Tag: Recipe roundup

Recipe Roundup and Fancy’s Ears
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup and Fancy’s Ears

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Fancy’s ears… Man oh man. I don’t know if I can handle them. They were a major part of the reason we were interested in her when we saw her. She’s been quite cute all week, so you’ll have to bear with me on this one. I promise to get to the recipes after this.

These three pictures were all taken on the same day. She was extremely interested in my yogurt and was sad she couldn’t eat it. It had walnuts, thimbleberry jam, and chocolate chips in it, none of which are good for dogs.

The next two were taken at the park. She was very interested in sniffing every single blade of grass.

There were kids playing behind her. She couldn’t decide if she should keep walking or try to play with them.

Then a squirrel ran by in front of her and her ears shot all the way forward quite suddenly. It was adorable! I just couldn’t resist. She’s too cute.

Anyway, on to the real reason for blogging today. The recipes!

1- Turkey meatballs, loosely based on a chicken parm meatball recipe from Dinner: A Love Story.

http://www.dinneralovestory.com/chicken-parm-meatballs/

I used turkey instead of chicken, shallots, and no parm. I used a shredded blend of Mozzarella and Provolone instead. Baked for about 20 minutes on 350.  I added a bunch of spices to some tomato sauce and threw that over some noodles. It was pretty tasty. It doesn’t count as a new recipe, as I’ve made it with chicken before.

2- Baked Chicken from The Wooden Spoon Cookbook by Mariam Miller. Section: Main Dishes

I used 4 chicken breasts instead of just three. Some of the rice didn’t cook all the way. I had combined everything and it sat in the fridge for a few hours before being cooked. I don’t know if that affected cook time or not. It was alright, needed a bit more flavor. I might add a little more liquid next time, or cook it with foil on for part of the time. We ate this together, but I forgot to get pictures before we ate up the leftovers. It wasn’t the most picturesque plate either, so that’s fine.

3- Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins from the same cookbook.

These are delicious! They have a sneaky jam center that makes them good. I will be making these again. The Husband hasn’t tried them yet, so I don’t know if he likes them.

4- Taco Nachos. This isn’t really a recipe, more of a thing to throw together when I need dinner quick. I made taco seasoned hamburger with red onions, yellow bell peppers, and store salsa and put it over chips with cheese. It was good. I saved a little of the meat for extra nachos tomorrow. They don’t heat up well.

We are going to Ren Fest tomorrow with some friends, so dinner will probably be soup in a bread bowl. The Husband is very excited. 🙂 My dance troupe is dancing and even though I wasn’t able to join them this year, it will be fun to go see them.

I ran into some costume difficulties, so have decided to be a pirate with my Dita dress, leggings, and boots, as it’s supposed to be colder. It will still be fun and I’ll try to get the costume done anyway. Hopefully next year we can take Fancy with us. She can captivate even more people with her ears!

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Recipe Roundup

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I think I am in another food rut. Nothing sounds good and I don’t have the energy to cook anything new. Then, when I actually do cook something new, I think of all sorts of ways to change it or make it better. Plus, when we do eat out, or I eat a quick frozen dinner, I get sad and just want to make it better. It’s becoming a problem, although maybe a good problem to have, I guess.

I’m wondering if this cookbook challenge is pushing me in another direction, a new and slightly scary one. Maybe it’s time for me to start thinking about making up my own recipes… Real recipes, not just thrown together ones.

As I’m writing this, we are watching Masterchef, and the Husband is pointing out that the next audition cycle is “coming to a city near you!” (Chicago on September 9 is the next one.) He’s threatening to apply for me and bring me Mystery Boxes to get me ready for auditions… I may have created a monster…

While I’m not quite ready for Masterchef yet, I could maybe handle trying to create a few of my own recipes.

I did make spaghetti and bagel pizzas this week that were my own recipes. These will not win me Masterchef, but did make for tasty dinners.

1- Spaghetti, recipe by me.

The spaghetti had tons of fresh basil in it, so had a little bit of a different flavor. I had run out of garlic, so it just had garlic powder. It cooked in the crockpot for about 10 hours. The Husband’s coworkers are in awe of my cook time for spaghetti sauce, apparently. It is a long time, but if it cooks for under 4 hours, it isn’t as good. It still doesn’t taste as good as my Dad’s recipe either.

Yes, the pasta is mixed shapes. I thought I had more spaghetti and it turned out I had double the fettuccini, not spaghetti.

2- Fettuccini Alfredo with mushrooms from the Pasta book. This was not a new recipe, but I did add mushrooms. (We didn’t have these back to back, there were a few days in between.) I spaced on pictures, we were too hungry.

3- Bagel Pizzas, recipe by me.

The Husband laughed at me when I was talking about making these because apparently they started simple and then sounded extra fancy when I had finished what was going to be on them. They really aren’t fancy at all. I made homemade pizza sauce with dried oregano, parsley, basil, and garlic and onion powders. I toasted the bagel before adding the sauce and it made it much nicer. I added a slice of mozzarella cheese, mushrooms and ham, and then another slice of cheese on top. They were baked for about 10 minutes at 350.

4- Herb Chicken Meal from Freezer Meals by Julianna Sweeney. 

It looks terrible, but was actually pretty flavorful. We used boneless, skinless leg quarters and baked it for about 50 minutes, as it was still slightly frozen. Salad and garlic bread completed the meal. I will make this again, it was good.

Oh gosh… Now the Husband has my Masterchef plan of attack all worked out, from knife skill drills, to dinner parties where other people can eat the fish that neither of us like, to what we’ll do after I win.

If he starts telling all of you to send me weird food items, don’t listen! 🙂

For now, I think I’ll stick to trying some new ways to prepare foods and maybe try a few things out on my own. I still need to meal plan for the week too. My back is currently acting up very badly, so resting with an ice pack and recipes seems like just the thing to do.

Fancy is being bratty and demanding pets and rope tugs, which the Husband has provided. This has been my view during the week when she decides I’m done on the computer for the night.

It is National Dog Day though, so I suppose we can spoil her a bit. 🙂 Who can resist puppy snuggles, after all?

Party Post and Recipes!
Party Posts · Recipe Roundup · Simple Sundays

Party Post and Recipes!

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We had a lovely party! Some friends who hadn’t been to our house before came and we got to show off our lovely flamingo kitchen. The previous owner was an artist and we have a flamingo mural in the kitchen, a vineyard scene in the hallway, and the guest room  has fish everywhere.

We love them all, but my favorite are the flamingos, of course. My love of flamingos is pretty well-known. We got two flamingo themed cards and several flamingo items as gifts. The Husband has accepted his fate of living in a mildly flamingo themed house well so far. He’s even bought me a few himself. Granted, I tend to like the less cheesy flamingos better, so that probably helps.  Our house isn’t the subject of the post though, the party foods are!

I had a few recipes from the week too, although not that many. We had a lot of late nights and leftovers. I did make a crockpot pot roast, beef fajitas, and a mushroom/squash/onion goat cheese tart.

1- Crockpot Pot Roast with Gravy from No. 2 Pencil. http://www.number-2-pencil.com/2012/07/16/easy-crock-pot-pot-roast-with-gravy/

Modifications: I used one can of soup and added potatoes and carrots under the roast. I also threw in half a can of water. I was concerned that the veggies wouldn’t cook. The Husband liked this more than me, but I dislike the cream soups in general. No pictures.

2- Beef Fajitas from Freezer Meals by Julianna Sweeney. 

Modifications: I think I added more spices than it called for. This was very good and we have two bags of  the mix in the freezer for later dinners.

3- Veggie Goat Cheese Tart, recipe by me.

I used puff pastry for the base and sautéed mushrooms, zucchini, and red onion over goat cheese and Asiago cheese pieces. It was delicious.

Now, on to the party recipes!

1- Rosemary Bundt Cake from Cooking From the Gourmet’s Garden by Coralie Castle and Robert Kourik. Section: Rosemary

Modifications: I didn’t have rosewater, so left it out. I also made the cake the same day, not realizing it recommended making it the day before. It tasted delicious and held up well for slicing. I made it in my dragon bundt pan. I’ve had it for about 2 years and been too afraid to use it. I decided our 5th Anniversary was enough of a big deal though and it turned out really well. I used way too much flour in the pan being nervous about it sticking. I know for next time now.

The back of the cake:

The front of the cake:

We’re going to have an Elevensies party again this year and I’ll be making another dragon cake for that too.

2- Raspberry Chocolate Cake from A Quilter’s Christmas Cookbook by  Louise Stoltzfus and Dawn Ranck. Section: Cakes

Modifications: I used a regular buttercream recipe, as I didn’t have a pan or the time to melt everything for the frosting in the book. I think I had less puree than called for and it kind of sunk right into the cake, but it still tastes good. I used a Love Bar with dark chocolate and freeze-dried rasberries for the cake. It was a tiny bit over-baked, so it’s not as moist as I would like.

3- Goat Cheese Truffles from The Vintage Tea Party Year by Angel Adoree. Section: Coming of Age Tea Party.

Modifications: None. These were just goat cheese balls dipped in various toppings. I used toasted sesame seeds, paprika, poppy seeds, and dried parsley. They look very elegant, but were the easiest thing to make.

4- Crab Dip. I originally used a recipe online, I think from Our Best Bites, but I can’t remember. For this batch, I used a block of cream cheese, 8 oz of real crab meat, about 1/4-1/2 cup sour cream, 1/4 c. Mayo, garlic powder, onion powder, a pinch of cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, 4 chopped scallions, and about half a bag of a shredded 5 cheese Italian blend.

Mix it all together, top with more shredded cheese and bake at 350 for about half an hour or until the edges are brown and bubbly. I normally use greek yogurt in place of the sour cream, but didn’t have any. The Husband decided he likes it better with fake crab. 🙂 He always requests it for parties.

We also had an ice cream bar with all sorts of toppings, homemade chocolate ganache and Saunder’s caramel sauce. We have so much ice cream left over.

Pico and chips and a veggie and pickle tray rounded out our table.

I sent this picture to my Mom, since she was making snarky remarks about how many pickles made up a pickle tray. According to her, there had to be more than one pickle at the party…

Rest assured, there were actually 3 types of pickles. These are the sweet and spicy pickles and there were mini dill gherkins, and my homemade pickle chips.

The homemade ones were a surprising hit. My in-laws and two of our friends with Polish heritage hoarded the pickle chips and polished off the entire jar. 🙂 I had two cloves of garlic in that jar and it was a very good idea. They do need a little more dill, but I think I’ll keep that recipe in my back pocket.

Some friends also brought treats. We had Bailey’s mousse, which was delicious, but could possibly be contributing to my headache today. We also had delicious lemon bars with a pomegranate glaze. Fancy licked an entire row of these before we could get to her… Terrible dog.

Fancy always has fun at parties. She has had an exciting couple of days. She met a new possible friend, a Malamute named Blaze, on Friday and then got to see so many people at the party. By the end of the night she was zonked out on the couch. She and I may need many naps today to recover. Here’s a picture of her last night.

My friend came wearing a dress she had made with flamingos on it and it has motivated me to try to make some more dresses. I did not mug her for her dress, even though I could have given her something else to wear. I wore my strawberry dress to the party and got lots of compliments, so if I can figure out which pattern it is, I will have to make some more.

Hopefully after some more water and dog snuggles, I can go play in my craft space and come up with something to post about tomorrow!

I’ll leave you with a quote that we got on a picture frame from friend yesterday.

“It’s not where you go or what you do, it’s who is beside you that counts.”

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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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!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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It’s Shark Week! I know I said that before, but I’m still enjoying it. I watch it for the science, okay! 🙂 No judgements!

Lunches, as well as TV, have been a bit more exciting for me this week. I’ve been terrible about preparing something ahead of time lately and decided to change it. This week I made two new recipes specifically for lunches. Both were vegetarian, so I didn’t have to share.

I used all Food Network Magazines this week by accident. The weeknight cooking sections have been surprisingly helpful and have only taken around 30 minutes or so. Normally with the “30 minute recipes,” it’s been and hour and a half and fifteen bowls and pots before we eat. They lie to us…

On to the recipes!

1- Slow Cooker Soy Citrus Chicken from Food Network Magazine, Jan/Feb 2015. V.8, N.1

Modifications: I added carrots and onions to the slow cooker. I also added more soy sauce. The Husband has figured out that he doesn’t like citrus flavors with meats. It was a decent dinner, but I probably won’t make it again. No pictures, since I had a different dinner at work.

2- Chicken Divan by The Husband’s Mom. This was the recipe he requested she give me for my bridal shower. (Don’t tell her, but he likes mine better because I leave out the broccoli. She’s still got me beat on pot roast though.)

Recipe:

Cooked Rice, 4 cooked and chopped Chicken Breasts, 1& 1/2 Tsp lemon juice, 1 & 1/2 cup Shredded Cheese, 2  10 oz packs of cooked frozen broccoli, 1 1/2 cup Mayo, 1 1/2 TBS Curry Powder, 3 cans Cream of Chicken Soup, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs.

Spread cooked broccoli in casserole dish. Top with chicken. Combine soup, mayo, lemon juice, and curry powder. Pour over chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle cheese and breadcrumbs on top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Serve over cooked rice.

Modifications: I leave out the broccoli and serve a salad on the side. I also normally cut the recipe in half and use two cans of soup. I like it, but not for too long. And it helps keep down the leftovers or waste.

3- Lentils with Watercress (Spinach) from Food Network Magazine, October 2016. V.9, N.8. 

Modifications: This was a lunch recipe. I used half broth and half water for more flavor. I used spinach instead of watercress, as it was what I had. Also, I am the only one eating this and it seemed wasteful to get a whole thing of watercress. I’m guessing the Husband will not like it. It was good. I would make this again, but would probably have it with a hard-boiled egg or something. I was hungry soon after eating it.

4- Curried Egg Salad from Food Network Magazine, April  2017. V. 10, N. 3

Modifications: My second lunch recipe. I used garlic powder and cut the recipe. I would have eaten it with crackers instead of bread, but forgot them. It was interesting. I’m not sure if I liked it or not. No pictures, I forgot to take them at work.

5- Lamb Shoulder Chops with Carrot Puree with Cucumber Salad from the above Food Network.

Modifications: Dried cilantro in the puree, instead of fresh. I didn’t blend the puree as much as it told me too. I got impatient with the stick blender.

When I served it, the Husband said “Hooray baby food!” Oh sarcasm… it was pretty gross though. I don’t know that I like purees.

The lamb chops were good, as was the cucumber salad. I would make both of those again.

6- Couscous Tabouli, Method by me.

Recipe: Cook the couscous per package directions. Add chopped parsley, mint, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Mix well and enjoy warm or cold.

The Husband thinks I should have a Gordon Ramsey week, but I’m not sure if I have enough recipes. I only have one of his cookbooks. I’ll do some research and see what I can do though, as it sounds fun.

Since there is a monthly review coming up, I’m going to be checking on which cookbooks need to still be used. Ramsey’s cookbook is one of them. It’s kind of intimidating. He might end up with more reasons to call me a muppet if I mess things up…

This is Fancy’s face when I make a new recipe lately. She’s been getting very nosy. The featured picture is her when we open anything in a bag or box. I just love her ears!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

It always seems like vacation cannot last long enough and there is so much to catch up on. I didn’t cook at all on our trip. I had intended to, but wasn’t able to pick a recipe and then vacation naps happened. 🙂 Both my parents are excellent cooks too, so we were happy to sit back and just enjoy the delicious food.

Here is the Recipe Roundup for last week. Sorry for the delay. I used three new cookbooks!

1- Grilled Greek Chicken and Beans (Zucchini) from Food Network Magazine, June 2017, V. 10, N. 5

Modifications: My friend helped with this recipe and the shrimp and it was delicious. The chicken was very flavorful. We used zucchini instead of beans and I would have used the dipping sauce as a marinade instead. It wasn’t as flavorful as it could be. I would make the chicken again, but not the veggies.

2- Foil Packet Lemon Shrimp Scampi from Food Network Magazine, July/Aug 2017, V. 10, N. 6

Modifications: None, I followed the recipe! It turned out delicious and the shrimp seemed to be cooked perfectly. I would happily make this again.

3- Gold Beach Burgers from Retro Beach Bash by Linda Everett. This book doesn’t really have organized sections per say.

Modifications: I looked up Teriyaki sauce ingredients and just added them into the meat, instead of making a full sauce. It worked pretty well. The burgers were so good! We had Gouda cheese on them. I would definitely make these again. It was a nice change from traditional burgers.

4- Oreo Ice Cream from Sober Julie. http://www.soberjulie.com/2013/06/ice-cream-recipe/

Modifications: I had half and half, so I used that along with the cream. I like custard based ice cream better so far, but the Husband liked it. It tastes okay, but it melted really fast and was a little icy.

5- Baked Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms, recipe by me! (I have no actual measurements…)

Recipe: Add 4 drumsticks to a pan, drizzle with olive oil. I used garlic olive oil. Chop two garlic cloves and add them to the pan along with a quarter of an onion, mushrooms, and handful of cherry tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and onion powder. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 ish minutes, or until juices run clear.

This was a nice simple meal. The Husband threw it in the oven and we ate it separately.

6- Pickles from The Art of Preserving. Section: Pickles and Relishes.

Modifications: Absolutely none. I don’t mess with canning recipes at all, especially ones I haven’t made before. We brought a jar of these for my Mom and tried them up there. I hope they even out in terms of flavor. They were a little harsh in the vinegar department and were a little soft. I will try another pickle recipe, I think.

I was happy that I managed, with some help, to use a bunch of new recipes, even though we were going to be out of town.

Fancy is currently chasing a sky raisin, otherwise known as a fly. It’s hilarious to watch, but she’s all upset about it. She’s also trying to climb the couch to get a moth. It could be a long night.

I’m currently enjoying watching all the sharks I can handle on Shark Week. I think I’ll look up a red colored cocktail and serve it in my shark glass some time during the week.

I’m excited to show you some of the pictures I took over the weekend and get back into my regular posting routine.

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

It has been a busy week! I used eight new recipes. It was lovely to have an extra few days to relax and play. Fancy was so excited that we were home and is now sad when we go back to work.

We finally pulled out the grill. My in-laws gave it to us last year, but haven’t used it at all this year, or even last year. The Husband was the grill master and I provided the ingredients and recipes. I’ll start with those recipes.

1- Grilled Chicken and Peaches from The Taste of Home Market Fresh Cookbook. Section: Cornucopia

Modifications: I didn’t have peach “spreadable fruit,” or any peach jam, so I used the rhubarb marmalade. I also used thigh pieces instead of breast pieces and marinated the chicken in the spice mixture minus the jam before grilling it. I used the jam as a glaze when it was on the grill.

Oh my gosh, this was delicious! The chicken thighs were beautifully tender, the marinade was just spicy enough, and the jam added just a little bit of sweetness.

The peaches were something that I have really wanted to try, and they turned out wonderful. I want to make more and serve them over ice cream with amaretto or brandy. We only had one small hiccup. We think the Husband may be allergic to rhubarb. He had a nasty reaction to the chicken on the second day and the rhubarb is the only thing that he hasn’t had before. If this is true, we are going to have a lot of extra bbq sauce up for grabs.

2- Grilled New Potatoes, recipe by me!

I cut up some new potatoes and tossed them with fresh rosemary, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and olive oil. We put them in foil and found out that you can indeed burn potatoes on the grill. Only a few though, the rest were just right.

3-Grilled Asparagus with Gremolata from Food Network Magazine, June 2016. V. 9, N. 5

Modifications: I reduced the recipe quite a bit. I used garlic powder instead of grated garlic. It was good and made me feel fancy while eating it. I didn’t get pictures of the completed dish by itself, but you can see it on the grill and on the plate above.

4- Meat Pies from A Taste of Lebanon by Mary Salloum. Section: Savory Pastries and Breads. 

Modifications: The recipe called for lamb. It was a good thing to find a new recipe for lamb. I left out the diced tomatoes. It called for fresh and I didn’t have any. These were pretty good. They made tiny little pies though. Next time I will use a bigger circle. I think these will freeze well.

5-Savory Pie Dough from the same cookbook. No modifications made. I think it would also make a fantastic thin crust pizza. It’s a nice, soft dough with a mild flavor.

6- Smoky Spanish Roasted Chicken from Food Network Magazine, April 2016. V.9, N.3.

Modifications: I cut the spice rub recipe in half, as it was for two chickens. It was not as flavorful as I would like. I didn’t pull up the skin to put the spices under it and I probably should have. It called for 2 whole heads of garlic! One which was added to the inside of the chicken and one was baked with the chicken and the bread. It was still very good. We ate the bread with the rosted garlic too. Mmmmm… We had carrots as well and fruit.

7- Pasta Shells with Smoked Chicken in a Garlic Cream Sauce from Garlic by Janet Hazen.

Modifications: I had just made ice cream, so I used a cup of 2% milk along with the rest of the cream. It took a little bit longer to thicken up. I substituted zucchini, as the Husband tolerates that, but doesn’t like broccoli.

It was good and I would make it again. This was a cheat recipe, it’s the second recipe from the entree section. I suspect I may never going to top the duck from the same cookbook, but I couldn’t resist this recipe when I had the smoky chicken already.

8- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream from Ashleemarie.com. http://ashleemarie.com/vanilla-bean-ice-cream/

Modifications: None made. This was unbelievably silky smooth and rich. We had it for the special 4th of July breakfast md it was amazing! The Husband took a bite and said “Now this is ice cream!” We’re going to try chocolate next. I have plans to make meringues with the egg whites, but am still deciding what kind of meringues to make.

We’ve got another busy weekend planned. Fancy has recovered from the fireworks. This was her last night. She is such a lady…

The garden has provided four more tomatoes and two more strawberries. We keep eating them before I can take pictures. There are four more that just need one more day, so if I can get to them before the squirrel does, I’ll take a picture.

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSieh2 Comments

The featured picture was taken on Wednesday, perhaps it was a warning of things to come. When I pulled the ice cream out of the freezer, it came with a disappointed face in the lid. I have a feeling the Husband and I will be sending it to each other frequently when we need a laugh.

I had a pretty productive week, up until yesterday when my day involved the dog’s poo bags breaking, a violent and unpleasant digestive reaction to ham in my salad, and an unexpected guinea pig in session. I never thought I would need to utter the phrase “Please don’t bring live animals to session.” But now that it has happened, at least I will be prepared for the future…

I made four new recipes this week and two were not main dishes! I have plans for this weekend for the smoker, assuming it works. The Husband has had it for years, but hasn’t ever used it. If those recipes work out, it will be very exciting, as one of them is homemade bacon! It’s up in the air about whether or not I will actually be able to eat the homemade bacon. I had a bad stomach ache from store bacon in the last few weeks and now a terrible reaction to ham. I’m hoping they were just isolated incidents, but this is how the pork issues originally started, so I’m a little nervous.

Anyway, here are the recipes I used this week.

1-Fresh Herb Scones from Pillsbury Best Muffins and Quick Breads. Section: Biscuits, Scones, Popovers, and Doughnuts.

Modifications: I added a little more rosemary than needed, but it didn’t make them taste any different. I used herbs from the garden: rosemary, parsley, and thyme. We had these at a belated dinner for my father-in-law. They turned out nice and fluffy and tasted good. Everyone seemed to enjoy them.

2- Chewy Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies from Baking Unplugged by Nicole Rees. Section: Cookies & Bars

Modifications: None, I did follow the recipe. These were eaten too fast before I could take a picture. They did not brown up as much as most cookies do, so I was a little worried they would ve doughy, but they turned out nice. I was even eating them and typically I don’t like them. They did have melted butter in them, which changed the browning and texture, I think. It also called to use a bowl and spoon, but I was in a hurry and used the mixer. These got the Husband’s stamp of approval.

3- Caramelized  Onion Grilled Cheese from Food Network. October 2016, V.9, N. 8

Modifications: I completely forgot to add in the sherry and added the thyme last minute and used dried, instead of fresh. I also used Texas Toast, as the Italian bread I had was too thin, I thought.  We had it when I was hosting craft night and it was lovely. I used pepperjack and Gouda in two of them and Colby jack in mine. We had a friend staying with us and she loved them as well. The onions were an extremely delicious addition. I would definitely make these again.I was so distracted that I almost forgot to take pictures of the sandwich and had to steal the Husband’s half eaten one to make sure we had a pic. We had this with salad.

4- Whiskey Marinated Rib Eye Steak from The Book of Steak. Section: Up Front Cuts

Modifications: I marinated the steak for longer than it called for and it got extremely whiskey soaked near the ends. It was quite strong! The other flavors were good though and I cooked the steak perfectly, according to the Husband. We had salad and scones with this. I debated putting the salad on the plate, but the steak was dripping everywhere and I don’t like steak flavored salad. I couldn’t do it, even for pictures. I only ate about half the steak and if there are leftovers, I may make a potato steak hash with it for breakfast over the weekend.

Fancy was haunting the kitchen while I was cooking and was extremely disappointed that she couldn’t have any. I caught this picture gem while she was trying her puppy dog eyes out on The Husband. After I showed him the picture he said “Oh, just give her the steak!” The marinade and sauce were definitely not okay for pups though, so she didn’t get any.

The other cool thing about this steak recipe was that the sauce was flambeed! I watched my Dad flambé things a lot when I was a kid and it was fun to do it myself. It burned for a surprising amount of time. The paper towel in the background is not on fire, I just didn’t think to move it before pictures.

It was pretty neat, but hard to get it lit. On TV, it looks so easy, but in reality, I was attempting to not pour sauce all over the stove. I would definitely flambé more things, now that I’ve tried it once.

I do have one more recipe, although I think it is more of a method. I used the yogurt maker to make my first batch of yogurt. I didn’t have time to heat it, like it said, so it made a looser yogurt. I had some yesterday with the rhubarb marmalade and had an orange, strawberry, coconut milk smoothie for breakfast today with more.

I just followed the directions in the instruction book. It turned out very good. Unsweetened of course, but I typically use jam in it anyway. This would be perfect for baking. I did use 2% milk and I think I’ll experiment with whole milk and non-dairy milks as well. It made 7- 6 0z jars. I am also going to try making it in a large Pyrex bowl and straining it for Greek yogurt. I’ll make sure to take pictures and write reviews for comparison. It is the basic Euro Cuisine yogurt maker.

Today is the first anniversary of moving into our house! If my head stops hurting, I may make a cake I will use a new recipe, of course! 🙂

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

There was a short delay after I started writing this post because there were ants. (About 7 of them before I got them.) I unexpectedly had to clean my kitchen cupboard and wash all the dishes. This was not exactly my plan for the night.

When we first moved in, we had a terrible time with red and black ants. I live in fear of another bad time. I think they had come from the moving truck. They were in a bunch of our boxes and we didn’t have them before we moved. Now I panic clean when I see tiny bugs. I hate bugs.

We had another week of late nights, but I made three new dishes. I had plans to make yogurt tonight; however, ants happened. I finally bought a yogurt maker and am excited to try it. It has the most adorable glass jars. I’ll try to get it going tomorrow, if I can get the rest of the cleaning done in time.

Well, enough about tiny creepy beasties, on to the real reason you are here: recipes!

1- Turkey Noodle Soup method by me.

Modifications: Can I actually make modifications on a made up recipe? 🙂 I used homemade chicken broth along with the store broth, turmeric, fresh herbs from the garden, carrots, onion, celery, leftover turkey, and mushrooms. I used about a stalk of celery, two carrots, an onion, about 4 cups of broth, and salt and pepper. Herb wise I used sage, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. I used about a teaspoon of turmeric. We had ditalani noodles, so I threw some of them in. Sautéed all the veggies first and dumped the broth in after. It was a yummy soup and we used up all the leftover turkey from the weekend.

Fancy is a bird dog in that she will follow you to kingdom come if you have poultry that she might be able to eat. She drooled all over the floor while I was making the soup. Then after I had it out to eat on the table, she wouldn’t stop sniffing it. Here is a picture of her turkey crazed eyes.

2- Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream from Six Sisters Stuff. http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2015/05/old-fashioned-homemade-vanilla-ice-cream.html

Modifications: We had 2% milk and cream, so I used those. I think it would come out creamier with whole milk. I used vanilla bean paste as well. It turned out delicious! I may have tried a spoonful of it for breakfast this morning…It made a little under two quarts. It also has no eggs. I do want to try a custard based recipe, but didn’t have the patience to deal with 8 egg yolks and the resulting egg whites. Maybe next week.

3- Thai Vegetable Curry with Lemongrass Rice from 400 Thai & Chinese Healthy Recipes for Healthy Living. Section: Vegetarian Main Dishes

Modifications: I didn’t have lemongrass , so the rice was cardamom and kefir lime leaf infused. I also used way less spicy peppers. Normally I would spice it up, but my stomach still hates me. The recipe started with a spice paste that made me want to eat it with a spoon. I almost swooned.

So I wasn’t planning to make this tonight. I was in the grocery store wanting to try a new recipe, without actually having looked up a recipe. I wanted something easy on my stomach and since the Husband was busy, I could eat vegetarian. I had finally decided on coconut curry and was reading the back of the a ready-made sauce packet trying to figure out what I needed. At one point, I texted the Husband to find out if it would be weird if I started reading cookbooks in the book aisle. He said it probably would be, so I refrained and guessed. 🙂

Oh my gosh, it was amazing. I used jasmine rice and it soaked up all the amazing sauce. I was so happy to not have to share. It was light and refreshing and comforting. If you are ever feeling bad, let me know and I will make you this. It will make anything better.

Our weeks should go back to normal after this. I may actually get some of these other recipes I want to try done.

Fancy will be glad to have us both on a sort of normal schedule again. I will be happy to have meals with the Husband again. It’s been kind of lonely with just me. Speaking of just me, I really need to go to bed. The ants made me crazy!

Mini Recipe Roundup and Strawberries!
Recipe Roundup

Mini Recipe Roundup and Strawberries!

LSiehLeave a comment

Our week was completely thrown off this week. The Husband was at play practice as part of the crew and I had late nights all week. We still had two new recipes though, which was my goal.

We had sandwiches a few of the nights and I made a pork loin for the Husband today for lunch. He’ll have good leftovers for lunches and quick dinners next week. It looks like his play schedule will be the same. He has been running home to change into shorts and then heads back out again quickly. I may try to make some new recipes for my lunch or have some veggie options during the week too because it will probably be just me.

I only took one picture of dinner during the week. We had the post roast when we had company over and somehow I didn’t get a picture of it.

Here are the two recipes that we used:

1- Mother’s Pot Roast with Vegetables from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook. Section: The Story of Meats.

Modifications: I left out the celery seeds and the MSG. I didn’t have either and would prefer to not have a side of migraine with my beef. I thought MSG didn’t affect me, but after getting a migraine from bad Chinese food, I have learned. Plus, it’s gross. I did add a tiny bit of seasoned salt to the pot roast along with a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of oregano. Both of the herbs were from the garden.

I completely forgot to add any veggies at all. I was too busy crafting and sewing with my friend. I did make noodles and we had salad, so it turned out alright. The pot roast was difficult to get out of the pan, it was so tender. It tasted wonderful too. Sadly, we did end up wasting a little bit of it. Both of our stomachs got a bit rumbly after eating it. It didn’t make us sick, but neither of us wanted to have rumbly bellies at work. I’m wondering if it was the red wine vinegar. It’s not an ingredient that I use a lot.

2- Hobo Meatball Stew from Taste of Home: The New Slow Cooker. Section: Soups and Stews

Modifications: I used ground elk instead of beef. I was feeling tired of ground beef. Elk is sweeter than beef, I think. Sweeter and richer. The Husband agreed with that assessment. I also used tomato sauce instead of ketchup and added garlic and onion powder to the meatballs. They would have been bland without it. Also, added garlic powder to the stew broth.

The stew is actually the cover recipe for the book. Mine did not look like that at all. I actually made this overnight. I knew we were both not going to be home for way longer than it needed to cook, so I set it going around 11 pm and turned it off when I go up at 6 am. It turned out delicious and it heats up well. I would make this again.

Today we went strawberry picking with a friend and got around 16 pounds of strawberries. I have a canning marathon planned for tomorrow, as the Husband is working on crew stuff from 2-10 pm. Fancy will be bored, I’m sure.

My canning list includes any of the following:

-Rhubarb Marmalade

-Strawberry Marmalade

-Rhubarb Butter

-Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate: need to get lemons, so this might not be tomorrow.

-Nectarine Orange Marmalade

-Orange Rhubarb Spread

-Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce

I am also going to freeze some berries for the winter. This year it will be super easy since we have an upright standing chest freezer. I can freeze more than one sheet pan at a time. One year our freezer was so small that I had to freeze things one cake pan at a time…

In strawberry picking, I am my mother’s daughter. Looking at my 16 pounds, I think I need some more. And I couldn’t stop picking them. There’s always just the one more! I might actually go back and get more, if I have time. It would be terrible to run out of strawberries before all my canning is done.

A batch of shortcake and some muffins or a fresh strawberry cake are also on the “to make” list. I’d better get up very early tomorrow. 🙂 I should probably start now, actually.

Fancy got a new toy to shred a few days ago too. She is now dubbed “Fancy of Star Command” and is dedicated to protecting her humans against an alien invasion. She takes her job very seriously, as you can see. 🙂 Hopefully you all feel very safe with her on the job!