Smoothies and 1000!!!!!!!

Well, I hit the 1000 page view mark!!  Yeah!!!  Thanks again for visiting.  I hope you all have had fun reading the recipes and seeing what's cooking in my house. 
As part of lunch today I made smoothies.  I LOVE smoothies, but I refuse to pay $4-7 for a smoothie at smoothie king or robeks when I can make one for a fraction of the price.  My smoothies also probably a lot healthier than those other ones.  I jam pack it with spinach (you totally can't taste it), then add plain yogurt (or flavored yogurt sometimes), fruit (frozen or fresh....though this time of year, frozen), a little water or sometimes for a treat some juice (but I rarely have juice on hand).  Throw it all in the blender....and voila!  A delicious smoothie packed with healthy nutrients that just about any kid will drink (parents are permitted to have some too!!!!)I store any left overs in the fridge and its ready to go.  Today I made a berry smoothie, just strawberries and blueberries. You can add bananas, raspberries, mangos, grapes, peaches, just about any fruit you want.  So very delicious and a "treat" I feel really good giving to Nicholas....he totally thinks of it as a desert which is just fine by me!!!!  Let me know what smoothies  combinations you try or have tried!

Overdue update...

I can't believe how long it has been since I updated.  Anyway....I am almost to 1000 page views!!!!  Thanks for visiting!  I really appreciate it...its been really fun to blog about what I've been cooking and has kept my interest in cooking at home.  I haven't been the most creative recently, but I've found some interesting things to try in the near future.
This weekend my parents were here in town.  As a result we ate very well!!!  We also had some fun times in the kitchen together.  I showed my dad how to make pretzels.  We had so much fun kneading and rolling pretzels together.  I never thought that I'd see the day that I would be cooking with my dad!!!!  SO MUCH FUN!!!  He even might make the pretzels again on his own to bring in to his students. 

Ok...on to the main meals....We had steak, potatoes, salad, and green beans on Saturday night.  Steak is always such a treat especially b/c it was a nice filet for me and porterhouse for Jim.  Delicious on the grill!!!!
Sunday night my mom made mexican stuff.  Tacos and a super awesome chicken fajita soup.  I'll post the recipe the next time I make it.  It was so good topped off with sour cream and cheese.....YUM!!!!!
We had leftovers on Monday night to try to clean out the fridge a bit.

Last night I made slow cooker applesauce chicken.  It was ok....just about what I expected.  A simple dish, but pretty good.  Basic recipe....chicken in slowcooker, add some applesauce, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, and any other spices you like.  Cook on low 4 hours.  I served it with potatoes and broccoli.  This made me why I always steam the broccoli.  I cooked it in a pot instead and it was nasty and soggy.  Nicholas kept calling it "juicy".  It was GROSS!!!!  I will steam the broccoli from now on!!!!!

Well, I probably won't be blogging until next week, but here's hoping that I can get over 1000 page views!!!!!!

BAGELS!!! I found THE recipe!!!

I've been trying out a few bagel recipes recently and was really having a hard time finding one I liked.  I think I've found it.  Here's a link to the recipe: http://thehappyhousewife.com/cooking/bagels-2/  I made them with half whole wheat flour and half white.  I also made a few of them cinnamon raisin.  All I can say is WOW!!!!  The cinnamon raisin one were UNBELIEVABLE!!!!  In the past, all the bagels I made were hard. These came our soft with awesome flavor.  The only down side to this recipe is the gluten.  I don't mind having gluten in my recipes as none of us are gluten intolerant, but it is EXPENSIVE!!!!  I need to buy a 1 lb bag and I only needed a tablespoon.  The cheapest I found was $6.55 for the bag.  BUt it will go a long way and since I plan on making LOTS of bagels it will be worth it in the end.  Still cheaper than buyin a dozen bagels.  Next time I make them I'll take some pictures.  I think I'm going to make a variety next time, some with nuts and currants, some cinnamon raisin, some sesame.  Anyone have any suggestions of what to mix in them?????  I'm up for suggestions and will let you know how they come out.

Even my mom said they were very good....now that's some high praise!!!!  She described them as "very moist and stayed fresher than store bought.  They were soft and chewy."

They barely needed to be toasted b/c they were so fresh tasting.  I think 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white is a good combination.  I might add  little more whole wheat next time just to experiment.

Pizza Friday!

I love weekends.  I's not sure who doesn't, but long weekend especially are something fantastic.  Friday night I made pizza.  I tried a new recipe for pizza dough and it was FABULOUS!!!  So delicious.  Next time I am also making my own sauce.  That's really easy to do.  The pizza dough was a bobby flay recipe.  I'm really starting to like Bobby Flay.  It was really simple to do and came out beautiful.  I even was able to toss the pizza dough like in a real pizza shop.  I should have taken a video of it b/c it was really funny!!!  Here's the link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe/index.html  So easy and so good.  I'll update about my other cooking endeavors in a little while.  Some are really fun....so stay tuned!!!!!

Waffles and turkey sausage

I love, love, love breakfast for dinner.  It makes my heart happy!!  Tonight I tried a new recipe for waffles.  They were......interesting.  They were pretty good, a little weird texture.  I'm looking for the recipe for that perfect light, fluffly, but crispy waffle.  My waffles never turn out crispy.  I have another recipe that I will probably try next week and we'll see if that works any better.  This was an Emeril recipe.  I think part of the problem was that the bowl I was mixing the eggs in wasn't big enough to really get the eggs whites whipped properly. Here's the link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/classic-belgian-waffles-recipe/index.html

If anyone has any good waffle recipes let me know....I'd love to try them out! 

The turkey sausage was delicious as always.  I found it on clearance sale at safeway this week so it was delicious and inexpensive!!!  I love turkey sausage.  The turkey sausage from the farmer's market back home in PA isdefinintely my favorite, but this was really good. 

50th post!!!

Hard to believe that I've kept up with this enough to do 50 posts!!!  Thanks to all of you who read this. Well, dinner tonight was a roasted chicken, sweet potato fries, mixed veggies (Broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots).  The chicken was just roasted in the crock pot.  Multiple benefits from this.  I get homemade chicken stock and I get left over chicken to use in other meals.  The sweet potato fries didn't get cooked long enough so they were just ok. Usually one of my favorite things, but I hate it when they aren't cooked enough.  I basically cut the sweet potatos into strips and bake with a little olive oil, some salt (not much if any) and some pepper.  It was a basic dinner, but a good one. 
Would love to know what you are all having for dinner tonight....Leave some info in the comments!  Thanks!

Cheeseburger Pie

Not sure it sounds real good at first, but it was yummy and easy.  It is supposed to be in a 10inch pie pan so it would really look like a pie, but I only had a 9 inch pie pan and I used more meat than the recipe called for so I didn't think using a smaller pie pan would be a good idea.  Instead I used a 9x13 pan.  It was a little too big for it, but still came out pretty good.

Here's the recipe:
3/4 pound ground beef (I used ground turkey b/c I had it in the freezer)
1/2 onion diced (I used some minced onion b/c I didn't have a fresh onion)
1 15oz can diced tomatoes, well drained
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (i only used a 1/4 tsp b/c I don't like salty stuff)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese (I mixed in some provolone)

Brown the ground beef and onion.  Pour into pie plate.  Add tomatoes and mix. 
In a medium bowl whisk the milk, eggs, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pepper together.  Pour over the meat.  Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes.  Sprinkle with the cheese and bake for about 5 more minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!!!

I served it with steamed green beans. All in all, very good, very filling.  Would definitely make it again!

Lovely Saturday Morning

Ahhh...the sweet joy of sleeping until 8!!!  How wonderful!!!  As a result, I fell so energized.  Jumped up at 8am and while my boys woke up leisurely, I was able to make breakfast.  Yummy pumpkin spice coffee, strawberry mango smoothies, eggs, turkey bacon, and biscuits.  It was delightful!!!  Nicholas even ate an egg then asked for another!!!  He usually hates eggs.  He couldn't get enough of the smoothie or the bacon either.  He barely even touched the biscuit which is strange b/c he is usually such a carb kid.  He kept telling us about how much protein eggs and bacon have and how good it is for his muscles.  LOL....funny and smart kid!!! 

Now he is helping Jim load the dishwasher....I have some pretty awesome boys!!!! (Its fun to listen to Jim teach Nicholas about how to wash dishes and load the dishwasher!)  I love happy family Saturdays....so blessed!!!  After dishes it is off to run some errands and head up to Rockville Town Center's Winter Festival.  Have a lot of cleaning up to do this afternoon and hopefully some time to run around outside and play some soccer/football.  Ahhh....its a wonderful life!!!

Lasagna and homemade rolls

Some of you may remember me posting right after Christmas that one of my Christmas gifts was a 3-way lasagna pan.  Well, I finally used it tonight.  I made 3 kinds of lasagna.  Now that may sound like a lot of work, but really it isn't.  I made two with beef and one with chicken.  One of the ones with beef had spinach the other didn't.  So it really wasn't hard to assemble.  They were all just ok....lacking something, I'm not sure exactly what.  Definitely not the best I've made, but pretty good. 

The rolls on the other hand were really good and fun to make.  For those of you that have kids that like to help in the kitchen this is an excellent recipe for them to help with.  The dough is all mixed in a ziploc bag so they can help you mix the dough without you having to worry about contamination of the dough.  It uses Rapid Rise Yeast so it only needs about 30 minutes to rise and then bakes for another 30 so it is not a bread that takes all day to rise.  It was supposed to be a loaf bread, but I wanted rolls so I baked it into muffin pans.  Here's the link to the recipe. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bread-in-a-Bag/Detail.aspx 
Let me know if you plan on trying it. 

Here's some pics of dinner tonight

I would love some comments on what you think or recipes you think I should try.  If you have any to share, please leave a comment on the blog.  I LOVE COMMENTS!!!!  I also added something called "reactions" at the bottom of the blog.  You can just click on what you think.  Thanks!!!!!

Enchilada Meatloaf, Cornbread, Couscous, and Green Beans

I'm not quite sure how to describe the meatloaf.  Definitely not what I expected.  It was ok....I'd make it again, but it wouldn't be considered a favorite.  I think it had a little too much enchilada sauce on it especially on the top.  It was very easy to make.  Here's the recipe:

1lb ground beef
1 1/2 cups crumbled cornbread
1 10oz can of enchilada sauce
1/4 cup shredded cheddar

Combine the ground beef, corn bread, and all but 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce.  Press into loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top of meatloaf, sprinkle with cheddar cheese. 

I would probably only put 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce on the top, but you can certainly experiment with it.  It didn't look very pretty and was kind of messy to serve. 

The couscous was Near East Parmesan Couscous....a favorite for sure.  Didn't really mix too well with the meatloaf like I had thought it would...just a different flavor. 

I didn't make the cornbread.  I bought it at Safeway....it was a little too sweet and tasted more like yellow cake than corn bread.  I love yellow cake so I'm not complaining, but it was just not what I expected. 

An interesting dinner....a good experiment, but not one of my favs.

Jam Chicken, Brown Rice, Broccoli, Banana Bread

No, we didn't have banana bread for dinner...although its not a bad idea!  I have been looking for a good banana bread recipe.  I had yet to find one I really liked.  I think I may have found it.
We did have jam chicken for dinner.  I used apricot preserves.  It was so delicious.  Nicholas ate 3 servings of chicken, 2 of brown rice, and 2 of broccoli.....I guess the kid was hungry!!!!  He then ate a small bowl of ice cream and 1 1/2 pieces of banana bread.  Growth spurt anyone????
Anyway....here's the recipe for the jam chicken....soooooooo easy.
2 Tbsp jam (not jelly....wrong consistency)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp fresh ginger or 1 tsp powdered ginger, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp water
1 lb chicken

I cut up the chicken into small pieces but you could do it with chicken breasts.  Mix the ingredients together.  I put it in the fridge for about 45 minutes to marinate.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. 
Another option is to put it in the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours. 

Simple and delicious!!!  Like I said I used apricot, but I think next time I'm going to try raspberry jam. 

Soft Pretzels

 PRETZELS!!!!! 

In honor of the superbowl (which I really don't care all that much about this year), I decided to try and make homemade soft pretzels.  I found a recipe by Bobby Flay.  They are really really good.  They take about 2 hours from start to finish to make, not too bad.  I had fun rolling and twisting them.  I am in the process of making a second batch right now....just waiting for the dough to rise.  I think I'm going to try to roll these a little thinner.  I didn't qute expect them to puff up like they did.  Some of them are a bit misshapen, but I'm working on it.  Hopefully the second batch will all come out with having all of them look like pretzels.  Jim said they taste just like the Amish ones....what a compliment.  We'll see how everyone at the superbowl party likes them!!!

Here's a link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/throwdown-with-bobby-flay/soft-pretzels-with-queso-poblano-sauce-and-mustard-sauce-recipe/index.html

I didn't make the dipping sauces that are mentioned in the recipe. Enjoy!!!!

Bagels

Friday night: I decided to give making bagels a try.  I never thought I'd be making homemade bagels.  They don't look too difficult.  So I'm giving them a try.  I thought it would be a nice thing to wake up to on Saturday morning.  Especially because we are going to be out early in the morning.  I figured it would be a nice fresh breakfast we could eat on the go without having to go buy bagels.

Saturday: Bagels came out pretty good.  Although not the prettiest looking bagels.  They were pretty good.  Not quite as good as Panera....but those are sourdough bagels which is a whole other story. I don't have the link for the recipe, but I'm going to try a different recipe next week.  I'll post which one I think is better.   Definitely cheaper than buying a dozen bagels. 

Baked Ziti and Rustic Italian Bread

Such a standard, but so delicious.  A friend of mine, Marian, recommended baked ziti.  I hadn't made it in a while so I decided to make it this week.  My recipe is such a standard, easy one to do.
1 box pasta (ziti or penne...I used whole wheat penne)
15 oz ricotta
1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 jar pasta sauce
Mozarella cheese (sorry I don't measure it)

Sometimes I season the beef/turkey with different seasonings such as basil, oregeno, or italian seasonings.  It definitely adds to the flavor. 
Cook the pasta according to directions on box.  Brown and season the ground beef/turkey. 
Mix meat, pasta, ricotta, sauce and some mozzarella or italian blend cheese (not too much cheese here).  Top with mozzarella/italian cheese. 
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until cheese on top is lightly browned and bubbly.
Enjoy!!!

I also made Rustic Italian Bread.  Oh my!!!  So good.  It was pretty easy and absolutely delicious.  You have to have fresh bread to go along with a baked ziti.  I followed the recipe on the bread flour bag.  If anyone wants it here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/66wakp5 

BBQ Sauce

Some of you have asked for the recipe for my homemade BBQ sauce.  Here it is: 

1 cup Worchestershire sauce
2 1/2 cups ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mustard
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp peper

Combine, mix, use, store in the fridge.   

This makes about 5 cups. 

FYI, I added "reactions" to the blog at the bottom of the blog.  I love comments and feedback!