Fresh Veggies June 2, 2009

I haven’t written in FOREVER so I decided to ease back in slowly.  We’ve had a lot of repeats lately, so not too many new things to write about!  However, we have been having a whole ton of fresh veggies lately.  It maybe because of the season, but I haven’t made a frozen veggie in forever.  I’m kind of addicted.  Here are some of my favorite ways to cook fresh veggies.

Asparagus

This baby of ours seems to love asparagus.  I crave it all of the time.  It makes my pee smell horrible, which is worrisome in the first few seconds when I forget why it smells that bad, but once I remember that it is only the asparagus it doesn’t bother me all that much!  My Mom always boiled asparagus, and I don’t remember not liking it, but I much prefer sauteeing it.  I just melt about a tablespoon of butter and a splash of olive oil in a skillet, toss in the asparagus (usually cut into thirds or so, but however you like it is fine), sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss until tender.  I like it slightly blackened, but that’s just me.

Broccoli

I like to steam broccoli and toss it with some butter and a little lemon juice, but my favorite way is to roast it.  We had it this way tonight and it is oh-so-good.  Just cut the broccoli into long stalks, stem and all.  Place them on a baking sheet and sprinkle with olive oil.  Tonight, we were out of olive oil ( a tragedy, I know) and so we sprayed it with canola oil baking spray, and it worked great!  We minced fresh garlic over it and sprinkled it with salt and pepper.  Bake it in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes or so, until golden brown on the edges.  Love it.

Carrots

Fresh carrots are best and easiest when steamed.  Just peel, slice, and toss them in the steaming basket over a pot of water and bring the water to a boil.  Stir the carrots around every now and then until fork-tender, or to your desired consistency.  This part kind of takes the nutrition out of it, but put the carrots in a bowl, add a pat of butter, a sprinkle of brown sugar and a dash of ground ginger.  Stir and serve.  Very, very tasty.

Corn

We haven’t tried this yet, but my sister’s recipe for grilling corn sounds pretty awesome.  Just wrap each ear of corn in aluminum foil with a pat of butter and a little salt and pepper and cook until done – I have no idea how long that is.  She said that it kind of caramelizes and the corn pretty much just falls off of the cob into your mouth.  Sounds good to me!

Mushrooms

Saute in some olive oil and butter, add salt and pepper and worcestershire sauce, and serve alongside a nice, grilled steak.  Aaaaahhh.

Anybody else have any tasty ways to cook fresh veggies?  Enlighten me!

A Great Day with Summer Deliciousness April 17, 2009

Today was a great day.  “Spring Break” this year hasn’t felt like much of a Spring break since I’ve had some work to do everyday so far.  Today was the first day of the week that I didn’t have any work to do (well, I had to clean the bathrooms, but that’s just life).  I had a good morning at home getting things cleaned and organized.  I got 4 bags of clothes to Haven which I have been meaning to do for months.  They are so appreciative there, it makes you feel like you’ve really done something helpful!  After that small errand, I headed to Emily’s to meet up with her and her girls.  We had a great lunch at Fresh Choice.  Hailey and Leah were little ladies and entertained me with their napkin artwork and silly stories.  After lunch we headed to Dairy Queen.  Emily and I have been taunted for weeks by the ad for the Midnight Truffle Blizzard.  It was sooooooooooo good, but very, very rich!  After dessert, we all headed to get our hair cut which was so much fun and felt so good after 5 months without one!  On the way home, we stopped at Consign Design Boutique and I purchased my first 2 maternity outfits, for just $37!  I can’t wait to wear them!

After a busy but wonderful afternoon, I headed home to fix dinner.  Last week at the grocery store, I grabbed a pork loin roast just because it looked good.  I figured we’d throw it in the crock pot with something or other and call it a meal.  Well, when Ross suggested grilling it, there was no way I was turning him down!  I started my morning with searching for a good marinade recipe and starting the process.  The recipe I found was on cooks.com and is called Grilled Marinated Loin of Pork.  We loved it.  The honey and cinnamon add just the right amount of sweetness, and it came out perfectly tender.  Along with it we had a pasta salad that we first made and blogged about last summer, Spicy Vegetarian Peanut Noodle Salad.  It was even better that we remembered, and went perfectly with the pork. 

Today was a fun, beautiful day, and the sunshine, the carefree schedule and the awesome summer meal made me feel like summer is finally on its way.  I am so happy!

Lots of Good Food! January 7, 2009

I’ve been lazy about blogging this week!  I have a few great meals to catch up on.

 

On Sunday, I went to see Marley and Me.  It was a great movie, but I sobbed.  A lot.  It was worth it, though.  Being the wonderful guy Ross is, he made me a great dinner.  Homemade manicotti!  ALL homemade!  He found a recipe in the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine for them using crepes as the pasta.  Here’s the recipe.  He claims it was easy.

 

Three Cheese Manicotti

2 c ricotta cheese

1 3/4 c shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 c grated romano cheese

1/3 c flat leaf parsley

2 tablespoons  milk

3 large eggs

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3 c meat sauce (store bought or your own)

 

Preheat oven to 350.  In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup romano, the parsley and milk.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs with 1 cup water.  Whisk in the flour.

 

Heat a greased 8″ nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Ladle 3 tablespoons batter into the skillet, swirling to cover the surface of the pan.  Cook for 1 minute, flip and cook for 1 minute more.  Repeat with remaining batter, greasing the skillet after each crepe.  Stack the crepes on a plate.

 

Spread half of the meat sauce in a 9×13 pan.  Spoon the cheese mixture down the middle of each crepe.  Roll closed; arrange in the baking dish.  Top with the remaining meat sauce and cheeses.  Bake for 25 min.

 

Ross used regular marinara sauce and added browned ground beef/sausage mixture in with the cheese.  He also sauteed onions with the meat mixture.  It was awesome!

 

Last night we wanted something quick and easy since we were both pretty tired.  I made chicken tenders, seasoned with some Mediterranean spices and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.  I put those on top of Rachael Ray’s Orzo with Chick Peas and it was delicious!  I love orzo and was excited to have a new recipe to use.

 

Today Ross found out that he got a promotion!  I told him he could pick if he wanted to go out to celebrate or stay home, and he decided to stay home and have… paninis!  He wanted something with ham. I searched for recipes, but couldn’t find anything too interesting, so I made one up.  I used French bread and Ross used honey wheat.  We put swiss cheese on the bread, honey ham, thinly sliced Granny Smith apples and some red onion slices.  I made up a sauce that I put on mine by mixing together some mayo, a little Dijon mustard and some honey.  We grilled them up and they were delicious!

 

As a side note, one of my best friends had a baby yesterday.  Richale gave birth to KJ very early and he weighs only 1.4 pounds.  They were out of town for his birth, so although they live in Washington state, they are in Nevada indefinitely.  She’s told me he’s a fighter and is doing well considering how tiny he is.  Please keep Richale, Kyle and KJ in your thoughts and/or prayers.  I know they would appreciate it and I would, too!

 

Thanks!

Honeyed Pork Chops December 12, 2008

Dinner tonight was good.  I liked that this one used all ingredients that I had on hand, was very quick to put together, and gave the pork chops a really good flavor while cooking them just right, not too dry and not too tough.

 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 boneless pork chops

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

 

Preheat oven to 325.

 

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Brown pork chops 5 min on each side.  Transfer to a baking dish.

 

In a bowl, mix together the honey, water, soy sauce, onion, ginger and pepper.  Pour over pork chops in baking dish.

 

Bake pork chops for 1 hour in preheated oven, to an internal temp of 160 degrees.

 

I made some teriyaki rice on the side, but this makes so much tasty sauce that I’d probably just make plain rice next time and put the sauce over it. 

 

I also made some carrots the way my mom used to make them for a treat.  Cook them as you normally would and right before you serve them put a bit of butter and a tablespoon or so of brown sugar in the bowl.  Mix them around and they will be covered in a sweet, tasty, syrupy deliciousness.

Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf Patties with Pan Gravy and Sour Cream-Tomato Smashed Potatoes December 10, 2008

Whew!  That’s a mouthful!  Luckily this one is easier to prepare than it is to say.  And let me tell you, it is goooooood.  True to Rachael’s word, this is a quick one to make.  I left work at 5:45, went to Wal Mart  and then to meet Fred and Ginger at the Page Household, got home a little after 7 and we were done eating by 8:00.  Nice, huh?

 

I loved that these were wrapped in bacon, I loved that the cooking directions made the patties come out perfectly and I love that the meal includes a very delicious gravy.  The smashed potatoes were pretty good, too!  You definitely need something to enjoy more of the gravy on top of.

 

OK, here goes:

 

Potatoes:

2 lb small red skinned potatoes, quartered

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 rounded tablespoons sour cream

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped.

 

Place potatoes in a large pot, covering them with water. Bring to a boil and boil for about 1o minutes or until fork tender.  Drain, place in pot and return to burner (turn burner off) to dry out.  Add remaining ingredients except for tomatoes and mash.  Stir in tomatoes and cover to keep warm.

 

While potatoes are boiling, prepare burgers:

 

1 1/3 lb ground sirloin

1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

splash of milk

1 egg

2 teaspoons steak seasoning (such as Montreal by McCormick’s)

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste

1 medium onion, finely chopped (reserve 1/4 for sauce)

8 slices of bacon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons flour

1 to 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 rounded teaspoon spicy brown mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped.

 

Place meat in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the center of the meat.  Fill the well with the bread crumbs and damped them with a splash of milk.  Add the egg, grill seasoning, allspice, tomato paste, and 3/4 of the onions to the bowl.  Combine the mixture and form into 4 patties.  Place 2 strips of bacon on a cutting board to make an X.  Place burger in center of the X.  Fold the bacon around the patty, place seam side down in a the hot, oiled skillet.  Repeat for each patty.  Cook on medium high for 7 minutes on each side.  Place a loose aluminum foil tent over the skillet while cooking  (The tent reflects the heat and allows steam to escape from the pan).

 

Remove the meatloaf to a platter and return the pan to the heat.  Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of butter and the remaining onions to the skillet.  Cook the onions for 2 minutes and sprinkle the pan with the flour.  Cook the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in 1 cup of the chicken stock.  Bring the broth to a bubble.  If the gravy is too thick, thin with additional stock.  Stir in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Thanksgiving Treats November 27, 2008

In a little while, we will head over to the Tipton’s to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I can’t wait for a huge meal full of so many of my favorite things.  It is fun to share in the traditions of my “new” family and to bring some traditions from my family along with me. 

 

I offered to bring cornbread, because of this wonderful recipe that was given to me by Emily’s mom, Mrs. Waters.  This is the best cornbread I’ve ever had.  Emily has raved to me many times about her Mom’s cornbread, and I was so excited when Mrs. Waters gave me a homemade cookbook for a wedding gift, including this recipe.  It is easy to make, but has so much extra flavor than just a mix itself.

 

Corny Cornbread

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread

8 oz sour cream

3 eggs

1 large can cream style corn

1-2 tablespoons sugar

1/2-1 stick butter

 

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt 1/2 stick of butter in 13×9 pan.  Mix other ingredients.  Pour butter into batter, then pour the batter into the buttered pan.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until browned on the edges.  Melt the remaining 1/2 stick of butter and brush on top during the last few minutes of baking to make it browned and tasty!

 

I am also bringing some appetizers.  I found a recipe for Crock Pot Crab Dip on the Year of CrockPotting blog.  It sounded so good to me, and the Buffalo sauce reminds me of home.  It is in the crock pot now, and it smells and looks so delicious.  I can’t wait to taste it.

 

Since Ross is disgusted by crab meat (he is not thrilled with the smell in the house at the moment), I figured I’d make an appetizer that he would like as well.  I’m about to put together Feta Cheese Foldovers, a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com.  It sounds very easy, putting a mixture of feta cheese and some other tasty things on a puff pastry sheet and folding it over to make little triangles stuffed with cheesy goodness. 

 

Neither of these appetizers are super “Thanksgiving-y” but I think they’ll be good and we’ll still have all of the traditional foods to make it a true Thanksgiving.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and remembers to think about all that we have to be thankful for.  I know I will be doing that all day.

Comforting Cube Steaks September 19, 2008

…And they were just that.  This meal was very tasty.  I had to work very late tonight, and just got home and finished dinner.  Ross made this for our dinner tonight.  Comforting Cube Steaks is easy to make and requires very few ingredients.  The cream of mushroom soup makes it creamy, the onion soup mix makes it a bit salty, and the sprite makes it a bit sweet.  The cajun seasoning and pepper add a tiny bite along with the other combinations.  All together, they flavor the meat well, make it nice and tender, and create a wonderful gravy for some mashed potatoes on the side.

 

Ross has always been the master mashed potato maker in our little family.  He usually uses red potatoes, leaves a bit of skin on here and there, and salt, butter, milk, and cream cheese (and sometimes even a little sour cream if we have it) while whipping them up.  I’m pretty sure the cream cheese idea came from our dear friend Elizabeth.  She made potatoes that way at her house one night and we’ve copied her idea ever since. 

 

Ross kicked it up a notch tonight and added a few cloves of garlic and some other seasonings into the pot of potatoes while they were boiling.  I always thought my Aunt Molly made awesome mashed potatoes, too.  I think she told me once that she put an onion, sliced, in the pot of potatoes while boiling and mashed them up with the potatoes.  I am beginning to think that the secret is more in what you boil the potatoes with, not so much what you mix in afterwards (although let me tell ya, if you haven’t tried it with cream cheese and/or sour cream, you must!).

 

I’m already excited to have my leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Beany Salad September 7, 2008

This recipe is courtesy of Miss Katie Thomas.  When Katie worked with me at Stepping Stones, she was always required to make this each time we had a luncheon.  Everyone loved it, and we would always finish it up.  It is a delicious combination of veggies, along with a sauce that is part bitter and part sweet.  While I’ve had the recipe for quite some time, I’ve never been able to bring myself to make it.  It is Katie’s recipe, and one of those that I feel wouldn’t taste the same if I made it. 

 

Well, tonight I am going to a friend’s house for dinner to celebrate the new 90210.  We couldn’t all get together on Tuesday when it premiered, so we are having a premiere party tonight.  Thank goodness for DVR!  Elizabeth loves themes, so of course she is making mega burgers and peach pie in honor of the Peach Pit.  Beany salad really has nothing to do with 90210 (although I am sure Cindy Walsh would approve), but I figured I’d bring it along anyway.  We’ll see if I can come close to Katie on this one…

 

Beany Salad

1 can French cut green beans

1 can white shoepeg corn

1 can baby Le Suer peas

1/2 c onion, finely chopped

1/2 c green pepper, finely chopped

 

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c vinegar (I ran out of white so I used half white and half apple cider)

1 c brown sugar

 

Combine all veggies in a medium sized bowl.  In a saucepan, combine vinegar, oil and brown sugar.  Stir well and bring to a boil.  Pour sauce over veggies and refrigerate overnight.

 

I figure since I messed up with the vinegar, and also won’t have time to refrigerate it overnight, I can blame those reasons if it isn’t as good as Katie’s!

Grilled Chicken along with Zucchini Casserole July 18, 2008

We are having a luncheon at work tomorrow and I wanted to make something that I hadn’t taken to work before.  This is a challenge, because like me, many of my co-workers love to eat.  We sometimes joke that we all feel like we put on 10 pounds when we started working there!  We find any excuse to have a luncheon… baby showers, new homes, teacher appreciation week, weddings, birthdays, and sometimes we have one just because we haven’t had one in awhile.  What better reason is there than that?  It’s always fun because everyone has a different style of cooking or baking and brings a different type of food.  I love to try other people’s recipes and have a huge plate with a sampling of a lot of different stuff.

 

Tomorrow we are celebrating a co-workers new home.  I am making a zucchini casserole, and decided to make one for Ross and I to have for dinner tonight as well.  This recipe comes from one of my favorite gifts of all time.  One year for Christmas, my sister made me a special cookbook just for me.  She used a photo album and put 4×6 index cards in each slot with a different recipe on each one.  The reason that this is a perfect gift is because my sister knows me so well.  Therefore, there is no need to weed through it as there are with other cookbooks.  They all sound great to me, because my sister chose them for me and she knows just what I like!  I am sure it took her forever to make it, but if you ever need a good gift idea that is very personal and inexpensive, I recommend it!

 

So, along with our grilled chicken marinated in our favorite Asian Toasted Sesame salad dressing, we will have this zucchini casserole.  And, I get to have it again tomorrow, along with lots of other great dishes made by my friends and co-workers.  It will definitely be something to look forward to at the end of a long and hectic week.

 

Zucchini Casserole

1/2 c margarine

1 c seasoned bread crumbs

4 c chunked zucchini

2 carrots, diced (I used a huge handful of matchsticks because it was easier)

1/2 c sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of celery or mushroom to make it vegetarian)

1/4 c milk

1/2 onion, chopped

 

Melt margarine and stir bread crumbs into margarine, set aside.  Boil zucchini chunks for 5 minutes, drain.  Stir in carrots, onion, sour cream, chicken soup, and milk.  Mix well, then add 1/2 of the breadcrumb mixture.  Mix well.  Pour into greased 9×13 pan (I always use an 8×8 pan or a round baking pan) and top with remaining breadcrumb mixture.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

 

Tonight I added parmesan cheese in and mixed it around, then sprinkled a little on top.  I have also topped it with shredded cheddar in the past and that was good as well.  I’ve also added chunks of chicken into this and made it into a main meal.

 

In honor of my great cookbook gift, here is a picture of my sister and I taken a few summers ago.

More allrecipes.com dinners June 24, 2008

Last night Ross and I decided we didn’t feel like going to the grocery store, so we would just make dinner with what we had on hand.  Our friend Gordon was over, he and Ross had a 5 hour Nintendo game(yes, just plain old Nintendo, like as in the one from 1992).  I figured after the rough fine motor workout and the mental strain of Mario 3, they would need a good dinner, so I scraped the pantry and came up with this.  For as easy and basic as it is, I think both dishes are pretty good.

 

My Chicken Milano is a quick and easy recipe.  It is basically chicken breasts that are seasoned a little bit and sauteed in stewed tomatoes and green beans.  The chicken ends up really tender and juicy.  When I made it last night I felt like it needed to be a tiny bit more saucy, so I added maybe 1/3 c. chicken broth.  Maybe next time I just won’t drain the tomatoes. 

 

Along with the chicken, I made Orzo with Parmesan and Basil.  We have made this several times.  It is a great side dish that is an alternative to typical pasta or rice and has a great flavor.  It tasted really good with a little of the sauce from the chicken.

 

Once again tonight we didn’t feel like going to the grocery store.  We are hoping to get a new dog from CARA soon (we’re going to visit her tomorrow!!!) and my mind was too caught up in the excitement of our potential new family member to think about a grocery list.  So, once again we had to scrounge to come up with sometihng to make.  We had ground beef and tortillas, so we decided soft tacos would taste good.  Ross searched for a recipe for homemade taco seasoning and found this.  It had great reviews, and lived up to them!  We mixed in some black beans, sauteed some corn and topped them with cheese, cilantro and sour cream.  Not too bad for a last minute meal! 

 

Maybe tomorrow we’ll actually go to the store…