Sounds wierd, right? Well, you all know I put chocolate chips in my chili sometimes. This time I opted for cocoa powder instead of chocolate chips because I also put some rum in and didn't want it to get too sweet, especially when I threw in some cinnamon.
It's also got black beans, garbanzo beans, and light red kidney beans. It's all about texture, baby!
YUM. Don't knock it till you try it!
Oh and by the way.................check out my new shop on Etsy! Classylil'sprout.etsy.com
It's got nothing to do with cooking. But hey, if you're a mommy, you'll like it!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Another stir fry. And delicious at that!
Liz went to the grocery store with me and got me the stuff for supper tonight. First of all, I would like to thank her for the food!!!!!
Okay...onto the food. We had stir fry. Pork loin that I sliced up. The stir fry had (and all the ingredients are fresh, just so I don't have to keep saying it.) Pea pods, broccoli, broccoli slaw, mushrooms, red pepper, pork (of course), green onion. So I sauteed all of that up. Meanwhile, made a sauce that turned out just great!
In a saucepan I heated up olive oil and added some crushed garlic. Then I had toasted a bunch of sesame seeds (I can't get enough sesame seeds! I love them!) so I threw those in, added some green onion, and grated ginger. Then let that cook up a bit. Then added soy sauce, brown sugar, pepper jelly, some water to make it not so salty. Let it cook down, and added it to the stir fry mixture after.
We had it all ontop of jasmine rice, which I've really come to love versus regular old rice. Although I have to say, Uncle Ben's is still my favorite, it has a great flavor.
Digressing...anyhow, we had those crunchy chow mein noodles ontop, and I don't love those, but my family sure does. Mike loves to put crunchy noodles in a bowl with stir fry ontop and skip the rice all together.
Concensus???? "Honey, this is the best stir fry you've made!"
Yay! Victory!
Okay...onto the food. We had stir fry. Pork loin that I sliced up. The stir fry had (and all the ingredients are fresh, just so I don't have to keep saying it.) Pea pods, broccoli, broccoli slaw, mushrooms, red pepper, pork (of course), green onion. So I sauteed all of that up. Meanwhile, made a sauce that turned out just great!
In a saucepan I heated up olive oil and added some crushed garlic. Then I had toasted a bunch of sesame seeds (I can't get enough sesame seeds! I love them!) so I threw those in, added some green onion, and grated ginger. Then let that cook up a bit. Then added soy sauce, brown sugar, pepper jelly, some water to make it not so salty. Let it cook down, and added it to the stir fry mixture after.
We had it all ontop of jasmine rice, which I've really come to love versus regular old rice. Although I have to say, Uncle Ben's is still my favorite, it has a great flavor.
Digressing...anyhow, we had those crunchy chow mein noodles ontop, and I don't love those, but my family sure does. Mike loves to put crunchy noodles in a bowl with stir fry ontop and skip the rice all together.
Concensus???? "Honey, this is the best stir fry you've made!"
Yay! Victory!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
SUYA
What is Suya????
I had no clue.
My mom and dad went to Africa and had Suya, which they wanted to recreate.
Dad took all kinds of spices-chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, I think cloves (?) but I'm not sure, I don't even know what else...and he mixed them up. Then he ground up a cup of crushed peanuts. The The mixture was supposed to be very dry, but it wasn't because he ended up using a regular onion instead of onion powder so it was wet. So he added a little bit of oil so the meat could marinate in it. Anyhow, he put super super thin slices of venison in a bag and let it marinate in the sauce he made for a couple of hours.
Then he soaked some bamboo sticks.
When we were outside for the bonfire last night, (and let me tell you, people, dad has created this AMAZING bonfire area with lanterns hanging and big rocks everywhere and the bonfire itself was BEA-U-TI-FUL!!!! ) he put a grate and propped it up so it was at an angle over the hot coals. When the coals were piping hot and blazing away, he laced the meat onto the skewers, making sure the meat isn't too tight on there because it cooks more even when it's loosely skewered. Then he put it on the grate and waited.
I can't even tell you all how divine it was! The meat was soooo good. It melted in your mouth. Plus, it was sort of chewy and crunchy on the outside, and soft in the middle. The peanuts tasted like they were glazed or something.
We're going to have to make this on a regular basis. GO DAD!!!!!!!!!!!
I had no clue.
My mom and dad went to Africa and had Suya, which they wanted to recreate.
Dad took all kinds of spices-chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, I think cloves (?) but I'm not sure, I don't even know what else...and he mixed them up. Then he ground up a cup of crushed peanuts. The The mixture was supposed to be very dry, but it wasn't because he ended up using a regular onion instead of onion powder so it was wet. So he added a little bit of oil so the meat could marinate in it. Anyhow, he put super super thin slices of venison in a bag and let it marinate in the sauce he made for a couple of hours.
Then he soaked some bamboo sticks.
When we were outside for the bonfire last night, (and let me tell you, people, dad has created this AMAZING bonfire area with lanterns hanging and big rocks everywhere and the bonfire itself was BEA-U-TI-FUL!!!! ) he put a grate and propped it up so it was at an angle over the hot coals. When the coals were piping hot and blazing away, he laced the meat onto the skewers, making sure the meat isn't too tight on there because it cooks more even when it's loosely skewered. Then he put it on the grate and waited.
I can't even tell you all how divine it was! The meat was soooo good. It melted in your mouth. Plus, it was sort of chewy and crunchy on the outside, and soft in the middle. The peanuts tasted like they were glazed or something.
We're going to have to make this on a regular basis. GO DAD!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Mini Meatloaves
we're totally running out of food, but it's okay because friday is payday...so Liz brought me some hamburger a couple of days ago, and mom brought me a bag of groceries yesterday. Our lame supper turned out good.
we had mini meatloaves.
I made my normal meatloaf recipe, and put them in a cupcake pan instead of a big loaf pan because mike was starving and i took a nap for too long so i was sleeping when he got home. anyhow, for the top i mixed sweet and sour sauce, brown sugar, spicey brown mustard, pepper, and ketchup. then put that on the tops right at the end and broiled them.
it was good...my explanation point doesn't work so i don't seem excited but i really am. :-)
along with it we had a mixture of canned wax and green beans. not the highlight of my cooking career. and we had a salad.
Not too bad for a family with no food. thanks mom and liz. (exclamation point) :-()
we had mini meatloaves.
I made my normal meatloaf recipe, and put them in a cupcake pan instead of a big loaf pan because mike was starving and i took a nap for too long so i was sleeping when he got home. anyhow, for the top i mixed sweet and sour sauce, brown sugar, spicey brown mustard, pepper, and ketchup. then put that on the tops right at the end and broiled them.
it was good...my explanation point doesn't work so i don't seem excited but i really am. :-)
along with it we had a mixture of canned wax and green beans. not the highlight of my cooking career. and we had a salad.
Not too bad for a family with no food. thanks mom and liz. (exclamation point) :-()
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Smoked bbq beef brisket & Red Potato Salad
This one was not fully my making. Oh wait...all I did is sit there and look cute while dad did it all. :-) (jk) Anyhow, we had this GINORMOUS brisket, so dad trimmed the fat off until there was 1/4" or less of fat all over the whole thing. Then we cut it in 3rds because it was so big and we needed it finished in 6 hours instead of 8.
Let me tell you, a brisket is SO tough. We baked it for a few hours on 350 in beef boullion, and apple cider. We could hardly poke the fork in, it was like leather!
So we cooked it longer another 2 hours after dipping it in a "mop" sauce dad made of...um....like apple cider, tomato sauce, can of diced tomatoes, garlic, salt, cumin, chili powder, whiskey, and brown sugar. We let it boil down a lot.
Then dad cut up some maple wood and put that in the smoker. He kept dunking the meat in the sauce every 30 minutes or so, but it was DONE at an hour more. So I guess he only did it a couple of more times. It was sooo tender!
We decided to chop it up and put it on some fresh chewy buns. SSSOOOO good! Our first brisket was a total success. We watered the "mop sauce" down with more apple cider because it was super strong, and used that to moisten the meat after it was chopped up.
We had red potato salad with it. I took red potatoes, cooked and chopped them up, and added diced red onion, celery, zucchini, green onion, and a BUNCH of hard boiled eggs because I love hard boiled eggs in my potato salad. And for the sauce, I did it was 2/3 greek yogurt and 1/3 mayonnaise to make it more healthy with more protein. I also added sweet relish, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, and dill. Only a little big of dill though.
Everyone loved it! The potato salad just needed more sauce. Too dry. But that can be fixed. And the greek yogurt was good in it too. Y'all should try this one.
Let me tell you, a brisket is SO tough. We baked it for a few hours on 350 in beef boullion, and apple cider. We could hardly poke the fork in, it was like leather!
So we cooked it longer another 2 hours after dipping it in a "mop" sauce dad made of...um....like apple cider, tomato sauce, can of diced tomatoes, garlic, salt, cumin, chili powder, whiskey, and brown sugar. We let it boil down a lot.
Then dad cut up some maple wood and put that in the smoker. He kept dunking the meat in the sauce every 30 minutes or so, but it was DONE at an hour more. So I guess he only did it a couple of more times. It was sooo tender!
We decided to chop it up and put it on some fresh chewy buns. SSSOOOO good! Our first brisket was a total success. We watered the "mop sauce" down with more apple cider because it was super strong, and used that to moisten the meat after it was chopped up.
We had red potato salad with it. I took red potatoes, cooked and chopped them up, and added diced red onion, celery, zucchini, green onion, and a BUNCH of hard boiled eggs because I love hard boiled eggs in my potato salad. And for the sauce, I did it was 2/3 greek yogurt and 1/3 mayonnaise to make it more healthy with more protein. I also added sweet relish, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, and dill. Only a little big of dill though.
Everyone loved it! The potato salad just needed more sauce. Too dry. But that can be fixed. And the greek yogurt was good in it too. Y'all should try this one.
Monday, July 16, 2012
It's a dream!-breakfast, that is
This doesn't sound that wonderful. But for breakfast I did this:
fry an egg overhard.
Then toast a piece of bread. Butter it. Add fresh parmesan cheese and real bacon bits on it and the egg.
It's so good I wanted to go back for seconds. And thirds. And fourths. And fifths.
But I stopped after seconds. Figured 2 eggs and 2 pieces of toast was sufficient for breakfast.
Try it. Really, don't knock it till you try it.
fry an egg overhard.
Then toast a piece of bread. Butter it. Add fresh parmesan cheese and real bacon bits on it and the egg.
It's so good I wanted to go back for seconds. And thirds. And fourths. And fifths.
But I stopped after seconds. Figured 2 eggs and 2 pieces of toast was sufficient for breakfast.
Try it. Really, don't knock it till you try it.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Cheesy tomato rigatoni
Thanks again to Rachael Ray, I've made a most delicious supper! Hey, and I made a huge step. I got rid of my cookbooks at the garage sale we had at Hertzners. With the internet there's no need for them so much! They take up space. I'll always love cookbooks though. (I love the pictures!)
So....she didn't put this in the recipe, but I fried up a pound of ground chicken and half a pound of mild italian sausage. Cook up rigatoni, in a seperate bowl, combine ricotta, fresh parmesan, fresh mozerella finely diced, thyme, basil, salt, pepper. Add to the cooked noodles. On the side, saute some garlic in butter, add a can of basil plum tomatoes and crush them up.
So, to assemble, put the noodle/cheese/meat mixture in a sprayed casserole dish, pour the tomato sauce ontop, and top with a mixture of the mozerella, parmesan, and I put a little sprinkle of cheddar just because it's pretty.
YUMMMY!
Remember...if you use ground chicken, (which is super good by the way. And good for you.) use olive oil because the chicken hardly has any fat so it tends to stick and burn!
So....she didn't put this in the recipe, but I fried up a pound of ground chicken and half a pound of mild italian sausage. Cook up rigatoni, in a seperate bowl, combine ricotta, fresh parmesan, fresh mozerella finely diced, thyme, basil, salt, pepper. Add to the cooked noodles. On the side, saute some garlic in butter, add a can of basil plum tomatoes and crush them up.
So, to assemble, put the noodle/cheese/meat mixture in a sprayed casserole dish, pour the tomato sauce ontop, and top with a mixture of the mozerella, parmesan, and I put a little sprinkle of cheddar just because it's pretty.
YUMMMY!
Remember...if you use ground chicken, (which is super good by the way. And good for you.) use olive oil because the chicken hardly has any fat so it tends to stick and burn!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
AMAZING grilled shrimp scampi!
First of all, let's just start by telling everyone that I HATE shrimp. I mean, I try my very best to like it, and I want to like it. But I can't even bite into it due to that bouncy "shellfish" texture. On that note, I made a special supper for my man tonight. Shrimp scampi! Not any shrimp scampi though.
Here's how it goes:
slice up half a garlic bulb and put it in olive oil and saute until the garlic is golden brown. Transfer the oil to a bowl, reserving the garlic in a seperate little bowl. Then add juice of 2 lemons, zest of 2 lemons, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt. Slice up yellow squash and zucchinni and brush them with the lemon mixture. Grill the slices for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, put almost all the rest of the lemon mixture in a big bag with the thawed shrimp and let it marinate at least 5 minutes. When the squash is done, grill the shrimp.
While that's grilling, cut up the reserved garlic really small and add butter to it. Butter baguette slices.
Take the shrimp off the grill and put in bowl with the rest of the lemon mixture.
Grill the bread for a couple of minutes. Serve with parsley and slices of lemon.
The squash was soooo delightful! And the bread was pretty good too. What I loved about this dish was the clean flavors that popped.
Mike loves this more than the regular pasta shrimp scampi I've made him in the past.
Let's just say "I think I'm gettin' lucky tonight!" (for you younger readers, please don't read that last part.)
Here's how it goes:
slice up half a garlic bulb and put it in olive oil and saute until the garlic is golden brown. Transfer the oil to a bowl, reserving the garlic in a seperate little bowl. Then add juice of 2 lemons, zest of 2 lemons, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt. Slice up yellow squash and zucchinni and brush them with the lemon mixture. Grill the slices for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, put almost all the rest of the lemon mixture in a big bag with the thawed shrimp and let it marinate at least 5 minutes. When the squash is done, grill the shrimp.
While that's grilling, cut up the reserved garlic really small and add butter to it. Butter baguette slices.
Take the shrimp off the grill and put in bowl with the rest of the lemon mixture.
Grill the bread for a couple of minutes. Serve with parsley and slices of lemon.
The squash was soooo delightful! And the bread was pretty good too. What I loved about this dish was the clean flavors that popped.
Mike loves this more than the regular pasta shrimp scampi I've made him in the past.
Let's just say "I think I'm gettin' lucky tonight!" (for you younger readers, please don't read that last part.)
Friday, June 29, 2012
The best tuna ever!
I put my creative juices together in my brain today. I was sooo hungry at night since I didn't have a big supper, so I got a pouch of tuna out, the albacore white kind, and put it in a bowl with coleslaw mix, a chopped tomato, fresh shredded parmesan, chives, salt, pepper, a splash of vinegar, little bit of olive oil, quarter of a lemon of juice, chili powder, garlic powder, and fresh chopped cilantro.
I guess I love tuna now! With all those flavors it doesn't even taste like tuna. I guess what I hate about tuna is the tuna itself. I'm not a fan of fishy fish so much.
Try it in a grilled corn tortilla or with Tostitos Lime and Salt thins.
SO GOOD...and good for you.
I guess I love tuna now! With all those flavors it doesn't even taste like tuna. I guess what I hate about tuna is the tuna itself. I'm not a fan of fishy fish so much.
Try it in a grilled corn tortilla or with Tostitos Lime and Salt thins.
SO GOOD...and good for you.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Fish tacos with watermelon salsa
I haven't cooked in awhile again...nothing adventurous anyhow! So I found this recipe in the food network magazine. Grilled fish with a salsa made of diced watermelon, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper. I also took coleslaw mix and put the juices from the watermelon on that. Grill the corn tortillas, and assemble the tacos, adding sliced avacado at the end.
So I think I picked the wrong kind of fish. The recipe called for Wild Striped Bass. We, of course, living up here in the Northland, have no such thing. So I thought maybe Pollock would be a good guess. But the fish is far too soft. It almost mimicked the texture of the watermelon, which made for a very squishy taco. The fish was actually even mushier than the watermelon. So I didn't love that. Maybe another kind of fish next time.
To trying things out....
So I think I picked the wrong kind of fish. The recipe called for Wild Striped Bass. We, of course, living up here in the Northland, have no such thing. So I thought maybe Pollock would be a good guess. But the fish is far too soft. It almost mimicked the texture of the watermelon, which made for a very squishy taco. The fish was actually even mushier than the watermelon. So I didn't love that. Maybe another kind of fish next time.
To trying things out....
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Ribs....again
I found a GREAT package of ribs at Super One...have I mentioned how great Super One's meet typically is?!
Made bbq sauce with tomato sauce, garlic powder, worcestershire, salt, pepper, brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and hot pepper jelly.
We had canned corn with it. Ewwww! But the girls love it. And we had mac n cheese. Now, my friends, that's high class there at the Stute household. Need I say we had a very yellow meal?!
The ribs were good though, and a little spicy. Not too spicy. Good spicy.
Made bbq sauce with tomato sauce, garlic powder, worcestershire, salt, pepper, brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and hot pepper jelly.
We had canned corn with it. Ewwww! But the girls love it. And we had mac n cheese. Now, my friends, that's high class there at the Stute household. Need I say we had a very yellow meal?!
The ribs were good though, and a little spicy. Not too spicy. Good spicy.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Garden Burgers, (Thank you Food Network Magazine!)
It's summer! You know what that means??? Time for more burgers! Plus we got a new grill so we had to try it out.
We made small burgers and grilled them.
Put them on a small kaiser roll with alfalfa sprouts, sliced avacado, tomato, spring greens, and homemade green goddess dressing.
MMMMM........that's all I can say. It was delicious, it was fresh, and it tasted like summer!
We ate it with a fresh salad and corn on the cob.
Hello, Summer!
We made small burgers and grilled them.
Put them on a small kaiser roll with alfalfa sprouts, sliced avacado, tomato, spring greens, and homemade green goddess dressing.
MMMMM........that's all I can say. It was delicious, it was fresh, and it tasted like summer!
We ate it with a fresh salad and corn on the cob.
Hello, Summer!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
pulled pork tacos, yummmmm!
Hello faithful readers of mine! Okay, so I found this most fabulous recipe on Allrecipes.com.
Went to Oles (our small town grocery store) and found this massive pork roast on sale for $5.99! So, put it in a dutch oven. Meanwhile, mix a can of diced tomatoes with chiles, chili powder, garlic, chopped onion, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Pour that over the top. Then put it in the oven at 350 for 4 hours. I did mine a little longer since it was so big. Then I took it out, shredded it, (after finding the pieces of grisel cuz I HATE biting into grisel!) and then add fresh chopped cilantro, a full bunch.
To assemble, take a warm corn tortilla, add the pork mixture, sliced fresh avacado, and some sour cream. We added some shredded cheddar for good measure.
SSSSSOOOOOOOO good!
The next night we ate the pork mixture on delicious fresh chewy hard rolls and it almost just as divine! What can I say, I love corn tortillas...
Went to Oles (our small town grocery store) and found this massive pork roast on sale for $5.99! So, put it in a dutch oven. Meanwhile, mix a can of diced tomatoes with chiles, chili powder, garlic, chopped onion, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Pour that over the top. Then put it in the oven at 350 for 4 hours. I did mine a little longer since it was so big. Then I took it out, shredded it, (after finding the pieces of grisel cuz I HATE biting into grisel!) and then add fresh chopped cilantro, a full bunch.
To assemble, take a warm corn tortilla, add the pork mixture, sliced fresh avacado, and some sour cream. We added some shredded cheddar for good measure.
SSSSSOOOOOOOO good!
The next night we ate the pork mixture on delicious fresh chewy hard rolls and it almost just as divine! What can I say, I love corn tortillas...
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
chili dog hotdish
Sounds icky. It was wierd. Mike loved it though! I had nothing for supper except turkey polishes with cheese. No buns, no bread. No potatoes.
So...I found a pack of cornbread mix. Mix it up and put half of it in a baking dish. Meanwhile, create chili (I had nothing so I made it out of tomato soup) and add hamburger (I had none, but I had leftover taco meat) Then I added chili powder, onions, cumin, and the polishes cut up. Put that on the cornbread mix, more cornbread mix, and cheese. Then bake.
A man's dish.
Meaty. salty. cheesy. and oniony.
So...I found a pack of cornbread mix. Mix it up and put half of it in a baking dish. Meanwhile, create chili (I had nothing so I made it out of tomato soup) and add hamburger (I had none, but I had leftover taco meat) Then I added chili powder, onions, cumin, and the polishes cut up. Put that on the cornbread mix, more cornbread mix, and cheese. Then bake.
A man's dish.
Meaty. salty. cheesy. and oniony.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Funnel Cakes
We had funnel cakes for supper on Sunday night. That's right, funnel cakes.
I made a giant thing of pizza hotdish for lunch.....and we ate late, so when mom and dad came over I was TRYING to make beignet's, but failed miserably. They were far too dense and the other ones were far too thin so they were like cracker beignets. Plus it was a HUGE mess with flour, and have I mentioned before that I HATE flour?! Truly, really, that's why I don't bake.....I HATE flour. Although I have it in my house, I avoid using it at all costs, which is why my poor children are void of homemade cookies in their lives. It is something that stresses me out but I'm working on, for the kids.
Anyhow, funnel cakes sounded like a good idea to me since I had the hot oil going anyway. They turned out surprisingly easy and not really messy....too bad. Compared to the beignets....okay, it was still messy.
You put all the batter into a ziploc, cut off the end, and lace the batter around in the pan really fast.
The first one I made was dense, the oil wasn't hot enough and I didn't let it cook long enough. So the second one I let it sit for what seemed like forever. And it was perfect! Totally almost tasted like the fair. (Caution....it's still messy. My second enemy in the world besides flour is powdered sugar. What I need is a powdered sugar shaker. Then I'd be okay with making these all the time...) Like the fair except not the same. I'm not sure why, maybe it was because there was no carnie music and ferris wheels spinning around above us. Can I get some ferris wheels here please?!
I made a giant thing of pizza hotdish for lunch.....and we ate late, so when mom and dad came over I was TRYING to make beignet's, but failed miserably. They were far too dense and the other ones were far too thin so they were like cracker beignets. Plus it was a HUGE mess with flour, and have I mentioned before that I HATE flour?! Truly, really, that's why I don't bake.....I HATE flour. Although I have it in my house, I avoid using it at all costs, which is why my poor children are void of homemade cookies in their lives. It is something that stresses me out but I'm working on, for the kids.
Anyhow, funnel cakes sounded like a good idea to me since I had the hot oil going anyway. They turned out surprisingly easy and not really messy....too bad. Compared to the beignets....okay, it was still messy.
You put all the batter into a ziploc, cut off the end, and lace the batter around in the pan really fast.
The first one I made was dense, the oil wasn't hot enough and I didn't let it cook long enough. So the second one I let it sit for what seemed like forever. And it was perfect! Totally almost tasted like the fair. (Caution....it's still messy. My second enemy in the world besides flour is powdered sugar. What I need is a powdered sugar shaker. Then I'd be okay with making these all the time...) Like the fair except not the same. I'm not sure why, maybe it was because there was no carnie music and ferris wheels spinning around above us. Can I get some ferris wheels here please?!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
ribs n asparagus
For some reason I haven't been into cooking so much. Maybe it's because it's blah weather outside and I seem to always need groceries....
But we're having ribs tonight, and I'm making some sweet bbq sauce to put on them. Made with: crushed tomatoes, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, worcestershire, and brown sugar. It smells good, so it should be good!
We're having it with asparagus and either fresh pineapple or watermelon. Which one sounds best with it? Pineapple would be more colorful.
Poor hubby had scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa ontop last night. The night before was tacos. So...we do eat, people. It just doesn't seem like it lately!
But we're having ribs tonight, and I'm making some sweet bbq sauce to put on them. Made with: crushed tomatoes, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, worcestershire, and brown sugar. It smells good, so it should be good!
We're having it with asparagus and either fresh pineapple or watermelon. Which one sounds best with it? Pineapple would be more colorful.
Poor hubby had scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa ontop last night. The night before was tacos. So...we do eat, people. It just doesn't seem like it lately!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Spaghetti
We had spaghetti last night.
I didn't buy spaghetti sauce, which I usually use as a base, but I wanted to make my own this time. Everyone else seems to make delicious spaghetti....
But it was horrible! Super bland.
The girls fell in love with it though....
So sometimes bland wins over.
I didn't buy spaghetti sauce, which I usually use as a base, but I wanted to make my own this time. Everyone else seems to make delicious spaghetti....
But it was horrible! Super bland.
The girls fell in love with it though....
So sometimes bland wins over.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Brown sugar bacon cheeseburgers
We had hospitality Sunday, so we wanted to grill since it's been soooo super nice out! So the night before I baked bacon at 400. When it was just about done, we sprinkled brown sugar on it and popped in for another couple of minutes. Then we had burgers with paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, worcestershire, and brown sugar mixed in the meat. Grilled it, slapped some sharp cheddar ontop, let it melt, and built the burgers. I have a new favorite...brown sugar glazed bacon.
IT'S LIKE CANDY!
IT'S LIKE CANDY!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Spinach stuffed flank steak
Hey guys! I cooked again............shocker!
Cleaned up a flank steak, which, by the way, is NOT the prettiest meat to work with. It's got all these stringy fibers in it, and I'm super picky about fat, so I kept finding spots to fillet off. The fat runs across the whole top of it, so it's seriously like you have to fillet it like a fish. Anyhow, I tenderized the crap out of it and pounded it out way thin, put salt and pepper on it, and stuffed it with a mixture of chopped spinach, a beaten egg, and italian bread crumbs. Rolled it up, and broiled it until it was done.
Along with it was a sauce made up of horseradish, mustard, beef stock, flour, butter...
And we had cheesy bread again and a box of sour cream n chive scalloped potatoes. My husband loves those boxes of potatoes, and that's what we had! No extra money for food this month, so we're using up what we have around, which is good because there's a lot of things around I just haven't used because before I get to it we go grocery shopping again and then I forget about it.
Ivy loves the potatoes too.
Cleaned up a flank steak, which, by the way, is NOT the prettiest meat to work with. It's got all these stringy fibers in it, and I'm super picky about fat, so I kept finding spots to fillet off. The fat runs across the whole top of it, so it's seriously like you have to fillet it like a fish. Anyhow, I tenderized the crap out of it and pounded it out way thin, put salt and pepper on it, and stuffed it with a mixture of chopped spinach, a beaten egg, and italian bread crumbs. Rolled it up, and broiled it until it was done.
Along with it was a sauce made up of horseradish, mustard, beef stock, flour, butter...
And we had cheesy bread again and a box of sour cream n chive scalloped potatoes. My husband loves those boxes of potatoes, and that's what we had! No extra money for food this month, so we're using up what we have around, which is good because there's a lot of things around I just haven't used because before I get to it we go grocery shopping again and then I forget about it.
Ivy loves the potatoes too.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Chicken Cordon Bleu
The wedding is over now, everyone! That means I might just might have time to cook a little more. I've been very preoccupied with the wedding, so let's just say my family's been having lots of pizza.....
So I pounded out chicken breasts and stuffed them with ham and swiss cheese, rolled them up, baked them for 45 minutes on 350. While it was cooking, I made a sauce of shallots, fresh chopped roemary, white wine, salt, honey, mustard, garlic powder. When it was good n cooked, I added cornstarch with water and thickened it. MMMMMMM! The sauce was the star of the meal. It was sooo good. We also had buns I split in half and Lucy put a sice of smoked provolone ontop and we broiled it. The girls loved the bread, of course. It was like cheese pizzas with no sauce.
Perfect cheese to use on cheesy bread though!
The sauce was great. Even better than the chicken. It was delish! And the girls ate so much we had no leftovers for Mike's lunch. They had the chicken with ranch, of course. Ranch.
Whatever floats their boats....
So I pounded out chicken breasts and stuffed them with ham and swiss cheese, rolled them up, baked them for 45 minutes on 350. While it was cooking, I made a sauce of shallots, fresh chopped roemary, white wine, salt, honey, mustard, garlic powder. When it was good n cooked, I added cornstarch with water and thickened it. MMMMMMM! The sauce was the star of the meal. It was sooo good. We also had buns I split in half and Lucy put a sice of smoked provolone ontop and we broiled it. The girls loved the bread, of course. It was like cheese pizzas with no sauce.
Perfect cheese to use on cheesy bread though!
The sauce was great. Even better than the chicken. It was delish! And the girls ate so much we had no leftovers for Mike's lunch. They had the chicken with ranch, of course. Ranch.
Whatever floats their boats....
Saturday, March 10, 2012
hb bacon egg bake
We had to do some cooking for company for the wedding, so I found this super amazing and easy recipe onine (allrecipes.com, baby!). 1 bag of hashbrowns, 1 lb of crumbled bacon, 8 eggs, 2c milk, 1 1/2 c shredded cheddar, salt, pepper.
Takes about 50 minutes to bake and remember to mix the eggs and milk before you put it over the hashbrown mixture...and save a little cheese for at the end when there's like 5 minutes left so it's good n cheesy stretchy!
I'll add fried onions next. And maybe a few sauteed mushrooms, just for me. :-)
Quick company food.
Takes about 50 minutes to bake and remember to mix the eggs and milk before you put it over the hashbrown mixture...and save a little cheese for at the end when there's like 5 minutes left so it's good n cheesy stretchy!
I'll add fried onions next. And maybe a few sauteed mushrooms, just for me. :-)
Quick company food.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Wine and Shallott Pork Chops with Swiss Herb Potatoes
I whipped up the greatest meal tonight! I'm telling you, I'm starting to cook without recipes and they're finally starting to work out when I omit the cookbook!
First I browned some pork sirloin. Then put it aside and sauteed 2 big shallots, sliced thin, with chopped rosemary and thyme. Then I added white cooking wine, put the chops back in the pan, covered it with foil, and baked it at 350.
Meanwhile, I peeled a half bag of yukon golds and put those in boiling water. Drained it, added a little bit of butter, salt, chopped rosemary and thyme, and slivered swiss cheese. And some milk so they weren't so sticky.
We had a bag of steamed candy corn along with it, (Jim, that's not the candy....you can't buy it in the aisle at JT's!)
I'm surprised the potatoes turned out so good, but they were simple and super good! The pork chops were almost overdone, but the centers were juicy and tender.
Hooray to no cookbook!
First I browned some pork sirloin. Then put it aside and sauteed 2 big shallots, sliced thin, with chopped rosemary and thyme. Then I added white cooking wine, put the chops back in the pan, covered it with foil, and baked it at 350.
Meanwhile, I peeled a half bag of yukon golds and put those in boiling water. Drained it, added a little bit of butter, salt, chopped rosemary and thyme, and slivered swiss cheese. And some milk so they weren't so sticky.
We had a bag of steamed candy corn along with it, (Jim, that's not the candy....you can't buy it in the aisle at JT's!)
I'm surprised the potatoes turned out so good, but they were simple and super good! The pork chops were almost overdone, but the centers were juicy and tender.
Hooray to no cookbook!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Tuna Steaks
I was going to make flank steak for dinner, but I saw the tuna steaks in the freezer and decided Mike would think I was, like, the GREATEST wife EVER if I made him fish....so I put it in a bowl with white wine, fresh thyme, soy sauce, pepper jelly, garlic, and shallots. Then let that marinate. When it was time to cook I threw it under the broiler on my pizza stone for about 8 minutes, flipped it, and cooked it another 6. I had to cook it longer than usual because it was frozen on the inside when I put it on the stone. I suspect it would go super de duper fast if it wasn't frozen.
We had steamed asparagus and yukon gold baked potatoes with it.
The fish was yellowfin tuna and I got it from Super One. It had been packaged by the meat cutters there, whereas the last kind we got was flash frozen.....the stuff we had last night was more fishy. Not so into the fishy flavor, but tuna steaks are delicious and the texture reminds me more of like chicken than fish. It's darker meat like beef though.
Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering.......Mike thinks I'm, like, the GREATEST wife EVER for making fish.
We had steamed asparagus and yukon gold baked potatoes with it.
The fish was yellowfin tuna and I got it from Super One. It had been packaged by the meat cutters there, whereas the last kind we got was flash frozen.....the stuff we had last night was more fishy. Not so into the fishy flavor, but tuna steaks are delicious and the texture reminds me more of like chicken than fish. It's darker meat like beef though.
Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering.......Mike thinks I'm, like, the GREATEST wife EVER for making fish.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Chicken tortilla soup
I made my VERY OWN chicken tortilla soup today, with NO recipe people!
First, I took a half pound of bacon and fried that up. Added diced chicken, then when that was half cooked, a half of a diced onion, chopped celery with leaves, 3 cloves of garlic, big can of petite diced tomatoes, chili powder, a little bit of cumin, a box of chicken broth, a big can full of water, a bunch of red savinas pepper (which, by the way, is quite hot!), 3 bay leaves, salt, pepper, chopped fresh cilantro, 2 green onions cut up, spanish paprika, and harissa. I used 2 new products today- Red Savinas Pepper and Harissa. I could taste both in the soup. Mmmm, I think I'll be using those spices more from now on!
Then I cut flour tortillas in strips for Mike and corn tortillas in strips for me and fried those up seperately. I put those in a pile ontop of the soup and added queso fresco cheese, which is PERFECT in the soup!
You've GOT to try it. I love it way better than the Bear Creek kind!!!!!!
I'm so proud. Write it down in your memory box, friends! NO RECIPE! Just my creative juices flowing...
First, I took a half pound of bacon and fried that up. Added diced chicken, then when that was half cooked, a half of a diced onion, chopped celery with leaves, 3 cloves of garlic, big can of petite diced tomatoes, chili powder, a little bit of cumin, a box of chicken broth, a big can full of water, a bunch of red savinas pepper (which, by the way, is quite hot!), 3 bay leaves, salt, pepper, chopped fresh cilantro, 2 green onions cut up, spanish paprika, and harissa. I used 2 new products today- Red Savinas Pepper and Harissa. I could taste both in the soup. Mmmm, I think I'll be using those spices more from now on!
Then I cut flour tortillas in strips for Mike and corn tortillas in strips for me and fried those up seperately. I put those in a pile ontop of the soup and added queso fresco cheese, which is PERFECT in the soup!
You've GOT to try it. I love it way better than the Bear Creek kind!!!!!!
I'm so proud. Write it down in your memory box, friends! NO RECIPE! Just my creative juices flowing...
Potatoes for lunch
I'm trying to lay off the wheat a little cuz it really makes my tummy super bloated. Not that I'm allergic to it, I don't think I am, but I certainly notice a HUGE difference in my tummy size when I eat less of it. So today I am having yukon gold potatoes. Ontop of them I put sauteed red and yellow peppers, shallots, and mushrooms. Then topped it off with feta. Super salty, feta is. So maybe that's working against the no wheat thing. But hey, I love feta!
salad and pizza
Everyone probably thinks we don't eat anymore! (never mind, all you have to do is look at our "healthy" figures...)
We had pizza last night. All the kids were sick so they were home all day and I didn't feel like cooking. Bernatellos cracker crisp 4 meat pizza. We also had a HUGE salad with it, and that was the star of my supper. Baby greens, grape tomatoes, bacon bits, olives, and feta. With olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I LOVE a salad, it's so good, don't you think????
We had pizza last night. All the kids were sick so they were home all day and I didn't feel like cooking. Bernatellos cracker crisp 4 meat pizza. We also had a HUGE salad with it, and that was the star of my supper. Baby greens, grape tomatoes, bacon bits, olives, and feta. With olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I LOVE a salad, it's so good, don't you think????
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Hot Ham N Cheeses
The only reason I'm even writing about this is because my daughter had 4 of them! 4!
Bun.
Add 2 slices deli ham.
1 piece of cheese.
wrap in foil
put in oven for 15 minutes on 250.
That was supper, people. If you think I'm going all Martha Stewart on you, think again!
Like I said, my 7 year old ate 4 of them. That's over half her age.
Bun.
Add 2 slices deli ham.
1 piece of cheese.
wrap in foil
put in oven for 15 minutes on 250.
That was supper, people. If you think I'm going all Martha Stewart on you, think again!
Like I said, my 7 year old ate 4 of them. That's over half her age.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Pork spring rolls
So try this...it's super super delish!!!!!!!
Take boneless pork chops and slice them up. Saute them in sesame oil and garlic. When they're done, top it off with a little bit of oyster sauce, just enough to make them get a little saucy. Not a lot. Otherwise it's overpowering. Then take a spring roll, wet it in warm water, but not too long. It gets super gooey then.
Put coleslaw mix, chopped green onions, cilantro, and the meat mix in the spring roll and roll it up nice and tight, putting it on a dry plate when you're done so that the water doesn't sit underneath it, and like I said before, make it gooey.
Then take soy sauce, peanut butter, garlic powder, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, and basil. Mix that up. Dip the rolls in the sauce.
IT'S SO GOOD!
That was our supper a few nights ago. And a wonderous supper it was!
Take boneless pork chops and slice them up. Saute them in sesame oil and garlic. When they're done, top it off with a little bit of oyster sauce, just enough to make them get a little saucy. Not a lot. Otherwise it's overpowering. Then take a spring roll, wet it in warm water, but not too long. It gets super gooey then.
Put coleslaw mix, chopped green onions, cilantro, and the meat mix in the spring roll and roll it up nice and tight, putting it on a dry plate when you're done so that the water doesn't sit underneath it, and like I said before, make it gooey.
Then take soy sauce, peanut butter, garlic powder, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, and basil. Mix that up. Dip the rolls in the sauce.
IT'S SO GOOD!
That was our supper a few nights ago. And a wonderous supper it was!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Velveeta infused supper
Tonight I made patty melts. I took the hamburger, added worcestershire, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Made long thin patties and baked those babies for 20 minutes. In the meantime, sauteed diced onions, buttered some bread, and got the cheese out. Then assembled it all and cooked it like a grilled cheese. The patty melts were SOOOOOO good!
Lucy made "homemade" mac n cheese. We got this huge Velveeta cheese from someone, so I attempted Velveeta mac n chz. By the way, I now know that I HATE Velveeta! But the girls LOVED it. The recipe is on the box. I can't even write it, I find it so soooooo icky. But Lucy, Libby, and Ivy gobbled it right up! So to my dismay and disgust, I saved it for tomorrow's lunch because they only have a half day of school.
Enjoy the Velveeta, girls, we won't be making that again!
Lucy made "homemade" mac n cheese. We got this huge Velveeta cheese from someone, so I attempted Velveeta mac n chz. By the way, I now know that I HATE Velveeta! But the girls LOVED it. The recipe is on the box. I can't even write it, I find it so soooooo icky. But Lucy, Libby, and Ivy gobbled it right up! So to my dismay and disgust, I saved it for tomorrow's lunch because they only have a half day of school.
Enjoy the Velveeta, girls, we won't be making that again!
Tomato basil fettuccinne
I was watching a cooking show and the challenge was to make a basic tomato basil pasta. It's amazing all the ways you can make a "BASIC" recipe like that. So I figured I'd give it a try.
I wanted to use fresh tomatoes, but they're horrid this time of year. All green and tasteless and gross. So I used a big can of petite diced tomatoes, put that into the pan, added some garlic, salt, pepper, lots of basil, cracked red pepper flakes, and a small bit of italian seasoning. Then I cooked some fresh fettuccinne noodles, (I didn't have spaghetti or angel hair so I had to go with the thicker noodles). I took them directly out of the boiling water when they were almost done and added them straight to the tomato mixture without rinsing them, (it makes the pasta sauce a bit more thick). Then added fresh parmesan cheese.
I have a new favorite! I'm going to play with it a bit, but I LOVE this recipe. It's such a clean fresh flavor. Fresh Find....
I wanted to use fresh tomatoes, but they're horrid this time of year. All green and tasteless and gross. So I used a big can of petite diced tomatoes, put that into the pan, added some garlic, salt, pepper, lots of basil, cracked red pepper flakes, and a small bit of italian seasoning. Then I cooked some fresh fettuccinne noodles, (I didn't have spaghetti or angel hair so I had to go with the thicker noodles). I took them directly out of the boiling water when they were almost done and added them straight to the tomato mixture without rinsing them, (it makes the pasta sauce a bit more thick). Then added fresh parmesan cheese.
I have a new favorite! I'm going to play with it a bit, but I LOVE this recipe. It's such a clean fresh flavor. Fresh Find....
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Easy stir fry
I know, I do stir fry's all the time. It's my way of making my kids think I'm a gourmet cook and getting them to eat lots of veggies.
This time I got his sauce called "Veri Veri Teriyaki" sauce, and let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS! I got it from Walmart. It was like $3.50 or something like that, but it just looked so good I couldn't pass it up. Lots of sesame seeds, and I love those! When I stir fried the noodles at the end, I also added some oyster sauce so the meal wasn't so bland this time.
I went a little overboard, it was a bit salty.
I also stir fried some eggs, like they put in fried rice. Mmmm, and the kids can get some extra protein too cuz you can chop it up really fine so they don't know it's there.
Not that my kids care, they love eggs (crazy, cuz I hate them! Ewwww.)
K, gotta get the kids on the bus.
Have a great supper tonight! Remember, no night is too ordinary for not ordinary food.
This time I got his sauce called "Veri Veri Teriyaki" sauce, and let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS! I got it from Walmart. It was like $3.50 or something like that, but it just looked so good I couldn't pass it up. Lots of sesame seeds, and I love those! When I stir fried the noodles at the end, I also added some oyster sauce so the meal wasn't so bland this time.
I went a little overboard, it was a bit salty.
I also stir fried some eggs, like they put in fried rice. Mmmm, and the kids can get some extra protein too cuz you can chop it up really fine so they don't know it's there.
Not that my kids care, they love eggs (crazy, cuz I hate them! Ewwww.)
K, gotta get the kids on the bus.
Have a great supper tonight! Remember, no night is too ordinary for not ordinary food.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Sausage Kale soup and Seafood Alfredo
AKA "Zuppa Tuscana", the most delicious soup I've ever made, hands down.
And seafood alfredo made with scallops and shrimp (we made chicken too for us seafood haters!)
The alfredo sauce was icky because the recipe calls for a little bit of cream cheese, so my chicken alfredo tasted like sauteed chicken bagels with cream cheese.
I've decided the cream cheese is not my favorite in there.
But overall the meal was delish!
I'm going to be making that soup again FOR SURE. And it's easy too!
And seafood alfredo made with scallops and shrimp (we made chicken too for us seafood haters!)
The alfredo sauce was icky because the recipe calls for a little bit of cream cheese, so my chicken alfredo tasted like sauteed chicken bagels with cream cheese.
I've decided the cream cheese is not my favorite in there.
But overall the meal was delish!
I'm going to be making that soup again FOR SURE. And it's easy too!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Andoulle sausage and cheesy potato soup
We got these sausages, which are actually quite delicous. Sweet with a hint of spice. So I sauteed them in a pan. Meanwhile, made a box of au gratin potatoes. Then added the sausage to the potatoes, added some milk, chicken broth, paprika, chives, and garlic powder. I thickened it with some cornstarch/cold water mixture. Then put some butter in the bottom of a pan, let it melt, and added seasoned bread crumbs. Popped those under the broiler to crisp up, and added those ontop of the soup.
SO good! But SO salty. I gotta figure out a way to make it less spicy next time. Maybe less chicken broth and more milk.
Super good though. The chives were great, they complimented the cheesy potatoes so good. And Mike loved the bread crumbs ontop!
SO good! But SO salty. I gotta figure out a way to make it less spicy next time. Maybe less chicken broth and more milk.
Super good though. The chives were great, they complimented the cheesy potatoes so good. And Mike loved the bread crumbs ontop!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Whiskey Chili
Super easy meal tonight. We've been gone for a long time visiting family all over the place. So I pulled out the ground turkey. I think it's pretty ishy tasting usually, but works good in things like chili cuz you can't taste it then, and it has more of a hard texture than beef. So I cooked that up, added onions and olive oil, then added a big ol' glug of whiskey.
Let that cook off, add tomato sauce, black beans, and cannelini beans, and some dried mushrooms. Salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, spanish paprika, cumin, and italian seasoning. Oh yeah, and I put some moroccan seasoning too. It's got this sweet smokey flavor.
We put, of course, cheddar cheese and sour cream in it, and ate it with fritos.
I skipped the chocolate this time. Last time I made chili I had WAY too many flavors, so I opted for a more clean flavor this time.
Make it, guys, tell me what you think....
Let that cook off, add tomato sauce, black beans, and cannelini beans, and some dried mushrooms. Salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, spanish paprika, cumin, and italian seasoning. Oh yeah, and I put some moroccan seasoning too. It's got this sweet smokey flavor.
We put, of course, cheddar cheese and sour cream in it, and ate it with fritos.
I skipped the chocolate this time. Last time I made chili I had WAY too many flavors, so I opted for a more clean flavor this time.
Make it, guys, tell me what you think....
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Little Chocolate Devils
These were a treat I made for superbowl 2011. Thanks for the picture, Lynz!