Guacamole Bacon Burger

Wow it's been a long time since I have put anything on this site!!! Mostly because I have been wildly busy and we have eaten A LOT of take-out which is awful. This week I was bound and determined to eat better!

I found another yummy recipe in my Flexitarian cookbook: The Guacamole Bacon Burger!

Ingredients:

Avacado

lettuce

tomato

Garden burger patty of your choice

cooked bacon

whole wheat bun

fresh grated parmesean

garlic salt to taste

a little bit of butter

Directions:

Toast whole wheat bun with butter, garlic salt and parmesean. Meanwhile cook up bacon (I used one slice on my burger but use what you like) and mash up an avacado, slice tomatoes and get lettuce ready.

Then assemble burger. I slathered the guacamole as my condiment and then just assembled the rest. Really easy and really yummy. I rarely enjoy my lunches but this really was good. Even Cadey liked it!!

Yep, I do it all!

Today I made homemade bread, homemade butter and topped it with my homemade jam! Yep, that's right I do it all!!! Sometimes I really feel I deserve a pat on the back, so that's what I am doing right now!!! It's been a long day, sorry for the goofiness! Here are the bread and butter recipes:

Butter

Couldn't be easier and a fun project to do with your kids!

Ingredients:

Heavy cream

Kosher salt (regular salt works too)

Directions:

Put cream and butter in jar (I didn't even measure, maybe 1/2 cup cream and a tsp. salt?)

Shake it vigorously until butter forms. Drain off excess liquid. Spread immediately or chill in refrigerator.

Amish White Bread

LOVE this recipe. My bread NEVER turns out, but this recipe just works for me! It always rises beautifully and gets golden brown and DELICIOUS! I got it from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water

2/3 cup white sugar

1 1/2 Tbs. yeast

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

5-6 cups flour

Directions:

In a LARGE bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water and stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast is foamy. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, turn dough to coat (so won't dry out). Cover with damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch dough down, knead a few minutes and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise 30 minutes or until dough has risen above bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

***One thing I do to help the rising process is that I turn my oven onto its lowest heat and set my bowls on or near the oven to rise. This is especially helpful when baking in the winter months.

Another Fun Site

This one reminds me of the "Decptively Delicious" cookbook. I am going to use the ideas in my photos, I need some cute dishes!!! It has healthy kid food ideas, my kids don't eat anyway, but maybe somethings will just be good to try for Dennis and myself even if they are sorta kiddy food!!!

Desserts: No Bake Style

Will really wanted cookies but I really didn't want to turn on the oven to make cookies so I made chocolate no bake cookies! He hated them but Dennis, Cadey, Ian and I loved them!

I got the recipe on-line from about.com. Here it is:

Ingredients:
•2 cups sugar
•1/2 cup milk
•1/2 cup cocoa
•pinch salt
•1/2 cup butter
•1 cup peanut butter
•1 tsp. vanilla
•3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
Preparation:
In large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, cocoa, salt, and butter and mix well. Bring to a boil and cover saucepan for 30 seconds to allow steam to wash sugar crystals down sides of pan. Stir mixture and bring it to a boil that can't be stirred down for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Add oatmeal and mix well. Do not use regular or instant oatmeal; quick-cooking oatmeal is essential to the success of this recipe.
Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to let the oatmeal absorb some of the liquid.

Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or parchment lined baking sheets or Silpat sheets. Let cool until you can touch the mixture; then reshape the cookies to make them more a ball shape. Let cool completely; store tightly covered at room temperature. You can also pour this mixture into a 9" square pan that has been greased with unsalted butter, let cool, then cut into squares.

Nachos

Summer cooking is here to stay!!! It has been so hot in Vegas, I hate turning my oven on!! So we have been trying to eat without it as much as possible. The other night we made nachos. We did use the oven for about 10 minutes to melt all the cheese, but most of it was done stove top. Turned out yummy, especially with homemade guacamole!!! (We just mash up 1 1/2 to 2 avacados, season with cummin, salt and pepper and throw in some tomatoes and lime juice, amounts are to taste).

We also made yummy BLT sandwiches which are another cool summer meal. Tonight it's a Cobb Salad. Hard boiled eggs, deli meat, lettuce tomatoes, cheese, and whatever sounds good in your salad. I am not sure if that is the true definition of a cobb salad, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I am not gone, I am just behind in photographing our food and blogging about it. Hope those last three give you at least a few ideas for summer eating!

Soft Pretzels

So with Will' getting baptized I started this little It's Great to Be 8 count down of 8 activities to do that help prepare for baptism. The first activity was to make homemade soft pretzels and talk about prayer and how Will should pray about the decision to be baptized. You do the pretzels because they are shaped like arms folded in prayer. We had fun making these and they were so easy and so yummy I thought I would share the recipe I found. It is an Alton Brown recipe of whom I love. He always adds the science behind the food and I find that to be super interesting. Anyway, here is the link to that recipe. You can also find the episode for the recipe on YouTube. Super fun!!

Another fun site

My sister Megan introduced me to this site, it's all vegitarian which I love! Check it out, it has some yummy looking recipes!

fun new site I found

Check out this cute site. I am going to make some of these cake pops for Will's baptism. Soooo cute!!

Garlic Bread

One of the best cooks I know is my sister in-law Brandi. I always love eating at their house because it so good every time! This last week-end they had us over for dinner and again it was delicious! It was simple, just bbq chicken, pasta salad, green salad and GARLIC BREAD! My brother and sister in-law are hilarious and each had their own version of the best garlic bread and served both. I personally thought both were delicious and ate about 10 pieces of each (I don't think anyone else got any!!!). So when I got home I had to make some since it had been on my mind ever since!

Ingredients:

loaf of french bread

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup asiago cheese

1 cup monteray jack

1 cup mayo

1 bunch green onions

2 cloves crushed garlic

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except bread. Cut loaf of bread in half length wise. Spread with mixture. Bake in 350 degree oven for 7 minutes. Broil for 3 minutes (or until bubbly and golden on top).

OK so a few things. . .

1) My sister in law said this makes a lot and it sometimes seems too much for one loaf of bread. She uses the left overs on hot sandwiches the next day. Sounds so good.

2) When I made this I called Brandi the day of for the recipe thinking I had the ingredients but I had like none of them!!! I had Parmesan instead of asiago cheese and mozzarella instead of Monteray jack. I didn't have green onions so I put a tablespoon of dried onion in mine. It still turned out good, but it wasn't as good as Brandi's had been. Still really good though.

3) I did have left overs and I put my left overs on hamburger buns and burgers the next day. I just broiled the buns with the mixture spread on and then topped with my burger and fixin's. That was really tasty too.

It's too hot to cook!!

Well it is definately summer time in Vegas we have already hit 110 degrees! So cooking by oven is not so fun! I still have a stock for about two weeks of freezer meals, but it may last longer as we have been BBQing a lot and making meals that don't require me to turn on the oven!

Some BBQ ideas are:

Burgers and Hot Dogs
Chicken (Marinades include: BBQ sauce, italian dressing, raspberry vinegerette, or a cajun rub)
Kabobs are always fun too these can be with chicken, shrimp, steak, what ever floats your fancy

We haven't done it yet, but I want to bbq some pineapple slices and peaches and then serve with ice-cream.

Other no oven meals are to do crock-pot meals, salads and sandwiches.

Sorry I haven't been posting too much lately, like I said, I just have gone through a non cooking couple of weeks. In the next month however I have two party events that I thought I would post about decorating the table for and the food. So stay tuned for that.

Any comments or suggestions on summer time cooking ideas would be welcome!!!

Zuchinni Quesadilla

This is another lunch recipe I have been using from the Flexitarian Diet cook book. It is really easy, really good and really healthy!!

Ingredients:

1 zuchinni

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup black beans rinsed

grated cheddar cheese to your taste

Cumin to taste (about 1/2 tsp.)

Chili powder to taste (about 1//4 tsp.)

lime juice

2 tortillas

Directions:

Cook your tortillas, then combine zuchinni, black beans, spices and lime juice and toss together.

Top one tortilla with zuchinni mixture and cheese. Place second tortilla on top and microwave for one minute.

This is messy to eat like a regular quesadilla, so I use a knife and fork and kind of cut it all up to eat it.

Mexically Chicken Soup

So easy so fast so tasty. This is one if you like a little heat to your food. I added extra taco seasoning and so it was quite spicy but you can adjust to your own taste.

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used 2 cans)

1 Tbs. taco seasoning (I used about 2 1/2 Tbs. and it was quite spicy, but Dennis really liked it and it still wasn't too spicy for me)

2 14 oz. cans chicken broth

1 16 oz. can white beans (I used Navy beans)

1/2 cup green salsa

fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:

spray large sauce pan with cooking spray and heat chicken and spices over medium heat. Add broth. In a separate bowl drain and semi mash the beans then add mashed beans and salsa to soup. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Serve with sour cream.

The Stromboli, COOKED.

I was really nervous about how the stromboli would turn out having never made it and then freezing it as well. But it turned out really yummy. We ate the ham and cheese one this time and it was just like a hot ham and cheese sandwich, so it doesn't have to be pizza realated, you can be creative with this one.

For cooking:

I did let it thaw completely and rise before baking in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes (if starts to get too brown, just cover with foil).

Muesli: Summertime Oatmeal

I have been making a lot of my lunches and breakfasts out the Flexitarian Diet cookbook my mom gave me and I am really enjoying it. Some of the food is a little different than what I am use to and some of the flavors are ones I think I will need to aquire more of a taste for but I feel so healthy when I eat these meals! I feel my body inwardly thanking me each time I eat! A good change from feeling guilty whenever I eat!!! Anyway, I think I found a favorite breakfast that I will enjoy on a regular basis from here on out!! I didn't take a picture but I am sure I will be making this again soon and will add a photo when I do.

This recipe is called Swiss Apple Muesli and it is cool, filling, sweet and 5 weight watcher points!!!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 of a small apple finely chopped
1 Tbs. sliced almonds (which I crunched up)
1 tsp. honey

Directions:
Mix together and let sit 10 minutes or overnight (I did the overnight thing). Enjoy!!

So fresh, milky and fat the next morning, delicious! It's a great way to enjoy oatmeal in the summer. You can do different fruits, and nuts too, there is another recipe that calls for pears and almonds, I can't wait to try that one as well!!

Almond Crusted Tilapia Review

On my freezer menu you will find the tilapia recipe from the Fresh Food Fast Cookbook I have. It was the first time making this recipe so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. To our enjoyment, it turned out delicious. It may be a new monthly favorite. We also had leftovers that I am going to use to make fish tacos for a left over dish. YUM!! Definately try this one if your looking for a quick and tasty fish dish.

My Specialty: Peanut Butter Cookies

Growing up I loved making cookies. Chocolate chip are the traditional one that everyone makes but mine always turned out cakey (maybe due to the high altitude in Utah?) and so I never was quite satisfied with how they turned out. However, the one cookie that always turns out well for me are my peanut butter cookies from my Betty Crocker Cook book. They are always soft and chewy and oh so tasty. I made some the other day for a gift and dressed them up by putting them in a wide mouth canning jar and topping with a cute ribbon and fabric. I thought it turned out pretty cute.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

Directions:

Beat butter and peanut butter with electric mixer until combined. Add sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer and stir in remaining flour. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar, criss-cross flat with fork on baking sheet. Bake @ 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes.

Happy Birthday Dennis!

It was Dennis' birthday over last week-end and he requested a cheese cake for his birthday cake. It is one of his favorite things that I make and it turned out yummy once again. A tip I learned recently from Patsy, a friend from Dennis' work that wants to be a chef is to put in a pan of water when cooking the cake that way it won't split (which mine did every time until I used this tip!). I serve this plain or with a fruit topping usually raspberries that I just make a sauce from frozen berries and sugar but this time I just used my strawberry freezer jam and it was really good. Here is the recipe (again from my trusted Betty Crocker):

Ingredients:

crust:

1 pkg. finely crushed grahm crackers

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 Tbs. sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 butter melted

filling:

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese

1 cup sugar

2 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. vanilla

3 slightly beaten eggs

16 oz. sour cream

Directions:

For crust:

Combine graham crackers, walnuts, 1 Tbs. sugar, and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter. Press crumb mixture into bottom of 8 or 9 in. springform pan.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and vanilla with electric mixer until combined. Beat in sour cream until smooth. Stir in eggs.

Pour filling into crust lined pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a 2 1/2 inch area around outside edge is set. (BEWARE, I have taken my cake out too early and it is so sad to cut into it and realize it was not fully cooked!! Cake should be fairly set even in the middle, if you are worried or it's getting too brown on top just cover with foil until you feel it's done). Cool for 15 minutes (at least). Loosen crust from sides of pan with a knife and cool 30 more minutes. Remove sides of pan and chill at least 4 hours before serving.

Tofu Mousse???

Yep that's right, I made mousse out of tofu!! It is a really bizzare food, but in a good way. If you have ever used tofu before you know that it really just takes the flavor of whatever seasonings and other foods you cook it with. Usually what gets people is the texture, so I was excited and surprised to see how smooth and creamy you could make it. If you like dark chocolate you might actually enjoy this.

Ingredients:

1 package (12oz) tofu (lite, firm)

2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 Tbs. agave nectar (I didn't have this so I used pineapple)

Dash of vanilla

1/2 cup raspberries

whipped cream

Directions:

In a blender puree tofu, cocoa powder, juice and vanilla. Top with whipped cream and raspberries.

Freezer Cooking Complete!!!! Thank Goodness!

I am having trouble formatting this blog for some reason, so sorry for the wierd font sizes!!! Here are the results of 2 straight days of cooking! The only thing that gets me through it is knowing I know get a month off!!! Yay!

Chinese Style BBQ Pork

Ingredients:

Pork loin

honey

4 Tbs. hoisin sauce

5 Tbs. Ketchup

3 Tbs. light soy sauce

3 Tbs. dark soy sauce

1/2 cup sugar

salt

Throw it all in a crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours.

Can be served over rice or I am going to try it as a sandwich as well.

Stromboli:

Ingredients:

Amity's bread recipe. (under calzones)

Any Pizza or sandwich toppings

I did a pepperoni and cheese and a turkey, provolone and tomato.

Divide dough in half. Roll out.

Fill with toppings. Fold in edges and roll up sealing seam.

Cut top.
Bake at 350 until golden and cooked through. Can top with parmesean cheese.

Polenta Pizza Bake:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Cornmeal

2 cups Water

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 lb ground turkey

Italian seasonings

Mozerella cheese

Directions:

Make polenta by bringing water to a boil. Add cornmeal and stir continuosly until thickened. Pour into a prepared pan (8x8).

Cook ground turkey, add tomotoes and seasonings.
Top polenta with meat, tomotoes and finally grated cheese.

BROIL for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

I made one without broiling it and froze it to see if it would work and then made one fresh. It's a little bland, so next time I would add a little more cheese and seasonings.

Corn Chowder:

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups sweet potatoes peeled and diced

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp. garlic

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 1lb bag frozen corn

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 cup half and half

Directions:

Saute onions, peppers and celery with garlic on medium heat and cook until onions are translucent. Add flour, stirring continuously for about a minute. Add broth slowly and stirring well to incorporate the flour. Add potato, corn and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. Add half and half.

Cool completley before freezing.

Stuffed Peppers:

Ingredients:

thinly sliced deli ham, chopped

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 garlic clove crushed

1/4 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp oregano

3 cups cooked brown rice

salt and pepper to taste

grated cheddar cheese

4 large peppers.

Directions:

In a skillet cook ham until brown. In a large mixing bowl, add ham, tomatoes, garlic, marjoram, oregano, rice, salt and pepper and cheese. Mix well.

Wash peppers and slice in half, stuff with rice mixture and top with extra cheese if so desired. From freezer, bake @ 450 degrees for one hour, uncover peppers and bake for 20 minutes.

Chicken Quesadillas:

I just had one of these today and they were SO yummy!!

Ingredients:

2 cans chicken

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 15oz can petite diced tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, minced

14 tortillas

grated montary jack and cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet, break up and heat chicken with garlic powder and pepper. Add tomatoes, peppers, onion and garlic and simmer until liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat and set aside.

I use the costco tortillas that need to be cooked so, Cook your tortillas.
Assemble quesadillas, by topping a tortilla with chicken mixture and then with cheese. Place a 2nd tortilla on top, press gently. Wrap in foil and then place 2-4 in a ziplock bag for the freezer.

Cook strait from freezer @ 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Can be served with salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

YUM!!!

I thought the filling just looked so fresh and pretty!

Mexican Lasagna:

Taken from my favorite Betty Crocker book, this is actually called Tortilla-Black Bean Casserole, but it seems like a mexican style lasagna to me and it's easier to remember, so that's why I call it that. Dennis first made this when we lived in Guam and we really liked it. It's meatless which I love and it is just plain yummy. We like to serve it with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole and sour cream.

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped onions

1 1/2 cups chopped green peppers

1 14 oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

3/4 cup green salsa or picante sauce

2 tsp. cumin

2 garlic cloves minced

2 cans black or kidney beans (I always just use black), rinsed and drained

12 6 inch corn tortillas (I would stick to corn on this, I think flour tortillas would get a little soggy)

grated monteray jack cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet combine onion, peppers, diced tomatoes, green salsa, cumin and garlic. Bring to boiling and the reduce heat. Simmer for 1o minutes then add beans.

Assemble similar to lasagna: layer first bean mixture, some cheese then top with tortillas. Repeat until you hit rim of pan. You will have to overlap tortillas a bit, that's ok.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes fresh or completely thawed. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Bagel Pizzas:

I gave these to the kids the other day and all but Will ate them right up! These were so easy and cheap to make, so much better than the bagel bits in the freezer section at the grocery!

Ingredients:

1 bag mini bagels

pizza toppings of your choice

Directions:

Per half bagel top with sauce, cheese and topping of your choice.

Broil until cheese melts. Allow to cool completely then wrap in foil. The recipe I have says you can pop these in your kids lunch from the freezer and they can eat it by lunch time. I just popped mine in the oven on 350 degrees for about 20 minutes and they were perfect.

Almond Crusted Tilapia:

Ingredients:

Tilapia filets

1/4 almonds, crushed
2 Tbs. dry bread crumbs

salt and pepper

Italian, garlic seasonings

Dijon mustard

canola oil

parsely

Directions:

Combine nuts, bread crumbs and seasonings. Coat both sides of filets with mustard and dreadge through crumb mixture.

If frozen, thaw overnight. Heat 1 Tbs. canola oil in skillet. Cook completly thawed fish for 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Sprinkle with parsley

Diet Pepsi (AKA Diet Dr. Pepper) Chicken:

Ingredients:

chicken breasts

1 small onion diced

1/2 cup ketchup

1 cup diet cola

2 carrots, cut matchstick style

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine onion, carrots, ketchup, and cola. Place chicken in pan and cover with cola mixture. Freeze.

To cook, thaw over night in the refigerator. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until cooked through. Serve over rice.

Chicken Tenders:

I got this recipe from an old stand by my mom used to make. She would do chicken breasts, but my kids love chicken nuggets and I thought I would try this chicken tender style and see what my kids thought.

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts or tenders

mayonaise

mustard

bread crumbs

Directions:

Make a mustard mayo sauce in a shallow dish, place bread crumbs in another shallow dish. Coat chicken with mayo/mustard mixture and then coat with bread crumbs.

Allow to thaw over night in refigerator. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes (for tenders, longer for breasts) or until cooked through.

Beef, Bean and Cheese Burritos Enchilada Style:

I had left over roast and thought this might be a yummy way to use it up.

Ingredients:

left over roast

1 can refried beans

cheese, grated

2 cans enchilada sauce

8 tortillas

Directions:

Cook tortillas if using the non cooked kind. Mix in a medium bowl, shredded roast, and beans. Fill tortillas with bean mixture and cheese. Arrange in pan. Top with enchilada sauce and cheese.

Allow to thaw at least 8 hours. Cook at 350 degrees aprox. 45 minutes depending on how frozen they were when you started cooking them.

Freezer Cooking Day 1

Completed nine meals yesterday and plan to finish up today. Will post pics. and details soon!! Thanks for being patient. I also have a cheese cake and peanut butter cookie recipe coming that I have made over the last week as well!! Stay tuned.

Freezer Cook Day PREP: The Menu for May

This month I am going to do mostly freezer meals for the entire month, we'll see how my cooking goes for that!!! YIKES, I'm a little scared, and I am actually planning to take two days to get most of this done. I am also only doing meals for 5 days a week and using 2 free for left overs and going out. Here are the meals I am planning to make:

Week 1 (cooking week, so it's some left overs from this week and easy meals):
Roast Beef Sandwiches, Zucchini Fritters, Polenta Pizza Bake, Beef Enchiladas, Spaghetti

Week 2 (from the freezer):
Almond crusted Tilapia, Mexican Lasagna, Chicken tenders, Stroganoff, Stuffed Potatoes

Week 3:
Pepsi Chicken, Stuffed Peppers, Stromboli, Ratatouille, Chicken Quesadillas

Week 4:
Chicken pot pies, Chinese style BBQ Pork, Pizza Bagels, Tex Mex Corn Chowder, BBQ (Memorial Day Week-end)

So that's the plan. Each week brings the unexpected so some of these may go by the wayside and into June. For example, the Mexican Lasagna will be put into 2 smaller pans, so I know I will for sure have that in June as well. The Quesadillas are such that you can pull one out at a time so those will be good for lunches as well. Most of these are new recipes I found online searching for ideas on what freezes well, so we'll see how it goes and if they are any good!! Stay tuned as I will post the grocery list if you want to participate in freezer day with me!! SO FUN!!

Baked Chicken

One of the easiest dinners I make is baked chicken. I just buy the bags of frozen breasts and pull out the number I need, top with whatever I am in the mood for and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Depending on the topping I use, I make extra and use left overs in salads.

Possible toppings that I use regularly are:


BBQ sauce
Any Italian variety of salad dressings
Terriyaki sauce
and today I used a new one, Ken's Light Raspberry Pomegranate YUM!!

On the Menu 4/27-5/2

It's a bit of a hectic week this week and seriously if you can believe it we are still finishing up a few little things from the freezer I forgot we had. I am planning on the 4th as my next freezer cook day. I will post my plan as soon a I get around to making it!! (For sure by Sunday because I have to shop on Monday). For now here is a bit of a boring menu, the only new thing is the beef enchiladas of which it will my first time making. Hope it gives someone at least on good idea for dinner this week.

DINNERS:
Monday: Baked chicken
Tuesday: Spaghetti
Wednesday: Pork salad (freezer)
Thursday: OUT TO DINNER, DATE NIGHT!!
Friday: Beef Enchiladas (freezer, left over roast)
Saturday: Breakfast
Sunday: Left-overs

LUNCHES:
Tuesday: Zucchini Quesadilla
Wednesday: Steamed artichoke and salad
Thurday: Veggie Soup
Friday: Pork salad
Saturday: Chicken Salad
Sunday: Sandwiches

Veggie Soup

So you know I am doing weight watchers and the other day I had eaten all my points, but I still was hungry when dinner rolled around. I either had to go without dinner or think of something with low points. This dish was my solution. It is a whopping 1/2 point for a cup of this!!!

Like I said in my last post, I love soups because generally they are pretty forgiving in terms of measuring and you can be pretty creative. I had a lot of produce I needed to use up and I just kind of threw a bunch of whatever I had in. Here is what I did:

Ingredients

chopped carrots

chopped celery

chopped onion

chopped broccoli

chopped zucchini

chopped green pepper

1 large canning jar diced tomatoes (at least 2 cans if you don't have the jar)

1 can kidney beans

1 Tbs. pesto sauce(I would add more next time)

parsley

oregano

basil

1 34 oz. box chicken stock

1 1/2 cups water

1 Tbs. olive oil

Directions:

Add onions, celery and oil to stock pot. Saute until translucent. Add remaining ingredients and cook until veggies are tender.

*you could add little pasta noodles too to make a more minestrone type but that does add some points.

Split Pea Soup

Soups are so easy especially the kind you can put in the crock pot!! I follow a general guide for this soup but I don't really measure and it seems to work out. I like to serve this with corn bread.

Ingredients:

Carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)

Celery, chopped (about 1 cup)

Onion, chopped (1/2 medium onion, or 1/4 cup dried onion)

1 package dried split peas

1 34 oz. container chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

You can also put a ham hock in this but I find that to be totally gross. I have put in cooked bacon before and cooked it and have done crumbled bacon on top as well.

Directions:

Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours or more. You may have to add some water if you cook it longer than the 6 hours.

EASY!!!

You can serve with sour cream and crumbled bacon or just plain.

1 cup = 3 points (bacon and sour cream add points)

Only Cadey will eat this but everyone eats the cornbread. My philosophy lately is I can't please all 6 of us, so I make what I think sounds good and I know Dennis and Cadey will like whatever and the other 3 are hit and miss so they will just have to deal. I just don't know what else to do?? I think it is a common problem, right?

Watching my weight

So, if you can believe it even training for a marathon and running one, I gained weight over the last few months!!! So I decided I better watch what I am eating a little bit more closely and I signed up for online weight watchers again. Thus, my eating has been a little different and thus my posts this week have been lacking. I will be posting a recipe for split pea soup from this week and today I thought I would share some of the lunches I have been eating that have been really good.

My step mom gave me a book called the Flexitarian Diet. This type of eating is for people that prefer a vegetarian style with a little meat here and there. In other words it is "flexible" eating.

This week I had a bean burrito from this book for lunch.
I used a flour tortilla (it calls for wheat, but I have flour so. . .), I cooked up and mashed some black beans and spread about 1/2 cup on the tortilla, topped that with lettuce, tomato, 1/4 cup cut up avocado and 1 Tbs. ranch dressing. It was very yummy and very filling.
This was a 6 point meal on weight watchers.

Another lunch I had was a black bean and zucchini quesadilla
ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup black beans
some green onion chopped ( I used onion flakes)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
lime juice
2 whole wheat tortillas (I used one flour)
1 oz. cheese

Mix beans, zucchini, onion, spices and juice in a bowl. Top mixture on tortilla, sprinkle with cheese (top with 2nd tortilla if using two) and microwave for 60 seconds.
I did mine open face and added lettuce tomato and 1/4 cup diced avocado.
The way I made this was also 6 point weight watcher meal.

I will post some pictures when I make these again.

Biscuits and Gravy

I had left over biscuits from dinner the other night and thought "What should I do with all these left over biscuits???" So I ended up with Biscuits and Gravy!!
Again, a recipe I have never made and thought would be hard for some reason!! I think if I've never done it, I think it will be hard! It always is easier than I expect.

I just used Pillsbury biscuits for my biscuits, but jiffy has a good biscuit and from scratch aren't too hard either, but if your in a time constraint or just lazy like I was for this, the Pillsbury works great!

The gravy recipe was on line and also had a biscuit recipe with it and there were several listed on cooks.com. Simply cook up some sausage and then set aside. Using the grease and some butter make a roux with flour. Add milk, salt, pepper, stir and let thicken. Add in set the cooked sausage and you're done!! SO EASY!!!

I served with eggs and fruit.

JAM I AM!!

A little while ago, my sister Cali asked if I would post my jam recipe, so here it is!!! OK, so about a year ago my friend told me she was making freezer jam. I thought self, you need to know how to make jam. I had always thought it would be hard for some reason but my friend assured me how easy it was. So I thought why not? Well, now I am hooked. I don't like the freezer jam as well because I don't have a lot of freezer space!! So, I decided to make the regular old jam and I LOVE it. I have made it for gifts for visiting teaching, to give a little something for the missionaries when they eat over and just to give out to show off!! I have a recipe in my my Better Homes and Gardens cook book, but my favorite one is the one in the SURE JELL box. Make sure to get the pink one because it is more forgiving if you don't get the exact amount of sugar in. I will go through the process, but just use the recipe for exact measurements, as I used my boxes and threw away everything without thinking about posting!!! OOPS!

1) Get your favorite fruit, i.e. strawberries (as seen in this post), raspberries, peaches, whatever flips you. Strawberries go on sale here and there for super cheap (about $1 per pound) and that's when I make my jam. I also do this in the fall during harvest when you can get a huge box of peaches for super cheap.
2) Buy the pink Sure Jell pectin./about 3 1lb. containers of strawberries per box of pectin.




3) FOR STRAWBERRIES:
Wash the berries and cut off stems.

4) Dennis hates chunks in his jam so I don't just mash, I blend my berries.

5) Measure out sugar and follow directions in Sure Jell box. You have to mix a small amount of the sugar with the pectin and cook with fruit. Stir constantly!!! When you hit a rolling boil, you add the rest of the sugar.

6)The recipe will tell you to add butter to prevent foam. I DON'T DO THIS!! I don't mind the foam and just skim it off if it is a lot, a little gets in the jars, but it doesn't affect the jam so I am not crazy about this.
(the foam is the lighter part in picture)

7) Remove from heat and stir for a minute. Ladle into jars leaving a slight head space.

8) Put on lids and then seal with canning steamer/sealer (I think it's just called a canner?). I steam for 20 minutes and then let my jars sit. They pop when they seal. You can also tell by pressing the top of the lid, if it is sealed it will do nothing if not sealed will make a little pop noise and you will be able to push on it. If not sealed after an hour our so, you may need to re-steam them.
9)Voila, you just made jam as good as grandma or Betty!!! Super easy!! I bought 6 lbs of strawberries and made 13 jars (some were a little bigger size) of yummy jam!!!!

NO MENU

This week is crazy so who knows what I am going to do for dinners, mostly fast throw together things. I made the roast yesterday and have left over biscuits so I am going to make biscuits and gravy for dinner tonight. SOOOO not healthy but hopefully good. I have never made this before so I will post what I do if it turns out good. Other than that, it is left overs and cereal most likely for dinners this week. Next week I am hoping to post my next month's worth of freezer meals and my freezer day. Until then I will just be posting what random things come up! Until then, happy cooking!!

The Easiest Formal Meal EVER!!!

In my mind a Pot roast is the epitome of family sit down Sunday dinner main course. However, I don't really like meat all that much and so I had never made one until this last year. Roasts were on sale and I figured I had better learn how to make one, you know in case of some food emergency or something!! Anyway, I called my good friend Karen and she gave me the sure fire way to make any roast (even a chuck roast) tender and tasty!

EASY POT ROAST:

Ingredients:
1 can diet soda (I used diet pepsi, but have also used diet dr. pepper)
4 Tbsp. Apricot jam
1 packet onion soup mix
1 pot roast (approx. 2.75 lbs.)

Directions:
Put roast in crock pot.
Pour diet soda over roast.
Empty packet of soup mix into pot.
Add Jam.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours.


I don't even like meat especially red meat, especially roast, but I do like this!! I serve with baked potatoes, steamed carrots, salad and biscuits. You can also make a gravy with your left over juices. I will post that recipe later.

Freezer Stuffed Potatoes

I already posted this recipe but with no photo. Here is the picture and the recipe one more time so you don't have to search for it if you don't want to. So yummy. We had salad and potatoes, light easy and tasty!



Stuffed Potatoes:

Ingredients:
6 medium sized baking potatoes
Oil
kosher salt
1/2 cup softened cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1/3 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 cooked bacon slices cooled and crumbled
2 green onions chopped
salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Poke potatoes for baking. Coat potatoes with oil. (I just use my hands and rub it all over). In a large zip lock bag add salt and one potato at a time and get a good flavoring of salt on the potatoes. (This makes the skin taste super good and is something I do now with regular baked potatoes).
Bake un-covered for 1 hour or until tender. Let cool.

Cut a wide strip of skin off top of potatoes and throw away the skin. Scoop out inside into a large bowl leaving shells in tact. Mash pulp, cream cheese, butter and milk with a masher, stir in cheese and other ingredients. Spoon mixture into shells.

Wrap with foil; freeze in large zip lock bag up to 1 month.

To cook from frozen:
preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove desired amount of potatoes from bag bake for about 1 hour.

To cook from fresh:
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Freezer Sandwiches

I got this recipe from the same book with the freezer potatoes. These are really yummy and can be varied with types of meat, cheese and spices. I go to costco and get the big thing of rolls and make a big batch that usually lasts me a month or so for lunches and dinners.

Here is the basic recipe

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, softened but not melted
1/4 mayonnaise
3 Tbs. mustard (your choice, I like Dijon the recipe calls for coarse-grain)
1 Tbs. grated onion (I used dried onion flakes)
2 tsp. poppy seeds (optional)
8 large croissants, split open
1 lb. deli ham (I use turkey)
8 1 oz. swiss cheese slices (I alternate between swiss and Havarti)

Directions:
stir together first 5 ingredients in small bowl. Spread evenly over inside of croissants. Add layer of meat and cheese.
Wrap individually in foil and place in large ziplock bag and place in freezer for up to one month.

To heat in oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook desired amount of sandwiches for 1 hour.

To heat in microwave: Remove foil and microwave individually at med. power for 2 minutes or until heated through.

To cook fresh: Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.

Easter Vanishing Rolls

We try to separate the Easter Bunny Easter from the Resurrection Easter at our house. On the Saturday before Easter Sunday the Easter Bunny delivers his baskets and we search for eggs. We tell the kids that it is a celebration of spring time arriving. Sunday is reserved for thinking about our Savior, his life, his sacrifice and his Resurrection. We start the morning by making these yummy vanishing rolls.

Our kids are still quite little, so we summarize most of the story of the end of Christ's life. The kids all get a marshmallow and we talk about how Christ was pure and clean from any sin like the marshmallow is clean and pure white. We talk about how people didn't believe he was the son of God and some hated him and wanted him dead, how he suffered for our sins in the garden of Gethsemane and how he hung on the cross and died.

We use our scriptures to tell the rest as we make our rolls:

John 19: 39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

We roll the marshmallows in melted butter (like the aloe, and washing of his body)

Johns 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

Roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture and wrap in crescent roll dough (like the spices and linen Jesus was wrapped in)

John 19: 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ apreparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

The pan is the seplulchre and when we shut the oven we talk about moving the stone to close it.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for aprox. 11-15 minutes. We talk about how Jesus was laid in the tomb for 3 days and watch the Lamb of God while they cook.

John 20: 5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.


I like this because the marshmallow is gone but the roll (or linen cloth) remains. We then talk about how we get to enjoy the sweet reward of the resurrection. Christ lives so that we can too.

On the Menu 4/5-4/11

The theme for this week is to clean up and clear out. I went through my cupboards and fridges and got rid of all expired items and anything that I figured we just were not going to use. I also made a bag for my local food bank of items that I wanted to clear out but that were still good. I know that most food banks suffer through the non holiday months and figure that I would try to donate every time I clean out my storage (about every 3 months).

Monday: Freezer Sandwiches and soup
Tuesday: Freezer Stuffed potatoes and salad
Wednesday: Freezer Manicotti
Thursday: Egg Salad sandwiches (easy, Easter leftovers!)
Friday: Cobb Salads (More uses for my hard boiled eggs)
Saturday: BBQ chicken (Fast and easy)

After this week, my freezers should be close to empty and I will be ready for another freezer day!! STAY TUNED! Also if anyone has good ideas for freezer meals please let me know, I would love any ideas!

Easter Eggs

Can you believe I still need the recipe to hard boil eggs??? That is how crazy I am. I don't know why I can not retain how to do this simple task!

It's egg coloring tonight! Wish us luck as it is no simple task with 4 children 3 of which will need major assistance!!!