Tag: breakfast

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

We’ve been eating leftovers, since Chinese New Year. We had so many! I made steamed buns on the day when every appointment, except my very last one, all cancelled for various reasons. I did make a few new things though.

Tonight we had a mushroom cream sauce over mini ziti, with baked calamari. The calamari were from Costco, I only baked them.

The Husband says that I just “wave my arms about” and food appears. Tonight was one of those recipes. It turned out good.

Here’s what I did:

Creamy Mushroom Pasta, recipe by me! 

1/4 cup butter (half a stick)

2 T olive oil

1/2 onion, finely chopped

5-6 garlic chives- optional

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup chicken broth- approximately. I forgot to measure.

1 lb mushrooms, sliced- I used button mushrooms.

2 T flour

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Cooked pasta- I used half a box of mini ziti.

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Put the butter and olive oil in a skillet and turn the heat to medium. Add the onion, garlic chives, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until veggies are soft. Sprinkle the flour over veggies and stir until coated. Add in the chicken broth, cook until the it thickens. Add the cream and cook until thickened and bubbly. Add garlic powder and salt and pepper. Add the Parm and stir. Put the cooked pasta in the sauce and mix until coated. Serve and enjoy!

I made a new breakfast recipe- Chai Pear Scones by Baked By an Introvert. https://www.bakedbyanintrovert.com/chai-pear-scones/

They have delicious bits of fresh pear in them. I would maybe up the spices a bit, but they were good. I did use the glaze, which I typically won’t do, but it was delicious. I brought them to my Supervision groups for the last two days, but sadly came home with a lot more than I can eat. I’m going to try freezing them, even with the glaze.

I had a craving for turkey burgers, so I found a fun Asian inspired recipe. It was originally a beef recipe from Carlsbad Cravings. https://carlsbadcravings.com/asian-burger-recipe/

I didn’t have a recipe when I went to the store, so ended up not using the slaw part. We also didn’t bother with the ketchup. Neither of us like it. I did make a little sweet chili mayo and it added a nice bit to the burger. It looked a little plain, so I sautéed mushrooms and green onions in olive oil. They turned out to be a pretty decent burger. I would make them again.

This week, the Husband is going out of town for a couple days, so I’m trying to decide what recipes I want to make just for me. Any good vegetarian ideas? Send them my way if you have them. I may also have some Lebanese food. Mmm… For now though, I’ve got some figure skating to watch and am trying to decide which thing to sew next. Have a great weekend!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

It has been a snowy couple of days! We were supposed to get around 9 inches and we did get about that much yesterday. I got to stay home and snuggle Fancy and bake. The Husband had to go into work, but got to leave early to come home and said it wasn’t too bad.

I waited to write this review because we used the Instant Pot again last night, this time for Pot Roast and Veggies from the recipe book that came with the pot. It was actually a bit bland and would have been way worse if I hadn’t added seasonings before I pressure cooked it. The recipe didn’t even call for salt and pepper on the meat! I added oregano, a bay leaf, salt, pepper, and garlic and it was still bland.

I still like oven roasted pot roast more. My mother-in-laws pot roast is  the best. My Mom makes a good roast, but my M-I-L’s falls apart if you look at it funny.

I did some baking on my snow day. Fancy needed biscuits, so got pumpkin, banana, cinnamon ones from Endlessly Inspired. http://endlesslyinspired.com/2016/09/01/pumpkin-banana-dog-treats/

I added the cinnamon because she likes it.

She enjoyed these very much. 🙂

(Please excuse the blue fluff all over. She’s shredding her rope and any time she moves it we get a million fluffs everywhere.)

Having homemade treats didn’t stop her from licking my carrots later in the day and shamelessly begging for my pasta lunch. It’s a good thing she’s cute!

After I made the treats, I had a banana and half a can of pumpkin left over, so I made Pumpkin Banana Bread from Oh Sweet Basil. https://ohsweetbasil.com/pumpkin-banana-bread-recipe/

It is delicious! I gobbled a bunch of it already yesterday. It has three kinds of chocolate chips in it, mainly because we’ve used up our semi-sweets without realizing it. I had a quarter bag of mini semi-sweet, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate left, so I threw them all in with wild abandon.

I made a lentil dish for lunches this week. Lebanese Lentil Salad with Cumin, Mint, and, Garlic from Kayln’s Kitchen. The link looks unfinished, but it will take you to the right recipe.

https://kalynskitchen.com/recipe-for-lebanese-lentil-salad-with/

I used dried herbs and it came out fine. It smelled a little weird from the combo of herbs, but tasted good. I had it with rice.

The latest Food Network magazine had an overnight oats page, so I tried the Spiced Mango recipe and it was alright. I don’t know if I’m completely sold on them. I might try heating it up next time.  No pictures because I was running out the door with them.

I made a tortilla chicken soup for Superbowl Sunday, even though we actually recorded the game and then fast forwarded through the game to watch the commercials. We’re weird like that. We watched “Pitbulls and Parolees” instead. 🙂

It was delicious as well. Just a little bit of spice on the back end. I tried to measure so I could share the recipe too. The Husband cut the chicken for me, while I messed around with the rest of it and he did a great job. Here’s the recipe!

Linny’s Superbowl Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 cubed and cooked chicken breasts (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, Penzy’s “Forward” spice, and chili powder. Cayenne pepper is optional. Alternatively, use leftover chicken.)

1-2 jalepenos, one seeded, one with seeds

2-4 medium to large tomatoes, quartered

1 medium onion, quartered

1 bell pepper, any color, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled

32 oz. chicken broth

4-8 oz tomato sauce. (I had half a can leftover, but would have used a full can if I hadn’t had a half already opened.)

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp Chili powder

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

Method:

Put the roughly chopped veggies on a foil lined sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Broil veggies until char appears and then flip to broil the second side.

While veggies are cooking, cook cubed chicken in batches, either in soup pot or in a skillet.

Chop the veggies or blend them with an immersion blender until they are in small pieces and add veggies to the soup pot. Pour in the broth, add the spices, and tomato sauce. Bring to  boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with tortilla chips.

Chicken Tortilla Soup is one I make frequently when I need a quick dinner idea. There are a ton of recipes out there, so you can customize it as you see fit. It also freezes really well.

We’re doing some meal planning today, I think. We have plans to stay in and be cozy after running the couple of errands we have to do. For now though, I think I’m going to grab a slice of that pumpkin bread and have an Elevensies snack!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

Since I had my review on Friday, I wasn’t able to post a Recipe Roundup.

We had quite a busy weekend, but I did finally manage to get some freezer meals packaged. I used the Freezer Meals cookbook that a friend gave me.  We have 8 meals that can be thrown in the crockpot or oven for quick easy dinners. I made one of each recipe, except the fajitas, to try them. Once we know if we like them, I can make up some more.

So, on to the recipes:

1- Belgian Waffles from A Quilter’s Christmas Cookbook by Louise Stoltzfus and Dawn J. Ranck. Section: Breakfast Foods. 

Modifications: I added vanilla Chai protein powder for some of the flour. You couldn’t taste it at all and it probably only added a few grams of protein, but any little bit helps. They were good.

2- Creamy Pappardelle with Broccoli from Good Eating Pasta. Section: Vegetarian. 

Modifications: I really only used the sauce part of the recipe. I threw in mushrooms and used corkscrew pasta. I also used a shredded 5 cheese Italian blend instead of just mozzarella. If you haven’t tried it before, I highly recommend a pinch of nutmeg in cheese sauces. I was skeptical, but most of the creamy pasta sauces have it listed and it is fabulous. We would eat this again. It was quick and didn’t require thawing meat.

3- Tacos, method by me. I always half cook the meat, drain and rinse it, and then add about half a jar of salsa, cumin seed, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Throw it on a tortilla with some lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes and you have a delicious dinner.

4- Coldstone Sweet Cream Ice Cream from Cooking Classy. http://www.cookingclassy.com/cold-stone-creamery-sweet-cream-ice-cream-make-it-at-home/

Modifications: None! This recipe uses corn syrup and cornstarch, no eggs. It may turn into my go to vanilla recipe. It was very good. It froze a lot harder than the other ice cream we have had and didn’t melt as quickly. I did add vanilla extract, as it was a pretty plain base.

5- Creamy Coconut Popsicles from Little Spice Jar. http://littlespicejar.com/coconut-popsicles-paletas-de-coco/

Modifications: This made a lot more than I thought it would. Next time, I will halve the recipe. It made 14 popsicles and a ramekin of ice cream left over. They are very good. The Husband doesn’t like coconut, so I don’t have to share! Well, with him at least. I’ll share with other people. I finally used our rocket shaped popsicle molds. (TJ Maxx and they fell under the “$10 or under” clause… Or I’m really just a 6 year old at heart.)

I also made tortellini soup and we had canned soup and biscuits this week as well. I made yogurt again too and it is nice and thick this time.

For not feeling so good for part of the week, I am happy with how our meals turned out last week.

This week is a weird week. I’ve got late nights three days this week and we are going to a concert on Wednesday. Our 5th Anniversary falls on one of my late nights, so we’re going out to eat on Friday instead.

We’re having a party on Saturday and there will be a pickle tray and possibly two cakes… I took Friday off specifically to cook and bake. I’ve got a bunch of new recipes planned for the party, so it will probably have its own post. Now all we need is people to come eat all the food!

Not So Wordless Wednesday- 4th of July
Wordless Wednesdays

Not So Wordless Wednesday- 4th of July

LSiehLeave a comment

My family has a unique way to celebrate the 4th of July, which we happily credit to my Grandma Shirley. She was a nurse and had just come off a night shift and was eating cereal at a restaurant when they put up a sign for “Fresh Strawberry Sundaes.” She said they looked so good that she had to order one and when it came, she poured it on top of her cereal. Ever since then, my family has done the same. No matter where we are, we all take the time to have this breakfast treat. Over the years it evolved to have blueberries too, so we can say it’s patriotic.

We normally send pictures of our breakfast to each other too. This year our breakfast included homemade custard based vanilla ice cream and three small strawberries from the garden along with the store ones.

Here’s this year’s breakfast shot! 

Here are the components in case you want to adopt the tradition:

You need a flaky cereal, strawberries, blueberries, and ice cream. The proper way to make this (although there is some debate) is to pour the smallest amount of cereal you can get away with on the bottom, add the ice cream, then berries. Some people put the ice cream first, but that’s wrong…

Now, if you happen to run out of ice cream before you finish the rest of the berries (as I make sure to do,) it’s fine to get just a bit more. You have to come out even, of course.

I have won friends and influenced people with this breakfast. We had it one year when I was working at a summer camp and had brought other staff friends home and they thought it was the best part of the weekend. 🙂

Fancy ate some strawberries to celebrate with us, but only likes frozen blueberries. She spent most of the last two evenings with me in the basement hiding from the end of the world, otherwise known as the fireworks. The fleece blanket I tucked her in with apparently has magical powers, as she spent most of last night sleeping while I sewed and organized.

She’s better today and is still pretty cuddly. We took her to the dog friendly mall twice over the weekend and she liked that. The second time she refused to leave until we took her to the dog bakery for her free sample and some pets. There is a chance she is a very spoiled pup.

I hope you all had a happy and safe 4th! Feel free to adopt the family tradition and make it your own. We don’t mind sharing!