A TASTY MESS

Finally! Hamburger Buns

2011-06-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Ever been to a good burger place and made the comment "These buns really make all the difference!"

I feel like that with most sandwich type food. Good bread = good food.

Naturally I was thrilled to find this recipe and make it into my dinner.

Hamburger Buns (Printable version)

Hamburger Buns

Recipe:

2 cups warm milk
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
2 packages (or 4 1/2 tsp.) instant yeast (I just used my regular active-dry yeast)
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup melted margarine/butter (cooled a little so it won't burn the yeast)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour (you could use half whole-wheat and half white, rising will be longer)

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, stir together the warm milk, warm water, sugar and yeast. Let stand for about five minutes.

2. Mix in the salt and margarine/butter.

Gradually stir in the flour. Start with about 3 cups, then add a cup at a time until you've added 5 cups total. Watch the dough. If it isn't forming into a ball at all, add 1/4 c. at a time until you have a soft dough.

Knead or mix the dough until it looks smooth and doesn't have lumps of flour.

Lumpy Dough

Smooth Dough

3. Divide into as many as 25 pieces. I made 16.

Wear an Apron

Form into balls.

Place on baking sheet about an inch to two inches apart. Press flat with your hand. They will rise to have a nice rounded top, but if you don't press them down, they won't be wide enough to use as a bun. You want more of a half-sphere than a ball when it's cooked.

4. Cover, and let it rise for at least 20 minutes. The rising time should depend on how warm the room is where they are rising. Mine rose for 35 minutes. You are not trying to "double" the dough. If you use instant yeast it should be faster. (The recipe calls for instant, but when I don't have it, I just plan on a little longer rising time.)

TIP = If you place the dough, uncovered, in a cool oven (you have not preheated at all yet) with a pot of boiling water underneath the rack, the dough will stay soft and rise faster.

5. Preheat oven to 375F.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes. Cool slightly, then split in half horizontally for burgers.

If they look this good, imagine what they taste like!

Hamburger Buns

Yum!

I'm gonna be published!

2011-05-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Luckily, to be published today just means that I have to be willing to foot the bill and print out a book for myself :-)

I have another project I've been pretty excited about. In looking for a wedding present that would be personal, I decided to make my new sister-in-law (and my brother, but who am I kidding) a cookbook. It will hopefully help as they start out. With easy recipes, everyday dinner type things. Alas, I couldn't stick with easy.

It will now include:
Recipes
A Year of Daily Dinner Menus
Dessert
Baking Tips
Shopping Lists
and My Super Genius Menu Planning Spreadsheet.

Seriously, it's ssssuper Genius! Every recipe I know, every idea I have for dinner in every category I can think of. On one page. Easy to reference, easy to share. All the rest of the recipes in a good ol' fashioned cook book, with photos, and a cd so you can put them on your computer and copy and print them or change them any way you want.

I'll post some progress pictures as I get it together. If it sounds like something you'd be interested in getting a copy of, the meal planner or the whole package, let me know. I'll put you on a list and get some pricing info as I get it.

I'll be printing it out for them in a nice hard copy, but for you I can do hard or soft copy format, or even jus the cd.

I can hardly explain how excited I am!

P.S.
I have finished the photos, just not the post for the hamburger buns. Keep staying tuned for that.

Things I've made that I hope to tell you about soon

2011-05-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hamburger Buns
Glazed yeast donuts
Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)

Also, I just bought a salad spinner and some new cast iron cookware on Amazon. Tomorrow I'll be playing with my new toys and posting for a while about how to live and eat outside in the spring and summer.

If there's something you'd like for me to try, ask me.

Ideas:

Electric Skillet dinner outside, then using the same skillet to make donuts outside. Electricity outside of the house, on the porch separated from the house, was a brilliant idea. I can not only cook outside, and eat outside, but I'm at least half as likely to burn the house down while I do it.

Dutch oven cobbler
Grilled pizza
Fish and grilled veggies and salad all cut up outside

Really, it's all the same as inside, just avoiding all heat and clean up inside.

Time to stock up on paper plates and plastic utensils, and find a cheap set of deck chairs!

5 minute food processor Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt or Sorbet

2011-04-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

Not my photo, but the ice cream is as yummy as this looks :-)

This one seriously only takes 5 minutes. It's soft serve ice cream, and the flavor possibilities are endless.

Easy 1-2-3

10-12 ounces frozen fruit (I really just measure about two cups)
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream or yogurt or fruit juice

1 - Combine fruit and sugar in food processor for about 30 seconds. Until you can't tell one from the other. Few or no chunks.
2- Add cream/yogurt/juice until you've reached desired consistency. Start with 1/2 cup, and then add more if needed.
3 - Serve and Enjoy.

Tips: Don't try to change the order of instructions. If you add the fruit after the cream/yogurt, it won't chop up very finely and might leave chunks larger than you want.

You can use a regular blender for this, but it will likely take a little more time. If you use a blender, you will want to add the fruit a little bit at a time, and layer it with the cream/yogurt/juice as it goes in.

If you want a thicker freeze, add a little more fruit at the beginning. 15 ounces of fruit makes a nice thick ice cream.

If you want a scoop-able ice cream for later, freeze the soft serve for an hour or more. It will scoop up just like normal and even go into a cone for optimal kinder enjoyment.

Flavor combo suggestions:
Peach and raspberry
Mango and Lime (freeze peeled lime wedges ahead of time)
Mixed berry
Strawberry
Strawberry peach
Pineapple Banana

Seriously, make some right now. You'll thank yourself.

Hamburger Buns tutorial coming soon...

2011-04-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Delicious Jumbo Cupcakes!

2011-04-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

Pastel Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef, browned
1 10oz. bag frozen, or 15 oz. canned green peas
2-3 cups prepared mashed potatoes
4 Tbsp. Bisto gravy pearls
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 tsp. dried onions (fresh would be nice too.)

What?! That's not how you make cupcakes?

April Fools!

(And yes, I know we are late. There was a great deal of sickness on April 1st, so this one showed up a few days later.)

This recipe is really an adaptation of Mince & Totties.

Mince & Totties is similar to Shepherd's Pie. It's Scottish for Meat Gravy (Mince) and Mashed Potatoes (Totties). Served traditionally with a side of peas.

Mashed Potatoes, Bisto, Sweet Peas, Worcestershire Sauce

I haven't used instant potatoes in ten years. For this, I thought it would be easier. I needed a really creamy batch so that I could easily pipe them onto the meat mixture. Just follow the directions on the box, adding food coloring to the water.

It worked beautifully for that, but was kind of gummy. Next time I'll just do a really good job of pureeing my homemade mashed potatoes.

The only recipe you really need is for the Mince:

1 lb. ground beef, browned
4 Tbsp. Bisto (find it in the British food section of your grocery store, or at Cost Plus - In a pinch, use a packet of brown gravy mix.)
1 1/2 tsp. dried onions
2/3 cup water.

Drain browned beef. Return to pot. Add onions and bisto. Mix well to coat the meat. Add water and Worcestershire. Stir until heated through. The Bisto will thicken quickly. Add more for a thicker gravy.

Minced Meat Gravy

Now to assemble the cupcakes as we ate them:

Start with Jumbo cupcake liner, in a jumbo cupcake pan. (In hindsight, a silicone liner would have been awesome because the paper fell apart under the wet peas.)

Layar peas first, then meat in each cup.

Then pipe on the potatoes to look like frosting.

I made it easier, because the potatoes were very hot, by putting the Ziploc bag into a storage container for filling.

Cut off the tip of the bag, and pipe in a circle (careful, it's HOT!):

All Done!

To do Mince and Totties right, it has to be served with HP Sauce. Again, in the British food aisle or at Cost Plus or other specialty stores.

If you can't find it, you could substitute with A1, but it's just not the same.

I had my staff clean up after dinner.

You missed a spot!

Enjoy!

Buttermilk Biscuits

2011-03-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

Ahh biscuits! These are my favorite! You can do so many things with a biscuit, and they are so easy. I do not ever, ever, ever buy refrigerated canned biscuits. I think they are gross, especially when you compare them with the real thing.

So, I had an epiphany several weeks ago when my sister told me she made her biscuits sweet, for breakfast. I make biscuits for lots of things, adding ingredients to complement the meal, but for some strange reason that had never occurred to me!

Of course I had to try it out. I added 1 Tbsp of white sugar to my regular recipe, and a generous 1/4 cup of dried cranberries. De-LISH-ous! (Yes, I know how to actually spell that word.) My mother-in-law, whom I adore btw, said they were like Scones. She's Scottish, like actually from Scotland, so she knows a good scone. I also think the way she says scone -Skon- is fun.

It was great for breakfast with a side of eggs and bacon. I think the white sugar added to the consistency of a scone, whereas honey would have kept the dough a little tighter, and more biscuity. Food for thought, and another batch.

So after that very long intro, meet biscuits:

Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits (Makes about 8 biscuits): adapted from Pinch My Salt

1 1/4 c. cake flour
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. butter, cut into small chunks
3/4 c. buttermilk or milk (I usually don't have buttermilk, and hubby prefers the taste with just milk.)

Favorite Add Ins (stir in before adding liquid):
Sugar or Honey
1/4 c. dried fruit
1/4 c. cheese, especially parmesan or cheddar
1 T. herbs

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. This is important because it takes a long time for an oven to get to 500 degrees. Open a window and turn on a fan too, because your house will warm right up!

Prepare ingredients: cut butter into small chunks, place in bowl in fridge. Measure out buttermilk and set aside (or back in the fridge.)

Flour your workspace, and keep extra flour on the side for your hands and dough cutters.

Mix the dough: whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until very well blended.

Add butter, and cut into flour using pastry cutter (my preferred method) or fingertips, until mixture resembles course crumbs.

Make a well in the center of your mixture. Pour in the milk and stir *lightly* until dough comes together in a ball.

This is my "ball" of dough. Don't over mix.

Knead and Cut:

Dump the dough mixture onto floured work surface. With floured hands lightly knead 5-10 times (just pull up a corner or side of the dough, tuck in into the middle, and pull up another, etc. Turning until the dough is tight.)

Pat into a circle (or gently use your rolling pin) 3/4 - 1 inch thick.

Super flattering hand pose

Dip cutter into flour. Cut biscuits *without* twisting the cutter.

Form the scraps into a biscuit shape instead of re-kneading to cut another.

Bet you can't tell which two unfortunate pastries were hand formed.

Place biscuits onto baking sheet, or into pie pan (or in my case, a preheated cast iron skillet), with the sides touching as much as possible. Brush the tops with melted butter if desired.

Bake in the middle of preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Brush again with melted butter if desired. Remove to cooling rack for a few minutes.

Enjoy!

My modifications usually include doubling the recipe, then baking in a large (I think it's 12")preheated cast iron skillet. I heat the skillet while the oven preheats, and add 1/4 cup of butter to the pan letting that melt while I knead and cut the dough. I have also added buttermilk powder with the dry ingredients, and water instead of milk for the wet (according to the directions on the powder can.) Then remove the skillet from the oven, place shaped dough into the skillet, starting from the center to make sure they all touch. With so much dough, the temperature needs to be adjusted. For the doubled recipe I bake at 400 for 13 minutes, and then 5 more minutes at 375. The tops should not brown much, but the bottoms will be golden.

I also just saw a tutorial where they dip the cut biscuits in melted butter just before baking. Seems like a healthy alternative to my plain ol' baking method, so I might give that a shot next time :-)

It really is easy, and only takes a few more minutes than opening those pre-canned ones and putting them in the oven. Let me know if you try it! Ten minutes of actual prep, twenty minutes if you're letting the dough relax before rolling out.

For a meal:
Use 1 pound ground sausage, like Jimmy Dean. Brown It.

Grab your favorite country gravy mix, like Southeastern Mills or McCormick. Follow directions on the bag. Add a teaspoon or two of dried Rosemary. (I occasionally make it from scratch, but really, this is just as good.)

Hire help.

Mix in the cooked sausage.

Pour gravy over warm biscuits. I like to pull my biscuits apart and pour the gravy over the top of two halves.

Biscuits and Gravy

It helps to have such an excited onlooker!

Do you have a favorite adaptation or add-in for biscuits? Did you try this?

Grandma Wade's Sweet and Sour Meatballs

2011-03-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

I recently reorganized my cupboards. I threw out a lot of spices and other things that were expired. They look really pretty now. That has nothing to do with the rest of this post.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Lots of Healthy Yummy Vegetables

There are only a few cookbooks that I use regularly. One of them is the Watson Family Recipes cookbook, with recipes from ladies (and a gentleman or two) who I'm related to on my Mother's side.

This one is my most used. Sweet and Sour meatballs.

I make the meatballs a few different ways, depending on how I feel and if I'm using up some frozen ones from the last pasta night I had. Grandma's recipe is much simpler. Bread crumbs, milk, salt and pepper. Delicious!

I do a couple of things differently than Grandma, I hope she won't take offense (the chances of her ever finding out by Blog are seriously slim.)

The recipe calls for the vegetables to be stir-fried or sauted first, then simmered again with the liquid and meatballs for 20 minutes. I like my peppers to have more of a crunch to them, so I will saute them, and then set aside and only add them back into the mixture in the last five minutes, when I add the cornstarch and water. That and sometimes using a different meatball are my only real changes.

This is great served over white rice with a side of spring rolls or egg rolls.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs - by Grandma Wade (pg. 67 of the Watson Family Recipes)

1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef

2 slices day old bread

1/2 c. milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 medium can pineapple chunks, cut each in half (or use tidbits) RESERVE JUICE

3 medium carrots, sliced

1 medium onion (or 1 tsp. onion powder)
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into chunks

1/4 c. vinegar (I use Apple Cider vinegar)

1 c. pineapple juice (which you saved from earlier)

1/2 c. light brown sugar

1/4 c. granulated sugar

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

2 Tbsp. cold water

Soak bread in milk. Mix well with ground meat, egg, salt, and pepper. Roll into one inch balls. Brown meatballs in 1 tablespoon oil or butter in large pan. Remove from pan and keep warm. (I usually use breadcrumbs, and just toss them in with the milk and meat mixture. I use a potato masher to mix it all together without touching it, because touching raw meat is gross. Then a melon baller with a release lever - like an ice cream scoop - to shape the meatballs.)

*Side note: If you double or triple the recipe, you can cook all the meatballs and then freeze them in Ziploc freezer bags for up to a month. The meatballs reheat well in the microwave or on the stovetop and make a nice addition to pasta or for when you make this recipe again.*

In same pan, saute pineapple, green pepper, onion and carrots for 5-10 minutes. Return meatballs to pan and add all remaining ingredients except cornstarch and water. Simmer 20 minutes. (At this point I start my rice cooking in my rice cooker, or I'll forget and wait an extra twenty minutes after the meatball dish is cooked.) Dissolve cornstarch in 2 tablespoons cold water. Stir into meatball mixture. Simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth and thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve with rice. If seasonings warrant, adjust to your taste.

Printable Recipe

Enjoy! I always do.

Some days, I just can't do it all

2011-03-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

This was my breakfast. Sue me. I got up at 5:45 and worked out. I took a handful of vitamins on an empty stomach, and then in the process of getting three kids fully dressed and off to school, I forgot to eat breakfast. Empty stomach, vitamins and water. Not a good combo. I pulled over once on the way to the preschool thinking I was going to lose those vitamins. My purse held my last stashed Snickers. It was barely delicious.

EAT. BREAKFAST.

Steel Cut Oats

2011-03-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

I love oatmeal for breakfast! When I discovered Steel Cut oats about a year ago, I decided to try it.

If you like oatmeal, this one's for you. If not, give it a shot, it might change your mind.

Steel cut oats are whole oats, cut, with steel :-) Instead of rolled or instant oats. They have more vitamins and fiber and are better for your heart than rolled oats. They keep a "pop" or crunch even after they are cooked and have a much more pleasant texture I think.

Steel Cut Oats with Dried Cranberries and Cinnamon

Here's how:

1 part steel cut oats
2 parts water, milk, or soymilk
a pinch of salt (for 1 cup of oats)
a palm full of dried fruit (again, for 1 cup of oats) (I like raisins and cranberries the best)

Method 1:
Toss it all in a rice cooker, wait for it to signal that it's done (about 20 minutes)

Method 2:
Double the liquid. Toss it all in a slow-cooker. Cook overnight (8 hours) and wake up to a warm breakfast.

For both methods, I like to add a little bit of milk in my bowl to make it the right consistency. I will also add a sprinkling of brown sugar or sliced bananas on top. If you like this for an every morning breakfast, it actually reheats well if kept sealed in the fridge for several days. (You can seal it and keep it on the countertop if you don't add fruit or cook with milk. Keeping oatmeal out on my counter grosses me out though so I opt for the fridge.)

Very healthy, very warm, very easy clean-up in your crock pot if you use a liner.

Resolutions for this part of my life

2011-01-03T10:06:00.000-08:00

I have a list of resolutions for the rest of my life, but as far as Tasty Messes, here goes:

1. Remember the Salt!
2. Branch out from my usual fare. Find a new website, or cookbook and actually use it.
3. Make stuff ahead of time, and save some of the stress that starts around 3:30pm.
4. Blog more.
5. Find somewhere local to take a class or two in breadmaking or something else related to culinary arts.

There you go. What are your culinary resolutions this year?

Ugh! I resolve to pay better attention, dang it!

2011-01-01T15:07:00.000-08:00

I found a french bread recipe a while back that I love. I swear, at least fifty percent of the time I have made it, I forget about adding the oil and salt at the end. What you end up with is a barely edible, and then only when dipped in salty something, piece of disappointment. It makes me so mad! Why, why do I keep doing this same thing. Two nights ago I threw a pretty little slice of it across the table when my daughter lovingly teased me "Mom, did you remember the salt?" I laughed, and then remembered that I had in fact forgotten it. So much for a nice meal...

It's like I fool myself into thinking I've made it enough times that I can remember what comes next. The sponging part is still fascinating to me, so I pay attention to that, keep in mind that I have only three cups of flour left, and that's it. THAT IS NOT IT! I have three cups of flour to add, and oil, and a full TBSP of salt.

Tonight, I will rally. I will make the bread, and it will have salt.

The end.

A breakfast of Champions!

2010-11-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up to my cute little daughters' faces, excitedly telling me there was a party downstairs waiting for me. Well once I finally rolled out of bed I went down to see a lovely breakfast spread.

I'll explain, in case the picture is unclear. A tall glass of milk, perfect for an empty stomach. A bowl of candy, because they know I have a sweet tooth. One whole bagel with cream cheese, one half blueberry bagel with garden vegetable hummus, and a few neatly sliced banana bits. Mmm, mmm, yum!

They are so sweet, and offered to make breakfast for me every morning!

Sweet White Bread

2010-11-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

I love this bread! It reminds me of something an old-fashioned grandma might make. Sweet, warm, soft and perfect with jam and butter. It is my husband's favorite choice for bread, and my kids prefer it to whole wheat. It's like a treat for us.

I found the original recipe several years ago, and since then I've made it my own.

Sweet White Bread

2 c. warm water (really warm!)
2/3 cup white sugar or honey
5 Tbsp. yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil (olive oil works great)
6 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve sugar or honey in water.

Add yeast, give it a quick stir with a whisk to get all the yeast wet. Let that sit for 5-7 minutes until the yeast is foamy.

Add salt and vegetable oil. Stir just enough to mix.

Gradually add flour. I start with three cups. Mix that with a spatula, and then add my dough hook and stir on low speed adding one more cup at a time.

Knead dough about 5-7 minutes, or until it is smooth, elastic and cleans the sides of the bowl.

Remove dough hook, and gently form dough into a ball. Add 1 tsp. oil to the bowl and roll the dough ball in it to very lightly coat it all around.

Allow dough to rise, covered with plastic wrap or a warm kitchen towel until doubled in size.

Once the dough is risen, remove it onto a floured surface. Cut the dough in half for two loaves (I did one full sized loaf and two half sized loaves baked in an 8x8 cassarole dish.) It is important to cut the dough rather than to tear it. Tearing it can make the finished dough tough.

Shape your loaves by gently kneading into a tube shape, or rolling flat and then rolling it up like you would a jelly roll. Place seam side down into a greased bread pan. (I always use parchment paper to prevent the middle from sticking.)

Let the dough rise again until doubled. Covering once more with plastic wrap or a cloth. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Let the top get to a medium brown, and tap on the top crust to make sure it sounds hollow before taking it out.

I sometimes like to spread honey butter over the top as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Immediately remove from pans to a cooling rack. Let sit at least five minutes before serving, as it's best to let some of the moisture evaporate before cutting.

Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

2010-11-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

Sick kids and a cold day made this the obvious choice for dinner on Friday.

Chicken noodle soup is pretty basic.

2 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
10 baby carrots (or three whole) cut into large chunks (we like a LOT of carrots.)
2 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
2 servings (whatever it says on the box) noodles. I prefer egg noodles, but this time I used spaghetti.
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. Poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

I boiled the chicken in 6 cups chicken broth (made from water and bullion, but you could use a can.) for 15 minutes. I find that for soup, boiling is easiest and keeps the chicken moist and easy to shred.

Remove chicken from pot, remove fat and cut into small chunks or shred. Return to pot. Add the other ingredients. Bring to a boil. Boil for 9-10 minutes or just until noodles are cooked.

Taste the broth and adjust ingredients to your liking. I added 1 more cup of water because my broth was a little too salty.

With dinner rolls this would have been perfect. For us it was just the soup and off to bed.

Four Pack Abs

2010-10-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

You may recall my post a while back, about how I was going to get a six pack, because I wanted one. Well, I'll spare you the bare belly photo of myself, but I have a four pack now. Those elusive lower two may never show up.

I've been working out daily for at least an hour, and eating better.

I cannot seem to follow a strict diet. I think part of that reason is that I am one of the lucky few who needs to get toned, but I don't really need to lose weight. Most diets are just designed to shed pounds. For me that's not good.

Here's what changes I've made:

Whole grains (whole wheat, wild and brown rice, etc.)

Half a plate of veggies with every meal.

Fat from natural sources like fish, avocados and nuts.

A lot less sugar (probably time to take my Jelly Bean jar off the counter though.)

I'm pleased with my results so far. It's been a lot of hard work, but to see a change makes me really happy. My competitor in this six pack race has won, but I'm a happy second place. Now I think I'll actually take "before" pictures and start all over again.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

2010-10-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge fan of soup, as a rule. Actually, I'm just not a huge fan of soup as the main course of a meal. It never really seems to fill me up. This one was an exception. Serve it with homemade dinner rolls and it's meal.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Here's the original recipe (from Allrecipes.com):

Ingredients

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded
1 (4.5 ounce) package quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
2 cups heavy cream

Directions

In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.
In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.
Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Printable Recipe

I changed it a little, because I didn't have everything on hand. I used whole milk, instead of cream. Next time I may even use skim, because I don't think it would change the finished product the way it is used.

I also added large chunks of carrots, because I LOVE cooked carrots. They added a nice change in texture and a sweet counter to the savory flavor of the soup. I would have liked to add celery, but alas the only celery I had was molded and smooshy in the bottom of my vegetable bin. (I've since cleaned and replaced the bin :-)

I didn't have Wild Rice with Seasoning Packet so I just used 1/2 c. wild rice (4.5 oz. is 1/2 plus 1/16th cup), and to taste (probably a quarter tsp. each) garlic, onion powder, fresh ground pepper, and poultry seasoning. I let it boil a little longer than called for, because it wasn't a quick-cook rice. Next time I'll cook the rice separately and add it in for the last five minutes. I may add more rice too, I like wild rice's a lot!

One more thing to do differently, I would omit the salt. Because I used chicken soup base with water, instead of chicken broth. It was a little bit too salty.

I give it four stars, because I really liked it. The fifth star will come with my changes next time. It was really filling and stored well. I'll be finishing it for lunch today. Totally restaurant quality soup.

Do you have a favorite soup?

Do you serve soup as a side or main dish?

Thursday is our scheduled Soup day, so this will be going on my Thursday menu.

I am determined to get good at yeast bread

2010-10-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

As a result of that determination, I have been making a lot of bread. See...

Potato Buns

Cinnamon Rolls

Sweet White Bread

French Bread

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Biscuit Dough

I have learned a lot. First of all, I really like the taste of home made bread. Secondly, when I am good about thinking ahead, I'd rather bake the bread than buy it. And thirdly, bread making is an art form!

I recommend reading about the process of sponging. That article is pretty in depth. There are plenty more. Sponging the dough basically allows the process of fermentation to occur before the bread rises. It adds a distinct and stronger flavor than just letting the bread rise by itself. It also leaves you with only the need to rise the finished dough one time. If you've ever had Amish Friendship bread, this helps make sense of the process a little bit. A long time to ferment changes the taste. Think in terms of beer. A better fermentation, a better brew (or so I've heard, though nobody has been kind enough to spike my drink yet, so I may never actually know.)

This process is good for breads like sourdough, and French bread. It is also helpful in a bread that takes a long time to rise because of a stiffer grain, like whole wheat flour.

My favorite new bread recipes:
French Bread (she has another of the same recipe, without sponging. Do the sponged one!)
Honey Whole Wheat Bread (again with the sponging)
Perfect Cinnamon Rolls
Potato Buns
Sweet White Bread
Biscuits

I made the buns, following the recommendation to leave overnight. This was the most time consuming of the recipes I tried. Totally worth it! They came out perfect both in looks (aren't they pretty?) and texture and taste. I made some into hot dog buns, some into sandwich rolls, and some into dinner rolls. They kept for four days and were really good every time. I don't know how much longer they would have kept, because we ate them all!

I'll follow with a post on the Sweet White Bread and the Biscuits. I can give pictures and step by step instructions. These are both recipes that I've altered and tweaked so much over the years, I couldn't tell you where they came from or what the original looked like. For me, they turn out perfect just about every time.

Do you like to bake bread?
Are you good at it?
What is your favorite yeast bread recipe?
Have you heard of sponging or tried it before?
Wanna see any of these in a step by step pictorial?

Go to Allrecipes.com, dealstomeals.blogspot.com, and pioneerwoman.com to find most of my favorite recipes.

A new post is on it's way. It involves lots of bread.

2010-10-22T09:44:00.001-07:00

Stay tuned...

Baby Food 101

2010-05-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

I have three children. All of them have been babies at one time or another. Feeding a baby is like feeding a bottomless pit. A tiny, needy, chubby, likely to throw it at you, bottomless pit. I find that all quite adorable.

With my first two, I just bought Gerber until I could give them smaller versions of what the rest of the family ate. #1 Didn't like baby food until she was eight months old. #2 Loved it. In order to feed a baby what they need, you go through nearly six ounces of pureed stuff every day. More on days they don't nap, or you're out on the town, or they throw an unusual number of tantrums. Those amounts double by the time they are a year old. I figure if I buy it all, I spend about $1.50 per meal just on the purees and cereals. That adds up fast, and doesn't include formula or milk, snacks, crackers, etc.

So...I bought a food processor. Not this one which I use for much bigger, family friendly things. This one

(only I wish I knew they came in so many colors! Mine is just silver and black. Sur la Table has it in brights like yellow, green, orange and red) It's three cups and cost me only $25. That's the perfect size to puree a serving or two of whatever we're eating.

So my first lesson on making your own baby food is to use what you already have. If I'm serving pasta, I just take a serving spoon and scoop up enough to feed baby. Puree it for about twenty seconds, add water if needed for consistency, and voila! Dinner for Baby Chef.

Next lesson comes next Monday, if I have time.

Baklava

2010-05-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

Around my eighteenth birthday, I took a trip with my parents to Greece. We spent about two weeks traveling through Athens and the nearby islands. It was wonderful! One of my favorite things was eating massive amounts of pastry and a dessert called baklava.

If you've read my blog much, you know that I don't approve of baking nuts into dessert. This is my one exception. You can't make Baklava without nuts, and you wouldn't want it any other way.

It's a layered dessert, and it's as simple to assemble as lasagna. I used this recipe.

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
1 pound chopped nuts
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
Make sauce while baklava is baking (Remember, I made this ahead, and used it cold.) Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

There's really no point in copying the nutritional information, it's sad and depressing to look at the calories of such a beautiful dish.

I followed the directions almost exactly, because I'd never made it before. I did however take three days to make it. I'll explain.

First, I chopped the nuts in my food processor. I used the nuts I had in my cupboards. Peanuts, Candied Cashews, and Almonds. Then I realized I hadn't thawed my frozen phyllo dough, and left the nuts on the counter until the next day. Then I put the dough in the fridge to thaw.

Then next day, I prepared the honey sauce. Then, because some of the All Recipes reviewers suggested using a cooled sauce, I put that in the fridge and waited until the next afternoon to assemble to whole thing. I also took another reviewers suggestion and roasted the nuts with the cinnamon. Do that.

I tried a piece directly after the honey shower while it was still warm, and it was not nearly as good as the cooled version a few hours later.

Hubby didn't like nuts, even in this. He's might be culinarily challenged. It made about 30 large pieces. I could have halved each one again. I froze all but two plates (ten pieces), one of which I am not ashamed to admit I ate. The other went to a friend. I took another two plates from the freezer later that week and served them at a church meeting. Another went to someone's birthday party. A hit every time!

Failed Enchildadas

2010-05-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

So I make chicken enchiladas a lot. I also make Pineapple Enchiladas from here. They are delicious, and a great meatless substitute. So, being the culinary genius that I am, I decided to mix the pineapple enchilada recipe, with chicken. How could that go wrong? Glad you asked...

To destroy an enchilada:

Step 1 - Combine Pineapple juice, with the already very acidic enchilada sauce.

Step 2 - Add cooked chicken.

Step 3 - Cook them together for 35 minutes or longer.

The result should be a disgusting mush of enchilada flavored chicken pulp. Really it's an experience I'll never forget.

I was in a wonderful mood that evening. It was pushing seven o'clock by the time I even got the enchiladas in the oven. The children insisted that they were starving, and I'm just mean enough to make them wait until the food comes out. I can't eat with them, the baby needs a bottle. So I serve them up generous portions of my delicious smelling creation. Li'l Chef says "Mom, this has a weird taste." I say quit complaining and eat what I made you. Li'l Chef continues, "It's really weird. Something's wrong with the chicken." I'm sure I said something like "Oh Sweetheart, I'm sure you're right. Why don't you find something better to eat." Somehow, whatever that last comment really said, made her cry. "It's gross."

So she waits, patiently, being a keen observer of my mood and the point of my rope by which I was holding on. It was the end, in case you were wondering.

Baby fed, girls not eating, I decide to eat anyway. Serve it up with a big dollup of sour cream and take a large bite to prove how delicious it was. Said bite is immediately spit into the sink. I spit out my own dinner. I apologize for being a mean-o. That was in fact gross. As it turns out, chicken can be dissolved by pineapple juice. This chicken was a weird chalky mush. The weird chalky mush mixed with the weird chalky mush of cheese. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

We had cereal and went to bed. Li'l Chef laughed as I kissed her good night, "You were mad, but I knew it was gross. I wasn't just being rude." I conceded.

Tortillas

2010-05-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

Who knew it was so easy to make your own tortillas? My friend Hilary told me the other day that she was making her own, and I thought "Wow, Hilary's got a lot of time on her hands." And then I gave my children cereal for dinner.

After I read on her blog how easy it was, I followed the link to the recipe she used. On a side note, I ended up signing up for the food storage and shopping service that blog provides.

The tortillas took a little more time than I thought, I used the second recipe called Texas Flour Tortillas. Yummy! Really it took like an hour, but that might have been because I was multi-tasking and just let them rest a long time while I prepared the rest of dinner.

We loved them, they were great for tacos. It makes a good flatbread. I might use them for other flatbread stuff too. Today I plan to try the first recipe which is supposed to make a thinner tortilla. Try it!

Sour Cream Enchiladas

2010-05-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

These are my favorite enchiladas. I do so many different things to them that they always seem like a new dish. The original recipe was from my friend Julie.

Recipe:

Sour Cream Enchiladas

Cook diced chicken breast (I usually use 2 or 3 breast halves) with garlic and onions (if desired.) Or just season with your favorite dry rub.

Mix together:

2 cans cream o’ soup (I use cream of chicken)

1 pt. sour cream

1 sm can green chilies

1 cup grated cheese (at least)

Add chicken to sauce

and fill corn or flour tortillas.

Roll tortillas like a burrito or layer like lasagna for casserole.

Place in pan and top with any remaining sauce and extra cheese.

Bake at 350° about 40 minutes or until bubbly.

Makes about 10 enchiladas

I like to add some petite diced tomatoes to the sauce. I also like to add half a bottle of Chile Verde sauce. Usually I leave out anything "verde" because hubby prefers it without.

We always use the uncooked flour tortillas from Costco.

Once you've had them, you'll never go back to the supermarket bagged ones.

There is no picture of the finished product, because we ate them too fast. They do save well in the fridge for a few days and make great leftovers for lunch or dinner.

Enchilada Meatballs - by the Li'l Chefs

2010-05-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

This one was a hit in a couple of ways. First, the kids really did make it themselves, sans the oven part. Second, it tasted great.

Recipe:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
2 cups cornbread, crumbled
3/4 cup enchilada sauce
3/4 cup enchilada sauce, again

In a large bowl, combine beef, cornbread and enchilada sauce. Combine, but do not over mix. I recommend using your hands or a potato masher. Shape into about 1 inch balls. I use a small melon baller/ice cream scoop to make them all uniform. Place into oven safe dish, or on a lined baking sheet.

I didn't have cornbread, so I used corn meal instead, and only 1 cup. The cornbread would have left the finished product more moist, which would have been better.

Then bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes. Place on serving dish and top with remaining enchilada sauce.
We also topped with shredded cheese.

We served it in bowls over rice. We all liked the taste of it, and would have preferred more sauce on top. Next time I think we'll serve it with more sauce, and maybe in a soft taco shell or corn tortilla.

Pillsbury Cinnamon Monkey Bread

2010-05-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

The original recipe is here.

I changed it by leaving out the Hubby hated walnuts, and using Pillsbury cinnamon rolls instead of Grand's biscuits. Instead of adding the cinnamon sugar coating in a bag, we stirred it in a large bowl. I think that was easier. Then when it was done, we used the icing that came with the cinnamon rolls over the top.

I also added 1/4 cup of raisins. We don't believe in adding nuts to baked goods around here, but for those of you who would do something so ridiculous, an additional 1/4 of chopped nuts would probably be nice too.

It was devilishly delicious!

Try it. It's so easy and totally worth it. Plus your house will smell good all day.

You could prepare it in the evening and then pop it in the oven in the morning for quick breakfast treat before church or something.

Catching up

2010-05-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

I've made so many fun things in the last six weeks, so many that I haven't had time to put anything on this blog. I'm that good at this blogging thing.

So, I'll be catching up, with pictures for the most part.

My list, so you can look forward to the posts that are coming up:

1: Pillsbury monkey bread, with my own little twists
2: Enchilada meatballs, by the li'l chefs
3: Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
4: FAILED Pineapple chicken enchiladas (this one's a doozy!)
5: Mom's beef vegetable soup
6: Baklava
7: Baby Food - A very basic tutorial
8: Curried Chicken Salad
9: Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
10: Chicken Pot Pie

What are you excited to see?
Do you make any of these?

Stay tuned...

Our Easter Traditions, Food Wise

2010-04-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Growing up we had two traditions that I can remember for Easter. First, we would die hard boiled eggs on Easter Eve, with a few wrapped in shrink wrap with money inside. Secondly, we would always celebrate with our family friends the Peterson's.

Now, with my own kids we have developed a few traditions. We do not die eggs. I hate the smell of vinegar, and twice I've been sick and pregnant over Easter and the very idea of vinegar made me ill. We love the convenience and color of the plastic eggs that come in a dozen for $.69 at Target. Reusable, and easy to fill. Smell free. Honestly though, the main reason we don't die them is because one year we were out of town until late on Easter Eve. As we were driving home, our oldest daughter screamed from the back of the car, "Oh no! We forgot to make eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide!" Hubby and I replied "No silly. We do that on Easter." Then we pulled into the closest Walmart parking lot and bought the plastic eggs and candy which we would fill and let the Easter bunny hide that night. We died six eggs the next day. Never more.

To make up for the missed family time, we have developed a tradition of making some other egg shaped dessert for Easter. This year it was chocolate dipped Rice Krispie Treat eggs. That was SO much fun! The girls loved shaping the eggs, the mom loved eating spoons full of chocolate. Win win win!

In other food areas:

I like ham. Ham is the Easter meat where I come from. My husband doesn't think he likes ham. He's so sure he doesn't like it that one year in his mother's kitchen I heard him ask "Mom, do we like ham?" He was young then, like twenty-seven, and so he didn't know.

Some things I've come to love are dinner rolls, and my Mother In Law's funeral potatoes. She makes them like nobody else, and they are divine! I have spent much time trying to master a duplicate version. I'm still working out the kinks.

Also I think we started a new tradition this year with a caramel monkey bread for breakfast. It will probably shave a few days off of my life, but it's so delicious! Instructions to follow for that one.

What do you do for Easter food?
Do you die eggs?

Menu Wednesday

2010-03-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

We're Scottish around here, at least my husband is, and therefore so are his children. No green dinners on St. Patty's day for us. Though the lil' chef did wear a green skirt to school today for fear of being pinched, or worse (what's worse?) if she didn't.

In the spirit of not being Irish, our menu starts out with a favorite Scottish dish:

Thursday - Mince & Totties
Friday - Chinese Chicken Salad (It's just so fresh and crisp outside. Time for lighter dishes.)
Saturday - Pizza (been on the menu several times lately, and has managed to elude us still.)
Sunday - Beef Stew
Monday - Pineapple enchiladas
Tuesday - Tortellini
Wednesday - Biscuits and Gravy (one more time before summer hits and it's just too heavy.)

Recap last week:
Thursday's beef stew, ended up being chili. I didn't get a chance to go shopping, and in an effort to find something else that simmered in a pot and used beef, I made a quick chili. Yummy as always. Friday's Thai Peanut chicken was good, only I still hadn't gone shopping so it included the last few carrots I had in the fridge and no snap peas (which really can make or break the meal.) A good hearty meal for sure, but lacking in the color and variety arenas. Saturday instead of chicken pot pies, we ended up ordering Thai food from a place nearby. It was delicious. If you haven't tried Thai, or at least not recently, I recommend this detour from your normal routine. The yellow curry with sticky rice and chicken is an easy favorite. Baked potatoes didn't happen yesterday because it was warm outside and we went for a walk while I forgot about doing anything productive. Today's pizza sticks are a maybe. Depends on whether I can muster up the strength to get the dough rising in the next five minutes. The chicken enchiladas were delicious if you ask me, but if you ask my husband not so much. I included all the wonderful tatsy things he hates.

I'm not mean, I just didn't think he was going to make it home in time to have dinner with us, so I made it my way. He was home in time and suffered through it for me.

What's on your menu for tonight? Surely you have time to include the name of your dinner dish in a comment. How do I have six devoted followers now (I'm sure you are devoted) who don't comment?

And the winner is..

2010-03-15T11:51:00.001-07:00

Kristy,

Thanks for following me. I will make you a gift. You'll have to wait to find out what it is, but could you send me your two favorite colors and Summer's dress size?

A

Menu Time

2010-03-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

So usually I do this on Wednesday, but that didn't happen because I was too lazy. Or I had too many other things to do. Either way, it's here today.

Thursday - Beef Stew and Easy Cheese Bread
Friday - Thai Peanut Chicken with Snap Peas and Carrots
Saturday - Chicken Pot Pies with Puff Pastry Crust
Sunday - Sausage Corn Chowder with corn muffins
Monday - Chicken Enchiladas with rice and black beans
Tuesday - Baked Potatoes with a garden salad
Wednesday - Pizza Sticks (breadsticks with pizza toppings, with sauce to dip)

I'm considering switching up my Tuesday (Comfort Food) and Wednesday (Italian/Leftovers) nights. Tuesday we don't get home from gymnastics until 5:30, and that limits time to prepare anything. In order to make that switch, I'll have to change the headings on my menu columns in my spreadsheet. That seems like a lot of work. I'll put it on my list of things to do on Tuesday when I have my "Ironing/Ironing out paperwork" chores.

Shopping List:
Beef for stew. Whatever's cheap.
Block of cheddar cheese
5 lb. bag russet potatoes
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch celery
Thai Peanut Sauce, dry packet
Coconut milk
Snap Peas
Puff Pastry
Frozen chicken
1 10oz. bag frozen peas and carrots
1 can creamed corn
1 can corn niblets
2 lbs Jimmy Dean's breakfast sausage (I plan to make some for breakfast, as well as the chowder)
1 box cornmeal
1 bag uncooked tortillas from Costco
3 large baking potatoes
1 bag salad greens
1 packet active dry yeast
1 jar marinara sauce
1 bag pepperoni slices
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 tub sour cream

Many of these items I'll "shop" for in my kitchen first. Then if I still need them I'll get them at the store. I always assume I have the essentials like flour, sugar, beans, rice and condiments.

Now off to look for some coupons that match my menu (I know some of you probably do it the other way around, but I'm not that savvy or good at matching my menu to what's on sale.)

Last on my list today would be to finish Wednesday's chores by cleaning out my fridge and making room for the groceries that will come home with me this afternoon. (And also folding the laundry that has been in a massive pile on my bed/floor/back to bed since Monday.)

What are you eating this week?
Are there any meals on my menus that surprise you?
Any recipes you'd like to try?

Follow Follow Me

2010-03-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

You don't have to do as I'm doing, just read about it. To follow me, you have to actually click on "Follow" on the top left of my blogger page. Adding it as a bookmark on your internet browser doesn't count, though this is not a practice I would discourage.

I LOVE comments. They offer validation. When I see a comment to a post I wrote it makes me think "wow, I have friends who cared to read and/or were bored enough to actually stop by my little blog." Then I feel happy. I'm a better friend when I'm happy. I also bake more.

When the cat's away...

2010-03-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

So, I know my husband isn't my boss, but somehow without him here I find little motivation to do normal things. Usually around four o'clock I start thinking "I'd better get things cleaned up, Hubby will be home soon." "I should start dinner, I don't want him feeling like he would rather eat a bowl of cereal than wait for me to make something once he's here."

Today, I feel more like offering the kids a bowl of cereal in paper bowls, all of us eating on the couch, and then throwing the mess away and going to bed when the kids do at eight o'clock. I can't do that though, because the smallest chef only naps at eight o'clock, and will wake back up as soon as I get asleep if I attempt it. Maybe I'll take a bath instead.

On my menu for today is fajitas. I can go as far as saying that will not happen. I didn't buy the meat. But maybe I'll make something like that anyway.

So, these mice will play and hubby will probably have a really nice dinner on the client's dime. I like to live vicariously through him for those dinners. I could go for a nice steak and baked potato right about now, but only if someone else were to make it and feed it to me. Also they'd have to clean up.

I did make a cake last night, which still needs to be frosted and eaten. If we have that for dinner does it count? It's homemade and has eggs, flour, and milk in it, so it's healthy.

I also made two loaves of sweet white bread, which is delicious.

Menu Time

2010-03-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

This will be a tricky one, we have suddenly made plans to host lots of family this weekend. There will be twelve eaters. I don't know how to cook that much food well, so we will likely eat out a lot. I'll try though.

Thursday - Baked Potato Soup
Friday - Hawaiian Haystacks (we had this last week, but with company it's easy and makes a lot for cheap)
Saturday - Pizza, made here or ordered out, we'll have to see
Sunday - BBQ Pork shoulder (again, easy and makes a lot)
Monday - Fajitas
Tuesday - Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo
Wednesday - Chicken pot pie

I'll probably make a few desserts too, since I do love to fatten up my house guests.

Apple Pie
Glob (rocky road bars)
Brownies

Off to shop today because tomorrow I'm sewing until my fingers hurt. Gotta narrow down some stuff on my list.

Bajio Style Salad

2010-03-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

If you haven't been to Bajio in Utah, I'm sorry. It's delicious food. There are many restaurants with that style of salad, like Cafe Rio, etc. So I make a version of that at home.

The uncooked tortillas from Costco are essential. It's the only way to get the fresh restaurant taste. Then I make rice in my rice cooker. I use the normal amounts of water for my rice, and then add a tsp of lime juice and about a T. of cilantro paste.

To the ranch dressing in my fridge, I add a tsp. of cilantro paste, a squeeze of lime juice, and some milk or buttermilk.

I used the same meat as from the BBQ pork this week. I didn't change anything about it, it was perfect just reheated in the microwave.

I made black beans by using the canned beans and adding a few pinches of garlic salt, cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder and onion powder.

Dice some tomatoes and use crushed tortilla chips, or tortilla strips (which I can't find anywhere.)

Layer starting with the tortilla, then I like my bed of lettuce first, rice, meat, beans, toppings. Of course cheese on top.

Another yummy dinner! I didn't take any pictures. By the time I got it cooked and served, my right bicep was aching from holding the baby and he needed to eat or I believe he might have melted away. I ate mine cold, half an hour after preparing it for everyone else. It was still good.

Hawaiian Haystacks and BBQ Pork Shoulder

2010-03-01T13:17:00.000-08:00

Hawaiian Haystacks were yummy as usual.

I had intended to use the leftover chicken from the dumpling dinner for the Hawaiian haystacks, but alas after that didn't work out, I resorted to my usual method of just throwing three frozen chicken breasts into the crock pot. Recipe:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, frozen
1 or 2 cans cream o' soup (I used chicken this time, sometimes I use half chicken half celery)
Season to taste, I use about 1/2 tsp. onion powder, garlic salt, and pepper, and then a dash of cayenne pepper.

Put ingredients into crock pot. Turn on low for 4-6 hours, until easily shredded with a fork.
Voila! Cooked chicken in a gravy. It's amazing how the soup changes in the crock pot. It would be a totally different thing if you just used the cooked soup over cooked chicken.

We put this sauce over jasmine rice and top with pineapple chunks, diced tomatoes, chow mien noodles, celery and whatever other veggie sounds good at the time. Delicious!

BBQ Pork shoulder worked well too.

I used a 4.5 lb. pork shoulder. Put that in the crock pot on lowest heat for about 4.5 hours (from when I woke up, until we returned from church.)

Then I removed the pork, poured out the disgusting fat that I didn't want mixed in with my sauce, and returned the pork to the cooker.

Over that, I poured half a recipe of this bbq sauce from scratch. I didn't pre-cook that part of the sauce since it would cook for so long in there anyway. I did cook what was left, and just let it sit out until the pork was done, about 5.5 hours later.

It cooked for a total of 10 hours on lowest heat (my crock pot has 4 heat settings, and one of them is 10 Hours Low.)

When it was done, it pulled off the bone very easily and shredded with just the wooden spoon. This one had only one large bone, so it didn't cause me the hardship that the chicken did the other day. Phew!

We had it on top of toasted sesame buns with a side of fruit salad. Awesome! Looking forward to lunch leftovers.

Chicken Dumpling Soup

2010-02-26T14:35:00.000-08:00

I used a new recipe, which posted a link to on my Menu post Wednesday. Really I only used the recipe for the dumplings, and made my own soup. I rate it 2.5 out of 5. The dumplings were gross and soggy. Sorry Bobby Flay, but in this throw down, I win. My usual dumplings are much better. Although the addition of nutmeg to the batter was surprisingly good. I thought it would taste funny but I liked it. I'll add that to mine next time.

To make the soup, I first did what I said I would, and roasted a chicken in the crock pot for about 5 1/2 hours. This made a very tasty chicken. I found a major problem with this method though. The chicken was so "fall off the bone" cooked, that I spent nearly twenty-five minutes searching through the colander (where I had poured the chicken so the stock would go in the pot, but the bones would not) for bones. I didn't get them all, I just gave up when my husband got home and dinner wasn't ready and my idea for a quick and simple meal had flown itself out of the window. I took some of the stock from the crock-potted chicken, added a little more water and spices, and assembled a soup. The dumplings were easy enough to make, but I'll say again, I don't recommend them.

I usually make dumplings by using a homemade biscuit dough, sans the kneading, and drop it in by the large spoonful. Much tastier.

There's a small fat man sitting on my lap and screaming in a most unpleasant way, so now I'll retire for the evening and see how the Hawaiian Haystacks turn out. The gravy is slow cooking downstairs...

Wednesday Menu

2010-02-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

Thursday - Chicken & Dumpling Soup (trying this new recipe)
Friday - Hawaiian Haystacks
Saturday - Manicotti
Sunday - BBQ Pork Roast on buns
Monday - Restaurant style taco salad w/ shredded pork
Tuesday - Hamburgers
Wednesday - Pizza

Here's how it all goes together - a whole chicken is $.99/lb at Costco. I'll buy the two pack and freeze one for later. I'll crock-pot the other one tomorrow morning so it's ready for soup in the evening. The rest of the soup takes about 10 minutes to toss together and the roasted chicken tastes a lot better than just a quick few pieces of grilled chicken breast. I'll use the extra chicken for the hawaiian haystacks on Friday, and just toss it back in the crock pot with a can of cream of chicken soup for a few hours to make the gravy. Saturday's Manicotti is just a fun one to make with the kids. They love squirting the filling into the shells. I will be buying buns for Sunday's pork roast, but we'll only use four. So the other buns will go for the hamburgers on Tuesday. That way we'll finish a whole package of buns. We'll use the extra pork for the meal on Monday. Tuesday's burgers are fast, perfect for our arrival home at 6pm after gymnastics. Wednesday pizza is super easy. Dough made in the am, brought out of the fridge at 3:30, ready to cook by 5:00pm. Voila!

Now if only I can stick to it.

I want to report back here every night and detail how it worked out so I know what to do better or what to keep for next time.

Also, since this blog is about validating me, you should know that I'm working with a broken toe, which I'm blaming on my husband. I also made two couch pillows last week, including the button holes which my machine does like magic (it just took me several hours to figure out how.) Plus, I actually finished my Monday chores by Tuesday night. Seven loads of laundry washed, folded, and put away. I'm a rock star.

Musings

2010-02-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

Today I made Mince & Totties. That's Scottish for mashed potatoes and ground beef gravy, with a side of peas. It got me to thinking. Somewhere, on some unknown afternoon a long time ago a Scottish woman had three things left in her pantry, and decided to make dinner out of them. She used up those potatoes and maybe overboiled them and decided to mash them. Added a little starch to her minced meat, and some color with the peas. Now it's traditional Scottish comfort food. Her kids made it for their kids, and now no one is left who could tell you where it started.

I wonder if there will be any legacy I leave that touches that many people. I wonder if my legacy might be a little more noteworthy than an inexpensive dinner combo. Will there be something I do or say that my kids pass on and credit to me because I was just always that cool?

What do you remember from your Mom? My mom made grits. My mom can sew anything. My mom's food always tastes better than anyone else's mom's food.

Six Pack Abs

2010-02-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

Before long folks, I'm going to have a six pack like that lady in the bowflex commercials. I know this because I always get what I want --- (sorry, just choked myself with laughter.) --- I've been challenged by this amazingly handsome man I know, to beat him to a six pack. I believe that the odds are stacked against him already. You see, I have the upperhand here, I have already stretched my abs to the extent that they can be stretched, shrunken them down to where my mid-section looks like a giant-previously-full-now-deflated-balloon, and done it again, two more times. I've got definition on my abs no man can match. My only goal really is to change the pattern from resembling an abstract Sun, to a washboard. Shouldn't be too hard, I've actually washed clothes on a washboard, so I know what it's meant to look like. Plus, he's only been going to the gym five days a week for the last several years. I've been running up and down the stairs several times ALL day, and chasing toddlers for at least 6 years. I win.

How does this fit into my food blog? Well, I've heard it said that a lot of looking physically fit, actually has to do with your diet. Go figure. Something about consuming fewer calories than you expend, replacing fat with protein and complete carbohydrates, etc. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT! I like to eat food that tastes good. Finding anything to eat during my day is challenging enough. Finding food to eat, at regular intervals, feeling full, and eliminating all cra* from my fridge is going to be really hard. After only one day of making a real effort, I feel hungry, cranky and unfulfilled. Any advice? Is this even possible? Should I just say I'm nearly thirty (yes, I'm incredibly young) and my time has passed?

I did, however, work out for an hour today and I feel rather pleased with that. Now I'm starved!

Help! I have to make a new dinner menu tomorrow and I have no ideas besides salad without dressing, fish and lemon juice, and celery sticks.

February's First Menu

2010-02-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

Here goes:

Thursday: Santa Fe Salad with Cilantro Ranch dressing
Friday: Butter Chicken (Chicken Makhani) with homemade Naan bread
Saturday: Biscuits and Country Gravy w/ Sausage
Sunday: Slow cooked bbq chicken wings, butter rolls and potato salad
Monday: Fajitas with steak strips
Tuesday: Baked sweet potatoes
Wednesday: Spaghetti w/ meatballs

Already made the Salad. Tasty! Next time I'll make more dressing. It would have gone well with lots of things. 1/2 c. ranch dressing, 1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro, 1 tsp. mild taco sauce (from Taco bell.) Salad was just romaine hearts from a bag, roasted corn niblets and black beans, grilled chicken - chopped, cheese, diced tomatoes, crushed tortilla chips.

Going to start tomorrows dinner tonight by marinating the cubed chicken in tomato based butter sauce, with spices, and plain yogurt overnight.

Should be a tasty week.

Goal: make these favorite dishes a little healthier. Less butter, lower fat ingredients, etc. Gotta keep my arterial walls in mind.

Last week went well. Made most dishes as planned, although the order was mixed up a few days because I didn't go shopping when I thought I would. Didn't get around to soaking my own beans for chili. Next time I really want to try that. Plus using my own dry beans would save a lot of money over buying all the different types of beans in a can. I think I'll buy the varieties I like in my chili, and put together bags of the different combined beans to just dump and go on chili nights. Crock pot usage would save time and several pots. We'll see.

See ya!

Orange Chicken, twice

2010-01-29T07:22:00.000-08:00

It is on the menu, just not like this. Because I didn't buy the meat and come up with something for dinner last night, hubby requested Panda Express. I bought it. We'll have Orange Chicken again tonight when I make it.

Shopping Today

2010-01-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

Today I went shopping. About half grocery, half impulse/need for other things. I bought fabric. So excited to make a blanket for my soon-to-be new nephew! Bought enough to make a matching nursing cover I think.

First Walmart: I always go to Walmart for canned goods unless the grocery stores are having a major sale. Cans of most thing at Wally's are around $.88, even brands like Campbell's, which I prefer to generic soups. For those of you living in more reasonably priced places than the Bay Area, cans of things like cream o' soup at the regular grocery store are usually closer to $1.50. Dry goods, cereals, etc. I only buy on sale, so today I didn't pick up any of those. I also bought a set of cooling racks for cookies. I have some really old, really small ones and it limits me. I don't appreciate limits in my kitchen these days.

Second: Costco. Love Costco. Wanna Marry it some days. Yes Hilary, they sell the stuff for Orange chicken, they were even demo'ing it today. It is delicious and you do need it. I believe I will no longer be able to survive without it. Also bought a couple of whole chickens for $.99/lb. So many options there. Plus, it gives me a chance to use my new roasting/serving dish from my mother in law. On a completely unrelated note to groceries, I bought a rather expensive pair of jeans here, expensive by any standard, and am sad to find that even at my pre-baby weight, my waist size is never going to be that small again. We'll be returning those promptly.

On the menu today, Beef Stew. Not happening. Didn't find the right meat at the right price, so I'll be making some other kind of dinner. Stay right there on the edge of your seat. I'll fill you in when I've decided what that other kind of dinner will be.

Wednesday Menu

2010-01-27T16:29:00.000-08:00

Thursday - Beef Stew and homemade rolls
Friday - Orange Chicken w/ rice (Costco sells Panda Express orange sauce)
Saturday - Chicken dinner (since I never got around to it last week)
Sunday - Chicken & Dumplings w/ extra chicken from Saturday
Monday - Tostada Pizza w/ shredded beef
Tuesday - Chili from scratch (dried beans and all) w/ Easy Cheese Bread
Wednesday - Leftovers or Pasta and fruit salad

Goals for this week: serve one fruit and one vegetable with every meal

Last week synopsis: Broccoli Cheese soup ended up being potato cheese soup with broccoli and chicken. Pretty tasty! I'll write down the recipe and store that in my brain for later. Chicken dinner didn't happen. We added an activity for the girls on that night, and ended up making quick breakfast burritos instead. Made sour cream chicken enchiladas instead of trying the new recipe on Monday. Forgot to start the chicken in the slow cooker in time. Dinner with friends was great on Sunday, although the meat was probably under-done and we'll have to get a good thermometer for next time. Good friends as they are, they didn't complain. Using leftover dough from Sunday's rolls to make cinnamon rolls to eat during the basketball game tonight. Mmm...

Basically, I wasn't nearly as prepared as I should have been and didn't check my menu every day so I would have things ready when I needed them. This week I'll do tons better!

Wednesday Menu

2010-01-20T14:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's actually Thursday, but at least I made a menu this week.

Thursday - Broccoli Cheese Soup and homemade bread
Friday - Sweet & Sour Chicken over rice
Saturday - Chicken Parmesan
Sunday - Filet Mignon, green beans, sweet potato casserole and dinner rolls (having company over)
Monday - Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Tortillas* (two pans, one for a friend)
Tuesday - Whole chicken, sausage rolls, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies
Wednesday - leftovers

Last week we had some fun meals. Sweet and Sour chicken was a hit, making it again on Friday. Made Enchiladas twice, corned beef hash was interesting, lettuce wraps were good (next time remember the cucumbers.)

Also planning to make cookies for our neighbors (who always leave their trash can out, maybe they'll stop if they like me better.) Probably a few Valentiney desserts with the girls as we figure out what to make for their annual Valentines party with friends.

Three Layer Chocolate Cake

2010-01-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make a boxed cake that I bought at Safeway. Dark Chocolate Mint Cake. Then hubby asked "could it be made with milk chocolate, instead of dark?" So I tried to come up with my own, saving the box for a time when I was alone and could enjoy it's decadence by myself.

I used the measurements for liquid on the box, then substituted with a chocolate cake mix from my cupboard (when Target has cake mixes for $.79 I can't help myself.) Spread onto parchment paper in jellyroll pan, and bake 15 min. It wasn't very even. The liquid was less than the box called for, and therefore the mixture was very thick. Hard to spread evenly.

Still, I cut into three bricks, the short length of the pan, and cooled. I made chocolate icing from my Hershey cookbook and topped with Andes Mint pieces. Yum!

Once again, I couldn't get to my camera before hubby took a test bite (or three.)

What to change:
1. More careful about spreading mix evenly before baking. Would have laid out more nicely.
2. Just use the box, it came with everything, and hubby really wouldn't have noticed
3. Keep camera handy so he can't bite into the corner before I get a good picture

My holiday baking/cooking summed up in photo

2010-01-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

Here's the only post I'm going to get for the last few weeks. I thought about writing a little blurb for each one, but I can't. Because I really don't want to. Two kinds of pot pie, a birthday cake, and a smores cookie bar. I cooked/baked a lot of other things, but the camera wasn't handy.

My New Best Friend

2009-12-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

This year, as usual, my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Exactly as last year, I told him I wanted a large food processor. He told me he couldn't get that for me because it's the same as buying me a vacuum for Christmas. I argued again that cooking is my hobby and a food processor is an expensive toy for that hobby that I couldn't just go out and buy for myself. Vacuuming is not a hobby, it's a chore. He said I'd just have to buy one. So I did. She's beautiful!

I've only just begun playing with her. She's so pretty. We've sliced fruit several times, as Lil' Chef's are amazed (as am I) at how quickly she can slice a whole apple or orange. We made cornbread batter. We shredded potatoes for soup. My Kitchenaid needs to watch her back. She might be replaced on the countertop soon. This new beauty works so quickly, and even makes dough. I am in love.

I have a list of things I want her to try. First, I think she needs a name. (Turning now to ask Lil' Chef's what they think.) We've decided on Gloria.

Gloria's List:
Cookie Dough
Guacamole
Ground Beef (she can grind up a steak in less than 20 seconds.)
Meatballs from freshly ground beef
Bread crumbs
Pizza dough
Salsa
pie crust
biscuits
salad
cookie balls

I also told him that I wanted the Hershey's Classic Cookbook that I saw at Costco. It has over 200 dessert recipes. He said nothing for cooking is a gift. I'll be buying that today.

Peanut Chicken becomes Burritos

2009-12-04T17:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, so that would make a gross burrito. Still, the menu said Peanut Chicken, and that's a far stretch from where we ended up. I took too long decorating the house and mopping the kitchen floor, and didn't leave time to thaw chicken breast and make peanut chicken. (Though I still might make it for my hubby, who won't be home for another hour.)

Our standard burrito:
Uncooked tortillas from Costco
1 lb. Ground Beef
Taco Seasoning
black or pinto beans (tonight, black)
Shredded cheese
sour cream
tomatoes

Brown tortillas. Cook beef with seasoning, drain and add beans. Assemble and enjoy. Very easy! Always a hit.

White Bean and Cheese Soup - Almost Just like Mom's

2009-12-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

The house smelled good, and I really liked the soup. It was just the comfort food I needed after a completely sleepless night with a very cranky-unless-I-held-him baby.

Hubby, not so much. He promised he wasn't trying to choke it down, but then he almost actually choked it down. Subtlety and nonchalance are maybe not his strongest points. He's adorable though, and knew how my day had been, so really he couldn't have given me another response.

Recipe:
1 bag navy beans (my bag said Great Northern Beans)
3 small to medium potatoes, shredded or diced
about 1/3 Velveeta log (not sure how else to say that so it doesn't sound gross.)
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup diced ham

Soak beans in crock pot overnight, following package directions. In the morning add seasonings and potatoes, then turn crock pot to high. About an hour or two before eating, add cheese and ham. Mine cooked for six hours and it was just right. The beans were cooked after 4 hours.

Cornbread accompanied. I made it with my fancy shmancy new food processor, to which I will dedicate a whole post when I have time. First batch, not good. Kinda brick-like. Second batch much better. What I learned from the first:
1 Tbsp. and 1 tsp. are two completely different measurements and make a difference when using baking powder.
Don't overmix cornbread batter. Just get it all moist and stop messing with it.

Reicpe on the back of the cornmeal box. I'll use another next time and probably also add honey.

Menu Wednesday

2009-12-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

Thursday - White Bean & Cheese soup with cornbread
Friday - Thai Peanut Chicken with snap peas and carrots - GLOP for dessert
Saturday - Brown Sugar Salmon with fresh green beans
Sunday - Orange Chicken with rice and egg rolls
Monday - Pineapple Enchiladas with black beans and Apple Crisp for dessert
Tuesday - Tri-Tip sandwiches with baked beans and fruit
Wednesday - Leftovers

My menu follows a few patterns. First, I've assigned each day of the week a food type. Monday - Mexican, Tuesday - Comfort Foods/American, Wednesday - Leftovers/Italian, Thursday - Soup/Salad, Friday - Ethnic/New, Saturday - FREE/Fresh, Sunday - Slow Cooker/Cassarole/Frozen. Then Wednesday Lil' Chef #1 gets to pick and help prepare, Friday Lil' Chef #2 gets to pick and prepare, and Sunday, if he cares, Hubby gets to pick.

Shopping List:
Velveeta Cheese
ham
cornmeal
coconut milk
peanut sauce packet
spanish peanuts
yogurt
whole carrots
fresh snap peas
mini-marshmallows
green beans
orange chicken sauce
apples
sweet sandwich rolls
orange juice
diet coke
bread crumbs
italian herb mix

Costco:
Salmon Filets
egg rolls
tri-tip
whipped cream
milk

Freezing ahead only works if you remember you did it.

2009-11-28T17:57:00.000-08:00

Those rolls for Thanksgiving, Delicious. Only I didn't find that out until we got back, because I forgot to bring them. I ended up using my mother-in-laws kitchen after all. It wasn't too bad. She was in there cooking anyway. I just felt like I was taking up more than my share of counter-top space. Plus, when I asked my husband to clean my mess while I went to give the baby his favorite Thanksgiving fare, he let his mom clean it up. NOT the plan. Then I just felt like a heel. Of course he says she insisted.

Almost a Brisket

2009-11-22T22:01:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do Brisket. Then I asked my supermarket butcher if he had some. He pulled out something weird from the 'back' and said it was $5 a pound. I said never mind and bought another cheap roast like last week. I had been planning to entertain some friends, but still that would have been about $15 just for meat. We'll save that for Christmas or something.

So, basically same as last week.

1 3ish lb. roast
1Tbsp. montreal steak seasoning
1 bottle bbq sauce

Slow cooker (oven) on low. Rub meat with seasoning. Pour on BBQ sauce. Used shallow roaster. Covered with foil. Put it in at 9am, pulled it out at 5pm. Tender, and juicy. I literally couldn't taste it. I have a cold. I could have eaten the venison liver I saw in the store fridge (which, by the way, is disgusting!) and not known the difference.

Hubby said he liked it. I slow roasted potatoes with it in a separate dish all day. Can't tell you what they tasted like, but they were definitely done cooking :-) Next time I think I'll roast them the traditional way so they are more crispy on the outside. I like a crispy potato.

I did also make rolls. I need to make rolls for Thanksgiving dinner, but I don't love working in my mother-in-law's kitchen. No one has ever said anything to make me feel that way, I just always feel like I'm in the way and making lots of noise while everyone else tries to watch tv. So I made enough for 4 dozen. I ended up with 5 dozen. I froze 4 dozen pre-shaped rolls and baked the other dozen for dinner. They were gone by the end of the meal. Lil' Chef's love 'em.

Kim's Dinner Rolls: (From my friend Kim, who always has the best recipes.)

Bake at 400 for 9 min.

Makes 4-6 dozen

1 stick (1/2 c.) butter or margarine

½ c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 c. milk

2 Tbsp. yeast

2 eggs

7 c. flour

½ c. water

Place butter, sugar and salt in mixing bowl. Warm or scald milk, pour into mixing bowl to melt or soften butter. Let cool for yeast. Add yeast and proof 10 minutes. Add eggs. Mix using paddle or whisk attachment. Add 6 cups flour. Mix using bread hook. Add ½ cup water and remaining 1 cup of flour. Knead 1 to 2 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Let rise until double. Shape by rolling dough and cutting, or by pinching desired amount and rolling into a ball.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 9 minutes.

To freeze: shape rolls and layer over parchment paper. One layer of rolls, one layer plastic wrap, then another layer of rolls in between, etc. That way they can freeze all at once, and not stick together. After they're frozen put them in a zip top bag all together. They'll keep for a couple of months. To use, let thaw 2-4 hours depending on the temp. of the room they are in. Keep covered with greased plastic wrap while rising. Bake as usual.

Egg Drop Soup - Not a Hit

2009-11-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

A friend made me some vegetable spring rolls a while back and I wanted to use them for a meal. I decided spring rolls would go well with egg drop soup. I got a recipe out that I've used once before and the Lil' Chef's wanted to help.

First, the spring rolls had to be fried. I just put about half an inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan on lowish heat. They were frozen, so I didn't want them to burn. I let those fry, turning every now and then, while I made the soup. We dipped them in Sweet and Sour sauce from a bottle I bought at the grocery store.

4 cups chicken broth
Salt
Pepper
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
2 eggs plus one extra egg yolk

Scramble eggs and yolk, set aside. Combine other ingredients in pot. Bring to slight boil. Using your third hand (this is where Lil' Chef got to help) stir while pouring egg through a fork. Keep stirring until it's all used. Egg should cook immediately.

This meal didn't go over well. The soup was good. The spring rolls were not the best. Something seemed off about having freshly picked green beans in a spring roll. My friend will teach me how to roll them soon, and I think I'll use carrots and cabbage and maybe some thinly sliced beef.

The Lil' Chef's were not in a good mood. One was too tired to eat anything, the other one didn't like the idea of eggs in soup.

What to change:
1. Some other filling for spring rolls. No green beans.
2. Less egg in the soup. It was tasty, but a little to eggy. Plus a few chopped carrots and celery would probably have been yummy.
3. Don't tell Lil' Chef's what's in it, if it might be something too unusual for them to process. Taste first, explain later. Kinda like fast food.

Ok Chili

2009-11-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

There's a restaurant near by our house called OK Chinese Food. Hubby and I have never been adventurous enough to try it out. If the owners don't even toot their own horns, we figure it's not worth our time. Dinner last night was kinda like that.

Menu Item: Chili and Cornbread

Cornbread didn't happen. I ended up babysitting last minute for a friend, and I don't like to have my oven on when there are lots of little ones running around.

Chili was simple:
1 lb. ground beef
1 packet Chili seasoning from McCormick
1 Can kidney beans, drained
1 can chili beans, drained
1 can prepared chili
1 can tomato sauce

Brown beef, drain. Return to pot and add seasoning and canned foods. Stir and heat through for at least 15 minutes to let flavors blend.

Usually I've made this with my own seasonings. A little garlic, a little onion powder, some chili powder, salt and pepper. I saw the seasoning packet at Safeway and thought I'd give it a try. Not bad, not great.

Next time I'll stick with my own seasonings to taste.

Served with cheese and sour cream. Everyone finished and was full. That's the point.

What I learned:
1. Shortcuts save on time and usually skimp on flavor
2. I need to recycle more, all those cans just don't look right in the trash.

Gave some extra chili to a friend who had already made baked potatoes. I wished I'd done that too, but again, it would have required using my oven so it probably wasn't going to happen anyway.

Menu Wednesday

2009-11-18T10:40:00.000-08:00

My menu starts on Thursday, because that's when I shop for fresh food.

Thursday - Chili and Cornbread
Friday - Egg drop soup (a favorite for Lil' Chefs to help with) and spring rolls (from a friend)
Saturday - Brown Sugar Salmon and roasted potatoes
Sunday - BBQ Beef Brisket
Monday - Navajo Tacos with meat from Sunday
Tuesday - out of town for Thanksgiving, no cooking for me till Friday
Wednesday - still out of town, baking rolls for family dinner tomorrow

Wish me luck. Shopping should be easy this week. Beans for chilis, sweet & sour chicken from TJ's, a brisket and a new bag of frozen salmon from Costco. Of course lots of fruits and veg. Gotta get those vitamins to keep away the winter bugs.

It's late, Dude's asleep, now it's my turn.

Skills

2009-11-17T22:36:00.000-08:00

I made a delicious dinner for the Lil' chefs tonight. Baby carrots, in individual baggies. One each: 100 calorie pack oreo cakesters, Kellogs cereal bars, mini bottled water, fruit snacks.

Don't pretend you aren't jealous of how well I've got it all together. I'm just that good.

And off to Enrichment...

A Lotta Lasagna

2009-11-16T22:27:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I'm taking a lasagna to a potluck, so tonight I made two large pans. I had half a box of regular noodles and half a box of no-boil noodles.

I ate the no-boil version because I was worried the noodles wouldn't be cooked through (like last time) and didn't want to put my name on that one at church.

The noodles were cooked, but I have to say, the no-boil noodles are sometimes like eating rubbery paper. I won't be buying them again. Great in a pinch, but just don't make a fantastic dish.

The sauce was good, but basic. Ground beef, seasoned with Italian Seasoning (I should find out what's in that), onion powder because Hubby doesn't think he likes onions and doesn't know I use it - he compliments the flavor every time I put it in, and some garlic salt.

So, another success.

What I learned:
1. I'm not a huge fan of no-boil noodles.
2. It takes a lot of sauce to make a lasagna.
3. I can stretch the cheese mix if I have to and it's fine.

I'm going to bed now and the dishes aren't done. I'll wake up to the lovely smell of uncooked cheese mixture and pasta sauce. At least everything made it as far as the sink. Tonight I remembered to turn on the dishwasher with yesterdays dishes. Also I cleaned under the oven and fridge today.

I boiled you a Roast

2009-11-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

Actually, I've done roasts before in the crock pot. That's the easy way. Mom always did them in the oven, but mine never turned out well that way (In my imagination, because I never actually tried it before.) So today I thought I'd experiment with the slow-cooker feature on my oven.

Two thoughts have prevented me from doing this before. They are 1: My gas oven will be running for hours, and gas costs like $3.50 a gallon these days. 2: Will it really work? and 3: Can I trust it not to burn my house down while I'm away?

So, I prepared the simplest roast I could think of. A three lb. three and a half dollar roast I bought on sale at Safeway. No sure what cut of meat it was, but I asked the butcher for something "really really cheap." I figured if I might ruin it, I didn't want to pay much.

Then I put my simple roast in a roasting pan, without a rack. Then I put some carrots beside it so it would look like I tried to serve more than one food group (or food pyramid piece) to my family. Slow Cooker button on Hi (like Hello, interestingly) and off to church I went feeling like a domestic queen for sure. I didn't tell Hubby that the oven would be on the whole time. He would likely have nixed the whole idea.

When we came back, the house was still standing and it smelled beautiful and beefy. The meat fell apart and the carrots were really salty from having cooked in beef juice and seasonings for 5 hours. It was delicious. Hubby requested that I make it ALL THE TIME. I'm pretty sure he clings to my successes with a little more intensity so he doesn't have to test out all my failures as often. The gravy was even good.

Roast:

3 lbs cheap meat
2 Tbsp. Montreal Steak Seasoning

Rub meat with seasoning. Put in oven. Make sure oven is on.

Gravy:

2ish Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. beef stock
seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, more montreal)
beef drippings

Melt butter, stir in flour and mix well. Add stock, seasonings and drippings. Stir until thickened. (I cheated here and used some potato flakes from the mashed potatoes I made from a bag, because my gravy wasn't as thick as I wanted.)

Voila! Dinner that hubby liked!

What I learned:
1. Meat is meat. Cheaper is not worse than expensive when slow cooked.
2. The slow cooker feature is for real on my oven and I may not be able to live without it from now on.

Still awaiting PG&E bill...

Dang "Easy" Instructions!

2009-11-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

So I bought a box of Reese's Cookie bars at Target. It would supposedly take two minutes to make.

Surprisingly, it did. It went in the fridge, and I was ready to wow my friends with my skills after lunch. Then during my quick clean-up, I realize I've left the peanut butter out. A whole packet of peanut butter filling is not in my peanut butter bars. C'mon!

And that's why I write this blog...

What I learned:

1. Read instructions carefully, because some times I'm an idiot.
2. When poured on top, peanut butter is peanut butter and will fix anything. When we ate them during the football game the next day, they were gone in minutes, totally delicious!

Ah Fudge! - Even I can't mess this one up

2009-11-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

So my favorite recipe website, All Recipes, had this recipe on their front page yesterday. It's from Eagle Brand and because it looked so easy, I decided to try it.

Lil' Chefs helped and it was Soooooo easy! Plus, it tasted really good and gets me started off well on my holiday 5-15 lb. tradition.

Cookies 'n' Creme Fudge:

18 oz. white chocolate peices, or baking squares

1 can (14 oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk

3 cups coarsely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

1/8 tsp. salt

1. In heavy saucepan, melt chocolate, milk, and salt over low heat

2. Stir in crushed cookies

3. Pour into wax paper lined pan (9x13 or 8x8)

4. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

5. Turn on to cutting board and remove paper. Cut into 1 inch squares. Store covered in fridge.

By - Eagle Brand

Questions to experiment with:

1. Would this work as well with milk chocolate?

2. How much can I make before my family and I are sick of it?

3. What other fillings would go well here?

What I learned was that making impressive desserts doesn't have to be hard. Lil' Chef actually did most of the stirring, and that was the hardest part. Lil' other Chef did more of the cookie smashing, which is more in line with her personality. Lil'st chef kept watch from his perch in the Bjorn.

I think next time I will try using some kind of jam or fruit. Maybe raspberries or cranberries in the holiday spirit. That would be pretty. The cookies I used were the Christmas ones (which are out a little early this year, if anybody cares what I think.) so they had red filling. The whole fudge ended up being pink which delighted Lil' chef's to no end.

Now I have something super easy and quick to give to friends for the Holiday's and they'll be impressed with my craftiness and holiday spirit. Maybe they'll all want to be just like me!

A mix it a mash it...

2009-11-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

A few years ago santa bought me a lovely stand mixer at Costco. Did you know that you can use a stand mixer to actually make food?! Like bread dough and cookie dough, and even mashed potatoes? To my surprise, and my husbands delight, my mixer was able make many desserts (from boxes) that he wasn't accustomed to. Like birthday cake and fresh bread. He put on a few pounds from eating, and then lost it while cleaning up my mess. He's got a great body and now I can take all the credit.

My baking repertoire expanded from brownies from a box to:

Basic White Bread

Birthday cake (still from a box)

Better boxed brownies

I'm practically a chef!