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Irish Chicken and dumplings

2010-03-17T12:49:00.001-07:00

I forgot to take a picture yet again!
Three words for you: filling, easy, tasty. Make sure you ball the dumplings! if you just drop a tablespoon of dumpling batter in it goes flat. I added 1 Tsp of poultry seasoning instead of 1/2 and another 2 C. water. I thought it looked like to little, but ended up with too much so next time I suppose I will have to stick with the recipe even if it seems there will not be enough.

Get the recipe HERE

Laughter is brightest where food is best. —-Irish Proverb

Alfredo Sauce

2010-03-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

Another Alfredo I tried, I added Sauteed asparagus and baby portabello mushrooms. And a little dried tomato for extra flavor. If you want to try Alfredo from scratch this is a good starting point. Enjoy!

Get the recipe HERE

"Nouvelle Cuisine, roughly translated, means: I can’t believe I paid ninety-six dollars and I’m still hungry." ~Mike Kalin

Easy Lasagne

2010-03-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make my own for once instead of buying a frozen package. I added Italian sausage as a tip from my mom. and it came out perfect! Very little ingredients compared to many recipes I found, the less ingredients the better when you are on a budget. The picture is too blurry to do it justice. I will say the only change I will do next time is spread a little sauce on the bottom of the pan before adding the sauce to the meat. The meat raises the noodles a little otherwise. I will be making this again!

Get the recipe HERE

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food." ~George Bernard Shaw

Baklava

2010-03-17T12:28:00.001-07:00

Okay now this was great fun to make. Two of my girl friends came over and we made an evening of Baklava and a movie. Each of us took a job for making the baklava. worked out very well, especially for our first time! because there were three of us we had no problem with the phyllo dough drying out and not finishing quick enough. We ended up with very tall baklava, but extremely good. We had a great time making it and eating it. We probably ate a little too much!
Have a girls night and give it a try it is worth the time!

Get the recipe HERE

"One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends. " ~Laurie Colwin

Breakfast upside down cake

2010-03-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry I forgot to take a picture!
I did this opposite as I had no parchment paper and had no way to flip it. Was very good, makes a great breakfast for dinner. A little time consuming but if you are truly in the mood for breakfast and don't mind the wait it is worth it. I cut down on the bacon and added a couple more eggs, doubled the milk, and cheese. Served with toast.

Get the recipe HERE

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." ~J. R. R. Tolkien

Alfredo Primavera

2010-03-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

This was delicious. Easy, quick and flavorful. Do not forget the red bell pepper, it adds to this dish so much. sprinkle a little fresh Parmesan cheese and a side of garlic bread (I like cheesy garlic bread myself) and you have a great meal. The family ate it up and I had no complaints.

Get the recipe HERE

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."
~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti

Stir Fry

2010-02-16T11:51:00.001-08:00

I love oriental and enjoy trying new things at home. I have found that for stir fry I actually prefer Soba noodles instead of rice. I must admit I do purchase the frozen stir fry vegetable mix instead of doing it myself. I also buy the egg rolls, although I have been looking for recipes to make my own. That will come soon enough I am sure. I buy stir fry cut beef, and I wanted to do something different then my normal terriyaki marinade that I find myself using far too often. For the beef I found a very good recipe with few ingredients. I am very impressed with it! The recipe is for a complete stir fry dish, I did just the beef. Next time I think I will do the entire dish. I wanted to give it a try but wanted to stick to my usual just in case. I will be having again, and maybe by then I will have an egg roll recipe to share. And possibly even a crab rangoon recipe as they are soo good.

Stir fried beef recipe HERE

"And I find chopsticks frankly distressing. Am I alone in thinking it odd that a people ingenious enough to invent paper, gunpowder, kites and any number of other useful objects, and who have a noble history extending back 3,000 years haven’t yet worked out that a pair of knitting needles is no way to capture food?" ~Bill Bryson

Shrimp Scampi And Lobster

2010-02-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

What a treat for Valentines! They had lobster on sale so we gave it a try. Although I did not make the scampi (as I had a friend over who cooked everything) I did have the pleasure of figuring out how to cut and marinade the lobster. Very tasty! The scampi was good, a little too much lemon for my taste. Lobster could have been more tender, but will have to play with the cooking times a little. Very delicious meal in the long run though, and easy to make. We had ours with edamame, would work well with various types of rice or veggies.

Shrimp Scampi recipes HERE
Lobster recipe HERE

Fish, to taste right, must swim three times – in water, in butter and in wine. ~Polish proverb

Easy Slow Cooker French Dip

2010-02-06T12:36:00.001-08:00

Flavorful, tender meat with au jus dipping sauce. Okay so what did I change? I added a little garlic powder, worcester sauce, and mushrooms. Used Guinness Draught for the beer as recommended by others. Couldn't taste the beer at all! I sliced the meat thinly when it's 7 hours was up, then put it back into the sauce for 30min before making the sandwiches. Unfortunately I ended up with hoagie rolls instead of french rolls. Still good but I think the french would have held up a lot better. The store was out of french though so I got what I could. Broiled some provolone cheese onto the hoagie for a min and what a great tasting easy recipe. Served mine with baked potato's. but decided for my lunch I would rather have chips. Fries would work well also and you could dip them in the au jus. This recipe does not take a lot of different ingredients and the only costly part to it really is the meat. If you don't drink beer, check with your local liquor store to see if you can just buy 1. They allow it here in Cheyenne, but every place is different. Lacking a little on the spices on the original recipe, but as long as you have a base recipe the spices are easy to adjust.

Get the recipe HERE

"I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation."
~ Madame Benoit

Not a recipe

2010-01-31T21:11:00.000-08:00

Today's post isn't about a recipe but a friend. If you enjoy reading and want to find new books to try then I have a site for you. It is a blog that a personal friend of mine has started, and I must say for her first post she made me want to go read the book she reviewed!
Click HERE to check her out!

Alfredo

2010-01-30T14:38:00.001-08:00

I used a base Alfredo recipe, which turned out really well. I added 1/4 C. Gouda which made it very cheesy Alfredo, my family enjoyed it being extra cheesy. I also sauteed 2 garlic cloves, asparagus, baby portebello mushrooms, and sun dried tomato's for additional flavoring. We did really enjoy this recipe, and it gives so much room to add to it. Served over linguine or really any other pasta's that takes in the sauce makes this dish complete. And I fond that doing it home made is simple and by far better then the ones you buy in a jar. Although I will say I will have my jarred ones occasionally, but if I get the chance I will be doing this on my own from now on.

Get the recipe HERE

"You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients." ~Julia Child

Italian Breaded Pork Chops

2010-01-20T10:48:00.000-08:00

My family loved this recipe! I ended up getting a bunch of pork chops on sale and well have to find different ways to cook them! I did not use Italian bread crumbs however, I had some country style stuffing left over so I got out the hammer and made it into crumbs, added 1/2ts. of sage, and 1/2ts. of basil to get that Italian flavor. Used grated Parmesan/Romano mix instead of just Parmesan. Way to much left over though, I followed others advice and cut down to 2 eggs, with 3 large pork chops I still had probably and egg worth left over. Also had a bit of the crumbs left over as well. I had to transfer it to a casserole dish, my pork chops were bigger then anticipated. It was a little greasy but not too bad. All in all this recipe is going into our monthly rotation. Server with asparagus and portebello mushrooms in a white sauce.

Get the recipe HERE

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

Zucchini Bread

2010-01-20T10:42:00.001-08:00

MMmm I do love zucchini bread! and this recipe is perfect! It's moist, full of flavor, and has that just right amount of sweetness. This is a keeper! Even had my kids taking it out of my fridge by the handfuls! And really easy to make. I used my mixer but that is the only thing I did different then the recipe says. Enjoy!

Get the recipe HERE

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie." ~Jim Davis

Simple Time Pork Chops

2010-01-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

Interesting recipe that I thought I would give a shot, however it is not something I would do again. I think I may have put to much mayo on it, but I really didn't like the flavor with the mayo in general. A little bland for my taste as well. I will be trying a lot more pork chop recipes as the store was having a sale so I ended up with a lot of them. Hey who can go wrong with bulk packages of buy one get one free? If you want to give it a try or maybe play with the recipe, I would be happy to try other variations. And due to me having more pork chops to play with if you have a recipe I would love to give it a try.

Recipe HERE

"High-tech tomatoes. Mysterious milk. Supersquash. Are we supposed to eat this stuff? Or is it going to eat us?" ~Annita Manning

Crock pot Speghetti and meatballs

2009-12-30T16:30:00.000-08:00

Okay so this isn't really a recipe but it is something that I do that is easy.
I put in a large jar of spaghetti (either Ragu or Prego) around noon on low (can add additional seasonings at this time)
Add pre-made fully cooked meatballs a couple of hours before dinner time
Saute onions and garlic and add those when adding the meat.
Make noodles when you are ready to eat. Sometimes I add cheese to the sauce while I am making the noodles. Parmesan or cheddar.
And there is a very little hassle meal. Goes great with french bread, or garlic toast my favorite!

I always have left over sauce, which is fine because you can make noodles and add it in for another meal. For a change of pace I will do rigatoni noodles or even make a goulash out of it. Yum!

Crockpot Pork Chops

2009-12-28T16:39:00.000-08:00

This is one of my experiment crock pot ideas that I did a few years ago. I take frozen pork chops put them in on hi for 1 hour then split them apart and spread them across the bottom of the crock pot. I then take 5 slices of thick cut bacon (I prefer maple) put 3 across lengthwise and split the other 2 in half and make a criss cross pattern and cook the rest on low for 5 hours. Seasoning depends on what your in the mood for, tonight I did a little basil and Ms. Dash seasoning. Sometimes I use italian season, experiment with this as you like based on the seasonings you enjoy. Add little salt and pepper and you are ready for some fall off the bone pork chops (literally). Do not add liquid, as the bacon and chops do all of that for you. Since the chops fall apart when removing them from the crockpot I suggest the use of a spatula, a fork will not do the job.
I usually remove the bacon split it up and put that into green beans for a side dish. Tonight I added 1 clove of garlic and 1/2 onion with the green beans for something differents and simmered for 15 minutes in a sauce pan with 1/4 C. water. Serve with either rice or mashed potatos and you have a complete meal.

"I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation."
~ Madame Benoit

Turkey Pot Pie

2009-12-27T21:08:00.001-08:00

For the first time I have made a pot pie with out buying it from the freezer isle. I did make a lot of changes though. First off I used 1 garlic clove (minced), 1 1/2 stalks of celery (chopped), 1/2 onion (minced). Secondly, they want you to put a lot of parsley in, I am not a huge fan of parsley so I put in only a few pinches. Third, I ran out of oregano so I used 1 tsp of Italian seasoning instead. And fourth, instead of fresh carrots I put in 1 1/2 C. of frozen mixed veggies (carrots, green beans, peas, and corn) at the cool down time. I made it ahead of time and refrigerated until it was time for dinner. I also used Pillsbury pie crust. I like the Pillsbury pie crust, not only is it easy but it does taste good and saves a lot of time. Next time I will add more onion, but did not want to overwhelm the hubby with it and was afraid it would be too much. And I have to play with the seasonings a little more as it was kind of bland. I love how thick it came out, made a very filling meal out of 1 piece. Other then what I have listed I followed the recipes instructions. Please remember when making this you MUST allow the veggie mix to cool before adding it to the crust. The recipe has a big warning about making the crust mushy if you pour it in hot. Enjoy!

Get the recipe HERE

"Recipe: A series of step-by-step instructions for preparing ingredients you forgot to buy, in utensils you don't own, to make a dish the dog wouldn't eat." ~Author Unknown

Turkey Salad Sandwich

2009-12-27T20:54:00.000-08:00

I love making these after the holidays with my left over turkey. I used my Handy Chopper for the turkey, onion, and celery to make them super easy. I add relish and mustard for the extra flavor, not too much. I always make enough for left overs because my son requests them the day after we have them for dinner. I also serve any other left over side dishes I may have from the holidays. I did not get a picture of this one on bread as I almost forgot to post it at all!

Get the recipe HERE

"I refuse to believe that trading recipes is silly. Tuna fish casserole is at least as real as corporate stock." ~Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

Christmas Time!

2009-12-24T17:44:00.000-08:00

Okay so it's not Christmas yet.. but we spend Christmas out of the house every year and I never get a chance to do this. So this year we had Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.
Only messed up on 1 thing which is very good for a first timer! and it was not a big deal I cooked the green bean casserole a little longer then I should have... Which is not a huge deal and it still tasted good. I used fresh green beans this year, which was definitely different.
Ok so here's what I did...
I tried this whole brining the turkey thing, the smell of the brine was really potent and it was an interesting process. Luckily I had a bucket that my turkey fit perfectly into, and instead of filling the bucket with the brine I put one of those turkey size oven bags into the bucket before I added the turkey and brine. The bags have their own stuff to shut the bag so I used that, not one spill in my fridge! So this morning I have to rinse it and dry it and I already have my roasting recipe ready. I was surprised that I would not have to baste my turkey at all but thought hey why not give it a try. And I am glad I did!

Ok so this recipe has you cook breast down, so the breast isn't browned (although the recipe tells you how you can brown it) This is the moistest, most flavorful turkey I have had. The 2 recipes I used on the turkey alone combined were incredible. The hubby was so surprised by it and he is actually afraid that the turkey sandwiches will get soggy. (I think we will be just fine). Okay so to continue... I made the yams with the recipe on the can for candied yams for the first time. Unfortuanatly I did not have a shallow dish but I made do. I added marshmellows and it was just the way I like to have my yams. I could not figure out what I have been doing wrong all these years until now.
I also made my own turkey stock when I put the turkey into the brine last night, and used it in the stuffing today. Now I used a seasoned bread cubed pre stuffing mix and added the stock plus the celery and onions as the directions said to, I liked the top layer but the bottom layer was a little mushy, so not the greatest. I think next year I will do a cranberry walnut dressing recipe that was given to me by a friend instead of the typical stuffing. And if I do try to do a stuffing like this I will be looking into more recipes.

In my house the turkey is not the center piece the Brick-O-Mac is. It is an old family mac and cheese recipe passed down through the generations. My hubby had never had mac and cheese on his holiday table until I came along.. now not only do I have to make it for him but his family as well. I had him put away the left over's and he was litterally scrapping the pan.And the finishing touches, Pie of course and hot cider that has been in my crockpot all day.
The pie is a limited hoilday Caramel Apple pie. It's the apples that you have to put into a crust, and yes I cheated I used pillsbury pie dough, as I do not have a rolling pin. The recipe is on the back of the can. Very good, but not one that I would do often because it is a bit too sweet for me. I used some cookie cutters instead of doing a lattice. And the cider is a bought cider that I added a couple cinnamon sticks to and let heat all day. Even though I did some things that were not fresh I think I did a nice balance of new recipes, old recipes, and pre-made items. If I would have done it all by hand I think I would have been overwhelmed, which is honestly why I think so many people get so stressed over the holiday cooking. I enjoyed every minute of it. And now it is about time to get Santa's cookies and milk out and the carrot's for the reindeer...
So Happy Holidays to everyone and hope you have a great time wherver you are and whatever you may be doing!
Turkey Brine Recipe
Turkey Roasting Recipe
Turkey Stock Recipe
Caramel Apple pie (not sure of the brand but it is in the isle with the pie fillings around the holidays)
Green bean casserole
Stuffing (Pepperidge Farm country style stuffing recipe on back of the bag)
Candied Yams (recipe on back of can)
Brick-O-Mac... Sorry but this one is reserved for friends and family. But I no there are a lot of good Baked Mac and Cheese recipes out there. (I feel like I would be in great trouble if I put it onto the internet).

“At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It was succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs Cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it in the [goose] breast; but when she did, and when the long- expected gush of stuffing issued forth...."
~Charles Dickens (1812-1870). 'A Christmas Carol'

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

2009-12-23T14:20:00.000-08:00

Since it is the holiday's, today and tomorrow I will have plenty to share! I am trying a bunch of new recipes, like this one! These are chewy and delicious. I took the advice of some of the comment's from others who have tried this recipe, and since I wanted a soft cookie I chose not to push them down with a fork but instead left them in their ball form and did not add the additional sugar. Cooked for 10 min but found the bottoms where a little over done so brought it down to 9 min and they came out with a nice light brown bottom. I added 1 1/2 C. of craisens for an added perk. I think Santa will be happy with these cookies! too bad my pillsbury premade (all you have to do is bake) sugar cookies didn't do as well... Unfortuanatly they ended up with black bottoms, even following the directions! I will have to find a good sugar cookie recipe for next year. This is definatly a recipe you can try many different things with, and be sure to check out the comment section (at the recipes web page) for ideas.
Since I am doing my dinner with my hubby and kids tomorrow I will be sharing the recipes some time tomorrow night.. boy that will be a long blog! but all in the name of fun, right?

Find this recipe HERE

"One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends." ~Laurie Colwin

Chipotle Chicken Taco's

2009-12-19T18:17:00.001-08:00

This is one I have been making for years now. I absolutely love this recipe. I use about 5 chipotle peppers, so that my kids can eat it with out it being too hot. It has a nice spice to it with out burning to much. I also wrap it as a burrito instead of taco's, I find that it is a lot easier to eat this way. I love to garnish it with sour cream, cheese, and avocado. I don't really care for cilantro on it but that is just me. If you need something you can throw in the crock pot and do very little work with this is a good one to have in your recipe box. Everyone that has tried this in my home loves it. Goes great with spanish rice as a side dish. I also enjoy eating the left over chicken with tortilla chips.. mmmm... Give it a try if you like a little spice in your life!

Get the recipe HERE.

"For the first time I know what it is to eat. I have gained four pounds. I get frantically hungry, and the food I eat gives me a lingering pleasure. I never ate before in this deep carnal way… I want to bite into life and to be torn by it." ~Anaïs Nin

Rubbed Down Pork Chops

2009-12-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

WHEW! I like garlic but this was a little too much. If you are a serious garlic lover then this would be something of your interest. However for me a little overboard. The flavor is good if you can get past the amount of Garlic I really liked the cooking in Worcester and adding mushrooms and onions. The mushrooms and onions were the best part of this recipe honestly. I would like to try it again.. with lots of adjustments as far as the garlic goes. maybe either doing garlic powder or fresh garlic but definitely not both. I may even abandon the garlic all together and see how it tastes. I ended up adding an extra 1/4 C. of water because the Worcester sauce was starting to burn to the bottom of the pan in the first 10 min of cook time.
I also sauteed the onions before putting them in because the hubby prefers the onions to be fully cooked and I was afraid the mushrooms would become over cooked if I did them together.
Garlic lovers enjoy, all others beware this may not be the right thing for you. (I think I scared the hubby with this one.. he was a little overwhelmed by it.)

Get this recipe HERE

"I have long believed that good food, good eating is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime ‘associates,’ food, for me, has always been an adventure." ~Anthony Bourdain

Chicken In Mushroom Sauce

2009-12-13T17:58:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe that happened to have ingredients that I have on hand. Good for me since I did not feel like shopping! Simple and by Campbell's who could go wrong?
I had to adjust the recipe in 2 ways, First it says to brown the chicken in the pan, I browned both sides and it took way under 10 minutes, I covered the pan for about 3 minutes, turned the chicken over and covered for 3 more minutes. That way it could brown and cook without becoming to brown on the outside or undercooked later. Second, it says to simmer for 5 minutes or until chicken is done, I waited 5 minutes and there was still some pink in the center so I flipped the chicken and left it to simmer for another 5 minutes. Other then what I have mentioned I had no other problems.
The chicken itself was very good, and the sauce moistened the chicken and the rice to perfection. I also made a green bean casserole as a side dish, as I had a large can of cream of mushroom and did not want to waste. The Hubby's response "Mmm", good sign there!
This will be going into my recipe books to made again, with the adjustments of course.

You can find the recipe HERE.

There is no love sincerer then the love of food ~ George Bernard Shaw

Creation

2009-12-13T12:14:00.001-08:00

I love to cook and try new recipes. So why not share what I have found! Some recipes I use are from books, some from the internet, and some are family recipes passed on through the generations. I make my own creations at times, some come out great... some not so great, but at least I gave it a try right? Some of these recipes are very basic, some take time and patience. Hope you enjoy!

-When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste. ~Laiko Bahrs