Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, it was time to add some easy dinner ideas for two. We figured some of you lucky people might be getting the chance to spend a romantic evening at home without the kids (oh how I envy you, but that is a completely different post). Don’t worry, I do remember how to cook for just two. I think…. Let’s find out! 1. Angel hair pasta Pretty simple. If you can boil water, I think you’ll do just fine. If not, well, not sure you should be attempting a romantic meal for two in the first place. Just add butter and garlic, it doesn’t need to be fancy. Frozen breadsticks tossed in the oven work with this dish too, unless you own a bread machine and feel ambitious. 2. Steak and Potatoes Steak isn’t as complicated as you may think, and you don’t even need a grill. It can...
Last week we decided to make tacos for supper. This is a favorite around here. My high school job in a taco joint really paid off in adult years that’s for sure, since “mom makes awesome tacos” (not like it’s that hard really). But the other night as went to start the meat I realized we had ZERO taco seasoning packets. Uh oh. I probably could have dug around online to find seasoning ingredients, but decided to just wing it. I’m always loaded with spices, I figured I could come up with something. What we ended up using was a can of Italian diced tomatoes, the chipotle seasoning from the chicken the other night, and a little bit of onion and garlic powder. Was it exact? Not really. Was it good? Oh yeah. Usually I add water and the seasoning mix, but since we used the can of tomatoes I didn’t bother. It cooked...
As promised, bringing some recipes to you just for those who own a George Foreman grill to the blog. This one was invented by my daughter and I on an experiment night when we made up 3 different types of marinades for chicken strips. The slightly spicy marinade won hands down, and is by far the best grilled chicken I’ve ever tasted. What you’ll need for the marinade: Chili infused olive oil (or olive oil with chili powder, but we used the “fancy” olive oil) Chipotle seasoning Sun-dried tomatoes Fresh pepper (we used those spiffy grinders) Depending on how much chicken you have will depend on the amount of ingredients you use. Obviously you want to make sure you use enough olive oil to coat everything, and then add the rest to your liking. Any other spicy seasoning can be used too, or even hot sauce. We let the chicken...
Last week I had picked up some wonton wrappers from the store. My daughter got a cookbook for Christmas, and in it was a recipe for “Wonton chips”. They were alright, nothing real special though, but it got me wanting to play around with the remaining wonton wrappers. I’m a huge lover of Chinese food, and have a serious obsession for Crab Rangoons. However, I absolutely suck at recreating favorite Chinese dishes (I’m still having nightmares about the sesame chicken that caught fire several years ago). So I decided to try something different. First I fried up some bacon, because I had several packages in the freezer. Sounded like a good main dish for last night, too. I took a package of cream cheese and added 4-5 slices of bacon crumbled up (they were kinda small slices, I would say 3 normal slices would do you)....
As much as I love my bread machine and all it’s uses, sometimes it’s not always needed. Beer bread happens to be one of those odd recipes where it’s just too darn easy to make in the oven. Now usually I buy a mix at a certain craft show every year, but the thought has occurred to me that this is really dumb. All that’s in those boxes are dry ingredients I have at home. I’m already buying the butter and the beer, so why not just make this all the way from scratch? I poked around for some recipes, but all seem to lack baking soda and use self rising flour. No good. I do know this regular mix includes more than just flower and sugar, so I pieced together my own recipe based on several. And here it is: Beer Bread 3 cups bread flour 3 tsp Baking powder 3/4 tsp Salt 3/4 tsp Baking soda 1/4 cup Sugar 12 fl Beer; any...
Maybe it’s because of my upbringing, but I never could understand the concept of a meal in a box. Once in a great while, I’ll wander down the “box dinner” section of the store, and pick up something that’s “super easy to make and ready in 30 mins or less”. However, I still have failed to see the real purpose of them, other than cleaver marketing. We made a hamburger helper beef stroganoff only once. After having to cook the hamburger and add a few other ingredients, I stood scratching my head as to WHY I bought basically the pasta and seasoning in a pretty box when I could have spent the same amount of money (or less) and time doing it from scratch. (Which we have ever since – see our Hamburger Beef Stroganoff recipe here) Just a month or two ago, I got curious again about the boxes. As you...
One of our grocery store chains around here is pretty well known for their nice selection of meats. It’s always fresh, and they do an excellent job with the variety too. So when I’m in need of meat (which I always am, normally I start supper with some form of meat and go from there), I’ll go to this particular store. The other day after getting the basics (chicken breast, roast, hamburger, hot sausage in various forms, steak, and a few other specialty items), I spotted turkey breasts. You know, like raw. Not sliced into sandwich meat and packaged or even a whole turkey, but just the breasts like you would see chicken. This looked fun to me. I got to thinking about why we don’t cook with turkey more often. Is it because after Thanksgiving we just don’t want anything to do with it? Or is it because it’s best...
While I’ve been on a major kick trying new recipes out left and right, it’s always nice to fall back to our regular menu as well. I thought I would take a day and post our tried and true favorites that have been posted on the blog over the past few years. Beef Stroganoff Always a favorite, even if it’s not the traditional form. Think of it as the Hamburger Helper version, only made from scratch and large enough to actually feed the entire family. Pizza What family doesn’t eat this on a regular basis? Although I think we make it at home MUCH more than we order it. Everyone loves what has been dubbed the “mountain pizza”. Tacos If you are making the meat right, you’ll have a hard time guessing it’s not from your favorite taco joint. In fact, when we actually do go out to a taco restaurant, my...
Before I jump into the recipe, let me first tell you a story. I know I’m probably among the minority here, but I’m just sick to death of the fundraising companies taking advantage of the schools. The last fundraiser our PTO did was for butter braids, despite my protest they were charging WAY too much. The butter braids were being sold for $12, and the company was giving only $5 of that to the school (IF we sold over a certain amount, which I don’t believe we did, so ended up with LESS). Yes, the company’s profit from those simple breads was at least $7 per, while the school got only $5. I thought these prices were just beyond insane, and my ranting only increased when I saw very similar butter braids at the local grocery store for $4.50. My jaw dropped, and I was even more disgusted. So I went on a quest to find an...
My kids are a big fan of cinnamon rolls, and I haven’t been able to eat one that’s not homemade since I was given this recipe. It is for the bread machine, so if you don’t have one, see this post on why it’s a must in your kitchen. Cinnamon Rolls 3/4 c water 1 egg, slightly beaten 2 tsp vanilla 3 c flour 6 Tbs sugar 1/4 c butter (softened) 1 tsp salt 2 Tbs dry milk 1 1/2 tsp yeast Filling: 1/4 c butter (melted) 1/3 c brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon Optional – 1/2 c raisins Topping: 1 c powdered sugar 1/4 tsp vanilla 3-4 Tbs milk Add first ingredients to bread machine, using dough setting. Roll out onto large pan in a rectangle, spreading the filling over. Roll up from short side, then cut in 1 inch rolls (by now you should have what looks like a cinnamon roll). Place on greased pan (I like to use my stone pizza pan)...
