Jamie's last 5

These are the last five that I can remember. I need to go to the store. I've been making stuff with what I got lately, so I don't really remember what we've had.

Taco Soup. I love taco soup. So easy and so good. And healthy. (1cup=145 kcal)
Grilled chicken with roasted red pepper sauce/pasta. From Pioneer Woman. It was ok.
Creamy Chicken Taquitos. Mel's.
Pasta alfredo with chicken and veggies. Mel's. I think Mary posted it on here too once.
Tomato Soup.


I'm going grocery shopping this week. Here's my upcoming menu items (in no particular order)...just in case you want some ideas:

Pot Roast + roasted potatoes and veggies.
Smothered Pork Chops + ?veg and brown rice. Mom introduced me to these. SOOO good. I leave out the bacon because I hate dealing with bacon. Costco has really good pork chops. I've always meant to do a post for these.
Pasta Fagioli.
Sloppy Joes + salad.
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos (never tried these, but Nettie you said you liked them).
Spaghetti Pie (never tried this) + ???. This looks fun.
Creamy Swiss Chicken Bake (never tried this, but looks really easy) + quinoa, roast broccoli. This looks easy and good enough.
White Chicken Chili. Never made this, but had it at Kelli's and it was good.


I'm also going to make homemade refried beans. I never use them, but if I make my own, maybe I will. Plus, my kids will just eat them plain with cheese on top I'm sure. Easy lunch.

Kellis last five

1. Mac and cheese too! Jim requested no weird stuff in it, so no cauliflower. 

2. Cafe rio for New Years in Fallon. 

3. Breakfast casserole. I used leftover Christmas ham and it was yum. 

4. Potato tacos. Always. 

5. Rick Bayless tortilla soup

I'm gonna keep going...

6. Hawaiian haystacks

7. I'm making butternut squash and chicken and quinoa soup tomorrow. Can't wait. 

8. Chipotle chicken and roasted garlic, lemon juice, and parmesean broccoli. 

9. Creamy chicken soup. Avery always requests that. Actually i might make that tomorrow. I haven't in a while so it will make her happy. 

10. Popcorn and fruit and dip. Dip = two key lime yogurts, a brick of cream cheese, a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt. 

calling all recipes

Come On People, there's got to be something new you've made and love.

I challenge you to list the last 5 meals you made (new blog post or comment).
1.  Pasta Fagoli
2.  Sweet and Spicy Pork Tenderloin
3.  Turkey Sandwiches
4.  Macaroni and Cheese, homemade (I always substitute half the noodles with roasted cauliflower, it has been life changing for me.  I no longer dread mac and cheese when my kids ask for it).
5.  slow cooker parm chicken.  ( I recommend NOT cooking this as long as it says).  I say 3 hours max on low.  This one is so good, I want to put it back on my menu right away.

Breakfast Casserole

from Our Best Bites

4 c. Southern/country-style hash browns (cubes), completely thawed (if they’re not thawed, they won’t cook correctly)
1 12-oz. package bacon
1 1/2 c. pepper jack cheese
1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3 eggs
1 c. milk*
about 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
about 10 turns freshly ground black pepper
*For high altitudes, reduce milk to 2/3 cup and sauté the potatoes in rendered bacon grease until partially cooked before baking.
Begin cooking bacon.  While the bacon is cooking, place the potatoes in a 9×13″ baking dish. Mix the cheeses together and sprinkle it over the potatoes. When the bacon is done cooking, drain it on a paper towel and reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Cook the onions in the drippings for 2-3 minutes or until they’re tender and fragrant. Spread the onions over the cheese mixture and then sprinkle everything with the crumbled bacon.  Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper and, whisking constantly, pour the egg mixture evenly over the potato mixture.  Cover and refrigerate overnight or for 7-8 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350.  Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly but not brown. Allow to stand for 15 minutes before cutting. Serve with fresh fruit.

We had this Christmas morning with cinnamon rolls (from a can) and fruit. It is perfect and easy because all the prep is done the night before (and it's easy prep!). I also used left over ham instead of bacon on another night for dinner.

I love a meal that is prepped ahead of time, then whipped out to heat just in time for the hectic hours preceding dinner.

Perfect Frosting

6 T Flour
 1 C milk (whole milk is best, but I use non-fat when it’s all I have and it’s actually fine)

 1 C real butter (I prefer salted, but you can use also unsalted and add salt to taste)
 1 C sugar (that’s granulated sugar, not powdered sugar)
 2 t vanilla extract, or other flavor if you wish.

Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.
Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring with a rubber spatula, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan.   Continue to cook until mixture has the consistency of thick pudding or paste.

Put  mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely, it’s fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don’t want it warm at all. As it’s cooling, feel free to stir it occasionally to speed up the process and keep it from forming a crust on top.

It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You’ll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer if you have one, instead of the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Mixture will separate and look messy, keep beating!  Continue beating until mixture comes together and is light and fluffy, about 7-8 minutes, but time varies.  Take a sample of frosting between your fingers; frosting is done when light and fluffy and sugar granules are dissolved.

From Our Best Bites

ps I changed the numbers on here to double their original recipe. This frosting will forever remind me of Ashley and Kailyn's fancy cupcakes they brought to the new years eve party, 2013-2014.

let's talk onions

In my attempt to stop throwing away so much produce, I have started freezing chopped onions. Now it's a time saver and huge convenience.

One time I had three huge onions that I wasn't going to use any time soon and that were going to get thrown away. I chopped them all up at once, put in freezer bags, and froze them for later. I LOVE HAVING THEM! I get sick of chopping onions and if it's the only thing I have to chop for a recipe, it's an even bigger drag. Now, I can just grab some out of the freezer and plop right into my pan. Of course, some recipes you have to use fresh, but man -- I really like having them in there. Like, the other day, I made taco soup. Already the easiest recipe, right? With frozen onions, it's even easier.

If I'm chopping a fresh one for a recipe, I go ahead and chop another one at the same time to freeze. Or if I only need half of an onion for a recipe and know I won't be using the other half soon, I just chop up the whole thing and throw the other half in the freezer.

Oven Ham Sammies

Recipe from HERE.

This is a ham version of this roast beef sandwich. My notes are pink.

1 12 count package Kings Hawaiian Rolls
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 tsp ground mustard (i'd use closer to 1 tsp next time)
1 tsp poppy seeds
2 tsp onion flakes
1 tsp worcheshire sauce (i'll add 2 tsp next time)
1 package swiss cheese
12-16oz thin sliced ham

Put ham and cheese on sliced rolls.

Mix all other ingredients and spoon over sammies. Let set overnight or several hours (i didn't do this because i didn't think ahead of time).

Bake on 350 for 15 min before serving (i think i will cover the pan with tin foil next time like i do with the roast beef sandwiches).

Pumpkin Roll

Another pumpkin dessert. This is my favorite time of year for desserts, I'll eat anything with pumpkin in it. This is Kim's recipe from the Sorensen family cookbook, but it deserves a place on Eat or Die.

3 eggs                                                    
1 C. sugar
3/4 C. pumpkin puree
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C. + 2 TBS flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 C. chopped wall nuts

Beat eggs for 5 minutes.  Gradually add sugar, pumpkin, and lemon juice while beating.  Combine flour, baking powder, spices and salt.  Fold into pumpkin mixture.  Pour into 15x10 cookie sheet lined on the bottom with parchment paper and spray with pam (if you dont have parchment you can generously grease and flour the pan.  I've had bad experiences doing this so I don't recommend it.)  Drop pan on counter several times to smooth and pop bubbles. Sprinkle nuts on top.  Bake 375* for 15 minutes.  Immediately after baking turn pan over and remove cake onto a tea towl sprinkled with powdered sugar, roll up and cool completely.

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese
4 TBS butter
1 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together.  When cake is cooled, carefully unroll.  Gently spread filling evenly across cake.  Roll up the cake cover in siran wrap and put in freezer. an hour before serving remove from freezer and let sit 15 min, cut into slices while still somewhat frozen. Let thaw before serving.

Pumpkin Donuts

3 1/2 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or
     1tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ginger and 1/8 tsp cloves
1 c sugar
2 Tbs butter, melted
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree
canola oil (for frying)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, spices and sugar.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together all the remaining ingredients except the oil.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in.  Mix all together until the dough is well combined.  My dough was pretty sticky so I added a little more flour.  Turn onto a well floured surface and roll the dough until it is about 1/2 inch thick (they puff up alot when frying so keep them thin or the middle wont get done). Cut with a donut cutter or find whatever you have to make a donut shape.

Heat 2 inches of oil in a large skillet over high heat.  When the oil is hot (drop a piece of dough in to test) gently slide the donut in the hot oil until edges are slightly brown.  Flip it over and allow to cook on the other side.  Romove and place on a baking rack to allow grease to drip off. Glaze while donut is still warm.  .

Buttermilk Glaze

3 C powdered sugar
1/2 C buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Whisk together until smooth.  Dip warm donuts in glaze and then allow to air dry on cooling rack.

Sour cream pancakes

This is my most recent favorite pancake recipe. I use nf Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.

I'm into serving breakfast for dinner lately.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/04/edna-maes-sour-cream-pancakes/

• 1 cup Sour Cream or NF Greek Yogurt
• 7 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
•  Butter, For Frying And Serving
•  Warm Syrup, For Serving

Preparation Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Set aside.

In a separate small bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sour cream with the dry ingredients until just barely combined (don't overmix.) Whisk in the egg mixture until just combined.

Heat a griddle over medium-low heat and melt some butter in the pan. Drop batter by 1/4 cup servings onto the griddle. Cook on the first side until bubbles start to form on the surface and edges are starting to brown. Flip to the other side and cook for another minute. (Pancakes will be a little on the soft side.)

Serve with softened butter and syrup.

Here's a calorie count using NF Greek Yogurt instead of sour cream. I always double the recipe and guess that I use about 2 T of butter total to cook them all in. Doubled recipe made 29 pancakes, using 1 oz/2 T scoop.

1 pancake (including butter it was cooked in) = ~45 kcal

 

Honey lime chicken enchiladas

I made these delicious things a couple weeks ago.  My favorite enchiladas. I substituted the cream for nf Greek yogurt....the sauce ended up a little curdled I think bc of it, but still tasted great. The chicken after sitting in the sauce is super good. Would be great on a cafe rio style salad or something.


http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2008/03/honey-lime-enchiladas.html

INGREDIENTS

• 6 tablespoons honey
• 5 tablespoons lime juice (1-2 large limes)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 pounds chicken, cooked and shredded (3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
• 8-10 fajita-size flour tortillas
• 1 pound Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 16 ounces green enchilada sauce (like the Herdez brand)
• 1 cup heavy cream, sour cream or half-and-half

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk together the first four ingredients in a small bowl. Pour the marinade into a Ziploc bag (or other covered container) and toss with the shredded chicken. Refrigerate and let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour and up to 8 hours. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray and pour about 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken (reserving the leftover marinade) and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream (or sour cream/half-and-half) and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes until brown and crispy on top.

Chicken, Butthernut Squash and Quinoa Stew

I ate this whole pot of soup by myself.

Here is the link to the original recipe, but I simplified it a bit and omitted the olives. It's a pretty soup!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (I am going to try some sweet potatoes today)
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 can (14 oz) petite diced tomatoes
• 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

1. Roast the butternut squash in the oven. 400* for about 20 minutes.  
2. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil.
3. Add the salt, oregano, pepper, tomatoes and chicken broth. Cook, for 1 minute.
4. Rinse quinoa and add it to the pot.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.
5. Add cooked chicken and roasted squash.
6. Stir in parsley and serve.

Notes

Calories 329 / Total Fat 14.1g / Saturated Fat 1.0 / Cholesterol 15.2mg / Sodium 1209mg / Total Carbohydrates 32.8g / Fiber 5.4g / Sugars 3.0g / Protein 19.4g / WW (Old Points) 7 / WW (Points+) 9

 

This seems like it wouldn't have much flavor, but it totally does. I like it a lot. It gets really thick after a few days, but I like it like that. You could add more liquid to the leftovers if you want to.

chipotle chicken skewers with creamy dipping sauce

another from mel's kitchen cafe.

WE had these for father's day and they were GOOD!  I kinda wanted the kids to not eat them so we could have more.  But even my kids, who don't love meat, liked them.

Again, I thought I wouldn't like these because I'm not a huge fan of chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, but I loved them.  So super duper good, and the chicken stands on it's own, you almost don't need the dipping sauce, it certainly wasn't the best part of the meal, for me.

I even think you could just marinade the chicken and not skewer it, but I don't like fat chicken, so I would take the extra effort to skewer it.  We did have a problem with slightly overcooked chicken, it was a little dry, because it cooks really fast, so beware.  Also, the dipping sauce makes a ton, and we didn't even eat half of it.  So next time I will half the recipe.

Chipotle Chicken Skewers with Creamy Dipping Sauce

Yield: Makes about 15-16 skewers, serving 6-8

You could definitely use full-fat sour cream or mayo/yogurt, but I'll attest that the sauce was divinely yummy made with reduced fat ingredients. Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce can be quite spicy so if you want to knock the spice down a bit, scrape the seeds out of the chile and discard before mincing the chile for the marinade/dry rub.

Ingredients

Chicken Skewers:
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4-5 medium chicken breasts)
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced (scrape out the seeds before mincing to reduce spiciness)
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12 bamboo or metal skewers
Creamy Dipping Sauce:
• 3/4 cup lowfat sour cream
• 1/4 cup lowfat mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup lime juice, from 2-3 limes
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, minced
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Slice the chicken breasts into long, thin strips, about 1/2-inch thick. You should have right around 30 strips. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cilantro, chipotle chile, adobo sauce, salt, chili powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Toss the chicken with the brown sugar mixture coating all the pieces evenly. Cover the chicken (or place in a ziploc bag) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
2. For the dipping sauce, in a bowl, stir all the ingredients together. Cover the mixture and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes until the flavors combine. Alternately, you can make the dipping sauce in advance and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Be sure to season the dipping sauce with additional lime juice, salt and pepper to taste before serving.
3. 30 minutes before grilling, cover the bamboo skewers with water and soak. Skip this step if using metal skewers.
4. Preheat an oven broiler or gas/charcoal grill. Weave two strips of chicken onto each skewer. Broil or grill the chicken for 5-8 minutes until cooked through, using nonstick cooking spray on a foil-lined pan if you are broiling. Serve immediately (if you broil, you may need to cook in batches) with the dipping sauce.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Cookbook sent to me by Rebecca L (thanks, Rebecca!)

Sweet and spicy pork tenderloin

I was a little skeptical of this one, because I'm not a huge fan of meat (other than taco meat) and chili seasoning, but we really liked it.  I think it's my favorite pork tenderloin I've made, and I've tried lots of marinades and such...

I wanted to grill it, I like to grill in the summer to avoid using the oven, so I adjusted it slightly.  I added the dry rub to the pork, then grilled for however many minutes on each side, (we had it two days in a row, and we perfected the cooking time, but now I cannot remember how long per side).  We just try to get it to the right temperature.  With a minute or so remaining of cooking time, I added the sauce and let it cook into the pork.  Super yummy.  My kids complained that it was a little spicy, but I thought it was great.


from mel's kitchen cafe

Sweet and Spicy Pork Tenderloin

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 (12- to 16-ounce each) pork tenderloins, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to middle position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Pat the pork tenderloin dry with a paper towel. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the spice mixture and use the rest to rub over the pork tenderloin on all sides.
2. In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until it is rippling and hot. Add the pork tenderloins in a single layer and cook the pork until browned on all sides, 5-7 minutes total (flipping as needed). Transfer the pork to an aluminum-foil lined baking pan and bake until the meat registers 140 degrees at the thickest part, about 15-18 minutes. Transfer the pork to a platter or plate and tent with foil, letting it rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
3. In a bowl, combine the reserved spice mixture, ketchup, vinegar and sugar and brush over the cooked pork. Slice the pork and serve.

Recipe Source: from Cook’s Country April/May 2012

5 minutes per side (x4)

Summer Sandwich

For our RS activity last night, they had a light dinner with little tea sandwiches. The avocado one was my fave. Very simple.


Cream cheese smeared on bread.
Then layer:
Sliced avocado
Sliced cucumber
Baby spinach
Sprouts (if you dare risk e coli poisoning)


Mmm. A good summer sandwich.