St. Patrick’s Day 2013

Even though we have absolutely no Irish blood in our family…it is fun to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!  Today for lunch we had a green lunch.  I found a recipe on the wonderful recipe blog of “Two Peas & Their Pod” called Creamy Avocado Pasta.  It looked easy to throw together so I planned to make that once we got home from church.  It was good but a tad dry, so when I make it again I will add some olive oil to the avocado sauce prior to mixing it with the spaghetti.

Then we had kiwis, green grapes, broccoli and a green salad.  I wanted to make some green kool-aid but there were some problems: no green kool-aid in the house and no more than 2 Tablespoons of sugar left in the sugar canister.  So we opted for green milk—-yellow and blue makes green!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch I made a creamy avocado dip that we are enjoying this afternoon.  But I can’t wait until later tonight when we take another tip from Two Peas & Their Pod and make some chocolate mint shakes.

This green lunch didn’t take too much time nor too much planning but my girls loved it and thought it was fun.  Making Memories!!!

Enjoy!

 

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Enchilada Casserole- Slow Cooker

Here is another “near” magic pot recipe that we tried tonight.  It is a vegetarian dish that also earned 4 smiley faces from our family of four.  It is intended to be prepared in a smaller slow cooker ( 3 1/2 quart) but it worked fine in my big slow cooker.  If I have more than four mouths at my table it would be easy to double this one.  I made this exactly like the recipe out of the Southern Living Ultimate Quick and Easy Cookbook except that I used a 15 oz can of corn rather than an 11 oz can of mexi-corn.  I just hate to pay more for that!

Enchilada Casserole

Stir together in your slow cooker:

• 2 Tablespoons chopped green chiles
• 3/4 cup chunky salsa (I used Pace’s mild version)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can yellow corn
• 1 10 oz can of enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso’s Green Enchilada sauce)

Cover and cook on Low for 4 hours

Stir together in a bowl:

• 1 Tablespoon green chiles
• 1 package corn muffin mix (8.5 oz box version)
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 Tablespoons chopped roasted red bell peppers

Spoon the batter evenly over the bean mixture in the slow cooker (well, mine was more like glop it on top of the enchilada mix)

Cover and cook on Low for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until cornbread is done.

Sprinkle over the cornbread:

• 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or mexican blend as I did….hmmmm….maybe I didn’t follow the recipe exactly)

Cover and allow the cheese to melt

Serve with sour cream if desired.

Obviously the spicier your salsa the spicier the dish.  I was cooking for mild-mouths so we made it more tame.  I served it with Ranch Style Beans, a green salad and apple slices.

Enjoy!

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Stuffing Cups- Easy one for Kids in the Kitchen

Want to help your kids learn to cook?  (AKA….do you hope in the near future to be able to say “child of mine, I’m running late today.  Will you please make dinner and have it ready when I get home.”?)  Then, like other parenting tasks we need to train them so they can know what is expected of them.  This recipe was an easy one for my 7 year old to help me with this week.  We ate it as our main dish but you could use it as a side to a roasted chicken too or rip up some of that roasted chicken and mix some into the stuffing prior to baking the stuffing cups in the oven.

If you are training your child to cook, remember to stay close by and offer assistance and guide them….nothing ruins dinner more than a trip to the ER.

Stuffing Cups

Heat oven to 350º

Melt in a large skillet on medium heat:

• 1/4 cup butter

Add to melted butter and saute until crisp-tender (about 5 minutes):

• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped onions
• pepper and salt to taste

Stir in and bring to boil:

• 1 1/2 cups water

Remove from heat and stir in

• 1 6 oz package of stuffing mix for chicken (like Stove Top)
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 egg, beaten

Mix lightly

Spoon into 8 greased muffin cups.  (I was able to get 9 good sized muffins out of it actually)

Bake 10 minutes or until the stuffing cups are heated through.

Note: We did not have any leftovers and there are just four of us.  So you may want to double the recipe if you have any boys over the age of 9 in your family or more than 4 people.  You could also put in some shredded, cooked chicken in the stuffing mix prior to spooning into the muffin cups.  This would make it go further and be a more hearty meal in itself.  These are also easy to wrap up and send to school in lunches—good portion control.

 

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Tuscan Bean Soup- another easy one

The holidays have come and gone and if you hosted the big meal you are most likely tired of being in the kitchen.  This soup recipe is quick and easy.

Tuscan Bean Soup

In a 4-quart Dutch oven cook and stir over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup baby carrots, coarsely chopped.  (I chopped mine with a Pampered Chef hand chopper that I’ve had for years.)
• 1 small onion chopped

Add:

• 2 cans of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained  (these are white kidney beans)
• 4 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want to go vegetarian)
• 2 to 3 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

Bring to boiling.

Slightly mash beans (I used a potato masher)

Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

On another burner, in a large skillet heat on medium-high

• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil

Add to the skillet and toss with tongs for 1 to 2 minutes until wilted

• 5 ounces of baby spinach

Remove spinach from the heat.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with spinach.  Sprinkle with some pepper and serve with some warm, crusty bread.

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Mexican Fiesta Night

It is no secret that I love Mexican food.  When I lived in an area where I could throw a rock and hit a Tex-Mex restaurant, I never prepared it at home….we just enjoyed a night out.  BUT now I live in the land of Pizza Places so Tex-Mex is hard to find.  Tonight was Friday and nothing says “Welcome to the Weekend” better than a nice plate of Mexican food.  So I’m going to share with you a recipe for Cheese Enchiladas that I have compiled over the last year from a variety of sources into my own recipe.  PLUS I have a Mexican rice and an easy sopaipillas recipe to share with you.  The other item on our plates came from Trader Joe’s Freezer section—Roasted Corn other times we have had canned refried beans.

Now you too can have your own Mexican Fiesta Night.

Cheese Enchiladas

First prepare the enchilada sauce.

In a skillet, heat for 1 to 2 minutes (I whisk it together in the skillet for the time frame)

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Whisk into the skillet mixture:

• 2 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want to go vegetarian)

Add and continue to whisk:

• 1 small can of tomato sauce (8 oz)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• dash of cayenne pepper (several dashes if you like to kick up the heat)

Let simmer for 5 to 6 minutes before you start to make the enchiladas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread sauce in the bottom of your glass baking dishes.  I use a 9 x 12 pan for the enchiladas that will have onions and an 8 x 8 pan for those that will not have the pleasure of onions joining them.

Now you need:

• 10-14 corn tortillas
• 2 1/2- 3 cups of shredded cheese (I often use a mixture of sharp cheddar and Mexican blend)
• 1 package of queso fresco.  Mine was round and I cut it into strips so that I could lay a strip in a tortilla.

Prepare the Enchiladas:

Place a tortilla down in the sauce and let it get “happy” in the sauce.  It should be covered in sauce to help it become pliable.

Once it has had a good bath in the sauce for about 15 seconds (I’m guessing on that as I didn’t count while doing it I just eyed it.  I hate it though when a recipe doesn’t tell me how long!….sorry)….so once it has had the sauce bath, place a strip of queso fresco and then sprinkle a couple of Tablespoons of shredded cheese down the center of the tortilla.  If you want to add chopped onions at this point go ahead.

Now pick up the tortilla and roll up the sides.

Lay it seam side down in the dish.

Repeat using all the tortillas and almost all of the cheese.

Spread any remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese (crumble the queso fresco at this point).

Sprinkle the onion enchiladas with more onions if you so desire!

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has melted.

 

Mexican Rice

This dish was given to me by a friend in Texas.  She shared it at her MOPS group and then I shared it with my MOMS group!  My handsome fella loves this one.  I like to start this just before beginning the process on the enchiladas as it takes about 30 minutes for my rice to get to the desired “doneness”.

Heat in skillet (that has a lid because you will need to cover this):

• 3 Tablespoons of oil

Add to skillet and allow to brown for 3 to 4 minutes:

• 1 cup raw rice (I like Uncle Ben’s)

Add to skillet:

• 1 onion, chopped

Mix together and then add to the skillet:  (watch out as when you add this it will steam up)

• 1 small can of tomato sauce and enough water to make 2 cups of liquid (if they don’t shrink the can size that should be a can of tomato sauce (8oz) and then a can of water)

Sprinkle with seasonings:

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• salt
• pepper (I like to go heavier on the pepper than the salt)

Bring to a boil

Cover and Cook on low for 20 minutes—-do NOT peak, or stir.

If after 20 minutes the liquid is not all absorbed, you can leave the burner on for 3 to 5 more minutes and then check.  If it is getting there but not quite where you would like it then turn the burner off and let it sit on the burner.  (I have an electric stove top so it remains hot for a while after turning the burner off).  Remove from burner once all the water is absorbed.

 

Easy Sopaipillas

These are so yummy to finish off  your Mexican themed meal.  You can make your own dough from scratch and mess with all of that OR you can follow this recipe!

You will need a deep skillet, a deep-fry thermometer (I didn’t realize I had one and after many years I finally opened a wedding gift that I had been moving, in the package from place to place to place all these years!), and tongs.

In the deep skillet heat

• 1/2 inch of vegetable oil  until the deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees.

While the oil is heating up cut into wedges:

• flour tortillas (however many you think you can eat!)

Also prepare you cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle over the top.  I always have this mixed up for cinnamon toast for our breakfast needs.

Working in batches, drop about 3 or 4 tortilla wedges in the hot oil.

Turn them once until bubbly and golden on both sides.

Remove from the oil to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle, generously, with the combined cinnamon/sugar.

Continue frying the tortillas until you have prepared enough for your crew.  Sometimes you may need to let the oil return to 350 between batches….but be careful to not let the oil get too hot—I speak from experience as I had some crispy ones tonight as I got distracted while letting the oil heat up

Now “Ándele! Ándele!” As Speedy Gonzales would always say, and go get these items so you can enjoy a Mexican fiesta in your own casa!

 

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Squash Casserole

I am terrible about the side dishes for meals.  I am trying to do better by at least using frozen vegetables rather than canned but I want to do even more.  It is a bit frustrating though to spend time working on a side dish and have only 50% of the people at the table eat it.  I think this is why a plate of raw carrot sticks and a bowl of fruit have become my side dish go-to choices.  In the spirit of continuous improvement, I have been looking for easy and tasty side items.

I found this one on the Crockin’ Girls website.

Today my girls had off from school and I decided that we would have a family dinner together for our noontime meal since Brad will be at work this evening.  I had some frozen chicken cordon bleu packs in the freezer and thought I would prep the squash casserole the night before and then plug it in while I left for my Moms4Moms meeting up at our church.  This would let me come home, get the chicken in the oven and other items going and we could eat a little after noon.

Well, at 7:30 this morning I bolt out of bed realizing that last night I had not made the cornbread or prepped anything for our lunch.  Family meals are very important to me and while it isn’t what you eat but that you make an effort to eat all together and visit with each other….I like to eat more than just sandwiches and wanted a nice meal.  So I quickly ran to the kitchen to get things going.  Since no one else had to be anywhere it was amazing how much I could get done since I didn’t have to check up on the progress of others!

The casserole was prepped and I was ready to walk out the door by 8:30.

So this recipe is very easy to throw together and yummy to eat too!  I did use the crockpot but you could just as easily throw it in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes until it is warmed through.

Prepare cornbread (I used one box of Jiffy Cornbread because I needed to make it in a jiffy!!!)

While cornbread is baking combine in a mixing bowl:

• 2 cups of chopped yellow squash
• 1 1/2 cups of diced onion
• 1/3 of a stick of butter
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
• 10.4 oz of vegetable broth (you can also use 1 can of cream of chicken but I was out so I made vegetable broth from bullion cubes.  I used two cubes)
• sugar (this was my addition and I just shook a bit in…it was probably about 1 tsp)

When cornbread is finished baking, crumble

• 2 cups of cornbread

Add crumbled cornbread to the mixing bowl and mix well.

Spray the crock with non stick cooking spray

Pour the mix into the slow cooker, cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours.  (or you can throw it in a casserole dish and cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350 until warmed through)

This got 3 smiley faces at our table today so I’m keeping it around.  Next time I might throw some shredded chicken in with it and then it could be a main dish!  (but then I’m back to needing more side dish recipes…it never ends)

I also whipped up some gingerbread for dessert.  It was a great family meal—glad we were able to do it.

Enjoy!

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Spinach Calzones

Here is another one for our “more healthy” eating trend.  I have to confess that while this got smiley faces all around the table, my two girls were at the dress rehearsal for the church kids’ musical and the faces were my handsome fella’s, mine and my wonderful mother’s.  My girls might like them because who doesn’t like something wrapped up in yummy pizza dough?

Preheat your oven to 425°

In a large skillet or saucepan carmelize

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2-1 cup sliced sweet onion (about 1/8 inch thick slices)
• 1  cup sliced mushrooms

You may be thinking….how do I carmelize?  In a large skillet or saucepan, heat about 3 T of olive oil to medium-high temp.

Add the onions, mushrooms and garlic.

Stir until everything is coated with oil.

Add to the pan, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper and, if you would like, a small pinch of sugar

Continue stirring until the onions have reached the color and flavoring you desire.

Roll out one small ball of pizza dough (about 10 oz) and cut it into 4 quarters.  (next time I’m using a medium ball of dough to have a bit more dough and also maybe a 5th calzone!)

Top each quarter with

• 1 cup spinach
• 1/4 of the carmelized onions/mushrooms
• 2-3 Tablespoons of mozzarella cheese.  ( I didn’t really measure this…I just sprinkled cheese over it!)

Bring in the corners of the dough to the center and pinch the points together to make a seal for the calzone.

Place the calzones on a rimmed cookie sheet which you have covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy!

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Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad- Great one for hot summer days!

I really enjoyed this salad last night.  We were going to have the leftover pizza from the birthday party but I wanted something else to go with pizza that fell more on the healthy side of the spectrum.  I loved the dressing on this!

Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad

Grill your 2 ears of corn by:

• Removing the husks from the corn and grill it over medium heat for 10 minutes.  The corn should have some brown spots and be tender and not mushy.  Let it cool slightly before cutting the corn off the cob.

True confessions—I don’t work the grill at our house, and I didn’t want to ask my handsome fella to fire it up just for a little bit of corn.  So I tried to find some roasted corn at the grocery store….no luck.  Trader Joe’s has some but it wasn’t on my route home, so I simply cooked some frozen corn in our cast-iron skillet on the stove top.  It worked just fine—-but roasted or grilled would be even better!

Add to the cut corn:

• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 ripe avocado, diced
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Make the dressing by whisking together:

• 2 Tablespoons of lime juice
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Pour the dressing over the corn mixture and toss it gently to combine.

Refrigerated it for at least 15 minutes before serving.

 

Kitchen Tip
Cilantro can go limp in just a few days if you simply leave it in the vegetable crisper in the refrigerator.  Somewhere I read that you should put it in a glass of water and wrap the plastic vegetable bag –you know the one you brought it home from the store in—well wrap that around the cilantro down over the glass.  My husband hates this but it does keep the bunch of cilantro fresh longer and available for more recipes.

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Broccoli and Garlic Pasta–AKA I haven’t been to the store…what do I have?

Monday I realized that I really didn’t have anything to feed my family.  I had not been to the grocery store in what seemed like eons and one child doesn’t like PB&J.  The other “go to” meal of corn dogs and Ranch Style beans had been our dinner on Sunday night…I was in a bit of a panic.

So I thought—pasta!  I can do that.  I quickly looked through my recipes and found several, but they all required more than a cup of milk….and remember I had NOT been to the store in eons and I only had one cup of milk left (yes, I measured to make sure).

Internet search to the rescue!

I had fresh broccoli (well semi-fresh) and I had pasta.  So I did a search and found this recipe.  It calls for penne pasta but I used farfalle.  It was a hit and even my girls ate it without complaint!

Broccoli and Garlic Penne Pasta

Prepare your 4 1/2 cups pasta (penne or farfalle) as directed on package, leaving out the salt.  I like it just cooked and not all the way cooked so that I can put it in the main dish and let it finish soaking up the flavor.

Mix together in a skillet:

• 1 cup Chicken Broth (I’m sure vegetable broth would substitute just fine)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups of broccoli flowerets (I will use more than this though next time…I think 4-5 cups giving about 1 cup per person)

Heat to a boil.

Cover and cook over low heat for 3 minutes or until broccoli is tender-crisp.

Add to the skillet:

• 1 T lemon juice (I use the lemon juice you can keep in the refrigerator.)
• cooked pasta
• add a dash or two more of pepper and basil to taste

Toss to coat

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese or an Italian Blend cheese.

We also had club crackers, wheat thins, and carrots to round out our lunch that day.

Enjoy!

 

 

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Tortellini Soup: for 4 or for the masses!

This is a soup that we have made for years.  I’ve seen it in several cookbooks with tweaks on the ingredients here and there.  A few weeks ago I used this recipe as the vegetarian selection when I made dinner for the University of Pennsylvania orchestra.  The conductor, who also happens to be my handsome fella, wanted to provide dinner but didn’t want to just order pizza.  Somehow it went from me offering to bake dessert to me doing the entire meal….I’m not sure how that happened but it was a fun experience.  Since it was to be an unusually chilly day, it worked well to do soups, salad, bread and desserts for our menu.

So if you want to just feed a family of four you can make one recipe of this.  If you want to feed eight to ten, double the recipe.  If you need to feed more than that get some slow cookers and some helpers!

Tortellini Soup

In a stockpot heat over medium-high heat

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Add to the pot and cook until tender:

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed

Add to the pot and bring to a boil:

• 3 cans of broth–Vegetable if you are going vegetarian or Chicken if you aren’t.  (I actually made my broth from boiling water and dissolving bouillon cubes 2 cubes for every 1 3/4 cup of water which is one can)

Add to the pot:

• 1- 8oz package of dried, cheese filled tortellini

Cook the tortellini according to the package directions in the broth until tender.  Do NOT drain when tortellini are tender.

Add to the pot:

• 1- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1- 10oz package of frozen, chopped spinach that has been thawed and most of the water pressed out of the spinach

Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Now, here is how I tweaked it for the masses:
I was going to have to transport my dinner from our house to the University on a Sunday afternoon.  (Read here…Sunday mornings are busy days at our house as Brad and I both have roles to fill at our church he is there from 8 until 12 and I am there from 9 until 12:30ish)  So we had to get things done in advance.

Saturday we doubled the soup as written above EXCEPT I cooked the tortellini in boiling water for just half of the time directed on the package.  So the rest of the soup was put together, simmered, and then placed into containers in the refrigerator.  This made one larger crockpot of soup—I had two slow cookers of this soup and two others of Taco Soup.  On Sunday we transported the soup to UPenn and then I added the tortellini to the soup and placed the slow cookers on high.  In 2 1/2 hours the soups were ready to serve.  We served it with a green salad and bread along with brownies and gingerbread for dessert.

I was pleased with how the doubling and use of the slow cooker worked out for this recipe and plan to use it to invite people over for Sunday lunch sometime in the winter!

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