Showing posts with label Recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipe. Show all posts

The Burden of free food



1 down, 3 to go


Last night's chicken dinner was delicious however I don't think I will marinate the chicken in yogurt again - it was messy. It did seem as if the chicken was moist and tender. Marinating in good old-fashioned buttermilk is not as messy. 

Here is the recipe for the Yogurt coffee cake.   It was good but needs some tweaking. I plan to try some other "yogurt cake" recipes. 

I now have 3 tubs of yogurt left. I've tried to give a tub away - no one likes plain yogurt. They are good till June 6. 


The Potatoes.

I hate to waste food. I don't have a basement or a root cellar and our 100+ degree summers are just around the corner. I've already made scalloped potatoes with our salmon the other night - Potato soup and last night we had mashed potatoes. I like potatoes but not this much. 

I found where you can cook the potatoes and then freeze them. I do like potato salad and since it is salad time of year, I'm going to make a huge bunch of it. My sons love their Mom's potato salad. 

People nowadays don't use potatoes like my mom did. They tend to buy packaged potatoes. I've always made my mashed potatoes from scratch. 

Next time I won't be so quick to accept the burden of the free food. 

December 9 is National Puff Pastry Day





 I bet you didn't know that today is National Puff Pastry Day. I kid you not. I happen to love puff pastry - love the light flaky layers of goodness. I probably won't be making any puff pastry delights but if I was I'd make:

Strawberry Chocolate Puff Pastry 
Prep Time 10 mins 
Cook Time 15 mins 
Servings: 24 Pieces 
Calories: 242kcal Ingredients 

  • 1 17.3 oz package puff pastry 
  • 1 ½ cups chocolate hazelnut spread 
  • ½ cup sweetened condensed milk 
  • 1 Tbsp powdered sugar 
  • 2 cups strawberries 

  • Instructions Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 12 equal squares. Grease muffin tin and place each piece of pastry into one cavity. Spread 1 tablespoon of chocolate hazelnut spread onto each. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of sweetened condensed milk over the chocolate spread. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden. Remove from muffin tin and dust with powdered sugar. Top with fresh California strawberries and enjoy! 

California Strawberry Chocolate Puff Pastry 

  • Nutrition Serving: 1 Pastry | Calories: 242kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 68mg | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin C: 7mg

Time to Bake

 


I made a German Chocolate bundt cake (from a mix) last night. No, I didn't frost it with coconut pecan frosting because I can't stand things THAT sweet anymore. I also don't like coconut. When I was a kid, my mom made it all the time - the german chocolate layer cake with that frosting in between. I would take a slice and then proceed to scrape off that yucky frosting. Anyway,  I sprinkled it with some powdered sugar. My husband cut a big piece and got out the Guittard chocolate ice cream topping and drizzled some of that on top. Ice cream would have been nice but we don't have any. I was happy with just a touch of powdered sugar. It was a light dessert. 

Yesterday I cleaned out and rearranged my pantry. 

I remember back in my younger days, with 3 little boys underfoot, and I could clean my whole house. These days I am lucky to get 1/4 of a room done in a day. I really hate to admit this, but I think I might be lazy and all this covid-crap doesn't make it easier. It's just one more excuse. "why clean and decorate the house, when no one comes over anymore? 

One thing I am doing is cleaning out my computer files of all my SAVED recipes I will be sharing these. 



SOURCE - Pinterest


ACORN COOKIES

  • Nutter Butter bites made by Planters or bite-size Nilla wafers 
  • Hershey's kisses 
  • Chocolate frosting 
  • Chocolate chips 

  1. Place a small amount of icing on the bottom of the Hershey's Kiss then attach to the Nutter Butter. 
  2. Put a dab of icing on the bottom of the chocolate chip and attach it to the other side of the Nutter Butter. 
How easy is that? 

Enchiladas




My mom's Ground Beef Enchiladas


 If I can't do major projects - 

I can at least cook. Made these last night for dinner. Simple and easy. 

My favorite enchilada is shredded beef. 


Every family has its own unique recipe for simple enchiladas. As a child, I lived in San Francisco and our neighborhood was mostly Hispanic. Our next-door neighbor used to make homemade corn or flor tortillas and hand them out as a snack to the neighborhood kids. Sometimes warm with butter! I haven't had one since, that was as tasty. 




I just use a standard enchilada sauce from a can. Hey, I never said I was a gourmet. I can't get the sauce right when I have attempted to do it from scratch so I gave up. I switch back and forth - last night I used La Victoria. 

Something I learned after much trial and error is to not over sauce your tortilla - it will fall apart. The sauce it has on it after frying the tortilla is sauce enough - I put some sauce in the meat mixture and the bottom of the pan. I heat it up in the oven and then place the heated sauce on top, just before serving. It's just for my husband and me - it's not like I am feeding a restaurant. 



I also use stone-ground yellow corn tortillas - they hold up better when fried and sauced. I used 

Mi Rancho. They were local when I lived in Redwood City. 


I use pepper jack cheese - NEVER cheddar! I add fresh onions and some sliced black olives. 









Sunflower Jelly by the Nerdy Farm Wife




I found this post from another blog and since it was about Sunflowers I wanted to share it. 

I want to do this next year. I thought it was lovely. 


Sunflower Jelly 


She also has 2 recipes for a Sunflower Soap.

Strawberry Santas



Are these not the cutest little morsels of sweetness? 

Pretty simple too. I may do this, for Christmas Eve. 

Use buttercream frosting, as whipped cream would be too soft. 

Use mini-chocolate chips for the eyes. ADORABLE!!!



BUTTERCREAM FROSTING RECIPE:

Add powdered sugar to mixing bowl. Add softened sticks of butter. Add vanilla. Add 1 tbsp of milk. Beat on low until powdered sugar is incorporated. Then move mixer up to medium-high speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. ... Add more milk, a little bit at a time until frosting is the proper consistency.

artichoke dip bread




Via Closet Cooking



An artichoke dip baked in a loaf of bread until ooey-gooey - cheesy and good!

Servings: makes 4-8 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 (14 ounces) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 green onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
1 loaf Italian bread, sliced in half lengthwise



For the rest of the recipe

There may be affiliate links on this page. See my Disclosure

chicken burrito bowl/casserole



We absolutely love Mexican food, Tex-Mex, spicy Southwest, California Fresh-Mex, or Baja-Mex. Yum. I never get tired of it and could eat it every night of the week.  So it's no wonder that I always have the seasonings, just waiting for its turn to make my eyes water and my lips burn!

I made my Chicken burrito bowl/casserole

It was inspired by a local taqueria. I watched them and basically came up with my own and frankly it's just as good.

10 frozen chicken tenders
1 can of black beans
3 cups of seasoned Mexican rice * (see below)
2-3 cups (or handfuls) of shredded pepper-jack cheese
1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar
Your favorite Taco seasoning mix
green onion
cilantro
cut-up Roma tomato
sliced avocado
shredded cabbage
salsa, taco sauce, hot sauce

  • I cook the frozen tenders in a small amount of olive oil with some garlic. When cooked through, I chop up the chicken in the pan, add some taco seasoning, and a little water for a slightly saucy sauce with the seasoned chicken.

  • In another pan, follow directions for Instant rice.  Bring the water, butter, and about 3-4 tbsp of taco seasoning, and some Knorr bouillon to a roaring boil. Add the rice.  If you have some dried onion - throw it in.  To get my family to eat brown rice, I usually make half and a half and you can buy instant brown rice for this. But I didn't have any last night. I don't use regular rice for this - I want to keep it quick and simple. 



I love casseroles. Mainly because it's easy to have everything there - not a lot of bowls to clean up. So I used a 13x9 cake pan because my other Pyrex was in the freezer with a spaghetti casserole.

  • I spread the rice in the bottom of the pan and sprinkled some of the pepper jack cheese on the hot rice.
  • Then I spread the black beans
  • The seasoned chicken
  • the rest of the pepper-jack cheese (save just enough to put on top)
I placed it in a warm oven - while I shredded the cabbage, green onions, cilantro, tomatoes - and cheddar cheese

Then just before serving I topped with the cabbage, and all of the above - and some sliced black olives.

Now my family likes to use flour tortillas and pile the mixture inside the tortilla to make burritos. I like to just eat it without. My version of a burrito bowl.  (fewer Carbs) 

I've done this also with leftover Taco beef meat.

Note: Because I am only using what I have - I didn't have the following:

green onion, cilantro, brown instant rice, avocado.


Rainy Day Saturdays and CHEAP white Bean Soup



It's been a gloomy rainy day. 

Bring on the soup. Especially good, when you're broke.  

Beans, the frugal cook's best friend.

It just so happened I had some beans stored so I made my vegetarian version of the US Senate Navy Bean Soup -

If you've followed me, you'd know I don't like to measure things - and when I give out a recipe, it's only my uneducated guess. If you want exact measurements, then go to the cooking channel. (I hope by now, you know I am kidding)

CHEAP White Bean Soup - 

1  lb bag of dried small white beans
onion
celery
carrots
garlic (lots of it)
leftover mashed potatoes (1 cup)
fresh rosemary
frozen spinach or kale
dried Italian seasonings

You can either soak them the night before or do what I do cheat because I forget all the time. I sort them, wash them and fill the pot with water - boil and then take off the heat for about an hour.

I drain them - add new water/vegetable broth. I finely chopped the onion, celery and carrots, threw them in. Added about 2 cloves of garlic - maybe more. Added some chopped Rosemary. I don't give measurements so you can add what you like. I'll throw in some dried Italian seasonings too - and cook for about 60-90 minutes on low heat (after you've brought it all to a boil)

Then I mash up some of the bean mixtures, add in those leftover mashed potatoes we had the other night - more garlic, salt, and pepper. Then some frozen spinach.

For a non-vegetarian - use chicken broth or use water, but use a ham bone for all that good ham flavor. A good way to use up some leftover ham.

* I prefer having ham in mine, but my husband tries to keeps a kosher diet (I don't) so I make it that way for all of us, and then I'll add some ham on the side for the rest of us.

Here's the real US Senate Navy Bean Soup.

The absolute BEST Apple Cake




This recipe was given to me in the '1990s - 

The absolute BEST Apple Cake  - yummy with real whipped cream! (not cool whip)

Preheat oven to 350

# 1
4 cups of sliced apples (thinly sliced approximately one inch by 1/8 of an inch
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of sugar - 2 Tbsp
1/2 cup of oil 

#1 - blend and mix to a smooth consistency

#2
2 cups of flour - all-purpose
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt

#2 - sift then add to the above mixture in #1


 #3
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

#3 - add to the above mixture in #2

When steps 1, 2, and 3 are completed, stir in the apples evenly - 

Bake for 50-55 minutes in a 9 X 13 pan.

If making one-half recipe, bake in an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan. 

Enjoy!