Ice cream

We love ice cream around here.

Someone tell me why I haven't been making homemade more often?

I made some today after church for our Sunday treat...it's probably not the most decidant recipe, but I like non-rich ice cream. 

The Base:

2 cups whole milk 

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Then add in whatever else you want: 

Pero

Fruit 

Chocolate stuff

Flavor concentrate

I blended up blueberries until there weren't any chunks, and added it to the mixture. The ice cream turned purple, so I told the kids it was cotton candy ice cream and they devoured it. 

St. Patrick's Day ice cream:

All of the above except

1/4 almond extract 

Spinach (maybe 1-2 cups)

Blend it all in the blender so they don't know what is making the ice cream green. 

Pasta dish

http://elliebeandesign.com/creamy-tomato-and-spinach-pasta-recipe/

This looks good. Gonna try it. Bookmarking it here. 

Egg in the Hole

My favorite way to eat that fresh salsa is atop egg in the hole. 

Poke a hole in bread. Crack an egg in the hole. Carful not to break that yolk. 

Grill. Flip. Grill. 

Top with salsa. 

I come skipping down stairs in the morning, so excited to eat. 

My favorite is:

- eating the hole. First bite of the morning and it's all crusty with pan fried butter. 

- breaking into the yolk. Eating a bite of toast covered in salsa and egg yolk. 

- the salsa, the salsa, the salsa. 

Salsa

2 cloves of garlic

4 green onions with stems

1 cup cilantro (no stems)

1 8oz can ElPato tomato hot sauce (the yellow can)

1 serano pepper, seeded

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded

Add seeds for desired heat. (I don't add any seeds, which makes a perfectly mild salsa)

Process with food processor

2 15oz cans of Mexican stewed tomatoes

1/2 tsp garlic salt

Process again

Refrigerate overnight for best melding of flavors. 

I process in our vitamix, and it makes a pretty smooth salsa. It reminds me of the salsa at Chilis. Yum. 

Blueberry cobbler

This is one of my most favorite summer desserts, when the blueberries are on sale.  and it's super easy

2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup water
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I've made with both, and prefer fresh)
1 tsp butter
1 lemon

In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, stir in water.  Bring to a boil; stirring constantly, boil for 1 minute.  Add blueberries and lemon juice (as much as you like--I usually use one half small lemon).  Pour blueberry mixture into a lightly butter baking dish (8x8).  Add pats of butter to top.

Topping:
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
3 tbsp butter divided

(I like to 1.5 the topping)  For topping, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Pour milk and melted butter into a measuring cup.  Add to flour mixture all at once.  Stir just until mixture is moistened and forms a ball.  Drop spoonfuls onto the blueberries.

Bake 425 for 25 min.

Serve warm with ice cream.

Watermelon

I'm sure you've seen this on Pinterest, but it's kinda changed my life where watermelon is concerned. 

Cut it into cubes. Not triangles. Why does this matter? I don't know but suddenly everyone in the house is eating watermelon. It's less messy, more fun, and there's somehow less waste. 

I've also found the little watermelons work best for my family. Big ones usually result in 40% waste. We get sick of it and then it gets weird hanging around on the counter or in the fridge. 

So: baby watermelons, cut into cubes. 

rotisserie chicken dinner, picnic style

This could actually be called Costco Dinner Part 2, because I got everything at costco.
This is an easy meal, I got the idea here.  I had originally planned to take as a picnic at swim because their practices go right through dinner, but it was cancelled the night I planned for it, so we had it at home.  EASY.

• 1 rotisserie chicken (costco rotisserie chicken are the best, I buy one every time I go.  They are still really good reheated the next day)
• cheese sliced or cubed.  Any cheese you have or like.  This would be a great opportunity to buy a fancy cheese you always want to buy.  WE only had cheddar and muenster, and it was still good
• fruit.  I like berries with this.
• crusty bread (or if you are at costco, the ciabatta rolls are good and easy
• veggies (we had carrots and mini bell peppers and sugar snap peas)

That's it, serve it picnic style, the kids ate everything on their plates.

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Ta da! It's delicious.

Just wash the asparagus, wrap it up, grill it up. I'd say about ten minutes on the grill, low-medium heat. 

Ignore that charred sweet potato. 

Potato Salad

This is "Kim's" recipe we have floating around, but it looks like it's really "Catheryn's". Haha. Either way, it's yummy. 

Kim says she sometimes makes extra dressing to ensure the salad is creamy - not sticky. 

I  like to add chopped celery. 

Frozen peas are also an option. 

Easter Bread

I made a few tweaks to the recipe I followed for this Easter bread, so I want to write it down before I forget. It turned out really well. Which is strange because I don't make very good bread and rolls.

1 1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup butter 

1/2 cup sugar

Pinch salt

2 eggs beaten

2 1/4 tsp yeast 

3-5 cups flour 

Egg wash

Sprinkles

Heat the milk, sugar, salt, and butter on the stove. Cool it to warm. 

In your mixer, pour the warm mixture in and add the yeast. Let it sit until bubbly. 

Mix in the eggs until nice and smooth. Add two cups of flour until nice and smooth. 

Switch to your dough hook. 

Keep adding flour until the dough is no longer sticky and pulls away from the bowl. Knead with hook for a while. 

Let it rise for an hour. 

Knead for a while. 

Rise for half hour-ish. 

Take out and cut into 12 peices. 

Roll two peices into snakes. Twist them together. Form into a ring. 

Make six rings. 

Rise for about 45 mins. 

Egg wash and sprinkle with sprinkles. Put a dyed Easter egg in the middle. Pretty!

Cook at 350 for 20-25 mins. 

Chocolate marshmallow easter eggs

This is from kim, she couldn't log onto blogger, so I told her I'd post it.

Kim says, "I beat mine in the kitchen aid for 5-8 minutes.  It's kind of a big learning curve for how long to beat, if they are too stiff they won't go in the forms."

Hawaiian Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Pretend you're making a grilled cheese sandwich, but put barbecue sauce on both slices of bread and add some ham and pineapple to the cheese. 

Yum. 

Jim's Homemade Chicken Nuggets

3-4 chicken breasts

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup parmesean cheese

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried basil

A few tsp of melted butter 

Cut your chicken into nugget size. 

Dip in melted butter, then dip in bread crumb mixture. 

Heat oven 400 degrees. Cook nuggets for at least 20 minutes until nuggets are crispy and browned. 

Cilantro Lime Dressing

I got this recipe from Andy's sister. I've tried her's, but haven't actually made it myself. I think it's yummy. It's pretty thick. She served it to put on a green salad and over black beans/corn mixture. I LOVED it on the black beans and corn. Very simple and easy peasy side dish. I'm not sure if she follows the recipe exactly or how much evoo she actually puts in it. I think she mentioned she puts a little bit of mayo in it too ?? Also, I really, really like Costco's canned corn (Kirkland brand). It's not frozen, Cottonwood Diary corn, but for being canned corn, it's really good. And better than any other store bought frozen corn too.

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chobani 0% plain yogurt
• 1 avocado
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.
2. Continue to add olive oil 1 tbsp at a time as necessary to create a smooth finish.

Smothered Pork Chops

Mom told me about this recipe. Best pork chops ever. And pretty easy. We love these. Are we getting burned out from this girl's recipes on here? haha.

I used the bacon the first time I made these, but never since. I think they are just as good without and I loathe cooking bacon anyway.

Recipe here

Ingredients

• 5 slices bacon, chopped (I don't use)
• 6 bone-in pork loin chops, about 3/4-inch thick (I use 4 thick ones, about 1 1/4-1 1/2" thick)
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 yellow onions, peeled, halved and sliced into 1/2-inch thick half moons
• 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (don't waste your time with this...)

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, fry bacon until lightly browned, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towels, leaving the drippings in the pan. If you have more than 2 tablespoons drippings, drain the excess. If you don’t have quite that much, supplement with canola oil. When the bacon is cool, transfer to a small bag or tupperware and refrigerate until later.
2. Heat the skillet with the drippings over medium or medium-high heat until rippling and hot. Meanwhile, pat pork chops dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook pork chops until they are golden brown on each side, about 2 minutes per side, cooking them in batches in the skillet if your skillet isn’t big enough to hold all six at a time in a single layer. When golden on each side, transfer the chops to the slow cooker and repeat with remaining pork.
3. Pour off all but 1 teaspoon of fat from the skillet; add onions, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup water to empty skillet. Using a wooden spoon, scrape browned bits from bottom of the pan and cook over medium-high heat until onions are soft, about 4-6 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour onion mixture over chops in the slow cooker. Add broth, soy sauce and remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar to skillet, bring to a boil and add bay leaves. Pour mixture over onions in slow cooker.
4. Cover slow cooker and cook on low until pork is tender, about 8 hours (or cook on high for 4 hours).
5. When ready to serve, carefully transfer chops to serving platter with a large spoon and tent with foil. Discard bay leaves and pour liquid through a mesh strainer into a saucepan, reserving the solids. Transfer solids to a food processor or blender with 1 cup liquid and blend until smooth. (I don't strain or blend up the sauce at all ... i like it chunky and don't want to dirty another appliance anyway). Stir the blended mixture back into remaining liquid in the saucepan. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and remaining 2 tablespoons water together in a small bowl and stir into sauce. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar, season with salt and pepper, pour over chops and sprinkle with reserved bacon and parsley. Serve.

I estimated the calories of the sauce only. Obviously there's some fat from the pork chops that will cook into the sauce, but this is a good estimate.

1/4 cup sauce only = 55 kcal