Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts

Friday, June 10, 2011

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

I stumbled on a really awesome food blog called Our Best Bites. Great recipes and pictures to show the step by step process. I have a few recipes flagged to try out soon. I made one last night and it was a keeper so I am sharing it here. If you love Mexican food then this is a must try. It was so easy! It was Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos. You can find the recipe HERE.

I doubled the mixture recipe because I used the larger flour tortillas. It made 10 taquitos. The next time I make them I want to try out THIS dressing to use as a dipping sauce for them.re

Veggies and Dip

I realize that I have been MIA lately. It's summer. We've been doing play dates, going to the park and all sorts of things. By the time I sit down in the evening, I'm pooped. I have found a few recipes that I wanted to share here because there were so yummy!

We love veggies and dip. My hubby would eat this all of the time. He LOVES veggie trays at parties. My oldest loves carrots and ranch as a snack even for breakfast now and then. I am always on the search for healthier dips. One of our faves is hummus so when I stumbled on this recipe I knew I had to try it. I found it on the Weelicious site which I am a huge fan on. Catherine is amazing!

The recipe is White Bean Basil Hummus. OH MY GOODNESS! I have found my favorite dip ever. It is so easy and so cheap! I do not have tahini because I use a dab of peanut butter instead in my regular hummus recipe so I just left that out altogether in this and it is marvelous. The Weelicous recipe is HERE. The following is my adaptation.

White Bean Basil Hummus (Makes 1 1/2 Cups)

1 Can Cannelini or Northern White Beans, rinsed and drained (Reserve the liquid.)
1 Cup Fresh Basil, chopped
1 Small Garlic Clove
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Olive Oil

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Add some of the bean liquid to blender if extra liquid is needed to completely blend. Dip your veggies and pita and be prepared for a taste sensation!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Chimichangas

We love Mexican food....alot. I am always anxious to try out new Mexican recipes to add to our favorite recipes. This is one I found in a Food Network magazine and decided to try out this week. Hubby and I loved it but the littles were less than thrilled with it. I won't give up though. We'll try it again and again. I'm sure one of those times, they'll realize how good it is.

Chimichangas
2 T. butter
4 T. vegetable oil
1 white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (remove seeds for less heat) (I didn't use a jalapeno.)
1 1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
salt
1 small tomato, chopped
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro (I forgot to buy this, so it didn't make it into mine.)
2 1/2 c. shredded, cooked chicken
1/4 c. sour cream
1 15 oz. can refried beans
tortillas (The recipe calls for 4 but I was able to fill 8!)
1 c. shredded monterey jack cheese

Preheat oven to 45o degrees. Melt the butter with 2 T. vegetable oil in a skillet and transfer to a bowl. Heat the remaining 2 T. vegetable oil in skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and 1 t. salt; toast 30 seconds. Add the tomato and cilantro and cook until slightly dry, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken and sour cream and warm through. Remove from the heat.
Brush a rimmed baking sheet with some of the butter-oil mixture. Spread 2 T. refried beans down the center of of each tortilla, leaving a 2 in. border on both ends. Top with one cup chicken mixture and 1/4 c. cheese. (I didn't use this much chicken or cheese in each tortilla so it stretched farther.) Fold in the ends and roll up. Put the chimichanga seam-side down on the baking sheet; brush with the butter-oil mixture. Bake 8-10 minutes per side, brushing again after you flip.

Serve with more cheese, lettuce, and tomato. Serve with rice, beans, and guacamole.

I think the next time I make these I will do everything the same except I will omit the cinnamon. I wasn't crazy about that taste in it. I like cinnamon in my desserts not main dishes.

Banana Oat Smoothie

Three quarters of my family love smoothies. My oldest daughter does not. She thinks she does but when I offer her one, she will rarely finish it. I can't figure this out because really a smoothie is like a milkshake! My youngest daughter LOVES them and I know it is one way I can get good, healthy things in her as she is my pickier eater.

I tried a smoothie recipe that I found in an Everyday Food magazine a while back. This was a winner! I was interested in how the oats would taste in it and they were so good.

Banana Oat Smoothie
1/2 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1 c. plain yogurt
2 ripe bananas, cut into thirds
1 c. milk
4 t. honey
1/2 t. cinnamon

Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.

Quiche

My hubby LOVES quiche. If we are out at a restaurant and he spots it on the menu, he will more than likely order it. Sadly, I have never made it for him here at home. Strange, since it is an easy thing to make and I usually have all of the ingredients on hand. I had found this recipe in a Kraft Foods magazine that I used to get and pulled it out this week to try. It's a keeper and very easy! It is called Weeknight 4 Cheese Quiche but only has one type of cheese in it, so I don't quite get that. I'm sure I can remedy that next time, though.

Weeknight 4 Cheese Quiche
1 c. sliced mushrooms
1 c. chopped onion
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, and drained *
1/3 c. Miracle Whip
1/3 c. milk
4 eggs
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 prepared pie shell (9 in.) (I made my own.)
1/4 c. real bacon bits or crumbled bacon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a skillet with cooking spray. Add mushrooms and onion; cook 5 min. or until tender. Stir in spinach; mix well. Mix dressing, milk, and eggs until well blended. Add spinach mixture and cheese. Pour into pie shell; sprinkle with bacon bits. Bake 50 min. or until golden. Makes 6 servings.

* I learned a great trick from Rachael Ray about thawing and draining spinach because who really remembers to let the spinach thaw. Pop it in the microwave and defrost it. Then dump in in a towel, wrap it up and while running cold water over, squeeze the water out. Once it isn't so hot just squeeze until no more water comes out. It works great. I even have a special spinach towel that I use just for this because it has a nice green stain on it.

I am anxious to try this again with the same egg base but different veggies and cheese.

Monday, March 21, 2011

The Favorite

My hubby is home in between classes today and will be eating supper with us this evening! This is exciting stuff because usually the girls and I eat alone and my big plans for having something home made and yummy are thrown out the window when supper time rolls around. Tonight though I need to cook since we are eating as a family so I am making a family favorite. It doesn't get made that often but when it does....WOW! Everyone loves it...it is easy....it is so good. I haven't shared the recipe here before so I better get on that.

Chicken Enchiladas
1/2 c. chopped onion
4 T. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. chicken broth
1 t. chicken bouillon
8 oz. sour cream, room temp
3 c. shredded, cooked chicken
2 c. shredded cheese
4 oz. can green chiles, drained
1 t. chili powder
10 - 12 tortillas

Sautee onion in butter until tender. Whisk in flour and add chicken broth and bouillon. Cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and add sour cream. In large bowl combine chicken, 1 c. sauce, 1 c. cheese, chiles, and chili powder. Mix well. Fill each tortilla with mixture. Roll up and arrange in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Spoon remaining sauce over tortillas. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

YUM! This is a recipe that I have made since the early days of married life and it is still a winner in hubby's heart!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Holiday Recipes

I tried out some new recipes this past Christmas and New Year season that I wanted to share with you here and so I can remember where I found them. They were all winners but things that I probably would only make for a holiday or party. We ate well as you can see from this picture taken on New Year's Eve at my in-law's cabin.
Happy New Year
I am a big believer in having a yummy special breakfast on Christmas morning after the opening of presents. I had found a recipe on The Pioneer Woman's cooking blog a few weeks back and knew I had found what would be made for my family. The recipe is called Make Ahead Muffin Melts and you can find it HERE. These were so, so, so, so good and so easy. You make the egg mixture the night before so all you have to do the morning of is scoop the mixture on english muffins and broil. They were superb and got rave reviews!

On Christmas Eve we had snacks to eat while watching Despicable Me. I made homemade French Onion Dip from an Alton Brown recipe on the Food Network site. You can find the recipe HERE. This again was an easy recipe to make and the results were 1,000x's better than the plastic container stuff from the grocery.

On New Year's Eve my mother-in-law and I made an incredible ham from a Neely's recipe. We had watched them make it on their show and knew that this was to be our New Year's Eve masterpiece and that it was! It was a show stopper as you can see from the below picture. The recipe is found HERE.
Happy New Year
And now it's a new year and we're all looking for light, low calorie recipes!!!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Other Christmas Cookies

Today was cookie making day at our house. The biggest girl helped add the ingredients to the mixer while the littlest girl screamed in protest that she was not able to eat the dough or even reach the mixer. We had fun to say the least.

We made three different kinds of cookies...all types that I have never made before for Christmas, two of which I have never made at all before. They have all been tasted and passed with flying colors!

The first cookie we made was the Homemade Oreos which you can find at Smitten Kitchen and my tips in this post.
Cookie Day
The other two I found in my current issue of Ladies Home Journal. (I have no idea how I got a subscription to. It comes in my name but I never paid for one. It is not a magazine I would generally look at but it's free and it comes to my mailbox.)

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies (found on a Betty Crocker advertisement in the magazine)
1 pouch or box of sugar cookie mix
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 t. mint extract
6-8 drops green food coloring
1 egg
1 c. creme de menthe baking chips (***see note below)
1. c. semisweet chocolate chunks

Mix cookie mix, butter, extract, food coloring and egg in bowl, until soft dough forms. Stir in creme de menthe baking chips and chocolate chunks. Using small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to wire rack. Serve warm or cool completely. Makes 36 cookies.

***I could not find creme de menthe baking chips so I bough a box of Andes chocolate mints, unwrapped them (with the help of two beautiful little girls), and chopped them up.

White Chocolate Thumbprints
2 2/3 c. flour
1 t. salt
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla extract
9 oz. white chocolate, chopped

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour and salt. In another bowl beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium high until fluffy, about 4 min. then beat in egg and vanilla. On low speed, stir in flour mixture. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 1/2 hours. Roll 1 inch balls of dough and place 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Flatten each ball slightly; using your finger or a round half teaspoon, make an indentation in the center of each. Bake cookies about 15 minutes until cooked through but not golden. Re-indent center if needed and cool on baking sheets. Melt chocolate in 15 second increments in the microwave, stirring between each pass until just melted, 1 - 2 minutes total. Spoon white chocolate into cookie indents. Let set about 1 hour. Makes 5 1/2 dozen.

***I also sprinkled green and red sugar on the white chocolate before it set. They look really pretty with that.
Cookie Day
So...go bake! YUM!

Homemade Oreos

That title alone should have you drooling! I stumbled on a recipe for Homemade Oreos from Smitten Kitchen a couple of months ago and knew they would be made some point at Christmas. They have now been made twice. I made a batch for my mom's group cookie exchange and have a batch ready to be filled on the counter.

They are delicious! I do not get as many cookies as the recipe says it will yield. I actually only get like half so hers must be much smaller. I LOVE using my mini ice cream scoop for cookie dough so it must not be small enough. She also says to use your fingers to flatten the cookie, I dipped a glass with a flat bottom in warm water and flattened them. I thought that worked much better.

Also follow the recipes directions! When I made them the first time I creamed my butter and sugar then added the dry ingredients like I was taught to without paying attention the actual recipe until after I was done. This time I followed the directions and they turned out a little different, probably how they are supposed to turn out.

The filling is super, super thick and sweet. When I make it today, I'm going to add a little milk to the mixture. Last time I also did the peppermint extract in place of the vanilla which I will do again because peppermint screams Christmas! Then I divided the frosting in half and made half green and half red. They were so cute!

You definitely need to try these!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Brunch Treats

Today was one of my mom's group's Christmas craft workshop. We got to sit around, eat yummy food and make some really fun things all while our children were in the care of some awesome people. BLISS!!!! I had signed up to bring something for the amazing food spread. I wanted to share with you what I made because both items were oh so yummy!

I had put my name under "Egg Casserole" when I signed up and I wanted to make something a little different from the normal breakfast casserole. After scouring Pioneer Woman's breakfast recipes, I came across Eggs Florentine Casserole. It was scrumptious and different from the norm. It makes a 9 x 13" dish of casserole and I came home with two tiny corner pieces left. That's always a good sign.

I used frozen hasbrowns...DO NOT TELL PIONEER WOMAN! It's just so much easier than grating potatoes and it tasted good anyways. I also used a 1 lb. package of breakfast sausage and fried it up while crumbling it.

I absolutely LOVE Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine. It is my favorite recipe magazine. I always learn something and find recipes that I want to make. I treated myself to buying the December issue since I usually just check it out at the library. I found another recipe that I wanted to make to take to my mom's group also.

Sausage-Cheddar Balls
45 sausage balls

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups grated cheddar
1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
1/2 large yellow onion, grated on large holes of a box grater
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, ground pepper, cayenne pepper and baking powder. Add grated cheddar and toss to coat. Add sausage, grated onion and melted butter.

3. With your hands, mix until well blended and roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Place balls, 1/2 inch apart, on baking sheet. Bake until balls are golden and cooked through about 25 minutes. Serve warm.

***I chopped my onion finely instead of grating it but next time might grate it to get even smaller pieces. I would also use just a little bit less of the cayenne. They had a good kick to them but were still so very yummy!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Cranberry Pork

I discovered this recipe on a Facebook friend's page and have made it several times since. We LOVE it. It is probably our family favorite right now.

Cranberry Pork Roast
1 (3 lb.) boneless pork loin roast, trimmed ***See note below
2 cans jellied whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/2 c. steak sauce
2 T. brown sugar
2 t. prepared mustard
4 T. water
4 T. cornstarch

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium high heat. Add roast; cook until browned on all sides. Place roast in 4-5 qt. electric slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Combine cranberry sauce, steak sauce, brown sugar, and mustard; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours or high heat 4-5 hours. Remove roast from sauce, cover and keep warm. Combine water and cornstarch, stirring until smooth. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce in slow cooker. Pour mixture (very carefully) into a 1 quart microwave safe glass dish. Microwave at high heat for 2 minutes, stirring after one minute. Serve roast with cranberry sauce.

***I have been using pork loin chops instead of the roast because they have been on sale and they were wonderfully in the recipe. I also never have steak sauce so I just mix up some ketchup and Worcestershire sauce to make a 1/2 cup mixture.

You really need to make this. It is so easy and the flavor is AMAZING! It is really good served with a side of couscous and a vegetable like sauteed spinach with fresh mushrooms, onions and balsamic vinegar.

A Little Sweet Treat

This past Wednesday we had a couple friends over to decorate cookies. I wanted to make a little snack for us and wanted it to be easy after making bunches of sugar cookies. I found this little gem in my recipe box and decided to finally try it. Super easy, super good!

Honey Cream Filled Crescents
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 T. honey
1/4 c. sliced almonds
1 pkg. crescent roll

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cream cheese and 2 T. honey; stir in almonds. Unroll crescent roll dough; separate into 8 triangles. Spread 1 rounded T. of the cream cheese mixture onto each triangle; roll each up loosely. Place rolls on ungreased baking sheet; curve each into crescent shape. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve rolls warm, drizzled with remaining honey.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Best Part of the Thanksgiving Meal

In my opinion the very best part of the Thanksgiving meal is the dressing, stuffing...whichever you call it. My great aunt shared with me her recipe for the dressing many yearer recipe for the dressing many years back and it is what I use every year. It has never failed me and is always, always, always delicious and continues to be my favorite part of the meal. It also is really nice because it is cooked in the crock-pot making for one less thing to have to cram into the oven.

Crockpot Dressing
1 c. butter
2 c. chopped onion
2 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. parsley
2 cans mushrooms, drained (8 oz. cans)
12-13 c. bread cubes
2 well beaten eggs
1 t. poultry seasoning
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. sage
1 t. thyme
1/2 t. pepper
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 c. broth

Melt the butter in a saucepan and sautee the celery and onion until tender. Add in the mushrooms. Add in the parsley, poultry seasoning, salt, sage, thyme and pepper. Pour over bread cubes. Toss well. Pour in broth to moisten. Add eggs. Mix well. Pack lightly into crockpot. Cover. Set on high for 45 minutes. Reduce to low and cook 4-8 hours.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Look Ma, No Recipe

First off I need to answer a question from the comments in my previous post because I just know some of you are losing sleep over wondering. The question pertained to how the neighbors responded to our peace offering. Well....I don't know. They didn't answer the door when we knocked so we hung our treats from their door knobs. Nothing has been said to us, but that is ok.

Now on to what I want to share today. I have always and forever been a fan of recipes. Like...I can't cook without a recipe. I do not just whip things up. There needs to be a plan otherwise known as a recipe.

Well, I have made 3 things in the past few weeks solely on what I know about cooking now from watching umpteen Food Network shows at my mother-in-law's house "back in the day" and having seen a recipe at one point or another.

The first thing was turkey burgers. We loooooove these and they are easy! I learned from Rachael Ray that you must add veggies to turkey meat because it is drier. The veggies will boost the flavor and juiciness. I rarely buy beef anymore and was craving burgers so I jumped in. I chopped up some carrots, onion, and garlic. I mixed this in with the turkey meat and fried them up in the pan. YUM! They were awesome. I went a bit overboard with the veggies but it worked. I have also used fresh basil and spinach in them. So good!!!!!!

The next thing that I made was Chicken Pot Pie. I had made THIS recipe a couple of weeks back so I had a basic idea. I started by sautéing carrots, onion, celery and garlic in butter. Then I whisked in some flour then added some milk and chicken stock. I let that thicken up and added some shredded chicken, sage, salt, pepper, and a bag of frozen peas.

For the pot pie part of the meal I used an old family recipe which goes like this:
Whisk one egg, add enough milk to make a cup. Add enough flour to make a sticky dough. Roll out and cut into strips or squares.

I cut mine into small-ish squares and dropped them in the pan. They cooked quickly. This was a hit with the family too. My oldest daughter had 3 servings!

My last thing was just something that I decided to try. There was no recipe that I had seen at one time or another. I melted half a stick of butter in a frying pan and threw in cubed summer squash. I stirred it around and covered it with a lid. Once the squash was tender, I added some dark brown sugar and let it get all syrupy. This was AMAZING! Again my daughter said, "Mommy, this squash is really good!"

I just need to share because I am a teensy, weensy bit proud that I can now just sort of throw some things together. It is a great feeling.

BUT I still love recipes and will be using them for probably 90% of my cooking!

Monday, November 1, 2010

The Peace Offering

It all began at 6:00 a.m. yesterday morning. She awoke screaming and crying as she has almost everyday of her 19 month old life. This time the morning cuddle did not help. She cried, she screamed, she squawked, she threw herself the floor in fits. IT.WAS.BAD. I knew it was bad because I heard the neighbors slamming doors and Daddy awoke from his deep sleeping state. Finally we were able to calm her down and she fell asleep in my arms for another 45 minutes.

Later while getting ready for church Daddy said, "Maybe we owe the neighbors an apology." IT.WAS.THAT.BAD. I decided my oldest daughter and I would make pumpkin cookies to give to the neighbors as a peace offering.

That is exactly what we did. We made these Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and they were so good. I love making cookies for others because after you've given some away there aren't many left to tempt you.

The cookies were so good too! I love oatmeal raisin so the addition of pumpkin, well that just puts it over the top!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Blessing Others

I am so guilty of getting stuck in my own little world and not reaching out to others. This is an even bigger problem now that we are in a newer community. I don't know a lot of people here so I don't have anyone to reach out to, right? WRONG!

I have really been feeling the need to bless others around me. I want my girls to look back and remember the times we reached out to those around us. I want them to know it is important to show kindness to others.

A couple of weeks ago at our church's mom's group a woman from within the church came to speak to us about our true value. This was a quote that she shared with us that I have been trying to cling to:
"Comparison is the thief of joy."

It is!!!!! Comparing myself to anyone robs me of joy and the blessings that God has given me and the desire to bless others. It makes me feel dissatisfied with how things are. A direct result of that is that I don't reach out to others. We are called to pursue people but when I am selfishly consumed with me and comparing myself, I don't.

I am so bad about comparing myself. It's not what God wants from me. I am enough. I am perfectly and wonderfully made.

So....last week my daughter and I made 10 dozen cookies that we bagged up and took to some of our new friends. We blessed them with something so small as cookies but it was a delight to see smiles on their faces when we knocked on doors and handed over a bag with a yummy fall snack in it. My daughter and I talked about how it made our friends feel that we did this for them and how it made us feel. She was so excited about this little thing.

I am brainstorming other things we can do together that will bless others and hope to make this a part of our routine for years to come!

We made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies from THIS recipe. They were yummy and it made 10 dozen which is perfect for giving away.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Comforty Food

It is fall. I am basking in the glory of cooking comfort food type things. They go hand in hand with the colors and smells of the season. Tonight for supper I made a recipe from Everyday food : Fresh Flavor Fast : 250 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Any Time of Day. I tweaked the recipe a bit by changing one thing and adding some other things. I will give you my tweaked recipe.

Chicken and Dumplings
3 T. butter
1 onion, diced
4 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 t. sage (or thyme)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 c. flour (divided into 1/4 c. and 3/4 c.)
1 - 1 1/2 cans of chicken broth
1 1/2 lb. chicken thighs, cut into 2" pieces
3/4 t. dill
1 3/4 t. baking powder
1/2 c. milk
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen peas

Melt butter. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and sage. Cook 5 min. Add 1/4 c. flour stirring into vegetable mixture. Add chicken broth, bring to boil, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Nestle chicken in the pot, reduce heat to med. low. Cover, cook 20 min.

Dumplings: Whisk 3/4 c. flour with dill, baking powder, and 1/2 t. salt. With fork gradually stir in 1/2 c. milk.

Stir peas in the pot. Return to simmer and drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls, leaving space between dumplings. Cover and simmer 20 or until dumplings are cooked.

***Tonight I boiled a whole chicken for one hour then took the meat off the bones. I used about half of the meat in this recipe so I didn't need to cook the chicken for 20 minutes. It worked fine!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Yumminess of Fall

Fall has been so majestic this year. It is simply divine. We had some rain move through earlier and I am hoping beyond hope those drops that quenched our dry earth did not take down the beauty on the tree tops.

I took my girls to an apple orchard last week to pick apples (only to discover that there were no more apples to pick) and discovered a new favorite fall treat, the apple cider slushy! It was so good that when I saw a sign for another orchard two days ago on a quick trip to the zoo, we stopped so Mama could get a slushy!

I also needed another half gallon of fresh apple cider. My favorite thing to do this time of year is warm a mug of cider at the end of the day. It's fall in a cup!

I have also been stocking my pantry with canned pumpkin. I am afraid of another shortage so every time we hit the grocery, I grab a couple more cans. The other night for supper my daughter voted for pancakes so I found a great recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes HERE on allrecipes. It was scrumptious. I loved that they weren't too sweet since you add just a bit of brown sugar. That way when you add the syrup you aren't getting a sugar overload. I also loved how they became light and cakey. This is a keeper recipe for me!

Tonight as the weather cooled during the rain, I made a new soup recipe, Roasted Vegetable Minestrone found HERE from the one and only Pioneer Woman! It was really easy and very good. I did add a few cloves of garlic to the onion, celery, and carrot sauté. This recipe made a huge pot of soup, so we have left-overs for tomorrow plus a big container freezing for later use. Next time I think I would add a can of tomato sauce as I like my minestrone more tomatoey. (I know that isn't actually a word.)

What are you cooking this fall?

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A Delightful Recipe

A couple of weeks I was up north visiting family and friends and a sweet friend shared with me one of her favorite recipes with me. I promptly came back home and tested it out. It is being added here because it was delightful! The ingredient list sounds a bit strange but when mixed together and baked into a gooey masterpiece it is really good.

Curry Chicken Delight

4 chicken breasts
1/3 c. flour
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/4 c. honey
2 T. mustard
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. curry powder

Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry, then coat with flour. Brown chicken in bacon drippings (or oil). Transfer chicken to an 8x8 dish. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 30 minutes. Combine honey, mustard, salt, and curry powder. Drizzle this over the chicken. Bake uncovered 15 minutes longer. Top with bacon and serve over rice.

*I used a couple more chicken breasts and a 9x13 dish but needed more of the ooey gooey goodness so I would recommend sticking to 4 chicken breasts in the smaller pan or making a double batch of the ooey gooey goodness.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Pumpkin Bread

PUMPKIN SEASON IS HERE! Can we get an Hallelujah Chorus there? And even better...there is canned pumpkin in the store. Hello sweet nectar of fall!!!!

Last year I couldn't find it anywhere and was a bit perplexed as to what I was going to do this year without pumpkin treats. Yes, I know...pie pumpkins! I've never done that but I was ready to slice and dice a pumpkin for treats. But then my sweet friend emailed me last week and told me she had discovered the canned yummy goodness at our local grocery store and it was on sale so OFF I WENT with bells on.

I bought 4 cans right then and there! I have since made a pumpkin pie for hubby (his all time favorite pie) which disappeared last night. Where did that pie go? I can not for the life of me figure that one out. Haha!

This afternoon our home smelled of spices and pumpkin as 2 stunning loaves of pumpkin bread baked in our oven. I just know they would have been pinned with blue ribbons back in the day of 4-H!

Speaking of 4-H, that is where my trusty Pumpkin Bread recipe came from and it has not failed me since those awkward days of teenagedom. I would like to share this recipe with you.

Pumpkin Bread
3 c. sugar
1 c. oil
4 eggs
1 lb. pumpkin
2/3 c. water
3 1/2 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. allspice
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
(I always substitute my spices with pumpkin pie spice. I used 3 1/2 t. of pumpkin pie spice.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 bread pans. Mix sugar and oil. Add beaten eggs. Mix in pumpkin and water. Add dry ingredients. Mix 3-4 minutes. Pour into prepared bread pans, spreading into corners. Bake 1` 1/2 hours or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. (My bread baked in 1 hour 20 minutes.)