Monthly Archives: August 2011

Meatloaf Cupcakes

Posted on by

0

Share

Have you noticed the cupcake craze lately? I’ve seen lasagna cupcakes, taco cupcakes, mac and cheese cupcakes, etc…. I like the idea of that, actually. It’s a nice serving size for someone like me, who always takes way too much food. Yep, I’m one of those people.

You basically can take your favorite meat loaf recipe and mashed potato recipe and combine them to make a mini meatloaf cupcake. I used the recipe from Skinny Taste for the meatloaf part and thought it was very clever adding a zucchini in there for some more veggies. The lady at the grocery store charged me for a cucumber, instead of a zucchini so I lucked out on that one. You’d think if you worked at a grocery store you should be able to tell the difference between a zucchini and a cucumber??? The meatloaf was delicious and I just kind of tossed together all my favorite things in mashed potatoes like sour cream, parmesan cheese, and butter. Try these, you’ll really like them and they’re so cute!

Ingredients adapated from Skinny Taste

1.3 lb 93% lean ground turkey
1 cup grated zucchini, all moisture squeezed dry with paper towel
2 tbsp onion, minced
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup ketchup
1 egg
1 tsp kosher salt

mashed potatoes

10 medium baby red potatoes
2 tablespoons of sour cream
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
3 teaspoons of garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of chopped chives

Directions

preheat the oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with foil liners.

Bring potatoes a boil. Use a fork and prick them to see if they’re fork tender. If they are then they’re done. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and mix the next 6 ingredients with the potatoes. Fill a piping bag with the potatoes.

In a large bowl, mix the turkey, zucchini, onion, breadcrumbs, ketchup, egg, and salt. Place meatloaf mixture into muffin tins filling them to the top, making sure they are flat at the top. Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from tins and place onto a baking dish. Use a piping bag to frost the “cupcakes.”

Zenith Salsa

Posted on by

2

Share

This is quite possibly the best salsa ever. My brother and I would request a jar of it, every time from my Aunt.  At my bridal shower, my aunt finally  gave me the recipe and I was so happy. I made a batch of it today, and it tasted like I remembered it, way back when I was a kid.

Most of  the time when I make salsa, I was trying to just throw together my version of it and not really going by a recipe. Half of the time, I would not be happy with the results. Maybe it was because, I didn’t use enough salt or not enough spices? Who knows?! Now, I don’t need to try coming up with my own salsa recipe anymore. This is the only one I need. I did get a lot of other recipes at my bridal shower, that I will be trying and they will be making an appearance on my blog soon. :)

I halved this recipe because I only had enough tomatoes from my garden, which was about 4 pounds. If you’re wondering 2-3 pounds of tomatoes is about 1 quart. I used my food scale to figure out how much I needed. Still waiting for all the rest of my tomatoes to turn red.

P.S. I don’t know why it’s called Zenith Salsa.

Ingredients from my Aunt Carol

4 quarts of tomatoes

2 green bell peppers

5 jalapeno peppers

3 1/2 cups of chopped yellow onion

2 tablespoons of cumin

3-4 tablespoons of garlic powder

1/4 cup of canning salt (I used kosher)

Directions.

Peel the skin off the tomatoes after they’ve boiled in water for a minute. The skin will come off very easily. Chop all the ingredients and mix them in a large pot. Cook on low for 1-2 hours. It will thicken, the longer it cooks.

Enchilada Lasagna

Posted on by

0

Share

I never knew how easy it was to make your own enchilada sauce. Alton Brown really nailed this one I think. It’s better than the stuff you get in the can. From now on, I’ll be making my own enchilada sauce.

I found dried chipotle peppers in the produce section and not in the Ethnic aisle. Thought that was really weird.The peppers were with some spices, garlic, and shallots. You could probably use the canned chipotle peppers for this too. Just mince them up really fine. The dried peppers were really hard to dice and you have to fish them out of the sauce if you don’t want to bite down into the pepper.

I’m not sure if I like soggy corn tortillas. I actually prefer my enchiladas rolled up into a burrito so that they can get crispy on the outside. You could just as well use lasagna noodles if you don’t want to use corn tortillas for this dish. I think that’s what I’d do next time when I make it again.

Ingredients form Alton Brown

For sauce:

2 dried chipotle chiles, stems and seeds removed, diced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted cumin seeds, freshly ground
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For filling:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cubed
1 1/2 cups diced onion
Pinch kosher salt
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
3 cups shredded queso fresco or Monterey Jack
Nonstick cooking spray

Directions

Combine the chiles, garlic, chili powder, cumin, chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt and pepper in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until the chiles are soft. Set aside until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the chicken until cooked through, approximately 7 to 9 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and place in a medium bowl. Add the onions to the same pan along with a generous pinch of salt, decrease the heat to medium-low and sweat for 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano and cook until the onions are tender, 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the chicken back to the pan and remove from the heat.

Spray a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Place 1/2 cup of the sauce into the bottom of the dish. Dip 4 tortillas into the remaining sauce and lay them into the bottom of the dish. Cut 1 of the tortillas in half to evenly cover the bottom of the dish. Top this with half of the chicken mixture and 1 cup of the cheese. Starting with 4 more tortillas, repeat the layers, ending with the last 4 tortillas on top. Pour remaining sauce over the dish and top with remaining 1 cup of cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese on top is bubbly.

Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles

Posted on by

0

Share

I haven’t done much canning yet this year. I think canning is a stupid name for it anyway. Why do they call it canning when you’re putting all your produce in jars? Shouldn’t it be called jarring? My tomatoes are still turning color and I get some every now and then that are ripe enough to pick. I don’t really want to can just a little bit of tomatoes at time ya know?

I’m kind of still confused about the whole process of canning. What if you want to make some pickles and put them in jars? Most recipes for pickles, just require mixing your sugar vinegar and cucumbers in a bowl and storing them in a container. Do you even have to boil the jars in water then if you want to store the cucumbers in the jar? Hmph?!

We had some cucumbers in our garden and the neighbor lady across from us was nice enough to give us some of her cucumbers. Ben likes to call pickles ruined cucumbers. I like to call them delicious! I found this recipe on the tasty kitchen blog and now I can’t wait to have some burgers. These are just good to snack on too.

Ingredients from Tasty Kitchen

7 cubes Sliced, Unpeeled Cucumbers
1 cup Sliced Onion
1 cup Slice Green Peppers
1 cup Cider Vinegar
2 cups Sugar
1 Tablespoon Celery Seed
1 Tablespoon Salt

Directions

Mix everything together cold and store in covered container in refrigerator. It’s best to allow it to sit for about 5 days so the flavors can mingle. These keep for months

Pork Chops with Cherry Couscous

Posted on by

0

Share

Pork Chops with Cherry Couscous is a dish where the flavors blend together very nicely. The lemon juice gives it a nice hint of freshness in the end. I loved the different textures and biting into the almonds and dried cherries. I’m a big fan of dried cherries. I pick up big bags of them all the time whenever I go to Sam’s Club.

Couscous is super easy to make too, and if you’ve never tried it before please do. At first, I thought that the there wouldn’t be enough liquid (3/4 cup of water) to cook the couscous all the way. That was actually plenty.

*Note

I’m trying to come up with my own logo and header for this site. I’ve been messing around a lot in Illustrator and finding a design based off a recipe card. I’m not sure why the colors are being messed with in this header image. Please bare with me while I try to figure it out.

Calories: 495 | Fat: 22.3g | Carbohydrate: 43.8g | Fiber: 5g | Protein: 29.7g

Servings: 4

Ingredients from Cooking Light

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 (6-ounce) bone-in center-cut pork chops
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1 cup uncooked couscous
3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup coarsely chopped pitted cherries
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup dry-roasted almonds, chopped
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

2. Brush 1 tablespoon olive oil evenly over both sides of pork, and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Place pork on a grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let pork stand for 5 minutes.

3. Place couscous in a large bowl. Add 3/4 cup boiling water; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons oil, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, cherries, and remaining ingredients. Serve with pork.

S’mores Cups

Posted on by

0

Share

I have to admit, I haven’t been the greatest dieter lately. I’m getting married in October and I keep on making treats. Like these S’mores cups. These are ok to eat though, because they’re made in mini muffin tins. Mini means that it won’t pack on the pounds right? ;) Ben tried one and he said that these will probably be gone with in a day. They’re that good, and you’ll probably want to eat the whole entire batch in one sitting.

When I make my marshmallow for s’mores I like mine burnt to a crisp. It’s fun to toast the marshmallow and get it to wear it’s burning. Ben is the opposite of me and likes his marshmallow to the point where it’s just melted. We’re doing a s’mores kit for wedding favors and I think those are going to be so cute. I would have toasted the marshmallows longer in the oven to get them more burnt like, but I was nice to Ben and just melted them.

Ingredients from Texas Cottage



7  whole graham crackers (1 cup finely crushed)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
4 bars (1.55 oz each) milk chocolate candy, divided
12 large marshmallows
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place graham crackers into a large resealable plastic bag. Finely crush into crumbs. Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and butter in a small bowl.
Place 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture in each cup of a mini muffin pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups. Bake 4-5 minutes or until edges are bubbling. Meanwhile, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place one rectangle into each cup.

Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using shears dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are slightly softened. Remove pans from oven to cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan. Cool completely.
Break remaining candy bars and place in small microwavable bowl. Microwave on high 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the top of each marshmallow in melted chocolate. Turn top-side up and let stand 40 to 60 minutes or until set. Makes 24 cups.

Ice Cream Balls

Posted on by

0

Share

Who doesn’t love going to get a snack at Dairy Queen on hot summer days? What’s your favorite treat to get there? I like to get Dilly Bars and my favorite is the mint and the butterscotch flavor. Now you can make them at home, using your favorite kind of ice cream.

Take out your favorite muffin tin and line them with cupcake liners. Scoop some ice cream into them and put a popsicle stick in the middle. Kind of like this.

Put them in your freezer for about a day. I just did a day because I was worried that the ice cream wouldn’t get hard enough.

Next, melt some almond bark or your favorite kind of chocolate in a microwave and take the ice cream balls and dip them in there. You have to work really fast with these. When I was doing this the ice cream would make the chocolate get hard again and it was getting hard to work with. I did 6 at a time.

Voila, you have you’re own homemade dilly bars and didn’t have wait in line at Dairy Queen to get them.

Ingredients

6 scoops of your favorite ice cream (I used vanilla)

6 cupcake liners

6 popsicle sticks

Almond bark or chocolate chips.

Directions:

1.  Line 6 muffin tins with a cupcake liner. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out the ice cream and put them in the cupcake liners.Freeze for up to a day or until hard enough to dip the ice cream into chocolate.

2. Once the ice cream is hard enough, melt some chocolate in the microwave. I did mine for about 1 minute and 25 seconds. Dip the ice cream balls into the chocolate. Freeze the chocolate balls until their ready to eat. Enjoy!

Pyrotechnics Guild International

Posted on by

0

Share

Every 5 years, the PGI tour comes to West Fargo, ND and every year it’s AMAZING. They did a tribute to 911 and that was my favorite part of the show. There was a rain delay and that caused problems with starting on time. The announcer kept on saying the show will start in 2 minutes and everybody in the audience would get annoyed. I just love a good fireworks display show. We didn’t get home until about 12:30 which is way past our bed time. ;)

Mojito Pops

Posted on by

0

Share

I was going to make a post about ways to use up fresh mint in your garden. I planted fresh mint last year and it came back this year, and spread like mad. It really does grow like a weed.  This mojito pop, is one way you can use up the fresh mint in your garden. You make a simple syrup out of sugar and water and add some mint to it. Let that sit in the syrup for about 30 minutes and your syrup will be infused with mint flavor. You can pretty much do that with any herb or flavor you wish.

This is a virgin mojito pop. There’s no vodka in it. You could certainly add in the vodka, but you have to watch how much you add or else it might not freeze properly. I was going to make a bloody mary ice pop, but decided not to after I tried a little bit of bloody mary mix this weekend. Bloody Marys are not for me, that’s all I’m going to say. I prefer sweet fruity drinks like mojitos. What’s your favorite alcoholic beverage? Who knows, maybe I’ll turn it into an ice pop. :)

Ingredients from Everyday Food

1 1/4 cup of sugar
1 small bunch of mint, plsu 10 leaves
1 cup fresh lime juice, plus 10 very thin half-moon slices

1. In a small saucepan, bring sugar and 2 cups of sguar and 2 cups water to a boil over high. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves.
Remove from heat, stir in mint, and let syrup cool. 30 minutes

2. Pour syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl, pressing on solids. Discard, the solids. Stir the lime juice into the syrup. Fill ten 3 ounce ice-pop
molds three-quarters full with syrup. Freeze until slushly, 45 minutes. With an ice-pop stick submerge 1 lime slice and 1 mint leaf in each pop. Insert ice-pop sticks and freeze until solid.

per ice pop- 103 cals, 0 g fat, 0 g protein, 27 g carbs, 0 g fiber