Food By Carrie

Asian Napa Cabbage Salad

2012-02-02T00:01:00.000Z

Courtesy of Aunt Debby Carrick!!

Napa Cabbage Salad

Salad:
1 Napa Cabbage, trimmed and shredded
1/2C green onions, chopped
1C shredded carrots
1/2C cilantro, chopped
1 package ramen, crushed (do not use seasoning packet)
1/4C sesame seeds, toasted
OPTIONAL about 1.5 lbs. cooked chicken, shredded (1/2 leftover rotisserie is great here)

Dressing:
1/2C Rice Wine Vinegar
2T lemon or lime juice
1T fresh grated ginger (or 1t ground)
2T brown sugar
2T soy sauce
2T toasted sesame oil (toast in a low skillet or in a 300 oven until fragrant and browning)
2T Maple Grove Sesame Ginger Dressing (optional, but see if you can find it - in a glass bottle with a pic of ginger on the front)

Dressing:
Mix together dressing ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk (or shake in a small jar) until blended. If possible, refrigerate the dressing for several hours to blend. Dress salad about an hour before serving.

Salad:
Toss ingredients together in a very large bowl. The chicken is optional, depending on if you want a side salad, or more of a main course. The ramen will soften once you add the dressing - it only needs about an hour, so hold the dressing until near serving time.

For a pasta salad, try eliminating or reducing the cabbage and adding a box of cooked,cooled rotini, spirals or bow ties.

Cream Cheese Vegetable Spread

2011-12-08T19:00:00.001Z

As many of you know, I've been know to throw a party. Or 2. Or half a dozen in any given year ;-) One type of party that I love to throw is a lady's tea. People have alwoys loved my cucumber sandwiches, and asked for the recipe, but I always just throw it together at the last minute! I made a batch today, and it turned out perfectly, so here it is in recipe form!

This is a great all purpose cream cheese dip/filling/spread. Great with a veggie tray, crackers, cucumber sandwiches, etc. For a dip, thin slightly with milk.

Cream Cheese Vegetable Spread

2 blocks philadelphia cream cheese, room temp
1 stick real butter, room temp
1/2 red bell pepper, minced finely (see notes in recipe)
1/2 cucumber, seeded and minced (see note)
2 green onions, halved lengthwise and minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon (or more) dried dill

optional - a few dashes of tabasco or worcestershire, for kick. I never add these for cucumber sandwiches, maybe for use as veggie dip.

Basically you mix everything in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Makes about 3 cups. For cucumber sandwiches, spread thinly on both pieces of bread, fill with a single layer of paper thin cucumber slices, remove the crusts and quarter the sandwiches.

Use English cucumbers if you can get them, which have tiny or non-existant seeds. Otherwise, peel and quarter your cucumber lengthwise, then cut out the seedy center before mincing.

For the veggies, when I say minced, I don't mean "finely chopped". I mean "minced until they begin to liquify". If you have a mini food chopper, magic bullet, etc, this will be easy. To do it by hand takes longer. Chop each veggie until its very small, then gather it all up into a pile. Beginning at one side of your pile, hold the knife in one hand, and place the other hand about 2" up from the tip. Rock the knife back and forth quickly, while slowly progressing across your pile of veggies. I usually scrape it all together and do it over and over until the pieces are super tiny, and they are standing in their own juices on the cutting board. Pour it all into the bowl - including the juices. Your mix will be slightly salmon-colored by the red bell pepper. Speaking of which, smoked salmon in or on this dip would be heavenly.

Chicken Salad

2011-12-06T05:35:00.000Z

As I write, I'm eating the last leftovers of the best chicken salad I've ever made. It had the perfect combination of crunch, chew, creaminess, sweet and savory. It was SOOOO good, that I'm writing it down for myself so I won't forget how I did it. I guess you can see it to. I mostly combined 2 recipes that I found, which both seemed to be lacking in what the other provided. Perfect combination!!

Chicken Salad

4 regular or 5 smallish chicken breasts
2 ribs celery, finely diced
3 green onions, split lengthwise and finely chopped
1/2C pecan halves, broken into pieces or roughly chopped
1/2C walnut halves broken into pieces or roughly chopped
1 small apple, diced (peel only if the skin is tough)
1C black seedless grapes, halved

Dressing:
1/2C mayonaisse
1/2C sour cream
1/2C loosely packed fresh basil, sliced into shreds
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

First, cook the chicken. I took my chicken breasts out of the freezer, plopped them onto a rimmed baking sheet and into a 350 oven. About an hour into it, I had to drain the pan of water. Cook until the internal temp is at least 160. Chop into nice smallish pieces - mine were about 1/2". Or you can choose to shred your chicken by pulling it apart with 2 forks. Chunks are nice for eating with a fork, but shreds stay in a sandwich better. Place chicken in a large mixing bowl.

While the chicken is cooking, toast your nuts. You can spread them on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake at about 350 for 8-12 minutes, shaking the pan every few minutes or until lightly toasted. Or, you can put them in a cast iron skillet on med/low heat and shake the pan every minute or so until toasted. Cool and add to the chicken.

Chop the celery, green onion, apple and halve the grapes and add to the chicken. In a small bowl or 2C glass measuring cup, mix together all the dressing ingredients. You may want to add the salt last, a little at a time and taste as you go. Adjust the seasonings now, but remember the flavors of the other ingredients will make a big difference.

Toss everything together in the big bowl and enjoy!! You can start with only part of the dressing if it looks like too much. Makes around 7-8C.

Sinfully Rich Brownies

2011-11-14T22:56:00.000Z

So, I've had million of great comments about my buttercream frosted brownies, so I thought it was high time to post the recipe! Here ya go!

Sinfully Rich Brownies
2 sticks butter, melted & slightly cooled
1 3/4C sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 large eggs
1C flour
1C cocoa powder
1C chopped walnuts (optional - i did not use)

Heat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 pan (crisco works best)

Beat sugar, vanilla and eggs on med/high speed for 5 minutes - a stand mixer helps here. They should be pale and very fluffy. With the mixer running, drizzle in the butter. Turn mixer to low, and add cocoa (carefully so you don't get a face-full!) Then, add flour and mix just until moistened. Use a spoon to stir in nuts, then pour into pan.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until edges pull away from sides of pan (center can be a tad gooey). Be careful not to overbake. Cool completely before cutting. (not even kidding, don't cut them warm!)

Wedding Cake Buttercream
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
3-5 C powdered sugar
mini chocolate chips, optional

Mix together all ingredients except sugar. Add sugar 1C at a time until your desired consistency/taste. Spread over totally cooled brownies - you should only need about 1/2 the frosting. Sprinkle top with mini chocolate chips, if desired.

For better presentation, i always cut my brownies before icing them. Then they pop out perfectly, but the top still looks great when it's time to serve.

Hope you all love them!!

Sausage and Smoked Turkey Casserole

2011-11-03T17:38:00.001Z

This is a favorite childhood recipe that I recently had my Dad send me. It is best made with leftover smoked turkey, but thanksgiving leftovers would probably do just fine. Maybe add a dash of liquid smoke to make up for it.

Sausage and Smoked Turkey Casserole
(originally called "Turkey Jambalaya", although it bears no resemblance to any type of jambalaya - no tomatoes!!)

2 lbs Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage (or regular for less heat)
2 large onions, chopped
2 6oz pkgs. Long Grain & Wild Rice Mix (Like Uncle Ben's)
1 lb. fresh sliced mushrooms
2T butter
4C chopped, cooked, smoked turey (about 1.5 lbs)
2 2.5oz cans sliced black olives
2 8oz cans artichoke hearts, sliced (optional, but tasty!)
sliced green onions for garnish

Heat oven to 350

Brown sausage and onions until sausage is fully cooked. Drain. Add wild rice along with seasoning packets. Add package-reccomended amount of water for 2 boxes. Turn to a low simmer and cover, cooking until water is absorbed.

Meanwhile in a skillet, sautee mushrooms in butter. Drain any extra liquid. When rice is cooked add mushrooms and all remaining ingredients (except green onions) Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with spray oil, spread casserole in dish and garnish with sliced green onions. (I cant remember how full the casserole is - you may need a 10x15 dish, or a few smaller ones...)

Bake for 30 minutes or until crispy on top and heated through. Serve with Tabasco for those who are more heat tolerant!!

Cheesecake, cheesecake, glorious cheesecake!!

2011-11-03T17:25:00.001Z

Super quick post - sorry I have not posted in ages! I had these cheesecakes the other night, and had to get the recipes!! I have never made a wonderful cheesecake, but these 2 recipes will now be my standard. They were both wonderful, but the plain vanilla one was my favorite - hands down! Enjoy!

Philadelphia Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake

40 Nilla wafers, crushed (about 1.5C)
3T melted butter
4 pkg. (oz each) cream cheese, divided
1C sugar, divided
1T + 1t vanilla, divided
3 eggs
1 8oz. tub cool whip, thawed
fresh raspberries

Heat oven to 325. Mix wafer crumbs and melted butter. press onto the bottom only of a 9" springform pan.

Beat 3 pkgs. cream cheese, 3/4C sugar and 1T vanilla until well blended. Add 1 egg at a time, blending after each one, until just blended. Pour over crust

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set. Run a thin knife around rim to loosen cake. Col completely in pan.

Beat remaining block of cream cheese, 1/4C sugar, and 1t vanilla. Whisk in cool whip. Spread over cooled cheesecake. Chill 4 hours or until firm. Decorate top with fresh raspberries. (the raspberries really made the cake amazing - don't leave them out!!)

Serves 16

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

38 Nabisco Ginger Snaps, crushed
1/4C pecans, finely chopped
1/4C butter, melted
4 (8oz) pkgs. cream cheese
1C sugar
1 can pumpkin (not pie mix)
1T pumpkin pie spice
1t vanilla
4 eggs
cool whip/whipped cream and nutmeg to serve

Heat oven to 325. Mix crumbs, pecans and butter. Press on bottom and 1" up the sides of a 9" springform pan.

Beat cream cheese and sugar. Add pumpkin, spice and vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition until just blended. Pout over crust.

Bake for 1:20 to 1:30 minutes or until center is almost set. Run a thin knife around rim to loosen cake. Cool in pan, then refrigerate 4 hours or until cold and set. Serve each slice with a dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of nutmeg.

Serves 16

Toddler yogurt and cereal bars

2011-08-22T15:28:00.000+01:00

I got most of this recipe from wholesomebabyfoods.com, but I have altered it quite a bit to make it even better for tiny tummies! There is dairy, fruit and whole grains, and protein from the egg, yogurt and cereal! A great and filling snack for any baby who can chew well. Enjoy and let me know if you think of any other great changes!

Toddler Yogurt And Ceral Bars

I use whole milk yogurt, but you can use low/no fat for older kids or adults!!

Cereal mixture:
2C Kashi Strawberry Fields Cereal (or plain corn flakes)
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/4C packed brown sugar
2-3T ground flax seed
1/2t cinnamon
1/2C butter

Yogurt Filling:
1C plain whole milk yogurt
1 overripe banana (like for banana bread)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2T white flour (use white so it will thicken properly)
1T packed brown sugar
1t vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the cereal mix. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You'll be crushing the cereal at the same time. Grease a 9x9 pan and press 1/2 the mixture into the bottom.
3. In a small bowl, mix together all the yogurt filling ingredients. Pour over the cereal crust. Sprinkle the remaining cereal over the yogurt, and press very lightly.
4. Bake 30 minutes or until brown and set. Cool in the pan and cut into 16 squares or bars when completely cool.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-03-21T05:46:00.000Z

Matt doesn't like my cookies He never has. Sure, they're tasty and he eats them, but he once asked me why I spent all the time and effort making chocolate chip cookies, when the Pilsbury blue-tube ones were better. Yeah. That didn't go over very well.

So I tried several different recipes, and none of them fit the bill. He wanted crispy outside, chewy inside - but without having to undercook them. Perfectly golden. I never found it.

So, last year we had a friend over for a BBQ, and she brought cookies for the dessert. Matt took one bite and said, "Carrie, get this recipe. This is a perfect cookie!!" I was thrilled! This cookie was the same golden on the top as it was on the bottom. The entire outside - even the middle - had a crispy, snappy crunch, and the entire inside, all the way to the edges, was soft and chewy, but fully coked and not gooey. Now, I would finally find out the secret ingredient, or the secret combination of liquids to dry, or whatever it was!!

I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to ingredients. I don't really like using "fake" stuff, like instant milk powder, splenda... even white flour. Now that I'm on a fairly strict diet, I've had to make a few concessions, but very rarely. So it turns out that this cookie recipe was really normal!! Nearly all the ingredients & amounts were about the average for any chocolate chip cookie, with one exception. It used Crisco.

I was crushed. What about all those bad fats? What about my real sweet cream butter? Surely Crisco can't be better than butter!?! I made this recipe for the first time today, and they were the same crisp, chewy perfect cookie that we remembered. So sad.

It turns out that butter and crisco have different solid & liquid content. Crisco is 100% vegetable oil, while butter has milk liquids in it. The butter adds additional non-oil liquid, which softens the dough as it bakes, and prevents the crispy crust from forming - as well as keeping the center more liquidy until it's too late and all the extra liquid evaporates leaving the center dry.

So here I present my friend's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe - complete with Butter flavored Crisco, in all it's cookie perfecting glory. I have not tried this, but I'd be really interested in seeing side by side results between crisco & butter. Maybe someone could try making half a batch with each, cook a few of each kind on the same cookie sheet, and see how they bake/set/cool. And taste, of course.

These cookies are really tasty, in addition to having a perfect texture. You'll notice a touch of cinnamon, and a tiny bit of cloves. You can't taste them! They add such a small background flavor, that when you take a bite you say, "Mmmmm... what is that? I can't quite put my finger on it..." I don't think that these would be offensive even to a non-clove-lover.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Whitney - Mercer Island, WA

1 C butter flavored crisco

3/4C packed brown sugar

3/4C white sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 C all purpose white flour (I used 1C white, 1/2C WW and they were great)

1/4t cloves

1/2t cinnamon

1t vanilla extract

1t baking soda

1t salt

2C rolled oats (Old fashioned, not instant)

2C semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2C walnuts (I left these out of my batch, but Whitney's were super yummy)

Preheat the oven to 350
Cream together the crisco and sugars. Add in everything except the flour, oats chocolate and nuts. Cream well.
Use a spoon to stir in the flour, then add the rest of the ingredients.
I used a baking stone (no oil needed) or prepare a baking sheet by spraying quickly with EVOO spray, or laying a piece of parchment paper (I think the paper would give better results).
I made my cookies really big. I used a soup spoon mounded up and left about 2" between cookies. I'd say each one was around 2T or a little more. Whitney made smaller ones so Abby could be allowed to eat 1 or 2 without getting too much sugar. Wasn't that sweet??
I baked my large cookies for 16 minutes, and each sheet turned out the same - whether on a cold or warm stone. Whitney's recipe says 12 minutes, for regular walnut sized balls.
When I took the cookies out, they were evenly golden, and the center was still very soft to the touch.
Let the cookies cool about 3 minutes on the rack. They shoudl be nice and solid adn not stick to the sheet at all adn transfer easily to a wire rack to cool.

I got about 25 large cookies, probably 3 dozen or so smaller ones.

Pita Pizza

2011-02-17T04:18:00.005Z

Yes, when I get my act together and start publishing, it tends to happen all at once. Here's another recipe - one that I came up with all by myself! Abby asked for pizza tonight for dinner. I had to admit that it sounded good, but so NOT on the diet. So I made one completely from scratch!!
The pita crust and the sauce are both homemade! This means that there's a good chance you'll have most of the ingredients in your house for whenever you want pizza! Is it as good as delivery? No. Of course not. Will it satisfy your craving for junk food on movie night and keep the kids & hubby happy? Probably ;-)
Makes 4 personal sized (about 8") thin crust pizzas. Or 2 larger pizzas. Serve with a large salad for a complete meal!

Calories: 409.9
Total Fat: 9.5 g
Cholesterol: 16.4 mg
Total Carbs: 58.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 9.7 g
Protein: 19.6 g

Pita Pizza!

For Sauce:

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1/2 can water (4oz)

1 small onion, minced

1/2 green bell pepper, minced

1t garlic

1t garlic powder

1t onion powder

1t oregano

1t parsley

1/2 t basil

For Pita Crust:

2.5C whole wheat flour

1t salt

1t garlic powder

1t onion powder

1t dried rosemary, crushed

1T sugar

2t yeast

1T EVOO

1C hot tap water

For toppings:

8 mushrooms, sliced thinly

1/2 bell pepper, sliced thinly

4 oz part-skim mozzarella, shredded

8 large leaves basil, shredded (lay them on top of one another, roll up like a cigar then slice)

Directions

For Pita Crust:
1. In a large bowl combine 1C flour with salt, sugar & yeast. Add oil and water.
2. Beat with whisk for 1 minute, then add the rest of the flour 1/2C at a time.
3. The dough should be a rough shaggy mass that cleans the sides of the bowl
4. Knead for 6 minutes.
5. Heat oven to 400F (if you have a baking stone, place it inside to heat). Divide dough into 4 pieces, roll into balls , dust lightly with flour, cover with a damp towel and rise 30 minutes.

For Sauce:
1. Spray a small saucepan with spray oil and sauté onion and peppers for about 5 minutes or until wilted. Add remaining sauce ingredients and simmer 10-15 minutes.

To Assemble:
1. Roll each piece out into about a 10" circle on a floured surface. Curl up about 1/2" around the edge and press the edge firmly to the bottom - making the edge of the crust (see photo)
2. Prick the crust well with a fork (this recipe makes pocket pita if left unpricked!). Flour a wooden cutting board and place the pizza on it. Jiggle the crust to make sure it will slide. Place 1/4C sauce on the crust and spread to the edges.
3. Spread 2 sliced mushrooms, 1/4 of the bell peppers and 1 oz of cheese on the pizza, and top with 1/4 of the fresh basil.
4. Jiggle the pizza to make sure it's not stuck (help with a spatula if it is) then take it to the oven and gently slide it onto your hot stone. If you only have a metal pan, make the pizza right on it then place the pan in the oven.
5. Bake for 12 minutes or until the cheese is browning!
You could also make this into 2 full sized pizzas. Slice each into 8 pieces. 4 pieces per serving.
Number of Servings: 4

Roasted Winter Vegetables

2011-02-13T17:56:00.004Z

I've had a request!! I love to make these roasted winter vegetables - they're so yummy! This is really not much of a recipe, more like ingredient suggestions, so have fun!!

Around 8 C of your favorite winter vegetables, in 1" cubes (I usually use butternut and sweet potatoes, but parsnips and carrots are very nice additions)
2 onions, in 1" cubes
6 peeled cloves of garlic, cut in half
1/4C olive oil
1t salt
1/2t black pepper
1t garlic powder (optional)
1t onion powder (optional)
1/3C balsamic vinegar

You'll need a very large pan for the oven - the biggest 16" cast iron skillet is what I use. You want your veggies to be just 1 or 2 cubes deep. Combine all the veggies in your pan then drizzle lightly with oil - I usually pour from the bottle and don't really measure. Drizzle on the vinegar and spices and toss well with your hands.

Roast at 375 for around 1.5 hours - stirring and tossing every 20 minutes or so. By the end, the veggies will have soaked up the caramelised vinegar and be sizzling in the oil. Use a firm-edged (preferably metal) spatula to scrape up the veggies when you toss - to avoid tearing them. If you only have a smaller pan - and your veggies are deep - plan on 2 hours, and they might not get crispy. But they'll still be tasty.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-11T21:52:00.016Z

Valentine's Dinner 2011

featuring Mastering the Art of French Cooking
by Julia Child.

Friday, Feb 11:

Started working on some stuff today to prepare for tomorrow. Made my Praline for dessert - burned the first batch of caramel, but the second turned out alright. Pretty much looks like peanut brittle. Pulsed in the processor for about 30 seconds, and it's done!

Trimmed 2 of my 4 lamb shanks. I didn't know what I was doing, and I was afraid of taking off too much of the fat and not having any flavor left. The other 2 I'm not even going to touch - we'll see which ones turn out better.

I think that's all for today. It's actually not that much work, and it can all be done tomorrow, then held until re-heated for dinner!! Yay!

Saturday, February 12:

The day is here! This morning, Matt took Abby out to the park for several hours, so I started work as soon as Anya went down for her morning nap. First I took care of my lamb. This dish is easy to prepare ahead of time and them bring back to a simmer before dinner. I browned the lamb, then made my sauce and put it all into the oven for about an hour. In hindsight, it was a little tough, and should have braised for about another 30-60 minutes. I refrigerated my stock so I could easily scoop the fat off, then reduced my sauce down to a nice thick glaze. All done and ready for dinner!

Next I worked on my potatoes. I peeled a bag of fingerling red & yellow potatoes, then sautéed them slowly until tender. I drained them on paper towels and saved the buttered skillet until dinner.

Carrots were easy. I quartered fat baby carrots then simmered them for 30 minutes with a touch of sugar, butter, salt & pepper.

I blanched my brussels sprouts, then placed them in a small casserole drizzled with butter, salt & pepper.

30 minutes before dinner, I brought my lamb sauce to a simmer, added the shanks back in then popped it into the oven to re-heat, with the brussels sprouts beside them. I heated my potato skillet, browned my potatoes further and added fresh chives, rosemary & parsley. I also sautéed my carrots briefly with chives and parsley.

When it was all done, I plated our beautiful dinner and poured the remaining gravy into a small pitcher. The flavors were excellant. Well developed and rich, well seasoned and strong. The only thing wrong was that the lamb could have braised longer, but the flavor was very good. The potatoes were tender, the carrots perfectly done, and the sprouts very tender and nice. I served our lamb shanks with a Cotes de Rhone wine, as suggested by the cookbook.

I almost forgot about dessert! I prepared it during one of Anya's naps. It was really pretty simple - an egg custard. Yolks & sugar cooked together, then folded into beaten egg whites with fresh, homemade praline (carmelized almonds), rum & vanilla. This was poured into dessert dishes lined with dried ladyfingers which were drizzled with rum and espresso. It wasn't quite as amazing as I'd hoped, but I think that's just because I really prefer rich chocolate desserts. The flavor was very good, and Matt dug into the leftovers only 2 hours after dinner!!

Well, the whole dinner was amazing! I am very pleased with every dish that I prepared. The vegetables had too much butter overall for my tastes, but the flavor was much richer than the veggies I usually make, so I guess it makes a difference. The lamb shanks were a bit underdone, but tasted very rich and flavorful. As far as the trimming goes, I should have removed the fat and silverskin from all of the shanks. There was no need to cut the meat away from the bone, because the meat contracted while cooking anyway - the ones I trimmed look really wimpy with such a small amount of meat on the end!!

Julia Child, you have done it again! An amazing Valentine's Day feast was prepared and enjoyed by one and all. I can't wait to try more recipes!!

Wait... what's this you say? You want photos?? I guess...

...and then there was Julia Child.

2011-02-09T17:44:00.004Z

I have begun a new chapter in my cooking journey. I received Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child as a wonderful thank-you gift from some good friends whom we had the pleasure of hosting for a couple of weeks. While they were here, S. wanted to make a special dinner and chose Boeuf Bourguignon and Ratatouille, by Julia Child. We watched Julie & Julia since I knew they prepared the stew in that movie. The dishes were amazing. Astounding. Literally better than anything we'd ever had in a restaurant. We got a little bit Julia-happy :-D

I'd had the book set on my Amazon wish list since I watched that movie the first time, several months ago, and I jokingly said that I'd accept a copy when they asked what they could get me as a thank-you gift. Imagine my surprise when it showed up on my doorstep the day before they left!!!

I'm on a fairly strict diet right now, and it's working wonders! I've lost almost 30 lbs in three months. This does not really fit in with the 'butter, butter and more butter' of French cooking. My plan is to do a recipe or 2 every couple of weeks. I'm also pretty sure that most recipes can be altered to use less fat. But, I really want to do the cookbook justice and make them correctly.

My first dinner will be a big one - Valentine's Day!! Here is the menu I've chosen:

Braised Lamb Shank(339)
Potatoes sauteed in butter(526)
Braised Brussels Sprouts(451)
Carrots in Butter(477)
Caramel/Chocolate Almond Creme(594)

I won't usually choose 3 buttered veggies and won't be making very many desserts, but for Valentine's Day I'm going all out! I'll make another post with my progress later this week!!

WRITE IT DOWN Beef Stew

2010-08-09T03:04:00.002+01:00

So good, I had to write it down before I forgot!!

WRITE IT DOWN Beef Stew

Ingredients:

Beef:

1 ½ - 2 lbs stew beef, in cubes
1/3C flour
1/2t salt
1/2t pepper
1/2t garlic powder
1/2t onion powder
2T oil

Liquids:

1 can tomato soup
2 cans water
2 beef bullion cubes
2 onions, chopped

Veggies:

1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 zucchini, cubed
1C baby carrots, halved
1 red bell pepper, cubed
1/2 lb button mushrooms, halved
2 potatoes, cubes
1 heaped T minced garlic

Instructions

Mix together flour, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. Dredge the beef cubes in the flour, a few at a time, and brown in a dutch oven in the oil until all pieces have been added, and meat is browned. Add tomato soup, water, bullion & onions. Bake for 1 hour at 350.
Stir in remaining ingredients and return to oven. Cover and bake at 350 for 1.5-2 hours or until potatoes are tender OR reduce heat to 200 and bake for 4 hours or until tender.

Summery Sausage Casserole

2010-06-09T21:39:00.006+01:00

Why yes, all my photos are striking similar... how would you photograph
a casserole in a skillet?? ;-p

Ok, so maybe baking isn't at the top of your list of things to do in the summer. But - especially if you have your own garden - you have to do something with all those veggies!! This dish is very tasty, and can be healthy, depending on the meat you use. It's loaded with garden fresh (or market fresh!) veggies, and I serve it over whole wheat pasta with shredded parm. It's summery and delicious!

Summery Sausage Casserole
Serves 4

1 pkg. sausage (I've used Jimmy Dean Reduced Fat pork sausage, and also 6 links of Smoked Turkey Sausage - I prefer the turkey!)
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 large yellow squach, shopped
1 large zucchini, chopped
1T minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
2 14oz cans chopped tomatoes (3 large fresh ones, chopped)
1T dried parsley
1T dried oregano
1t salt
1t black pepper
1.5C shredded mozzarella
1/2C italian seasoned bread crumbs (if you don't have them, just leave them out - its fine with no crumbs)

fresh parmesan cheese for each plate (also fine without)
hot, cooked whole wheat penne, rigatoni or bowties

Directions:

Heat oven to 400. In your largest skillet, begin to brown the meat. If you use pork sausage, you won't need any oil. Turkey sausage might need a drizzle of EVOO or some skillet spray. When the meat is about 1/2 done, add the onions and peppers (drain pork sausage first). Saute 5 minutes, add squash & zucchini and saute 5 more. Everything should be softening by now. (if your skillet wasn't big enough, just pour the meat into a bowl to hold while you finish everything else)
Add tomatoes and seasonings, and reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Mix your mozz and bread crumbs together in a small bowl. If your skillet is oven-safe, sprinkle the top with mozzarella cheese and pop into the oven. Or, grease a casserole dish, pour your skillet in, top with cheese and bake. Bake about 20-25 minutes or until all the veggies are tender, and the cheese is bubbly and brown.
Serve over whole wheat pasta, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese along with a green salad and french bread!

"One" Skillet Chili

2010-06-03T22:28:00.005+01:00

This recipe was based loosely off another, but bears no resemblance to the original. It's beefy chili in a skillet with loads of veggies and a golden herb-cheese biscuit top. You only use "one" of each ingredient! It happened that way accidentally, I promise!

"One" Skillet Chili
serves 6-8ish

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 zuchinni, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1T minced garlic (or 1t garlic powder)
1 12oz can diced tomatoes (fire roasted is nice!)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1t each - oregano, cumin, parsley, chili powder, salt
1 recipe of cheesy garlic-herb biscuits
1 C shredded cheddar cheese

Cheesy garlic-herb biscuits:
2C all purpose flour
1T sugar
1T baking powder
1t salt
1t. crushed rosemary
2t. minced/crushed garlic
1/2C shortening
1/2C shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2C milk

Directions:

Heat oven to 400. In a large (I used a 12" cast iron - it barely all fit!) oven-proof skillet, begin to brown the meat. As you get the veggies chopped, add them too. (if you don't have an oven-proof skillet, grease a medium casserole dish) Add both tomatoes and spices. Simmer 15 minutes, until veggies are beginning to soften. Transfer to casserole if you need to.
For biscuit topping - mix together dry ingredients, spices and garlic. Cut in shortening until it resembles fine crumbs, then stir in cheese and milk. This should be much softer than regular biscuits. Spread evenly over hot beef mixture.
Bake for 45 min. It may look done before that, but test the biscuit middle to be sure before taking it out. Sprinkle with 1C cheese during last 5-10 minutes to melt and brown.

For regular roll-out biscuits, use only 3/4C milk. Enjoy!
Next time, I'll try simmering the skillet with the biscuits on top for about 10 minutes before putting it in the oven - to give the biscuit bottom a head-start on cooking.
It barely fit into my 12" skillet, and overflowed a tiny bit while baking. I need a bigger skillet, or a casserole.

THESE ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU Raspberry Pie Bars

2010-06-02T23:32:00.010+01:00

Usually I try to post things that are healthy, or quick, or at least use whole grains. This recipe follows none of the above. They're full of eggs, sugar and sour cream. And flavor. And deliciousness. And perfection. The original posting is here. These are quite frankly the most perfect little raspberry pie bars ever. They're creamy, yet tangy. Chewy and super moist, but they don't need a fork. The edges are that perfect caramelized combination of crispy and chewy. And - despite the amount of sugar - they're actually not overly sweet. Enjoy. Warm. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

THESE ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU Raspberry Pie Bars
Makes - 1 9x13 pan, 12-15 bars

Crust and Topping

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

zest of two lemons

Raspberry Filling

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream (I used plain whole milk yogurt and it was fine)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

2 (16-ounce) packages frozen blackberries or raspberries, defrosted and drained. I've also heard good reports about using blueberries.

(You can also use 6 cups of fresh raspberries, or 1 (16-ounce) package frozen raspberries and 3 cups of fresh raspberries. Or use 1/2 rasp and 1/2 black berries)

Just for the record, I used raspberries and only made 1/2 batch in an 8x8 for my ~~tasting~~ testing)

Directions for the crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch backing pan with butter or cooking spray and set aside. Zest two lemons onto a cutting board (wooden works well). Measure out the sugar on top then pinch, crush and knead until the lemon is distributed. 2-3 minutes should do it. The hard sugar grains bring out the oils of the lemon peel. Do yourself a favor and add 1/2 C sugar, then remove 1/4C when you're done (it will be damp and pack down). Use this phenomenal lemon sugar in your hot tea. Mmmmmm....
Combine lemon sugar, flour, salt and butter in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Beat the ingredients on medium speed until the mixture looks dry and crumbly. (if you don't have a stand mixer, make this crust like any other pie crust)
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crust mixture to use as the topping (hide these lemon crust crumbles from yourself, or you won't have any left for the topping!). Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes until it is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling. (mine took more like 20 min. I think it's because of the tall sides of my glass pan. Just bake until golden)

To make the filling-

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. (you can use the same bowl/utensils that you used for the crust - you're going to sprinkle it on top of the filling anyway) Add the sugar, sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in the raspberries. Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. You may have to distribute the raspberries evenly around.
Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.

**If you’re using frozen berries, be sure to defrost and drain the excess liquid. Place the frozen berries on a plate in the refrigerator overnight. They’re defrosted and ready for bar baking! Or give them about 4 hours on the counter.

BONUS RECIPE: Thaw the berries in a colander over a bowl. Pour the juice into a glass, squeeze your 2 zested lemons in and add 2 big spoonfuls of sugar. Dilute to taste (I drank mine full strength... s-l-o-w-l-y... Mmmmmm)

Crock Pot Asian Chicken & Vegetables

2010-06-01T23:16:00.018+01:00

I am really excited about this posting. This recipe was amazing and I had to share!! The original recipe called for using a crock pot, but I only have a BIG crock pot - my 4qt. got lost in the move. So, I used my 6qt. cast iron dutch oven. In hindsight, after I got all the ingredients in, I would have had plenty to fill my big one!! Read the recipe to the end to be sure you get your times right.

Crock Pot Asian Chicken & Vegetables
Total time - about 5:15
Serves - 6-8 or more

Ingredients:

3 lbs chicken - I skinned and boned 9 thighs. You can use bone-in or breasts as well. Do take the skin off.

Sauce:

2/3C soy sauce
6T (3/8C - just guess) oil - any kind
6T (3/8C) brown sugar
3/4C water
1T or more minced garlic
1T ground ginger
2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and quartered

Veggies:

5 C of your favorite vegetables for asian. I used: 1.5C baby carrots - quartered lengthwise, 1.5C snap peas - snapped and strung, 2C broccoli - cut into flowerettes. Red bell pepper strips would be awesome here too.

1/4C soy sauce
2T corn starch
Hot rice for all
optional garnishes - sliver almonds, peanuts, sliced green onions

Directions:

Place chicken in the bottom of your crock pot or dutch oven. I put mine in frozen solid. (I opened the lid after an hour and pressed the chicken down into the sauce). Mix together sauce ingredients and pour over. You can use only 1 type of ginger, but using both kinds will give you a much richer flavor. If you only use 1 kind, increase the amount. Set your crock pot to high for 1 hour, then turn to low for 4 hours. Bake your dutch oven at 300 for 1 hour, then reduce to 250 for 4 hours.
When there are 1.5 hours remaining, open the lid. Remove the chicken to a cutting board and lightly shred with 2 forks. It will be absolutely falling apart. I could have removed the bones with a spoon! Next time I'll save myself the trouble of de-boning first! Add the chicken back to the sauce and stir in the veggies. There won't be enough liquid to cover it all - that's fine, the veggies will add their own liquid as they cook down. Just press them down as much as you can, cover, and finish cooking for 1.5 hours - no peeking!
When it's almost time to eat, test a crunchy veggie to make sure it's done. To thicken the sauce, take 1/4C cold soy sauce and stir in 2T corn starch, until smooth. Add it to the pot, stirring well, and give it 15 minutes longer to cook, or until thickened.
Serve over hot cooked rice, topped with garnishes and watch out for those chunks of ginger!!

My Notes:

At the end, the veggies aren't so vibrant, but it's because they're stained with the soy - the snap peas and carrots still had some crunch. If you're worried about them getting too soft, add the carrots at T-1:15, and the rest at T-1 hour (the carrots take the longest to cook).
There also seems to be a lack of veggies - there's just so much meat! I think you could either increase the sauce, and use 2C more veggies, or just decrease the chicken, and increase the veggies.
Further note - on my second attempt, I only used 5 thighs, and added a whole bunch of kale (chopped) and 2 bell peppers, sliced. The kale soaks up the flavor of the sauce, and you literally can't taste it, and it loses most of its fibery-ness - it adds nice vitamin punch with no taste!! I was going to add bean sprouts too, but they went bad before I got to them :-( It was a much better meat/veggie ratio.
I also tried it in only 3 hours. 350 the whole time, shredded chicken & added carrots at 1.5 hrs, then added all other veggies with only 1 hr. remaining. Worked great!

Chunky Chicken Pot Pie

2010-05-04T20:34:00.005+01:00

Chicken Pot Pie is right up there with Chicken & Dumplings and Macaroni & Cheese as one of my all time favorite comfort foods. This recipe is pretty much straight from my Betty Crocker Cookbook, and it's great. I've included my favorite recipe for a crust as well, although a store bought double-crust will certainly make it go faster.

As with most of my recipes, this one lends itself well to make-ahead. You can freeze it (thaw before cooking) or just refrigerate. I can make the whole thing, including a hand made crust, and get the kitchen clean in an hour and a half - perfect for Abby's nap. Then all that remains is to make some rice and steam a veggie! The main meal is done, and the kitchen clean!

Chunky Chicken Pot Pie
makes 1 - 9" deep dish pie - serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Crust:
3C flour (white, WW or combination)
2T sugar
1 3/4 t. salt
1C (2 sticks) cold butter
1 1/2t apple cider vinegar (white will do in a pinch)
8T ice water (more or less)

Pot Pie:
2 crusts (homemade or store bought)
1C frozen peas
1C frozen crinkle cut carrots
1/3C butter
1/3C white flour
1 onion, chopped
1/2t salt
1/4t pepper
1 3/4C chicken broth (or water + bullion)
2/3C milk
2 1/2 - 3 C cooked chicken, in med/large cubes (2 large or 3 small breasts is pretty close)
hot cooked rice for all

Crust Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender, 2 knifes or your fingers, grind the cold butter into the flour mixture until it is pea sized.
Using a fork to stir, add vinegar. Add ice water 1T at a time, mixing well after each addition until crust begins to hold together. If you use WW flour (and depending on humidity!), you'll need more water - just keep adding by the tablespoon. You may need to pour your bowl out onto the counter to get all the flour from the bottom. Knead once or twice - just enough to ensure that it will hold together well.
Divide in half, roll 1 piece out to slightly larger than your pie plate. Place the crust in your plate. Do not stretch the crust to go into the corners - it will spring back when bakes. Ease it gently in. Roll it bigger if you need to. (this applies to store bought crust as well!)
Roll the other crust out to fit the top. Set aside crusts - if it will be longer than about 20 minutes, cover with plastic wrap (if you make the filling now, they'll be fine).

Pot Pie Directions:

Heat oven to 425.
Pour peas and carrots into a medium bowl, and rinse with warm water to separate and thaw. Drain well.
Melt butter in a large sauce pan and sautee onions for about 5 minutes until they soften and begin to brown. Add flour and whisk until the mixture begins to brown.
Add broth and milk, 1C at a time, whisking well after each addition to prevent lumps. Add seasonings.
Stir in chicken, peas and carrots.
Pour mixture into bottom crust, then top with the second crust. Seal edges well, slit the top, decorate with pastry cut-outs if desired.
Refrigerate or cook right away. Bake for about 35 minutes or until well browned and sauce is bubbling up through the slits.
Let pie stand 10-15 minutes before cutting. Serve over hot rice!

Helpful Notes:

You will probably have too much filling. I usually pour it into a small casserole (or cereal bowl, if its oven safe) re-roll my leftover crust to make a top crust only, and have myself a hot fresh mini-pie for lunch!
If your pie is very full, place a cookie sheet or piece of aluminum foil on the rack below your pie to catch drips.
If you refrigerated your pie, let it stand at room temp an hour before cooking, or plan to give it 15 extra minutes in the oven to get hot all the way through.
If you don't want it so chunky, just use a 10oz bag of mixed peas/carrots (the carrots will be much smaller), and chop the chicken finely.

Rice Coocker Pilaf

2010-05-03T21:15:00.004+01:00

Here's a quick way to make no-fuss rice pilaf! Use brown or white rice, do all the cooking right in the rice cooker, then you don't have to watch a pan of rice on the stove!

Serves 6

Ingredients:
1T EVOO
1 onion, chopped
2C rice (white or brown)
1/2C slivered almonds
1T italian seasoning
4t chicken bullion (or equivalent to make 4C broth)
4C cold water (or replace bullion and water with chicken broth)

Directions:

This recipe was made using a simple rice cooker - just one button with 'cook' and 'warm' settings.
Plug in the cooker, switch to 'cook' and add oil and onions - leave lid up. Cooker will slowly heat and in around 5 minutes start to sautee. Be sure to use a wooden or plastic spoon to protect your non-stick finish! Sautee onions for just a couple of minutes, until they just begin to soften. Add rice and mix well.
Continue to sautee until cooker switches itself to 'warm'. Add bullion, italian seasoning and almonds. Stir well, and cook for 1-2 minutes more (cooker will still be hot). NOTE - if you have bullion cubes (not granules) and need to dissolve them in hot water, use 1/2 C boiling water for the bullion and leave the rest cold.
Add cold water and stir. The water will cool the cooker enough that you can close the lid, switch to cook, and leave the pilaf until it's done!
Allow appx. 20-30 minutes cooking time for white rice, and 40-50 min for brown. You can make this rice slightly ahead of time, because the cooker will keep it nice and hot while you finish preparing dinner - enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

2010-04-23T23:52:00.007+01:00

This week's recipe is really yummy. I couldn't be bothered to get out my cookbook when I wanted to make Beef Stroganoff this week, and it turned out so well that I decided to write it down for next time! I usually use ground beef - simply because it's cheaper, and I always have it in the freezer. But stroganoff is ten times better if you have a nice cut of beef, cut into bite sized pieces, and simmered for an hour so it's falling apart!! Oh, yum. This recipe will work with both. Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff - serves 4ish

1 lb. beef (ground beef or beef tips, trimmed)
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced (or a 15 oz can, drained)
1 onion, diced
1-2t pressed/crushed garlic (depending on your tastes)
1.5 C water
3 bullion cubes (enough to make 3C beef broth - however your bullion specifies)
1/2 C dry red wine (merlot is very nice)
1T Worcestershire
1/4C cold water
3T cornstarch
1/2 - 1C plain yogurt or sour cream (sour cream works best - yogurt tends to separate. Use more or less to taste)
cooked egg noodles, penne or rotini for all

Begin to brown the beef. For ground beef, when it is 1/2 done add the onions and mushrooms. For beef cubes (you'll need to use a bit of oil), add them when the beef is brown on all sides. Continue to cook until the onions and mushrooms are soft - about 5-8 min. Add garlic and sautee 1 min.
Dissolve the bullion in the water. I find that hot water makes it easier. There is 2x the bullion as compared to water to give the stroganoff better flavor. Add the beef broth, wine and Worcestershire to the skillet, reduce to medium/low and simmer ground beef about 10 minutes, beef cubes (covered) 45min - or until very tender.
Mix the cornstarch with the cold water until the lumps are gone, then slowly add to skillet, stirring constantly until thickened - about 1 min. (taste the sauce before hand - if it tastes weak, you can use wine instead of water) The sauce should be fairly thick. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking, then stir in sour cream or yogurt - which will thin it a bit.
Serve over fresh hot egg noodles, penne or rotini!

West Coast Salmon & Shrimp

2010-04-14T19:57:00.004+01:00

Here is another fish recipe for you! I'm supposed to eat more Salmon for the Omega-3s, according to my midwife. Here is a wonderful recipe to help me do that - although you can sub any fish you happen to like. It's also not as high in fat as many cream sauce recipes, because it's thickened with cornstarch instead of a roux. I try to make it once every week or 2!

West Coast Salmon & Shrimp

Serves 4, or 2 with great leftovers

Ingredients:
2 T butter or olive oil
1 onion, halved and sliced thinly (into 1/2 rings)
1C sliced mushrooms (or 1 can, drained)
1T minced garlic (about 3-4 cloves pressed - I use the stuff in a jar)

1.5 C milk
1 T fresh dill (1/2T dried)
1/2t salt
1/2 t fresh cracked pepper
1/4C milk
2T cornstarch (if you use arrowroot powder, the quantity will be different - hopefully you know how much!)

1 lb. salmon, cubed (or other fish - I've tried cod and it was good)
1 C shrimp (fresh or cooked)

Fresh parm
Hot, cooked rice - white or brown

Directions:

Heat oven to 375F. Heat the butter in a large skillet and begin to sautee the onions. After 5 min, add the mushrooms and sautee until everything is tender and browning. Add the garlic for the last minute, to keep it from burning. It seems like a lot of garlic, but it mellows in the oven.
Pour in the 1.5C of milk, and add all the seasonings, and bring to a simmer. It looks like a lot of dill, but it also mellows with baking. Taste and adjust the salt & pepper if needed. It may taste a bit bland now - it will take a lot of flavor from the fish as it bakes. Just make sure it's salted enough, as you'll be serving it over unsalted rice.
Mix together the 1/4 C milk and 2T cornstarch until it is very smooth, then add to the skillet, stirring constantly. Simmer 1 min. or until thickened.
Stir in cubed fish and shrimp - if your shrimp was frozen, thaw it in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes then drain before adding.
Spray a 2 qt. casserole dish with oil and pour in your sauce. Cover and bake for 30 min. or until fish (and shrimp) are done. If you like, sprinkle with fresh parm and broil until brown. Or just serve each plate topped with some.
Serve over white or brown rice with a steamed green veggie!

My extra notes:

This dish favors lots of changes. Last time I added a can of crab (undrained for more flavor). You can also sub whatever fish your meat dept. happens to have on sale. It works equally well with strong fish (like salmon) and white fish (cod, haddock, etc) although salmon is my favorite.
Increase or decrease the fish ingredients - use all fish, or all shrimp, or one of those 'fish pie' mixes with several types of fish, squid, shrimp, clams, etc. Use around 2-3 C of meat total.
Make it a complete meal by adding 1-2C frozen broccoli flowers(thawed), or peas. If you use fresh broccoli, steam it for 2-3 min. before adding, to be sure it cooks all the way through. I would make a bit more sauce (and of course use a bigger casserole) to make sure that there's plenty of sauce for the rice. If you need to thicken it more, you want to aim for a medium/thick consistency. It will thin slightly in the oven, and you want it to soak into your rice, not run all over your plate.
If someone is not a mushroom lover, but is willing to pick them out, the person who will eat the mushrooms will thank you for leaving them in. They're super yummy.
I usually make this up at lunchtime (while Abby is napping) and hold it in the fridge until dinner. If your casserole is cold, you'll want to give it 45 minutes to bake. Removing it from the fridge 30 min or so before baking will help, too.
Wonderful with garlic bread!

Balsamic Chicken and Roast Vegetables

2010-03-07T20:59:00.005Z

This recipe is heavily modified from another one. So much, that I call it MY recipe. At the bottom, I give lots of other ways to use this recipe - it's really tasty fixed all sorts of ways!

Balsamic Chicken and Roast Vegetables
serves 5-6ish as a main, 8+ as a side dish

Marinade:
1/2 C. balsamic vinegar
2T EVOO
1t. dried basil
1/2t. dried parsley
1/2t. garlic powder
1/4t. salt
1/4t. black pepper

2 chicken breasts

Roast Vegetables:
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1" pieces
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1" pieces
12oz package (or about 2 big handfuls) green beans, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
12oz package (or about 3 big handfuls) snow peas, trimmed, strings off, and snapped in half
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced thickly
1 yellow squash, quartered lengthwise and sliced thickly
2 big handfuls baby carrots (about 3 big ones) cut in half lengthwise then sliced lengthwise, paper thin

3T EVOO
1T italian seasoning
1t garlic powder
1t onion powder
1/4t crushed red pepper flakes (if desired)

The rest of the recipe:
about 8-10 oz. Whole Wheat tube pasta (ziti, penne, rigatoni, etc)
1T butter
2T EVOO

2T lemon juice
2T balsamic vinegar
Fresh Parmesan cheese
Black pepper

Mix together marinade ingredients in a 1qt. zipper bag. Slice chicken thinly across the grain, then into about 1.5-2" pieces (similar to fajitas). Place the chicken in the bag, squeeze all the air out, then massage the bag to distribute the herbs and sauce evenly through the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but chicken can be made a full day ahead of time, if needed. If you need more liquid to cover the chicken, add more Balsamic.
Heat the oven to 400. Cut all the veggies, and place in your biggest mixing bowl. Add all the spices and toss well to coat. You can sub pretty much any veg - I think asparagus would be a nice addition. The idea is to make them all around the same size so they'll be done at the same time. Hard veggies (carrots) need to be smaller so they are done when the soft veggies (snow peas & squash) are.
Pour all the veggies on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Toss well and roast 15-20 more, or until green beans are fork-tender (everything else will be done by then).
When veggies are done, pour back into the large mixing bowl.
While veggies are roasting, start a pot of water for the pasta, and cook the chicken in the BIGGEST skillet you own. I use a 14" cast-iron skillet. Cook the pasta for 1 min LESS than the package directs - you want it to have a bit of bite left. Drain the pasta and wait for the chicken to be done.
Add the cooked chicken to your mixing bowl. In the chicken skillet, melt 1T butter and 2T EVOO. The EVOO will help to keep the butter from burning. Pour all the pasta into the skillet, toss quickly to coat, then allow to cook for a minute. (if you have to use a smaller skillet, only add 1/2 the oils and 1/2 the pasta, then repeat) Toss the pasta by scraping the bottom firmly with your spatula - you want the browned bits to come up, and not tear the pasta. Regular white pasta won't hold up as well as WW. If you have a non-stick skillet, hopefully it will come up well - my cast-iron needs a good scraping.
When pasta is nicely browned everywhere, pour it into the mixing bowl with the chicken and veggies (finish the other half of the pasta if you need to). Pour over the remaining balsamic and lemon juice, then toss everything well. (I never measure the lemon or balsamic here - just shake from the bottle till it looks good!)
Serve sprinkled with fresh grated Parmesan cheese, and fresh cracked black pepper!

This recipe looks like a lot of work and a lot of ingredients. However, you can do almost all of it ahead of time, and it makes a HUGE amount! The 2 of us can eat it for 2 dinners and a lunch. The leftovers reheat very well, and are also awesome cold from the fridge like a pasta salad.
To prepare in advance, marinade the chicken and refrigerate. Cut and season all the veggies and refrigerate. You can even cook the pasta - rinse it in cold water so it stops cooking, then refrigerate. Then you can have all the mess cleaned up and all you have to do is cook and assemble before dinner.
Or, make the whole meal and refrigerate, and serve cold. Would be a great lunch or picnic food. You do have chicken to think about, but no mayonnaise to go bad if it has to be out of the fridge for a while.
For a more formal dinner, marinade the chicken whole then grill. Slice the grilled chicken and arrange on a platter and serve with the veggies & pasta tossed together as the side dish, with garlic french bread.
Marinade is awesome on whole chicken breasts and also AMAZING on grilled salmon! It's pretty much the only thing I put on salmon anymore.

That's all I can think of! I love to make this dish in the summer... or in the winter when I wished it was summer - Enjoy!!

Crab-filled Fish Casserole

2010-03-07T20:49:00.012Z

This recipe is adapted from one I found at Allrecipes.com. It is very tasty, and a bit rich. Next time I'm going to try using saltines instead of Ritz, but it might ruin the flavor. Serve with rice and a steamed green veggie!!

I made this dish at lunchtime, and held it in the fridge until I baked it for dinner. Worked out beautifully, and I had all the prep-mess cleaned up ahead of time!

Serves 2 with some leftovers - double the ingredients and use a larger dish for 4-6.

Crab-filled Fish Casserole
Crab Filling:
2T butter
1 small onion, minced finely
1 6oz can crabmeat
1 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (or 1t. dried)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
12 buttery round crackers, crushed
1/4 C fresh parmesan

Topping:
10 buttery round crackers, crushed
2T butter, melted
2T fresh grated parm
1t dried parsley
1/4 t. each salt, pepper, garlic powder

5 or 6 (3-4 ounce) fillets sole (or other white fish, haddock, tilapia, etc)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly coat a small casserole (8"across) with spray oil.

Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender - about 4-5 min. Stir in crabmeat, parsley, garlic powder salt and pepper and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat and stir in crushed crackers.

Place 1/2 of the fish fillets on the bottom of the casserole, cover with crab filling,sprinkle with 1/4C parmesan, and top with remaining fish. Sprinkle fish with lemon juice. Cover with lid or foil (tightly) and bake for 20 minutes until fish is nearly done.

Mix topping ingredients together and spread over fish. Bake uncovered 10-15 minutes or until topping is browned, and fish is completely done.

The Best Fried Rice I Ever Made

2010-02-10T23:44:00.005Z

So the problem with having a food site is that you really need to update it. The problem with me is that I don't really invent my own recipes very often.

Well, I did a couple of weeks ago, so here it is! Matt said it is the best Fried Rice I've every made and please write it down so I can always make it like this!!

The Best Fried Rice I Ever Made

(all measurements are approximate!)

3 chicken thighs

1 bell pepper, diced

handful of baby carrots, diced

sesame seeds

1/4C soy sauce

2T lemon juice

2T white sugar

sesame oil

3C cold, cooked brown rice

2 eggs

1T soy sauce

1 onion, halved & sliced thinly

sesame oil

Debone and dice chicken. Cook in large skillet in sesame oil & generous amount of sesame seeds until half done. Add bell pepper & baby carrots. When chicken is almost completely done, add soy, lemon & sugar. Continue to cook until chicken is done. If liquid is left, turn heat to high and stirfry until it evaporates and everything gets sticky. Remove from heat and hold.
In extra large skillet (I used a 16” cast iron - if you have to use the same skillet, wash it first), begin to brown onions in sesame oil. Cook until they begin to wilt and brown, but still have some life left. Drizzle a bit more oil onto onions (they probably soaked it all up already) then add the rice. Toss thoroughly, then cook for a few minutes before tossing and allowing to sit again. Continue until rice is hot and begins to brown. Use a very sharp edged spatula and don’t allow the rice to stick.
Beat the eggs with soy sauce. DO NOT DO THIS AHEAD OF TIME!! The salt in the soy breaks down the eggs, and they don't scramble worth a darn. Do it right before pouring them in. Scrape all the rice to one side of the skillet (the high side, if your stove tips like mine!), drizzle a bit of sesame oil for the eggs, and pour in the eggs to cook on the other side. Try to cook them omelet-style. Let the bottom cook, then gently move aside for more liquid to cook – try to keep them in a nice sheet, rather than scrambling. When eggs are completely cooked, chop into 1/2” pieces with spatula, bring rice down and stir until combined. Add chicken mixture and cook until everything is hot and well mixed. Be sure to keep the bottom scraped!!

I made this up an hour before Matt got home, then just turned the burner on to heat it up for dinner - worked great as make-ahead!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2009-03-13T16:56:00.009Z

Ok, so it's been a while since I've posted. But this one will be really good, I promise. My birthday was on Tuesday, and we debated whether we should go out or cook at home. We decided that what I make is usually better (better than any place we can actually afford, anyway) so I cooked. If it had been a weekend, Matt would have cooked for me, but since it was a Tuesday he had to work. Below is my menu - everything exactly as I wanted (another benefit to cooking at home!) with recipes following:

Starters

Shrimp Cocktail

Toasted French Bread with Hummus and Peppers

Main

Grilled Salmon

Almond Rice Pilaf

Pecan Parmesan Asparagus

Dessert

Store bought Chocolate Dream Layered Pudding (Custard)

Yes... I bought my desert. Typically I only have enough time and energy to do one or the other. If we had gone out to dinner, I would have made something awesome to come home to. As it was, I was preparing all day, and cooking right up until dinner time. The dessert was just fine, and we were really so full that an exceptional dessert might have been wasted... there's still half of the pudding left.

So... we'll start with the appetizers. These are more like guidelines than recipes.

Shrimp Cocktail

1/2 lb. large, raw in-shell shrimp (for 2 people)
ketchup
horseradish
lemon & fresh parsley (garnish)

Prepare the shrimp - break off the shell at the tail joint, leaving the tail and last section of shell intact. Peel the rest of the shell off. Boil 1/2 pot of water - there should be enough water that the shrimp will float freely. Add 1T. salt. (Shrimp & Crab Boil seasoning is better here, but I can't get that in the UK. If you have it, follow the directions for how much to use)

Boil shrimp for just under 2 min. They should be pink and firm. I usually bite into one to make sure they're done. If you over cook them they'll be rubbery. Drain through a colander and rinse immediately with cold water. Rinse until completely chilled.

Prepare Cocktail Sauce - Homemade Cocktail sauce is way better than the store-bought variety, thought bottled is not too bad. My ratio is about 2/3 ketchup and 1/3 horseradish. Don't buy horseradish sauce, made with mayo and seasonings. Get plain horseradish - it will probably be refrigerated. Mix ketchup and horseradish until well blended, adjust to taste. (my ratio is rather hot, so start smaller and add if you need to)

Assemble. I have a nice dessert bowl on a small pedestal that is about 4" across. All of the shrimp hang nicely on the edge - tails outside. Put the sauce in the dish, hang the shrimp around. Take a thin slice from the center of the lemon (biggest slice). Cut from one edge into the center, twist one 'leg' each direction and place it on the sauce. Tuck a spring of parsley underneath. Wrap loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

Toasted French Bread with Hummus and Peppers (really needs a better name!)

French Bread Baguette, unsliced
1/4 C (half a stick) butter
hummus
red & yellow bell pepper
black olives
paprika, thyme, black pepper, fresh parsley

Slice the french bread diagonally into 1/2" slices. Place on a cookie sheet or broiler pan. Melt butter and brush very lightly over the bread. We're not going for garlic bread here, just enough to make the bread toast nicely and seal the moisture out.

Broil about 6" away from the element until lightly browned - mine browned around the edges, but not in the middle. As long as it gets crispy and dry, that's OK - flip and brown the other side.

Mince the red and yellow pepper, and keep them separate. You'll only need about 1/4 of each pepper. Your pieces should be about 1/8". Cut the black olives into quarters.

Place about 1 T. of hummus in the middle of each toast. Don't spreads it out too much - leave it in a nice mound. Sprinkle red pepper on half of your toasts, and yellow on the other half. Place a few olive pieces on top. Sprinkle the yellow pepper with paprika, and the red pepper with thyme - go easy, it's pretty strong. If you're not a fan of thyme use something else green - dried parsley, Italian seasoning, something like that. Or just do freshly cracked black pepper on red & yellow. Garnish with a sprig of parsley. I placed my shrimp dish in the middle of a large platter, and alternated red and yellow toasts around the edges.

(Since dinner was so big, I picked the 6 prettiest toasts to eat and put the rest into a Ziploc. I saved the leftover peppers and olives and made a perfect lunch the next day. )

Grilled Salmon

Salmon (whole side or steaks)
balsamic vinegar
2 T. olive oil
1 t. dried basil
1/2 t. parsley
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper

Stand a 1 qt. Ziploc baggie up in a cup. Add all the seasonings and oil. If you have salmon steaks, add around 1/2 C. balsamic vinegar. Swish and squish until well blended. Place the salmon inside and squeeze all the air out. Gently push the seasonings around until the fish is well covered. If you're almost ready to cook, just leave it out on the counter - turn the bag over every 10 minutes or so. If you've thought ahead and made it the night before, place the bag in the fridge, and flip in the morning.

If you're using a whole salmon side, use a 1 gal Ziploc. Use 1 C. balsamic vinegar. You'll have to fold the thin end of the salmon over - skin to skin, meat side out. You'll have to work harder to distribute the herbs, and get all the air out.

To grill - it's always raining here, so I use the broiler. Salmon steaks are easiest because they're smaller. Heat the broiler - over here, I can control the temp, and I set it to medium. If you only have one temp or just hi and low, you'll have to adjust your oven rack to compensate. I broiled my whole side about 6" away from the element and it took about 25 min. The outside gets really dark - don't worry, it's the sugars in the balsamic caramelizing. If you're using steaks, they'll cook faster. There is no need to turn them - they'll just fall apart. Stick a fork into the fattest part to check - it should flake all the way down to the skin. If it's watery and soft near the skin, it's not done yet. We were impatient, so I took it out when the thin part was fully cooked, and the thick part was almost done. We ate the thin side and the rest is going into salmon patties - which will be cooked further, so no worries.

You can take the marinade and boil it in a small saucepan to make a rich sauce for the salmon. Just don't cook it too long or you'll get a paste. And the whole kitchen will smell of vinegar - watch your eyes! Because the vinegar cooks out, the sauce it actually pretty sweet. Try it!

Almond Rice Pilaf

1.5 C. rice (I use brown)
3 C chicken broth (I use bullion)
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped (red is nice)
1/4 C. slivered almonds
1 T. Italian seasoning

Saute onions in oil in a large saucepan. When they are translucent and tender (about 5 minutes) add rice, almonds and Italian seasoning. If you're using lo-sodium broth, add about 3/4 t. salt. Saute stirring constantly and let the rice brown a bit and become covered in oil. When the rice begins to stick and burn, add the broth. Cover and cook on low until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. 20-25 min for white rice, 40-50 min for brown.

Pecan Parmesan Asparagus

2 bunches asparagus, ends trimmed
1 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 C sliced mushrooms
1/2 C. chopped pecans
1/2 t. dried basil
fresh Parmesan cheese

In a 12" skillet, steam asparagus until crisp tender (it will continue to soften after removed). Remove to serving platter, cover and keep warm. It's easy to do this with a hot, but turned-off oven. Place a plate upside-down on top so they stay moist.

Drain liquid from skillet, and saute onions and mushrooms in the oil. When they are as tender as you like (about 5-8 minutes) add pecans and basil. Cook until hot. Spread nut mixture over the center of the asparagus and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Crack fresh black pepper over the whole plate, and serve with more Parmesan.

This dish will keep for about 10 minutes in the oven. Leave the asparagus pretty firm when you steam it, then assemble the whole dish and cover and place back in the hot oven again. The added bonus is that your parm will be all nice and melty when you serve!

My First Entry - Chicken Soup

2008-05-21T20:53:00.001+01:00

Ok... now that I've decided to begin my career as a food blogger, where do I begin? I don't feel so well right now, so I decided to make a pot of chicken soup for myself. Seemed like the thing to do... Chicken Soup is also a basic staple of cooking - once you know what goes into chicken soup, it is easily converted to veggie soup, chicken stew, chicken noodle, beef stew - anything you like!

This is the same basic recipe I use for my Slow Cooker Chicken Stew and Thick and Hearty Chicken and Dumplings. I've met with a bit of resistance from people making my recipe, because of all the "wasted" veggies, and here is where I will explain the reasons.

First, we'll start with the chicken. My recipe should really be entitled, "How to make homemade chicken stock into chicken soup". If you have an older cookbook (or one that's based on an older version - like Joy of Cooking) you may have a recipe for 'stock'. Newer cookbooks usually leave that recipe out - since we can use canned broth or bullion. Stock is simply water that has something extracted into it - in our case, chicken and vegetables. This is accomplished by long boiling. Back to the chicken... it is important to use dark meat chicken for 2 reasons.

The dark meat of the chicken has more flavor, due to the higher fat content of the meat. People like fattier foods for this very reason. Now before you go all 'health-nut' on me, let me explain. The fat is where the flavor lies, but after we get all that flavor into our stock, the fat is removed by skimming. The same holds true for baking chicken. Even if you don't eat the chicken skin or fat, leave it on during baking. It keeps the chicken moist, and imparts flavor, but then the skin is taken off revealing succulent, tasty meat beneath!

The bones. Back to my cookbook reference, your stock recipe will tell you to use chicken bones left over from baked chicken. If you don't have them, the recipe will tell you to cook raw bones in oil to release the flavors before making stock. The bone marrow is considered a delicacy in many cultures and is fought over by the children. All of this flavor is needed to make a rich stock, and again - any fats will be skimmed off at the end. A chicken breast just doesn't have what it takes - no fat, no bones, not much flavor. Especially when you consider how much water we're using.

OK - enough about the chicken, on to the veggies. If you look at my recipe, you'll see that I use 1 batch of veggies to boil at the beginning, throw them all away, and use a second set for the final soup. This looks terribly wasteful - why throw away all those good veggies instead of eating them? Let me give you a real life demonstration. Why do we steam carrots (for instance)? Picture a perfectly steamed carrot - just tender enough to pierce with a fork, still a bit crisp. Most of the nutrients have been retained - that's why we steam, and don't boil - the nutrients and flavors don't leach out into the water and get thrown away. Now picture an over-done carrot. Limp, light colored, squishy, and without flavor. It's all been boiled away.

So... what if it's the carrot water we wanted to save? If you wanted to make carrot-flavored-water, you'd boil the life out of that carrot, then have nicely flavored water. That's exactly what we're going for here. We want to keep the juices... the veggies have nothing left to give after long boiling - if you ate them, they'd be squishy, life-less and vitamin-less. It's all been boiled away - into our stock.

The only other comment I have about veggies, is why I don't peel them. It's amazing how much flavor we peel away to prepare vegetables. Of course, we can't eat onion peels - they're dirty, may contain bacteria, and are tough and gross in our mouths. But the flavor can't be beat, and since we're throwing all the solid vegetables away, and we're trying for a rich bold stock, we want all the concentrated flavor we can get! So, I just cut the initial batch of veggies into chunks without peeling. (At this blog, a different result is had using the same basic techniques - she makes concentrated stock. Note the whole veggies - the same as I've described them here.) You'll see a marked difference if you make 2 batches of stock - for 1, use chicken breast and peeled vegetables, and only cook it long enough to tenderize the veggies then eat them. For the other, follow my methods. You'll never go back.

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Basic Chicken Soup

Just one more comment on the veggies. Every basic soup stock requires onion, celery and carrots. This applies to chicken, beef, fish and vegetable stocks. (Get a hold of a traditional cookbook - it will back me up) Even if you aren't partial to celery, for instance, it isn't the flavor of celery that you will taste. It's the combination of those 3 vegetables that come together to create the well-rounded, over all flavor of a good stock. Now, on to the recipe.

3 lbs chicken parts (preferably dark meat, frozen or thawed)
10 cups water
7 carrots
5 stalks celery
2 onions
4-8 cloves garlic (depending on how much you like garlic - 4 cloves will just add a touch of flavor)
2 chicken bullion cubes (this adds many various seasonings and salt - i haven't been able to discover exactly which herbs they contain, so I still use them)
1 t. salt
1 T. parsley (dried)
1/2 t. ground pepper

Place chicken (frozen or fresh) and water into bottom of a large soup pot. Chunk these vegetables, unpeeled, into about 2" pieces and add - 3 carrots, 2 celery, 1 onion, 4 cloves garlic (cut them in half. No need to peel the onions either, and add extra garlic 'paper' from the outside of your bulb). Add 2 bullion cubes - no need to crush.
Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for about 2 hours. The chicken will be done after about 1 hour, but we want to be sure to get all the veggie juices.
Pour through a colander over a very large bowl. Remove the chicken, throw away the veggies. Shred chicken when it is cool enough to handle, throw away any fat, skin and bones.
Cut remaining carrots into quarters lengthwise, then slice, mince celery, chop onion.
Rinse out your pot to remove any veggie skins, then put the stock, veggies and remaining spices over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook just until the veggies are tender - about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

This is the basic chicken soup. Use this exact same recipe to make beef soup - just change the meat (be sure it is in small pieces - better with bones!).

Of course, if you're just after the stock, to use in another recipe, it's ready to go after you strain out the veggies and chicken. For my "sick-day-soup" I doubled the garlic and added chunks of un-peeled ginger to the first boil to add helpful nutrients. Refrigerate the stock (before or after finishing the soup) to firm up the fats on top, then skim them off if you like. I don' t usually bother - there's not that much. For Chicken Noodle, just add about 2-3 C. of egg noodles with the veggies once the soup is boiling- they should take 10 minutes to cook.

Thick and Hearty Chicken and Dumplings

2008-05-21T20:30:00.004+01:00

Traditional Chicken and Dumplings but made using whole wheat! It really adds a deep, nutty, more filling quality than those old white ones! This is one of my all-time-favorite comfort foods. I guess it must bring back memories, although I don't remember having it more than a few times as a kid. Just something about the parsley, I think. For more information about how I make my chicken stock, visit this posting.

Let me comment on the fat content of this recipe. You may be tempted to reduce the amount of oil called for when making the roux for the stew. Don't do it. In order for the heavy dumplings to float, the stew must by thick enough to support them. A small reduction in the roux will mean a significant reduction in the thickness. The dumplings will sink. Even if they don't completely submerge (which mine did upon experimentation) they will still be gummy inside - they should have the consistency of a well-baked biscuit. Dry and light inside. Just tell yourself that it's "comfort food day" and enjoy a little bit of oil. It's olive oil, after all... Also, whole wheat flour won't make the roux as thick - I tried that as well. The gluten is not available because the flour is not as fine.

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Thick and Hearty Chicken and Dumplings

For Stew:
3 lbs chicken parts (any parts, frozen or thawed)
6 cups water
6 carrots
4 stalks celery
2 onions
2 chicken bullion cubes
1/2 C. olive oil/drippings
1/2 C. white flour
1 t. salt
1 T. parsley (dried)
1/2 t. ground pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder

For Dumplings:
1 C. WW flour
1/2 C. white flour
1 T. parsley (dried)
2 rounded t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3 T. shortening or butter
3/4 C. milk (a bit over full, but not 1C)

Prepare Stock:

Place chicken (frozen or fresh) and water into bottom of a 4 qt. dutch oven. Chunk these vegetables into about 2" pieces and add - 3 carrots, 2 celery, 1 onion (no need to peel). Add 2 bullions cubes - no need to crush.
Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for about 2 hours or until chicken is done.
Pour through a colander over a very large bowl. Remove the chicken, throw away the veggies. Shred chicken when it is cool enough to handle, throw away any fat, skin and bones.
Cut remaining carrots into quarters lengthwise, then slice, mince celery, chop onion.
Heat oil (skim stock and use part drippings if you like) in bottom of dutch oven until hot. Add 1/2 C white flour and whisk until no lumps remain. Cook over med. heat for about 2 minutes.
Add stock about 2 cups at a time, whisking well after each addition to remove lumps. When all stock has been added, reduce to low simmer. Add chopped veggies, shredded chicken and spices. Stir occasionally, scraping bottom well.

Prepare Dumplings:

Mix flours, baking powder, salt and parsley in med. bowl. Cut in shortening using pastry blender, 2 knifes, or mashing with your fingers. Stir in milk, and allow to sit for 1-2 minutes - mixture will thicken.
Bring stew to a slow boil. When carrots are almost tender (it is difficult to pierce with fork) stir stew well and then drop dumplings by spoon onto meat and veggies - you should get about 10. Be sure there is meat to land on - if they hit just liquid, they'll sink and get mushy.
Cook in boiling stew for 10 minutes UNCOVERED. Then cook for 10 minutes COVERED. No Peeking! Dumplings should have risen and be firm and fully cooked inside.
Serve 1 or 2 dumplings in a bowl, smothered with stew - enjoy!!

Un-Stuffed Peppers

2008-05-21T20:19:00.004+01:00

A casserole twist on an old favorite. Great for when you don't have enough peppers for all your dinner party. For people who don't like brown rice – you don't notice the heavier texture mixed in with the beef. It's a good way to learn to like your whole grains!

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Un-stuffed Peppers

3-4 bell peppers (any colors - one of each is very nice, and the colored ones are sweeter)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 C. cooked brown rice (white will do fine)
1 t. salt

appx. 1 t. each of:
basil
ground mustard
cumin
parsley
garlic powder
(these are minimums - I usually just sprinkle and taste...)

½ t. black pepper
¼ t. red pepper
16 oz. tomato sauce, divided
1 C. shredded mozzarella

Brown ground beef and onions in medium skillet until beef is done. Drain and pour into a large bowl.
Cut peppers into ½” pieces, add to bowl along with cooked rice.
Add seasonings and 12 oz. of tomato sauce – mix well.
At this point, taste the mixture and adjust the seasonings to your taste. It the tomato flavor is too acidic, add about 1 t. of sugar, mix and taste. It will also lose some acidity as it bakes - don't make it too sweet.
Pour mixture into 9x13 pan, or 12” round, deep casserole. Spread remaining tomato sauce over top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, or until mixture is bubbly around edges.
Uncover, sprinkle with cheese and bake or broil until cheese is browned.
This can be easily covered and refrigerated or frozen - to be baked later.

HINT ABOUT FREEZING: Huge tip here - line your casserole dish with 2 layers of heavy-duty foil. Fill, freeze, then remove the foil. You get your pan back, while the casserole stays wrapped in foil for the freezer - it will fit your pan perfectly when you're ready to bake, and no clean up!

Carrie's Catfish Larue

2008-05-21T20:14:00.002+01:00

Finally, something to do with catfish besides frying it! A blend of tomatoes and Italian seasonings make this a mild fish dish. Great if you don't like that sometimes overpowering catfish taste. For a stronger fish flavor, try making the sauce and serving over grilled or broiled fish.

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Carrie's Catfish Larue

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
8 (4 ounce) fillets catfish fillets
salt and black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
garlic powder to taste
1 (14 ounce) can diced Italian tomatoes (undrained)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup dry white wine

Place 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Sautee onion, green pepper, and carrot until golden brown; remove from the pan.
Using the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, sear all of the fillets on both sides. Then, lay all of the fillets into the skillet, sprinkle with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder. Top with the sauteed vegetables, and pour on the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and white wine.
Bring to a simmer, and cook gently until the sauce has thickened slightly, and fish flakes easily with a fork, about 10 minutes.

Easy Ground Beef Pot Pie

2008-05-21T20:05:00.002+01:00

This is a great make-ahead-and-freeze recipe for 3 beef pot pies! It's easy to make, but still tastes completely homemade because it uses real gravy, not canned. I usually make one, and freeze the rest of the filling in 2- 1 qt. freezer bags to have a quick and easy dinner in a pinch! Or, leave out the crust and bake all the filling in one greased 9x13 pan for a great casserole.

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Easy Ground Beef Pot Pie

2 lbs. lean ground beef
2 onions, chopped
1 t. thyme
6 t. beef bullion granules, or 6 cubes, crushed
3 C. frozen country hashbrowns (the cubed kind)
2 C. frozen mixed vegetables
1 C. frozen peas
1C frozen corn
8 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
5 T. butter
1/2 C. flour
5-6 C. milk
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. pepper
3 double 9" crusts (leave these out for casserole)

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Brown ground beef in very large skillet (or use 2 smaller skillets) when beef is about half-way cooked, add chopped onion. When beef is fully cooked and onions are tender, add thyme and beef bullion. Stir well and remove from heat.
Mix all frozen veggies and cheese in a very large mixing bowl. Add ground beef mixture and mix well.
In med. saucepan melt butter. Add flour and stir constantly with a whisk. At 2 min, it will look grainy, at 4 min it should look like a liquid again, at about 6 min, it should have a nice brown color and a nutty fragrance.
Add milk, 1C at a time WHISKING WELL AFTER EACH ADDITION. Now is the time to remove lumps. Add enough milk to make a 'gravy'. When it looks perfect, add 1/2 C more milk - it will thicken in the oven. Season with garlic and pepper to taste. No salt is needed - the bullion will add plenty.
Pour the gravy over the meat and veggies in the large bowl and mix well.
There should be about 12 C. of filling. Line a 9" deep dish pie pan with 1 crust, fill with 4 C. of filling and top with a second crust - fix the edge and slit the top as you like. Bake in a 350 oven for about 30 min, or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to set up for about 5 minutes before slicing.
For the casserole pour all filling into a greased 9x13 dish (or put 4 cups into a small, greased casserole dish) and bake until hot and bubbly - about 25-30 min.
Freeze remaining filling in 2-1 qt. freezer bags.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

2008-05-21T19:56:00.003+01:00

Throw this yummy stew together in just 20 minutes and dinner is ready when you come home. It can be served as a clear soup or, for an extra 10 min, a creamy stew. Thighs are used for that rich dark-meat flavor, and are easy to de-bone after they are cooked.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

3 chicken thighs (frozen or fresh)
3 medium potatos (regular, sweet or both)
5-6 carrots
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 cans chicken broth + extra water
1 T. parsley
2 t. rosemary
1 t. freshly cracked pepper
2 t. chicken bullion (2 cubes)

optional:
1/3 C. butter
1/3 C. flour

Remove skin and fat from chicken thighs, and place on the bottom of a 4 qt. slow cooker. (you can use frozen-solid chicken too - the skin and fat can be removed later)
Wash and chop into cubes potatos, carrots and onion and layer into cooker. Mince garlic and sprinkle on top.
Add spices and pour broth over top. Liquid should come ALMOST to the top of the vegetables. If not, top up with more broth or water.
Set cooker to low and cook for about 6-8 hours. Don't use the high setting for only 4 hours - the herbs and spices turn very bitter with that much heat. (I tried! If you must cook it faster, leave out all the herbs and spices until your soup comes out of the cooker - add them to your pot on the stove, and simmer about 10 minutes)
After 6-8 hours, pour contents through a colander over a large bowl. The chicken should be right on top and can be easily de-boned on a cutting board with a knife and fork.
The chicken, broth and vegetables can now be mixed back together and eaten as a clear soup OR:
Melt 1/3 C. butter in a heavy bottomed pot. Add 1/3 C. flour and whisk smooth. Cook for 3 min., stiring constantly. Add 2 C. stock, and whisk until smooth. Add remaining stock and bring to a simmer. Check taste, add veggies and chicken, and serve with crusty french bread or corn bread!

Italian Vegetable and Pasta Sautee

2008-05-21T19:52:00.002+01:00

A beautiful, colorful way to use fresh produce from your garden. If you don't tell, no one will know that it's good for them! This is one of the few recipes that I can claim, 100% - I made it up one day after a trip through my garden.

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Italian Vegetable and Pasta Sautee

1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 onion
3 T. olive oil
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. oregano
1/4 t. thyme
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. onion powder
1 lg. tomato (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
2 C. dried garden spiral pasta
parmesan cheese (optional)
fresh black pepper (optional)

Cut zucchini and squash in half, then slice into 1/2 inch pieces. Dice onion. Combine in a med. bowl. Add olive oil and all spices, mix well, and marinate for 20 min (or overnight, covered in fridge.)
Dice tomato and place in colander over the sink (or drain canned tomatoes in colander) Bring 2 qt. lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Boil pasta for 1 min. less than the package directs. Drain pasta over tomatoes.
Sautee marinated vegetables in a large, heavy skillet for about 10 min, or until onion begins to caramelize and squash begins to brown. Add pasta and tomatoes and cook until hot, and noodles crisp on the edges. Top individual servings with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and cracked pepper.

Creamy 100% Fruit Smoothie

2008-05-21T19:47:00.002+01:00

A real, 100% fruit smoothy that is creamy without milk, ice, or ice cream! No processed sweeteners make this 100% delicious and 100% good for you!

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Creamy 100% Fruit Smoothie

1/4 C. frozen (thawed) fruit juice concentrate (any type)
3/4 C. water
1 banana
Others as you Like:
frozen strawberries, blueberries, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, canned or fresh pineapple

This is a basic fruit smoothie recipe. From here you can make any flavor you like! The secret to a creamy milk-free smoothie are the bananas. Peel a bunch of bananas, break them in half, and place them in a gallon freezer bag and store in the freezer. They will break apart easily later. This, along with other frozen fruits will act as the thickener in your smoothie. Frozen peaches make a great thickener but they don't add much flavor- so you can use them even when you don't want a peach taste. I find that frozen fruits are cheaper than fresh, and they keep SOOO much longer!
The basic recipe is as follows: Place 1/4C. fruit juice concentrate and 3/4C. water in your blender. With the blender running, add 1 whole banana (2 frozen pieces).
Now it's up to you! Below are some suggestions.

Strawberry banana smoothie: Use orange or apple juice concentrate, 1 banana, and add about 6-7 frozen strawberries to the basic shake. Also, i really enjoy using white grape/peach juice concentrate on this one!
Tropical Smoothie: Begin with orange juice concentrate, but instead of water, add an 8 oz. can of pineapple tidbits (in juice) and 2T coconut, along with your banana. If the shake is not thick enough, add another banana half or some frozen peaches.
Berry Blast Shake: Begin with apple juice concentrate and water, add 1 banana and 1/4C. each of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries - or your favorite combination!
Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie: This one is not quite so good FOR you, but Oh So Good! Start with 1 C. milk, or for dairy-free use 1C. water. Add 3-4 banana pieces, 2-4T. peanut butter, and more banana or peaches to thicken. For a real treat, add 1T chocolate chips or chocolate syrup!

Asparagus with Pecans and Parmesan

2008-05-21T19:33:00.002+01:00

This is one of my very favorite ways to serve asparagus. The tasty green spring flavor comes through, but is well mixed with the toasted nuts and cheese. It's fairly easy and quick to prepare, especially if you prep everything by washing and chopping earlier in the day.

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Asparagus with Pecans and Parmesan

1 bunch asparagus spears, ends trimmed
2 tablespoons butter
1 (8 ounce) package sliced mushrooms
1 onion, minced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place asparagus in a 12" skillet with 1/2" water and steam until fork-tender. Place on a serving plate and keep warm.
Use the same skillet to melt butter over medium-high heat. Once melted and beginning to brown, saute the onions until they begin to turn clear, about 5 min. Add mushrooms and cook until tender. Season with garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped pecans, and cook for a minute more.
Pour over the asparagus in the serving dish and sprinkle with cheese, and cover with a lid. Serve when cheese has melted.

French Vanilla Ice Cream

2008-05-21T19:24:00.004+01:00

I know that this is not an original recipe, but I'm sure can't remember where it came from. Oh well...

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French Vanilla Ice Cream

3 eggs
1 C. white sugar
2 C. milk (any type except skim)
2 C. light cream (half 'n' half)
1 T. vanilla

Beat the eggs and milk in a medium saucepan, then add sugar.
Cook over low-med heat, stirring constantly with a wire whisk, until mixture thickens - about 10 minutes. Remove from heat as soon as it's thick. Constant stirring will keep the egg from curdling. If your egg does curdle, strain through a fine mesh seive after cooking is complete, and you'll be fine.
Cool, then add cream and vanilla. I use homemade vanilla, which is slightly weaker than the store bought variety - start with 2 t. and adjust to taste. Since the eggs are cooked, go ahead and have a spoonful... it's warm custard right now!
Freeze according to the directions that come with your ice cream machine.

Out of This World Chocolate Syrup

2008-05-21T18:59:00.003+01:00

I found this recipe floating out on the internet, because they don't have Hershey's Chocolate Syrup here in the UK. Chocolate milk is a favorite for both Matt and I, and Hershey's Syrup was a staple at home. Now, Matt tells me that I'm not allowed to buy Hershey's, even when we get back to the states because this is so much better. Once you taste this, Hershey's won't taste like Chocolate anymore. Seriously... try them side by side on your finger... And, of course, no corn syrup or chemical preservatives. I use this syrup to make wonderful chocolate milk, and just mix it up stronger and heat it in the microwave or over the stove for hot chocolate. And don't even get me started about when I poured it over homemade French Vanilla Ice Cream and fresh strawberries...

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Out Of This World Chocolate Syrup

1/2 cup cocoa (any brand)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dash salt

Whisk together cocoa, sugar, and salt in a medium heavy saucepan(make sure it's larger than you think you'll need). Add water and mix until smooth.
Bring this mixture to a boil. Allow it to boil for 2 minutes after it comes to a rolling boil (use a timer - don't guess). Be careful this does not boil over.
Remove from heat, and when cooled add vanilla. Will appear really runny but will thicken up as it cools.
Stores (from what I can tell) rather indefinitely - covered in the fridge. If you have a large, empty Hershey's bottle, you can double the recipe and put it in there!

Simple Homemade Hot Chocolate

2008-05-21T18:55:00.003+01:00

Have you seen the movie Chocolat? It was Vianne's hot chocolate that inspired this thick creamy drink. "Instant" hot chocolate won't even taste like chocolate anymore! And it's so simple!!

Update: Since discovering this tasty treat, I've found an easier, tastier way! And the new way can make chocolate milk too... visit that posting over here.

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Simple Homemade Hot Chocolate

4 heaping T. cocoa powder
8 heaping T. white sugar
16 oz. milk, divided

Mix cocoa and sugar together in a med. saucepan. Add 1/2 the milk, and whisk thoroughly until all the powder is absorbed, then add remaining milk.
Heat over med/low heat, whisking about every 1 min, scraping the bottom and corners well, until tiny bubbles just break the surface.
Serve in heavy mugs with mini-marshmallows or whipped cream.

Your Mom's Macaroni and Cheese

2008-05-21T18:48:00.003+01:00

Actually, this recipe is my mom's. Roughly... the secret is in the cheddar. Use the oldest, most mature, sharpest cheddar you can find. In the states, it's usually listed as 'extra' sharp or 'New York' sharp. Regular sharp just won' t cut it! If you've ever had my mac 'n' cheese, you'll understand why.

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Your Mom's Macaroni and Cheese

8 oz. elbow macaroni
1/4 C. butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 onion, diced finely
1/4 C. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/2 t. granulated garlic, or garlic powder
2-3 C. milk
8 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Pre-heat oven to 375.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente (just a tiny bit tough - usually 1 minute less than the directions) Drain and set aside.
Melt butter in a medium sauce pan. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent - about 5 min. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder. (it might sound gross, but the garlic really is necessary!) Add flour and whisk together. Cook, whisking frequently, until butter mixture is beginning to turn brown - about 5 min.
Add 1 C. of milk, and whisk until very thick and all lumps are gone. Continue to add milk until it is the consistency of pudding.
Over low heat, add cheese, and stir until melted. It is very important to use EXTRA sharp cheddar - that's where the incredible taste comes from - even regular sharp won't do it.
The cheese sauce should be a little thin, so add more milk if necessary. Adjust seasonings to taste. Add pasta to sauce and stir well.
Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and bake for about 30 min or until top browns and the edges bubble.

Authentic Indian Naan

2008-05-21T18:40:00.004+01:00

This Naan bread is as close as I've seen to restaurant quality. It's certainly a far cry better then the pre-packaged stuff you buy at the store (if you can even find it!) I adapted this recipe from one of Emeril's over at Food Network, changing the method of preparation. I tried it in the oven (his method), and that's where it failed - the skillet version makes a soft, light bread - perfect for eating with curry

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Authentic Indian Naan Bread

2 t. yeast
1 t. sugar
1 C. warm water, 120 degrees
2 C. flour, more for kneading
1 t. salt
1 stick (1/2 C) butter + olive oil

Mix yeast and sugar into water, and rest for about 5 min or until foamy.
Meanwhile, clarify butter. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Allow to boil briefly, then remove from heat. After butter has cooled slightly, the foam will be solid enough to remove with a spoon. Butter should be clear, not cloudy. Measure again, and add olive oil to get 1/2 C.
Stir flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Make a well in the middle and add yeast mixture and butter. Mix together with one hand - it will be soupy. Add enough flour to make a very soft dough, then knead for 3 min. It can be a little sticky. Place in a bowl greased with oil or butter and rise until doubled in a warm place, about 45 min.
Gently deflate dough and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll dough into thin rounds, about 6-8" each.
Heat a large, heavy (cast iron preferably) skillet over med-high heat. Add a TINY amount of butter - we're talking almost none. You should have to scrape the bottom of the skillet with a spatula to spread it around. The butter will be dark and smoking by now. Place the rolled out dough onto the butter, flip after 30 seconds. Flatten the bubbles with your spatula to help the other side brown evenly.
Serve with any indian dish, roll around sandwich meats and cheese, stuff with taco mix or hummus!

Authentic Indian Curry

2008-05-21T18:00:00.003+01:00

This recipe is from our church missionaries Abraham and Lilian Ephriam when they were here on furlough from India. This curry will surpass any you've tasted in the best Indian restaurant! It is well worth the time and extra spices needed! Traditionally, only chicken would have been used - no veggies at all (except as flavorings)! But, they said that these veggies would be "ok"...

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Authentic Indian Curry

1/4 C. oil
1 cinnamon stick
2-4 whole cloves
1 whole dried hot pepper
1 onion
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2" piece ginger root, peeled
1/4 C. fresh mint, chopped
1/4 C. fresh cilantro
3 tomatoes (1 diced)
salt to taste
3 chicken breasts, diced
1-1/2 T. curry powder
1 T. coriander
1/2 T. cumin
1-1/2 T. turmeric
2 potatoes, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
1 can coconut milk

Before you begin, chop all the veggies, dice the chicken, and do this preparation:
In the blender, combine 1 onion, garlic and ginger until pureed. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.
Blend 2 tomatoes, mint and cilantro, set aside

1. In a very large skillet, saute cinnamon, cloves, and hot pepper in oil for 3-5 min. If you break open the pepper, you'll have a fairly hot dish. Leave it whole, and the heat will be quite subtle. Sprinkle some cayenne in at the end if it's still not hot enough to suit you.
2. Add onion puree to skillet and saute 2 min. Add tomato puree to skillet, saute 2 min.
3. Add seasonings and chicken and saute 10 min. or until chicken is almost cooked through (still a bit pink is fine).
Add all diced vegetables and simmer until potatoes are soft, appx. 15 min. Add a small amount of water if necessary.
4. When everything is cooked through, remove from heat and stir in coconut milk - more or less to taste.

Serve over hot rice, and remember to warn your guests about the whole pepper, cloves and cinnamon stick!

Healthy Tasty Zucchini Bread

2008-05-21T17:26:00.008+01:00

I've developed a few theories about the stuff it takes to make yummy veggie/fruit breads. Below is what I've come up with. I hope you can use what I've written here to make your own healthy, tasty breads!!

Comments on the ingredients:

Zucchini/Carrots:
My husband always asks, “What’s the zucchini for again?”. He can’t taste it, doesn’t see it, and doesn’t really think you get anything from it. Actually, baking doesn’t remove the nutritional value any more than steaming, sautéing, or other forms of cooking. It’s there to add fiber, and a serving of veggies… well, not quite a whole serving, but more than none at all! The recipe has 3 cups of zucchini - that's the same amount as the flour - a big part of the bread! I use a mixture of zucchini and carrots – either one or the other will work just fine.

Sugar:
This is the only ingredient in my bread that’s not-so-good for you. I had to leave something in to make the rest tasty enough to eat! I have not tried this bread with raw sugar, or replacing some sugar with honey or agave, but I’m sure they would work well. If you try any replacement sweeteners, let me know how it goes!

Applesauce:
This entirely replaces the oil in the traditional recipe. No fat at all in this bread! You don’t have to use chunky, but I like fruit in my bread, and this works really well. I use sweetened, but you could use unsweetened, of course.

Egg Replacer:
I use 2 eggs, and 2 “egg replacers” in this recipe. This cuts the cholesterol in half for this bread, and (for what I can get here in the UK) actually makes it cheaper to make. I haven’t tried to replace all 4 eggs yet, but I bet it would work just fine. I use Whole Egg Replacer, not just the whites. I can get soy replacer, so that also makes this bread vegan (if you replaced all 4). You will need to follow the instructions on your box of replacer. Most tell you to add the powder in with the dry ingredients, and add water to the wet ingredients. Just make sure to use the “2 eggs” directions.

Whole Grain Flour:
This is the healthiest part of the whole recipe. My loaf contains oat bran, ground flaxseed and whole wheat – no white flour is needed! Here’s what I do: take a 1 C. measure, pour oat bran in (I use roughly ½ C.) then add ground flaxseed (I use roughly 4 T) then top it off with wheat flour. That makes your first cup of flour – no need to measure everything separately, and remember how much you used. I use plain whole wheat for the rest. You can use any kind of flour here. Also, if you want a lighter textured bread, but still like the idea of whole-grain nutrition, you can use ¼ C. wheat bran with ¾ C. white flour. That’s roughly equal to a whole cup of whole wheat. It will be much lighter than whole wheat, without sacrificing nutrition. Or, add wheat germ or bran to your already whole wheat flour for even more nutrition!

Dried Fruit:
Very good for you – any kind will work. Raisins, apples, papaya – whatever interests you! Nearly all dried fruit contains iron – plus gives a chewy sweetness to the bread.

Nuts:
While nuts do contain oil, it’s usually the “good kind” of fat, and they also have lots of other benefits. I’ll list a few below.

Here is a summary of what’s good in this bread, along with my sources. I won’t list amounts, because it depends on how much you use, but it will give you an idea of what you’ll be feeding your family or guests!

Zucchini: manganese, Vit. C, and a very long list of others including some Omega 3!

Carrot: Vitamins A, K, C, fiber, potassium, B6

Applesauce: depends on what kind you use – but definitely more fruit, and NO FAT!

Eggs: Selenium, iodine, B2, protein, B12, phosphorus (the website gives
wonderful data on the benefits of eggs – I’m considering putting the other 2 eggs back into my recipe!)

Whole Wheat Flour: huge amounts of manganese, fiber, magnesium

Oat Bran: manganese, selenium, phosphorus, fiber, magnesium, protein

Flaxseed: The Omega 3 fatty acids are off the charts!! I add flaxseed to anything I can bake (since I don’t eat a lot of fish – the other great source). Be sure to use ground – the nutrition in whole seeds won’t get absorbed very well.

Dried Fruit: Nearly all dried fruits contain iron, and raisins also provide many other health benefits including American’s only source of boron!

Nuts: the following are popular nuts for baking breads – if you’re not a nut fan, try chopping finely or using ground nuts in place of some of your flour – you won’t taste them, and you’ll still gain the benefits!

Walnuts: Omega 3 (huge amounts), manganese, copper
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=99#healthbenefits

Almonds: manganese, Vit. E, magnesium, monounsaturated fats (the good kind) which help reduce heart disease

Have fun feeding your family healthy, hearty, yummy Zucchini bread!!

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Healthy Tasty Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups shredded zucchini/carrots (I use 1 zucchini and 2 carrots)
1 2/3 C. sugar
2/3 C. chunky applesauce
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs
Egg replacer (2 eggs worth – see notes above)
3 C. whole grain flour (see notes)
2 t. baking soda
½ t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 ½ t. cinnamon
½ t. cloves
½ c. dried fruit
½ c. chopped nuts

OK – the basic recipe.
1. Mix together the zucchini, sugar, applesauce, vanilla, eggs.
2. In another bowl, mix remaining ingredients.
3. Mix all together, pour into a 9x5 loaf pan (or 2 smaller ones) bottoms greased and bake at 350 for roughly an hour.
4. You can also make 24+ muffins with this recipe. Fill cups ¾ full, bake for 15-20 minutes.

This bread tends to be dense – test using a wooden pick, then (personally) I give it 10 minutes more after it comes out clean (lower the temp to 325 or cover with foil if it's too brown already). I ALWAYS have a soft spot in the middle if I don’t!

And a note on muffins. I find that they cook through more easily, and if you don' t use papers, are so much cleaner to eat that I prefer to grab one of those on my way out the door! You don't have to get out a knife and cutting board, and since they're basically "all crust" you don't have crumbs falling everywhere (a big plus if you're jumping in the car!) - I almost always make this bread in muffin form, ever since I tried it the first time.

Carrie's Adapted Baby Sock

2008-05-10T16:14:00.001+01:00

Carrie’s Adapted Baby Sock

Rib Top Chevron

Finished Sock Size – Infant sized

3” toe to heel

2 ¾” heel to cuff

4” foot circumference

Yarn

3 ply. 100% wool – 50g/230 meters

Needles

5 dpns – 3mm

Stitch Guide

Ssp: Slip 2 stitches individually kwise, return these 2 sts to left needle, purl them together through the back loops.

Sssp: Slip 3 stitches individually kwise, return these 3 sts to left needle, purl

them together through their back loops

YO: Bring working yarn forward under needle then up and over needle towards the rear – used in knit rows

YO backwards: YOB is made by placing the working yarn under the needle towards the rear, and then bringing it forward over needle – used in purl rows

Kitchner Stitch: Cut yarn from knitting – leave 18” of yarn. Divide sts evenly upon 2 needles – heel sts and instep sts. Thread yarn needle, and stitch as follows - insert yarn needle as P into front st, then as K into back st. Then follow pattern - knit-slip (front needle), purl-no slip (front needle), purl-slip (back needle) knit-no slip (back needle). Yarn should always be passed below needles

Beginning Leg:

CO 44 sts. Distribute evenly across 3 dpns. Place marker, then join for working in the round.

Ribbing:

Rnds 1-4: K2, P2

Rnd 5: K2, P2tog

Rnd 6-7: K2, P1

~33 sts remain~

Leg: Divide sts as follows, and remove marker:

9 sts on one dpn (working yarn to the right)

9 sts on next needle to the left

15 remaining sts on last needle

Chevron Lace: (CL) is worked over 9 sts and 6

rows. Work CL on each needle with 9 sts, and on the first 9 sts of the last needle – K the last 6 sts.

Chevron Lace:

Row 1: Knit entire row

Row 2: K2tog, YO, K5, YO, SSK

Row 3: Knit entire row

Row 4: K1, K2tog, YO, K3, YO, SSK, K1

Row 5: Knit entire row

Row 6: K2, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K2

Work CL pattern twice – 12 rows, always

knitting final 6 sts on the last needle

(this will create chevrons pointing towards

the toe – reverse order of rows to make chevrons point toward cuff – alternate patterns to create diamonds)

Row 12 of CL: Make 1 st by picking up a bar

Beside one of the 6 knits

~34 stitches~

Rearrange Stitches: (use 4 dpns)

Place 17 sts on one dpn – center the 6Ksts

on that needle. This will split the side chevrons

4 sts on one needle on each side of 17 (side

needles)

9 sts on last needle (instep) – centered on

CL pattern

(if only 3 dpns are had, place the 9 CL sts and 4 sts to the left on same needle)

It may be necessary to knit forward to bring the working yarn to the right of the 17 sole sts – 1 entire knit row may be added if necessary

Heel:

Row 1: (RS – knit) Knit 16, turn

leaving 1 st unworked

Row 2: YOB, p to end – turn leaving last st

unworked

Row 3: YO, knit to paired sts, turn leaving

pair unworked

Row 4: YOB, purl to paired sts, turn leaving

pair unworked

Repeat rows 3 & 4 until 5 sts remain between pairs – end on purl (WS) row

Heel Cup:

Row 1: (RS) YO, knit to paired st, K1 (first

st of pair) correct mount of next st (so that leading edge is on the front of the needle) K2tog (corrected st and first st of next pair) leaving next YO – turn

Row 2: (WS) YOB, purl to paired st, P1

(first st of pair) SSP (the YO with the first st of next pair) leaving the YO (see stitch guide) – turn

Row 3: YO, knit to paired st, K1 (first st of

next pair) correct mount of next 2 sts, K3tog, turn

Row 4: YOB, purl to pair, P1 (first st of

next pair) SSSP – turn

Row 5: YO, knit to next pair, K1 (first st of

next pair) correct mount of next 2 sts, K3tog – turn

Repeat rows 4 & 5 until all YOs have been

consumed. The last turn will bring the right side facing – 1 YO left on needle

Joining Round:

YO, knit to YO at end of needle, place this YO on next needle then K2tog, knit to last stitch before sole, place this stitch on sole needle, then work as SSK – Round begins at beg of sole sts

Foot:

Work knit sts across sole needle and ‘side’ needles, and work 2 repetitions of Chevron Lace on center needle – 12 rows

When CL is complete, work 1 row of knit all the way around

Toe:

Work the same as for the heel – be sure the

correct sts are on the sole needle. Do not work joining round.

Join toe to foot using kitchner stitch. Weave

in all ends.

Options to change size of sock:

Increase length of foot/leg – add knit rows

between chevron repeats

Increase diameter – CO more stitches (an even

number) then:

Add knits between Chevrons to keep 1 chevron centered on the instep, and move side chevrons farther to the sides
You will not need to make an extra stitch after leg if there is an even number of sts.
For rearranging – 9 sts should remain on the instep needle for working chevron. ½ of the total # of sts should be on the sole. Remaining sts will be on the “side” needles
Heel/toe width is increased by increasing the number of stitches between pairs before forming heel cup. 5 sts ~ 1” heel width, 9 sts ~ 1 ½” heel width. Always end on WS row.