7/21/15
Remembered eating something similar to this on an adventure with my daughter and so I gave it a try. The end result was pretty close to what I was envisioning!
2 chicken breasts
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 can green olives, (I put in mini chopper)
2-4 cloves of garlic, grated
1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock
olive oil
rosemary
basil
oregano
salt and pepper
Butterfly the chicken breasts, brush with olive oil, salt and pepper both sides and then saute in large skillet with a few tablespoons of white wine. Cook 6-7 minutes on each side until cooked through. Set aside on plate and let rest. Once rested, cut into bite size cubes.
Add garlic to the pan drippings and stir, then add onions and celery. Let cook for 3-4 minutes, until onions start to soften up. Add the tomatoes and 1/2 cup of white wine or chicken stock. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp each rosemary and basil. Stir and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Add chicken and oregano; stir thoroughly! Cover and let simmer another 15 minutes.
When ready to serve add the chopped green olives.
Prepare a package of no yolk egg noodles per instructions on bag. Add to chicken, stir, and serve. We added some shredded Italian cheese at the table, yum!
5/25/15
I kind of invented this on the fly! I'd either read or watched something about loaded baked potato as the basis for a potato salad and for some reason it stuck with me. I was planning to bring potato salad to our Memorial Day/Birthday party bash with friends and family so what better way to try out a new recipe?
2-3 pounds red or new potatoes, diced. Cook ahead so can cool off before mixing salad.
1/4 cup bacon bits (I make mine)
1/2 cup white onion, spring onion or chives, diced fine
small container (8 oz) sour cream
couple tablespoons of mayo
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp)
salt and pepper to taste
For the potato, I usually scrub and leave the skin on.
Fill stockpot with water, add the potatoes, bring to a boil then cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes. I drain into a colander and then put them in a covered bowl in the fridge overnight. I'm sure just a hour or so in the fridge to cool them off would be fine.
1/3 package of bacon, fry up nice and crispy, drain on paper towel, cool, then smash into bacon bits.
Judi's tip of the day: I cut packages of bacon into thirds and freeze them. When I want to make bacon bits or for other recipes only calling for a few slices of bacon, ta-da
! No need to thaw, throw in pan over medium heat and bacon breaks into short slices that cook quickly and don't curl!
I like to mix the salad in a large mixing bowl and then transfer to a smaller bowl for serving.
Mix together cooled potatoes, bacon bits, onion, about 1/2-2/3 container of sour cream, few tablespoons of mayo, salt and pepper to taste. Depending on amount of potatoes may need to add a bit more sour cream and mayo. Once you have taste to where you want it, add shredded cheese and stir gently. Transfer to serving bowl and keep refrigerated until ready to use. If serving outside, keep in mind that sour cream and mayo don't last long in heat!
4/24/15
Trying to make the blog a bit easier to navigate so made pages for the main categories that I think recipes would fall under.
Started off with:
Appetizers
Breakfast
Dessert
Main Dishes
Side Dishes
Soups & Stews
I'm fairly confident that I'm going to be needing to do some tweaking to get this properly organized and am open to any and all suggestions.
Each recipe title is the link to the printable version. To make following the recipes easier, the print link is strictly recipe, none of my ramblings and no photos! If you want those you'll have to go to the post itself! I'm trying to make them a bit more step by step with some extra pictures.
I should insert a disclaimer here, I cook for fun and flavor and don't keep track at all of the health side of things! If you need calories, counts, or specific dietary information my blog and recipes are not going to include any of that info! The majority of my meat comes from a local grocery store with a butcher on site and most of my veggies and fruit come from a once a week Backyard Produce delivery service. I use fresh herbs when I have them and dried herbs the rest of the time. My cooking oil of choice is some form of Olive but I do have some recipes that use Canola or Vegetable oil.
My daughter yells at me all the time that she doesn't have time to use all the fresh stuff. I do have the time (which is why I cook so much extra to send home with her) but if you don't have time there is nothing wrong with using canned sauces or veggies! Myself, I'm a huge fan of Seeds of Change bags of rice and the occasional bag of Ore Ida fries!
4-10-15
Had a ton of folks commenting on the Instagram photo so figured the least I could do was share the recipe! Your choice, with whip cream or strawberry glaze...
9" graham cracker pie shell
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup Key West lime juice (I used from a bottle)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 can whip cream
I added lime zest from a fresh lime to the top
I used a whisk to mix the egg white to create a wash and then with a pastry brush "painted" the pie shell and pre-baked it at 375 degrees for 5 minutes. Let the shell cool before you put the filling in. Turn oven down to 350 for baking the pie.
For the filling:
Combine the egg yolk, milk, vanilla and lime juice. Mix until smooth and pour into the pie shell. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cool for another 15 minutes and then refrigerate.
Top with whip cream and lime zest when ready to serve.
Store any uneaten pie in the fridge!
Instead of whip cream, try strawberry glaze!
To make glaze:
Clean and quarter a pound of fresh strawberries.
Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp corn starch and 1 cup water. Add to strawberries and cook over medium heat, stirring often. Takes about 20 minutes or so to cook down and thicken.
Let cool and then top pie.
3-4-15
Backyard Produce and snowy weather equals giant box of veggies and the need for some yummy comfort foods! Since my darling daughter has been working some crazy hours decided I needed to do some extra cooking for her as well. Between working and percolating my newest grand baby figured it was the least I could do! Not a huge fan of the traditional pot pie so started doing some recipe exploring and kept reading frozen bag of vegetables. Needless to say, I was on my own. This is the result!
1 large chicken breast, cut in half then sauteed and shredded
2 or 3 pieces of garlic, grated
2 large carrots, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
2 large potatoes, diced
1/2 pound green beans, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 bag of frozen peas or 1 small can
1/2 cup stock (I used vegetable)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 small box of buttermilk biscuit mix
I cooked chicken breast about 4-5 minutes on each side in large skillet with olive oil, salt and ground black pepper then removed and let rest while I sauteed the veggies.
Used the same pan for the veggies, added grated garlic first. After just a few minutes added in potato and cooked until they started to brown (about six minutes). Added carrots and onions, cooked about five minutes, then added in celery and green beans and let cook another five minutes.
Tossed frozen peas on top, poured stock over and stirred, be sure to scrape bottom of pan and get up bits of garlic and onion! Let simmer for a few minutes and then add in shredded chicken and soup and stir well. Bring to a boil and let simmer for another few minutes.
Mix biscuit mix according to package directions. Since I was making for two families I used bread pans. Divided the chicken and veggies between the two pans. Divided the biscuit dough in half and patted flat and placed it on top of the mixture.
Baked at 350 degrees for thirty minutes.
2-16-14
This has been a family favorite for years!
5-6 pound smoked picnic or ham, cut off rind and visible fat
5 large potatoes, cut in cubes
1 bag baby carrots, cut in half
1 cabbage cut into quarters
1 large onion, sliced or diced
Place meat into a large stockpot and cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer at least 3 hours. Add water if necessary to keep meat covered.
Do not put any spices in the water! Smoked pork is salty.
After 3 hours add potatoes let cook about ten minutes, stir, then add carrots, after another ten minutes, stir and add the cabbage and finally wait five more minutes, stir and add the onions. Let simmer at least ten minutes and then turn off heat.
Use slotted spoon to remove veggies and meat from pot and place in large bowl. Try to drain as much water as possible so doesn't get too soggy. Pull meat apart into hunks and serve. Add salt and pepper to individual plates at table if wanted.
2-12-15
Backyard Produce sent me a package of grape tomatoes and Smiley360 sent me a coupon to try a free package of
Seeds of Change rice. This is the result!
3-4 Pork chops
1 container grape tomatoes
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 package Seeds of Change Quinoa and Brown Rice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
Salt and Pepper to taste
In large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Season both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper and put in skillet. Let brown for 4-5 minutes and then turn over. Put onions and tomatoes on top, sprinkle with a bit more salt, pepper and olive oil. Cover and let cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Tomatoes should start to split, mash with a fork to release the juices. Turn over chops one more time so onions are on bottom of pan and chops are on top of them.
Break up rice in package and pour over top of chops. Add couple of tablespoons of water, cover and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Remove cover and stir rice into bottom of pan so soaks up tomato juice. Serve.
