Did you know?

You can cook FOOD in a rice cooker..not just RICE??

I found this A-Mazing site that has a few ideas of things to cook in the rice cooker and i'm anxious to try it out...especially the breakfast one! SO check out this website


http://allrecipes.com/Cook/13432715/BlogEntry.aspx?postid=188132


Also I found these nifty little tips and tricks for around the kitchen and I was amazed at some of the stuff!! I hope tihs helps someone other than me...lol

http://allrecipes.com/Cook/13440943/BlogEntry.aspx?postid=188618

Easy Peasy Homemade Bread

I just got this recipe the day before yesterday from a friend (thanks Deborah!) and tried it out last night. Mmmm, mmm, good. This is a recipe for basic white bread, but stay tuned for variations of this recipe as I will be experimenting with it a bit.



Easy Peasy Homemade Bread

4 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Salt
2 tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Yeast
1 1/2 cups Warm Water (plus a little)
2 tablespoons Oil

Blend flour and salt. Add remaining ingredients and mix together. (Add more flour as necessary.) Knead for 10 minutes or so. Rub a little oil inside the bowl and ad dough. Flip the dough over to get oil on both sides. Cover and allow to rise in a warm spot for one hour. Shape the dough and place in greased pan. (Enough dough for 2 bread pans or 1 large baking sheet) Slit top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Note: When I made it, I didn't have any bread pans, so I just shaped the entire ball of dough into one large loaf, glazed it with a small amount of melted butter, baked it on a Pampered Chef stone bar pan for 30 minutes and it came out perfect. It is a dense bread, but not very heavy, which is perfect for smearing some butter and jam on. ;) I also had to let mine rise for a lot longer than the recipe calls for, because I had to run an errand, but I just beat it down a bit and let it rise for another hour when I got home.

Try out this recipe and comment with the results. I can't wait to hear if any of you tried it and how you liked it.

Fourth of July

I've been watching a lot of Food Network lately. I think it's so interesting that there is an entire television channel devoted to food. One of my favorite shows has become The Next Food Network Star. It's really remarkable what people can do with food. It's even more amazing to me that there are so many foods I've never heard of, let alone eaten! It makes me want to venture out to the nearest Whole Foods Market (which incidentally is in HOUSTON) and buy the ingredients for something like Pancetta and Pesto Souffle. Have you ever cooked with pesto? It's very exciting.

I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a food snob, but I do enjoy imagining what it would be like to create something delicious off-the-top-of-my-head. I perused the grocery store for some ideas to make something in honor of Independence Day- I found frozen berry medley. Feeling a little creative, I bought 2 bags (1 lb each) along with some cool whip, bananas and vanilla wafers. Today I decided to throw it all together myself, and not follow a recipe :0 I realize it's not totally original, but I think it turned out beautifully!

I apologize for my less-than decorative serving bowl :(

For any food critics out there, I'll understand if you leave a comment with suggestions ;)

It's currently chilling in the fridge. I'll let you know how the family likes it later. Here's how I made it:

First I mixed together:
12 oz Cool Whip
20 oz (estimate) cream cheese, or neufchatel
1/4 c. sugar

Next, I layered the bottom of the bowl with vanilla wafers and sliced bananas. I topped that with the cream cheese mixture. Using a slotted spoon, I added some of the thawed fruit. *You can use fresh fruit- which would minimize the juice spilling into the dessert. On the next layer, rather than line it with cookies, I outlined it and scattered several throughout the middle and continued to layer the bananas, cream cheese and fruit. There were 3 layers total.

I am going to top each serving with a dollop of cool whip. Bon appetit!

Beefless Stroganoff

Last year, I made an effort to replace almost all ground beef with ground turkey and it has gone over pretty well. I have gone through and revised most of my recipes that call for ground beef, so that they ground turkey is barely, if at all, noticeable. Here is my revision of Beef Stroganoff...



Beefless Stroganoff

1/4 cup of Butter
1lb. Ground Turkey
1 large can of Mushrooms
1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup of Light Sour Cream
1/2 cup of Chopped Onion
2T. Flour
2 t. Salt
1/4t. Pepper
1/4t. Paprika

Saute onion in butter until golden. Add turkey, brown. Add flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Mix well. Add the mushrooms with liquid; cook for 5 minutes. Add soup and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in sour cream; heat thoroughly. Serve over noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Easy Chicken Carbonara Pizza

This is a super easy recipe that I came up with recently and has quickly become a favorite. I don't have a picture of it at the moment, but I will take one next time I make it.


Ingredients:

Pillsbury Canned Pizza Crust (I use this one specifically, because it cooks so well and is only 2grams of fat per serving, whereas the off-brand has 7grams)
Alfredo Sauce (homemade or jarred)
2 Chicken Breasts
5 Slices of Bacon
Italian Seasonings
Mozzerella Cheese


Follow instructions on can for preparation of crust. Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces. In a skillet, I melt 3Tb of margarine, which I cook chicken in. Cook bacon separately. (I just pop them into the microwave with paper towels under and on top of the slices. It only takes 1 minute per slice.) Spread Alfredo sauce on crust. Sprinkle desired amount of cheese on top. Top with chicken and crumbled bacon, followed by the seasonings. Bake for amount of time as instructed in the instructions for the pizza crust. I bake mine for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. The key is to make sure the crust is golden. Another tip for making it extra tasty is to bake it on a stoneware pan (FYI: crust comes out of can rectangular), which helps it to cook evenly throughout.

Chicken Noodle Soup

After I had Ella, one of my favorite sisters brought us dinner, and my picky-eaters LOVED it! ...Charlotte got this recipe from her mother-in-law... So it's been tried and tested and it's FAST :)

We make this fairly often and it's definitely "Comfort Food".

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1 large package of Wide Egg Noodles
8 cups of Water
8 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
3 cups Chicken, cooked
1 cup Sour Cream

In large pot, heat water to boiling. Add bouillon cubes; dissolve. Add noodles; cook 10 minutes or until done. Do NOT drain. Ad soups and chicken. Heat through. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream. Serve and enjoy!

Doesn't it look delicious?

It was!

Turkey and Avocado Wrap- Turbo Jam Style :)

This is SO good! AND it's healthy! :)

3 1-oz. slices turkey
1 whole wheat tortilla
4 leaves of romaine lettuce or baby spinach or green leafy
1 tsp. mustard
2 slices tomato
1 oz. raw avocado

Okay, so you can change it up as much as you want. I personally don't like mustard, but I do on this. Also, I rarely think to buy tomatoes, so I leave those out. I estimate the turkey- I use 2 deli-thin slices of turkey lunchmeat and whatever lettuce/salad I have. I've also tried about 1/2 tsp. capers on it- delicious! Really adds to the flavor! (Capers are in a jar by the pickles at your local market. lol) And for the avocado- it's a MUST! SOOO good! I use half of an avocado cause I'm too lazy to look up how to measure 1 oz.

Enjoy!

Help?

So as you all know I am a poor college student who eats ramen noodles, baked potatoes, and all you have to add is water pancakes....So if any of you have any EASY...CHEAP recipes i'd looove to have them..but remember it has to be super easy and with not alot of ingredients...p.s. we have a crocpot.


Dula!!

Lamingtons

I know it sounds weird but its really good. Daddy calls it Kangaroo cause its an Australian recipe.


1 cup of softened butter
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
6 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence or extract
1 cup of self rising flour
(For the icing)
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of warm water
2 tablespoons of coconut flakes
a cake pan 7x11 in. oven temperature: 325 bake for 25-30 min.
Love ya lots,
Rachel

P.S. Sorry no pic :(

TGI Friday's Au Gratin Potatoes

Here is another restaurant recipe that I haven't tried out yet. If you try it, post a comment and let me know how it turned out.


T.G.I. Friday's Au Gratin Potatoes


4 Large baking potatoes
3 Cups Bechamel sauce (see following recipe)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3/4 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Colby cheese
Bake potatoes in oven at 400 degrees until completely
cooked. Cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, then slice
into 1/2" thick rounds. Mix together the Bechamel sauce, salt
and white pepper. Add remaining ingredients.
Fold in potatoes. Place mixture in covered baking dish in a
300F oven for 1 hour, or until potatoes are hot all the way
through. Remove the cover and allow potatoes to brown.

Bechamel Sauce
1 quart half & half
2 ounces flour
2 ounces clarified butter
salt and pepper to taste
In a saucepan, combine the flour and butter. Cook over a
low flame, for about 15 minutes until the mixture begins
to bubble. Stir frequently so the roux does not color.
Gradually add the half & half, stirring out the lumps as
it thickens. After the entire amount of half & half has
been added, cook for 45 minutes over a low flame, stirring
occasionally to keep the mixture from sticking to the saucepan.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Peanut Cream Chocolate Bars

I just tried this recipe for the first time last night and it was delicious! Anything with peanut butter and chocolate has to be good, plus it was really easy. It's definitely a winner!

Base:

1 pkg. devil's food cake mix

1/3 c. oil

1 egg

Filling:

1/3 c. sugar

1 egg

3/4 c. peanut butter

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

3/4 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Mix, in large bowl, the cake mix, oil, and egg at low speed until crumbly. Reserve one cup for topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom of ungreased 9x13x2 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Beat sugar, peanut butter, cream cheese, and egg until smooth. Spread over baked base. In small bowl, combine reserved base and nuts. Sprinkle over filling and lightly press down. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Refrigerate for one hour and cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Boboli's Pizza Crust

My friend, Jessi, sent me a PDF file full of restaurant/professional recipes that I'll be sharing from time to time on here. Note that I haven't tried any of these yet, but they sound great! I LOVE making homemade pizza, so I wanted to post this recipe for pizza crust first. If you try it out, leave a comment to let me know how you liked it!



1 pk Dry Yeast
1/4 cup Water
2 1/4 cups Warm water
6 tb Olive oil,+ extra for pans
6 cups Flour
1 ts Salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water (105F is perfect). Let it sit for two minutes. Add the rest of the ingedients and mix well. Turn out onto board and knead for ten minutes. Place back in bowl covered with a damp towel and let rise 30 to 40 minutes.

Divide dough into 3 parts and place in 3 olive−oiled pie pans.

Dimple dough with fingers. Place on top the following mixture:
Coarse sea (or Kosher) salt, fresh ground pepper, chopped rosemary and thyme. If herbs are dried, soak them in water for 10 minutes and then pat dry on paper towels.

Let rise 50 to 60 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

May dip in olive oil.

Brandon's Famous Salsa

Brandon makes the best home made salsa. I'm not even a fan of salsa, but I love his! Did you know that salsa is actually good for you, too? The spiciness raises your metabolism, so you burn more calories. All from eating a delicious snack. Who knew?!?


Brandon's Famous Salsa

15 Roma Tomatoes, diced small
2 Jalapeno Peppers (quantity depends on desired intensity)
1/2 to 3/4 White Onion, diced small (can also use green onions)
3 cloves of Garlic, diced as small as possible
Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh Green Parsley & Cilantro (key ingredient), handful diced small
1/2 Lime, cut into wedges and squeeze all juice out (can substitute with store bought lime juice)
2 cans of Tomato Sauce

Combine all ingredients, except for tomato sauce. Mix well, then stir in tomato sauce and add more pepper, if desired.

Crock Pot Pork Chops

I made this one up, so try it at your own risk!

I used 6 center cut pork chops for this recipe.

Crock Pot Pork Chops

In crock pot, mix two packets of brown gravy mix with water. Add pork chops and cook on low for 5 hours (time frame is variable depending on crock pot and setting). Pork chops should be very tender.

Optional: If you want them to be crisp on the outside, after removing them from crock pot, bake at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes.

German Pancakes

This is one of my favorite recipes ever! That's probably because it is so fast and easy. Plus, I just love having breakfast for dinner! Here's a tip to make baking this more fun: When there is about five minutes left on the timer, turn on the oven light and watch it bake. You'll see it grow right before your eyes!

German Pancakes

6 Eggs
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 cup Milk
1/2 stick Margarine
1 cup Flour
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp. Sugar
Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 435 degrees. Melt butter in cake pan, while oven is preheating. Whisk eggs in large bowl until thick and lemon colored. Add remaining ingredients, except Cinnamon. Mix well. Pour into cake pan, then sprinkle Cinnamon on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until middle is solid and sponge-like. Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Tips: I also sprinkle some sugar on top, which gives it a thin crispy layer on top. I've also tried this with skim milk, low fat margarine and Splenda, instead of sugar, for a healthier version. It turned out great. We ate it with sugar free syrup and it was delicious. We really couldn't tell a difference.