I can't even remember when the last time I posted a recipe on here. I've been trying plenty of recipes and liking tons of them, but I just have never posted them. Tonight though I found a winner and want to share it. I found this recipe on Our Best Bites...definitely check out this website for some yummy recipes.
Smoked Turkey and Artichoke Panini by Our Best Bites
One loaf rustic sourdough bread
One jar marinated artichoke hearts Garlic-Herb sandwich spread
SmokedTurkey Swiss cheese Tomato, sliced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Spread garlic-herb mayo on each slice of bread, then layer cheese slices on each. Pile generous amounts of turkey slices on one side of each sandwich, followed by tomato slices and artichoke hearts.
Brush both outer sides of sandwiches with olive oil and grill until golden brown.
Russ devoured this and instantly declared that he wanted it again. The girls sandwiches were altered in the fact that I didn't put any artichokes on theirs. They like artichokes but I just wasn't sure if they would like it in their sandwiches. They ate theirs all gone too.
Do you have a yummy recipe you want to share for Try It Tuesday? Let me know so I can check it out!
Try-It-Tuesday has kinda been on hold right now because Russ is gone so much. I mean, do YOU want to cook a big meal that only YOU are going to eat? I don't, so me and the girls don't eat many "real" meals when Russ is gone. Anyway, I found this cool recipe from Ducks in a Row. When I read the name of this recipe I instantly thought of a ham and cheese sandwhich, which my girls love. I also noticed it was a Freezer Meal. I have been wanting to start doing some freezer meals, so I thought I would try this out and see if we like it. Here it is....
Ham and Cheese Braid
Ingredients:
1 loaf Rhodes bread dough
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (not generic)
3/4 lb. thinly sliced ham
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Directions:
Roll bread dough out into a rectangular shape so that its approximately 1/2" thick.
Combine butter and ranch mix. Spread about 5 tablespoons of mixture on the rectangle.
Layer ham and cheese down the center of the rectangle.
Use a pizza cutter to cut strips along each side of the dough (even numbers on each side).
Starting at bottom, take each piece, cross and twist. Continue criss-crossing until your it is all braided.
Brush remaining butter ranch mixture over the top. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.
Wrap loaf with plastic wrap and then foil. Label with cooking instructions and freeze. {see below if you want to skip the freezing step.}
Cooking Instructions
Unwrap from foil and plastic wrap and set on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap. Let thaw overnight in refrigerator. A couple hours before you are ready to bake place on counter to let rise. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
Some of the above instructions were confusing to me so I had to research the recipe a little. I found another blog with the recipe that also had pictures. It made things a little clearer, but I still had to "wing-it" when doing the criss-cross twist part. I decided to take some pictures of what I did and offer up what little advice I have on how to create this recipe.
First off here is my "rectangle" dough, butter mix, and ham.
Lessons learned:
1. It doesn't have to be perfectly rectangle to work.
2. The said amount of butter mix is WAY too much. It leaves the bread a little soggy and salty after baking. I'm going to cut mine down by 1/2 next time. If you don't believe me try it yourself, but don't say I didn't warn you!
Ham topped with cheese, cut dough, and my first criss-cross twist.
Lessons learned:
1. Until I saw a picture I could not figure out how to cut the dough. Hopefully this picture helps you.
2. Use kitchen shears for easy cutting.
3. Cut thinner strips. Cut more strips.
4. There is no twisting involved in this recipe. I tried multiple ways of crossing the dough and found this first way the easiest. All I did was take them and cross the dough, then I pulled it a little and tucked it under the edge.
All ready to get in the oven.
The finished product
This was so yummy! Both my girls loved it, especially Allie. She ate THREE slices and asked for more. I drew the line at three though. I'm still not sure if it warms up well as a leftover, but I imagine it would. And rest assured this was a very QUICK and EASY meal. I hope you give it a try! I'm making it again, and I'm going to freeze some for those days when I just don't want to cook :D
I was feeling ambitious last night so I made "from scratch" brownies for FHE. These brownies are simply DIVINE! I've made them a few times, but I don't think I've ever used it for Try-It-Tuesday. I hope you enjoy the recipe and I don't screw up all you weight loss resolutions with this :)
Chocolaty Rocky Road Brownies
By Donna Phariss via Country Woman Magazine
Ingredients:
4 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
FROSTING:
1/4 cup butter
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
1 square (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup milk
2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar (That's just powdered sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup salted peanuts
Directions:
In a microwave or heavy saucepan, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, vanilla and chocolate mixture. Add flour; mix well. Stir in peanuts.
Spread into a greased 13" x 9" x " baking pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool on a wire rack.
In a saucepan, combine the butter, cream cheese, chocolate and milk. Cook over medium heat until melted, stirring occasionally.
Remove from the heat' stir in confectioners sugar and vanilla. Transfer to a large mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Stir in marshmallows and peanuts. Immediately spread over the brownies. Store in the refrigerator.
NOTE: I think these taste even better if you let them set in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving. But of course that is a personal preference :)
It still isn't very cool down her in the south. Most days we are still looking at low 90's plus a ton of humidity. But that didn't stop me from making soup. No sir! I'm so glad the warm weather didn't deter me. This week I have a delicious soup that will warm you through and through. I got this recipe from Prudence Pennywise. I know it is a little past August, but you seriously have to try this if any teeny-tiny part of you enjoys corn!
August Corn Chowder
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ears of corn, kernels cut from cobs and cobs reserved
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies (or 1/2 cup home roasted green chilies)
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 small summer squash, chopped
1/2 cup cream or half and half
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or basil, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh lemon of lime juice
shredded cheese, optional for serving
chopped green onions, optional for serving
sour cream, optional for serving
Directions:
In a heavy medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, corn, green chilies, and red pepper. Saute for five minutes. Add corn cobs to pan and saute an additional three minutes. Add broth, zucchini, and summer squash. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes or until every thing is tender. Remove cobs and discard. Stir in cream and cilantro and heat through. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. To serve, top with cheese, additional cilantro, green onions and cilantro.
I am not a big fan of butterscotch chips, so I was a little wary going in to this recipe. But I was soooooo wrong. These things were great! They also were super easy to make. About the same difficulty as a regular chocholate chip cookie. Have fun making them, and let me know if you like them!
Oatmeal Butterscotch Toffee Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
2 sticks softened butter
¾ Cup sugar
¾ Cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ Cups flour
½ Cup quick oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ Cups butterscotch chips
1 Cup toffee chip pieces
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the butterscotch chips and toffee bits just until combined.
2. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto a silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 9 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing.
Notes:
1. This is a LOT of butterscotch chips. I used one bag which was less than what it called for and it was plenty. If I had used the whole amount I know I would have regretted it. I like to have some "cookie" with my "chip"
2. In case you are looking for a traditional oatmeal cookie, let me warn you this is not one! The oats are more like an additive than a main ingredient.
3. I had to cook these cookies longer than called for. At 9 min. they were still wiggling!
Finally! I remembered to post one of the recipes I've been trying. I REALLY liked this one. Russ was pretty impressed with it as well. He isn't a pasta man, so for him to say it is good was somewhat of a miracle. I got this off of Prudence Pennywise's blog. Have I mentioned that I LOVE her blog. Hmmm...maybe I have! Give this one a try, I promise it is good!
Lemon Sour Cream Pasta
1/2 lb. flat pasta noodles, such as fettuccine (I'm thinking about trying angel hair next time!) 1 cup frozen peas, if desired
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup sour cream, (light works well), or whole milk plain yogurt
juice and zest of one lemon
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for the top
sliced juicy red tomatoes
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding peas during last minute of cooking time. Drain pasta in colander. To the same pot, add butter and garlic and cook over low heat for one minute, or until garlic is very fragrant and softened. Add pasta and peas back to pot. Stir in sour cream, lemon juice and zest, green onions, and salt and pepper. Warm through. Serve with sliced tomatoes.
So I ran out of time on Tuesday to post this new recipe, but I absolutely LOVED it and had to post it a few days late! :D Enjoy! Oh, and if a friend of mine posted this...SORRY!
Chicken Penne Pasta Bake
Ingredients: 1 pkg. whole wheat penne pasta
1 pkg. spinach leaves
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Grated Parmesan cheese
Directions: Heat oven to 375F. Cook pasta. Cook and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer 3 minutes. (The original recipe adds 2 oz of cream cheese here,I'm sure it would be yummy, I didn't use it). Add spinach (chop if desired) and let it cook down. Mix drained pasta and chicken mixture. Pour half of pasta into baking dish, sprinkle cheese. Add remaining pasta, sprinkle cheese. Add parmesan cheese as desired. Bake 20 min.
I've been slacking on Try-It-Tuesday. I'll try a recipe and not post it because...well...I forget. I seriously have mush for a brain. I truly hope one day it comes back! Now, I tried this pizza last night, and was so excited about it that I promised myself I couldn't forget to post it. I almost did until Elena (the creator of T.I.T) posted her recipe. Thanks for the reminder Elena!
A few side notes on this recipe. I didn't make the whole wheat crust, I just used a Pillsbury one. I also used parmesan cheese from a can, I chopped my tomatoes instead of diced them, and I used dried basil instead of fresh. It turned out great with my slight alterations so I am sure it would be even better the real way. Also, it wasn't just me that liked this pizza, it was Russ and Lily's too! I think Lily might have liked it as well as she did because she helped put the whole thing together. She is a great sprinkler! ;) Lastly, I would guess that this could feed a large family if you had a sidedish with it. We only ate half of ours.
Ingredients: 3 teaspoons yeast (I use Saf)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
cornmeal for the pan
1/3 cup pizza sauce or plain tomato sauce
1 and 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 small yellow squash, thinly sliced
1 red tomato, thinly sliced
1 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
Directions: Combine yeast, sugar, olive oil, salt, warm water, and whole wheat flour. Stir and knead in flour. Knead for 4 minutes. Cover and let rise for one hour. Punch it down and let it rest for five minutes. Lightly grease a baking sheet and coat with a bit of cornmeal. Roll out dough into 12 inch circle or press into rectangular cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread crust with pizza sauce. (Don't use much or you'll have a soggy pizza.) Sprinkle with mozzarella. Layer zucchini, squash and tomatoes in circles on pizza. Drizzle with olive oil, garlic, basil, and parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheeses are melted. If necessary, if the vegetables become too watery, heat the broiler and watching carefully, bake until the juices dry up a bit.
I found the most amazing recipe for this week. I buy a Sunday paper each week for the coupons and the ads. Yes, I know, I'm a sinner. But I will not pay $9.00 for two days worth of paper to be delivered to my home, instead of $1.75 for one days worth. As I was perusing last weeks paper I came across this wonderful recipe. I tried it out and it was a winner!
Beef Taco Skillet
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cambell's Tomato Soup
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup water
6 flour tortillas (6"), cut into 1" pieces
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (I used more...would you expect anything less of me?!)
Directions:
1. Cook beef in 10" skillet until well browned, stirring to break up meat. Pour off fat.
2. Stir in soup, salsa, water and tortillas. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 min. Stir. Top with cheese. Makes 4 servings. (Yeah right! Makes more than that!)
Creamy Mexican Fiesta: Stir in 1/2 cup sour cream with soup ( I chose this option!) Ranchero Style: Use corn tortillas instead of lour tortillas and shredded Mexican cheese blend instead of Cheddar.
I've been severly slacking on my Try-It-Tuesday recipes. I don't have a good reason other than I kept forgetting to post things. But I just couldn't forget this week! I've been having a craving for good salsa since I went to a quaint little Mexican Restaurant for mine and Russ's anniversary. I have a really good recipe for chunky salsa, but I wanted the smooth stuff. I then remembered that I had a recipe for what Prudence Pennywise declares to be "authentic" tasting salsa. I decided to give it a whirl. OH BOY! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good! I hope you find a little time this week to try it out.
Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa
1/4 medium white onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 hot chile pepper, such as serrano
1 (14 ounce) can diced fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup cilantro, leaves and soft stems
juice of one lime
sea salt, to taste
Place the ingredients in the bowl of a blender or food process in the order listed. Process until smooth, or chunky, depending on preference. This salsa tastes best within the first two days it is made. After that, you can use it in cooked recipes for up to a week.
I doubled this and it made about two cereal bowls worth. Also, I used ALL of the serrano pepper and it wasn't hot at all!
I've got a very yummy recipe for you today! I am not sure where I got it from again. Eek! I really need to start writing that down. But this one was a hit with both my hubby and Lily. She likes all noodles ;) Oh, and if you live in my neck of the woods you should try a little place called the Thai House if you want some REALLY good Thai food. It's on Park Street.
Thai Peanut Pasta
Ingredients:
Linguini (I used a pkg, which was a too much)
1 lb. cooked and cubed chicken
1 can pinapple chunks drained
Handful of snow peas
Sauce: (serves 2) (I doubled this, which made 4-5 bowlfuls of food when mixed with the noodles)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 garlic clove, minced or chopped.
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. crushed red peppers
Directions:
Cook pasta and drain. Add chicken, pineapple, snow peas and sauce to noodles (or add it all to the sauce and serve on top of the pasta).
Sauce: Saute garlic, add chicken broth and PB until PB melts then add other ingredients.
***Russ made a really good suggestion. He suggested next time I make it to use crunchy peanut butter. I think that is a great idea because you usually get whole peanuts in your food when you order this at a restaurant!***
Try-it-Tuesday failed miserably this week. How was I supposed to know that I was making a meal that Russell hated? He didn't tell me he hated this meal until after I saw him gagging while trying to eat it. Don't I have a nice husband?! He tried to eat so I wouldn't feel bad. I didn't mind the meal, but honestly I don't think it is one worth passing on.
So I dug into my recipe stash and came up with this one. I actually tried it out for the first time two weeks ago. Russell couldn't stop raving about how good it was. Oh, and get this! Lily who doesn't really like to eat hamburgers ate HALF of hers before she got full. You really got to try this recipe. I know it sounds a little weird at first, but give it a try!
Burgers 1 Deceptively Delicious Cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld
Ingredients:
1/2 pound lean ground turkey or sirloin (I used regular hamburger.)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup cauliflower or carrot puree (I used carrot)
1/4 cup nonfat (skim) milk
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Nonstick cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 small whole-grain dinner rolls or whole-grain bread slices, for serving (I used small hamburger buns instead of the large ones. The patties fit on their perfectly!)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F
2. In a large bowl, stir together the meat, breadcrumbs, vegetable puree, milk, soy sauce, garlic, and pepper with a wooden spoon; the mixture will be moist. Form it into 8 small patties and place them on a sheet of waxed paper or aluminum foil.
3. Coat a large nonstick ovenproof skillet with cooking spray and set i over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Add the burgers and cook until nicely browned on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the burgers, then slide the skillet into the oven and bake for 4 to 5 minutes longer, until the burgers are no longer pink in the center. Serve each burger on a split roll.
***Note: I didn't have a skillet that I could put in the oven so I lined a baking sheet with tinfoil and kept it in the oven until I needed it. That way it was still hot like the skillet. Does that make sense?! Hope so!***
I'm back to doing Try-it-Tuesdays! Yeah! I tried this recipe out last week and loved it! Sadly though I am not sure where I got it from. I think I might know, but well I can't be 100%. Sorry Stevie or Elena if this is your recipe that you have already posted!
Bruschetta Chicken Bake
Ingredients: 1 can (14 ½ oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes with their liquid in a medium bowl. Add stuffing mix, ½ cup hot water and the garlic; stir just until stuffing mix is moistened. Set aside.
2. Place chicken in a 9x13-inch baking dish; sprinkle with the basil and cheese. Top with the stuffing mixture.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Makes 6 servings
***Just a little tip. This did come out a little dry. Next time I make this I am going to try adding a can of cream of chicken and little milk to the chicken. It should moisten it up a bit!***
Three years ago I found a recipe in Country Women. Country Women is a magazine for....well, country women. My grandma gives a subscription to this magazine to all her grandchildren that are girls. I love this magazine. Anyway....the recipe. I found it and wanted to try it, but couldn't! The recipe called for Cinamon Chips. I scoured all the stores I could think of for these elusive chips, but they were no where to be found. Then about a month ago, someone then told me that the only place to buy them was in Utah. I resigned myself to wait until Christmas to finally find these chips. One day though, I was at WINCO looking for some chocolate chips. I reached and grabbed what I thought to be chocolate chips. I looked at them to make sure they were milk chocolate when....TADA...I was holding cinnamon chips! For some strange reason WINCO is now stocking them! For fear that I would never find them again I bought five bags! I would have bought more, but I just didn't have enough money at the time :o( I have checked though and they are still there which makes me happy! Hopefully you all can find cinnamon chips and don't have to wait three years like I did! Here is the scrumptious recipe.
Iced Cinnamon Chip Cookies
1 cup butter softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (10 ounces) cinnamon baking chips ( I only used half that much because I like some cookie with my chips!)
Icing
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in cinnamon chips.
3. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine icing ingredients; beat on high speed for 1-2 minutes or until fluffy. Spread over cookies.
Yield: about 3 1/2 dozen Again this isn't my picture. Just the one from the magazine.
Elena you are so smart! That's right, Elena is smart! She always wanted to do a cookie exchange at her house, but decided to do it on her blog. Try-It-Tuesday has now become a cookie exchange for the rest of the month! I am soooooo excited!
I thought I would start by using a recipe that I tried out my first year of college. I was missing home, and the cookies and goodies my mom makes every year. To combat my loneliness I whipped out a cookie book and tried to make some goodie of my own. Oh how glad I did this! I love these cookies. They are cute, and taste like almond extract! Yum! Since then, I have made them every year, mainly to give away, but sometimes I let my family eat some!
Now if you want to participate in the cookie exchange, leave a comment with the name of your recipe. Then go and post it on your blog. Lets see how big we can get this exchange to be, shall we?!
Candy Cane Cookies
1cup sugar
2/3 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup EGG BEATERS Healthy Real Egg Substitute
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
Beat sugar and margarine in large bowl with mixer at medium speed until creamy. Beat in egg substitute, vanilla and almond extracts. Mix flour and baking powder; stir into margarine mixture.
Divide dough in half; tint half with red food coloring. Wrap each half and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Divide each half into 32 pieces. Roll each piece into a 5-inch rope. Twist 1 red and 1 white rope together and bend 1 end to form candy cane shape. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in preheated 350 F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or just until set and lightly golden. Remove from sheets; cool on wire racks. Store in airtight container.
Makes 32 cookies.Totally NOT my picture! It's from my cookie book!
Where has this week gone? Seriously! Is Thanksgiving really one week away and Christmas 30 days away?! Oh my! I have so much to do! Well, if you are like me you just might like this Try-It-Thursday recipe. Uhhh....yeah, Elena (The founder of Try-It-Tuesday) didn't post on Tuesday, so of course I forgot! But she posted today, so I followed suit! Thanks for the "reminder" Elena! Anyway, this recipe is very easy and guess what?! It uses some of your food storage! Well, that is if you have food storage! Hehehehe! If you want more GREAT food storage recipes check out this site! This lady is amazing with what she comes up with! Hope you enjoy this recipe of hers as much as we did!
Sour Cream Chili Bake
Ingredients:
1 lb. Ground Beef
¼ C. Chopped Onion
1 can (16 oz.) Kidney Beans, Drained
1 can (15 oz.) Tomato Sauce
1 envelope Taco Seasoning mix 1/4 C. Dehydrated Onions 1 can of Corn, Drained
1 C. (4 oz.) Shredded Cheddar Cheese
3 ½ C. Fritos
1 ¼ C. Sour Cream
Directions:
Cook ground beef and onion until meat is browned and onion is tender; drain. Stir in beans, tomato sauce, taco seasoning, corn, onion and ¾ C. cheese. Sprinkle 2 ½ cups Fritos in bottom of 8x8 baking dish. Cover with Chili. Bake at 350 degree for 20-25 minutes. Spread sour cream of chili. Top with remaining corn chips and cheese. Bake 3-4 minutes longer.
*Time Saving Tip* If you're running short on time, you can use 2 cans of chili and a can of corn, drained for the middle part of the casserole.
***This makes a lot even though it only goes into an 8x8 pan. Our family of three only ate MAYBE a third of it!***
This week is actually a tried and true recipe from the Rail household. I was too lazy to find a new recipe this week, and I had soup bone in my freezer taking up precious room. So I decided to make my mom's famous vegetable soup for the first time. Yup, I am 25 almost 26 and have never made soup from a soup bone before.
It wouldn't be a Try-it-Tuesday without learning somethings would it?! Here are a few things I learned. Lesson 1: Don't ask your mom ANYTHING about a recipe when she is stressed out and/or tired. She told me that I only need to cook my soup bone for about two hours....ummm try like 6 or seven! Needless to say we didn't have soup on Sunday like I had planned. Lesson 2: Always check your water every 1/2 hour or so, even if you think it is fine. Yep, mine all boiled off and my meat almost burned because of it. Lesson 3: Don't stick your fingers in a boiling pot of soup to grab out the soup bone. Don't even ask why I did this because I don't know. It was a very stupid moment for me. Thank goodness my fingers weren't in there long enough to get burned.
There were more lesson learned, but I won't bore you with my stupidity. You know people who read this probably think I am a horrible cook, which isn't true. I know I am a good cook, I just do really stupid things the first time I try recipes. Oh well, I figure I give you guys a good laugh at least once a week with my stupidity! :) this recipe is great for those chilly days we are starting to experience. It also great with a fresh loaf of homemade bread...that's what mom used to serve it with. Mmmmmm!
Vegetable Beef Soup
Ingredients:
soup bone (I assume you can get these at the store. I don't know though, my Uncle John has always given us ours.)
5 0r 6 potatoes, chopped into chunks
1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup of celery(add more if you like celery, I don't!)
one handful of egg noodles (That is what my mom told me but I added three handfuls because I like noodles)
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 cans of beef broth
Lots of water
Peas (optional, grandma likes to add these)
Anything YOU like in vegetable soup
Directions:
Put soup bone, bouillon cubes, and water in top a tall stock pot. The water should completely cover the bone. Cover with lid. Boil on high until meat is done. This will take approximately 5 - 7 hours. As it is boiling add water to keep bone covered. Also, as meat turns tender, start to shred if from the bone. This will allow the meat to cook faster.
Once your meat is done add the beef broth, onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for about 15 minutes still on high.
Add potatoes. Cook another 15 minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
***You can add in your own vegetables as stated before. Just be sure that you put veggies that take longer to cook in first. The faster cooking veggies can go in with the potatoes!***
*** It should also be noted that this makes A LOT of soup. Take some to a neighbor or realize that you are going to be having some leftovers.***
***I know this sounds complicated, but it really isn't. You just have to know that you aren't going anywhere during the day. I guess you could try cooking your meat in a crockpot, but I don't know if that would turn out as good as doing it on the stove top. Someone try it and let me know!***
Oops! I totally forgot that yesterday was Try-It-Tuesday. I have an awesome recipe for you to try. I got this from the Picky Palate website. She has some good things, go look for yourself!
Ranchero Mexi-Chicken Crostada
Ingredients: 1 roll Pillsbury Pie crust, thawed
1 can chunk chicken (from Costco), or about 1 ½ Cups cooked shredded chicken
1 drained can Mild Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies
½ Cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves
1 Teaspoon Ranch dressing seasoning, from packet that makes the dip
1 teaspoon cumin (I would cut this in half unless you like the taste of cumin.)
Pinch of salt and pepper
½ Cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt with parsley
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Unroll pie crust and place onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray.
2. Place chicken, tomatoes, cilantro, ranch seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper into a large bowl. With a fork, stir and cut up chicken pieces until well combined. Pour chicken mixture into the center of pie crust and top with cheddar cheese, leaving about 1 ½ inch border around edges. Fold crust up over chicken forming little pleats every 2 inches or so pressing gently. Brush edges with olive oil and sprinkle crust with garlic salt.
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown on edges. Let cool for 5 minutes then cut into wedges to serve.
4 Servings(These are smaller than I was expecting.)
****If you have a tried and true recipe you'd be willing to share, leave a comment with the recipe title and post the recipe on your blog so we can all come and check it out. Thanks for playing; the more the merrier! ****
Wow, what an adventure! Russ wanted Buffalo Wings. I decided to try and make them. I asked him if he wanted Original Wings or Crunchy wings. He said crunchy. Turns out he didn't understand what I was talking about and wanted the crunchy ones. Ya know the battered ones?! Anyway, we had a few burnt fingers and a few duh! moments with this recipe but it turned out really good. Hope you enjoy it and try it soon!
Winger's Buffalo Wings Sauce
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/3 cup Franks Red Hot pepper sauce, or any other brand of Louisiana hot sauce - not Tabasco
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
12/ cup hot water (I would use boiling water! Just so you don't get burned fingers like me!)
Directions:
Place brown sugar and corn syrup in medium saucepan and melt over medium heat until boiling. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly or it will burn.
Add hot water, pepper sauce and vinegar. ( Be careful! When Russ added the "hot" water for me it steamed because it wasn't hot enough and it burned my fingers! )
Stir all ingredients together well and continue cooking at a low boil, stirring often until mixture has reduced to a syrupy consistency (about 15 minutes). The sauce will thicken considerably as it cools.
Instructions for Original Buffalo Wings
Split the wings at the joint and remove the tips.
Spread the wings out on a rack in a pan and refrigerate so they drain off moisture/blood, a minimum of 24 hours. This small step will help produce a crispier final product. (Oops! I forgot to do that!)
Heat deep fryer to 350-360 degrees. (I used a frying pan with oil over medium heat.)
Fry wings in small batches until done, about 8 -10 minutes. (Mine took about 8 -10 minutes per side!)
Drain of excess oil and immediately place in large bowl and coat with hot sauce and melted margarine.
Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese.
****If you have a tried and true recipe you'd be willing to share, leave a comment with the recipe title and post the recipe on your blog so we can all come and check it out. Thanks for playing; the more the merrier! ****
First of all go check out Elena's recipe for T.I.T. It sounds delicious! (Check out my right sidebar to do this, I am too lazy to link it!) The recipe I tried this week was awful! Poor Russ has to eat it the rest of the week :( The good news is that I tried a recipe out last night for FHE treat. It was a success! Here it is:
Cookie Cups
Ingredients:
17.5 oz package of oatmeal cookie mix
About 24 raspberries
1 small pkg of pudding (We chose cheesecake! Yum!)
Directions:
Follow directions for mixing dough from package of oatmeal cookie mix.
coat a 12-cup muffin pan with vegetable cooking spray and place a heaping tablespoon of dough into each cup. Press dough into bottom and up sides of cups. (It is definitely more than a tablespoon that you use!)
Bake at 375 F for 20 to 24 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove pan from oven and press back of a spoon into sides and bottom of cookies to reshape into cups. Let cool 10 minutes. Add pudding and fruit. (Make sure and watch the cookies! 20 minutes was too long for my stove and they ended up a little hard! Also I poured the pudding directly into the cookie cups after mixing it. Then I refrigerated it. Worked like a charm!)
****If you have a tried and true recipe you'd be willing to share, leave a comment with the recipe title and post the recipe on your blog so we can all come and check it out. Thanks for playing; the more the merrier! ****
