Fantastical Food

Chicken Lo Mein

2012-02-18T21:38:00.000-05:00

I am such a bad blogger, I haven't posted since September. I've cooked a lot and taken photos of plenty of dishes but I haven't been in a mood to write. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things so I'm posting about last nights dinner.

Lo mein isn't my favorite thing but I had all the ingredients on hand so I thought I'd try it anyway. It didn't taste much like take out but it wasn't bad. I made extra sauce but it ended up being too saucy and the sauce was much too thick so I would recommend cutting back on the cornstarch. I added some red pepper flakes to the leftovers to give it a little kick, that made it a little less bland.

I found the recipe at Mom's Fridge and it was okay but i don't think it will go into permanent rotation.

WALK FOR ALZHEIMER'S

2011-09-16T09:06:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I am walking for Alzheimer's. If you can afford to donate; I would appreciate it so much! I am walking for my nanny who has been living with Alzheimer's for several years.

Alzheimer's facts and figures

• Today, 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease – 5.2 million aged 65 and over; 200,000 with younger-onset Alzheimer’s. By 2050, as many as 16 million Americans will have the disease.

• Two-thirds of those with the disease – 3.4 million – are women.

• Of Americans aged 65 and over, 1 in 8 has Alzheimer’s, and nearly half of people aged 85 and older have the disease.

• Another American develops Alzheimer’s disease every 69 seconds. In 2050, an American will develop the disease every 33 seconds.

• Most people survive an average of four to eight years after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, but some live as long as 20 years with the disease.

• On average, 40 percent of a person’s years with Alzheimer’s are spent in the most severe stage of the disease – longer than any other stage.

• Four percent of the general population will be admitted to a nursing home by age 80. But, for people with Alzheimer’s, 75 percent will be admitted to a nursing home by age 80.

Skillet lasagna

2011-09-02T13:51:00.000-04:00

I love lasagna but it's a messy process, one pot to boil the noodles, another to brown the ground beef, a pan to bake it in. So I thought I would try this Kraft recipe I had cut out of a Spring 2009 issue of Food & Family. It wasn't bad if you need a quickie dinner, not as good as the old fashioned way of course, but okay.

Skillet Lasagna

1 lb. lean ground beef
2 green peppers (I only used about 1/2 of one) chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 2/3 c. water
1/4 c. kraft zesty italian dressing (I omitted)
12 oven ready lasagna noodles, broken into quarters
1 c. kraft shredded low-moisture part skim mozzarella cheese

Brown meat in a large saucepan; drain.

Stir in peppers, garlic, spaghetti sauce, water and dressing; bring to a boil. Add noodles: stir. Cover

Cook on medium-low heat 10 to 15 minutes, or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Let stand 5 min, or until cheese is melted.

Substitute: Substitute 12 regular lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces and increase water to 2 cups and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sorry my picture doesn't look cheesy I forgot the picture until I was putting up the leftovers.

Please support me on my walk for alzheimer's. Today, 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease – 5.2 million aged 65 and over; 200,000 with younger-onset Alzheimer’s. By 2050, as many as 16 million Americans will have the disease.

Poorman's cookies

2011-09-01T18:19:00.000-04:00

I was looking through some recipes I had bookmarked and came found this recipe for old fashioned spice cake A.K.A Poorman's cookies. It looked yummy and it was! My dad in particular loved them didn't even complain that I had didn't put in nuts... until the next day at least.

I halved the recipe and left out the nuts and baked it 30 minutes in an 8x8 inch pan. I can see the reason it's called both a cake and a cookie. The batter was more like a cookie dough than a cake batter and it seemed like a slightly cakey bar cookie. The flavors were better the next day as they had melded together.

You could probably change it up some, cranberries instead of raisins or if I think about it next time I might toss in some diced apples.

Old-Fashioned Spice Cake

2 1/4c. water
1 1/2 c. raisins
1 stick unsalted butter or margerine
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9×13 baking pan.
    Combine water, raisins, and butter in a medium saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, remove the lid, and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
    While the raisin mixture is boiling, combine the dry ingredients (through cloves) in a large bowl, whisking until thoroughly combined.
    Pour the slightly cooled raisin mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until mostly combined and moistened (the batter at this point will have the consistency of a paste). Add the beaten eggs and again stir with a spoon, until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts.
    Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until deeply browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
    Cool to room temperature before serving. If not serving immediately, cover with plastic wrap to keep the cake moist. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes 12 servings.

It would be great if any of my readers would support me in my walk for alzheimer's. Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the country and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.

Bad Granola

2011-08-29T21:18:00.000-04:00

Cleaning out the cabinets I found a large canister of oatmeal I needed to use up and what better way to use up a lot of oats than to make granola? So I found a recipe for vanilla scented granola. So I mixed it all up and put it in the pan. I tasted a bit, not bad. As soon as I put it in the oven it started smelling great. The recipe says to cook it at 400 degrees for 30 min. About 20 minutes in I noticed it didn't smell so good anymore, opened the oven and found my burnt granola. I ended up throwing the whole thing away:-( It might be worth trying again but I will definitely check it more often.

Please lend your support and donate to me on my walk to end Alzheimer's Sept 17.

Yum... Fudge Pie

2011-08-24T12:28:00.000-04:00

I thought this was great with the one exception being that the outside edges of the graham cracker crust got very hard. The recipe came from a October/November 2008 issue of Taste of the South magazine. It was easy to make and didn't used a lot of ingredients. It called for a tablespoon of whiskey which I omitted and it was fine without it and is to be served chilled but it's good room temperature as well. Next time I will try it with a regular pie crust.

Miss Mary's Fudge Pie

1/4 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 c. evaporated milk
1 tbs Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey (opt.)
1 9-in graham cracker crust (try a regular pie crust)
Garnish: sweetened, whiskey spiked whipped cream and additional cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add sugar and cocoa powder, stirring to combine. Add eggs, evaporated milk and whiskey. Pour into prepared piecrust.

Bake for 40 minutes or until set. Let cool completely.

Chill and serve. Garnish slices with whipped cream and cocoa powder, if desired.

I will be walking to end alzhiemer's on September 17. If anyone has a little spare money they would like to donate to this cause I would appreciate it.

Sloppy Joes and Homemade Hamburger Buns

2011-08-23T11:57:00.000-04:00

The other night I made this recipe for sloppy joes and hamburger buns. The buns weren't bad but they turned out more like giant dinner rolls then hamburger buns. I altered the sloppy joe recipe a bit because I was using less meat so I'll post the revised recipe. I took pictures of the buns but I completely forgot the meat mixture, that's okay I guess most everyone know what they look like anyway.

Sloppy Joes - revised from A Bountiful Kitchen

1 lb ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped (if you are planning leftovers, might want to use less, taste was stronger next day)

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

3 tbs Worcestershire

1/4 cup brown sugar (was way to much, should try halving)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

water 1/4 to 1/2 cup to thin sauce, if needed

Brown ground beef in skillet. Drain off any grease. Add chopped onion, green pepper and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until onion is softened. Add tomato paste, sauce, Worcestershire and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat. If mixture is too thick, thin with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. Serve with hamburger buns, top with cheese, if desired.

I'm walking to end alzheimer's on Sept 17. If anyone can spare a little bit of money to donate to a good cause, I would really appreciate it.

2011 Walk to End Alzheimer's

2011-08-18T07:34:00.000-04:00

I will be participating in an alzheimer's walk on September 17, 2011 and would be grateful for any donations anyone can afford to give.

Did you know that alzheimer's is the 6th leading cause of death and every 69 seconds another person develops this disease. In America, there are as many as 5.4 million people living with alzheimer's disease.

One of the people currently living with this disease is my Nanny, which is what I call my grandmother. She was most often a stay at home wife and mother and until a few years ago she did most most of the cooking at her house. In the last few she didn't do any of it.

My grandfather died of cancer last year and towards the end I would come over a couple of days a week, the days the woman from hospice came and helped with his bath. I would keep Nanny distracted so she wouldn't get upset that some strange woman was with her husband and I would make her lunch, not my Pepa's because he had a tomato sandwich everyday and I couldn't peel the tomato to his satisfaction. lol. I would fix their supper for them. Nanny would sit in the kitchen with me.

Sometimes it was like having a child in the kitchen. "Don't touch the pot, it's hot." "I know" she would say. Perhaps she did know but she didn't comprehend. She can also be incredibly impatient. I was making a banana pudding and while I was standing at the stove stirring the custard she would point to the dish filled with cookies and bananas and tell me i was supposed to put the custard in the dish in a bit of a haughty, I know better than you tone of voice. "It's still cooking." We had that conversation at least thirty times... that was the slowest thickening custard ever!

Nanny is a nursing home now. It's not an ideal situation to have to do that but in some ways it's better. One of the family still sees her everyday, there is a doctor who comes in often enough that he was able to adjust her meds and she still gets her bad moods but in general she is much easier to deal with.

I've put a button below and in my sidebar linking to my donation page. I know money is tight and the economy is bad but if you can spare even a dollar or two I would be thankful.

Too many cucumbers leads to strange things...

2011-08-16T10:03:00.002-04:00

The fridge is full of cucumbers. I guess I could learn to make pickles but I don't like them. I do use sweet relish but not enough to go to the trouble of making them. Google blog search here I come! Cucumber bread... I like carrot cake and I like zucchini bread, why not a cucumber bread?

I found a recipe that looks good and I give it a try. I don't have any buttermilk in the house so I used 2 percent, no cream cheese so I left off the frosting and it didn't say if I should drain the shredded cukes, so I squeezed some of the liquid out, but not all. They looked okay but how about the taste? Cucumbers, it tasted like cucumbers. That should have been obvious but carrot cake doesn't really taste like carrots and zucchini bread doesn't taste like zucchini. The people who tried weren't really impressed and although I didn't think it was bad I couldn't get used to eating a sweet bread that tasted of cucumbers. It's not going to be a repeat for me but if any one wants to try it and you aren't feeding a crowd you might want to half the recipe.

Crock Pot Jambalaya

2011-08-15T22:01:00.000-04:00

If this recipe is anything to go one rice doesn't do well in slow cookers. I probably should not have even attempted this recipe because the blogger did not have rave reviews about this dish. Her review said the rice on the bottom was overcooked and the rice on top was not done. I figured since I always stir even when I'm supposed to set it and forget it everything would be alright, right? Wrong.

I halved the recipe just in case it didn't turn out, apparently I should have halved the cook time as well. Actually I did. I checked it after 4 hours on low and the rice was gummy and mushy and sticking to the pot. I didn't even bother adding the chicken. I ended up picking out the sausage and eating it on a hot dog bun.

Crock Pot Jambalaya

Dorie's not so perfect pound cake...

2011-08-06T12:53:00.000-04:00

My mother loves pound cake but has never been able make them, so what she usually does is yellow cake from a mix baked in a bundt pan. I've seen the recipe for Dorie Greenspan's Perfection Pound Cake on numerous blogs and I thought I would give it a try. I followed the directions to the letter, used real Kerrygold butter, I'm pretty sure the batter tasted okay, not that I would recommend that anyone eats cake batter.

I was really hoping for the best but the flavor was unremarkable and the cake was dry. It was edible if it was covered in strawberries and whipped cream. What a waste of butter this was. I'm not even going to link to the recipe as it's easy to find.

Irish Soda Bread

2011-07-10T14:15:00.000-04:00

Never having eaten Irish soda bread I don't know how it's supposed to taste but I wanted to try it. I was looking for something to make with buttermilk and decided to try this recipe. It didn't have the caraway seeds or raisins like some recipes call for but that okay because the complaint i had wasn't about the taste but the hardness of the crust.

Perhaps it was because I cooked it on a pizza stone but the crust was almost inedible. It was hard to cut through and almost impossible to chew. The middle was okay, kind of bland. It was slightly better the next day after it was toasted and slathered in butter but I don't think I'll be trying another for awhile.

Panko-Crusted Fish

2011-07-09T12:50:00.000-04:00

I don't like fish. Let's get that out of the way. I don't like it but my parents do. At least fried fish, at restaurants. Instead of a plate full of greasy deep fried fish I was hoping I could find something a little healthier for them. Unfortunately this was not it. They said it didn't have any taste. I used frozen cod, maybe fresh fish would have been better. I guess if you like the looks of it you should try it yourself with the fish of your choice.

I found the recipe Mrs. Sac's Purple Kitchen.

Deep Dish Pizza

2011-04-02T16:14:00.001-04:00

I found this recipe over a A Matter of Taste. It made a really good pizza! The sauce didn't go over well, but I added italian seasoning and red pepper flakes to the leftover sauce and liked it better.

Basic Pizza Sauce
Makes 2 2/3 cups
Adapted from Americas Test Kitchen Episode: Pizza Party

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic , minced
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
Table salt and ground black pepper to taste

Cook oil and garlic in medium saucepan over low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, increase heat to medium, and cook until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Cool.

Pepperoni Pan Pizza
Also from the Episode: Pizza Party
Makes two 9-inch pizzas serving 4 to 6

Dough:
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup skim milk plus 2 additional tablespoons, warmed to 110 degrees
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for counter
1 package instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
1/2 teaspoon table salt

Topping:
(3.5-ounce) package sliced pepperoni
1 1/3 cups tomato sauce
3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. To make the dough: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Lightly grease large bowl with cooking spray. Coat each of two 9-inch cake pans with 3 tablespoons oil.

2. Mix milk, sugar, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in measuring cup. Mix flour, yeast, and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium-low and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, about 5 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter, gently shape into ball, and place in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

3. To shape and top the dough: Transfer dough to lightly floured counter, divide in half, and lightly roll each half into ball. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, roll and shape dough into 9 1/2-inch round and press into oiled pan. Cover with plastic wrap and set in warm spot (not in oven) until puffy and slightly risen, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees.

4. While dough rises, put half of pepperoni in single layer on microwave-safe plate lined with 2 paper towels. Cover with 2 more paper towels and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Discard towels and set pepperoni aside; repeat with new paper towels and remaining pepperoni.

5. Remove plastic wrap from dough. Ladle 2/3 cup sauce on each round, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges. Sprinkle each with 1 1/2 cups cheese and top with pepperoni. Bake until cheese is melted and pepperoni is browning around edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven; let pizzas rest in pans for 1 minute. Using spatula, transfer pizzas to cutting board and cut each into 8 wedges. Serve.

Pizza Dough without a Mixer:
In step 2, mix the flour, yeast, and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the flour, then pour the milk mixture into the well. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the dough becomes shaggy and difficult to stir. Turn out onto a heavily floured work surface and knead, incorporating any shaggy scraps. Knead until the dough is smooth, about 10 minutes. Shape into a ball and proceed as directed.

Honey Cornbread Muffins

2011-03-30T18:58:00.029-04:00

You've probably noticed a lot of cornbread recipes on this blog. I like cornbread. I keep trying new recipes even though I've tried plenty that I've liked because I'm on a quest for the perfect one. I actually made this one a few weeks ago so I don't remember my exact thoughts on it but I do remember that I liked it. They were very moist and the honey gave them a different taste. Here's the link to Confabulation in the Kitchen which is where I found the recipe.

Honey Cornbread Muffins

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, butter and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Pour batter into liners. Bake 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Thin and Crispy Pizza Crust

2011-03-28T18:42:00.020-04:00

It was thin and very crispy. I cooked it on the bottom rack for the first 10 minutes to ensure maximum crispiness. I found it at Brown Eyed Baker and I will be trying this one again.

Thin n’ Crispy Pizza Crust

1 package active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons yellow cornmeal

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Stir 1-1/4 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt into yeast mixture to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands.

Place dough in a large bowl coated with coil, turning dough to coat. Cover; let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)

Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Roll dough into a 14-inch circle on a lightly floured surface.

Place dough on a pizza pan or baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Drizzle dough with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Place pan on lowest oven rack; bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; top with desired toppings and bake an additional 10 minutes or until crust and cheese is lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Carrot Spice Muffins

2011-03-26T18:29:00.000-04:00

Thia is a Dorie Greenspan recipe. I've seen her recipes all over the food blogs and since I had some carrots that needed to be used I decided to try this one that I found on the blog Sidewalk Shoes. The texture was nice, more cake like than muffin and I didn't think it had enough flavor to stand alone without frosting. I did forget the nuts which would have made it better and I thought it could use more raisins. I don't think I'll make these again but they were okay.

Cake Mix Cookies

2011-03-11T15:23:00.000-05:00

In had a box of red velvet cake mix that had just expired, so it was make something or throw it out, and I hate wasting food, so cake mix cookies it was. There are only 4 ingredient in these cookies, so they were pretty easy to make. They looked like cake inside and were a little chewy. Not bad, not in my top ten. I would have liked them better with chocolate cake mix, I'm not really fond of red velvet, tastes too much like food coloring.

Found the recipe at Abby Sweets

Cake Mix Cookies

1 box cake mix, any flavor

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed

2 cups powdered sugar

Mix the cake mix, egg, and cool whip together until combined. This will be thick, but not so thick that you can roll it into balls. Put the powdered sugar into a shallow bowl.

Once you mix the dough, put the scoops of dough into the powdered sugar and roll it to coat. You can shape it once it is covered with the powdered sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

The batter looks a bit like Play-doh.

Cookies are ready to be baked.

Baked up very pretty!

Pink Lemonade

2011-03-10T17:13:00.001-05:00

Another Cat Who... recipe. I really didn't car for this one. First I made a simple syrup, added the lemon juice and then added maraschino cherry juice. I thought it was too sweet and didn't taste much like lemonade, so I added extra lemon juice, which I think made it worse. Maybe it would have been better if I had used fresh lemons instead of bottled juice.

Mrs. Cobb's Legendary Lemon-Coconut Bars

2011-03-09T17:02:00.000-05:00

I love cookbooks. I especially love cookbooks that relate to books or tv shows that I like, such as the Little House on the Prairie cookbook. There is a series of called The Cat Who... by Lillian Jackson Braun and there happens to be a Cat Who Cookbook, actually there are two. It's been hit and miss as to how I've liked the recipes. I'm on the fence about these bars, the crust wasn't as heavy and rich as some lemon bars I've tried which I liked, but I prefer plain lemon bars. Still these were worth trying. I also recommend putting parchment in the bottom of your baking pan, I haven't tried that myself, mostly because I forget until I'm trying to pry the sticky edges from the pan.

Mrs. Cobb's Legendary Lemon-Coconut Bars

3/4 c. butter or margarine
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. bottled lemon juice
1 c. coconut
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, powdered sugar, and salt. Stir in vanilla extract and flour. Press into 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan. Bake 20 min. Remove from oven. Beat eggs slightly. Add sugar and beat until thick. Add lemon juice and coconut. Pour on baked crust. Bake 30 minutes longer. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar when cool.
Makes 24 bars.

Cornbread or corn cake?

2011-02-28T14:54:00.001-05:00

I've been wanting some corn bread lately and since I had Bisquick on hand I decided to try a recipe from A Bountiful Kitchen. I halved the recipe and baked it in a 8x8 pan. It turned out really well! This recipe made an extremely moist, cake-like bread, a bit too sweet for my taste, I'll cut back on the sugar next time and maybe make it in a bigger pan because it was a bit thick.

Emily's Corn Bread for Dummies

2 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup cornmeal

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees .

Place all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add the eggs, milk and melted butter. Mix with a large wooden spoon or spatula, just until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet ingredients.

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of pan comes out clean.

Comforting Chicken Noodle Casserole

2011-02-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

This recipe came from A Southern Grace, it was a simple dish to make and very tasty. The only complaint was that there was a little too much sour cream flavor. The recipe calls fro 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, but I used 4 tenders and that was more than enough. I don't have a kitchen scale to measure out 6 oz of noodles so I used about 2 1/2 c. of wide egg noodles. I served it with a side of steamed broccoli.

Comforting Chicken Noodle Casserole
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
6 ounces egg noodles
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
1 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350F.
Poach the chicken in a large pot of simmering water. Cook until no longer pink in center, about 12 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside. Bring chicken cooking water to a boil and cook the pasta in it. Drain. Shred or dice the chicken and mix it with the noodles.
In a separate bowl, mix together the mushroom soup, chicken soup, and sour cream. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Gently stir together the cream soup mixture with the chicken mixture. Place in a 2-quart baking dish.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan or the microwave. Stir in the crumbled crackers and sprinkle atop the casserole. Bake for about 30 minutes, until heated through and browned on top.

Oatmeal Sweet Potato Muffins

2011-02-25T18:25:00.000-05:00

A relatively healthy choice for a snack, these muffins are filled with fiber and they don't taste half bad. I made them with half white and half wheat flour, some I baked up plain and some I added coconut and to the rest I used coconut and raisins. There were some changes I would make next time. I didn't think the coconut added anything so I would leave that out next time. I liked the raisins and was thinking nuts might be good and maybe a bit of orange zest to brighten them up. Cranberries instead of raisins would probably be good as well.

I found the recipe at Kate in the Kitchen

Oatmeal Sweet Potato Muffins
from the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission
1 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1 c. flour (AP or Whole Wheat, or both)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1 T. ground flaxseed
1 c. cooked and mashed sweet potato
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. canola oil
1/4 c. skim milk
1 large egg
1 t. pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 400°. Line two standard muffin tins with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk oatmeal, flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and flaxseed. In another small bowl, combine sweet potato, brown sugar, oil, egg, milk and vanilla, whisking to blend well. Pour over dry ingredients and stir to combine. Mix until just moistened. Scoop into muffin tins and back for 15-20 minutes. Check at the 15 minute mark- these bake up quickly.

The coconut carrot cake that wasn't...

2011-02-17T22:57:00.000-05:00

I saw this recipe at A Southern Grace for carrot coconut cake. I love carrot cake and I love coconut cake and that picture looks great! I must make it, I thought. So on my next trip to the store I went armed with a list of ingredients, Cream of Coconut, not a problem it's right there in the liquor aisle. Coconut extract, that should be an easy find right? Wrong, there isn't even a place for it on the shelf. Seriously? Vanilla, almond even root beer extract but no coconut. That's okay I reasoned, I'm sure between the shredded coconut and the cream of coconut it will be good anyway.

I start to make the cake getting all my ingredients ready before hand. (something I don't usually do), the nuts are chopped and the carrots are shredded. Everything is going great. Except for peeling my thumb when I was peeling the carrots but if I took injuring myself in the kitchen as a sign, I would never cook again. Anyway, It's time to add the cream of coconut, I open the can to find a slightly brownish waxy looking layer when I dug a bit deeper a greasy looking syrup. Does anyone know what cream of coconut is supposed to look like? If that's what it normally looks like I think I'll be getting rid of any recipes with that in it. Anyway since everything else was mixed up and ready to go I just added extra oil and made it without the cream of coconut.

The flavor of the cake was lacking but the texture was okay. and since I couldn't make the frosting which is a shame because I think I wanted to try that more than the cake and I didn't have any cream cheese. I had to go next door and borrow a can of frosting. Maybe one day I'll try it again, but I would like to know if the cream of coconut was bad or if it was supposed to look that way.

New Years Eve Coconut Cake

2011-01-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

Dad wanted a carrot or coconut cake cake for New Years and since I was wanting to make this for Christmas and didn't because of the multitude of desserts we already were planning. I decided to make it last night.

It's really heavy. I don't know what happened. It was in the oven and started smelling yummy so I turned on the oven light to check it's progress. It was beautifully risen but not quite done. A few more minutes passed and it was time to open the door and check. It's done! I pulled the pans on put them on cooling rack and left them to it. When I came back to remove them from the pans they had fallen from lovely domed tops to flat tops. Okay...flat tops are easier to frost. I finished cooling it and frosted it and stuck it in the fridge. No one ate it last night. I should probably mention no one has been eating a lot, especially heavier foods because the entire family, except dad got sick at Christmas, a nasty stomach bug that was going around my grandmothers rest home. My grandmother and her roommate had it a week or so before and my mom got it then as well, my sister Christmas Eve which prevented her from even celebrating with us. Then my aunt and cousin on Christmas Night, Mom got it again the night after that as did I the next morning.

I kind of got off point. Dad tried some earlier and said it was kind of heavy. He wasn't a fan of the frosting either. I tried a small piece after lunch and It was heavy, honestly doughy might even be a better word. I'm certain it was done when I took it out. I tested with a toothpick and the top sprang back when I touched it. It isn't sitting all that well so I don't even know if I will have another piece. I tasted the batter and it wasn't bad. and the overall flavor is okay. I'll put the link so if anyone wants to see if they have better luck with it than me.

Coconut cake recipe

Oatmeal Wheat Bread

2010-11-30T14:36:00.002-05:00

Homemade bread, fresh from the oven and slathered with butter. Nothing else is as good. This is an excellent bread I found at A Bountiful Kitchen go and check out her post because she also has an informative FAQ about bread making.

Oatmeal Wheat Bread

2 cups whole milk

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking) plus additional for topping

1/2 cup warm water

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup honey

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 cups whole-wheat flour

About 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt

Vegetable oil for oiling bowl

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water

2 8x4 loaf pans

Heat milk in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan over low heat until hot but not boiling, then remove pan from heat and stir in oats. Let stand, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cooled to warm.

Stir together water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon honey in a small bowl; let stand until foamy, 5 minutes. Stir yeast mixture, melted butter, and remaining honey into cooled oatmeal.

Stir together whole-wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour, and salt in a large bowl. Add oat mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead with floured hands, adding just enough of remaining unbleached flour to keep from sticking, until dough is smooth, soft, and elastic, about 10 minutes (dough will be slightly sticky). If using a mixer, or Kitchenaid, use dough hook and mix for about 10 minutes until dough forms a ball and all flour is mixed in. Add up to 1 cup of additional flour if needed. Transfer to an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel; let rise at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 hour.

Lightly grease loaf pans. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times to remove air. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a loaf, then place 1 loaf in each pan, seam side down, tucking ends gently to fit. Cover loaf pans loosely with a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Put oven rack in lower half of oven and preheat to 375°F. Lightly brush tops of loaves with some of egg wash and sprinkle with oats, then bake until bread is golden about 30 minutes. Remove bread from pans and transfer to a rack to cool.

Grilled cheese on homeade Oatmeal Wheat Bread

Potato Soup

2010-11-27T16:35:00.000-05:00

I don't like potato soup from a can but I saw a recipe at Batter-Splattered that looked really good. I would have posted a picture but go here and check out this picture because it is much better than the one I took. It turned out very well and I would make it again.

Potato Soup
Serves four to six depending on how big the bowl
2 T olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
One stalk of celery, chopped
1/2 c onion, chopped
1/2 t dried thyme
3 T flour
2 c chicken broth
2 c milk -- 2% works fine, I haven't tried it with skim
2 good-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 c frozen or fresh peas
1/2 c frozen or fresh corn
Optional:
1 c shredded cheese
1/2 c chopped ham
Chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add carrot, celery, onion, and thyme. Saute for 5 minutes or so, until vegetables are soft. Sprinkle flour over veggies and stir for two minutes. Gradually stir in broth, then milk. Add potato, peas, and corn, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potato is soft, about 20 minutes.

To make it naughty, you can add the cheese, stirring until cheese is melted and smooth. Then stir in the ham.
Sprinkle with parsley, salt and pepper.

Spanish Bar Cake

2010-11-27T16:23:00.004-05:00

A&P's Spanish Bar Cake, I fondly remember them. Sadly I haven't had one in years but I had a craving so I searched for a recipe and made an attempt at recreating it. The cake turned out okay but it wasn't the cake I remember. I didn't have cloves so I used extra allspice which could have been part of why it wasn't the same. The frosting however was nothing like the original. I'm pretty sure the frosting on the original was cream cheese but I thought I'd try the one that was with the recipe I found.

I would still consider making this again even if it's not right it's still a nice raisin cake. I would use a different frosting though.

I found the recipe here.

A&P Spanish Bar Cake
4 cups water 2 cups raisins 1 cup shortening 2 cups sugar 2 teaspoons baking soda 4 cups flour 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon allspice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional) 2 eggs, beaten

Add water to raisins and simmer for 10 minutes. Add shortening and allow to cool. Sift together spices and flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. Add cooled raisin mixture and blend well. Add beaten eggs and nuts and stir well. Place into a 9-by-13-inch pan in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35 minutes, or until tester comes our clean. It can also be baked in a jelly roll pan for 25 minutes.
Frost when cool.

Frosting:
1/3 cup shortening 3 cups powdered sugar 3 tablespoons milk or cream 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat till smooth and creamy.

Mac and Cheese - Fail!

2010-11-24T12:46:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting macaroni salad for a few days and decided to make some last night. I had already started cooking the pasta when I realized I didn't have all the stuff to make it, one day perhaps I will learn to get all the ingredients together before I start cooking. So I figured since the noodles were already cooked I would make some macaroni and cheese. I had a recipe bookmarked to try and I followed the instructions except I used a cup of mozzarella and the rest cheddar. I don't know what happened but the texture of the sauce was gritty. Was it the mozzarella? Should I have cooked the flour longer? Total failure :-(

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

2010-10-18T23:14:00.000-04:00

Wow, I haven't posted anything here since February. I intend to try and blog more often starting with this recipe for White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies. They weren't perfect but they were very good. I used sweetened Craisins and I thought they were a little too sweet and didn't have enough flavor. I would look for unsweetened cranberries next time. I also think a little orange zest would liven these cookies up. I ate most of these my self and I'd make them again.

Here's the recipe as written at the blog linked above

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries (if using unsweetened dried cranberries increase white sugar to 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour and baking soda; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in the white chocolate chips and cranberries. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. For best results, take them out while they are still doughy. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 18 cookies if using a medium sized scoop

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Carrot cake

2010-02-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

My dad loves carrot cake, so that is what he requested for his birthday this year. He always complains that I don't put enough stuff in. 'It would be better with some coconut' or you should have put nuts in it' he says, so I put everything but the kitchen sink in it.

I couldn't find a recipe with everything in it so I made it up using Laurie's Amazing Carrot Cake as a base. It wasn't a bad cake but no one was all that crazy about it either and now my dad swears he never requested coconut in his carrot cake, or pineapple, or nuts, 'I just wanted carrots and raisins' he says. Lies, LIES! I say.

I toasted the pecans, I liked them that way and I don't even like nuts plain and I was eating them out of the pan but Dad thought they tasted weird. He didn't like the pineapple which I've almost always put in carrot cake. Neither of my parents liked the coconut which I didn't even really notice it in the cake but the toasted on top I loved, I was eating that straight from the pan as well. Yum, toasted coconut. Mom complains about any spice but cinnamon. She thought the raisins were too dry, I thought I'd soaked them too long. She complained the frosting was too thin and dry and there wasn't enough of it. It was too thin I had to stick it in the freezer for a few minutes before I could finish decorating it. At least they gave me some feedback, normally I ask what they thin and all I get back was 'it was alright' or 'didn't like it'. We did all agree it was pretty.

Here's the recipe if you wan't to try it, or alter it.

Buttermilk Carrot Cake

1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 c. buttermilk
4 eggs
1/2 tbs. salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmag
3 c. grated carrots
1. pecans, toasted and chopped
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. wheat germ
1 c. raisins, soaked in water
1 sm can crushed pineapple, drained
1 c coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the wet ingredients including the carrots, raisins and pineapple. Mix dry ingredients including nuts and coconut. Stir together they wet and dry ingredients until combined. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9 inch cake pans that have been liked with parchment paper. Bake about 35 minutes. Cool and frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 tbs butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tsp lemon juice
pinch salt
3 c. powdered sugar
milk to thin

Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add lemon juice. Mix in powdered sugar and milk if needed until it reaches frosting consistancy.

It's not a food post but....

2010-02-02T19:16:00.000-05:00

There was such a pretty site in the back yard today that I thought it deserved a post of it's own.

There were at least 10 of them roaming through the yard foraging for food. Doesn't the snow make such a pretty backdrop?

Cornbread gone WRONG!!

2010-01-14T20:54:00.004-05:00

I don't know what happened with this recipe but it didn't turn out at all. It's quite similar to the one I usually make, a little more salt and baking powder, a little more oil and one egg instead of two. The batter was thick and airy, not airy in a good way. Other recipes I've made for corn muffins have had a similar texture but they've smoothed out while they've baked. This turned out dry and the top was lumpy. I won't be trying this one again.

Jamaican Beef Dumplings

2010-01-13T21:05:00.005-05:00

Here's another appetizer I made for New Years Eve. We don't eat appetizers often, really only on New Years Eve. Then we have a whole meal of finger foods. I knew if I didn't make them this year that I would have to wait another year before I could try them.

I was most interested in trying them because I've never tried curry powder before. I was honestly hoping they would be more flavorful than they were. It wasn't bad but I didn't think it was good enough to make again.

The recipe is here at The Given's Chronicles.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2010-01-12T17:59:00.000-05:00

I saw this dip at From Laptop to Stovetop and thought it looked great. I'm not usually one for spicy things like buffalo chicken but the picture on her blog looked so appealing and we had all the stuff already in the house so I figured it would make a good dip for New Year's.

I halved the recipe because I didn't want to waste all that stuff if no one liked it. The general consensus was that it was good, not hot but it tasted a bit to strongly of the hot sauce.

Franks's Redhot Buffalo Chicken Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce OR Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese OR shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cans (9.75 oz each) Swanson White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in water, drained

Preheat oven to 350.
Stir cream cheese till smooth and mix in the remaining ingredients.
Bake 20 minutes, stir and bake till heated through.
Garnish and serve with veggies or crackers.

I used the ranch dressing and mozzarella instead of the blue cheese. Cheese with visible streaks of mold running through it has never appealed to me. I added extra mozzarella to the top before baking. I served it with wheatables and club crackers, the club crackers were a little light and airy and didn't really stand up to the dip well.

Lemon Bars

2010-01-11T17:33:00.002-05:00

My mother requested lemon bars for New Year's Eve and I thought I would try the one I found at Dinner with Julie because it had way less butter than most recipes. The crust was crisp but it wasn't all that great. The filling was a bit stickier than other recipes I've tried. I used bottle lemon juice, I think it might have been better with fresh juice. I don't think I'll be making it again especially for my mom, she didn't like it at all. If you're looking for a less fatty version you might want to try it any way.

Haystacks

2010-01-11T17:06:00.004-05:00

I think I've already failed at my New Year's resolution to blog more because I'm just now getting around to posting the things I made for New Year's Eve.

Haystacks are quick and easy to make. I guess you would categorize these as cookies at least that is what I'll be tagging them as. I usually make these for Christmas but we had plenty so I held off on making them. I don't know why I only make these for holidays even if I don't want to have to eat them all myself I know I can count on my sister to eat half of them herself.

Easiest recipe ever.

1 bag of butterscotch chips
half to 3/4 bag chow mien noodles

That's it! Melt the butterscotch and mix in the noodles. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool.

I like a thinner coating of butterscotch on mine so I add a lot of noodles, if you like a thicker layer of butterscotch add less. I've also seen versions with nuts added and there's no reason you couldn't use chocolate chips instead of butterscotch. I did have a little trouble getting my chips to melt smoothly. Does the weather effect melting things like it does making candy? Because it was raining.

Paula's pajama party onion burgers

2010-01-08T12:34:00.002-05:00

I completely forgot to take pictures of this one, but it wasn't liked enough in my family to matter. It wasn't bad but it wasn't fantastic either. It was similar to SOS except extremely oniony, maybe too oniony. The filling stayed in better on toast than hamburger buns. I made the sandwich the way Paula suggested with mayo and mustard and topped with onions, I didn't think the mayo flavor came through so you could skip that and save on fat.

If you want to try it the recipe is at the Food Network site.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T10:35:00.002-05:00

I'm not a big fan of new year's resolutions but I would like to make more of an effort to blog on a regular basis.

The first thing I did this year was to sleep in. Well I made it to about 8:30 before the cat decided I needed to get up and since I didn't go to bed until about 1:30 I would've been happy with a couple more hours. I also joined cookeatshare.com this morning. They were already indexing some of my recipes so I figured I'd get more people coming here if I actually joined up.

I hope everyone has a fantastic 2010 full of love, luck and laughter!

Sweet Potato Casserole

2009-12-29T13:43:00.004-05:00

I had intended to post this one after Thanksgiving but I'm always putting things off. Now I'm typing this on a shiny new laptop so perhaps it will inspire me to blog more often. This recipe came from a church cookbook my mom bought years ago. Here's the original recipe...

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 c. mashed cooked sweet potatoes
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 stick margarine, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients. Put in a 7x12 inch casserole dish.

topping:
1 c. brown sugar
1c. nuts
1/2 c. flour
1/2 stick margerine

Put on top of the potatoes. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes.
Top with mini marshmallows and put under the broiler until brown and melty. Keep a close eye on it, I think I remember my sister catching the marshmallows on fire when she got distracted.

I have made some changes to the recipe. My sister and I aren't big fans of nuts, but we like pecan pie, go figure! So my mom always made it with out nuts in the topping. The last few years we've been buying 20 lb. boxes of sweet potatoes. These sweet potatoes have been really sweet and buttery so I've been cutting back on the butter and sugar in the recipe. I also use about 4 c. of sweet potatoes. It would work fine to cut back on the topping as well if you're watching your sugar.

I actually made a larger one for Christmas because we had a couple of extra people and most of the people who come take some leftovers. 7 c. potatoes and one and a half times the amount of other ingredients and the original amount of topping. There were way more leftovers than I figured there would be. It turns out one of the people who came was allergic to sweet potatoes and I'm not sure if the other person had any or not. Next year I will not be doubling it.

Ravioli Lasagna

2009-12-12T16:20:00.001-05:00

Quick, easy and good! I used the frozen spinach which may have been a mistake as I actually had someone refuse to eat it it, no this someone was not a child even if they acted like it. "What's that icky green stuff? I'm not eating this." I personally didn't even taste the spinach except where it was clumped up in a few places. I would try this one again, without the spinach to accommodate my family.

I found this recipe over at Dinner With Julie.

Ravioli Lasagna
1 large jar good-quality tomato sauce
2 16-18 oz. bags fresh or frozen large ravioli – any kind
1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 cup grated part-skim mozzarella (or as much as you like)
½ cup grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spray a 9”x13” baking dish with nonstick spray, and spread about a third of the tomato sauce over the bottom. Lay half the ravioli in a single layer overtop. Sprinkle with the spinach and half the cheese, another third of the sauce and then the remaining ravioli, sauce and cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake another 10 minutes, until golden and bubbly.

Serves 6.

Buttermilk Cornbread

2009-12-09T19:33:00.003-05:00

I completely forgot to take pictures of this but since I wasn't crazy about it I'm not gonna worry.

We had some buttermilk in the fridge so I decided to try out a new recipe for cornbread. The recipe came from this blog. It was moist but it was way too sweet. The crust was also a little soggy and tough. The only changes I made was to half it and I cooked it in a cast iron skillet. I wouldn't make it again.

Beth's Melt in Your Mouth Barbecue Ribs (Oven)

2009-12-02T16:00:00.001-05:00

This amazing rib recipe came from recipezaar. I had a package of smithfield spareribs in the freezer and they turned out fantastic. They were incredibly tender and the sweet dry rub was so good no one even wanted any barbeque sauce. A note on the recipe suggested when pulling the membrane off the ribs to grasp it with a paper towel and pull which is a handy tip to try. I used the liquid smoke brushed on the ribs instead of the hickory salt, which I couldn't find. The poster also suggests trying the rub on chicken but I haven't tried that yet.

I repeat... these ribs were fantastic! You must try them.

Beth's Melt in Your Mouth Barbecue Ribs (Oven)

4 lbs pork ribs
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon hickory smoke salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 300 degrees f.
Peel off tough membrane that covers the bony side of the ribs.
Mix together the sugar and spices to make the rub.
Apply rub to ribs on all sides. If you don't have hickory salt brush ribs with liquid smoke.
Lay ribs on two layers of foil, shiny side out and meaty side down.
Lay two layers of foil on top of ribs and roll and crimp edges tightly, edges facing up to seal.
Place on baking sheet and bake for 2-2 1/2 hours or until meat is starting to shrink away from the ends of the bone.
Remove from oven.
Heat broiler.
Cut ribs into serving sized portions of 2 or 3 ribs.
Arrange on broiler pan, bony side up.
Brush on sauce.
Broil for 1 or 2 minutes until sauce is cooked on and bubbly.
Turn ribs over.
Repeat on other side.
Alternately, you can grill the ribs on your grill to cook on the sauce.

Smothered Pork Chops, Turnip Greens and Cornbread

2009-12-01T20:34:00.004-05:00

Tonight's dinner was way more trouble than it was worth, especially the turnip greens. My father had planted some turnip greens which needed to be harvested, so I went out and picked them and pulled the tough stems off and washed them several times to get all the dirt and bugs off. I cooked them using this recipe, no one really like it, not that it was bad, but I think we all prefer canned.

.

I found the recipe for the pork chops over at The Given's Chronicles. They were kind of tough and I didn't think they had a lot of flavor and I wouldn't make them again.

The cornbread was an old recipe I've made numerous times before. I found it in a Taste of Home magazine. The only problem I've ever had with it is that the top never browns, but nothing does in our oven. BTW, it's a sweeter cornbread so if that's not what you like you might want to look for something else.

Corn Bread Squares

1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. yellow corn meal
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, milk and oil. Beat just until moistened. Spoon in a greased 8" square pan. (I've also used a cast iron skillet) Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

Buttermilk pancakes

2009-11-29T17:18:00.000-05:00

I'm not that great of a pancake maker (they tend to fall when I flip them) and I grew up on Bisquick pancakes not from scratch. I found this recipe at A bountiful kitchen it turned out okay. Probably worth trying if you don't suck as bad as I do at making pancakes. Click the link for the recipe and give it a try.

Laurie's Amazing Carrot Cake

2009-11-21T16:24:00.002-05:00

This cake turned out pretty well. I halved the cake recipe to make 2 9-in layers. Freezing made it easy to frost. I goofed and halved the frosting as well, I don't know if it was just a really good frosting recipe or if it was because I made less of it so it wasn't overwhelming but I loved the frosting.

I wasn't crazy about the ground nuts and raisins, I like whole raisins and I thought the ground nuts left a bitter taste in some bites. (maybe I should have toasted them?) I would try it again with a few changes.

Edit: I was looking at the frosting recipe again and realized I don't know what I thought a cube of butter meant, a stick or a couple of tablespoons? I also can't remember whether I used vanilla or lemon juice. I normally used vanilla but I liked this one better than normal so maybe I used the lemon juice?

Frosted very neatly.

Last piece... I kept forgetting to take pictures.

Laurie's Amazing Carrot Cake

3 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

8 eggs

1 Tablespoons salt

4 teaspoons soda

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons cloves, ground

6 cups grated carrots

2 cups chopped pecans

4 1/2 cups flour

2 cups raisins and / or 2 cups chopped fresh cranberries

Prepare pans:

2- 10 inch Spring form pans,

two- 9 inch round cake pans and two- 8 inch round cake pans.

Beat the eggs, oil and buttermilk together in a large bowl. Grind the pecans and raisins in a food processor with a metal blade. Pulse until chopped into very small pieces. Add all of the dry ingredients, including the nuts and raisins to the wet ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Pour into greased and floured pans, lined with parchment or wax paper. Only fill pans 3/4 full. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour if using 10 inch Spring form pans, about 45 minutes for round pans. Test with toothpick to see if done before removing from oven. After removing from oven, wrap each layer individually with saran wrap and place in freezer while still warm. Remove after cake is cooled and frozen, and apply one layer of frosting. Layer the cake on a platter. Return to freezer. Let cake refreeze until frosting is firm. Remove and frost outer sides and top of cake again. At this point you can either place back in freezer until ready to use, or let sit out to thaw. If making the cake in advance, cover when frosting is hardened and store in freezer. On day of serving, remove cake from freezer at least three hours before serving. You may decorate with lemon leaves around base of cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 cube butter, not margarine

8 oz. cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla (I used 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice instead)

pinch salt

about 6 cups powdered sugar

cream or milk to thin, about 3 tablespoons

Cream the butter and cream cheese. Add flavoring, salt and about 3 cups of powdered sugar. Mix well. Add rest of powdered sugar and milk or cream to desired consistency. Frost as directed. If you are making 4 layers, I 1/2 this recipe again so you will have enough to frost all four cakes. If making either 2 -10 inch spring form cakes, or just frosting 2- 9 inch cakes, and keeping the smaller 8 inch cakes in the freezer for later use, one batch of frosting is enough.

Dolly Parton’s Green Tomato Cake

2009-11-19T18:22:00.005-05:00

I made this cake a few months ago. I was looking for something to do with a bunch of green tomatoes that had fallen off a potted tomato that the wind had blown over and found this on recipezaar. It was adapted from a recipe from Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s. I ran out of butter so I didn't make the cream cheese frosting, maybe It would have been better if I had. It was okay but no one felt it was worth making again.

Dolly Parton’s Green Tomato Cake

1 cup raisins
Hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter, melted
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/4 lbs green tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced small
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 lb chilled cream cheese (two 8-oz packages)

8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 pinch ground cinnamon, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch cake pans and lightly dust them with flour.
Place the raisins in a bowl and add hot water to cover; set aside. (Note from Julesong: you can use warm rum or other liquor, if you like.).
Sift the flour into a medium bowl, then add the salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir to combine.
In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring, until a smooth batter forms.
Drain the raisins in a sieve.
Stir the walnuts, drained raisins, cored/diced tomatoes, and coconut flakes into the batter.
Pour an equal amount of batter into each prepared cake pan and spread evenly with a spatula.
Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for about 60 minutes of until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. When done, remove from oven and let cake cool in pans on wire racks.
When cake is cool to the touch, slide a knife or icing spatula around the inside rim of each pan to loosen edges and carefully flip the cake layers onto the wire racks to continue cooling. (You can use an inverted plate on top of the pan, flip, and carefully transfer to racks, if you like.).
If you want to frost the cake, make the cream cheese frosting while layers are cooling.
To make the frosting, in a medium bowl beat together the cream cheese and butter with an electric or hand mixer until well blended.
Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.
Gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat until smooth.
Beat in cinnamon until incorporated. Use to frost the cake.
To frost cake: when cake is completely cooled place one layer on serving plate and, using a spatula, frost all over with half the frosting. Place second layer on top. Frost second layer with remaining frosting.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

2009-10-27T16:30:00.000-04:00

I've had this recipe for a couple of years and unfortunately I can't remember where I found it.I've made them a few times and they've been great but the last time I made them I used butter instead of margarine and I don't think they turned out as well. They seemed a little greasy and they also seemed to spread a bit more.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

1 1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened
2 1/4 c. confectioner's sugar
1/3 c. baking cocoa
1/4 c. sour cream
1 tbs. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
2 c. (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c. chocolate sprinkles

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and cocoa until light and fluffy. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1 hr.

Roll into 1 inch balls and dip in chocolate sprinkles. Place sprinkled side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 min or until set. Cool 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 5 1/2 dozen

Pizza!

2009-10-25T15:30:00.000-04:00

I love pizza and this is one my favorite crusts. I found the recipe at allrecipes and tried it based on the tons of great reviews (1,862 right now). It makes one huge pizza and makes a pretty thick crust. It's been my go to crust for awhile. If you're looking for a pizza crust you should definitely give this one a try!

Jay's Signature Pizza Crust

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.

Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Chocolate Cake

2009-10-24T10:30:00.001-04:00

This recipe came from Food Hunter's Guide to Cuisine. It's a nice chocolate cake, excellent texture and very moist. I personally thought the taste of the sour cream in the cake came through a bit more than I would have liked (it could have been my imagination, I'm not a huge fan of sour cream) I didn't use cherry preserves as a filling, other than that I followed the recipe.

I had picture of the whole cake but they turned out really blurry. My picture taking skills have sucked lately. I also have no dishes that are worthy of being photographed which is why the cake is sitting on a Winnie the Pooh plate.

The time on the recipes seems likely to be for a sheet cake. I think 20-25 min. seems more likely for a layer cake but I forgot to write down how long I cooked it for ( I made it a few weeks ago and now I can't remember)

The recipe is copied below as written on Food Hunter's blog

Chocolate Cake
(old family recipe)

1 cup cold water
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour your pan.
2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
3. Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl at medium speed. Add eggs one at a time mixing after each addition. Add sour cream beat well. Alternate between dry ingredients and water mixing just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake 50-60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

One Bowl Butter Cream Frosting
(Phylis's famous frosting)

6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup Cocoa
2 2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small bowl, cream butter. Add cocoa and confectioners sugar alternately with milk; beat to spreading consistency. (additional milk may be needed) blend in vanilla.

Filling

1 small jar cherry preserves

Banana cupcakes with honey cinnamon frosting

2009-10-23T19:32:00.004-04:00

I found this recipe at Good Things Catered. I didn't love the recipe enough to make again so i won't bother putting it up here, you can find it and a ton of other great looking recipes at her blog.

The cupcake had more of a muffin texture which is, I believe part of the reason I wasn't crazy about the recipe. I love a banana muffin but not with frosting, especially when my mouth was set for cupcakes. The frosting was okay but everyone thought it tasted like plain vanilla.

Sweet Potato Fries

2009-10-18T19:32:00.003-04:00

I've always been a fan of sweet potatoes, they're full of nutrients and low in calories and they actually do taste sweet. How can you go wrong with a vegetable like that?

I saw this recipe for Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries at The Givens Chronicles and knew I would have to try it. It was mostly liked except some people wanted it to be crispy. I've actually made it three times in the past month. I've tried cooking on a baking sheet at 450 to get it crispier and just last night I tried it on my pizza stone at 450 but it seems these just aren't going to get the crunch that was desired by some. Personally I loved them the first time I made them. They tasted like a roasted sweet potato but the cinnamon brought out the sweetness and the cayenne pepper gave it a little kick. I will be making these often even if I have to eat them all myself!

Here's a copy of the recipe

1-1.5 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” wide strips
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp red pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Place potatoes in gallon Ziploc bag and add all and seasonings. Seal and shake making sure they are all coated.

Spread onto baking sheet in single layer and not crowded.

Cook 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Transfer to paper towel lined plate.
Note. They will not be crispy like regular French fries. Try not to overcrowd them or cook something else in the oven with them. They need room to breathe.

Sesame Broccoli & frozen sweet & sour chicken

2009-09-28T20:27:00.003-04:00

I wanted to try a bag of Wanchai Ferry sweet & sour chicken that was in the freezer (btw it was okay but I'd much rather have it from a restaurant). To go with it, I had some broccoli that needed to be eaten and thought that Sesame Broccoli sounded like it would go well with the meal. It was alright but not spectacular. I don't think I would make it again.

No picture but here's the link

Pineapple Casserole

2009-09-17T19:24:00.001-04:00

You might have seen this over at Danielle's blog Cooking for My peace of mind. I needed to use up some ritz crackers and was thinking of getting my sister's recipe when I saw her post. I think her's was actually better. Sorry sis! I think it was the crushed pineapple that made it. It gave it a smoother texture. Next time I might halve it, I had two servings and someone else had three but there was still over half a casserole left. I'll also try it with just crushed pineapple and see how that works.

This a is really simple and delicious recipe. It's served as a side dish but it's also like dessert. It's kind of like sweet potato casserole that way. Btw, I usually make sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving and Christmas so that recipe should come up in a couple of months.

If the cheese doesn't look melty it's because I took the picture the next day and hadn't been reheated yet.

Pineapple Casserole

1 20 oz can of pineapple chunks, drained

1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple, drained

5 tablespoons flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 to 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 1/2 cups ritz cracker crumbs

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 350.
Grease a small casserole dish (about 11 x 7).

Combine the pineapple, sugar, flour and cheese in a large bowl.

Pour into the casserole dish.

Top with cracker crumbs and drizzle the melted butter over the top.

Bake for about 30 minutes.

Baking Powder Biscuits

2009-09-16T08:55:00.004-04:00

I came across a recipe at Running Foodie's blog for baking powder biscuits and her photo looked so good I had to try them for myself. She called hers "Everest biscuits" unfortunately mine didn't rise quite so high but they were still really good! You should check out her picture it's much more appealing than mine.

leftover biscuits (it made about 16 2 1/2 in. biscuits)

breakfast the next morning

Apple butter my parents brought back when they went to Sevierville, TN. last week.
There's a store and restaurant up there that is great. I was up there in 2001 and it was the first time I'd ever had apple butter I liked. I hate the stuff from the grocery store.

Here's a copy of her recipe

Rumford Baking Powder Biscuits aka Everest Biscuits

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2/3 cup shortening (I use Smart Balance)
1 1/3 cup milk
(you might need a little more milk to make it cohesive enough to shape)

Heat oven to 425˚. If you have cast iron skillets, put about a tablespoon of shortening each in 3 10-inch skillets and place in the oven to heat while preparing the dough. I use a 10 1/2-inch, an 8 1/2-inch, and a 6-inch skillet because that's what I have. If you don't have any cast iron skillets, grease a large cookie sheet and set aside. Or, use the cast iron skillet and a cookie sheet if you haven't enough skillets.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together. Cut in shortening until mixture is like coarse corn meal (if some pea-size chunks remain, that's okay). Add milk, stirring it in quickly with a fork, to form a soft dough. (If a large portion of the dough is still crumbly and not dough-like, add a tablespoon or so more of milk.)
Turn dough out onto lightly-floured surface; knead about 1/2 minute. Roll 1/2 inch thick, or slightly taller; cut with 2-inch cutter dipped in flour (I use both a 2-inch and a 1 1/2-inch cutter). Place fairly close together in the skillets or on the cookie sheet (not right next to each other, maybe between 1/4 and 1/2 inch; (ou can also brush the tops with melted butter if you like) bake about 12 minutes. Serve hot.

I used a cookie sheet instead of cast iron skillets. Maybe next time I'll halve the recipe and use my skillet. I also has something else in the oven so I had to open the door and check it which could be why mine didn't rise as high or I might have rolled them to thin I've never been good at judging measurements. I also had to turn the broiler on to brown the tops. I always have a problem with the tops whatever I'm baking not turning brown.

Foodie Blogroll

2009-09-15T06:20:00.003-04:00

I just got approved for the foodie blogroll which has a fantastic collection of bloggers. I'm very pleased to be a member!

Cranberry Orange Bars

2009-09-06T12:28:00.000-04:00

I found the recipe at Good Things Catered and it was fantastic! Not every one in the family likes cranberries so I ate most of it myself but I did take some to my sister and her husband and she like them as well. I never got to find out her husbands opinion, she'd eaten them all without him even knowing they were in the house!

I didn't have any oranges so I used OJ from the carton and skipped the zest. I also used frozen cranberries.

Cranberry Orange Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp orange zest
2 c. fresh cranberries

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
-Beat together sugar and butter until lighter in texture.
-Beat in eggs, orange juice and vanilla until combined
-Add flour and baking powder and mix well (should be the consistency of a cookie dough).
-Fold in orange zest and cranberries.
-With an oiled spatula, spread batter evenly in a 9x12 prepared baking pan.
-Bake for about 40 minutes.

S.O.S

2009-09-02T20:21:00.006-04:00

No, I'm not sending out a distress call! SOS stands for sh*t on a shingle, the names unappetizing but it actually does taste really good. It's a military recipe that's been handed down from my great grandfather who learned to cook in the army. He was born in 1914 and I think he lied about his age and joined when he was 16 so he would have been in the army in 1930 but I'm not sure how long he served for.

I've seen several variation for this recipe but never exactly like this so I'm not sure if this is how they made it or if he changed it over the years but my mom watched him make it one day and wrote down exactly what he did and this is how we've been making it ever since.

SOS

Brown 1 lb. hamburger in a skillet. Drain grease. Add salt and pepper and half a stick of butter (or margarine). Add 2 glasses of water (the glass we use holds 2 cups of water so you'll use 4 c. total) . Cook on high heat and skim off foam. Let cook about 15 minutes. Put 3 tbs. of flour (it doesn't have to be a level spoonful and we've always used self-rising but I don't think it would matter) in a glass. Add almost a glass of hot water. Stir. Pour in a little at a time while stirring (until it get's the thickness you want). Serve on toast.

The Black-Eyed Pea's Baked Squash

2009-09-02T14:22:00.004-04:00

Way too sweet! I found the recipe at recepizaar and it had great reviews but I found it to be really sweet. If you try it and have better results let me know.

The Black-Eyed Pea's Baked Squash

5 lbs yellow squash
2 eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs
4 ounces butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped onions
1 dash pepper

Directions

Cut the tops off the squash.
Cut in 3- 4 pieces.
Boil in water til tender (just a few minutes).
Drain and mash.
Add remaining ingredients.
Place in casserole dish.
Cover with light layer of breadcrumbs.
Bake at 350 til lightly browned (about 10- 15 minutes).

Amish Macaroni Salad

2009-08-31T20:27:00.003-04:00

I love macaroni salad...well, there is one macaroni salad I always loved. It was at a local pizza place that is unfortunately closed and has been for quite a few years now. I know they bought it but I don't know where from. When I got the salad bar the only thing I put in it was macaroni salad and maybe a few spiced apple rings. Anyway, I've tried macaroni salad from different places and different brands. None have ever lived up to that pizza place. This one comes really close. I found it at Chocolate Moosey's blog

I've made it twice so far with a couple of changes. The first time I only used two hard boiled eggs because when I was chopping them, three looked like it would be way too many. I only used celery not green pepper and I cut back on the sugar. The second time I skipped the eggs completely, it didn't make a big difference but I think I prefer it with out the eggs. I also increased the amount of dressing by half it didn't make a big difference so I would stick with the original amount. Normally I have a problem with the sauce being absorbed into the pasta too much but I didn't have too much of a problem this time. That could be because I let the pasta cool completely or maybe because I rinsed the pasta with cool water. It did get a little thick but a couple of drops of milk stirred in before serving smoothed it back out.

Here's the recipe as found in Chocolate Moosey's blog

Amish Macaroni Salad
1/2 lb. elbow macaroni (I just guessed)
1/4 cup chopped celery or green pepper (or both)
1/4 cup grated carrots
2 Tbsp chopped white onion
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped (yolks optional)
Paprika
1 cup mayo
2 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (you can cut back to 2 Tbsp if needed)
1 Tbsp yellow mustard

1. Cook macaroni as directed. Drain and let cool.
2. After the macaroni cools, mix with celery, green pepper, carrots, onion, and eggs.
3. In a small bowl, combine mayo, vinegar, sugar, and mustard. Fold into macaroni mixture. Sprinkle the top with paprika and stir a couple of times to mix it in. Cover and let chill at least 2 hours, although overnight is best.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

2009-08-26T20:40:00.003-04:00

We've had an excess of tomatoes from the garden this year and with a fridge full of tomatoes I decided to try making tomato sauce before they went bad. I washed and diced the tomatoes and removed the seeds (well, most of them, I wasn't meticulous about it.) I put them in a large pot and ran my Braun handblender through it. You could use a regular blender or maybe a food processor. Then I simmered it on low for 4 or 5 hours, stirring occasionally, until it cooked down to the consistancy of canned tomato sauce. The first pass of the handblender left some chuncks so I did it again after it had cooked a little and it became much smoother. I let it cool some and packed it in freezer bags to freeze and use at a later date. All in all it was pretty easy but it did take awhile to remove the seeds so it might be easier to strain the seeds out after it has been cooked down.

above: just after it was processed with the handblender
below: after it was cooked down

Chicken Broccoli Noodle Bake

2009-08-11T22:52:00.004-04:00

The recipe came from here at Recipezaar.

This was a nice recipe with a comfort food feel about it. Every thought it was okay except it needed to be saucier. It's something I might make again.

1/2 lb egg noodles
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 cup cooked chicken, diced
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Cook noodles in boiling, salted water until almost tender, drain.
Mix soup and milk, add to noodles and season to taste with salt and pepper.
In a 2 qt casserole, arrange 1/3 of the noodles, top with all of the broccoli.
Top with 1/3 of the noodles, then with all of the chicken.
Cover with remaining noodles.
Mix butter with bread crumbs and sprinkle over the top.
Bake uncovered at 350° until brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Chicken Parmigiana With Homemade Pasta Sauce

2009-08-11T22:23:00.004-04:00

I found the recipe here at recipezaar. I didn't care for the sauce it tasted overdone which I guess was my fault. I should have cooked it less than it called for. The recipe didn't say what to bake it at so I looked at some other recipes and cooked it at 350? (it was a while ago and I didn't write it down.) I cooked it the 40 min. that it said to but it was tough, I microwaved it for a couple of minutes the next day for lunch and it was a bit more tender so I think it should have been cooked longer in the oven.

I did not find this recipe worthy of making again. If you happen to want a frozen microwaved chicken parmigiana try Michael Angelo's it's the best! It's one of the few frozen dinner's I would actually say I like. I'm not getting paid to say it, it's really just that good.

Garlic Pepper Chicken

2009-08-11T21:28:00.005-04:00

Tonight's supper was Garlic Pepper Chicken. It was a bit hot for some of us, including me but I don't eat a lot of spicy foods so take that into consideration if you make it. If you don't like spicy things, cut back on the cayenne pepper a little. Everyone thought it tasted great even those of us who couldn't take the heat. I will definitely be making this again. (just with a little less cayenne next time). I served it with white rice and a bag of stir fry mixed vegetables in House of Tsang classic stir fry sauce.

I found the recipe at Peacefulcooking's blog which I suggest checking out she has quite a few recipes that look great!

Recipe is copied directly from her blog.

Garlic Pepper Chicken

6 - boneless skinless chicken thighs (4 boneless skinless chicken breasts will work but it won't be as tender)

1 TBS garlic powder (one of the few times I use garlic powder)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne or

red pepper

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1 TBS olive oil

1 TBS butter

1 cup chicken broth

Cut the chicken into tiny strips about the size of your pinkie finger. Mix together the dry ingredients and sprinkle over the chicken, mixing well so that all the chicken is evenly coated.

Heat up the butter and olive in a pan, making sure the pan gets nice and hot but don't brown your butter. You want the pan hot so that the chicken gets nicely browned when cooked. Add the chicken and brown, turning once.

Add the chicken broth and scrape up all the brown crunchies off the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat down and let the chicken broth reduce by about half. Serve over white rice. One of the best parts is when the rice absorbs some of those juices.

Edit: I didn't have onion powder so I skipped the salt and the onion powder and used an equal amount of onion salt instead.

Lime Chicken Tacos with homemade Tortillas

2009-08-04T21:31:00.005-04:00

Tonight's dinner...

I found the chicken recipe at Taste Every Season
Here's the original recipe

Lime Chicken Tacos
from: BlogChef

Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into small pieces)
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
½ lime (juiced)
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 green onions (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
10 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1 tomato (diced)
¼ cup shredded lettuce
¼ cup Monterey jack cheese
¼ cup salsa
Sour cream (optional)

Make:

Step 1: Add a little oil to the pan and sauté chicken pieces in the pan for 20 minutes over medium-high heat.

Step 2: Mix together vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onions, garlic and oregano.

Step 3: Add the mixture to the pan and Simmer with chicken for another 10 minutes.

Step 4: Warm tortillas and add chicken mixture to each one evenly. Top with cheese, tomato, lettuce and salsa, sour cream.

I made a few changes to the recipe. I used 1 1/2 tbs of Realime juice instead of 1/2 a lime. I didn't have any green onion so I used about a third of a yellow onion diced finely. A red onion probably would have been good. I didn't have fresh garlic so I used a 1/2 tsp of garlic powder.

I thought the vinegar flavor was a bit strong but no one else noticed and it every one thought it was pretty good so I would make it again.

The tortilla recipe came from So Deliciously Good
Here's original recipe
1 1/2c warm water

1/4c canola oil

1/2 Tbsp salt

4 1/2-5c flour

Combine water, oil, and salt. Begin stirring in flour 1 cup at a time until your reach 4 cups. Add enough remaining flour to achieve a stiff but workable dough. Roll dough into balls. On a floured surface, roll out each ball into a 10-12" circle. Cook in a skillet sprayed with cooking spray or on a griddle for 1-2 minutes per side. Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Makes about 10 tortillas.

I didn't change any of the ingredients except using vegetable oil instead of canola and I ran out of all purpose flour and had to use half a cup or so of bread flour in the dough and more for rolling them out.

There was a few thing that I changed in the making of them. After you roll the dough into balls I would suggest covering them with a damp cloth so the outside doesn't dry out and get hard. The instructions say to spray the pan with cooking spray but when I tried that the tortillas got crisp like crackers. I found a dry pan worked much better. The excess flour browns in the bottom of the pan but it's not a problem to wipe it out with a damp cloth.

It's a lot quicker to buy a pack at the store but these were pretty good. In fact, I was told that these were better than store bought.

Now for some pictures....

The dough balls

Rolled out

in the pan

finished tortillas!

Meatloaf, potato cakes, bacon & cabbage

2009-07-30T20:09:00.002-04:00

I don't use a recipe for the meatloaf. It's ground beef, a pkg of lipton onion soup mix, an egg or two, ketchup, and a slice or two of bread torn into little pieces. Mix well. Put in a pan ( I have a cook's essentials loaf pan that has a shallower insert with holes in the bottom to let the grease drain away from the meat. Squirt some more ketchup on top. Bake 350 for an hour or until done.

The potato cakes I make are never as good as my mom's. I think part of the reason is that I don't use enough flour and they tend to fall apart a bit. There isn't really a recipe. Take your leftover mashed potatoes and add flour (we've always used self-rising). Shape into patties and fry. We eat them with ketchup.

I found the recipe for the bacon and cabbage at girlichefs blog here I thought it was pretty good I drained a little if the grease because it was really fatty bacon and it turned out fine. It makes a change from boiled cabbage. I also left out the caraway seeds because we didn't have any.

Bad Blogger Brownies

2009-07-30T19:51:00.004-04:00

I said in my last post I would talk about the brownies I made. That was 2 weeks ago, as I mentioned in the title I am a bad blogger. So here we go 2 weeks late.

Kittencal's Extreme Chocolate Brownies

2/3 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar (reduce to 1-1/4 cups for a less sweeter taste)
1/4 cup water
4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (24 ounces)
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Set oven to 325 degrees F.
Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
In a heavy saucepan, bring butter, sugar and water to a boil, stirring constantly until the butter is melted and sugar is dissolved (about 3 minutes).
Remove from the heat, with a wooden spoon, stir in 2 cups chocolate chips until melted; cool slightly, beat in vanilla.
In a mixing bowl,whisk eggs, gradually add in the chocolate mixture, beating with a wooden spoon until completely mixed.
Mix together flour, baking soda and salt; add to the egg/chocolate mixture; mix well to combine.
Stir in the remaining chocolate chips.
Spread into prepared baking pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes (don't over bake).
Cut into squares.
Note: If desired, chopped walnuts may be added.

36 brownies

I added all the chocolate at the beginning because I didn't read the recipe right. They had an odd taste on the first day which had faded by the 2nd day. I also halved the recipe. I would maybe try them again with and add the chocolate at the appropriate times. I also think they may have been a tiny bit overcooked.

Shepherd's Pie

2009-07-15T20:42:00.005-04:00

I should probably start off with the fact that I don't like mashed potatoes. I ate them when I was young, with mayonnaise, I know that's unusual but that's how my mom ate them and she learned it from her stepfather and I have no idea why he started eating that way. Where was I? Oh yeah, I don't like mashed potatoes so it was stupid of me to try a recipe covered in mashed potatoes and think I would like it.

It wasn't all bad, I like the bottom part well enough. I think it would be good as a base for pot pie. I expect a lot of people would want to spice it up a bit but I liked it the way it was. The potatoes were a little softer that I expected, maybe I used too much milk when I made them but I think it was the egg that thinned it down more than I would have expected. I thought the egg would bind it together and thicken it a bit but I guess not.

I found the recipe at recipezaar. The link it here.

1 (22 ounce) package frozen mashed potatoes (or make your own)
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 cup beef broth
1 large egg
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

If you're making your own, prepare mashed potatoes; set aside.
Brown beef and onion in lg skillet over med-high heat for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring til beef crumbles and is no longer pink; drain and return to skillet.
Add carrots and peas; stir in flour, 1 t salt, 1/4 t pepper,& tomato paste.
Add broth, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
Spoon mixture into lightly greased 7x11” baking dish.
Stir together mashed potatoes, egg, and remaining 1 t salt and 1/4 t pepper; spoon over beef mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes; top w/ grated cheddar and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

I also made brownies which I haven't tried yet so I'll post that later.

Slow Roasted Whole Chicken

2009-07-11T12:51:00.004-04:00

The recipe is here The only changes I made were I used onion salt instead of the salt and onion powder and I only had the rub on the chicken 4-5 hours instead of 8-24. The rub didn't give it much flavor, I really should have let it sit overnight. It was tender, so tender it didn't slice well. It fell apart into chunks every time I tried slicing. It was a perfectly good roast chicken but I would rather have cooked on a rotisserie or on the grill.

The last 2 pictures are what it looked like when I removed it from the pan. If you want it to look nice you might want to cook it a little less because the breast and legs came off in one piece but the wings, sides and back fell into a million pieces.

Zucchini Bread with Blueberries

2009-07-10T21:43:00.006-04:00

I found this recipe at here at Recipezaar.

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup oil
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups unpeeled grated zucchini (food processor works well)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups fresh blueberries or 2 cups frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

Add oil, sugar, zucchini, vanilla and almond extract to beaten eggs.
Sift dry ingredients together and add to batter.
Gently fold in blueberries.
Pour into 2 greased and floured 8x4x2" loaf pans.
Bake at 350° for 1 1/4 hours until inserted toothpick comes out cleanly.
Cool on rack and store in plastic wrap in refrigerator.

Makes 2 8x4 inch loaves

I did make a few alterations to the recipe. I used 2 cups of sugar instead of 2 1/2 and next time I might cut the sugar a little more. I used 2 1/2 c. of frozen blueberries instead of 2 because I didn't read the recipe properly, the 2 c. the recipe calls for should be sufficient. I also used self rising flour instead of all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and it worked just fine. I made 1 loaf and 8 mini loaves. The mini loaves were done in about 20 min and the regular loaf took about 40-45 min. This is a really good recipe that everyone enjoyed and if you have kids it's a great way to sneak in some vegetables!