This recipe was sent to me by my mom. I'm not sure where she found it. It is a simple, throw everything in the pot meal. Corey and I both liked it. It filled my pot to the top, it was the biggest pot I have. Corey has requested a couple changes next time. He wants a little less corn and add some green beans. Since he has been sick for the past few days hopefully a bowl of hot soup will make him better.
Hamburger Soup
1 Lb ground beef
2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
6 beef bouillon cubes
6 cups water
15 oz (or close) tomato sauce
32 oz (or close) diced tomatoes
1 tsp salt
10 oz frozen corn
1 tsp basil
4 Tbsp ketchup
Brown beef with garlic, drain. Combine with all other ingredients in large stock pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
**I started the water with the bouillon cubes first. I used my Pampered Chef micro cooker to brown the beef. I chopped the vegetables while the meat was cooking.
**Corey doesn't like lots of tomato chunks, so I used my stick blender on the diced tomatoes.
**This would be an easy recipe to cut in half.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
This recipe was found at sixsistersstuff.com. It is a very easy recipe. Corey and I both liked it. I used a 9 X 13 pan instead of a 2 quart pan. I also forgot the cooking spray, but it came right out, no problem. I didn't really taste the Dijon, next time I may add a little more.
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
1 (6 oz) package chicken flavored stuffing mix
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
3 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 cups cooked, chopped ham
6 slices, extra thin Swiss cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare stuffing as directed on package. Mix soup and mustard in a medium bowl, stir in chicken, broccoli and ham. Spoon into a 2 quart casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with cheese slices and stuffing. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until heated through.
**I boiled the chicken before cutting.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Caprese Chicken with Bacon
It's been a while since I have posted. After a little over three years I have finally found a job. After adjusting to Corey's schedule and shift changes I am now having to adjust to having my own schedule again. My new job is in a little restaurant. But for the first time in my life I am in the dinning room instead of the kitchen. I never thought, as I'm sure everyone who knows me, that I would ever be a waitress. I'm really liking the job and all the people are really nice so I'm really hoping it all works out and I can get some more hours.
I have still been searching for new recipes to try. I have found a few that I plan on trying within the next couple weeks. Tonight I made Caprese Chicken with Bacon. It was really good. I will for sure be making it again. Corey has never in the twelve years we have been together liked tomatoes. But recently he has decided to give them another try. Guess what, he likes them. So I made this recipe with the tomatoes and he enjoyed it, said it was really good.
Caprese Chicken with Bacon
8 bacon strips
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
6 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
4 slices part skim mozzarella cheese
Place bacon in an ungreased 15 X 10 inch baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until partially cooked but not crisp. Remove to paper towel to drain. Place chicken in an ungreased 9 X 13 baking pan, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with tomatoes and basil. Wrap each with chicken breast with two bacon strips, in a criss cross. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 170 degrees. Top with cheese, bake 1 minute or until melted.
**This recipe is from tasteofhome.com.
**I didn't wrap the bacon around, just draped it over the top.
**I cut the recipe in half.
**For those who don't know, plum tomatoes are sometimes called Roma tomatoes. The area I'm from they are called Roma. When I first saw them called plum I had to look it up to find out what kind of tomato I was looking for.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Worlds Best Chicken
My mom gave this recipe to me, I'm not sure where she found it. Trust me when I say I didn't come up with the name. In my opinion it is not the "Worlds Best Chicken". With the Dijon mustard and syrup as the sweetener, it had a honey mustard vibe. Of course it wasn't as good as a honey mustard chicken. I was a very easy recipe to make, with few ingredients. Corey felt the same way, it was ok, but nothing special.
Worlds Best Chicken
1 Lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
rosemary
Pre heat oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken in a 9 x 13 baking dish. In a small bowl mix mustard, syrup, and vinegar, season with salt and pepper, pour over chicken. Bake 40 minutes, season with rosemary.
**I would suggest turning half way through the cooking.
**Forty minutes was too long. The chicken was dry and the sauce was starting to turn dark in spots. I would suggest checking for doneness after about 30 minutes.
Worlds Best Chicken
1 Lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
rosemary
Pre heat oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken in a 9 x 13 baking dish. In a small bowl mix mustard, syrup, and vinegar, season with salt and pepper, pour over chicken. Bake 40 minutes, season with rosemary.
**I would suggest turning half way through the cooking.
**Forty minutes was too long. The chicken was dry and the sauce was starting to turn dark in spots. I would suggest checking for doneness after about 30 minutes.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Yeast Doughnuts
Corey has been going to the Village Pantry beside our apartment on Sunday mornings for a couple doughnuts. Of course with our work/sleep schedule it is more like really, really late Saturday night. Which is cheaper since from 4pm until midnight doughnuts are half price. Anyway, I've been telling him I would look for some doughnut recipes to try. I have tried two within the past couple weeks. One was more like a biscuit, the other was very close to the VP, but not quite. So I guess my search for a recipe that will satisfy Corey continues.
Glazed Yeast Doughnuts
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 Lb butter
3/4 cup boiling water
4 packets yeast
2 beaten eggs
5 1/2 cups flour
Glaze
1 Lb powdered sugar
1 Tbsp flour
hot water
Melt butter in hot water. Add milk, add yeast, add remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Pat onto floured pastry cloth in the thickness desired. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter and set on greased cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place for 1/2 hour. Heat grease to 350 degrees, two inches deep. Fry to golden brown. For glaze, mix powdered sugar and flour. Add water to desired consistency. Dip doughnuts.
**The glaze was good. I used the glaze recipe for the other doughnut recipe I tried.
**This recipe is the one that was more biscuit like. I think they would have been good cut open and smeared with butter. Of course that is just my opinion.
The next recipe was better. I found this recipe at foodandwine.com. If you try this recipe you will need lots of time, so plan ahead. There are two rises of two hours, and then another rise of 20 minutes right before cooking.
Fluffy Doughnuts
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 extra-large yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
About 5 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more sifted flour for dusting
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Chopped nuts, toasted coconut, and sprinkles, for decorating (optional)
In a small saucepan, warm the milk with the shortening over low heat until the shortening is almost melted. In a large bowl, stir the yeast into the warm water, sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and let stand until foamy, about 3 minutes. Stir the warm milk mixture into the yeast along with the 1/2 cup of sugar and the sour cream, the whole eggs, egg yolk, salt and vanilla. Gradually stir in 4 3/4 cups of the flour until a soft, sticky dough forms. Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface and use a pastry scraper to knead the dough until smooth, adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but smooth and elastic.
Gather the dough into a ball, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a sheet of oiled plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot for 2 hours. Punch down the dough and turn it over in the bowl. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours or overnight.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the chilled dough 1/3 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch doughnut cutter dipped in flour, cut out as many doughnuts as possible and transfer them to a sheet of floured wax paper. The scraps can be rerolled once to cut out more doughnuts. Loosely cover the doughnuts with wax paper and let rise until soft and billowy, about 20 minutes.
In a large, heavy skillet, heat 4 inches of vegetable oil to 365°. Line a rack with several paper towels. Working in batches, fry the doughnuts until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Check the temperature of the frying oil to make sure it doesn't get too hot or cool. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to the paper towel-lined rack to drain. Serve warm or let cool before glazing with the Dark Chocolate Glaze or the Vanilla Glaze and decorating with chopped nuts, coconut and sprinkles.
MAKE AHEAD The recipe can be prepared through Step 2 and refrigerated overnight. The finished doughnuts can be made up to 4 hours ahead. NOTES VARIATION: To make jelly doughnuts, cut out 2 1/2-inch rounds of dough with a biscuit cutter. Fry as instructed above. Once the doughnuts are cool, use a piping bag to squeeze jelly into the sides of the doughnuts.
Dark Chocolate Glaze
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Salt
Place the chopped chocolates in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, combine the heavy cream with the sugar and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate and let stand until melted, about 5 minutes; whisk until smooth. Whisk in the butter, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Let the dark chocolate glaze cool until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
Vanilla Glaze
5 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
In a medium bowl, whisk the confectioners' sugar with the milk and corn syrup until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Variation: To make a frosting suitable for piping, stir 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar into the glaze.
Glazed Yeast Doughnuts
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 Lb butter
3/4 cup boiling water
4 packets yeast
2 beaten eggs
5 1/2 cups flour
Glaze
1 Lb powdered sugar
1 Tbsp flour
hot water
Melt butter in hot water. Add milk, add yeast, add remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Pat onto floured pastry cloth in the thickness desired. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter and set on greased cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place for 1/2 hour. Heat grease to 350 degrees, two inches deep. Fry to golden brown. For glaze, mix powdered sugar and flour. Add water to desired consistency. Dip doughnuts.
**The glaze was good. I used the glaze recipe for the other doughnut recipe I tried.
**This recipe is the one that was more biscuit like. I think they would have been good cut open and smeared with butter. Of course that is just my opinion.
The next recipe was better. I found this recipe at foodandwine.com. If you try this recipe you will need lots of time, so plan ahead. There are two rises of two hours, and then another rise of 20 minutes right before cooking.
Fluffy Doughnuts
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 extra-large yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
About 5 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more sifted flour for dusting
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Chopped nuts, toasted coconut, and sprinkles, for decorating (optional)
In a small saucepan, warm the milk with the shortening over low heat until the shortening is almost melted. In a large bowl, stir the yeast into the warm water, sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and let stand until foamy, about 3 minutes. Stir the warm milk mixture into the yeast along with the 1/2 cup of sugar and the sour cream, the whole eggs, egg yolk, salt and vanilla. Gradually stir in 4 3/4 cups of the flour until a soft, sticky dough forms. Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface and use a pastry scraper to knead the dough until smooth, adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but smooth and elastic.
Gather the dough into a ball, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a sheet of oiled plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot for 2 hours. Punch down the dough and turn it over in the bowl. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours or overnight.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the chilled dough 1/3 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch doughnut cutter dipped in flour, cut out as many doughnuts as possible and transfer them to a sheet of floured wax paper. The scraps can be rerolled once to cut out more doughnuts. Loosely cover the doughnuts with wax paper and let rise until soft and billowy, about 20 minutes.
In a large, heavy skillet, heat 4 inches of vegetable oil to 365°. Line a rack with several paper towels. Working in batches, fry the doughnuts until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Check the temperature of the frying oil to make sure it doesn't get too hot or cool. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to the paper towel-lined rack to drain. Serve warm or let cool before glazing with the Dark Chocolate Glaze or the Vanilla Glaze and decorating with chopped nuts, coconut and sprinkles.
MAKE AHEAD The recipe can be prepared through Step 2 and refrigerated overnight. The finished doughnuts can be made up to 4 hours ahead. NOTES VARIATION: To make jelly doughnuts, cut out 2 1/2-inch rounds of dough with a biscuit cutter. Fry as instructed above. Once the doughnuts are cool, use a piping bag to squeeze jelly into the sides of the doughnuts.
Dark Chocolate Glaze
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Salt
Place the chopped chocolates in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, combine the heavy cream with the sugar and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate and let stand until melted, about 5 minutes; whisk until smooth. Whisk in the butter, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Let the dark chocolate glaze cool until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
Vanilla Glaze
5 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
In a medium bowl, whisk the confectioners' sugar with the milk and corn syrup until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Variation: To make a frosting suitable for piping, stir 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar into the glaze.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sweet Potato Doughnuts with Maple Icing
It's been a long time since I have posted anything. We, well I, have sort of fallen back into a rut. Our schedule has changed twice in the past few months. With each new change comes adjusting meal times. So for awhile it was easier to just eat cheap and fast instead of trying new stuff that involves more time (and money).
Anyway, Corey has been wanting doughnuts (donuts, however you want to spell it) for a long time. He even started going next door to the Village Pantry and getting a couple doughnuts on Sunday mornings. I have been looking for a recipe that would be quick and fairly easy. I found this one on the foodnetwork site. It comes from Paula Deen.
They were really simple. All the ingredients were all pretty basic stuff. The only thing I didn't have on hand was maple extract. So I just a drizzle of maple syrup in its place. I don't think they had much of a sweet potato flavor, but Corey really liked them.
Sweet Potato Doughnuts with Maple Icing
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
oil for frying
Maple Icing
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
3 to 4 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp maple extract
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sour cream and sweet potatoes. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring to combine. Turn out dough on to heavily floured surface. Knead in flour with hands as needed, dough will be sticky. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out with a 2 1/4 inch round cutter. Cut out center of doughnuts with a 3/4 inch round cutter. Re-roll as needed. Heat oil over medium heat to 360 degrees. Cook in batches, about 2 minutes per side or until light brown. Drain on a paper towel. Glaze tops.
**She suggests adding chopped pecans to the top.
**I only made a half batch.
Anyway, Corey has been wanting doughnuts (donuts, however you want to spell it) for a long time. He even started going next door to the Village Pantry and getting a couple doughnuts on Sunday mornings. I have been looking for a recipe that would be quick and fairly easy. I found this one on the foodnetwork site. It comes from Paula Deen.
They were really simple. All the ingredients were all pretty basic stuff. The only thing I didn't have on hand was maple extract. So I just a drizzle of maple syrup in its place. I don't think they had much of a sweet potato flavor, but Corey really liked them.
Sweet Potato Doughnuts with Maple Icing
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
oil for frying
Maple Icing
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
3 to 4 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp maple extract
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sour cream and sweet potatoes. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring to combine. Turn out dough on to heavily floured surface. Knead in flour with hands as needed, dough will be sticky. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out with a 2 1/4 inch round cutter. Cut out center of doughnuts with a 3/4 inch round cutter. Re-roll as needed. Heat oil over medium heat to 360 degrees. Cook in batches, about 2 minutes per side or until light brown. Drain on a paper towel. Glaze tops.
**She suggests adding chopped pecans to the top.
**I only made a half batch.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Pizza Pull Apart Bread
A couple months ago I posted the recipe for garlic Parmesan pull apart bread,(I have posted it again in this entry). I served it as a side with spaghetti and again with lasagna. Corey said he would like me to make it again but put some pizza stuff inside and have sauce for dipping. So today that is what I did.
I followed the instructions for the bread. Then at the point where I was rolling them to dip in the butter I added a pepperoni and a small cube of mozzarella cheese. Then dipped it into the butter. I also shredded some mozzarella and used it in addition to the Parmesan between the layers. It turned out really good.
Garlic Parmesan Pull Apart Bread
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/3 barely warm water
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cup all purpose (or bread) flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast and water. Let sit 5 minutes until yeast is foamy. Mix in the olive oil, salt and flour. If you have a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead 5 to 6 minutes, or until elastic. If doing by hand, knead on a lightly floured surface until elastic, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until double in size. In a small bowl combine butter, garlic and parsley, set aside. Punch down dough. Tear off small pieces of dough, coat in the butter mixture, and place in the bottom of bundt pan. Repeat until you have one layer of dough balls. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese. Continue layering the dough balls and cheese until you have 3 layers. Cover with a clean towel and allow to sit until double in size, 20 to 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve hot with a side of marinara or tomato sauce.
**Next time I think I will cook it in a 9x13 instead of a bundt pan.
**I just added pepperoni and cheese. You could add some cooked and drained Italian sausage to some pieces and pepperoni to others to give it sort of a combination affect.
I followed the instructions for the bread. Then at the point where I was rolling them to dip in the butter I added a pepperoni and a small cube of mozzarella cheese. Then dipped it into the butter. I also shredded some mozzarella and used it in addition to the Parmesan between the layers. It turned out really good.
Garlic Parmesan Pull Apart Bread
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/3 barely warm water
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cup all purpose (or bread) flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast and water. Let sit 5 minutes until yeast is foamy. Mix in the olive oil, salt and flour. If you have a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead 5 to 6 minutes, or until elastic. If doing by hand, knead on a lightly floured surface until elastic, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until double in size. In a small bowl combine butter, garlic and parsley, set aside. Punch down dough. Tear off small pieces of dough, coat in the butter mixture, and place in the bottom of bundt pan. Repeat until you have one layer of dough balls. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese. Continue layering the dough balls and cheese until you have 3 layers. Cover with a clean towel and allow to sit until double in size, 20 to 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve hot with a side of marinara or tomato sauce.
**Next time I think I will cook it in a 9x13 instead of a bundt pan.
**I just added pepperoni and cheese. You could add some cooked and drained Italian sausage to some pieces and pepperoni to others to give it sort of a combination affect.
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