Thursday, April 5, 2012

Squash, Potatoes & Onions

Recipe Adapted From:
food.com

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine (or a little bacon grease)
3 medium size yellow squash (cut in slices)
2 medium potatoes (cut in slices)
1 small onion (halved and sliced)

Preparation:

1 Wash and Cut up squash, potatoes and onions.
2 Melt butter in lg. fry pan.
3 Add squash.
4 Add potatoes on top of squash.
5 Add onions on top of potatoes.
6 Cover and simmer till potatoes are done stirring occasionally (about 1/2 hour).
7 Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add small amount of water if it starts sticking (usually not necessary due to water content in vegetables).

Notes & Tips:
I used butter in my dish instead of the bacon grease to cut down on the fat a bit. I also only used about 1/8 of a cup butter mixed with a little olive oil. Mat told me he didn't like squash, so I made it a mission to change his mind. And by golly I think I did it!

Nutrition Facts: 

Servings Per Recipe: 4 Calories 164.7 Total Fat 6.2 g Total Carbohydrate 24.8 g Protein 4.1 g

Monday, April 2, 2012

Hot Bacon Dressing

Recipes Adapted From:
Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
3/4 pound sliced bacon, diced
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cup cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 (2 ounce) jar diced pimientos, drained (I used 2 oz of jarred, roasted red
peppers)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, (I only had regular yellow mustard)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water

Preparation:

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp; remove bacon and set aside. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings in the skillet. Add onion and saute until tender; remove from the heat. Add the vinegar, water, sugar, pimientos, mustard, salt, pepper and bacon; mix well. Combine cornstarch and cold water; stir into skillet. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve warm over fresh spinach or mixed greens. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat before serving.

Notes & Tips:

Beware!! This recipe makes 32 servings of this dressing. Make sure you have a big enough jar to store it in before you make it. I think this dressing tastes just like the dressing on the Applebee's Grilled Shrimp & Spinach Salad.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken

Recipe Adapted From:
How Sweet It Is: Pinterest

Ingredients:

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces of beer
32 ounces of barbecue sauce

Preparation:

Season chicken with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Add to crockpot, then add beer and 24 ounces of barbecue sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours, tossing once or twice if desired. After 8 hours, shred and add remaining barbecue sauce. Toss chicken to coat and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving to absorb everything. Serve as desired.

Notes & Tips:
A great recipe for the crockpot. Very yummy and easy. I used Killian's Irish Red for the beer. I also didn't have enough BBQ sauce in the fridge so I had to make 2 cups of my own blend to add to the dredges of random BBQ sauce that I had (Famous Dave's Devils Spit & Kraft Think/Tangy). I made my own blend with ketchup and lots of random spices/vinegar. The original recipe says that using a thinner sauce is easier, but I disagree. I would use a thicker one and let the beer do the thinning.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Stuffed Cabbage

Recipe Adapted From:
Pennies On A Platter - Pinterest

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 medium head (about 2 pounds) green cabbage
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup cooked rice (white or brown)
1/4 cup raisins (I use golden)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 can (16 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 teaspoon paprika
sour cream, for serving (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- by 9-inch pan with cooking spray or oil.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Using a small, sharp knife, cut in a circle all around the stem of the cabbage and remove the core. Place the cabbage in the boiling water. After about 2 minutes an outside leaf will come loose--pull it off and out of the water using tongs. After another minute the next leaf will come loose. Remove and repeat until you have 8 to 10 leaves. Pat the leaves dry with paper towels. Cut out the thick part of the rib from the bottom of each leaf, but don't cut more than a third of the way into the leaf.

In a mixing bowl, combine the beef, cooled onion, rice, raisins, and salt. With the stem side of the cabbage leaf facing you, place a scant 1/3 cup of the beef mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Fold the bottom edge over the mixture and then fold the sides over and roll into a tidy packet. Place the cabbage rolls, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together the tomato sauce, broth, and paprika. Pour evenly over the cabbage rolls. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Optional: Serve the cabbage rolls with a big dollop of sour cream.

Notes & Tips:
So I was a little intimidated to make these since they look kind of difficult, but seriously they were so easy to make and really really good. I used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce so there was some texture to the sauce. Mat told me this one was a keeper!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Mongolian Beef

Recipe Adapted From:
Pink Bites - Pinterest

Ingredients:

1 lb of flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup of cornstarch
3 teaspoons of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger (about 1/2 inch piece)
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves)
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds

Preparation:

Prepare the meat:

First, make sure the steak slices are dry (pat them dry) and mix them with the corn starch. Using your hands or a spoon, move them around to make sure all pieces are coated. Place beef slices in a strainer and shake off excess corn starch (see picture bellow).

Make the sauce:

Heat half of the oil in a large wok at medium-high and add the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don't worry if the sauce doesn't look thick enough at this point. The corn starch in the beef will thicken it up later.

Cook the meat and assemble dish:

Turn the heat up and add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the beef and cook, stirring until it is all browned (this is a quick thing). Pour the sauce back into the wok and let it cook along with the meat. Now you can choose to cook it down and reduce the sauce or leave it thinner. Add the green onions on the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy.

Serve it hot with rice.

Notes & Tips:

This is one of the best things I've made in a long time. Very easy, inexpensive to make and serves 2, which is great for Mat and I. I found this recipe on Pinterest, and am SO glad I did! I didn't have any fresh ginger, so I used ground and it tasted just fine.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Ramen Noodle Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
4 Packages Chicken Ramen Noodles
2 Chicken Seasoning Packets
1 Package "Good Seasonings" Italian Dressing Mix
3 Cups Cooked Chicken Breast
1 Cup Frozen Peas, defrosted
3/4 Cup Shredded Carrots
1/2 Medium Bell Pepper (any color) Diced

Preparation:

Cook Ramen noodles according to package. Drain noodles and rinse in cold water. Sprinkle with 2 of the chicken seasoning packages from Ramen package. In small bowl prepare the Italian dressing according to package directions. Pour over noodles. Dice chicken (or shred, whichever you prefer). Add peas, carrots and bell pepper. Mix everything in large bowl and put in fridge for at least an hour.

Notes & Tips:

This is a great salad to take to picnics or pot lucks. If you leave out the chicken it would make a good side dish. Also, if you don't have the dressing mix you can just use 1/2 cup Italian dressing.

Venison Burgers

Recipe Adapted from:
Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel
1/3 cup chopped green onions
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds ground venison
8 hamburger buns, split
8 slices Pepper Jack cheese

Preparation:

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lime juice, mustard and lime peel; cover and refrigerate until serving.
In a bowl, combine the onions, yogurt, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Crumble meat over mixture and mix well. Shape into eight patties. Pan-fry, grill or broil until meat is no longer pink. Serve on buns; top with cheese and mayonnaise mixture.

Notes & Tips:
We are so blessed to get ground venison from our friends Kris & John. I usually use the deer meat for chili or sloppy joes (or sloppy does in this case), but we wanted burgers and had no beef. I liked the mayo that this recipe makes and the deer with little bits of jalapenos was great. They were not spicy since I took all the seeds out of the pepper. Overall a great weeknight meal.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken


Recipe Adapted From:
Pinterest: My Kitchen Apron

Ingredients:
3 lb. bag of frozen chicken breasts
1 bottle Frank's Wings Buffalo Sauce
1 packet Ranch Dip Mix
2 TBSP butter

Preparation:
Put frozen chicken, wing sauce, and ranch dip mix into crock pot.
Cook on low at least 6 to 7 hours
Using two forks, shred chicken & return to crock pot.
Add butter. Cook on low for an additional hour.

Notes & Tips:
Mat gives this two thumbs up because of how spicy I made it. I gave it two thumbs up because of how easy it was. I forgot to add the butter at the end, which I don't think it made any difference. Also, I bought the wrong type of Frank's Red Hot. I bought the original flavor instead of the buffalo sauce. It was quite a bit spicier, but you know, I think I enjoyed it. I put a little Ranch Dressing on the buns and it toned it down a little.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

Recipe Adapted From:
Weight Watchers

Ingredients:
1 box Spice Cake Mix
15 oz. can of pumpkin
½ cup water

Preparation:
Combine ingredients and mix well with mixer. Pour into lightly sprayed 9×13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 32-35 minutes. Cool. Cut into 20 pieces. Serve with fat-free Cool Whip. 1 point per serving.
For bundt pan, spray lightly and bake 38-40 minutes or until done. Can heat 2 Tbsp. of canned cream cheese frosting in microwave and drizzle over cake. Serves 20. 1 point per serving.

Notes & Tips:
I made this as a bundt cake. I "iced" it with about 1/2 cup canned vanilla frosting that I melted in the microwave for 25 seconds and poured over the cake. If you're using this for weight watchers it's 1 point for 1/20 of the cake. You can make this as muffins if you'd rather, just cook for about 20-23 mins. instead. Super easy, quick, and not horrible for you.

Honey Sauced Chicken

Recipe Adapted From:
mmmcafe (Pinterest)

Ingredients:
3/4 pound chicken (of your choice)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion soup mix)
1/8 cup ketchup
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Preparation:
Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal:
Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8x8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

Notes & Tips:
I chose to do this using the oven instead of the crock pot since I have a huge crockpot and I didn't feel like cleaning all that up. The recipe was very good, but I would suggest serving it with rice and not noodles since the noodles got a bit slippery. I did think the sauce was a little thin, so I thickened it up with a little cornstarch.

Serves 2