Sweet Potato Hash

Made myself this delish, filling, healthy hash by dicing up 1/2 of a big sweet potato and some onion, sautéed in a fry pan until the potato is done (I added a little water and covered it for a few minutes, then remove the cover and cook until the potato is softened but not mushy), mixed in a handful of precooked turkey sausage crumbles, then made a hole in the middle of the hash and cracked an egg into the opening. Cover until the egg is cooked to the doneness you prefer (I like the whites completely set and the yolk runny) and serve with a bit of chopped avocado on top. 

 

Taco Pie

True story - I flew home last month for a very short visit and my sis was nice enough to invite me over for dinner since I didn't have any food in the house. Thoughtful, right? I asked if she needed anything since I have to drive by the grocery store on my way to her house... and she basically said she needed everything for dinner and had to work late so wouldn't be home in time to make it - you can see where this is going right? Inser eye roll.  I stopped and bought all the ingredients, and then made dinner at her house... so much for my one chance of having her make me dinner!! LOL ;)

I kept it simple and made Taco Pie. Usually we make this in a round dish so it's like a pie but I wasn't sure how many people were eating it so I doubled the ingredients and made it in a 13x9 dish.

You can totally adjust this to your liking - I browned 2 pounds of ground beef (if you buy leaner meat you won't have so much grease to drain off, I usually get the lowest fat one) and a chopped onion together in a frying pan until the meat was cooked thru (I don't like big chunks of ground meat so I really break it up while it's cooking).

In a bowl combine 2 cans of refried beans with a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with chilies (or just regular diced tomatoes) and a small can of chopped jalapeños. You can add a little chili powder or taco seasoning if you want. Mix in the cooked burger and onion mixture.

Spread a little of the meat mixture in the bottom of the dish. Top with flour tortillas, it's ok to overlap them. Spread 1/3 of the meat mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle with a handful of shredded cheese. Add another layer of tortillas and repeat twice ending with cheese on the very top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350' until hot and cheese is melted. I like to serve with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and sour cream but you do whatever you like!

You're welcome sissy :)

Goat Cheese Mousse...by Janis

I'm not sure what inspired Janis to try this recipe - I would have looked at the ingredients and said never mind - but we are SO lucky and thankful that she did! This was devoured so fast I literally grabbed the last cracker on the plate and elbowed my way in to get a taste before it was gone. Get past the ingredients and try this - you will not regret it.

Note: Janis changed the presentation from what the directions say - she flipped the bowl over to un-mold and served it over a layer of fig jam. Pretty and delish!


 Ingredients:

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup quark* (if not available, substitute 4 ounces ricotta cheese blended with 1 tablespoon sour cream)
• 2 ounces soft goat cheese
• 3 tablespoons fresh chives
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• sweet pepper or cranberry chutney
• crackers or toasted french baguette

makes about 4 cups

Directions:

1. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan; let stand 1 minute. Cooke 2 minutes over low heat, stirring until gelatin dissolves.
2. Whisk together gelatin mixture, yogurt, quark and goat cheese in a large bowl. Stir in the chives. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Beat cream in a separate chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Fold gently into cheese mixture. Cover and chill 3 hours. Serve with the chutney, crackers or toasted baguette. 

*quark is a soft white cheese that comes in a container like sour cream or yogurt - see Janis's picture of the ingredients to get an idea of what to look for. 

She got the recipe from a cookbook by Linda Steidel. I don't know which one but you can google Linda and see her many books!

Hasselback Butternut Squash

Oops I did it again. Told you I'd share a butternut recipe after I posted the butternut bunny, and then forgot. Oh well, better late than never and all that. 

This hasselback squash recipe is so good, impressive, not hard, and different. What's not to like about that (unless you don't like butternut squash!)?

To make the slits in the squash you want to slice them pretty deep but not all the way thru - one trick to doing this is to lay a wooden spoon on either side of the (peeled and seeded) squash, then when you make the slits the spoon stops your knife from going all the way thru. 

Rub the squash with olive oil and bake, cut side down, for 30 minutes at 375'.

Mix together some panko breadcrumbs, grated parmesan cheese, thyme, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper with a little bit of olive oil. I didn't measure but I'd guess 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 2 big tablespoons parmesan, 1 teaspoon thyme, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste, and 2 teaspoons of olive oil. You might need to make more of this mixture - I just winged it. Open the slices a bit to sort of fan them out, then press the breadcrumb mixture on top and in between the slices. Bake for another 20-30 minutes until the squash is tender when you pierce it with a fork, and the topping is golden and crunchy.

Click here for an equally good recipe for Hasselback Potatoes. 

Chicken with Apples

My friend Erica gave me the idea for this recipe and it sounded so good I had to try it. Please excuse the photo from after baking it, I left it in the oven too long and it turned out not so pretty - but it tastes great, I promise!!! Just the top got too brown, it was still very juicy and flavorful. Adding onions, butternut or acorn squash, or potatoes would also be great - it would also be good served with rice or rice pilaf. 

Spray a big casserole dish with non-stick spray. Add chopped apples and boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I cut them into large pieces) to the dish and season with salt and pepper. Pour a cup of chicken stock over top and bake at 350' until it's cooked thru; I baked it for 50 minutes but it (obviously) didn't need that long. 

Tuna Orzo Salad

Made this salad for lunch using leftover orzo, a can of drained oil-packed tuna (I learned from Al that using oil-packed tuna in pasta dishes tastes so much better than water-packed tuna!), a can of rinsed and drained garbanzo beans, thawed frozen peas, a handful of shredded italian cheese (the only kind I had on hand), then tossed it all with plain greek yogurt, a tablespoon of dijon mustard, some greek seasoning (I know, I'm really making this quite the international dish LOL), salt and pepper. It sounds weird - a little italian, a little greek...but it turned out really good!

Spiced Chickpeas

I've posted about roasting *garbanzo beans before - they make a great crunchy snack, side dish, or salad addition and I eat them ALL the time...this last batch I made a little different by tossing them with a little cumin, chili powder, cayenne, and coarse salt so they are a bit spicy (add more seasoning to make them spicier if you like that!) and quite addictive. Have you tried roasting them yet? So good!

Click here to see how to roast them, and then play with different seasonings and spices to change them up!


*I knew I posted about roasting chickpeas before but couldn't find the post when I searched the blog - until I realized I posted them as "garbanzo beans". Did you know they are the same thing? I don't know why they have two completely different names (other than to confuse me and make finding my posts difficult!)...

Beet Chips

Do you like beets? I think beets are one of those love or hate 'em veggies. I'm in the love category. I saw a recipe for beet chips and wanted to try them - the original recipe used red beets but with all the slicing and potential chances to stain everything in my kitchen I went with golden beets instead just in case...super easy and quick, and since I love beets I think they're yummy. 

You do need to eat them right away, they got soggy after sitting out for a little while. There was a yogurt turmeric sauce recipe posted with these but I didn't make that part. Click here for the original source and the dip if you want it. 

Line a large microwave-safe plate with paper towels. Working in batches, spread beet slices on towel-lined plate; microwave at high for 3 minutes or until crisp.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

LeDonna sent me this recipe that she got from a "nice lady in town" who shared the cake with them and it's so fantastic that L asked her for the recipe and if it was ok to share!  Thanks LeDonna (and nice lady in town)! 

What's even better is that she made the cake and sent me pics, instead of my making it (and then eating it all!)...double thanks! She made this a little different from the recipe by baking it in a 13x9 cake pan instead of in a bundt pan, and instead of frosting it she just sprinkled it with powder sugar - said it's very moist and tastes great. This is definitely one I'm going to try - one way to get your veggies ;)

• chocolate cake mix
• 4 eggs
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 C.  oil
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 C. unpeeled, grated zucchini
• 1/2 C. chopped dates
• 1/2 C. chopped nuts

Grease and flour 10" tube/bundt pan. Bake 350' for 40-50 mins. Remove from pan after 15-20 minutes. Cool and sprinkle with confectioners sugar or frost with favorite frosting. 

Brownie Cups

Made these brownies for a dish-to-pass party that Dave was going to - he was driving his Vespa tho so didn't have room for a big pan of brownies (plus good luck him remembering to bring the pan back haha!) and if I cut them into squares and put on a paper plate I worried they'd get all messed up in the "trunk" of the Vespa... so I baked them in individual cups which made transporting them really easy for him. Unless I'm trying a new recipe I usually just make a boxed brownie mix and doctor it with a big handful of mini chocolate chips, then fill the cups about 1/2 full.

 I got this idea from Brooke a couple years ago when she did them this way for a dessert assortment tray, click here for that post; baking them in cupcake liners gives you the perfect brownie (in my opinion!), firmer around the edges and soft in the center. 

Poor Man's Beef Stroganoff...by Jenny

First of all don't let my husband know I called this "Poor Man" anything.  He will be offended by the insult of his secret recipe.

Also don't let my husband know I have said this isn't really "Beef Stroganoff" at all.  He thinks it is and will defend it with way more hostility than is appropriate.

I will say though it is delicious and the kids (and all of their friends) LOVE it.  They love it so much its been team dinners for their sports teams when it is our turn as it feeds a lot of people economically and easily.

That said lets jump right into the top secret recipe.

Mushroom soup, sour cream, Meat, Canned Mushrooms, Onions, Noodles.
Yep.  Top secret.  Don't let it get out.

4 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
16 oz container Sour Cream (we use light which tastes exactly the same)
1 medium size onion
1 lb of stew meat
Large can of mushrooms (you can of course use fresh if you prefer)
1 bag of No Yolk egg noodles.

We brown the meat with the mushrooms and diced onions, add the soup and sour cream and slowly heat until warm.  Sometimes I add a little skim milk if the sauce seems to thick (or I want it to feed more people)..
We serve this over the cooked egg noodles.

Again- Delicious but not beef stroganoff but don't tell my husband.

Cruising Norway to Sweden

We are off on a cruise with friends to Norway, Denmark, Berlin, Poland, Estonia, St. Petersburg, Finland and Stockholm - I'm so excited! Fingers crossed the weather is good and water is calm - I stocked up on motion sickness patches and ginger candy (they really help by the way) just in case; packed comfortable clothes and walking shoes for temps that are predicted to be in the 60's (low's in the upper 40's); booked all our shore excursions (one that we passed on is touring and making chocolates at the Tallinn Chocolate Factory in Estonia - hope we don't regret missing out on that!)...now I'm just scheduling a few blog posts for while we are gone.

You're going to see another few days in a row of food posts - that's all I've had time to make lately (and have a couple more from guest bloggers - yay!). Then I'm going to re-run "greatest hits" for a few days until I have time to get home, unpack, conquer jet lag, and get to creating more things to show you! I'll do my usual "travel blog" when I get back (it's like my travel diary so I won't forget the trip!), along with my packing list and what worked/didn't work/wasn't needed/was worn all the time. Oh, and it's the first time I get to use my suitcase with the homemade dividers (click here for that post), hope it helps keep me organized - I'll let you know :)

Be back soon!!!

Put a lime in the...

If you don't want to put a lime in the coconut here's another thing you can do with it...I learned this trick from a nail tech a long time ago and it works. Cut a small wedge of lime and rub it along the tips of your natural fingernails to help make them white and clean looking. Really, it's that easy!

trust me that my nails don't normally look like this - between the glue, glitter,
ink, food coloring, or dirt I'm usually in they tend to look grungy! 

Do what you want with the rest of the lime - in a coconut, in a margarita, in a vodka cranberry... ;)

Organizing...Bracelets

I keep my bracelets in plastic flatware holders (the kind you use in a drawer) and came up with this little hack for keeping them organized  - I cut up empty paper towel rolls into lengths that fit in the open spaces of the drawer holder and thread my bracelets on them, then place into the drawer space. This way I can see what I have easily and they aren't just all loose and mixed together in the drawer. It works best for stretchy or wrapped bracelets, I also store my bangles this way but they flop around a bit. Still better than piled in the drawer!

Party Planner

I don't have a picture of this but it's just a folder that I put together to help me remember what we have done at different parties in the past...because it's hurting my brain to try to remember what games were a hit, what food we liked, what decorations I made, etc.

I took some time to look back thru blog posts and my computer photo album and recreate the past few years worth of Super Bowls, Oscars, Easters, St. Patrick's Days...I typed out a summary of different events we've had listing the year, games, decorations, and menus - printed them out and put in a folder. Now I'll be able to easily flip thru to see what's worked in the past - and what didn't work!

It's a little thing, but helpful. Today at "make my day camp" I made my future party planning a little easier :).

Brownie Strawberry Trifle

Janis made homemade lasagna (for real, she didn't buy it at Costco and try to pass it off as her own like I may or may not do on most occasions...) for Sunday supper and I was in charge of dessert. I had the idea to make Tiramisu trifle but our grocery store didn't have ladyfingers so I changed my idea on the fly when I saw a container of two-bite brownies in the store's bakery (did I mention that I didn't have much time to commit to making dessert? That's where the trifle idea came from - it's SO fast, not exact, and easy). No recipe, but it's trifle which is usually pudding/cream layered with cake so making it up is a no-brainer.

For this trifle you'll need:

• 1 block cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cpus milk
• 1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 container Cool Whip
• 1 1/2 containers of 2-bite brownies (or make your own if you have the time!)
• Big handful sliced strawberries (I used about 1/2 of a small container)
• bittersweet chocolate bar or cocoa powder, optional for garnish

Whisk the milk and pudding together until thick. In a mixer whip the cream cheese until it's smooth and fluffy, then slowly mix in the pudding. Once fully incorporated, gently add 1/2 container of Cool Whip. 

To assemble: put a layer of brownies in the bottom of a clear glass trifle bowl (or a regular bowl but then you won't see the pretty layers), top with a layer of pudding mixture, top with brownies and berries, more pudding, more brownies and berries, finish with pudding. Add the rest of the Cool Whip on the very top. Garnish with chocolate shavings and one pretty berry for presentation. 

To make chocolate shavings just hold a square of chocolate and run your vegetable peeler down the edges: 

Smoothies To Go

I flew home for a super quick trip and didn't have time to get groceries...and apparently didn't plan ahead so there would be some food in the freezer waiting for me...so when poor Brooke spent the night I had nothing for breakfast before taking her to school! I felt bad but fortunately she's a good sport and when I suggested a can of soup she was all for it :) So we split some creamy chicken noodle and I made us the worlds most basic smoothie that we took to go in the car. I did have some frozen bananas and strawberries so blended them with peanut butter and water. Super gourmet, I know. Maybe we were just really hungry, or maybe she was just being nice, but they were good.

My point of all this is that Brooke came up with a really good idea to take these in the car: we put a piece of plastic wrap over top of our glasses, put a rubber band around the cup to hold it in place, then poked a straw thru the plastic. Totally worked. Clever, right? Some days it's all about improvising.

Organizing...Big Shot Envelopes

Thanks to helping Ronda at her Stampin' Up card studio, I am starting to amass a collection of Big Shot die cut sets (they are like metal templates that are sharp on one side, you lay them on paper and run thru the Big Shot machine and it punches out shapes, letters, or numbers...way way way easier and cleaner than cutting them out by hand!) - each set comes in a clear rigid envelope so storing them is easy but there aren't pictures on the outside to remind me of what is in each one and most have little pieces that you can't even tell what they are going to be until you run it thru the big shot. So I spent some time going thru each one, punching out example pieces and downloading pictures from my computer for examples of how to use them, then put the examples back in the folders so when I flip thru the envelopes I can see what each one contains.

To store the envelopes I have them standing (alphabetically, also thanks to Ronda) in a basket so flipping thru them to find the one I want is simple and organized.

see what I mean - how are you going to know what these shapes are?! 

...so I found this card idea online to add to the envelope and give me a clue what this set does. 

here are 4 different clear envelopes holding the die cut pieces with my examples where I can see them. 

another example of what I mean - this ones shows 4 different ideas for this set
of die cuts along with notes on what a couple of the little pieces are. 

Coriander-Crusted Pork Tenderloin

The original recipe for this dish calls for whole peppercorns and coriander seeds that you then crush yourself - uh yeah, I just used the ground kind I already have in my spice drawer. If you want to grind them yourself let me know if it makes a huge difference :) 'Cause how I made it turned out really good.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 (1 lb.) pork tenderloin
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 pound refrigerated potato wedges (note I used frozen steak fries instead)
• 1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (not Greek style)
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice (I used bottled instead)
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind (I omitted because see above)

Directions:

Preheat oven 475'. Crush peppercorns and coriander seeds with a mortar and pestle or small heavy skillet until coarsely ground. Combine with 3/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Spread mustard evenly over pork; coat with spice mixture.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add pork; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Place pork and potatoes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet; drizzle with drippings from skillet. Bake at 475' for 10-12 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in center of pork registers 145'F. Let pork stand 5 minutes. Cut across the grain into slices.

Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1 Tablespoon oil, yogurt, cilantro, lime rind and juice in a bowl. Serve with pork and potatoes. 

Makes 4 servings. 342 calories per serving.

original recipe here. 

Amsterdam Tulips

I was home for my dance recital the last weekend in April and the tulips Cathy and I bought in Amsterdam at the Kukenof Gardens and planted last November were starting to come up but weren't flowering yet. Fast forward 10 days later and they are all up! Yay! I didn't kill them, whew. Well I don't know if they all made it because I didn't actually count all 52 of them hahah, but there's a lot and they are beautiful. True they don't look different than tulips I could have bought locally but it's nice to have the living memory of our great vacation last year!

April 28

May 8  

Click here for the post about planting them.