Oatmeal Carmelitas

I got this recipe from one of my bosses, Connie. She brings them in quite often and they're always a favorite of everyone's. This is a family recipe of hers from her Grandma, I believe. They are so yummy! I'm making them to bring to our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations. Kevin isn't a fan because he doesn't care for the crumbly texture on top, but I love them and hope you do, too!



Oatmeal Carmelitas

14 oz. package light candy caramels
1/2 cups evaporated milk
OR
1 jar caramel ice cream topping
1/4 cup flour
(I used the ice cream topping and flour)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup (6 oz. package) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used about 2 cups, half milk chocolate and half semi-sweet)
1 cup chopped pecans (I left these out)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt caramels in evaporated milk in heavy saucepan over very low heat. Cool slightly. OR mix caramel ice cream topping and flour together in a small bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients except chocolate and pecans. Press half of this mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. (I would suggest using about 3/4 of the mixture in the bottom of the pan)

Remove from oven. Sprinkle with chocolate pieces and pecans. Spread carefully with caramel mixture. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Chill 1-2 hours. Cut into squares to make bars.

Chicken, Brown Rice, and Veggie Soup

Tonight we had chicken, brown rice, and veggie soup in the crockpot. I basically just threw some stuff together. It turned out to be very good - all three of us loved it. So I figured I'd try to jot down what I did this time.

Chicken, Brown Rice & Veggie Soup

2 boxes chicken stock
2 cups water
1 teaspoon Better Than Boullion
6 carrots, chopped
2 parsnips, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste (after its cooked)

Dump all ingredients into a crockpot. Stir and cover. I cooked mine on high for about 4 hours, then on low for about 2 1/2 hours.

Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

I made up a batch of Christmas sugar cut-out cookies. I got this recipe from my friend, Michelle, at work. These are the best sugar cookies! They get so nice and "fluffy" as Kevin calls them. The best part is that they stay soft - they don't get crispy like so many sugar cookies do. (Maybe you like them crispy, but I don't.) Anyway, I know everyone has their "own" sugar cookie recipes, but I thought I'd post this one anyway since we think they're so good.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter/margarine
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 1/2 cups flour

Cream the butter/margarine, sugar, and salt. Add eggs, sour cream, nutmeg, and vanilla; mix well. Add baking soda and powder with the flour, a little at a time and mix well. Let the dough stand in the refrigerator for a few hours for easier handling.

Roll out and cut. Or drop - make balls the size of a walnut and dip into colored sugars and press down.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until done. (They only took 9 minutes in my oven)

Meal Plans

Christmas week already?! Holy cow! Where did the year go? Seriously. This week will be a busy one. Lots of parties and get-togethers, lots of food to prepare, and still more baking to do. As well as finishing up some projects at the ranch - Kevin made good progress on the insulation last week, but he'll be working on it some more early in the week, as well as finishing trimming out the door in the breezeway (which by the way makes a HUGE difference in there, we were losing so much heat and gaining so much cold air from the old door). I'll be doing some painting of the doors in the hallway so we can FINALLY say the hallway is complete. My priority will be getting all of our gifts wrapped, though... I'm making good progress, but still have so many left to wrap!

Anyway, here's what I'm thinking for meals at the moment. I should have lots of recipes to share by the week's end. Some new recipes, some tried-and-true.

Sunday ~ Christmas celebration with my Grandma on my Dad's side, parents, sister, and her boyfriend. We're just ordering pizza, salads, and breadsticks. And I'm using up a box cake mix so I don't have to throw it away (not buying them anymore) to make cupcakes, as well as some chocolate pudding for desserts.
Monday ~ something with chicken... maybe Ethiopian chicken, or chicken curry, or chicken divan, or chicken and brown rice in the crockpot, or bbq chicken and cornbread casserole in the crockpot... and maybe we'll end up seeing Jaime and Jeff either today or tomorrow for a little Christmas celebration, so that will change things up a bit if we do. chicken, brown rice, veggie soup in the crockpot, hopefully with some homemade bread
Tuesday ~ I think maybe sausage smothered in cabbage... or broccoli cheese soup... or both, though they don't sound too good together, do they? :P homemade chicken nuggets baked in the oven with homemade french fries
Wednesday ~ Christmas Eve with my Mom's family in Fenton. I'm making hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls and a dessert or two... either cheesecake bars, s'more cookie bars, or oatmeal carmelitas... and of course cookies! Everyone always brings lots of cookies to share, then we swap at the end of the night.
Thursday ~ Christmas morning with just our little family of 3+2 - I'm going to make an overnight french toast bake for breakfast. Then Christmas Day with Kevin's extended family in Grand Rapids in the afternoon. I'm bringing some form of dessert... either cheesecake bars, s'more cookie bars, or oatmeal carmelitas... or some of each maybe since I have the ingredients for all of them.
Friday ~ Christmas celebration with Kevin's family in Grand Blanc. I'm making a fruit salad and bringing cookies and maybe fudge if I get around to making any.
Saturday ~ Christmas celebration (kind of) with Sara and her fiance, Adam, in Saranac (near Grand Rapids). Sara's mom is making us a nice dinner and I'll probably bring dessert type items or appetizers. We'll talk more later in the week to figure it all out.

Apple Cheddar Turkey Meatballs

Last week, I made apple-cheddar-turkey meatballs from A Year of Crockpotting. I didn't take a picture of them - none of us liked them. Even Carson gagged on them... and he loves just about everything. I was disappointed, I thought we'd like them... or at least I would like them. My SIL, Mary, has made them and her family enjoyed them. So I thought we would, too. I even took her suggestions and used a larger apple and added extra cheese. But nope, we didn't like them. Needless to say, I won't be making them again. :)

Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake

Tonight I tried out another new recipe. This one came from our cousin, Melissa, for chicken florentine artichoke bake. I hadn't originally planned this for the week, but ended up having to ax the soup since I didn't have enough broccoli on hand and haven't been able to make it to Meijer yet this week. I had all the ingredients on hand for this casserole, so I thought we'd give it a try. I'm so glad we did! This was delicious!! Kevin, Carson, and I all absolutely loved it. Kevin thought it was the best new recipe I've tried in the last few months. Carson kept wanting more and more - he even liked the spinach and the artichokes! I'll definitely make this again sometime. I thought it came together pretty easily. I left out the onion to avoid the step of sauteing it, but otherwise it came together pretty quickly.

Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake

8 oz dried bow tie pasta (I used tri-color rotini)
1 small onion, chopped (I left this out to save a step)
1 Tbsp butter (left this out)
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk (I added a little more than this)
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (opt.)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 14oz can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1 10oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1/2 cup oil-packed dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs (I left these off)
1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp butter, melted (I left this out)

Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to package. Drain. In medium skillet cook onion in 1 Tbsp butter for 5 min or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.

In bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, seasoning, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Stir in chicken, Monterey cheese, artichokes, spinach, tomatoes, half the Parmesan, cooked pasta, and onion. Transfer to a 3 qt square baking dish.

Bake, covered, for 20 min. In small bowl, combine remaining Parmesan, bread crumbs, paprika, and melted butter. Sprinkle mixture over pasta. Bake uncovered, 10 minutes more or until golden. Makes 6-8 servings.

Chicken with Spinach and Feta

Last night I tried a new recipe that I came across on Kalofagas Greek Food & Beyond by Peter Minakis. This was so, so good! I'll definitely make this again. I prepped the chicken the night before with the spinach/ricotta/feta mixture, so it was ready to go when I got home from work last night. It requires a bit of cook time on the stove top, but it doesn't require baby-sitting, which is always nice, especially with a toddler running around now. The sauce was awesome, definitely need the sauce to make the dish complete, but the plain chicken was so good, too. I only made two chicken breasts, but they were huge, so I did the full sauce recipe, which I'm glad I did. I wish I'd have done four chicken breasts so we'd have had some leftovers, though. We just had it with green beans since I didn't feel like making rice.

Chicken With Spinach and Feta
(Κοτόπουλο με σπανάκι και φέτα)

Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of water
75 gr. crumbled Feta (about 1/3 cup)
75 gr. ricotta cheese (about 1/3 cup)
4 Tbsp. of chopped fresh chives
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill (I just used a little dried dill weed)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 pads of unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
sweet paprika
2 Tbsp. of flour
1 clove of garlic, smashed (I actually did two cloves and chopped them up)
2 Tbsp. minced shallots (I just used one medium sized shallot)
1 cup chicken/vegetable stock
1 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Trim your chicken breasts of any excess fat. Wash and pat dry and set aside. In a bowl, mix your spinach, chives, dill, Feta and ricotta and mix well with a fork. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper.

Using a sharp knife, carefully cut a pocket into the side of the chicken breast and fill with the spinach mixture. Secure with one or two toothpicks. Season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper and some sweet paprika.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium/high heat and brown side of the chicken, 3-4 minutes a side. Remove the chicken and reserve.

In the same skillet, add the wine to deglaze the tasty brown bits and reduce over medium heat for a couple of minutes, until the wine has nearly evaporated. Now add the shallots, garlic and flour and saute for another minute or so, just enough to cook the rawness out of the flour.

Now add your chicken stock along with the chicken breasts, bring to a boil and then cover and, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes.

At this point your sauce should begin to coat a wooden spoon. Remove your breasts and keep warm. Add the cream to the sauce and simmer until the sauce is thick and you can draw a line into the skillet with your wooden spoon. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add the chopped fresh parsley.

Cut each breast into slices, fan onto the plate, serve with your favourite rice dish and spoon the cream sauce over the sliced chicken breast. Serve immediately.

Meal Plans

A little late on the meal planning again this week. I've had it figured out in my head, just haven't had the time to type them up yet. It's kind of a busy week, even though Kevin is off this week, but he's working on getting a lot of projects done at the ranch (insulation, new door from the breezeway to the garage, dri-loc painting the exercise room floor in the basement). I'm working full-time this week and won't have much spare time at home once Carson goes to bed - lots of gifts to wrap, Christmas cards to send out, etc. So here's what I'm thinking:

Sunday ~ pizza from Rocky's
Monday ~ stir-fry with chicken and veggies
Tuesday ~ leftovers
Wednesday ~ broccoli cheese soup in the crockpot chicken with spinach and feta
Thursday ~ chicken with spinach and feta chicken florentine artichoke bake
Friday ~ apple, cheddar, and turkey meatballs in the crockpot
Saturday ~ I'll be in Grand Rapids wedding dress shopping with Sara Ross, so Kevin will be on his own... probably leftovers for him.

I'm hoping to do at least two batches of cookies this week - regular chocolate chip for Kevin, and probably oatmeal raisin or monster cookies. We'll see if I get the Christmas cards finished up tonight or not.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

I tried another new cookie recipe over the weekend for oatmeal butterscotch cookies. I saw the recipe on Baking Bites, a baking blog that I regularly follow. I guess this is actually a recipe that Cindy McCain had submitted to Good Housekeeping magazine as a favorite cookie recipe. I love oatmeal cookies and I love butterscotch, so I had been looking for a good oatmeal butterscotch cookie recipe. This is definitely a great one! I think they're awesome! Kevin doesn't care for oatmeal and he doesn't care for butterscotch, so he wouldn't even taste a bite of one. This will definitely be a keeper for me, though! Next time I might even add a few chocolate chips to change it up a bit. Though they're awesome as-is.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or silpat.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Blend in eggs and vanilla until mixture is smooth.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into butter mixture, then mix in the oats and butterscotch chips.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls (large balls) of cookie down onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie to allow for spread.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. (It only took about 9.5 minutes in my oven. You want to pull them out as soon as you see the edge turning light golden brown. The centers will set up while the sit on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes.)

Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies. (I did a double recipe so I'd have plenty to bring into work on Wednesday and ended up getting about 10 dozen... so I'd say this recipe would produce about 5 dozen cookies with my cookie scoop anyway.)

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

First of all, thanks to our cousin, Melissa, for the cookie button code! I'm not sure I'll be doing 12 consecutive days of cookies, or even 12 different cookies right now, but we'll see how it goes.

Tonight I made up a batch of chocolate chip cream cheese cookies. Kevin had requested "some form of chocolate chip cookie" - so this is what he got tonight since I wanted to try out a new recipe. I got this recipe from my college buddy and Phike sister, Ranae. These are very good! They got a thumbs up from Kevin and myself, even with the couple changes I made to them.


Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

2 sticks butter, room temp
1 3 oz. package cream cheese, room temp (I actually used about 4 oz.)
1 cup sugar (I used half white sugar and half brown sugar)
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 12 oz. package chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate b/c that's what I like)
2 tsp orange zest (I left this out)
(I added 1 teaspoon baking powder)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Gradually mix in flour and salt until just blended. Fold in chocolate chips and orange zest. Place on ungreased cookie sheet (or parchment/silpat lined sheet) by rounded teaspoon. Bake 10-12 minutes. When they start to brown around the edges, they are done.

I ended up with 49 cookies.

Herb Cheese Bread

I tried a new recipe for herb cheese bread from AllRecipes to go with our lasagna on Tuesday. This was very good and was a great pairing with lasagna - and would be good with any italian dish, I think. Kevin, Carson, and I all really loved this. I'll definitely make this again. And best of all, the bread machine does all the work for you!

Herb Cheese Bread

1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons dry milk powder
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon active dry yeast

Place ingredients in bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the Basic or White Bread cycle, and press Start.

(Instead of adding the separate herbs, I just substituted with 5 teaspoons Mrs. Dash Italian Medley)

Lasagna

I made a lasagna for dinner on Tuesday night. I made a huge one so that we'd have plenty of leftovers - I froze a couple dinners' worth, plus had lunches for Kevin all week, and thought I had some for dinner during the week, too (but I ended up not being able to eat it b/c I came down with the flu). I never follow a recipe when I make lasagna and I don't think I ever make it exactly the same way twice. I'll try to write down what I did this week and make notes of things that I change up.

Lasagna

1 box lasagna noodles
1 container ricotta cheese
1 container cottage cheese
1 egg
parmesan cheese
2 jars pasta sauce (homemade, favorite store-bought, etc.)
1 pound ground meat (turkey, chicken, lamb, beef)
any veggies you have on hand, frozen or fresh
shredded mozzarella

I never boil my noodles first, but if you feel better by doing so then go for it.

Brown your ground meat, drain grease if necessary, and add pasta sauce.

Mix the ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, egg, and parmesan cheese in a bowl. You don't have to use both ricotta and cottage cheese, but I usually do because Kevin doesn't care for ricotta and I don't care for just cottage cheese - and we both seem to do ok when they're mixed. I just eye-ball the parmesan cheese, but I bet its about a cup.

Begin by spraying your pan/baking dish with cooking spray (I usually use a 9x13 baking dish or my huge enameled cast-iron lasagna pan - I used the lasagna pan this time). Then spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of your pan. Put down a layer of noodles. Next spread some of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles - probably about half of it on this layer. Next layer on some veggies - I have used spinach (usually a staple in my lasagnas), zucchini, summer squash, carrots, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, bell pepper, onions, mushrooms, celery, etc. Top the veggies with about a little less than a third of the meat sauce. I then sprinkle on a little parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Repeat all of these steps again. After repeating the steps again, top the mozzarella/parmesan cheese with another layer of noodles. Spread remaining meat sauce on top of the noodles. You can then drop some more spinach on top of the sauce, or skip this and top with lots of mozzarella cheese and sprinkle some more parmesan on top of the mozzarella.

I know, its totally NOT healthy, but its so good! :)

A Few of My Favorite Things

Being the holiday gift-giving season, I thought it'd be fun to list a few of my favorite things - kitchen/cooking/baking specific. Please post your favorite things in the comments or on your own blog so that we can all get some ideas for some gift ideas either for others or for ourselves. :)

My favorite appliances would have to be my KitchenAid Stand Mixer (I have the 6-quart lift bowl model), my bread machine, and my immersion stick blender. Probably in that order. Even though the KitchenAid is large and heavy, I love how easy it is to use and the versatility of it. I've used it for mixing cookies and cakes, whipped/mashed potatoes, kneading bread dough. Plus there are so many fun attachments that make this a multi-purpose appliance - ice cream makers, pasta rollers/cutters, meat grinders, etc. I just love it. I love the time that my bread machine saves me. I haven't used it all that much yet this year, but I generally do use it quite often in the winter. I love just being able to dump in the ingredients and let the machine do the work. Plus, I know the bread I make with it is more healthy than the store-bought breads and I know exactly what is in mine. The immersion stick blender is another handy appliance. I have some different attachments that came with mine, so not only is it great for pureeing soups and other things, but I can use mine as a chopper and as a mini food processor.

My favorite kitchen gadgets would probably have to be my digital read thermometer, silpat baking sheets, and my santoku knives. My digital thermometer is very quick to register the temperature and also has a long cord so that you can have the thermometer in the meat in the oven and have the read-out screen on your counters. Its very handy for me when cooking new meats especially. And depending on how the meat is being cooked, it can be difficult to tell how done it is, so I use my thermometer quite often. I love the silpat baking sheet liners because clean-up is a breeze and the cookies never burn on the bottoms. A couple of my cookie sheets have a darker coating on them and have always burned the bottoms of the cookies, but not when I use the silpats. I love my santoku chopping knives. I have three different santokus, all different sizes and brands. I love them all.

Meal Plans

So I'm still not quite sure what we'll be eating this week. I've been dealing with a sick baby today (when I'd planned to think about my meals this week) so I still haven't thought much about dinner this week. I haven't even thought about today's dinner yet... and its already 4:30! Oops! Guess we'll be having leftovers. :) Anyway, here's an attempt... though I'll update later on, I'm sure.

Sunday ~ chicken cordon bleu in the crockpot, green beans
Monday ~ leftover chicken cordon bleu we decided to pull the enchilada bake out of the freezer that I made a couple months ago and have that for dinner so Kevin can take the chicken to work for lunch tomorrow
Tuesday ~ possibly lasagna, depending on how much time I have tonight (Monday) to prep it, hopefully some homemade bread, too
Wednesday ~ some kind of soup, maybe chicken and black bean or minestrone, or maybe a stew that I can use sweet potatoes in (still have some to use up)
Thursday ~ I'm going to have a sore tooth (I broke half of one of my molars off last week and am having work done today to prep for a crown), so probably leftover soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Friday ~ TBD
Saturday ~ TBD

I'm planning to do some more cookie-baking next weekend. Probably some form of chocolate chip cookies for Kevin and maybe some oatmeal butterscotch (new recipe). I'd also like to do some prep ahead meals for the freezer. Heading into the winter, its so nice to have meals on hand in the freezer that can be quickly baked or warmed up. Especially since we never know how long our commutes are going to be if the roads get bad (last year we each had quite a few 3-hour-long commutes).

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

Yesterday I made chicken cordon bleu from A Year of Crockpotting. It was very good, Kevin and I both enjoyed it, so did Carson... well the chicken part anyway. Definitely another keeper! Its a little more work than most crockpot recipes tend to be, but its worth it every once in a while.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 chicken breast halves, pounded thin
4-8 slices of ham
4-8 slices of swiss cheese

1 can of your favorite cream-of-something soup + 2 T low fat milk
OR
1 T butter
3 T flour
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper

Spray crockpot with cooking spray. (I forgot to do this... don't forget when you make it)

Pound chicken breasts flat. Put a slice of the ham and a slice of the swiss cheese on the chicken breast and roll it up. (I secured mine with toothpicks) Put it into the crockpot, seam side down. If desired, top with another piece of ham and cheese. Continue with the other pieces. It's okay to stagger-stack the chicken. It will still cook nicely for you.

If you are making your own "special soup," make a roux on the stovetop with the butter and flour, and whisk in the broth, milk, and spices. Pour on top of the chicken. (this is what I did since I'm not buying cream soups anymore)

OR open a can of cream-of-something soup. Pour into crockpot. Put the 2T of low fat milk into your empty can and swirl it around to get the remaining soup stuck inside the can.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. This is done when the chicken is cooked through and has begun to brown on top.

Banana Cookies

Let the Christmas baking season begin! Tonight I made a batch of banana drop cookies. Although, I doubt this batch will make it to Christmas - I'd have doubled or tripled the recipe tonight if I'd had the flour on hand. These are very easy cookies to make, especially using my KitchenAid mixer. :) My family has been making these cookies for many, many years. I'm not really sure where the recipe came from, but I believe we picked it up at a cookie exchange many years back. These are so good. Probably my favorite cookie - though there are some close ties. Kevin loves these cookies, too. They taste like banana bread, especially with no icing. I didn't ice them tonight because part of my reason for making this particular cookie is that I thought it'd be a good cookie for Carson. He was in bed for the night when I made them, so we'll have to see what he thinks of them tomorrow.

I'll update later with a picture.

Christmas Banana Drop Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup ripe banana, mashed (about 2 medium-sized bananas)

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and slowly beat in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well until mixed. Stir in vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add to butter mixture, alternating with banana, a little at a time. Mix well until smooth. Drop by the teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes, or until light-golden brown around the edges. Makes about 48 cookies. (I do mine with my cookie scoop, which is probably about a tablespoonful, so I get 36 cookies per batch when I make them.)

Icing

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon melted butter
milk

Sift powdered sugar to avoid lumps. Add the vanilla and melted butter to the powdered sugar. Add enough milk to make the proper spreading consistency. Spread over banana cookies. Sprinkle with red and green sugar.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I made chicken tortilla soup in the crockpot (from A Year of Crockpotting) yesterday. YUM! This was fantastic! Definitely one of the better (if not the best) chicken tortilla soups I've had. Kevin and I both loved it. I made a huge batch - enough for leftovers, lunch, and some for the freezer. I'll definitely make this again.

I'll update later with a picture.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

3 cups of chicken broth, homemade or packaged (I used my homemade stock and probably about 4 cups)
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken (I used leftover roasted chicken that I had in the freezer and used about 3 cups)
1/2 onion (I used a whole medium onion)
1 cup frozen roasted corn (I threw in a whole bag)
2 green onions (left these out since I didn't have them)
28 oz can of tomatoes and juice (I used petite diced)
1 cup chopped up vegetables that you have on hand (I used celery, green pepper, carrots)
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I left this out)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used about 3/4 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon cumin (I added more than this... probably about 2 1/2 teaspoons)
salt to taste (I left this out)
(I also added 12 ounces vegetable juice (like V-8) and 1 can drained and rinsed black beans)

Chop all veggies into fine chunks. Dump everything into the crockpot. It's okay if you have frozen stuff. Totally okay to assemble the night before.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 6 or so. (Mine cooked for about 11 hours on low)

Before serving, add whatever garnish you choose. We used some broken up tortilla chips, reduced fat sour cream, and 2% milk mexican blend shredded cheese.

Meal Plans

I'm doing my meal plans post a little early this week. It'll be a busy day tomorrow, so I figured I'd get it out of the way. Tomorrow is my sister's 18th birthday and we're having her family party at my parents' house tomorrow afternoon. Plus, we'll be preparing for a full week at work next week... its going to be rough for me... it'll be my first full week at work in 6 weeks now. :Sigh: I haven't really made definite decisions about what we'll eat this week, but here's an idea of what I'm thinking right now.

Sunday ~ family party, I believe we're having tacos and nachos
Monday ~ leftover pigs, baked potatoes, corn
Tuesday ~ ultimate ham 'n cheese sammies as long as my bread is still ok and since we didn't do them last week (ended up eating leftovers to clear out the fridge before Thanksgiving) chicken spinach cheese ravioli with tomato basil ricotta sauce, green beans
Wednesday ~ some kind of soup... minestrone or chicken tortilla or chicken and black bean leftovers
Thursday ~ it'll be a long day (I'll be in Windsor, Ontario all day for meetings) so probably just leftover soup chicken tortilla soup in the crockpot
Friday ~ lobster ravioli and green beans
Saturday ~ not quite sure yet, depends on what our plans entail... but possibly crockpot chicken cordon bleu

As far as extras this week, I'll be working on finishing up using all of the sweet potatoes (yes, I still have a ton of them left... ok probably more like 15-18 very big sweet potatoes). Probably just par-boiling them and freezing them in chunks and fries. I do want to try freezing some thin slices, too, so that I can do home-baked sweet potato chips sometime. I also have a few more apples to use... I'm not sure what I'll do with them yet, but I've got to figure something out this week. I didn't get any of the baking done this weekend like I'd hoped, so depending on what we end up doing next weekend, maybe I'll make some vanilla wafers or crackers then. I guess I should start thinking about the Christmas cookie baking and maybe plan out what and when I'm going to make cookies (and freeze them till Christmas). Anyone want to come over for a cookie bake in the next couple of weeks???? P.S. I'm excited that I can now easily say I can freeze this or that... Kevin and I bought ourselves an early Christmas gift yesterday... a stand-up freezer. We haven't plugged it in yet since I don't absolutely need it yet, but I'm excited to have the possibility of yet another freezer to fill! I'll be getting a hormone-free, grass-fed lamb in January and hopefully we'll be able to go in on a quarter of a hormone-free, grass-fed cow with my SIL and BIL sometime next summer.

Shepherd's Pie

I decided to make a shepherd's pie with some of our Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch today. I had planned to do it for dinner tonight, but we're now going down to Rochester Hills to have dinner at Bravo! with our friends Ben and Kati. I used an Emeril recipe with just a few modifications. I generally shy away from Emeril recipes because they just seem too complicated with a super long list of ingredients. This one has a long list of ingredients, but its not complicated at all and came together very quickly. Best of all, it tastes awesome! Kevin, Carson, and I all enjoyed this for lunch today. I'll definitely be using this as a basis for future shepherd's pies.

Shepherd's Pie with Thanksgiving Leftovers

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onions (I just used one small white onion, about 1/2 cup)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped, about 1 cup (I used three carrots)
1/4 teaspoon Essence or Creole Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt (I just did a couple shakes from the shaker)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I just did a few turns of the pepper grinder)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 ounces mushrooms, stemmed, wiped clean, and sliced (I just threw in a can of mushrooms)
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (I used dried and only one shake)
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 to 2 1/2 cups chopped or shredded roast turkey, white and/or dark meat (I used about 3 cups so that I could just use it up)
1 1/4 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
1/2 cup green peas (I used about a cup)
4 cups leftover mashed potatoes (I only used about 2 cups since that's what I had left)
3/4 cup grated sharp or medium Cheddar (I only used about 1/4 cup)
chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square or 2.2 quart baking dish with the butter and set aside.

In a large saute pan or skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, Essence, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 20 seconds. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until thick, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the meat and stir well to combine. Gradually add the stock and then the peas, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the mixture is thickened, 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaf. Carefully transfer to the prepared dish and spoon the potatoes over the meat mixture, spreading to the edges. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake until the cheese is bubbly and the potatoes are crisp around the edges, 22 to 25 minutes.

Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

Corn Souffle

This year I actually was able to make something to contribute to my family's Thanksgiving feast. I decided to make a corn souffle recipe that my SIL Julie had made for a family gathering back in October - its from one of those Kraft Food and Family magazines. Its very easy to make and very good, too. Its a corn bread, not a souffle, but that's what the recipe is called. I was able to throw it together on Thursday morning before we left for my Aunt Jeri's house.

Corn Souffle

2 Tablespoons butter
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, cubed (I used the 1/3 less fat stuff)
1 can (15-1/4 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (14.75 oz.) cream-style corn
1 pkg. (8.5 oz.) corn muffin mix (I used Jiffy brand)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Microwave butter in medium microwaveable bowl on high for 30 seconds or until melted. Add cream cheese; continue microwaving 15 seconds or until cream cheese is softened; stir until well blended. Add both cans of corns, muffin mix, and eggs; mix well.

Pour the mixture into a greased 13x9-inch baking pan; sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly

Variations:
~ This dish is versatile enough to pair with your favorite barbecued meat, beef stew, chicken soup or even chili.
~ Add 1/4 cup sliced green onions along with the corn, muffin mix and eggs.
~ Prepare as directed, using 1 can (11 oz.) whole kernel corn with chopped red and green peppers.

Golabki a.k.a. Pigs in a Blanket

Yesterday we went over to my Aunt Jeri's house to participate in the annual tradition of making pigs/golabki (which is actually pronounced more like gwumpkees). Every year a bunch of my family get together the week of Thanksgiving and make up an enormous batch of these. My mom's dad is 100% Polish and this recipe is an old family recipe of his parents' families. We've always had pigs at Thanksgiving and sometimes at Christmas, too. Golabki are basically just stuffed cabbage rolls that are cooked for a long time - the longer the better... the more black the cabbage becomes (it doesn't taste burnt) the better they are. There are so many different variations in cabbage rolls and they're called different things depending on the culture. They're generally from the Slavic cultures. We generally just call these pigs in a blanket - and up until the time that I met Kevin I never knew the "american" version of pigs in a blanket (the hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls). To this day, I can't refer to those as pigs in a blanket... golabki will always be pigs in a blanket to me.

Golabki a.k.a. Pigs in a Blanket

6 pounds hamburger
2 1/2 pounds sausage
2 large onions, chopped
4 large cabbage
5 teaspoons sage
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup uncooked rice
bacon
ketchup

Begin by steaming the cabbage in large pots on the stovetop (core out the center and then plop the entire head into the pots to steam). Cook the rice as directed on the package - you can use minute rice or the long-cook stuff as long as you cook it first. In a very large pan (we use a huge roaster), mix together the hamburger, sausage, onion, sage, salt, pepper, and cooked rice (use your hands).

Once the cabbage has steamed, use tongs to peel each piece away from the head. We lay the cabbage leaves on cookie sheets.

Roll some of the meat mixture into each cabbage leaf, folding in the ends and place them seam side down into a large roaster coated with cooking spray. Make one layer across the bottom then top with bacon strips. Then layer more cabbage rolls, then more bacon, etc. Until your roaster is full. Squirt a lot of ketchup on top of the last layer of bacon and cabbage rolls. Put the lid on the roaster and bake them at 350 for at least 3 hours. The longer they cook, the better they get. These freeze well.

Uptown Pork and Apples

Tonight I tried another recipe from Rachael Ray's Big Orange book. It was so good and so easy, too! Love these kind of recipes. This will be a great one for us to have on hand for work nights as its so easy to throw together. Both Kevin and I both really liked this one. We had it with leftover garlic spinach mashed potatoes. This serves 4-6 people, so we had a lot of leftovers. I've saved some for lunches this week and cubed up a bunch and have it freezing for use later on in other dishes. I'll update later with a picture.

Roasted Pork Tenderloins with Escalloped Apples

1 Tablespoon grill seasoning
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 Tablespoons EVOO
2 pork tenderloins (1 package), about 1.5-2 pounds total, trimmed of silver skin and sinew
3 Tablespoons butter
5 Gala, Honey Crisp, or Golden Delicious apples, quartered, cored and sliced
salt (I used Golden Delicious and had plenty just using 4 of them, but they were on the large side)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 425.

Combine the grill seasoning, lemon zest, and thyme in a small bowl, then coat the tenderloins with the mixture. Drizzle with EVOO and rub into both sides of the chops. Place the pork on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes. Let the pork rest for 10 minutes to redistribute the juices, then slice at an angle.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and saute for 12-15 minutes until very tender. Season with a pinch of salt, then sprinkle the flour over the apples and toss to combine. Squeeze the lemon juice over the apples and sweeten with the sugar.

Arrange the apples over the pork to serve.

Recap and Meal Plans

This past week I've just been enjoying our time together as a family. For those that don't already know, Kevin is kind of out of a job at the moment again... its a long, complicated story, but hopefully he'll get some news tomorrow as to when he can get back to work (at TRW). So its been extra nice to be home this weekend (I was in Toronto last week) and to have the time together with Kevin and Carson. On Friday, during Carson's nap, I chopped, par-boiled, and froze a ton of sweet potato chunks (2 gallon size ziploc bags full!). Other than that, I haven't done much else other than our meals and the apple clafoutis.

We'll be spending Thanksgiving with my mom's family this year (Kevin's family will be in Grand Rapids). We're looking forward to seeing everyone and spending some time together. I'm working Monday through Wednesday at this point, so it'll be typical easy weeknight meals.

Sunday ~ uptown pork with apples (since we didn't have it yesterday)
Monday ~ golabki, baked potatoes, peas
Tuesday ~ ultimate ham and cheese sammies, sweet potato fries
Wednesday ~ possibly minestrone soup
Thursday ~ Happy Thanksgiving! turkey and stuffing, pigs/golabki, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn souffle, rolls, apple pie (dutch and regular), pumpkin pie, lemon merengue pie
Friday ~ Thanksgiving leftovers! possibly a shepherd's pie or just plain ol' leftovers
Saturday ~ more leftovers! plain ol' leftovers if we didn't have them Friday... otherwise a shepherd's pie made with the leftovers

I'm looking forward to another long weekend together as a family next weekend. I'm practically done with my Christmas shopping - I think I just have one person left now, so I'm not sure if I'll end up going out on Black Friday or not this year... it'll be very strange if I don't, so we'll see what happens. I'm hoping to do some baking over the long weekend. I'd like to try making homemade vanilla wafers for Carson and maybe some homemade crackers, too. Also would like to use up the rest of my apples somehow - applesauce or apple butter. I need to use up my sweet potatoes, too. I'll probably do another canner load and freeze some fries then see where I'm at... though I'm afraid I'll still probably end up having lots of sweet potatoes left. So maybe I'll end up doing two canner loads. We'll see.

Apple Clafoutis

Today we went over to my Aunt Jeri's for the annual tradition of making golabki (pigs in a blanket - post to come later). So this morning I decided to make up an apple clafoutis to take over there. This was the first time I've made a clafoutis and just because its french, I kind of expected it to be labor-intensive or difficult... but it wasn't at all. It was so easy! And it tasted very good - everyone really enjoyed it. Its not super sweet, but its very light and airy and just tastes good. In retrospect, I guess I should have looked for a polish dessert rather than french, but oh well! :)

Apple Clafoutis

1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (plus more butter to use on pan)
2 lbs apples or pears, peeled seeded, and chopped

Sift flour, sugar and baking powder into a bowl. Make a well in the center of mixture and add the eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Mix in well to form a smooth batter. Add 4 TBS of the melted butter. Let batter stand for 30 minutes while preparing the fruit.

Pre-heat the oven to 450°F.

Butter an 8 inch round cake tin. Stir the fruit into the batter and pour into the tin. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Gorgonzola Filled Meatballs and Garlic Spinach Mashed Potatoes

On Friday night, I tried out a couple Rachael Ray recipes for Gorgonzola Filled Meatballs and Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Spinach. I thought everything was awesome! Kevin really liked everything except the gorgonzola cheese. He'd never had gorgonzola and didn't know if he liked it or not... well he doesn't. I love it, though I bought some very good, expensive stuff rather than the cheaper stuff, so it did seem a bit stronger than the cheaper stuff. I'll make these again for sure, just will probably fill them with a different cheese that Kevin likes - havarti or mozzarella most likely. Anyway, these were so easy to make and tasted so yummy! I'll update later with pictures.

Gorgonzola Filled Meatballs with Bay and Onion Creamy Tomato Gravy

1 1/2 pounds ground veal
1 pound ground beef (I just used 1 pound total of ground meat - and used Laura's Lean)
Salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 handfuls grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 handfuls plain bread crumbs
3 tablespoons sliced or finely chopped sage leaves
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces Gorgonzola
1 tablespoon butter
2 fresh bay leaves
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place meat in a mixing bowl and season with salt, pepper, add in garlic, eggs, cheese, bread crumbs and sage. Mix meat, roll into 8 large balls and arrange in a baking dish. Coat balls with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Using the end of a wooden spoon, make an indentation half way into each ball and fill the cavity with some Gorgonzola. Bake until golden and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and butter in a sauce pot over medium heat, add bay and onions and season with salt and pepper. Add chicken stock and tomatoes and heat through, stir in cream, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer to thicken slightly 8 to 10 minutes.

Ladle sauce into shallow bowls and top with big stuffed meatballs and potatoes alongside, if desired.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Spinach

4 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced
2 boxes chopped spinach, defrosted
4 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup cream
Salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Salt water and boil potatoes until tender 12 to 15 minutes.

Squeeze the water from spinach in a clean dish towel.

Drain potatoes and melt butter in the hot pot, then add the garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in cream, add the spinach, separating the greens as you do. Season greens with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add potatoes to the pot and mash to desired consistency.

Goulash

I made goulash yesterday so that Kevin would have lots of leftovers to eat during the week. I don't really follow a recipe when I make goulash, but I'll try to jot down the process that I use. I used the crockpot yesterday, but this can be baked in the oven or just made on the stovetop, too.

Goulash

1 pound ground meat (yesterday I used Laura's Lean Ground Beef, but I generally will use half beef and half ground turkey)
1 or 2 cans of diced tomatoes, to your taste
1 or 2 cans of tomato sauce, to your taste
chopped green pepper
chopped onion
sliced mushrooms
2-4 cloves finely chopped garlic
spices of your choice (I used Mrs. Dash Italian Medley this time)
1/2 - 1 pound whole wheat elbow macaroni

Brown the meat. Cook the pasta to al dente. Dump all ingredients into the crockpot, stir together, cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours.

Recap and Meal Plans

A little late with this post this week. Its been a busy weekend, though, and now that I'm in Toronto, I finally have a few minutes to catch up on blogging. (I updated posts with pictures back to the Salsa Chicken post) I was able to do some canning this past weekend... 18 pints and 1 half-pint of applesauce and 6 pints and 1 half-pint of pearsauce. I still have more pears to use, but only took out some of them to use over the weekend. The others will stay fresh till I have time to deal with them again. I'm hoping to do some baking with a few of them. I also have lots of apples left still. About half of the box of Cortlands that I got from my brother-in-law's parents, about 12 McIntosh, and about 10 Galas. They'll keep till I can deal with them after my trip, too. I'm also hoping to do some baking with some of them.

As far as meals go this week, Kevin is on his own most of the week. He has a fridge full of leftovers to either take for lunch or eat for dinner, as well as lots of options in the pantry or freezer. So I really only have to think about meals for three days this week...

Sunday ~ goulash, leftover cornbread for Sara, leftover rolls for Kevin
Friday ~ not totally sure yet, but I'm thinking maybe gorgonzola filled meatballs with garlic mashed potatoes
Saturday ~ again not totally sure, but maybe uptown pork chops with apples

I don't think I'll do any canning this weekend. I'm just looking forward to seeing Carson and Kevin again and spending time together as a family. I would like to do some baking, though... maybe an apple or pear clafoutis.

For now, I'm off to explore the underground part of Toronto. And to find some dinner.

Apple Pie Filling

I canned a batch of apple pie filling today. It was pretty easy and tastes pretty good, too. This will be nice to have on hand to make danishes or apple turnovers. I followed the recipe in my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving and ended up with 7 pints.

Apple Pie Filling

12 cups sliced, peeled, cored apples, treated to prevent browning and drained
2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup ClearJel
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cups cold water
2 1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice
1/2 cup lemon juice

In a large pot of boiling water, working with 6 cups at a time, blanch the apple slices for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm in a covered bowl.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine sugar, ClearJel, cinnamon, nutmeg, water, and apple juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice, return to a boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Fold apple slices into hot mixture. Before processing, heat, stirring, until apples are heated through.

Ladle hot pie filling into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rim, place cap on, screw band down to fingertip tight.

Process jars for 25 minutes in a boiling water bath. Remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool for 24 hours, and store.

Makes about 7 pints

Turkey and Cornbread

Tonight I roasted my first turkey. I couldn't believe how easy it was to cook a turkey. I don't know why I always thought it was some difficult, time consuming thing to do... because it wasn't at all. I bought one of those Rival roaster ovens this week, so I wanted to try it out with the turkey. It turned out awesome! I made a 12-pound turkey and we invited my parents over for dinner. We still have tons of leftovers, which I'm happy about. I put the leftovers in different containers to freeze - some shredded for BBQ turkey sandwiches, and most of it is chopped for use in casseroles, soups, etc.

I tried out a new recipe for cornbread today, too. My ambition was to make cornbread stuffing, but when it came time for it, I just didn't feel like doing it. So we just had cornbread with our turkey... and some StoveTop stuffing that needed to be used up (not buying that stuff anymore). Back to the cornbread. I got this recipe off of the cornmeal package (Bob's Red Mill Organic Medium Grind Cornmeal). I think I will make it again, just with some modifications (more sugar and maybe throw in some creamed corn, too). I thought it was really good as is, but Kevin thought it was too crumbly and needed to be sweeter. My dad thought it was good as is, too, but would like a little more sugar.

I'll update with pictures later on.

Golden Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

Sift together the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add egg, milk and butter. Beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Do not overbeat. Bake in a greased 8-inch square pan for 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees.

Steak Pizzaiola Burgers

Last night I tried out another recipe from Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book for steak pizzaiola burgers. According to the cookbook, RR came up with this recipe for Donald Trump and she characterizes the burger as big, bold, and badass. I have to say she is right on. These were excellent, Kevin and I both thought they were awesome, and we'll definitely have them again. The recipe in the book is supposed to be 4 servings, but I cut it in half (using only one pound of meat) and still got 4 large servings out of it. I can't imagine only having 4 servings with two pounds of meat... that's a half-pound burger each... I don't think I could eat that.

I'll update later on with a picture.

Steak Pizzaiola Burgers
(pg. 125 of Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book)

3 Tablespoons EVOO
2 large onions, thinly sliced
salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
3/4 cup dry red wine
2 pounds ground sirloin
1/2 cup pepperoni, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 Tablespoons butter
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
4 slices sesame semolina bread, about 1 inch thick (I just used some sliced french bread b/c that's what I had on hand)
1/2 - 3/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
8 deli slices provolone

Heat 2 tablespoons of the EVOO in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper. Cover the onions with a piece of aluminum foil and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften, 2-3 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking until fully softened, about 5-6 minutes.

Add the tomato paste to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until it smells sweet and has carmelized, about 2-3 minutes. Add the wine and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits that may be stuck to the bottom. Cook until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and reserve.

While the onions cook, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining tablespoon of EVOO. In a large mixing bowl, use your hands to combine the ground sirloin, pepperoni, parsley, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper, then score the meat into 4 parts using the side of your hand. Form 4 large patties thinner in the center than the edges for even cooking and to prevent the burgers from bulging. Cook 4-5 minutes per side for medium doneness.

Preheat the broiler.

While the burgers are cooking, heat the butter and garlic together in a small pot over medium heat. When the butter melts, remove the pot from heat to infuse the butter with the garlic flavor. While the butter is melting, place the bread slices on a baking sheet and toast them under the broiler until golden brown on each side. Brush the toasts with the garlic butter and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Place the toasts back on the baking sheet and top each with a burger. Divide the onion mixture among the four burgers and top each with 2 slices of cheese. Slide the burgers under the broiler to melt the cheese, about 2-3 minutes.

Serve the burgers with a knife and fork, and with your favorite salad on the side.

Creamy Parsley & Pistachio Fettuccine

Tonight I tried out a new recipe from my new Rachael Ray cookbook - The Big Orange Book - for creamy parsley and pistachio fettuccine. It was very tasty and I'll definitely make this one again. It'll be a quick work-night meal since I have lots of the parsley-pistachio pesto in the freezer... though I did make it fresh tonight since I am still trying to use up tons of parsley that continues to thrive in the garden. Kevin enjoyed this, too... and didn't even complain about spinach noodles! :) According to the cookbook, this is supposed to make you want to make out... we weren't really affected by it in that way, though. I'll update with a pic later.


Creamy Parsley and Pistachio Fettuccine

salt
1 pound fettuccine pasta (I used spinach fettuccine)
1 lemon
3/4 cup heavy cream (I just used 2% milk)
1 packed cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup shelled natural pistachios, lightly toasted
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 large garlic clove, grated or minced
3 Tablespoons EVOO
black pepper
(I added about 2 cups of chopped grilled chicken that I had in the freezer)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it, add the pasta, and cook to al dente.

Zest the lemon and combine it with the cream in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium-low until hot but not boiling.

Place the parsley, nuts, cheese, and garlic into a food processor. Squeeze the zested lemon into the bowl. Turn the processor on and stream in the EVOO with the motor running to make a pesto.

Drain the pasta.

Place the pesto in the bottom of a large pasta bowl and season with salt and pepper. Stir the hot cream into the pesto, then add the hot pasta and toss to combine (I also added my grilled chicken). Adjust the salt and pepper.

Sweet Potatoes

This afternoon I canned 8 pints of sweet potato chunks for Carson. Canning them will save me lots of freezer space and some prep time in the future. I followed the method in my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. First I steamed the whole sweet potatoes for 20 minutes, then peeled them and chopped them into chunks. I then filled the pint jars with the sweet potatoes and covered them with fresh boiling water. Into the canner they went to be processed at 10 pounds of pressure for 65 minutes. I'll update later with a picture.

Recap and Meal Plans

We had some changes in our plans this weekend. We'd originally planned to just stick around the ranch and get some things done around the place. Instead, yesterday morning, we took a trip down to Ikea in hopes of picking up a dining room table they had on a great sale. We ended up getting it and were able to get some more Christmas shopping done while we were there. After we got home, we went over to my grandparents' house to visit and to pick up a trailer they were giving to us. We had dinner over there and had a good visit with my parents and grandparents.

Today I canned a load of sweet potatoes. I also froze some sweet potato chunks. I'll be doing more of them throughout the week. I never did get the apple pie filling done since we were gone all day yesterday.

This week I'm off on Tuesday for Veteran's day and Friday is my flex day. And we're taking it kind of easy this week and next weekend since I'll be gone Monday-Thursday next week to Toronto.

I picked up the new Rachael Ray cookbook that was released last week - The Big Orange Book. There are so many recipes that I've already flagged to make in the book - I think this will probably end up being my favorite RR cookbook so far. Many of the recipes in this book, I've seen her make on her 30-Minute Meals show, or have seen in her magazine, but there are tons of additional recipes that I've never seen. So I figured I'd give a few new ones a try from her new cookbook this week.

Sunday ~ creamy parsley and pistachio fettuccine
Monday ~ leftover salsa chicken in the form of tacos
Tuesday ~ steak pizzaiola burgers
Wednesday ~ sweet and sour stir-fry
Thursday ~ chili in the crockpot Kevin brought pizza home
Friday ~ chicken with brown rice in the crockpot leftovers
Saturday ~ maybe applesauce chicken in the crockpot with baked potatoes and peas roasted turkey, stuffing, and cornbread

I'm going to make some more applesauce this week and I'd really like to do a second batch of apple butter, but we'll see how much applesauce I get done first. And since I didn't get the apple pie filling done, that's on the list again this week. More sweet potatoes, as well.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Last week I made Salsa Chicken in the CrockPot from A Year of Crockpotting. This was very good, definitely will be a keeper. So easy, too. And I had the chance to use some of my home-canned black beans and home-canned salsa! We're having the leftovers this week, but I'll shred up the chicken and use them in whole wheat tortillas with some guacamole, sour cream, and cheese for a different kind of taco.


CrockPot Salsa Chicken

6-9 chicken thighs, or equivalent body parts (I used boneless skinless chicken thighs and they were quite large, so I only did 4 of them)
1 can rinsed black beans
1 cup chunky salsa
1 cup frozen white corn (I used a 1-pound bag of golden corn)

Put your chicken in the crockpot; mine was still frozen. Top with the rinsed black beans, salsa, and corn.

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. Cooking time will vary depending on whether or not your chicken is frozen, and how big the pieces are.

If you decide to use breasts, increase your salsa by 1/2 cup. Breasts are drier than thighs.

Peas & Cheese Tortellini

Last night I tried another Rachael Ray recipe that I'd seen in one of my RR magazines a few months back. But what tempted me to try it was a post I saw on Busy Mamas. This was very good - even Kevin liked it, which I was really surprised by since he always complains when I make anything with tortellini. I'll be keeping this recipe, but will probably add some meat next time and probably some carrots, too.


Peas and Cheese Tortellini

1 pound frozen tortellini
1 cup frozen peas, thawed (I used an entire 1 pound bag of frozen peas)
2 tablespoons butter
5 scallions, white and green parts thinly slice separately (I just used one small white onion)
2 tablespoons flour
1 2/3 cups milk
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

In a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, cook the tortellini until al dente; drain.

Meanwhile, add the peas, butter and scallion whites to another large saucepan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. (I held off on the peas) Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the scallion greens and season with salt and pepper. (This is when I added my peas since we like them a little crispy and not over-cooked)

Stir the tortellini and 1/3 cup cheese into the sauce. Divide the pasta among 4 serving bowls and sprinkle with more cheese. (I did not sprinkle with more cheese)

Apple Cake

We are having a belated Bosses Day celebration at work today, so yesterday afternoon I decided to bake an
apple cake to bring in. Its a new recipe I found on RecipeZaar which sounded good and easy. We haven't cut into the goodies yet, so I'm not sure how it tastes yet... I'll update later with the verdict. UPDATE: It is very, very good! Very moist and flavorful, definitely a keeper!

Also, just a note... I updated all the posts with pictures... all the way back to the peanut butter brownies on 10/19!

Apple Cake

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups finely chopped apples
1/2 cup apple juice
1 cup chopped walnuts (I left these out)

Glaze topping for cake:
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter (only used about 2 1/2 T)
1/3 cup whipping cream (I used 1% milk)

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, soda and salt. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine eggs, oil, apple juice and vanilla. Stir in apples and nuts. Add the egg mixture to dry ingredients, just until moistened.

Spread batter in a greased and floured 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes. (I wanted to use a bundt pan b/c I think they look nicer for presentation. I had to increase the baking time by about 12 minutes.)

In a small saucepan combine the brown sugar, butter and cream. Cook and stir till bubbly and all of the sugar is dissolved. Cool slightly. Drizzle warm sauce over cake, when it has cooled for 5 minutes, so it can seep into the cake, keeping it moist.

Black Beans

On Monday, I canned two batches of black beans for a total of 20 pints (about a year's supply). I had bought about five and a half pounds of dry organic black turtle beans at the Whole Foods Market a couple of weeks ago (did not use them all canning these 20 pints... about 5 pounds probably). Canning beans is a very long process, but its really not that time consuming, if that makes sense. First I soaked the beans in water overnight (about 12-18 hours). Then drained them, rinsed them, and put the first batch into my largest stockpot (a 12-quart) and covered them with water by about an inch. You then bring them up to a boil for 30 minutes and remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon, I filled the jars with the beans, then used a ladle to add the cooking liquid, leaving a 1-inch headspace. Then I processed the beans for 75 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. And voila! Home-canned black beans! Not only does this save some money (using the organic beans, it ended up being about 30 cents per pint), but it will limit our exposure to BPA tremendously since the beans only touched the metal lid during the processing time.

Mac & Cheese

Last Thursday, I tried a new recipe for homemade macaroni and cheese. My mouth was still quite tender and I had some trouble chewing things, so I figured mac and cheese would work well. I found this recipe on RecipeZaar and figured I'd give it a try. When I make homemade mac and cheese (which is pretty rare), I usually use a Giada DeLaurentis recipe, but this one was much easier and I think probably a little less fattening, too. It was good, I'll keep the recipe in my files to make again sometime.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (I used whole wheat cavatappi noodles)
1/4 cup butter or margarine (I used light margarine and only about 3 T)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
2 cups milk
8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, cubed (I used shredded 2% sharp cheddar)
1/8 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (next time I'll leave these off, I think)
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook elbow macaroni as directed on package.

While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in a 3 quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly.

Remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.

Drain macaroni when done. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce and pour into ungreased 2 quart baking dish.

Mix together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese; sprinkle over macaroni and cheese.
14Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Recap and Meal Plans

I'm running a little behind with my blogging lately. I still haven't uploaded pictures and still need to update several posts with them once I finally do get them uploaded. And I'm late on this post. Just have a lot going on lately, plus I've been home from work since Wednesday afternoon (and not returning to work till Wednesday (tomorrow) morning this week) so I haven't wanted to be on the computer too much. I've done some canning - carrots and black beans (post to come later), some baby food making - carrots, and some baking - apple pie and apple cake (post to come later) during my time at home. I had hoped to do a lot more than that, but Carson keeps me very busy now getting into EVERYthing and traversing throughout the house. Carson and I have had some time to shop while I've been home, too. We went to the mall today with my mom and had lunch in the food court (and found myself really disgusted with the nasty, completely unhealthy choices in our mall's food court) - Carson thought he was a big shot having lunch on the road today. He's so funny. We've got a good start on our Christmas shopping and I picked up my sister's birthday gift today.

Anyway, this blog is supposed to be about food and cooking... so on with the weekly menu...

Sunday ~ Buffalo Wild Wings with my parents
Monday ~ leftover B-dubs
Tuesday ~ tortellini with peas and cheese
Wednesday ~ salsa chicken in the crockpot
Thursday ~ totally undecided here still... I need to look through my recipes and see what I have all the ingredients for already
Friday ~ I'm thinking maybe goulash in the crockpot
Saturday ~ totally undecided here, too... maybe applesauce chicken with baked potatoes since we didn't have it last week or else chicken with brown rice in the crockpot

I know I've said this for weeks now, but I WILL can a batch of apple pie filling at some point this week! :) I'm planning to make a trip out to Porter's orchard to pick up some more utility (the half-price apples that are perfect for canning) on Friday so I can do up yet more applesauce for Carson. I've still got the 26 pounds of pears in the fridge in the basement waiting until I can get to them - maybe this weekend, but if not they'll be good for quite a while longer in the cold storage. I've also got about 40 pounds of sweet potatoes to deal with - baby food purees, canning them in chunks, and freezing some fries and maybe some thin slices to make sweet potato chips. I'll deal with the sweet potatoes before I hit the pears. I'd also like to do some more baking this week. We'll see what time allows... considering we're already almost half-way through the week I'm doubting I'll get any more baking in till the weekend, if even then.