always a good thing. I would give this 4.5 stars out of 5. The only problem I had with this recipe is my noodles were a little over-done and didn't get crispy like they were supposed to-but I may have made too many noodles.

Ingredients:
Toasted Sesame Marinade - mix together
2 T. minced garlic
3 T. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breast

3/4 lb. thin noodles, cooked, rinsed, drained and tossed with 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil.

3 T. safflower or corn oil

Black Bean Seasoning-mix together
2 T. fermented (or salted) black beans, rinsed, drained and minced
2 T. minced garlic (my black beans had garlic-so I left this out)
1 1/2 T. minced fresh garlic
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
2 red onions-thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced

1/2 lb snow peas-strings removed

Cantonese Sauce-mix together
2 c. Chinese chicken broth (I used regular chicken broth)
5 T. soy sauce
1/4 c. Chinese rice wine or sake
1 1/2 T. sugar
2 1/2 tsp corn starch

Directions:
1. Combine the marinade and chicken in a medium bowl-toss to coat.

2. Preheat the broiler. Cook noodles per package directions, drain and toss with sesame oil. Spread the noodles on a baking sheet and broil for about 10 min. each side or until golden brown. Transfer to a heat proof serving platter and keep warm in a preheated 200 degree oven.

3. Heat a heavy skillet over med. high heat. Add 1 T. of the oile and heat until hot, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and cook for 6-7 min. on each side or until cooked thoroughly. Let cool slightly, then cut on the diagonal into thin slices.

4. Reheat the skillet over med-high heat. Add the remaining 2 T. oil and heat until hot, about 30 seconds. Add the black bean seasonings and stir fry for about 2 min until the onions and peppers are just tender

5. Add the snow peas and the Cantonese sauce and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Add the chicken and toss lightly to coat. Spoon over the noodles and serve.

Black Bean Brownies

2009-01-31T18:42:00.001-08:00

I posted about these already-but I made some improvements this time. The last time I made them I used a box of brownie mix and a can of pureed black beans. They were OK-but too dense and didn't have enough chocolate flavor. So this time I used a box of brownie mix, the pureed black beans, chocolate chips and cool whip (I also topped them with milk chocolate frosting-but they were good without that). I know I have added a lot of calories, but since I mainly wanted these for the kids I love that I have all that black bean fiber in these. I am sure you could use fat free cool whip too without losing much (if any) of the benefits. I don't think anyone would know these were not normal brownies unless you told them-they are GREAT-in fact they were so good I am giving them 5 out of 5 stars (since they are so good and still have black beans in them). I will be making these again-mainly for school lunches. They are not dense at all, they were smooth and creamy-exactly like they should be.

Ingredients:
1 box brownie mix
1 can black beans-pureed
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. cool whip
milk chocolate frosting (optional).

Puree black beans. Mix in brownie mix and chocolate chips. Fold in cool whip. Cook according to package directions. Top with frosting after brownies cooled if desired.

Bran Flax Muffins

2009-01-31T06:04:00.001-08:00

I found these on allrecipes.com. I wanted something healthy that still tasted good. These have a lot of brown sugar in them, so I don't know how "healthy" they are, but they also have a lot of fiber, so I think that balances it out a bit:) Jack has been having constipation, so however to get good foods into him without him knowing it I will do. I not only love all the bran/flax in them, but that they have 2 cups each of apples and carrots. This recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen smallish sized muffins-so you may want to cut it in half. They also don't rise hardly any-so I would fill the tins full next time (although they are actually kind of a good size being smaller for the kids). I left out the raisins and added 1 c. of trail mix instead. I will be making these again (I used Oat Bran and organic Flax seed cereal since I couldn't find the bran/flax by itself-I just ran it through the blender to get it smooth), next time I make them I will be adding more spice. I think more cinnamon and some nutmeg would be good...that was the only thing I found I would change. I will give these 4.25 stars out of 5 (no bran muffin will ever be a 5 for me....lol). Picture is from allrecipes.com post.

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup ground flax seed
3/4 cup oat bran
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup skim milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups shredded carrots
2 apples, peeled, shredded
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup chopped mixed nuts

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease muffin pan or line with paper muffin liners.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, flax seed, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the milk, eggs, vanilla and oil; mix until just blended. Stir in the carrots, apples, raisins and nuts. Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.
Bake at 350 F (175 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Beef Braised in Beer

2009-01-30T18:23:00.000-08:00

This was my first time braising meat and it was not very successful, but I think I am going to try it again for sure. I found this recipe in France the Beautiful cookbook. It calls for dark beer-I never cook with alcohol, but this one cooked for so long plus you cooked the alcohol off before you even put in the oven, so I felt OK with it. My problem was the pot I used I think-it must not have had a good enough seal because my liquid cooked almost all the way out. It left my meat dry (but I can tell if that hadn't happened it would have been perfect) plus because it cooked down so much (very close to burning-but luckily it didn't) it was too salty and I didn't like the flavor the dark beer left behind-way too strong for me. Next time I try this I will get a nice heavy roaster pan (I almost bought one with my Christmas money) and I won't use dark beer. I'm not sure if the beer helped break down the meat or not, if not I will probably just use a beef stock-if the beer does help break down the meat then maybe a light beer? Who knows, I am not done braising meat for sure, but this recipe only got 2.5 out of 5 stars -partly because the liquid cooked out, but I think even if it hadn't I wouldn't have liked the strong flavor of the beer.

Ingredients:
3 lb 10 oz beef suitable for braising ( round steak, brisket, neck or chuck steak (I used chuck steak)
salt and pepper
bouquet garni: 1 sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf, 6 sprigs parsley
1 slice whole grain country style bread
2 T. strong mustard
1 T. vegetable oil
1 oz butter
12 oz onions, thinly sliced
1 T. firmly packed brown sugar
2 T. red wine vinegar
16 fl oz. dark beer (it took 24 oz to cover my meat)

Directions:
Ask your butcher to cut the meat into slices 1/2 inch thick and 2-2.5 inches long to make rectangles (I did this myself). Season with salt and pepper. Tie together the herbs of the bouquet garni. Cut the crust from the bread and spread it with the mustard.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a non-stick 10 inch saute pan and quickly seal the slices of meat over high heat for 2 min each side. Set aside. Melt the butter in the saute pan. Add the onions and cook, stirring for 5 min or until golden brown. Ad the brown sugar and cook until the onions are lightly caramelized. Pour in the vinegar and evaporate it over high heat.

Arrange alt. layers of meat and onions in an oven proof 4 qt casserole dish, inserting the slice of bread and the bouquet garni in the middle. Pour the beer into the saute pan and heat it over high heat. Transfer it tot he casserole dish, adding more if necessary to just cover the meat. Cover and braise in the oven for 4 hours without disturbing.

Transfer the meat to a shallow dish and keep warm. Puree the bread, onions an cooking juices through the fine holes of a food mill or in a food processor to make a smooth sauce. Reheat the sauce over high heat, then pour over the meat. Serve immediately.

Ranch Style Chicken

2009-01-29T18:04:00.000-08:00

This recipe is great (but as you can see it's chicken topped in bacon and cheese, so how could you really go wrong...lol). This comes from the Pioneer Woman web site and I had to use her picture because I forgot to take one of my own. I would give this a 4.75 out of 5 stars (I would have liked a little more of the marinade flavor-and I marinated for 3 hours), other than that it was great. I think this chicken would be almost as good without the bacon and cheese and will probably make it like that in the future-I really liked the honey mustard marinade this was in.

Ingredients:
Boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. dijon mustard
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. paprika
bacon (I used 2 slices per chicken breast)
1/4 c. reserved bacon grease
shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Mix together honey, mustard, lemon juice and paprika for marinade. Pound chicken until uniform in thickness between 2 sheets of wax paper. Place marinade in ziplock bag with chicken. Refrigerate for 1-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fry bacon (not too crispy since it will also go in the oven). Pour 1/4 c. of reserved bacon grease into frying pan. Brown chicken on both sides in grease. Place chicken on cookie sheet and bake in oven for 10 minutes. Top with bacon and shredded cheese. Bake additional 5-10 min. until cheese is melted.

Steak Pizzaiola

2009-01-28T19:08:00.001-08:00

Coming soon....my 2.5 yr old son has pneumonia and I am just too tired to post this recipe tonight (but I did actually cook-so that was a miracle all in itself).

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits

2009-01-27T18:34:00.001-08:00

I had 2 different meals planned for tonight. The first was a Stroganoff meal (but it was made in the crock pot and time got away from me this morning) the second was a beef stew (made on the stove)....but when I went to make it my beef didn't look too hot (due to too many days not cooking last week), so I made a fritta instead. I have already posted the recipe here, so I won't talk much about that (it was good-a tad overcooked because I was fast forwarding Aladdin instead of watching the eggs under the broiler).

So now onto the biscuits. I LOVE Red Lobster-because I love the Cheddar Bay Biscuits (the food is OK, but the biscuits are amazing (IMO)). So I decided to try to find a recipe for them a few days ago. I found several and most were identical. The one I used was made on GMA, so I went with that one. Surprisingly they all use Bisquick mix-how weird is that? Anyway, I made them tonight and OMG-they are EXACTLY like Red Lobsters!!! And they are so easy to make. These get a HUGE 5 STARS!!! They really are that good.

Oh yea, I just got back from the grocery store, so there will be new recipes here this week:)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix
3/4 cup cold whole milk
4 tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese

Bush on Top

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch salt

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.

2. Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. You don't want to mix too thoroughly. There should be small chunks of butter in there that are about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

3. Drop approximately 1/4-cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

5. When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter is a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Use up all of the butter.

Makes one dozen biscuits.

No cooking for me tonight

2009-01-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

I was at the pediatricians office with a sick kid during dinner time tonight. Hopefully I will post something tomorrow. I have some good stuff planned for the week-now I just need to find the time to get to the grocery store. I had activities planned everyday this week and a croupy kid with a fever wasn't on my "To Do" list. I can't remember what exactly I picked out, but I do remeber a few of them sounded really good....we shall see:) The good news about my baby being sick is I think the medication will increase his appetite (steriods) and maybe he will eat enough to gain a few pounds before his regularily scheduled visit to his doctor on Thursday-if not the doctor is going to have a fit to learn he only weighs 25.7 lbs!!

Corned Beef-Crock Pot Style

2009-01-25T18:18:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my friend Shannon last weekend and she was making a corned beef roast (?) in the crock pot. I thought I would give it a try since I've never made one, but I was unsure if I liked corned beef (something about the flavor that I thought was off putting to me). She makes hers with apple juice, brown sugar and dijon mustard and said hers was great. I made mine using her recipe, but I put potatoes and onions in the bottom of the crock pot. I was worried about the sweet apple juice mixture with the potatoes, but it was OK. For once I cooked the meat correctly (the potatoes were a tad too hard again, I am going to have to start cutting them in small cubes instead of quartering my potatoes) but I was right....I just don't care for corned beef. As soon as I had one bite I realized I wasn't going to like it, but since I had hardly eaten all day I did eat it (and not make something else like I have done before). I do think if you actually like corned beef this would be a good recipe. Mike liked it, Amelia ate it (after about an hour) and Jack only ate one bite. In all fairness they had eating birthday cake 2 hours before, but Amelia is usually a huge meat eater. So sorry Shannon-I didn't like this one and am only giving it a 3 out of 5 stars-not because of the recipe but because I didn't like it. I am approx. the measurments on these ingredients.

Ingredients:
Corned beef roast
5 c. apple juice (enough to cover roast)
1/2-3/4 c. brown sugar
3-4 T. dijon mustard

Rise meat and cut fat layer off bottom of roast. Whisk together all ingredients. Place meat in crock pot and pour liquid ingredients over top. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours.

Ham Fried Rice

2009-01-24T18:19:00.001-08:00

This recipe is from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade cookbook. I have made this 3x since I started cooking and it's a good recipe. I personally don't like instant rice, so I make mine with sticky rice. I just make my rice like normal (using chicken stock) and add the szechuan sauce into the stock so it cooks into the rice. Then I cook it as directed. I would give this a 4 out of 5 stars, it's not the best thing ever, but it's fast, easy and taste good.

Ingredients:
2 c. instant rice
2 c. chicken broth
1 tsp. Szechuan seasoning (I have a paste, not powder)
2 T. canola oil
2 1/2 c. frozen mixed vegetables
2 cans (or 1 1/2 c) chunked ham
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 eggs-lightly beaten
1 T. soy sauce
3 scallions- thinly sliced

Directions:

Combine uncooked rice, chicken broth and Szechuan seasoning in a pan. Bring to a boil. Cover, remove from heat and let stand for 5-7 min. Fluff with a fork.

In a large skillet heat oil over med-high heat. Add rice, vegetables and ham, stir-fry 3-5 min. Make well in center of rice mixture. Pour sesame oil into well. Heat through. Add eggs and scramble with rice mixture. Add soy sauce and garnish with green onion.

Burgers and Fries

2009-01-23T18:27:00.000-08:00

My plan was to make Ham Fried Rice tonight (I have made it 2 other times and it's good), but I just wasn't into cooking today. So I called Mike and had him bring home B-King instead. It was a nice change of pace, but I do feel bad about not cooking. I am still really new to cooking on a regular basis, so I don't want to fall back into my old bad habits. I will be cooking tomorrow for sure!! Oh yea, the cinnamon rolls were good today-but not nearly as good as last night:(

Oh yea, I have been thinking-all the sites I really love looking at have pictures....so no matter how stupid I feel photographing my food (and trust me, I feel VERY stupid) I am going to make an effort....but not tonight-you all know what B-King looks like I'm sure

Barefoot Bloggers-Easy Sticky Buns

2009-01-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

These are part of my Barefoot Bloggers challenge-check out the site if you want to join in because OMG-THESE ARE FREAKEN AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I was going to make them for breakfast, but it was a school day for Amelia and I just don't get up early enough to bake anything, but the rules say I need to post about them today-so I made them tonight. I ate 2 and Mike ate 3 of these things. Take it from a fat girl-these things are addictive and fantastic!! They have a lot of butter in them, which is at first a bit off putting, but it takes about a second and a half to realize how amazing these are and if I had made them this morning I guarantee they would be gone by tonight (hence the fat girl part of my life:) Try these, seriously. They are easy as anything and so good.

Oh yea, if any of the topping stays in the muffin tin when you flip them over don't scoop it out. I had that happen on 2 or 3 of mine and for some reason it became almost like brittle sitting on top-too hard and chewy. The others were perfect though. I have to give these a a BIG 5 out 5 stars. Shannon-too bad you don't like sweets...I feel for you on this one:)

Melissa of Made by Melissa

has chosen Easy Sticky Buns

from Back to Basics, page 240

Makes 12
We used to make really delicious sticky buns at Barefoot Contessa, but they took two days to make because the yeast dough needed to rise overnight in the refrigerator. I was dying to find a way to make them easier, so I decided to try baking them with Pepperidge Farm puff pastry dough, instead. OMG are they good … and they’re really easy to make! Light, flaky dough filled with brown sugar, toasted pecans, and sweet raisins — my friends go crazy when I make these.

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted for the filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.

Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.

Beef and Vegetables with Oyster Sauce

2009-01-22T18:11:00.000-08:00

This is from a cookbook I own called Better Homes and Gardens-Oriental Cooking. This meal was good (if you ask any of us except Jack-who refused to eat any of it and spit the one bite I did get in his mouth onto the floor for the dog). I would give this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars (I am making this short so I can get to the Barefoot Contessa post). I made this as directed except I left out the Bok Choy (because I don't like green leafy stuff that has been cooked) and I added 1-2 T of brown sugar-just because I thought it should be a bit sweet (but that is just me). It was very good. I mixed this in with rice and just served it all together (hoping the kids wouldn't notice all the peas-didn't work at all:)

Ingredients:
1 lb beef top round steak
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. corn starch
1/4 c. oyster sauce
2 T. dry sherry
1 clove garlic, minced
1 c. celery bias-sliced into 1/2 inch lengths
1 (10 oz) package frozen peas-thawed
3 c. bok choy-chopped

Directions:
Partially freeze beef: slice very thinly across the grain into bite-size strips. Blend soy sauce into cornstarch; stir in oyster sauce and dry sherry. Set aside

Preheat wok or large skillet over high heat; add oil. Stir-fry garlic in hot oil for 30 seconds. Add celery; stir-fry 1 min. Add peas; stir fry 1 minute. Remove celery and peas. Add bok choy; stir-fry 1 minute. Remove bok choy. (Add more oil if necessary). Add half the beef to hot wok or skillet; stir fry 2-3 min or until browned. Remove beef. Stir-fry remaining beef 2-3 min. Return all meat to pan. Stir oyster sauce mix-stir into beef. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Stir in vegetables; cover and cook 2 min. Serve at once.

Brownies

2009-01-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is going to sound DISGUSTING, but I promise it was not. I learned this one from a friend of mine and supposedly it's a Weight Watchers thing. I like this because it gets protein and fiber into my kids and they think they are getting a brownie. I didn't think they had enough chocolate taste, so next time I may add chocolate chips or a chocolate frosting, but the kids liked them as is and didn't notice anything at all different in them. So here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 box brownie mix
1 can black beans (with liquid)

Directions:

Puree black bean/liquid mixture. Pour brownie mix into a bowl and add black bean mixture. Mix until smooth. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake per directions on the brownie box (mine was 350 degrees for 35 min).

That's it, you don't have to add anything but the black beans...they are moist and taste good. I would give these a 4 out of 5 stars and I will make them again

Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

2009-01-21T17:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, this one is GOOOOOD!!! 5 out of 5 stars for sure!!! It was also pretty easy to make. I found this in my France the Beautiful cookbook. I paired this with half Yukon Gold and Half baking potatoes (perfect!!). It has this fantastic sauce that goes over the chicken/potatoes-AMAZING. Make this one!! Oh yea, it calls for calvados (a French apple brandy) and I substituted apple juice instead. It only calls for 2T of the brandy and I read online it costs $60/bottle-apple juice worked just fine for us. Go make this one-really and truly (OK, have I hyped it enough for you)? I hate taking pictures of my food-so hope that doesn't bother anyone-if it does tell me and I can do it. IT's just a pain to take the pictures off the camera for one food picture plus I feel stupid photographing my food.

*for the last step where you reduce the cooking juices, I mashed up all the apple pieces until they were completely incorporated into the juices-then I followed all other directions exactly

Ingredients:
1 chicken-about 3 lbs cut into 8 serving pieces (I used boneless/skinless thighs)
salt and pepper
1 tart apple (I used Granny Smith)
1 T. vegetable oil (I left this out-only used the butter)
2 oz butter (half a stick)
2 T. calvados (can sub. with apple juice or cider per internet)
1 T. water
1 lb mushrooms
2/3 c. heavy cream or creme fraiche

Directions:
1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Peel and core the apple and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2. Heat the oil in a non-stick 10 inch saute pan. Add half the butter and, as soon as it's melted, lightly brown the chicken pieces on all sides, turning them with a wooden spoon. Add the apple, mix for 1 min. Pour in the calvados and ignite, shaking the pan gently until flames subside. Stir in the water, cover and cook over very low heat for 45 min.

3. Meanwhile, trim the mushrooms, rinse and pat dry. Slice thinly. Melt the remaining butter in a non-stick 10 inch skillet and cook the mushrooms over high heat until they are golden and give out no more liquid.

4. Remove the cooked chicken pieces from the pan and keep warm on a platter. Boil the cooking liquid until reduced to a syrupy consistency. Add the cream and boil over high heat for about 2 min, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sauce is thick and smooth. Add the mushrooms and stir for 1 min. Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces and serve immediately.

BBQ Chicken

2009-01-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from my cookbook Dining with Pioneers. It's one of those that a bunch of people (probably from a church) got together and submitted recipes. I tell you that because this recipe has a few flaws (but they are pretty easy to figure out). The most glaring is-chicken is not on the ingredient list, but I was pretty confident it was needed for BBQ CHICKEN....lol. I used boneless thighs-I only made enough for tonight dinner and this recipe is definately designed for more chicken than 5 thighs, but it still worked. The other thing is it says to add paprika to the chicken after you pour the sauce over it, but again-Paprika is not on the ingredient list. It was pretty good-too vinegary for me though but Mike liked it and both kids ate it no problem at all-so it's a keeper. I didn't add Tobasco to mine since I don't like anything spicy (that may have helped cut the vinegar taste) and next time I will try using brown sugar, I think that would have been way better. Other than that (and cutting the recipe in half), I wouldn't make any other changes. Oh yea, one more....it says to cook for 1 1/2 hours, but I only cooked mine for one hour since I didn't have a big batch of chicken to cook. I would give these 4 out of 5 stars.

Ingredients:
1/3 c. ketchup
1/3 c. vinegar
1/3 c. worcestershire
1 T. lemon juice
2 T margarine (I used melted butter)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 T. sugar
1/4 tsp. Tobasco
1 c. water
2 T. minced onion

Pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, turn 1/2 way through.

Couscous with 7 Vegetables

2009-01-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

I really liked this dish, the kids ate it but only with a bribe of M&M's at the end and Mike thought it was "OK". I loved all the vegetables-but it does take FOREVER to make. I made mine with beef instead of lamb because we couldn't find the kind of lamb they suggested. Next time I would used canned chick peas also-the dried ones took HOURS/DAYS to cook-but they were good once they were finally cooked. I would give this a solid 4 out of 5 stars. Oh yea, I got this out of my Mediterian cookbook-it's a gorgous picture book that tells about the region and has all kinds of recipes in it (I also have China, France, Italy and Tuscany-so stay tuned for some recipes from those in the coming weeks). I thought this tasted pretty authentic-but what do I know, I live in Nashville TN....LOL

Oh yea, I cut all my veggies into small cubes except my carrots with I cut with a mandolin on the "thick" setting. I would also used canned crushed tomatoes next time-I think it would have been better and I have no idea what a pumpkin squash is so I used a butternut squash instead (that thing was murder to cut/peel, but I wish I had taken the time to do the whole thing because it was my favorite vegetable in this dish). I will also add the recipe for harissa at the end. I HIGHLY recommend making this-it made the meal IMO. I only made a tiny bit and guessed at the amounts but I think I was pretty close. It was great-I only used a little (mixed with the stock) but then I love cumin and it was very heavy on that spice. I did not have carraway seeds-so I don't know if it would have been better with them.

I also left the raisins out of mine since I don't like them

Ingredients:
1 c. dried chick peas (garbanzo beans)
2 lbs boneless lamb shoulder or neck, cut into 2 inch cubes
2 large onions, chopped
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. safron threads, crushed
6 T. unsalted butter
water or lamb stock to cover (I used beef stock)
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
1 lb. turnips, peeled and quartered
1 piece pumpkin squash (about 1 lb) peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
1 lb zuchini, cut into 2 inch lengths
3 tomatoes-peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 c. raisins
cous cous made with water or part stock and seasoned with ginger and a little olive oil or butter
1-2 T. harissa (see recipe that follows)

Directions:

1. Place the chick peas in a bowl and add water to cover generously. Refrigerate overnight. Drain well (I recommend either canned or cooking these all on their own since mine cooked for at least 8-10 hours before they were fully done)

2. Transfer the beans to a saucepan and ad water to cover by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until tender, 1 hour or longer. Drain and let cool

3. In a large heavy pot, combine the lamb, onions, salt, pepper, ginger, saffron and butter. Turn the ingredients in the butter. Then add water or stock to cover by 1-2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add the cooked chick-peas, and all the vegetables except the zucchini, re-cover and cook for 20-30 min logner. Finally add the zucchini and raisins and cook until all vegetables and meat are tender, about 20 min longer

4. Pile the couscous on a warmed platter. Using a slotted spoon, lift the meat and vegetables from the pan juices and arrance them around the couscous. Alternatively, make a well in the center of the couscous and spoon the vegetable/meat mixutre into it. Adjust the seasoning of the pan juices and spoon some of the juices over the meat/vegetable mixture.

5. In a small bowl whisk together the harissa and 1 c. of the pan juices. Serve on the side.

Harissa:
1 1/2 T cayenne
1/4 c. ground cummin
1/2 c. olive oil

combine above ingredients in a mortar and grind with a pestle until a paste forms. Add a little salt to taste and upto 2 tsp. carraway.

**I used 2T. olive oil and adjusted my ingredients accordingly.

Stuffed Tomato

2009-01-19T06:04:00.000-08:00

I didn't post a new recipe last night because I was having a girls day out-YEAH!! I went out to lunch with friend and then got my hair cut (super short-not sure I like how long she left the front of it) and then to see a movie-Last Chance Harvey (not as good as I thought it would be). But I did have the most amazing stuffed tomato from Rafferty's last night. It had corn, broccoli, spices (not sure which ones), bread crumbs and maybe parm. cheese in it. IT was fantastic. I will have to try it at home.

Hungarian Chicken-with changes

2009-01-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

I made the changes to the Hungarian Chicken recipe I talked about last post. The only thing I did differently is I used less oil to brown the chicken, so after the onions were browned there wasn't any excess oil to drain off. I also used boneless chicken thighs and a can (14 oz I think) of chicken broth. I added 1 c. like the recipe says, but it went dry so I went ahead and added the rest of the can. It was the perfect amount. I was able to strain the onion mixture and added the sour cream and it was beautiful (not the goopy mess like last time). I also made mashed potatoes (1/2 baking potatoes and 1/2 Yukon Gold). I am going to do that from now on since my Yukon Gold potatoes end up kind of gluey in texture and I think the baking potatoes are pretty tasteless. I also learned from a cooking show that you should add hot heavy cream (I usually add cold) and cold butter. I may try light cream though just to see if it's still better than milk but cut down on some of the fat/calories. I made biscuits again (which I didn't really need both, but I had originally decided to just make the biscuits and then changed my mind). They were the JP recipe I posted and just as good as last time. This was 5 out of 5 star MEAL (oh yea, we also had canned corn). Both kids ate a ton and it was great. No recipe to post since I already posted everything. I will be making this again for sure.

change of plan

2009-01-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

So the plan was to make cous cous with 7 vegetables tonight. It calls for lamb (shank or neck) and Mike couldn't find that in the grocery store. Even though I told him it wasn't calling for ground lamb and go ahead and sub. beef-he brought home GROUND beef. I was going to use it anyway, until I looked at the recipe today. First I cooked the crap out of some chick peas and they are still on the crunchy side. Then the recipe says to cook several of the veggies and lamb together for one hour. I just didn't think the flavors would work with ground beef and certainly not to cook it all together....although now that I think about it maybe I could cut the veggies really small and cook them with the beef and kind of have it all blend together (for my kids sake). Anyway, I used the beef for spaghetti instead and I will get some lamb or other cubed meat to use. I think this is going to be a good one (although it takes HOURS and HOURS to cook) but if I am going to all that trouble I want it to at least have a chance of being right.

On a good note, the spaghetti was a messy old hit (I used egg noodles since they are easier for both kids to eat).

J.P.'s Big Daddy Biscuits

2009-01-15T16:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, I got these off of allrecipes.com and I figured with a 4 1/2 star rating and over 1,000 ratings this was a good recipe. I was not wrong on this one. This is going to be my biscuit recipe I use from now on. They were good (not as good as Lovelace Cafe, but I can't find anyone who has been able to duplicate their recipe and they aren't giving it out). I am giving these 4.75 stars out of 5 (only about 1/2 of mine rose like they were supposed to) because they were the highlight of my disasterous pot roast dinner. I am going to have to learn how to make sausage gravy now so I can have biscuits and gravy someday. Try these, you won't regret it. The only thing I changed was making my milk into buttermilk (I couldn't really tell a huge difference, so it may not have worked) by putting 1 tsp of vinegar in my milk (I read that in the comment section).

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown

Pot Roast Again-I give up!!

2009-01-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

I tried Colleen's pot roast recipe today and it was not a good experience once again. IT had nothing to do with the recipe, I am just crock pot challenged I think. THe roast was a little too rare for us (I cooked it to the temp suggested by the crock pot), the potatoes weren't done and the carrots were still hard. I just can't do it and I give up. I will try other (hopefully successful) things in the crock pot and leave the roasts to other people. I have to give this one a 3 stars out of 5 ONLY because of my cooking skills though. I can tell (if you knew how to cook with a crock pot (and you have no idea how stupid I feel that I can't get this right) this would have been a really great recipe-so Shannon try this out and let me know how great it was so I won't feel so bad that Colleen shared a recipe with me and I gave it a 3!!!

Crockpot Potroast

2-4 potatoes, chunked
1 onion, chopped
1 cup carrot chunks
2-3 lb. chuck roast
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/t tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 pkg. crockpot beef seasoning (found in the seasoning isle)

1. Place potatoes, onions and carrots in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Sear beef in olive oil on all sides, then place on top of vegetables.
3. Sprinkle with seasonings

Hungarian Chicken

2009-01-14T18:16:00.001-08:00

This recipe is from a cookbook I own called Dining with Pioneers that Mike's grandma gave me a long time ago. It had great flavor, but was so messy to eat-there are several things I would change. I would give this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Ingredients:
1 broiler-fryer chicken cut in pieces
1 1/2 T paprika
1/8 tsp pepper
1 c. chicken broth
2 T oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. sliced onion
1/2 c. sour cream

Directions:
Dredge chicken in flour. Cook in oil over med temp. approx 10 min. Sprinkle on salt/pepper and paprika (until coated with paprika). Remove chicken from pan. Add onion to pan-cook 3 min. Return chicken to pan, add broth. Simmer approx 30 min (or until chicken cooked through). Strain liquid into saucepan and boil over high heat for 3 min. Reduce heat and add sour cream. Pour sauce over chicken.

**First I made this in 2 pans since I had so much chicken. I added my s/p to the flour mixture and then just sprinkled the paprika over the chicken (instead of measuring it) until it was coated (after it had cooked for 10 min). I also grated my onions since my daughter won't eat anything if she thinks onions are in it. I added my chicken broth to the onion mixture and then added the chicken (I was afraid of sitting the onion on top of the onions and then having the onion burn). I also covered my pans for about 10 min during cooking since I was afraid they wouldn't cook evenly-I don't think it was needed though. I also strained my drippings but it all looked like grease, so I added the sour cream to the onion mixture left in the pan instead of the drippings. IT did not look good, but man it tasted great. I served it over rice.

Next time I will use boneless chicken breast since this was so messy to eat. I will also drain the grease off after the onions have sauteed since this probably led to my grease during that last step. Other than that I wouldn't change anything-it was really good (both kids ate it-without the sauce).

I also found this recipe for biscuits that had sour cream and paprika in them....I thought out perfect since those were the main ingredients in my chicken. Well, not so much. They also had toasted sesame seeds in them and the taste of all those ingredients together was just nasty (shocking I know). I have no idea what I was thinking on that one....lol. I will not even bother posting the recipe it was horrible.

I don't have any pictures of this meal since it was beyond ugly and would not have inspired anyone to try it, but trust me when I say it had really great flavor. I feed the kids before Mike gets home, so I told him to put the sauce over the chicken. He said "this stuff in the pan-are you sure?" But once he tried it he said it was really great. I am actually excited to try it again with boneless chicken-it will be a 5 for sure.

Frittata

2009-01-13T20:16:00.001-08:00

I have never made a Frittata before, but I saw a recipe for it in a cooking utensil magazine that came to the house and then the chef I like on the Food Network (Anne Barrella or something like that) did one on her show. In case you are like me and don't really know what a Frittata is, it's like an omelet that you finish off in the oven so you don't have to flip it. The show I watched on t.v. had you bake it, but my magazine recipe said to put it under the broiler "until the eggs are set and the cheese is melted". That was a little vague for me, but I made it work. I used sausage, cheese and eggs in mine and I give it a 5 out of 5 stars without hesitation. In fact I seriously doubt I will ever make scrambled eggs again and I KNOW I will never make an omelet again, I will always use this recipe....it was that good. I HATE runny eggs, it's just a thing with me so I always cook my scambled eggs too long. I also suck at flipping omelets and half the time (or more) they end up into scrambled eggs when I botched the flip. Now these eggs tonight were light, fluffy and juicy but not in a raw egg kind of way. They were just amazing and not dry at all. One thing I did was whip the eggs with small whisk until absolutely none of the white was present anymore (you know how you can still sometimes see that clear part in the egg and then when you cook it the white really stands out). I am a lazy egg beater I admit and do a half hearted job most times. But I remembered the Anne saying to make sure NONE of that white was left anymore. I think that was why my eggs were so fluffy-I have tried this before using a fork and never got the light texture I had always heard about. You HAVE to try this one.

Ingredients:

1/2 package Jimmy Dean sausage (in the tube, not the patties)
1/2 onion-shredded (I do this so Amelia won't know there are onions in my food-I just use a small rasp or like today a cheese grater)
10 eggs (this made enough for all 4 of us-my kids are big egg eaters)
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (I only had the cubed kind-so I just cut into quarters)

Directions:
Brown sausage and drain off any excess grease. Add onions and saute approx 2-3 min. Whip eggs until no whites remain and add to sausage/onion mixture. Add cheese and mix. Let eggs set slightly on bottom of pan and pull to center 1-2 times. When bottom of eggs have set (but eggs are still runny) put pan under broiler until eggs are set and cheese is melted.

I think my eggs were under the broiler for about 5-7 min-but this is only a guess.

That's it, they were SO EASY and tasted so good. Sorry about the approx directions, I just made it like normal scrambled eggs but finished the cooking under the broiler.

Pot Roast Revisited

2009-01-13T13:33:00.001-08:00

I tried the same pot roast that I ruined the other day. I set the temp. probe to 145 degrees and cooked it on low. The roast was small-only a little over 2 lbs and I had Mike get a chuck roast. I actually thought it looked like a good roast before it was cooked, but it is horrible. It cooked in 3 hours!!! and it's full of yucky grissle (sp?). I have a Martha Stewart cookbook that talks about the cuts of meat, I will have to check out that section and figure out how to choose a good piece of meat. Anyway, I love the crock pot but hate the roast I made today....oh well.

Cannelloni with Poultry Filling

2009-01-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is a GOOD one-I will give it 4.5 out of 5 stars and with the changes I plan to make next time (after the recipe I will post what I changed this time and what I will change next time) it will be a 5 for sure. Jack ate THREE of these things-and they are good sized. This is from a cookbook I have called Oven Baked in the pasta dishes section.

Ingredients:
1 clove garlic
2 onions
1 sprig rosemary
3 leaves sage
2 cans (14 oz) tomatoes
4 T. olive oil-divided
salt/pepper
1 pinch sugar
2 T. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
10 oz mushrooms
14 oz turkey breast escalopes
1 T dried thyme
4 1/2 oz mozzarella
20 cannelloni

Directions:

1. Peel and chop the garlic and one onion. Wash the rosemary and sage and pat dry. Remove the rosemary leaves and chop finely with the sage. Drain the canned tomatoes, reserving the juice and roughly chop.

2. Heat 2 T oil in pan. Fry the onion, garlic and herbs. Add the chopped tomatoes and juice. Cook for about 15 min. Season to taste with S/P and sugar.

3. For the bechamelsauce melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and stir. Add the milk little by little stirring continuously and bring to a boil. Stir in the Parmesan. Season with salt to taste and remove from the stove.

4. Peel the remaining onion and chop finely. Clean the mushrooms with a kitchen paper and cut into small pieces. Dice the meat into 3/16 inch cubes. Heat the remaining oil in a pan and brown the meat. Add the onion and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 min. Season to taste with the salt/pepper and thyme. Cut the mozzarella into small pieces and stir in.

5. Pour the tomato sauce into a greased casserole dish. Fill the cannelloni with the meat and mushroom mixture, using a teaspoon or forcing bag without a tip. Lay the filled cannelloni on the tomato sauce. pour the bechamel sauces over all

6. Cook for abut 40 min in the middle shelf in preheated 400 degree oven.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My changes: first let me say when a recipe starts out saying "Although it takes some time to prepare...." believe them!! This took about 45-60 min to do all of the prep work-but trust me when I say they are right-it is worth it.

So I used crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning (instead of the sage and rosemary) and ground beef. I also put my mozzarella on top only because I didn't see it in the directions. The picture in the book also shows red sauce on top of the cannelloni (I used manicotti because that's what was in the store) so I did that also. The box of manicotti also said to cook it for 7 min then strain it and rinse in cold water-so I did that even though it wasn't part of the directions.

Next time: I will double the red sauce mixture (it was a little dry) and add some of it to my meat mixture in the middle. I also only used one onion-because 2 seemed like overkill, but I think it could have handled it surprisingly. I will also keep the mozzarella on the top, but cover it with foil so it doesn't brown so much. I would add just a little red sauce to the meat, then enough red sauce to cover the bottom of the pan, then the rest over the top and then put the white sauce over that topped with the cheese. Oh yea, make sure you completely cover the pasta shells, I did but there were a few places they got a little hard.

With the red sauce in the meat mixture and then more on top this would have been a 5 for sure. It is really good and well worth the effort!!!

Parmesan Chicken Wings

2009-01-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

These were very good (they came from my friend Colleen). Amelia gave them the stamp of approval by saying I could make them again:). Next time I will cook them for 45 min instead of an hour (they were a little dry) and I will put them on my silicone mat because they stuck to the tin foil (so no picture-they tasted good but weren't very pretty after I got done prying them off the foil:) I am going on memory for the recipe-so let me know if I left anything out Colleen. I would give these a 4.5 out of 5 stars (next time they will probably be a 5). I will also measure my garlic salt since I did think they could have used salt, but it could be I didn't add quite enough garlic salt.

1 bottle parmesan cheese
1 stick of butter-melted
1 tsp garlic salt
Wings (as many as you want)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in microwave. Mix together cheese and garlic salt in dish or bag (whatever you choose). Dip wings in butter then drege in cheese mixture. Place on greased pan and bake for 45 min to one hour.

**I updated the ingredients per Colleen's comment**-I was able to make a whole large pan of them with 2T of butter no problem. I bet I didn't put in enough garlic salt since I thought it was 1/2 tsp:)

Crock Pot Chicken

2009-01-10T16:06:00.000-08:00

I had 4 chicken breasts (with the bone) in the fridge. I was supposed to make an oven baked recipe, but it was almost identical to the one we had last night. So instead I put them in the new crock pot with the same cream of mushroom soup/onion soup mix I used for the roast the other day. I used the temp probe and set it at 165 degrees on low heat. It was super cool because it would flip between the 165 and the actual temp of the food (so I could tell when I was getting close and could make my noodles). It cooked my chicken to perfection! It wasn't dry at all-which I hate about chicken breast. I didn't think my cream of mushroom soup added enough flavor to the meal though-so that wasn't great. I won't make this again (I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5 (due to lack of flavor)) but I can tell I am going to love the crock pot (I am trying roast 2 different ways next week).

I am brancing out next week too....so stay tuned for some more creative recipes:)

A note on my "stars" ratings

2009-01-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

One of my friends (Hi Shannon) told me my rating system was confusing. So here is what is going on in my mind when I give something a rank. She said I don't give any (or not many) 5's. That's because to me a 5 is like an A+....there aren't many of them and when you get one it's exciting. To give something a 5 it would have to be REALLY good for me and something I kind of crave (like the cinnabon recipe I posted about). I would have had to think it was the best thing ever while eating it and no way could it be improved. So here is how the stars break down in my head....

5= A+
4.5= A- to A (very good, just not perfect)
4.0= B to B+ (good, but there is something I would change about it to make it better)
.
---------anything above this line I will make again for sure-it's worth keeping------
.
3.5= C to C+ (OK but needs a lot of improvement before I would make it again)
3.0= C- (it would be doubtful I would even bother with this again)

anything below a 3.0 was bad for one reason or another (could just be like the curry recipe and stunk up my house and I would never touch it again). These are pretty much crappy meals that I was really disappointed in and it wasn't worth the effort to cook

Ok, so there you have it. If it's a 4 or above I would recommend you trying it if it looks like a good recipe. If it's below that make at your own risk and if you hate something I liked-then feel free to rank it however you want:)

Shannon-I looked back and I gave 5 stars to the scones, sweet and sour chicken, glaze for the ham (ham almost got it too), Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls, fudge and baked pasta with chicken sausage (and even though I didn't rank my frosted sugar cookies- I would give these a 5 also). So there have been a few 5's on the blog so far:)

Best Ever Chicken

2009-01-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

I did not name this chicken-the author of the recipe over on allrecipes.com did. It was a good chicken, but I wouldn't say "best ever". I read the reviews and did as a few suggested and added Ranch dressing mix to my cornflake mixture. I also crushed my cornflakes, but next time I would grind them I think-they were a little too crunch for me. But the flavor of this was very good. I would give them a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I also made Yukon Gold mashed potatoes with the left over gravy from the potroast night, green beans and my first ever home-made biscuits. I got that recipe from the back of the baking powder container. I am sure it was wrong though since it told me to add 1c of milk which made it really runny. I know you are supposed to try not to handle your biscuit dough and not add a bunch of flour while you are rolling it out, but that was impossible with this recipe. They were ok, but didn't have much flavor. I am glad I finally tried some though. Overall this was a good meal. Oh yea, I cut my recipe in half and only made 3 chicken breasts.

Ingredients:
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 cups sour cream
2 cups crushed cornflakes cereal
1 teaspoon Italian-style seasoning
6 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Rinse and trim the chicken breasts. Pat dry. Generously coat both sides of each breast with sour cream. Put crushed cornflake crumbs in a shallow plate or bowl and season to taste (I use onion salt and garlic salt). Dip the sour cream coated chicken in the seasoned cornflake crumbs.
Place coated chicken in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with melted butter/margarine and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour

Crock Pot

2009-01-08T18:59:00.001-08:00

I am the proud new owner of this crockpot. Notice the temperature probe that can be inserted into your roast....hopefully my days of shoe leather pot roast are long gone. I felt kind of bad buying a new crockpot when I already own one (that is nice), but I am not convinced it's not cooking too hot....even if it's not I love the idea of setting the crockpot to cook to a specific temp. I figure if I'm going to actually cook then it's OK to spend the money on something I may not NEED but did want (plus I will use it a lot, not like some other things I could have bought).

Semi-Homemade Meatballs

2009-01-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

This recipe was on Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade show one day and we made it today (so easy even my husband could do it-he does not cook at all but made these while I was out). They were better than expected (I haven't been thrilled with the food I've made from her cookbook). Jack LOVED these things and I had to cut him off at 10 or 12. They are sweet, but with a touch of spice (I sub'ed paprika for red pepper flakes since the kids don't like spicy food) I would have made them again anyway, but now I will have to since Jack was so crazy about them-he is my non-meat eating kid-so this was huge for him. I would give these 4 stars out of 5-they were a little greasy.

Orange Marmalade Meatballs-Crockpot meal

1 package frozen meatballs (I thawed them in the fridge)
1 c. orange marmalade
1 bottle Catalina dressing
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Add all ingredients to crock put and stir. Cook on high for 3 hours. Serve over rice or noodles.

Banana Sourcream Pancakes ala Barefoot Contessa

2009-01-08T18:18:00.000-08:00

I joined this group called the Barefoot Bloggers, each month 2 people from the group each get to pick a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa (Internet or cookbook) and then the rest of us have to cook it and post about it. This was my first time participating and (http://somethingsweetbykaren.wordpress.com/) chose Banana Sour cream Pancakes. First let me say I use Bisquick to make my pancakes and while they aren't the best, they are passable (and my kids love them). My favorite pancakes of all time are Cracker Barrel's pecan pancakes-so I am not a connoisseur of pancakes by any stretch of the imagination. My kids really liked these ones I made today-but they are pancake fiends too, so I wasn't surprised. MY husband and I thought they were OK, not bad but not anything great or wonderful either (certainly no Cracker Barrel competition). I liked how the banana's were cut up and sprinkled on the batter-I usually mash mine and mix them in. I did think getting a bite with the banana in it was good-so I will steal that for the future-otherwise I probably won't be making this again. I do think if the batter hadn't been so thick they may have been a little better (I also liked how the edges were crispy from the butter). I will give these a 3.5 out of 5 stars. They weren't that much better than Bisquick IMO-don't shoot me please:)

Sorry for the out of focus picture:)
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
2 extra-large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Unsalted butter
2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving
Pure maple syrup

Directions
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas, butter and maple syrup.

Chicken Wellington Casserole

2009-01-07T21:55:00.000-08:00

I found this on allrecipies.com and it's good. I think the recipe calls for you to put in a casserole dish and top it with the dough (I could be wrong-I read the actual recipe a while ago and then wrote down the way I wanted to try it on a recipe card and used that to cook dinner with). I made mine into 4 individual pockets and I added bacon to mine (everything is better with bacon right)? I cooked my bacon first, then just chopped it up and then layered the shredded chicken/cream cheese mixture/bacon on top of the crescent dough and sealed it up into a pocket. It was very good....I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5. It wasn't the best thing I have ever made, but I gave it so high of a mark because it was very good and there was nothing I would change about it. I would make this again for sure.

(picture from allrecipes.com)

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons butter or margarine
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
1 (4 ounce) package refrigerated crescent rolls

DIRECTIONS
In a skillet, cook chicken in butter 3-4 minutes on each side. Place chicken in a greased 3-cup baking dish. In a bowl, combine cream cheese, mushrooms, onion, salt and pepper. Spoon over chicken. Unroll dough into one long rectangle; seal seams and perforations. If necessary, trim dough to fit top of dish and patch together by overlapping edges. Pinch edges to seal. Place over filling. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wontons

2009-01-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe at Picky Palate . I just happened to have wonton wrappers left over from my fruit cups and decided to try them out. Now I didn't have everything she used so I had to improvise. Mine were really good though and the kids both ate them. I didn't use a dipping sauce since my kids will dip and then not eat it, but I bet these would have been good with the ranch dressing or I was thinking a warm marinara with parm. cheese. Here is what I put in mine (canned chicken, ranch dressing, thousand island dressing (because I hardly had any ranch dressing left), 1 green onion, 1/2 tomato, cilantro, dried minced onion, garlic salt, dry mustard, salt/pepper and about 1/3 c. of cheddar cheese. I fried mine since I now know what baking a wonton tastes like (not good). These are really good (but who doesn't like fried dough). I think I will also try these as mini pizza and someone in her comments talking about making them into mini apple pies-how good would that be? Anyway, if you happen to have wonton wrapper and canned chicken on hand I would definately make these. I would give them 4 stars out of 5. Oh yea, Jack ended up eating like 4 of these things-that is HIGH praise from him:)

(picture won't post-check out above link for picture-hers is better anyway)

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wontons

2 Tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
½ Cup finely diced white onions
½ Cup finely diced red bell pepper
2 large cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 12 oz can chunk chicken, drained (from Costco)
¼ Cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
¼ Cup Verde Salsa (I use Herdez brand)
2 Tablespoons prepared ranch dressing

½ package wonton wrappers (I used the brand Nasoya, found in produce section of grocery store)
1 egg white whisked with 2 Tablespoons water

1. Heat oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions and bell pepper for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic for 1 minute and remove from heat.

2. In large bowl add onion mixture, chicken, cilantro, salsa, ranch, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined.

3. Place 1 Tablespoon chicken mixture in center of wonton wrapper. Brush bottom edge with egg white wash, fold over filling and press edges together firmly, forming a triangle shape.

4. 2 options of cooking. 1st is place about 1 inch of canola or vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. When hot, place 4 wontons at a time into oil. Cook 1-2 minutes per side or until golden brown. 2nd option is place wontons on a baking sheet; bake at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until crispy, flipping once half way through cooking.

5. Serve with Ranch dressing or salsa if desired.

Crock Pot Potroast

2009-01-06T16:37:00.000-08:00

This was from my friend Kristin off allrecipies.com. It called for a 5 1/2 lb roast, but that was just too big for my family, so I bought a 3lb one instead. I never cook with the crock pot and I'm not sure what I was thinking but being the dummy that I am I didn't reduce my cooking time (duh, my roast was almost 1/2 the size called for!!). So it would have been good if it wasn't cooked to almost leather. It was edible-barely-but I won't be saving the left overs because there is no way they will be re-heatable. I also made Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and used my Braun blender (after mashing them by hand) which gave them the consistency of glue-not a favorite of mine. As you can tell I am not a great cook, but I think next year this time all of these stupid mistakes will be mere memories and my roast will be cooked to perfection, my potatoes creamy (not gluey) and every bite will be heaven....until then I will just have to keep cranking out mediocre (at best) meals. I will have to give these 3 stars but it's all due to operator error. I will be trying this one again (I could tell the flavor would have been good had the meat not been so dried out).

Ingredients:
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 cups water
5 1/2 pounds pot roast

DIRECTIONS
In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

Fruit salad with cinnamon/sugar wonton cups

2009-01-05T16:07:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on Meet Me In The Kitchen a food blog I read. I am "borrowing" her picture since I didn't take one of my own. I bought a premade container of cut up fruit from Publix (probably would have been better this summer-but still not bad) and then put them in the little wonton cups. I have to say, I think this recipe prooves that Cinnamon/Sugar will make anything taste good because my wonton cups tasted like cardboard coated in cinnamon and sugar-not what I was expecting. So for that reason I would give these 2.5 (I mean they did have cin/sugar:) out of 5 stars. I think making these in the summer when fruit is really at it's best and then using some kind of light flakey pastry dough and these would be out of this world. I will try this again-it has big potential-but not with wonton wrappers.

Red and Yellow Fruit Salad in Cinnamon Sugar WonTon Cups by Mary Ann
1 small red apple, cut into slices and then in pieces
1 cup chopped, fresh strawberries
1/2 red grapes, cut in quarters
pomegranate seeds
1 cup fresh pinapple, cut in cubes
1 mango, cut into cubes
* Cinnamon-Sugar WonTon Cups
Combine all fruit in a bowl. Make Cinnamon-Sugar WonTon cups and fill with fruit salad.

*Cinnamon-Sugar WonTon Cups
12 wonton wrappers
cinnamon-sugar mixture
cooking spray
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray regular muffin tin or mini-muffin tin with cooking spray. Place one wonton wrapper over each cavity of muffin tin. Spray wonton wrappers with cooking spray. Generously sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over wonton wrappers, so that they are covered. Press wonton wrappers down into cavity of muffin tin, so wonton makes a cup. Bake for 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown on edges and crispy. Let cool for a few minutes. Fill with fruit salad.
You can also store the pre-made cups, in a airtight container, for 4-5 days.

BBQ Beef Cups

2009-01-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

Once again I forgot to take a picture of these, but they were good. The kids liked the puffy edges of biscuits and then I had trouble getting them to eat the meat part (but that's just my kids). I added about 3/4 c. frozen peas/carrots to my meat mixture. If the kids would have eaten this would have been a really kid friendly meal. I did have a lot of meat mixture left over-so I would buy 2 cans of biscuits next time (mine only made 8). I would also put a little more BBQ sauce in mine, but only because it tasted so good. I would give these a solid 4 out of 5 since they were good and easy as anything. This came from allrecipies.com-thanks Kristin:)

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 (12 ounce) package refrigerated biscuit dough
1/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the cups of a muffin pan.
In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, cook beef until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Stir in barbeque sauce and dried onion. Simmer for a few minutes over low heat.
Flatten each biscuit, and press into cups of the prepared muffin pan. Make sure the dough comes to the top of the pan. Spoon a portion of the meat mixture into each dough cup.
Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 3 more minutes.

Pumpkin Pie

2009-01-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

I made some really great pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. I just used the recipe on the back of the Stokely's pumpkin can but it's a keeper for sure. I wanted to get this down so I can use it next year (plus I am keeping the label just in case).**This didn't have the spicey taste I remembered from Thanksgiving. I will double the spices next time**

1 (15 oz) can Stokely's pumpkin
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
2 eggs, slighly beaten
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 9 inch unbaked deep dish pie shell

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Thoroughly blend all ingedients and pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake 20 min, reduce temp to 350 degrees and bake 35 min longer (or until knife inserted comes out clean). Cool completely on rack then enjoy.

Grilled Cheese-Oprah Style-revisited

2009-01-05T11:37:00.000-08:00

I don't have a picture of this sandwich because I was too lazy to take it. I would give this 2.5 stars out of 5 and that may be a little generous. I'm probably just not "fancy" enough to like this, but the basil was a little overpowering and I couldn't decide if I liked the honey in it or not (it just isn't a taste that goes with grilled cheese and it didn't really enhance it or add anything to it IMO). I also wasn't crazy about the Havarti cheese. I have never had it, but I thought it would be a stronger tasting cheese and not as soft as it was (it was almost gooey but not in a good way). I would have loved a really good Cheddar or strong tasting cheese with the tomato though...lol. It just wasn't for me and of course the kids hated it. That's what I get for listening to supid ole Gail King....haha. The good thing is I only bought 1/4 lb of that cheese just in case I didn't like it. I won't be making this again.

(see recipe in other post with same name).

Crock Pot Porcupine Meatballs

2009-01-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

My Mom used to make us porcupine meatballs all the time when I was young. I remembered them being really good-one of my favorite meals. She made hers on the stove and not the crockpot, but I think the recipe was about the same. These are not worth making (in fact they aren't even worth saving the left overs). They are just "there" if you know what I mean. I did add 1/2 bag frozen mixed vegetables 1/2 hour before they were done (just to get some vegetables into my kids..it didn't make it better or worse so I don't that was the problem. I would give these 2 stars out of 5 and wouldn't even attempt to change them. I'm not sure where I found the recipe, I think one of my crockpot cookbooks.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/4 c. uncooked long grain rice
salt
1 can tomato soup-divided
2T butter
1 c. water

Mix beef, rice, salt and 1/4 c. tomato soup together. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls. Brown meatballs in butter-being careful not to crowd them. Place meatballs into slow cooker. In a bowl mix together 1c water and remaining soup. Pour over meatballs.

Cover and cook on high 2-4 hours or until rice is cooked.

I paired these with rice for the kids and then cheddar biscuits (which were even worse than the meatballs (recipe was from allrecipies.com). I won't even bother posting that because I will NEVER make those again!

Scones

2009-01-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

I have been letting the kids help me cook breakfast and need to have something other than pancakes and eggs to cook with them. I am watching Secrets of a Restaurant Chef (she annoys me, but I like the show-she sure is heavy handed with the salt though!)....and she is making scones. I want to get the recipe down because it looks really easy and I think my kids would love it as a special treat for breakfast one day.

Scones:

3c. flour
1c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
lemon zest
1 1/2 sticks cold butter
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. dried fruit (I am going to use blueberries)
1/2 c. toasted almonds

Directions:

Mi dry ingredients together. Cut butter into pea sized pieces and incorporate into dry ingredients. Add cream, fruit and almonds. Mix until incorporated. Place on floured surface and pat into large disk (1/2-3/4 in thick?). Cut like a pie into 6-8 pieces. Place on baking sheet covered in parchment-top with sugar. Bake 375 degrees for 17 min

update: We made these this morning, they are a 5 out of 5 stars even though they were a tad too sweet for me. I expected them to be dry and crumbly, so I used chocolate chips and a dollop of strawberry jam instead of the dried fruit and nuts. Next time I will make them as directed-the chips/strawberries were too much. These are soft and yummy (they taste like a really good chocolate chip cookie-at least they do when they are warm from the oven. I don't even like chocolate chip cookies but these were fantastic. I will be making these again for sure!! Oh yea, my 4 year old made these with me for breakfast. **may need a few extra min baking time-I thought I just made mine too thick, but other commenters on this recipe needed the extra time

Fried Chicken

2009-01-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

I used the new Martha Stewart cookbook for buttermilk fried chicken. The directions are way harder than they need to be. She has them broken into sections. There is the marinating section-you have marinate the chicken for 3.5 hours-overnight. Take a tip from me-marinate it overnight or at least do it first thing in the morning. I waited not remembering I had to marinate the chicken and sqeeked 3 hours out of mine (which put me getting it out of the fridge at 6pm). The next section is dredging, but in that part it says let the chicken sit out for one hour prior to cooking it....well, that sucked since I didn't see that part until I was ready to cook it!! It would have been nice for that to be in the section with marinating it. I only let my chicken sit out for about 20 min-so I know that really effected it. But I didn't feel like making chicken at 9pm. So my chicken was still too wet and cold when I fried it.

The chicken was good (I forgot to take a picture), I would give it 3 out of 5 stars but most of that was my fault. I will try it again and make sure to marinate it very early and take it out to drain/rest the hour it needs. My first batch turned out beautiful (like the picture actually) but the second batch was too crowded. I had one extra wing left over-so I put it in the pan (I wasn't cooking just one wing by itself. The ironic part is I ended up throwing one wing away-since no one wanted it and it wasn't worth saving.

(picture is from web)

More about this blog

2009-01-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

I joined the Barefoot Bloggers (they make 2 recipes a month using the Barefoot Contessa (food network) recipes) and I figure someone other than a good friend may come here and check out my site (and maybe not:) So I already put in my sidebar that I am a SAHM-I tend to talk about my kids like everyone knows who they are (because everyone in my life-that would have been reading this blog-does know everything about them, but some other people may not.

One thing that I have found in my quest for recipes and good food blogs is that most people seem to be huge bakers-they have beautifully decorated cakes/cookies/cupcakes. I love to look at these, but I am overweight so I won't be doing a whole lot of baking. I am really interested in real meals-things I can feed my family. I don't want to learn French Cooking, I don't want to make "weird" things and surprisingly you won't see a whole lot of low-fat cooking on here (at least not intentionally). That may seem weird since I am overweight (and I SHOULD be looking for low-fat meals exclusively) but my kids are both on the lower end of the weight charts and need to GAIN weight (oh what a problem to have). So I try to make things that they will enjoy that are real food (aka-not a chicken nugget) that taste good. I LOVE any recipe that has (or that I can add) vegetables in it since it's hard to get my kids to eat them. They love starches, so I tend to gravitate towards rice meals (or potatoes occassionally-but they LOVE rice more). My daughter (Amelia (4)-adopted from China in 2005) is a huge meat eater. She will eat the meat first in almost any meal. My son (Jack (2) adopted from Vietnam in 2007) is my carb eater. He will always eat the rice or potatoes first (or fruit-if you give him fruit he won't eat anything else on his plate). I am also married (going on 6 years-been together 13 years this year-2009) to a very supportive husband that will eat anything I make and never complain (he is probably worried I will stop cooking:)

I have just started to cook on a daily basis. I like to cook, but hate the mess it makes-or that was my excuse for not cooking-the real reason was probably closer to it was easier to go out to eat. Back in Nov 08 I went through and old bank statement and realized we were paying an obscene amount of money monthly on food and most of it was eating out (either restaurants or fast food). It wasn't healthy for any of us and it wasn't cheap. I started cooking daily the week before Thanksgiving and pretty much had to force myself to not give up those first few weeks. But I am about a month and a half into this (not long I know) and it's not really all that hard anymore. I have subsituted my obsession with adoption blogs for cooking blogs and love to find new recipes that sound good.

So you won't find fancy food here, or beautiful baked goods. Just basic food a 2 year old and a 4 year old will eat that 2 adult will still enjoy.

Polynesian Pork with Pineapple Rice

2009-01-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from a Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade cookbook. It wasn't as good as I was expecting-I thought you would get more pineapple flavor than you did. I also couldn't find a normal sized container of cashews (only a huge tub of them), so I left them out. I would give this 3.5 stars out of 5. If I make it again I will marinate the pork in the teriyake/pinapple juice for a couple of hours, use chunked instead of crushed pineapple and use the cashews for sure. It wasn't bad, just wasn't great. I also really don't like instant rice, so I will probably sub real rice next time.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs thick cut boneless pork chops
4tsp teriyake sauce (divided)
2T canola oil
1 bag frozen stir fry veggies
2 c. instant rice
1 1/4 c. chicken broth
1 (8oz) can crushed pinapple (do not discard juice)
3/4 c. pineapple juice
cashews (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut pork into bite size pieces. Toss with 2 T. teriyake sauce. Heat oil over med-high heat. Add pork to oil and cook 3-4 min or until brown. Add stir fry veggies and toss to coat. In a casserole dish combine uncooked rice, undrained pineapple, pineapple juice, chicken broth and remaining 2T teriyake sauce-mix well. Stir in pork/veggies. Cover and bake for 40-45 min. Top with cashews if desired.

Suppertime Beef Casserole

2009-01-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

This is from the Lovelace Cafe cookbook (a famous restaurant here in Nashville, TN). It was easy and good-I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Ingredients:
1 package macaroni and cheese (prepared according to pkg. directions)
1 lb ground beef
1 clove garlic
1 can onion soup (I used cream of onion soup)
Salt and Pepper
*I added 1/2 pkg frozen peas/carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare macaroni and cheese according to pkg directions. Brown ground beef and garlic over med-high heat. Stirring until beef is crumbly-drain off excess grease. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon beef mixture, onion soup (vegetables if used) and macaroni and cheese into 2 qt casserole dish. Bake for 30 min.

Southern Ham Casserole

2008-12-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

This is from a Semi-Homemade cookbook. I thought it was pretty good. I used a mandolin (thin) to slice my red potatoes and they still were not completely done after an hour in the oven (I put it back in for 20 min and that cooked them through). Amelia asked me not to make this recipe again, but I think it had more to do with her thinking the thin sliced potatoes were onions (I told her they were potatoes, but I don't think she believed me). If I were to make this again I would cube Yukon Gold potatoes instead of using the red potatoes and I would add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. I thought of the vegetable idea after I already had it in the oven. I would give this a 3.5 stars out of 5. The flavor was good, the potatoes just weren't the greatest in it.

Southern Ham Casserole

2 T. Butter
8 oz mushrooms
2 c. ham
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. shredded pepper Jack cheese (I used Monterary Jack/Coby mix)
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/4 lbs red potatoes-thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 1/2 qt dish with Pam. In a large skillet melt butter over med-high heat. Add mushrooms to melted butter and cook approx. 5 min. Add ham and onions-heat through. In a large bowl stir together cheese, soup and sour cream. Add ham and potatoes and mix through. Place in casserole dish and bake covered for 1 hour.

Grilled Cheese-Oprah Style

2008-12-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

I saw this on Oprah today and I'm going to try it for the kids. My kids are NOT grilled cheese fans for the most part (gasp!!) but maybe they will like this one.

2 slices bread
Havarti (sp) cheese
tomato slices
basil
honey
butter

I don't have an actual recipe but I think I can wing this one. They both LOVE honey, tomato and cheese, so this may work-if not I'm not out much. I usually rely on sandwich/soup type foods for lunch since I cook a real breakfast and dinner each day. I'll let you know if I/they liked it and how many stars I give it once I make it.

Chive Biscuits

2008-12-30T10:49:00.001-08:00

I saw this on the Barefoot Contessa- and she made them in a matter of minutes. I haven't tried them, but thought I would.

Chive Biscuits
Prep Time: 15 min Inactive Prep Time: hr min Cook Time: 20 min Level:
Easy Serves:
8 biscuits 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
3/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives or fresh parsley leaves
1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. With the mixer on low, add the half-and-half and beat until just mixed. Add the chives and mix until just combined.

Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and knead lightly into a rectangle 3/4-inch thick. Cut out rounds with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush with the egg wash.

Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are firm. Serve warm.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2008-12-29T19:32:00.000-08:00

This is a keeper recipe for sure (found at My Kitchen Cafe-see sidebar for link)!! I give it 5 out of 5 stars and wouldn't change a thing. I was really worried when it said to cook it for an hour. I thought I was going to have little dried up nuggets of chicken, but it wasn't dry at all (Mike did think his was dry, but it also sat out for an hour and had to be re-heated because he got off work late). I served this over rice and both kids loved it. It was super easy to make, the only bad part (and it wasn't a big deal) was stirring it every 15 min while it was in the oven. The recipe says you can make extra sauce but I was fine without it (she does warn not to double the sauce recipe while you cook it-it will turn the chicken soggy)

Sweet and Sour ChickenChicken:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch (I used flour instead)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil (I only used about 3-4 T and it was more than enough)

Sauce
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish.

Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken.Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

Meatballs with Cream Sauce

2008-12-28T17:55:00.000-08:00

I found this on My Kitchen Cafe (see link on sidebar). The meatballs were pretty good-I liked how the oven crisped them up on the outside. I served mine over mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes/Cauliflower. I put a little too much cauliflower in, if you mix it about 1/3 cauliflower 2/3 potatoes you can't taste the cauliflower at all. I wasn't impressed with the cream sauce-it didn't add much flavor to the dish. I think topping it with a simple gravy would have been much better. I haven't been taking pictures of these dishes-since it's just for me and I know what it looked like....lol. I would give this 3.5 stars out of 5

Meatballs with Cream Sauce
adapted from Lesli D.'s recipe posting

MEATBALLS:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 T. ketchup
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
3 T. flour

CREAM SAUCE:
2 T. butter
3 1/2 T. flour
1/4 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
14 oz. can chicken broth (If you want your sauce thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup)2/3 cup milk
2 T. minced fresh parsley

In a bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients EXCEPT the beef and flour. Add beef and mix well. Shape into balls. Roll in flour, shaking off excess. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake, uncovered, at 400 for 10 minutes. Turn meatballs, bake 8-10 minutes longer or until no longer pink.

Meanwhile, for the sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, thyme, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add broth and milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. If using the full can of chicken broth, the sauce doesn't thicken overly much, but it is delicious that way. If you want it slightly thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup. Drain meatballs on paper towels; transfer to a serving dish.

Top with sauce and parsley. Serve over rice or egg noodles (I used egg noodles and loved the result!).

Coconut Curry Chicken

2008-12-27T08:24:00.000-08:00

This dish had good flavor-I thought it needed more curry powder though. You got just a hint of the curry once it was mixed in with everything else. I planned on making this again adding 3T of curry instead of 2T. That was until I realized how potent the smell was-my house REEKS of curry even the next day. It's really not that pleasant to me...lol. I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars for taste but an overall rating of 2 stars since the smell is so off putting and long lasting. I won't be making this again.

Coconut Chicken Curry
slightly adapted from Favorite Family Recipes
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks or strips
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika (substitute cayenne pepper if you like the heat)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
Jasmine rice (cooked)

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil, curry powder, and paprika in a large skillet over medium-low heat for two minutes, until fragrant (but don't let it burn). Turn the heat up to medium and stir in onions and garlic and cook ten minutes more or until onions are very clear. Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and is cooked through. Add potatoes, then add coconut milk, tomatoes (I lightly crushed the stewed tomatoes with my fingers before adding), tomato sauce, and sugar into the pan, and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30-40 minutes or until sauce thickens. The sauce thickens upon standing, but is great served piping hot (and a bit thinner), too. Serve with Jasmine rice (or your favorite rice) and garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Brown Sugar Glazed Ham

2008-12-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

Every Thanksgiving we buy a spiral cut sugar glazed ham from Sams and I am more than happy with it-it's always great. I usually have left overs I use for Christmas, but this year I gave it all away or we ate it. So we planned on buy another one for Christmas, but ended up going to Publix instead because I needed yeast for my not so great cinnamon rolls. The ham was $25+ dollars and for some reason I will pay that at Sam's but not Publix (probably because I don't have a $9 version right next to it at Sam's Club). I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money, so we got the $9 one and I found a glaze recipe online. What a great choice I made. My ham was as good (if not better than the Sam's club one). It was juicy and the glaze was great (and easy). Next time I will cover the ham though (the very outside was tough, but the inside was super soft and juicy)-even though covering it wasn't part of the directions. I will be making this ham again for both Christmas and Thanksgiving next year. Enjoy:) (I give this glaze a 5 out of 5 stars-the ham was a 4.5 because of not being covered).

Brown Sugar Glazed Ham
1 fully cooked ham, about 6 to 8 pounds
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple juice
1 heaping tablespoon brown or Dijon mustard
dash cinnamon and ginger or allspice, optional

Preparation:Place ham, fat side up, on rack in a foil-lined roasting pan; score fat and stud with cloves, if desired. Cook at 325° for about 18 minutes per pound, until meat thermometer or instant read thermometer registers 148°. Combine glaze ingredients in saucepan; bring to a boil and boil for about 2 minutes (be careful not to let it boil over). About 20 minutes before the ham is done, spoon about half of the glaze over top of ham, then about 10 minutes before done, spread remaining glaze over ham. Serves 8 to 10.

Christmas Cinnamon Rolls

2008-12-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe for "easy cinnamon rolls" on Joy the Baker (see side bar for link) and fell in love. I wanted to make them each and every day since I first saw the picture. I love those little cakes you get in the vending machine (horrible I know) that are topped with crumbly brown sugar ....love them! So I thought I was going to be able to make my own, I was salivating at the thought of making these. I am a huge Christmas tradition nut, so I thought I could make these for breakfast on Christmas morning-it could be a new tradition. Well, they were OK...which was a huge disappointment to me since I had been holding myself back from making them. They just weren't anything special. I would give them a 3 out of 5. So just in case you are looking for a cinnamon roll recipe (and don't mind the time it takes to wait for the yeast dough to rise), I will post a recipe I found about a year ago-they taste like Cinnabons. I will be making these next year I think (I will probably make them on Christmas Eve and heat them up Christmas morning).

Easy Cinnamon Roll Muffins (I give this one 3/5 stars)
Baking Bites

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp active dry or rapid rise yeast
2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

Filling/Topping
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cardamom

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk or cream

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly.

Divide the batter between 12 greased muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips (or swirl in with a spatula.)Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F.Bake for about 20 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed.

Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling.Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.Serve warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls from Recipezaar (5/5 stars)

Ingredients
1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup margarine
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups flour

FILLING
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/3 cup margarine, softened

ICING
8 tablespoons margarine
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
2. Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.
3. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.
4. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide.
6. It should be approx 1/4 thick.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
9. Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
10. Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
11. Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.
12. Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.
13. While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
14. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
15. When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.

Christmas Cookies

2008-12-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

I had this image of making these beautifully decorated cookies but even though they are good, they aren't what I had in mind. But the good thing is I have been looking for a good sugar cookie recipe for a long time and I FOUND it today. This will be my cookie recipe that I use every year from not on...it is that good. I didn't have almond extract and just used vanilla extract and it was just fine. The cookie recipe is from (Annie's Eats) and the frosting is from allrecipes.com

Ella’s White Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 ½ t. almond extract

1 t. vanilla1 t. salt

2 ½ c. sifted flour

Directions:Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool. Yields ~40 cookies.

Icing Recipe

This icing dries hard and shiny and the colors stay bright. Choose as many different food colorings as you desire."

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons milk (* see note below)

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

assorted food coloring

DIRECTIONS:1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush

**This recipe needs more milk than called for. I would start with 1 Tablespoon of milk instead of 2 teaspoons.

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

2008-12-23T16:57:00.000-08:00

This recipe is one of the best things I have made since cooking recently. In fact it may be one of the best things I have ever made! I used skinless turkey smoked sausage and crushed canned tomatoes. I am so NOT a fan of spinach, cooked spinach really grosses me out. But I like meals that have veggies included because the kids eat them without a fight. I used chopped frozen spinach for this dish. I cooked it 6 min in the microwave, wrung all the extra water out of it and then made sure it was really broken up. This stuff is awsome and you can't even tell the spinach is in there (you can see it, but you can't taste it and there is no weird stringy texture from it). You HAVE to make this-it rocks (I found it at My Kitchen Cafe -see sidebar for link) it's a Martha Stewart recipe BTW. I give this a 5/5 EASY!!

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage
Adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes with juice, lightly crushed with hands (or crushed tomatoes)1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound rigatoni
10 ounces baby spinach (I double the amount of spinach - fresh or frozen)
12 ounces smoked chicken (or turkey) sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
6 ounces fontina (or mozzarella) cheese, 4 ounces cut into 1/2-inch cubes and 2 ounces coarsely grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic. Cook for another minute.Stir in tomatoes and oregano; cook until tomatoes are falling apart, 10 to 15 minutes. Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta in the boiling water until al dente, according to package instructions. Add spinach, and cook just until wilted. Drain, and return contents to pot.Add tomato sauce, sausage, and cubed fontina to pot; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide evenly between two shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dishes. Top with grated fontina and Parmesan. Bake until browned and edges are crisp, 20 to 30 minutes.

I used a 9x13 pan and it was the perfect size for this.

Fantastic Fudge

2008-12-22T20:13:00.000-08:00

I have never made fudge before. For some reason I thought it was really complicated. I have eaten a lot of fudge in my time though so I know what I do and don't like. I found a recipe at Dozen Flours that looked pretty fool proof. I literally made 2 batches of this (one with walnuts one without) in about 25 min (not counting cooling off time) and it is smooth and rich (not gritty or chalky like it can be sometimes). This fudge is EASY and tastes GREAT. If you need fudge (I made mine as a gift) then try this recipe. I give it 5/5 and will keep it as my holiday fudge recipe.

Easy Chocolate Fudge

6 tablespoons, 2 3/4oz, or 75 grams of unsalted butter, cut into even-size pieces
1 12oz package + 3/4 cup, 1 pound 2 ounces, or 500 grams semisweet chocolate chips or block chocolate, chopped evenly
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips, nuts, or coconut (optional)

Line a 8-inch square pan with waxed or parchment paper.

Place the chocolate, butter, and condensed milk into a medium sized saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly, until the chocolate and butter melt and the mixture is smooth. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from the heat and beat in the vanilla and continue to mix for a minute until thickened.

Pour it into the pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the chocolate chips, nuts, or coconut on top, if desired. Let the mixture chill in the fridge for at least one hour or until firm.

Remove from the pan by lifting the waxed paper out of the pan. Peel off the waxed paper and using a heavy knife, cut into squares.

Store at room temperature for slightly soft fudge or in the fridge for firmer fudge.

**I used salted butter (it's what I had in the house) and it worked just fine. The first batch I made the butter was cold and it took a long time to melt. The second batch the butter was softer (not room temp yet) and it melted in so much easier. I also mixed chopped walnuts into my batter (when I did the vanilla) and then topped it with some. I left the ones on top larger-next time I would chop them also because they kind of squished the fudge when I tried to cut through the larger walnuts.

Beef Stroganoff

2008-12-22T15:42:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe at My Kitchen Cafe (I think). It was pretty good, just didn't have as much flavor as I thought it would. I would give this 3.5/5-it was very easy to make and is a slow cooker meal-so that is a big plus. THe kids both really enjoyed it, but I served it over noodles-so that is a hit right there. I added peas to mine since it's a good way to get my kids to eat vegetables.

Beef Stroganoff

2-3 lbs beef
salt and pepper
1 onion-sliced

Broth:
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 T. worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1 T. ketchup

for Roux:
1/3 c. flour
5-6 T. apple juice

Add in:
4 oz mushrooms
1/2 c. sour cream

Add meat, salt/pepper and onion and "broth" mixture to crock pot. Cook for 7-8 hrs on low or 4-5 hrs on high. After appropriate cooking time mix flour and apple juice together until no lumps are left. Whisk into crock pot. Add mushrooms. Cook on high for 15-30 min-until thickened. Stir in sour cream and serve over rice or pasta

tip: if you are having trouble getting lumps out of flour/apple juice mixture-add hot beef broth from the crock pot to the mixture and mix until smooth.

Potato Pancakes

2008-12-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe at Smitten Kitchen and decided to try it today for lunch. I made scrambled eggs with it, but wish I had done fried eggs instead and left my yolk a little runny-that would have been perfect. These were very good (and SO EASY to make). I couldn't find my grater so I used my mandolin and I think my potatoes were cut a tad thick-but it still worked. The picture over at Smitten Kitchen looks so much better than mine, but mine tasted great still. I used 3 Yukon Gold potatoes, half a Vidalia onion and then doubled the other ingredients (since it was more than the original recipe called for. They had a great sweet flavor-I will be remaking these again. Next time I will grate them, make them smaller and cook them until they are a little browner (like the original posters picture). I would give these a 4 out of 5 stars

Potato Pancakes [Latkes]
1 large baking potato (1 pound), peeled
1 small onion (4 ounces), peeled
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Peanut oil, for frying
In a food processor or on a box grater, coarsely shred the potato and onion. For longer strands, lay the potato sideways in the chute of your food processor. Transfer to a colander or wrap in a cheesecloth sling, and squeeze as dry as possible. Let stand for 2 minutes, then squeeze dry again.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, egg, salt and pepper together. Stir in the potato onion mixture until all pieces are evenly coated.

In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil until shimmering. Drop packed teaspoons of the potato mixture into the skillet and flatten them with the back of a spoon. Cook the latkes over moderately high heat until the edges are golden, about 1 1/2 minutes; flip and cook until golden on the bottom, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining potato mixture, adding more oil to the skillet as needed.

Joy of Food

2008-12-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

If you love food, love to look at food and read about food (that is me-I can watch the Food Network all day-and my new obssession is Food Blogs) then you HAVE to go check out Joy the Baker (see links on sidebar). Not only are her pictures great-they make you want to make everything she does-but her writing style is amazing. I have spent the last hour or so (OK, maybe 3) reading her blog. Go now-read!!

Apple Pie

2008-12-21T16:51:00.000-08:00

OMG, I found this over at Joy the Baker and I am SO going to make it one day. It looks like the perfect apple pie.

Buttermilk Pie Crust
2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter
2 1/2 (12 ounces) cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (5 to 6 ounces) buttermilk
1. Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces and place in the freezer to chill for 15 minutes. Measure out the buttermilk and store in the refrigerator to keep it cold (you could even put it in the freezer for a few minutes too).
2. Sift together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Take the cold butter from the freezer and toss it with the flour mixture.
3. Dump the cold butter cubes and flour mixture onto a large work area for rolling. With a rolling pin, roll the mixture, flattening the butter cubes with the flour into long, thin, floured butter sheets. Work quickly to ensure that the butter stays cold. Below is what the rolled butter and flour look like after I’ve gathered them together on the work surface a bit.
4. Place the flour and flattened butter back in the large bowl and chill for 10 minutes. When the butter is cold, remove the bowl from the refrigerator, make a small well in the center of the flour and butter mixture. Add the cold buttermilk to the bowl all at once. Begin to bring the dough together with one hand ( keep the other hand free to answer the phone). Moisten all of the flour with the milk, using your hand to break up large clumps of milk and flour. The dough will be rather shaggy, but you can add another tablespoon of buttermilk, if you see that all your flour isn’t moistened. Form the dough into two disks. The disks will be rough, and hard to shape together, but once they rest in the fridge for an hour, they’ll be easier to roll out.
5. Chill the dough for at least an hour in the refrigerator. At this point, the dough will keep in the fridge for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to three weeks. For freezing, roll the dough out into sheets and wrap them in plastic film.

With Love, Apple Pie
2 1/2 lbs baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick. I used a combination of Granny Smith, Fuji and Pink Ladies.
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 - 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, preferably fresh grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Remove the dough for the bottom crust from the refrigerator. If necessary, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes or until it is soft enough to roll.
On a well floured surface, roll the bottom crust 1/8 inch thick ofr less and 12 inches in diameter. Transfer it to a pie pan. Trim the edge almost even with the edge of the pan. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 3 hours.
In a large bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and toss to mix. Allow the apples to macerate at room temperature for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 3 hours.
Transfer the apples and their juices to a colander suspended over a bowl to capture the liquid. The mixture will release at least 1/2 cup of liquid.
In a small saucepan (preferably lined with a nonstick surface), over medium high heat, boil down this liquid, with the butter, to about 1/3 cup (a little more if you started with more than 1/2 cup of liquid), or until syrupy and lightly caramelized. Swirl the liquid but do not stir it. (Alternatively, spray a 4-cup heatproof measuring cup with nonstick vegetable spray, add liquid and butter, and boil it in the microwave, 6 to 7 minutes on high.) Meanwhile, transfer the apples to a bowl and toss them with the cornstarch until all traces of it have disappeared.
Pour the syrup over the apples, tossing gently (Do not be concerned if the liquid hardens on contact with the apples; it will dissolve during baking.)
Roll out the top crust large enough to cut a 12-inch circle.
Transfer the apple mixture to the pie shell. Moisten the border of the bottom crust by brushing it lightly with water and place the top crust over the fruit. Trim the overhang of the top crust so that there is only 1/2-inch of overhand. Tuck the overhand under the bottom crust boarder and press down all around to seal it. Crimp the border using a fork or your fingers and make about 5 evenly spaced 2-inch slashes starting about 1 inch from the center of the pie and radiating toward the edge. Cover the pie loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1 hour before baking. This will chill and relax the pastry, preventing shrinking.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F at least 20 minutes before baking. Set oven rack at the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on top of it before preheating. Place a large piece of greased foil on top of the sheet to catch any juices.
Set the pie directly on he foil topped baking stone and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until the juices bubble through the slashes and the apples feel tender but not mushy when a take tester or small sharp knife is inserted through a slash. After 30 minutes, protect the edges from overbrowning with a foil ring.
Col the pie on a rack at least 4 hours before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream

Bourbon Chicken

2008-12-21T15:47:00.001-08:00

This recipe is from My Kitchen Cafe (see side bar for link). Start to finish cooked in less than 30 min!!

Bourbon Chicken
adapted from Blog Chef

Ingredients:

2lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons oil (for pan-frying)
cornstarch (for dusting, optional)

Sauce:1 garlic clove (minced)
¼ teaspoon ginger (I used ground ginger)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
½ cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, and if you choose lightly dust with cornstarch. Heat oil in your wok and fry chicken bits in batches until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

In a bowl combine all sauce ingredients. Pour into wok and bring to a boil. Add chicken bits back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

I would give this a 4 out of 5 and I will be trying it again. I subed flour for the cornstarch and paprika for the crushed red peppers (mainly because I didn't have any, but I was worried it would be a bit spicy with them anyway). I served it over rice.

Next time I make this I am going to clean my pan between frying up the chicken and making the glaze. The exess flour made the glaze thick (which I actually thought about and kept the flour in the pan on purpose) but it was too thick for me. I think if it would have just been a glaze on the chicken it would have been better. The flavor was really good and I wouldn't change anything. Both kids liked this meal and ate all the chicken I gave them-so that is 2 thumbs up from them. Amelia told me I could make it again:)

Cookie Decorating

2008-12-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

I want to make some cut out cookies and decorate them really pretty for Christmas. I plan on using them as gift tags for the kids presents this year (and tie one onto each stocking with our name piped on them). I have tried this before but the icing doesn't seem to dry right. So here is a recipe from allrecipes.com that got great reviews...I'm going to give it a try. This is their picture-not mine-I guarentee you mine won't look this pretty....lol.

This icing dries hard and shiny and the colors stay bright. Choose as many different food colorings as you desire."

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food coloring
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush

*reviewers did say it needs more milk*