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Saturday, December 26, 2015

An Aldi Christmas Feast



You can totally feast on food that costs a total of under $40. Don't believe me?  We made it happen this year by shopping at Aldi. It was totally yummy! I'm saving all of my recipes so that we can repeat this again next year.

Courses:

1st Course (Brunch- 10:30)
Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Casserole
Hashbrown Casserole
Grapes

Mid-day Snack (1pm)
Upside Down Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
Egg nog

2nd Course (Dinner- 6pm)
Cornish Game Hen
Leftover Hashbrown Casserole

End the day with egg nog and Christmas goodies


To make...

Sausage Egg and Cheese Casserole

1 lb sausage
6 eggs
1 tsp. onion
2 c. milk
1 tsp. salt and pepper
1 c. cheese
4 slices bread (or croutons)

grease pan. beat eggs, add ingredients.
pour into greased pan
Let it sit 20 min.
Bake on 350 for 30-40 min.

Hashbrown Casserole

1 large pkg. hashbrowns, thawed
1/2 c. onion*
2 c. cheese
1 container lite sour cream
1 1/2 c. roux (with butter, flour, milk, and salt)
1 c. crushed corn flakes
1/2 c. butter melted

grease pan. bake on 350 for 45 min.
at the end, add crushed corn flakes and pour 1/2 c. melted butter over top.
continue baking last 10-15 min.

Cornish Game Hen

I made one and it fed two people.  This was fine- the kids actually didn't eat it this year. Next year, I should probably buy 2-3 game hens, as they are pretty small (almost 3/4 the size of a roast chicken).

Coat with butter and salt and pepper.
Roast at 375 for about 45 minutes.

Sticky buns~ my Mom's recipe!
Similar

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Candy Cane Hot Cocoa


Recipe for Candy Cane Hot Cocoa:

3 candy canes, crushed

1 cup nonfat dry milk

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup Hershey's cocoa powder

1/4 cup chocolate chips, chopped

Mix and store in an airtight container.
Add 1/4 cup to 3/4 cup boiling water

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thursday, November 12, 2015

The Best Lemonade



4 lemons
1 1/4 c. hot water
2/3 c. sugar
stir
add ice
+
stir

Yum!


alternatively:

8 lemons
2 1/2 c. hot water
1 1/3 c. sugar
stir
add ice

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Cheesy Black Bean Soup



My kids love to eat soup. In fact, I think they could live on chicken noodle soup and crackers if I let them!  I have worried so much about finding meals that they will gobble up, no question. Chicken noodle soup is definitely one of those things.

For many years, I have been making some variation of a chili or taco soup, with fritos and sour cream, or with tortilla chips, or sometimes cornbread or cornbread muffins.

Recently I have found a good hack for black bean soup, and it has become our new staple.  It is so tasty and yummy!

Recipe for Cheesy Black Bean Soup

2 boxes black bean soup, from whole foods.
1 can stewed, crushed, or diced tomatoes
1 can pinto beans, drained
1/2 bag (about 3/4 c.) frozen corn kernels
1/2 finely diced green pepper
1/2 tsp. chili powder
Garlic salt, to taste
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
shredded mexican cheese

Throw everything (except cheese and corn) in the slow cooker on low.  Add frozen corn kernels and green pepper in the last 30 min. of cooking.

Serve with cornbread muffins and lots of butter!
Top with shredded cheese!

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Spicy Bloody Mary + Garden Party



~3 small tomatoes (on the vine)
~2 stalks celery
~2 carrots
~1 slice of jalapeño, or 1/2-1 whole pepper, seeded
~1 small bunch parsley
~1 squeeze lemon
~1/2 cucumber
~tabasco, salt and pepper, and a dash of worcestershire sauce

Put all ingredients except the spices through your juicer.

If you've never had fresh tomato juice, you have to try this!

If you add more than a slice of jalapeño, and you don't like spicy food very much (at all), prepare for it to be undrinkable.

Garden Party
 ~5 c. spinach
~1 apple
~1/4 c. parsley
~1 green pepper
~3 carrots

These drinks inspired by this article

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

DIY Pumpkin Spice Syrup with Molasses!



1 c. water
3/4 c. brown sugar
3 tbsp. pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
(alternatively, a dash of cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and ground cloves)
1 tbsp. molasses

whisk together in small saucepan
bring to a boil
stir for 3-5 min. or until slightly thickened
remove from heat

to make a pumpkin spice latte:
1 shot espresso
1 shot PSL syrup
6 oz. (3/4 c.) steamed milk
stir to combine

Super, super delicious! ;-)



Saturday, September 26, 2015

Homemade Margaritas + Orange Margarita option


Homemade Margaritas:

add salt to rim of glass, if desired
4.5 oz.  Tampico limonada (sweet Mexican Lemon-Limeade)
1 oz. tequila (2 oz for a more boozy margarita)
Add whole or crushed ice, stir


Homemade Orange Margaritas:

add salt to rim, if desired
3 oz. fresh orange juice
1 oz. margarita mix or limonata
3/4 c. crushed ice
1 oz. tequila
add all to blender, serve frozen


Friday, July 3, 2015

Avocado Salad Wrap


Can I food-blog about something I didn't make myself?

This avocado salad wrap from Publix was SO GOOD I couldn't not photograph and share all over the 'gram. I'm in love. It was so tasty, especially with the sweet chili sauce it came with.

Two Recipes: Sweet Potato Hashbrowns + Mexican Quinoa Casserole

My brother was coming over for dinner, so I decided to make a few fancier dishes the other night. They both turned out so yummy, I had to write down the recipes I used.

Mexican Casserole with Red Quinoa

(Adapted from this recipe)

-1 c. white rice 
-1 c. red quinoa
-1/2 lb ground turkey
-tomato
-grated cheese
-avocado
-onion

Cook white rice and red quinoa according to package, add butter
chop (dice) tomatoes and add to rice
cook ground turkey and add diced onion at the end
add cooked ground turkey, seasoned to taste (I used chili powder, cumin, and sloppy joe seasoning) to the top of your rice
top with mexican cheese and/or grated cheddar cheese

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
serve/garnish with tomato and avocado and onion

Serve with a salad and raisin and date banana bread... and THIS...




Sweet Potato Hashbrowns with sausage
(adapted from this recipe)

-2-3 sweet potatoes (3 if small)
-garlic
-onion
-1/2 lb sausage (italian turkey sausage)~ can do bacon, I love bacon!
seasoning (I used garlic salt because I didn't have garlic on hand)
-2 tbsp. coconut oil
-1 tbsp butter
-tomato, avocado, egg*
-fresh rosemary, chopped
-fresh chives, chopped
* optional


Cook sausage, set aside
add coconut oil to grease
toss in bite-size potato pieces
cut up onion, chives, rosemary

Cook potatoes about 20 minutes (covered, but sauté/ stir once every few minutes)
add onion, garlic, seasoning
Cook for a couple more minutes
Remove from heat
Cook eggs and top with them

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Thai Enchiladas


This version of a recipe for Thai Enchiladas was so good, I had to write down the recipe.  I memorized a recipe by reading it over a bunch of times and bought all of the ingredients. I altered it quite a bit, so.. I won't leak my original recipe (hint: on my Pinterest foodie page). But this is now one of my favorite recipes. I'm definitely, definitely going to be making this again! YUMMY!

Ingredients:

-tortillas
-4 chicken breasts
-carrots, 1-2 shredded
-1/2 cup corn kernels (frozen)
-green enchilada sauce
-coconut milk
-garnish: chopped jalapeños, crushed peanuts, and cilantro

Get your chicken boiling, turn down to low and simmer for about 19-20 min.

When cool, shred the chicken, using your hands, or a fork and knife, to tear it apart.

Meanwhile, make your sauce. Stir 1 tbsp. coconut milk into a can of green enchilada sauce, add shredded carrots and corn. Stir in the shredded chicken. Heat until all throughly warm. Add chopped cilantro if desired.

Put the filling into restaurant style/size tortillas.  Or any kind of tortillas, but we like them big.

Cover enchiladas with about 1/2 of a can of lite coconut milk.

Cook in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes or until piping hot.

Serve with sour cream and spicy salsa and garnish with peanuts, cilantro, and jalepeno.

To make them more spicy: add red sauce to coconut milk, or use medium-hot enchilada sauce.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Irish Soda Bread


4 c. Flour
4 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 c. milk
1 egg
1/4 c. whipping cream
1 c. raisins (or currants)

optional: 1 tbsp. melted butter + brown sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 375. 
Add softened butter to flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Incorporate through the dough.
Mix milk and egg, and slowly add to the batter.
Fold in whipping cream.
Add raisins (or currants) and incorporate slowly throughout.

Mix dough. It will be wet.  Knead on a floured surface until the dough holds together nicely.  Make an X or a snowflake with a serrated knife. Using a plastic baggie, pipe the butter and brown sugar mixture into the X or snowflake shape on top of the bread.

Bake for 40 min.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Turkey, Bean, & Carrot Soup


If you're tired of chili, or haven't made it in a while, this can serve as a nice substitute. The ground turkey is yummy and tasty!


ingredients
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 lb ground turkey
1 small can of tomato paste
1 tbsp. minced roasted garlic
white navy beans- about 1 1/2 cups
5-6 carrots, chopped
1 32 oz. box broth- vegetable, beef, or chicken (I used chicken, made by Progresso, and it was yummy)
seasoning to taste (I used pinch of oregano, cumin, onion powder, salt, and pepper)


The night before, I put a pound of ground turkey in the crock pot with tomato paste, about a cup or cup and a half of water, 1 tbsp. roasted minced garlic, 1/4 c. chopped onion, salt, and pepper.   Set some dried beans in a soup pot to soak overnight (after rinsing and sorting). The turkey cooked in about 3 hours in my slow cooker, and I then put it in the refrigerator to chill.

The next day, I chopped some carrots into chunks, and added those to the drained beans. I covered all with broth and let simmer on the stove for an hour or two, stirring until carrots are soft and beans are fully cooked.  The carrots may not take as long as the beans; in this case, remove the carrots carefully with a slotted spoon, and add to the turkey mixture, which should be chilling in the refrigerator. When the beans are finished, chill.

Finally, add the turkey and tomato-paste mixture to the beans and broth, stirring on low simmer until heated through, about 10-15 minutes.

Add salt, pepper, and other seasonings of your choice- or hot sauce- to taste!




Serve piping hot with fresh buttermilk biscuits or good bread! We are really into marmalade right now if you can't tell! :-)

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Aunt Marnie's Fruit Tea

Aunt Marnie’s Fruit Tea

1. Brew Orange Spice Tea (decaf)
2. equal parts Limeade,
3. Lemonade,
4. Orange Juice

For beer tea, simply mix 1/2 c. of fruit tea with 1/2 c. beer. It’s delicious!
Put in an old milk jug

Freeze leftovers

Potato & Vegetable Soup

1 Zucchini, diced
1 Squash, diced
2 baking potatoes, diced
3 cups beef broth
onion
garlic
salt
oregano
2 tbsp. butter

Put everything into a slow cooker, on low.

At the end, add butter. This was so yummy!

Pork Roast with Raisins and Pine Nuts


Ingredients:

Dale seasoning sauce

Pork tenderloin (about 2lb)
Roasted Garlic (from a jar)
Raisins
Pine Nuts

~Place Pork tenderloin in a shallow pan.

~Pour about 2/3 c. Dale's seasoning sauce all over Pork tenderloin.
~Add about 2-3 c. of water to the bottom of the pan.
~Top Pork roast with 1 tsp. roasted garlic, salt, pepper, and pine nuts.
~Add sliced carrots to the Broth
~Add raisins in the last 15 minutes

Bake uncovered for 1 hour on 425°


Ours' turned out perfectly! The carrots were perfectly soft and flavorful, and the roast was very flavorful.


Serve with loaded mashed potatoes, and a side salad with pear, raisins, pine nuts, and creamy balsamic vinaigrette.

Saturday, January 31, 2015

SIMPLE creamy asparagus and penne pasta



1/2- 3/4 box small penne pasta
1 bunch asparagus
3 chicken breasts
1 1/2 tbsp. butter
2 tbs. flour
1/4 c. cream
garlic salt, to taste
3 tbsp. parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, steam the asparagus (chop off the ends, then cut into thirds.)

Add chicken breasts to 1 tsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter. Cook 7-8 minutes, rotating as you go. Add garlic salt and dried onion (as it cooks, or at the end).

You might want to cut the chicken into pieces— especially if it is thick.

After transferring chicken, pasta, and asparagus to a baking dish, make your cream sauce. Start with a roux.  Melt the butter, and add flour as it melts.  Slowly add 1/4 c. cream, may need more butter and/or cream to reach desired thickness.  At the end, add 2 tbsp. of parmesan cheese and stir until the cheese is melted through.

Add sauce to the pasta, chicken, and asparagus, and add the rest of your parmesan to the top. Put in a 350 oven for 15 minutes. Turn to broil and cook for 5-10 more minutes, watching so it doesn’t burn!

I had to quick stop and write this down the other night after I made it. I adapted it loosely from a recipe I found on Cooking Classy (correction: Nell found it and linked to it on her blog). In the interest of honesty rather than full disclosure, I tried that exact recipe with the bacon and it took me no less than 2 AND A HALF hours to make.  So I recreated it as SIMPLE creamy asparagus and penne pasta and wa-la. Here it is. SO GOOD. This is at most a 30 minute meal- promise.


Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Perfect Pregnancy Smoothie



As you know, Stephen and I are really into making juice in our juicer, and smoothies, peanut butter, and desserts in our Vitamix. I have tried a lot of variations of smoothies in my day.  I have to say, though, that this was THE BEST smoothie I have ever tasted. Yum, yum, yum.

Mango Smoothie (with mango nectar)

1/2 bag frozen mango chunks
1 c. strawberry yogurt
1 c. milk
1c. mango nectar
ice
2 bananas

another alternative: I found the Jamba juice mixer at Publix. It makes all the difference in taste, and the fun thing is, I didn't have any yogurt on hand, but the bag included cubed frozen yogurt, so it didn't matter. The extra bananas make it sweeter and fill it chock full of potassium.


Peachy Strawberry Smoothie (with peach nectar)
1 bag Jamba All Natural Smoothies Mix (contains frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, and frozen yogurt cubes- no alcohol! ) 
2 cans peach nectar
2 sliced frozen bananas



Put all in Vitamix and turn to Smoothies program. Press start and wait until the cycle is finished.

Don't forget the peach nectar- so good!
Enjoy!