I’ve discovered the world of mini-pizzas, and I am in love. The other day I picked up mini-pizza crust (yes I know, I totally cheated, but I did use my pizza crust recipe too for a big pizza!). I let the kids make their own, even letting one of them skip the cheese (don’t ask because I can’t figure it out – he just doesn’t like shredded cheese for some reason, but loves it melted. Go figure!). Basically I did everything I usually do when I cook pizza – brown hamburger and Italian sausage, lay out pepperoni and cheese, and open a jar of mushrooms. Since I had two small pizzas and a large one, I mixed a can of Italian diced tomatoes and tomato sauce in a bowl and used it on all the pizzas. It turned out to be REALLY good and somewhat chunky (I admit I’ve gotten a little lazy with my sauce – I...
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to make heart shaped brownies for my daughter’s kindergarten Valentine’s Day party. Well I’m proud to say I succeeded without any mishaps. This may be a first! What I did was take a box of brownie mix and make it according to directions (it says to make them cake like to add another egg, which I did). I cooked them at the same temp and time, with one minor change. Instead of the recommended 9×13, I used a 11×14 glass pan. I was a little worried they would get over cooked, especially using the cake-like directions, but as it turned out they were just fine at the top temp. Once out of the oven, I immediately used a heart-shaped cookie cutter and got 12 average size brownies out of it (with some scraps, of course, which we’ll be munching on for the next few days)....
In an attempt to break away from the same old supper while watching way too much of the Food Network, we found a new favorite recipe for hamburgers. First off, I had found an interesting type of cheese as the store. It was Havarti, which I had never heard of before. This particular block was dill flavored, and you just can’t go wrong with anything dill in this house. It was tasty, but I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Since I had hamburger meat, I decided to use it on that. To go along with this strange new cheese, I made a mock version of our Big Mac sauce (see the recipe under “Hamburgers” on the Hamburger Ideas page on Idea Queen.) I left out both types of relish, the salad dressing, and only used regular mayo. Wasn’t exactly Big Mac sauce, but it was still an interesting flavor to go along with the...
Since I love to come up with creative ideas in the kitchen, I knew I was going to have to come up with something spectacular for Valentine’s day. I’m in charge of the snacks for my daughter’s kindergarten class this year, so this gives me a chance to finally use some of those cool cookie cutters I’ve had forever. We always use decorated sugar cookies in Halloween style for her birthday in October, so the cookies are out. While shopping yesterday with a cake mix coupon, the idea hit me. Heart shaped brownies with pink icing. It might not be the most creative, but I’m thinking it will get us some “brownie points”. Ha! The mix I got looks like a moist cake, so I’ve got my fingers crossed this isn’t going to turn into a big mess. It also says to bake it in a 13×9, but I’m thinking...
We tried out a fun new recipe the other night, and I just knew it was going to be a hit. My picky son still wouldn’t eat much of it, but I never know what he will or will not eat (his tastes seem to change by the hour, so don’t let that stop you from trying this!). What you’ll need: Boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch strips 1 cup (8oz) sour cream Garlic salt Onion salt Paprika (optional) Potato chips, crushed Take your sour cream and mix with spices in one bowl. Put your potato chips in another bowl. (For those familiar with making any kind of breading, the sour cream is the liquid part, and the potato chips are the coating). Warning – you WILL get messy. The original recipe says to “dip”, but you just can’t without getting your hands down in it. My suggestion is to drop in as much...
My daughter loves to watch Food Network. Actually, she just loves food in general. At six, she’s informed me she wants to be a chef when she grows up, that is, if her pop star career doesn’t take off. He he. I’ve been mulling this idea over for awhile, thinking I’d love to give her a head start on this career. It worries me a bit, since living in the middle of nowhere it’s not like we have a whole lot of opportunities for gourmet cooking. The closest we have to a fancy restaurant is Applebees and Red Lobster. Still, I think she might go far if given some encouragement. I was poking around the other day, and came across a website called Spatulatta.com, which focuses on cooking with kids. They have videos and recipes, as well as fun things to make that encourages healthy eating. This is pretty important to us,...
For Christmas I got a brand new kitchen toy – and I LOVE toys for the kitchen. An omelet maker! My kids were quite happy to see this, as previous attempts at making omelets were a bit sad. Out of all the things I can make in the kitchen, omelets just aren’t one of them. But this little toy is just FANTASTIC. We tried it out for the first time last night, scrambling up four eggs and adding a few tasty ingredients (cheese, garlic salt, and cilantro……sounds a bit odd, but it was actually very good). I was just amazed how fast it cooked and how easy it was to slip them right out of the wells. Now I like omelets alright, but in order to get full use out of this, I’m on the hunt for other ideas. I’m a bit nervous as this is meant for eggs, but I”m sure there are other things we could cook in it. I’m...
Yesterday my daughter and I had planned to spend a day together cooking. We were going to watch the Food Network in the morning and find something tasty to make, then go to the store and pick up ingredients. The weather, unfortunately, had a different idea. When we woke up we were greeted to freezing rain, so had to change the original plan. We did watch the Food Network as planned, but more for ideas on things we could create with what we already had in the house. When I saw someone making calzones, I knew those would be easy enough to tweek to our liking. Plus my aunt had given us a whole lot of pepperoni over Christmas (my uncle brought home 25 pounds of sliced pepperoni, so we ALL got some!). I have no idea what the “real” recipe was on the Food Network, because I wasn’t paying attention. But here’s our version...
I was at the store yesterday, trying to decide if I wanted to bake anything this year for Christmas. I really hadn’t planned on it, since my best friend is pregnant and not in the mood to bake. Last year we did the “big plates of assorted goodies”, which was fun with two of us, but I wasn’t about to do it alone. Then I saw the chocolate almond bark. Last year I made cookies & cream truffles, my ABSOLUTE favorite. They were somewhat of a pain, but ohhhhh so worth it. Basically you just take Oreos, crush them up, then mix with cream cheese. Roll them into little balls and freeze them, then heat up the chocolate almond bark and dip. Actually they aren’t that hard to make, it’s just a matter of dealing with the almond bark which can be quite messy. Now since I had this huge package of chocolate almond bark,...
I’ve been pulling out recipes tucked away lately, deciding to try some new dishes. While some have been absolutely horrible, there’s been others which were really good with some tweeking. A new favorite of ours is “Grilled B&T Sandwiches”. The original recipe title was Lasagna Sandwiches, but I have no idea how they thought it was anything like lasagna. This was more of a cheesy BLT, minus the lettuce. Either way the kids LOVED it! What you’ll need: Sandwich bread Bacon Tomato, sliced Sliced Mozzarella cheese (I bought a brick and sliced it) Sour Cream (about 1/2 c) Onion (about 2 TBS, or one slice) Butter Mix the sour cream and onion together according to your taste. Spread on bread. Cook bacon and add at least 4 slices to each sandwich, followed by 2 slices of tomatoes and one slice of cheese. Butter the...
