I'm Baaaaccckkk!

So, I am not exactly sure what happened there for almost 6 months.

I've obviously been feeding my family but apparently not talking about it.

I am off work all this week so there is bound to be some yummy-ness coming out of my kitchen!

First up a husband favorite...Shepard's Pie or actually more accurately, Cottage Pie since I am making it with ground beef. (traditional Shepard's Pie is made with ground lamb)  I also am using a sweet potato topping rather than white potato.

I got a brand new Le Creuset dutch oven for Christmas (Thanks Mom and Dad!) and I am excited for it's maiden voyage!

Here is what I used:
Approx 1T butter (vegan butter actually)
1 onion-chopped
A few carrots-chopped
1 pound ground beef
1T flour
1C beef stock (although, I only had chicken so that's what I used)
1 T tomato paste (mine was basil infused)
1/2 T Worcestershire sauce
a few shakes of dried herbs-herbs de provence today
Fresh ground salt and pepper.

Topping:
3 sweet potatoes peeled, chopped, boiled and mashed
Splash of milk (almond milk for us)
Spoonful of butter (vegan again)

I made the whole thing in my dutch oven but you could easily start in a saute' pan and transfer to an oven proof dish before baking.

I made my sweet potato topping in the morning and kept it in the fridge til ready to use. I tend to spread my cooking out all day when I have the chance!

Melt the butter and saute' the carrots and onion until soft. Add the beef and cook until the meat is brown. Stir in flour and cook for 5 minutes. Gradually stir in stock, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.

At this point, you would transfer to an oven proof dish. Allow the mixture to cool a bit before adding the mashed potatoes.  Pipe or spread potatoes over meat mix and bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until nice golden brown.

This could very easily be prepped ahead of time and put in the oven after a long day.

As always, ENJOY! And, please...leave me some love!

Kid Friendly Meals

I think I have said it before...I have been blessed with a kid (and a husband) who will eat virtually anything! It really is great to be able to try out new things with them and know that pretty much no matter what, they will gobble it up!

Every once in a while though, I want to feed them some "comfort" foods of our childhood but with out all the processed garbage that comes along with them.

What was that commercial? Kid Tested, Mother Approved.

Here are 3 of our favorite recipes that fit that category. Sadly, I have no photos of these so you will have to take my word on how good they are.

1st up is a staple at our house. Homemade pizza! We love this recipe at the end of a long week when there are left over veggies that need to be eaten up. I will share my dough recipe and leave the toppings to your imagination. Our versions almost always contain pesto, bell peppers and artichokes along with whatever else sounds good, lately we've been on a caramelized "yun-yin" (onion) kick!

This recipe makes enough dough for the 3 of us. Before I roll it out, I divide it in half. S gets half then I take my half and break off a small amount for a cute little personal pizza for E.

1 package active dry yeast
1 C warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl olive oil
2 1/2 C flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sugar, salt and oil. Then stir in flour. Stir vigorously, about 20 strokes, I usually end up just sticking my hands in and mixing. Allow dough to rest, covered 1/2-1 hour. Divide dough onto lightly greased baking pan. Roll each into a 8"-10" circle.  Spread on sauce and your choice of toppings. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes.

There you have it! Pizza Night!

The next recipe I took from my newest favorite cookbook...100 days of Real Food by Lisa Leake. This book is great, check it out if you haven't already!  Her website is 100daysofrealrfood.com I get a lot of inspiration from it!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 egg
1c Whole wheat bread crumbs, I used Panko
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t paprika (I was out so I omitted)
Olive oil for cooking.

Cut chicken into 1 1/2 chunks and season with S&P.  Lightly beat the egg in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, paprika and garlic powder and mix with a fork. Set aside a large plate for the prepared chicken pieces. Toss some of the chicken in the egg mixture until they are fully coated, the drop them into the crumb mixture and coat with crumbs. Once all of the pieces are coated heat a thin layer of oil in a sautee pan over medium-low heat. Add the chicken a few pieces at a time and cook until heated through and no longer pink-about 5-6 minutes per side. Transfer the cooked nuggets to a paper towel lined plate to absorb the excess oil. Serve now or freeze for later.

Lastly, I followed a recipe from another favorite cookbook. The Stocked Kitchen by Sarah Kallio and Stacey Krastins.

Sloppy Joes

1 pound ground beef, turkey or chicken
Diced Onion and Garlic
3/4 t salt
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
2/3 C Ketchup
1/4 C brown sugar
1 T yellow mustard
1 T barbeque Sauce, we used Open Pit

Brown meat with onion and garlic, drain and return to pan. Mix in the remaining ingredients and simmer, stirring often for 20 minutes. Serve on buns.
I pulled buns out of the freezer that looked like they'd seen better days. I topped them with a little butter and garlic salt and through them under the broiler 1st and no one was the wiser!

I am thinking about having a little contest for my blog readers. Would anyone be interested in getting some goodies from me? Let me know what you think and stay tuned for details!

Grilled Stuffed Portobellos

I will admit, I am not a big fungus mushroom fan. It's a texture thing, slimey and gross.

The portobello though is meaty and delicious if cooked the correct way.

Tonight I decided to stuff them and stick them on the grill.  I found a recipe to loosely base my mushrooms on but modified it to use what I had around the kitchen.


First I cleaned and "gilled" the mushrooms

Grab the stem and lightly twist it off

I used a spoon to gently scrape the gills out the of mushroom. I find that if you leave them on it make everything black and mushy and gross.

I put about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar in each of the mushrooms to marinate while I got the stuffing ready.

I chopped up some onion, garlic and red pepper and sauteed it in olive oil. I then added a few handfuls of Spring Mix greens and reduced it down.

I took that mix and put it in each of my mushrooms (I used 6) I added diced tomatoes, avocado and bacon bits and topped with cheese-Co-Jack for the boys and vegan mozzarella for me. I sprinkled the tops with salt, pepper and dried basil and they were ready for the grill.

I put them on a medium hot grill for about 15 minutes until the cheese got nice and melty (another use for the pharse ooey, gooey, melty, melty cheese!)

S and E both gobbled these right up and declared that it was a "Make Again" Meal!

Please let me know if you try any of my recipes and what you think!
As always, Enjoy!

Prep Now, Cook Later

Today's blog post is brought to you by S & E being gone for the weekend, Anna Kendrick Radio on Pandora and some priced to sell chicken breasts at the store.

I think I have said it before, I use my crock pot a lot!  I love walking in the door to a ready made meal.

I have been thinking about "freezer cooking" for a while now and decided to spend part of my relaxing weekend alone prepping a few meals.

The premise of freezer cooking is freezer to crock pot with only a little thawing time in between.

Today I made Cilantro-Lime Chicken, BBQ-Cranberry Chicken, and Maple-Dijon Chicken (like I said, chicken was on sale today!)

I started with the Maple-Dijon.
I combined 1C dijon mustard, 1/2 C maple Syrup, 2T red wine vinegar and a little salt and pepper.

I put about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken in a Zip-Lock bag and added the mixture.

On the bag I wrote: Maple-Dijon Chicken. Thaw for 24 hours and cook on low for 8 hours. I also noted to sprinkle rosemary over the top before serving.
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Next I made the BBQ-Cranberry Chicken
I mixed a few sprinkle of dried onion, a can of whole cranberry sauce and 1C BBQ sauce

I added about 2 pounds of chicken and wrote on the bag: BBQ-Cranberry chicken. Thaw overnight and cook on low 6-7 hours.
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Lastly, I made the Cilantro-Lime Chicken
I mixed lime juice (from 2 limes), a bunch on chopped cilantro, frozen corn, 1/2 an onion, 1 can of black beans, a few shakes of cumin and some salt and pepper.

I added about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken. I wrote on the bag: Thaw for 24 hours, cook on low for 8 hours. I also added to serve on tortillas with sour cream, guacamole, salsa and cheese.

I found it helpful to write on the bags before I added any food. I also used a mixing bowl to hold the bag upright while I filled it

There you go. 3 nights of meals with about an hours work or less!

Obviously we haven't eaten them yet but I'll be sure to let you know when we do!

Meatless Monday

We try to eat "Meatless" at least once a week.

I made these quinoa stuffed peppers last week and they were great!

Here is the recipe. I made a bit less, as this makes 6 and I only made 4.

2c cooked quinoa
1c frozen corn
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
3T(ish) chopped cilantro
Chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
1t cumin
1t chili powder
Salt and pepper.
Cheese-I made 2 with cheddar and 2 with dairy free cheese.

Mix all together.

Cut the tops off 6 bell peppers and stuff the peppers with the quinoa mix.
Place in a pan (a loaf pan fits 2 perfectly) and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
I served them with some sliced avocado

I

Since I have recently found out that I am dairy and egg free, I will probably start writing about how I modify my recipes so that my whole family can eat them!

As always, enjoy!

Guinness Corned Beef and Cabbage

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2 blog posts in 1 day...must mean my family was well fed this weekend! =)

S is a little bit Irish, so that means E is a little bit Irish too.

Since the 17th falls on a Tuesday this year, we decided to celebrate my boys Irish heritage today. We began the morning with green pancakes...E wasn't so sure about them...

I am typically not a corned beef fan, but once a year I make it and I like it!

Here's my recipe

I boiled my beef on the stove instead of the crock pot this year. 

I put the meat in my big stock pot and added the spice packet, I also threw in some bay leaves. Then comes the good stuff...I added a can of Guinness, I could have used 2 but S wanted to drink some. Then I added water to cover the meat.

I got that boiling, then covered and simmered for about 2 hours.

Once I was nearing the 2 hour mark, I got my veggies prepped. 

Cabbage (of course!) onion, carrots and potatoes.  I quartered the potatoes and left the skin on. I thew in all the veggies, except the cabbage, got it up to boiling again then simmered for 10 minutes. Next, I added the cabbage(cut into 8ths) and simmered for about 15 minutes more. 

I piled everything on my biggest platter and still didn't have enough room

 

 Next time, I think I will only use 1/2 a cabbage, we have lots of leftover boiled cabbage. I am going to make a stuffed cabbage casserole in the crock pot later this week, thanks for the idea Mom!

Hope you all have a Happy St. Paddy's Day!

 

Turkey Black Bean Chili

When I think of spring weather, I don't typically think about making chili. I do, however, think about a quick, healthy meal that gets me outside and playing sooner.

Last night, I sent S & E out to play and got this going quickly so I could join them while it simmered.

Here's what I used:

1 pound ground turkey
Onion
Garlic
1 can rinsed and drained black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
Corn
2T flour
salt
Chili Powder
Water.

Here's what I did:
Brown the turkey, onion and garlic, drain (the worst part IMO)
Add the tomatoes, sauce, beans and corn.
Mix the flour, salt, chili powder and water to make a paste, add it to the meat and simmer.

I served mine with a plop of plain Greek yogurt and some shredded cheese.

Coming up soon, Corned Beef and Cabbage...just in time for St. Patty's Day!

Ooey Gooey Melty Melty Cheese

E will eat just about anything if it is covered in "Ooey Gooey Melty Melty Cheese"

Yesterday we decided to have lasagna...practically the definition of ooey gooey melty melty!

Here's what I did.

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground sausage
Onion, garlic, bell pepper
Salt, Pepper, Italian seasoning
Spaghetti sauce
Basil-fresh
Asiago cheese
1 1/2 c cottage cheese
1 egg
dried parsley
mozzarella cheese
lasagna noodles



I started with the (organic, grass fed) ground beef and ground sausage.
I browned it with onion, garlic and a red pepper. I added salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

Once that was all browned up, I added the jar of spaghetti sauce, about 1/2 c water and a few leaves of fresh basil chopped up. I let that simmer for a few minutes.

While the meat was simmering, I made the cheese layer. I mixed the cottage cheese with the asiago, egg, parsley and mozzarella. I discovered that my local grocery store makes its own in-house mozzarella and boy is it good! The stuff I bought had just been made, it was a fresh as you can get it!

In a 9x13 pan sprayed with non-stick spray I put about 1 cup of the sauce. Then I layered (un-cooked) lasagna noodles, sauce and cheese 2 times. On the top of the cheese layer, I added a few more leaves of chopped up basil. I ended with piles of the fresh mozzarella cheese

I covered it with foil and baked in a 350 degree oven. After 45 minutes, I pulled the foil off and cooked for 15 minutes more. I let it sit for about 10 minutes before diving into it.

Would you look at that ooey gooey goodness! 

Homemade "Lara Bars"

Lately, I have been trying really hard to feed my family as "cleanly" as possible.  I have been calling clean, 5 ingredients or less unless I made it all myself.

We love to eat Lara Bars because they have only a few ingredients and they are all things I can pronounce. However, they can get costly.

A few weeks ago, S came across a recipe on a website he visits frequently, UltraRunnerPodcast.com. He asked me if I thought I could make it sometime. The recipe was called "Coconut Date Bars"  They contain ingredients that are commonly found in the Lara Bars we love.

I changed it up from being bars, to balls that are easy to grab and pop in your mouth when you need a quick, healthy, sweet snack

2 c pitted dates
3/4 c raw cacao powder
1 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1 T honey
1 t sea salt- I didn't measure, I just did a few grinds of pink Himalayan sea salt.
2 T water.

Process dates, cacao powder, 3/4c coconut, honey, salt and water in a food processor until smooth. Form into bite size balls and roll in remaining 1/4 c coconut. Refrigerate until firm.

Get a load of these bite sized beauties!

I think they are the perfect combination of sweet and salty and even S, who doesn't like coconut thinks these are great!
 

Squash Soup

AKA: Baby Food Soup!

A cold, snowy, wet February Sunday calls for warm, delicious soup.

The basis of this recipe came from one of my favorite people to swap recipes with...my boss!

Start with a big ol' butternut squash. I found this website to make the peeling/seeding/chopping a bit easier.

I cubed up the squash and tossed it with EVOO and some dried herbs (today's choice was herbs de provence but you can use anything you like) and roasted it in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes, stirring 1/2 way.

If you don't have the time to roast the squash, you can chop it up and cook it in the microwave but we think roasting it 1st gives it a great extra flavor.

Next, you will want to chop up some onion and garlic, toss that in a pot with some EVOO and 1 1/2 teaspoons of curry (I used Penzey's Singapore Seasoning) and sautee for a few minutes.  After you've got that nice and soft, toss in 2 peeled, pitted and chopped pears. (I have subbed out apples in a pinch)

I wish you could smell this right now!

After that cooks for a few minutes, add 1 qt vegetable broth and the squash and let it simmer for a bit. When you are ready to eat, stick your immersion blender in it and get it nice and soupy (or transfer it to a blender and whirl away!)

Voila! Baby Food Soup!
I served mine with an herbed focaccia...sadly, not homemade but still delicious!

Let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!

Sawi with asparagus

Happy New Year!

I hope you are all having a great start to your 2015!

We spent the Holiday traveling and while it is great to be gone, it's great to be home too! We ate some delicious food but I couldn't wait to be back in my own kitchen!

Tonight, I decided to merge a few recipes together and come up with my own concoction. The trouble with this kind of cooking is that I do not have exact measurements of anything. I learned a lot about cooking from my mom and often during my childhood I heard the phrase "I hope you don't like this too much, it can never be made again"

Since I started writing about my cooking, I have tried to be a bit more precise with my measurements.

I hope you enjoy!

Swai is a mild whitefish with a flaky texture. I am sure you could sub out salmon or tilapia to suit your tastes.

I lined a pan with foil and tossed asparagus in olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I put the fish filets on top of it. (please ignore the sink full of dirty dishes!)

I mixed about 2-3 Tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt with a squirt of lemon juice, freshly shredded Asiago cheese, Parmesan cheese, 2 small cloves of crushed garlic and a sprinkling of dried dill. I coated the fish and placed another piece of foil to create a packet.

I cooked it for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven. After 25 minutes, I removed the top foil and broiled it for about 5 minutes. I was hoping for a nice pretty browning but it didn't happen for me. Either way it was very good! E gobbled it right up and asked for more "chicken"

Right before Christmas, E and I baked cookies for Santa.

Here are some photos from our day in the kitchen

White Chicken Chili

It sure is feeling like December around here!  Cold weather calls for warm, delicious comfort food.

Last week I decided that White Chicken Chili sounded good and I had all the stuff to throw in the crock pot!


I started with 2 frozen chicken breasts...cause, who has time to thaw??
I added 1 can of black beans and 1 can of garbanzo beans-both drained
Added some frozen corn, about 1/2 jar of salsa, some onion, and about 1 c chicken broth
I threw in a few shakes of cumin and chili powder
I wanted dry ranch dressing, but I was all out so I added some Penzey's FoxPoint, a great substitution!
I mixed all that up and added an 8oz brick of cream cheese on top
I let it cook low and slow all day long.
When we got home we shredded the chicken, stirred it up and served it!

As always, Enjoy!!

Sweet Treats

Our family has been hit with the "1st time in pre-school" sickness!

We prided ourselves on having a healthy kid...one ear infection and one bout with strep throat in his whole 3 years of existence!

Then came pre-school...

Almost immediately, he came down with a cough and runny nose that has now turned into another ear infection, upper respiratory infection and sinus infection...which he has so kindly shared with us! I guess when we were drilling sharing into his little brain, we forgot to add the part that it's ok to not share germs! This is also when we figured out the antibiotics he's allergic to!

Anyway, one sure way to get me out of a funk is to bake! We are hosting our annual "Frolic Bar Run After Party" tonight and this year,  I have decided to fatten our guests up with some sweets!

The 1st thing I made was my mom's famous peanut butter blossoms!

Here is what you'll need:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
36 little peanut butter cups...The bag only contains 35 so I had to buy an extra and eat the leftovers! 

Get your oven heated up to 350
Mix up your flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
Cream up your butter, peanut butter and sugars on medium speed until it's nice and fluffy. Then add in your eggs and vanilla. Reduce your speed to low and add in the dry ingredients until it's just combined.
Shape your dough into 1" balls and place in mini muffin tins. Bake for 8-10 minutes. After you pull them out, sink a peanut butter cup into the centers and let it get all melty. I added the sprinkles for a pretty holiday touch. DO NOT remove the cookies from the pan until they have completely cooled or else you will have a peanut buttery chocolatey mess!

Next up was the White Chocolate Party Mix

For this one, you will need:
10oz mini pretzels
5 C. Cheerios
5 C. Corn Chex
2 C. Salted Peanuts
1 pkg (1 lb size) M&Ms...again I bought 2 bags but didn't use them all and M&Ms are my fav!
2 12oz pkg white chocolate chips
3T vegetable oil

Mix up the 1st 5 ingredients. Melt the chocolate and oil in the microwave on high for 2 minutes, stirring once. Pour melted white chocolate over the mix and give it a good mixing up. Dump onto a few waxed paper lined cookie sheets and let cool.

Last up was my "secret" chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was hesitant to share it because I wanted to be the mom that made the best cookies and I think these would help me achieve that goal! However, since I found the basic recipe online and just added a few tweaks, I thought I'd share it with you...my friends!

Here is what you'll need for these babies  

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened 

3/4 c. brown sugar 

1/4 c. granulated sugar 

1 egg 

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 c. all purpose flour 

2 tsp. cornstarch 

1 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 t cinnamon

1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips (my office LOVES when I make these with peppermint chips!)

Here's whatcha do.

Heat up your oven to 350.

I use my stand mixer with my paddle attachment and cream up with butter and sugars til it's light and fluffy. Add in your egg and vanilla and combine.  Mix in your flour, cornstarch, soda, salt and cinnamon then stir in those chips.

Scoop them out onto cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes...I do 8 or they tend to burn on the bottom. When you take them out, they will not look done. The will just start to be brown around the edges and the tops will look soft...trust the recipe and take them out. I like to leave mine on the sheets for about 5 minutes before I put them on wire racks to cool...that is, if they can cool all the way before we dive into them!

Enjoy!

Menu Planning

There are so many things in life I can't control but one thing that is in my control is what I feed my family. I try (Try being the key word) to menu plan at least part of each week.

I printed out my handy menu planner that I found here and sat down with my cup of coffee to plan my week.  This week was a bit easier. I only needed meal for a few days since its Thanksgiving this week, but I planned that day out too.

Sometimes I plan based on store sales, sometimes I just try to use up some stuff in the freezer and sometimes it's just what sounds good to me. S is zero help when it comes to meal planning, he has no preference and will eat whatever I put in front of him as long as it's not watermelon (Seriously, who doesn't like watermelon!!)

This week, we are having a chicken Florentine casserole and butternut squash/black bean chili...photos and recipes to come soon.

I was trying to leave you with some photos of our Holiday baking, but my phone/computer is acting up...try to imagine how 4 apple pies and 17 loaves of banket would look. =)

The Working Mom's Best Friend

Or, perhaps I should call it the Busy Person who wants to get a hot meal on the table but doesn't want to spend all day in the kitchen's best friend...Either way...it's the crock pot!  My crock pot is one of the most utilized appliances in my kitchen, coming in just behind the coffee pot!

I "crocked" 2 meal this week and I was glad I did when snowy weather and slick roads got me home later than usual and I could walk in to dinner already made!

Wednesday night I made a Balsamic Garlic Porkloin

I started with a marinade of 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 c balsamic vinegar, 1/2 c water, 1/2 c sugar and a 1t of molasses and a sprinkling of rosemary (I mixed the sugar and molasses in a separate small bowl before adding it to the marinade.

Next I rubbed salt, pepper and dried mustard all over the porkloin on both sides

I threw it all in the crock pot and set it to low for 10ish hours.

I served it with steamed broccoli and I had enough left for lunch the next day and then some!

Thursday I adapted a Swiss Steak recipe that my co-worker, RRJ gave me.

I had a round steak that I dredged in flour and Penzey's Bicentennial Rub before I seared it on all sides.

I chopped up some onion and carrots and sauteed them in the same pan that I seared the steak in

After those started to cook, I added 1 c of water to the pan and a packet of brown gravy.
I dumped the meat, carrots and onions plus a jar of the tomatoes I canned this summer, cream of celery soup, and a small can of mushrooms into the pot and cooked on low all day.

It turned out to look a bit like beef stew. We served it over mashed potatoes. S & E loved it!

It made enough for us to freeze the leftovers for another meal in a few weeks!

I must say that I am finding that writing this blog is just the creative outlet that I was looking for. I am currently curled up on my couch with a blanket and a cup of tea (vanilla sleepy time) and writing about something I love, it's a great way to wind down my evening.

This weekend, we have plans to visit Brewery Vivant with our neighbors and I am spending a few hours on Saturday baking with my mom and aunt, I am sure I will have plenty to write about.

Thanks for reading and please let me know if you try any of my recipes and how it turned out!