Zuppa

Well soon the weather will change and we will all be looking for some recipes to keep us warm and this is one of my favorites.  I found this recipe online a few years ago. I feel bad because I did not write down the website I got it from and since then this recipe has shown up on many websites and all claim credit for it. I will not claim credit because it is not mine and if anyone knows the originator of this recipe please let me know so I can give them credit.

Zuppa Toscana

1 lbs ground Italian sausage
1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 large dice onion
4 strips of bacon (cut into bit size pieces)
2 tsp minced garlic
10 C water
5 chicken bouillon cubes
1 C heavy cream
1 lbs or 3 large russet potatoes, sliced
1/2 a bunch of kale, cut into small pieces

1. saute the Italian sausage and red pepper flakes til sausage is brown. remove from heat and set aside.  Cook bacon pieces, onions and garlic in a large pot till bacon is cook and onions are soft.

2. add water and bouillon to pot and bring to a boil.

3. add potatoes to pot and boil for 30 min.

4. add cream, sausage and kale to pot and cook till heated then serve and enjoy!

Turtles? Sort of!

Well yesterday I had a huge craving for chocolate so I decided to make a version of turtles. I wanted more caramel and chocolate then I did nuts to here is wheat I made.

First I melted 15 Brach's caramels.

after it was good and melty I mix in 1/4 C to 1/2 of pecan pieces. Once mixed I let cool just long enough that I could handle them.  I rolled it into small balls and then pressed flat.

then time to melt the chocolate. I used Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips about 1 cup or 6 oz. Once they are melted drop the caramels into chocolate and remove with a fork or fingers depending on if you want to lick your fingers cool at room temp a few hours for chocolate to harden (do not put in fridge!!!! the caramel will become super hard in the fridge. 

I am Back!

I know it been along time but I had summer fever.  Once the temperature gets over 80 degrees I can't stay in the house. Now it is time for me to get back to cooking and cleaning and whole lot of craft projects that I have put off for the last couple months.  The best part of summer for me is that we can plant a garden and now I finally get to eat that delish goodness.  So tomatoes are filling everyones vines so we have made alot and I mean alot of salsa, spaghetti sauce and next up I will stew some tomatoes for chili this winter.  I also will be starting to make jams and jelly this week as everyone has asked for baskets of jelly for Christmas this year.

salsa, salsa and more salsa.

this my ancient method of making spaghetti sauce.

best spaghetti sauce ever.

Now my family and friends that I am one awesome spaghetti sauce maker and steal these out of my pantry all the time but the truth is all I do is boil the tomatoes and the push them thru the strainer to remove seeds and skins. Then the seasoning is McCormicks Thick and Zesty spaghetti sauce seasoning. I don't fallow the directions on the seasoning because I use the fresh tomatoes and it calls for paste.  I use about 2-2 1/2 C of tomato for every packet of seasoning and a tablespoon of vegetable oil boil for 10 min and then I can it or use that day. Let me tell you it is so good I will never buy premade spaghetti sauce again.

Beef and Cheese Chimichangas

This is one of my favorites.
You will need

1 pound ground beef
1 onion ,diced
4 oz green chilies
taco seasoning
8 oz sour cream
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
15 egg roll wrappers
1 egg white
deep fryer and oil

First brown the ground beef and onions. Add the seasoning and green chilies with 1/2 C water and cook until most of the water evaporated.

In a separate bowl mix the cheese and sour cream.

Now mix the meat mix into the cheese.

Now the filling is made and it is time to make the chimichanga.  Place a egg roll wrapper on the table and put 1/3 C of the filling onto the center and then fold half of it over.

Now put some egg white on the edge of the open side (I use my finger to do this) and then fold that over the top and lightly press the edges to seal.

Now place some egg whites on the ends and then fold them into the middle.

Now time to drop them into a hot deep fryer and fry until golden brown, I flip it once during cooking. Just a helpful tip do not make these ahead of time in fact as soon as I have one made I drop it in the oil it only takes a few minutes for the wrappers to get soft and then start to fall apart.

 Serve with lettuce, sour cream, black olives, tomatoes and if you like Spanish rice and beans on the side.
Enjoy!!!!!!

Shrimp and sausage kabobs

I have been doing a lot of grilling and that means ribs, pulled pork, burgers and brats. But to mix it up a little I made some kabobs and well they are not that exciting the kids loved them.
I used some corn on the cob, shrimp, beef sausage and blue potatoes. The plan was for b size red potatoes but my son insisted on Blue.

I did boil the potatoes til soft but firm and also the corn in some sugar water. Then put them together most kabobs had everything on them but my oldest doesn't eat corn and I don't eat shrimp so some were a little different. I threw them on the grill for a couple minutes and you have quick yummy dinner.

Bacon Ravioli

I found this fun little recipe in Foodnetwork magazine but made some changes to suit my family's taste and because I preferred to just use what I already had.

First you need to make the dough but if you prefer to skip this step I have use egg roll wrappers in the past.
to make the dough put 4 cups of flour and 6 large eggs in a food processor and mix until held together then wrap in plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 30 min.

To make the filling you will need
2 Leeks, sliced
4 slices thick cut bacon, cooked
3 carrots or 10-12 baby carrots
1/2tsp ground sage
salt and pepper
1 3/4 C fresh parsley
1/2 C ricotta cheese
4 oz Gruyere cheese, finely grated
2 Tbsp corn starch

In the food processor mix the Leeks, bacon and carrots until finely chopped

Transfer to a pan and add 1 cup of water cook over medium high heat until the water is evaporated, then add the sage and cook for a few min more until the veggies start to brown.

remove from heat and mix in the parsley, let cool and then add the cheeses and corn starch.


Now you split the dough into 6 pieces and you can either use a pasta maker ( I don't have one but it is now going on my Christmas list) or roll the dough out with a rolling pins. Once you get it to about 1/16 of an inch or in my case just as thin as I could get it. Then place small amounts of filling into balls on the dough

Then use water to make little squares around the filling and then place another piece of dough on top and press down on the edges. 

Cut each square out.

Bring a pot of salt water to a boil and boil the ravioli for 10 minutes. Drain but reserve 1 1/2 C of the water.

To make the sauce you will need

5Tbsp of butter
1 pound mushrooms of your choice
salt
3 green onions, chopped
1 clove of garlic
one pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp parsley
1 1/2 C reserved water
2 Tbsp corn starch (optional)

Melt 3 Tbsp butter in a pan and then add mushrooms.

Cook about 3 min just until mushrooms start to soften and then add a little salt.  Add the green onions and garlic to the pan and cook another min. Add the tomatoes and cook another 4 min.

Now add the parsley and reserved water. Now cook till it slightly thickened (if you like your sauce a little thicker add up to 2 Tbsp of corn starch). Now add the remaining butter.
Now either mix in the ravioli or plate the ravioli and pour sauce on top.

ENJOY!!!

Honey Garlic Chicken

Honey Garlic Chicken is another pinterest recipe that I decided to try and let me tell you this one is to die for. You can find the recipe here.

Now I went to the store to get the meat mallet and some how got home and hadn't bought one. I know this has happened to everyone you come home without the one thing you went for.  So I put the chicken in between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and beat it till it was flat with a rolling pin.

Then mix in a bowl

2 cup flour
4 tsp salt
4 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground thyme
2 tsp ground sage
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
and in a separate bowl mix

4 eggs
8 tbsp water
put a little salt and pepper on each piece of chicken. Then dip in flour mix, the the egg and then back in the flour and place in a pan of hot oil (the recipe calls for canola oil I didn't have any so I used peanut oil) and cook about 5 min a side.

Now you can stop here and enjoy the chicken which is so yummy as you can tell I cut a piece off to snack on as I was finish the rest and it was not my last taste.

Then you can make the sauce and pour over them.

2 tbsp olive oil
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic

cook for about 2 min to soften the garlic
then add

1 cup honey
¼ cup soy sauce (low sodium soy sauce is best)
1 tsp ground black pepper

and simmer about 5 min then dip the chicken or pour over the chicken.

I forgot to take pic of the finished chicken but let me tell you this will being staying at the top of recipe list.

Enchilada Casserole

I made a super simple Enchilada Casserole.  I made my tortillas but of course this could easily be made with store bought flour tortillas.

Tortillas
2 C of flour
about 2 tsp salt
2/3 C shortening
1 C cold water

mix the flour and salt together and then slowly add the shortening using a electric mixer after it becomes crumbles

then slowly add the water until it sticks together. Then you can roll it out with a rolling pin or use a tortilla press.

I love my tortilla press but they are alittle tricky to get your hands on.  You can get them online but finding them in a store can take some work. We have 5 kitchen stores in our town and only one carried them and they only ever kept one in stock, which seemed weird cause they always sold it right away and after a couple months I finally got there on a day that they had just got it in.

If you use a tortilla press I recommend covering it in plastic wrap, it makes it so much easier to remove the tortillas. If you do not add enough water it will not stick together well and you end up with this

If that does happen to you just add a little more water.

As you press them put them in a greased skillet for around a minute a side just till they are golden.

then for the super simple casserole I layered tortillas, enchilada sauce, taco meat, Monterrey jack cheese Repeat once more and then top with tortillas, sauce, and cheese.

 Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 min. Serve with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream.

Mini Deep Dish

I decided to make pizza night a little more fun for the kiddos tonight by make them each there very own mini deep dish.  First I made the dough.

Pizza dough

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour.

 Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. 

Instead of rolling it out I greased the underside of a muffin pan and placed the dough over the top.

 I baked them for 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven and then removed them from the pan. I did have to cut them to separate a couple of them.  Then I placed them on a cookie sheet to fill.

Next I put a Tablespoon of pizza sauce into the dough.

I placed a pepperoni in them but you could put anything you want in them.

Top with cheese. Remember they are deep dishes so really fill them to the top.

You can stop with just the cheese but I decided to put a couple of pepperonis on top.

Bake for another 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven and you have a yummy personal deep dish pizza.

Frappuccino

I decided to try my hand at making a caramel frappuccino.  I must say they turned out great.  You can also make a Mocha frappuccino by switching out the caramel for chocolate syrup.

First I made the caramel syrup. You can always by store bought but I have never been known to do things the easy way. (except for apple turns over, Pillsbury perfected that and who am I to mess with perfection)

Caramel Sauce

1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp corn starch
1/4 C water
1/3 C light cream or half and half. ( I had neither so I mixed half milk and half heavy cream)
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

mix brown sugar, corn starch, water in sauce pan then add the cream and corn syrup. cook stirring constantly until thick and bubbly and then cook 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla stir till smooth. chill. keep extra refrigerated.


Caramel Frappuccino

3 oz of cold strong coffee. I used instant and double the coffee per water.
1 C ice
1/2 low fat milk
1 and 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 and 1/2 Tbsp caramel sauce

place all in blender and blend til smooth.  Top with a little caramel sauce.  This makes about a grande size you could double it if you are more venti person.

Quick and Tasty Sticky Buns

My Kids decided they needed sticky buns for lunch today. So here is the super easy quick recipe I made

store bought buttermilk biscuits (10 count)
1/2 Sugar
1/2 brown sugar
cinnamon
1/4 C butter melted
1 tsp vanilla

put biscuits in a 8x8 greased pan overlapping slightly.

cover with sugars and then sprinkle cinnamon on top.

mix the vanilla and the butter together and then pour on top of biscuits.

bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 20 min.

and enjoy!!!