4 Jun 2012

Sloppy Joe Casserole

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Comfort food, church cookbooks, and cheese.  Any complaints?  None here.  This recipe isn’t quite where  I want it yet, but it was yummy for dinner and I got no complaints from the husband.

Sloppy Joe Casserole – feeds 6

 

8 ox whole wheat small shaped pasta (I used medium shells)

1 lb ground sirloin – because I don’t like fatty meat in casseroles – nor does it like me

1 sloppy joe mix packet

1 small can tomato sauce

1 onion, chopped

1 small can tomato paste

1 1/4 cup water

16 oz small curd cottage cheese

3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar

 

Start your water boiling.  Saute chopped onion in a pan.  Add meat and cook until done.  Cook pasta once the water has begun to boil.  (I’ve learned that seasoning pasta water really is important, so please for the sake of your pasta dishes, season!)

Drain meat and pasta (seperately).  Put the meat back in the pan and add seasoning packet, both cans of tomato products, and water.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

Combine pasta, meat mixture, and cottage cheese to a greased casserole.  Add cheese on top.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy with vegetables of your choice.

This recipe will satisfy simple comfort food tummies or kiddos who are picky eaters.

17 May 2012

Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes

by | posted in: food, Uncategorized | 1

The taste of summer – at breakfast!

I went strawberry picking the other week, got about 6 lbs and was exhausted.  That’s what being pregnant will do for you.  Well, I had some left and they were just about to be gone (meaning, they were going bad) so I wanted to use them up.  So, I woke up one morning and thought I’d look up a recipe.

I tweaked one I found on the internet and came up with these.  Light and fluffy, perfect with some added berries on top and some real maple syrup.  This batch made 10-12 pancakes depending on how big you want them.  Enough for the hubs to have some leftovers the week I’m out of town.

Enjoy the fresh summer taste!

  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 3/4 cups sliced strawberries 

Mix dry ingredients, then wet ingredients and combine.  Spray griddle pan and cook the pancakes (I used 1/4 cup to scoop out the batter) over medium heat until bubble form around the edge of the pancakes.

Enjoy warm with butter, syrup, or whipped cream, and if you are a strawberry freak like me – more strawberries!

2 May 2012

Easy Homemade Key Lime Pie

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I was inspired on Friday afternoon to make a key lime pie.  I should have let it chill more, but other than that – its pretty tasty!

1 pre-made graham cracker crust

2 key lime pie yogurts (6 oz)

1/2 cup coolwhip

1 block 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup lime curd

Topping

1 pint heavy whipping cream

3 T sugar

lime zest

Hershey’s Special Dark ice cream topping

Mix filling, pour into crust.  Whip cream until desired stiffness, then add in sugar.  Set it atop the filling.  Zest the lime on top as a pretty garnish.  Heat syrup in microwave and then swirl on top of pie for an elegant finish (and I loved the bitterness with the tang of the lime!)

For best results:

Let it chill overnight. This helps with the stiffness of the filling

Use a cold clean knife and a pie server to get out a clean slice

26 Apr 2012

Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen

by | posted in: Books, food | 0

I am so thankful for the public library – they have some great cookbooks. 

Tyler Florence, as I’ve said before, is one of my favorite cooks, and this is one of his first cookbooks (if not his first).  So, I can tell he’s come a long way in his writing style and use of photography, but the recipes are still stellar!  This is a great beginner cookbook but one who has knowledge of cooking and money to spend.  The recipes aren’t generally “cheap” but he does tell you why these ingredients are important.  He also tells the beginning what to stock her kitchen and pantry with to be able to cook creatively!

I want to make these:

Cherry Poppy Seed Muffins (which I made and they were delicious)

Creamed Chicken with Mushrooms

Green Curry Chicken

All the sushi (when I’m not pregnant) – I love it how he teaches one how to make sushi and dim sum!

Chicken Cacciatore (I love Sara Foster’s – so I might see if its better)

All of his side dishes (which often make a meal. 

Pick this up and cook through it. You will expand your cooking repertoire and eat good at the same time!

 

25 Apr 2012

Cherry-Poppy Seed Muffins

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This is a quick recipe that is easy, light in flavor, crisp with a bit of orange and the tang from the dried cherries.  Definitely a winner anytime of the year.

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 T baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup half and half

2 eggs

1 T poppy seeds

zest of an orange

1 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 12-cup muffin pan.  ( I love my gold touch pans that I got from W-S for our wedding.  Cooks evenly and looks great and very easy to clean).

Mix the dry ingredients.  Combine the milk and egg then add the rest of the wet ingredients.  Combine the two (don’t overmix).  Fold in the cherries.  Bake for about 22-25 minutes until done. 

Let cool (or eat warm like I did).  These are great for a weekend brunch or to have one hand for a quick out-the-door-running-late breakfast during the week!

These were taken from Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen (review coming tomorrow)

18 Apr 2012

Simple Tres Leches Cake

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While in Louisville this past week, my friend made a delicious cake.  My husband requested that I make it when we got home.  I took it to your small group since I had the meal this past week.  So delicious!

1 box yellow cake mix (13×9 pan size)

1 straw

1 can evaporated milk – 12 oz

1 can sweetened condensed milk – regular size can

1 can cream of coconut 15 oz

1 pint heavy whipping cream

3-5 T of sugar

lime zest for top of cake

coconut (optional)

Bake cake according to directions (I needed eggs, butter, and water for mine).  Let cool.  Poke holes in the top of the cake with the straw.  Mix together the three milks.  Pour over the top of the cake.  Set in fridge to get cold.  Mix the whipping cream until the consistency of whipped topping forms.  Add in the sugar.  Then spread this yummy cream over the cake.  Set in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

You can add additional lime or coconut to this cake and/or decorate the top of it with shaved coconut or lime zest curls if you would like.

8 Dec 2011

Holiday Gingerbread Biscotti

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I love making biscotti and this will be my go-to gingerbread biscotti recipe.  Love how simple it is and how delicious it tastes.  I made it for my MIL’s birthday dinner.  We enjoyed it with a french press.  There were definitely some for the next week as well.  I halved this recipe and that worked fine.  I got the recipe from Fine Cooking dot com.

10 oz. (2-1/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp. ground ginger
1-1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. baking soda
4 oz. (1 cup) pecans, coarsely chopped
4 oz. (1/2 cup) lightly packed dried apricots, coarsely chopped (I omitted these, even though I had bought them for this reason, because I was running out of time)
1/4 cup molasses
2 large eggs
2 tsp. finely grated orange zest (from about 1 medium navel orange)
 
Combine dry.  Add in wet.  Layer on a cookie sheet, topped with parchment paper (to bake on), and flatten it out to about a 5×7 or 8×10 (depending on how flat you want them and if you are doing a half batch like me).   Bake at 350 for about 30-35 minutes.  Then remove from oven, cut into biscotti cookies and then place back in over for 10-20 minutes (depending on if you like crunchy or moist biscotti.  I left ours in for about 13 more minutes, because I like them more moist.  These had a great ginger flavor!  Perfect for the winter!
8 Dec 2011

Fruit and Bran make a wonderful muffin

by | posted in: food | 0

Moist, healthy, filling, fruit: what more could you want in a morning muffin?

I have tons of recipes that I’ve torn out of magazines over the years and I’m trying to actually cook through them.  Now that I have someone to cook for it makes it a little easier (and I always need ideas)!

These were very moist and have plenty of fruit and fiber in them.  And they are under 200 calories. 

1 1/2 cup all bran (the cereal)

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3 T sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon

1 egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup molasses

2 T oil

1 apple, tart, chopped

1/2 cup frozen blueberries (don’t thaw) – use you can use fresh

Combine first ingredients (through the cinnamon).  Mix the wet ingredients.  Mix together with dry.  Fold in apple and blueberries.  Bake in greased muffin tins, fill 3/4 of the way, bake at 350 for about 23 minutes, give or take.  Cook for 5 minutes, then cool on rack.  Serve warm.

8 Dec 2011

Crockpot Potato Soup

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Since being married, I’ve already made this soup: TWICE.  My husband likes it, it is vegetarian (not vegan), and it is so easy.  What is not to love?

6 large russet potatoes, leave them skinned, chop them all about the same size (1/2-3/4 inches)

1 large onion, chopped

2.5 cans vegetable broth (or chicken)

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup half and half (I didn’t say it was fat free)!

1 cup shredded cheese (I usually have taco or Mexican cheese on hand)

Toppings: sour cream, chives, bacon, cheese

Crockpot: potatoes through the pepper.  Turn on high for 4 hours.  Add in the half and half and cheese.  Turn off, stir, let sit till ready to serve.

Enjoy with toppings of your choice.

(Thanks to Elizabeth Beeler: wonderful cook, mom of 4, wife of a youth pastor, for this great recipe!)

5 Jul 2011

Roasted Summer Vegetable Salad with Feta, Tuna, and Balsamic

by | posted in: food, Vegetables | 0

I love this thing of getting to cook more (now that I have a future husband to cook for).  It is so much more fun to cook for others rather than to just cook for yourself.  He is really good at bearing with this whole “vegetarian for a year” thing, and I am grateful.

I found this recipe on Whole Foods Twitter feed and then tweaked it to make it ours.  So good!

1 zucchini – sliced and quartered

2 squash – sliced and quartered

1 red pepper, seeded and thickly chopped (bigger pieces)

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

olive oil / salt / pepper

16 oz pasta (whatever shape you like, we used penne)

4 cups spinach leaves

basil leaves chopped to taste

2 cups balsamic vinaigrette

2 small containers feta cheese

3 cans tuna in water (not packed in oil)

 

Prepare all (but basil and spinach) vegetables and roast about 30 minutes on 425 (with evoo, s, p).  Take out and let cool a little.  Cook and drain pasta.  Drain tuna.

All the veggies to the pasta and then add spinach, basil, tuna, and feta.  Add balsamic to the taste.

Serve warm or cold.

Very yummy and healthy!