Feeding the Chaos

Menu 2/11 - 2/16/2012

2012-02-12T09:52:00.001-06:00

Well, I was all excited because we were finally returning to health around here and then...I started coughing again and my throat hurts. Raley started running fever and his throat hurts. So we will see how much of this actually gets made this week! Also, I STILL haven't made the Chicken Ranch Tacos. *sigh* Maybe tonight will be the night!
Saturday-- Frozen pizza (don't judge me!)
Sunday-- I had planned Chicken Spaghetti but now I am not sure. We may stick to leftovers from Friday
Monday-- Chicken Ranch Tacos
Tuesday-- Lasagna Soup
Wednesday-- Breakfast
Thursday-- Chimichurri Casserole
Next week starts our new adventure. Not sure how it will affect the meal planning yet, after all, the kids and I still have to eat. But we won't need so many leftovers and some of Daddy's lesser favorites will appear more often during the times that he is gone. I may get a little lazy but hopefully knowing I will need to keep blogging will help me out of any slumps! Hang in there with me, please?

Menu 1/28 - 2/3/2012

2012-01-28T15:50:00.004-06:00

Well, here we are and I am sick again! Low fever and coughing a lot. Wondering if the pneumonia is back? Heading for the walk-in clinic tomorrow since my doctor was all booked up until Tuesday morning :( In the meantime, we still have to eat:
Saturday-- Grilled cheese and soup
Sunday-- Chicken Ranch Tacos (still haven't made)
Monday-- Slowcooker Pork Roast
Tuesday-- Breakfast
Wednesday-- Salmon Patties
Thursday-- Haven't planned this day, we'll see
Friday-- Chicken Spaghetti (provided I am still alive and up to making it!)

Menu 1/20 - 1/26/2012

2012-01-22T13:08:00.001-06:00

So my menus lately have a LOT of repeats since I am not doing the best job lately with fixing what I planned! Then there is all the "forgetting" ingredients I have been plagued by recently. I sure hope this week starts a new trend!! Please also forgive this being a couple days late in posting, I totally forgot about it until adding my menu to This Week For Dinner today.
Friday– We finally had the Kobayashi Maru with pork So good!!!
Saturday– We had Raley Gravy
Sunday–Hubby will be gone so kids and I will probably have leftovers or hot dogs
Monday– Chicken & Gnocchi Soup that has been planned FOREVER!
Tuesday– Salmon and Mac
Wednesday– Beef Taco Skillet
Thursday– Chicken Ranch Tacos But since that would mean two Mexican style dishes in a row I foresee a change in the line-up…..sigh

Menu 1/14 - 1/19/2012

2012-01-14T13:22:00.000-06:00

Finally feeling better and it seems like I haven't planned a good menu since last year (hardee har har). I have been craving soup so I put a couple of my favorites on this week's menu. Here we go:
Saturday-- frozen pizza
Sunday-- Chicken & Gnocchi soup
Monday-- Butter Bean Soup
Tuesday-- Kobayashi Maru with pork
Wednesday-- Salmon and mac & cheese
Thursday-- Raley Gravy

Bella Cucina Mini Donut Maker

2012-01-14T09:47:00.001-06:00

For Christmas, my grandparents gave us a Bella Cucina Mini Donut Maker!

I am really excited about it because I have wanted one for a while. And it's red so it matches my kitchen. after my post-holiday bout of pneumonia, I felt well enough to finally give it a test drive. I used the Basic Donut Recipe included in the instruction booklet.
The Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp vegetable oil

Plug in the donut maker and wipe the face of both plates with an oiled paper towel. While it preheats, whip up the batter.

Stir the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.

Whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla. Add wet mix to dry mix.

Beat with an electric mixer for one minute (or vigorously by hand).

Add oil and beat for one more minute. Pour by scant tablespoons into the donut wells.

Close the lid and wait about 2 minutes then check the donuts for doneness. Mine took about 2 or 3 minutes per batch.

They were very tasty plain. They reminded me of pancakes. Slightly sweet on their own they could be dressed up a thousand ways! I dusted with powdered sugar since those tend to be a Chaosville favorite.

I did not keep track of how many batches it made, sorry! I want to say it was at least 4 batches, so 28 donuts but it may have been a little more like 5 batches (35 donuts). In any case they were gone by morning but enjoyed by all!

I can't wait to try out some of the various glazes in the recipe booklet and I want to try to find a way to make some chocolate cake donuts; they are my favorite!

Menu 1/9 - 1/12/2012

2012-01-09T09:25:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year! Sorry to have not posted in so long, but travel after Christmas and then a bout of pneumonia have made meals the last thing on my mind. I had planned to take pictures of all the great food we ate on our trip but I never did. Then as soon as we got home I was very sick and still am. I have planned out a few meals though, nothing fancy but it should nourish us enough to make it through the week!
Monday--Roasted pork loin with rice and black-eyed peas
Tuesday--Chicken Chili
Wednesday--Tuna Alfredo
Thursday--Breakfast (hopefully hubby's waffles!)

How "The Plans" Turned Out

2011-12-26T11:26:00.000-06:00

So, Christmas is over and I am grading myself on how I did. If you read my Plans post (if you didn't click through really quickly) it seemed a little ambitious for me and truth be told, I didn't do it all....yet. I think I can finish them up though, we'll see.
In any case, I did all my baking on Thursday the 22nd. I started with this scene:

And my new secret weapon:

I got this as a free gift when I purchased a cookbook from Southern Living. It came with a recipe book out of which I chose Bourbon Pecan Bread for one of my Christmas loaves.
After an entire day with my oven on and three batches of each type of bread, I ended up with the means to send out this:

Truth be told, only two recipients got theirs in the pretty box! I ended up mailing them all out, even to family we would be visiting. I just figured it was the best way to get everyone their breads while still fresh. What I didn't realize was how much that would cost!! Oh, well, live and learn.
Anyhoo, each box contains: Cranberry-Orange bread, Pumpkin bread, Bourbon-Pecan bread, Double Chocolate loaf, Mocha Cappuccino mix, Peach freezer jam and Triple Berry freezer jam (unless I knew for sure that the family didn't like something in there). I had some leftovers after all the boxes were made so I was able to give some to other neighbors and the mail lady, and of course we ate some too. My favorite has got to be the Double Chocolate loaf!! I'm sad to say the Bourbon-Pecan doesn't thrill me though. It's not quite sweet enough. It's too bad too because it had the most expensive ingredient!!
I did not make the dog treats or the chex mix but I still have some time. The chex mix at least should get made today! Dog treats may have to wait until we get back from visiting family! I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours. I'll be back in 2012 with more tasty treats and yummy suppers. Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my blog!

Double Chocolate Loaf

2011-12-26T11:25:00.002-06:00

Prepare yourself! This stuff is lethally delicious!! I found the recipe on BrownEyedBaker and she got it from Cookin' Canuck. The color of this bread alone is enough to make you drool. I LOVE this one!
The Ingredients:

¾ cup dark brown sugar

1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup granulated sugar

1½ teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

¾ cup buttermilk

½ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Hershey's Special Dark chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan; set aside.

Combine the brown sugar, cocoa, flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed just to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolk to blend, then add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla; whisk until combined.

Turn the mixer to low and slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.

Stir in the chopped chocolate by hand using a rubber spatula.

Give it all a good last stir, making sure to scrap up everything on the bottom and sides and mixing it in. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Marvel at the color of this rich, scrumptious bread. It's divine! It's blissful! It's easy! It's gone? What the what?! hmmmm, better go make some more!!

Cookin' Canuck includes the recipe for a peanut butter cream cheese spread to put on it. I didn't make this but here is how she says to do it:

To make the Cream Cheese Spread: Using a spoon, mix 5 ounces softened cream cheese in a medium bowl until soft and fluffy. Add 2 Tablespoons peanut butter and stir to completely combine, then add 1/3 cup sugar and stir briskly, until incorporated.

Store the loaf wrapped tightly with plastic wrap at room temperature; store the cream cheese spread covered with plastic wrap (or in an airtight container) in the refrigerator

Bourbon-Pecan Bread

2011-12-26T10:58:00.001-06:00

This recipe came in a booklet that I received along with a 4-chambered mini loaf pan from Southern Living magazine. I immediately hit on the name of this recipe and decided I would have to try it out in our Christmas baskets this year.
The Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp grated orange peel (I didn't have any!)
1 cup chopped pecans, divided
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup Bourbon
1 large egg

Combine the first four ingredients and blend together. Cut butter into the dry mix until crumbly.

Add orange peel and 3/4 cup pecans.

Whisk together milk, bourbon and egg in a bowl.

Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.

Spoon batter into 4 greased and floured mini loaf pans.

Sprinkle tops with 1/4 cup pecans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes the turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

The recipe included a glaze for the top that due to mailing I couldn't use. You combine 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 2 to 4 tsp Bourbon until creamy and able to drizzle. Drizzle on top of loaves. Maybe this would have added a little more sweetness to the bread. It tastes great and you can really smell the bourbon. It just wasn't sweet enough for me. I hope the people we sent it to enjoyed it and I will for sure try out a new recipe before using it for gifts next time!

French Dip Roast with Round Steak

2011-12-26T10:23:00.000-06:00

We recently bought half of a 2 year old bull that my parents had butchered. It has made my freezer look like this:

Fully half of the meat is hamburger and then there are several varieties of steaks including a whole mess of round steak. Round steak lends itself pretty well to low and slow cooking so I started looking for slow cooker recipes for it and came across this extremely easy one.

The Ingredients:

1 pound round steak
1 envelope Onion soup mix
1 can beef broth (or equivalent)
**I doubled this recipe**

First I trimmed the fat from the steaks and cut them into smaller pieces, about a serving size each. Sorry but I guess I didn't take a picture of them! Then you mix the rest of the ingredients in the slow cooker.

Place the meat into the broth mixture.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 but I recommend the low method. We served the meat with rice and the au jus is delicious so I made some French bread to soak it up with!

The Plans

2011-12-19T13:59:00.000-06:00

I am quite certain that merely typing this out will cause some form of catastrophe to befall my house assuring that NONE of it will get done and I will be shamefully bereft of gifts to give our friends, neighbors and family members. But in order to make some attempt at accountability, I have to put it down somewhere. We'll just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best!
SO! The idea this year is to make an assortment of little loaves to give instead of a variety of cookies like in previous years. I got this cute little pan that makes 4 mini loaves at a time and I am going to break it in! I am planning to make two tried and true recipes and two brand new ones:
Cranberry Orange loaves
Pumpkin Quick Bread with pecan topping
Double Chocolate Loaf from Cookin' Canuck
Bourbon Pecan Bread from the cookbook that came with the little loaf pan.
After those are done, If I am still standing, I want to make the Peanut Butter Dog Treats from last year and some dipped pretzel rods. I'll probably mix up a big batch of Mocha Cappuccino Mix too. Last but not least I want to FINALLY get around to trying the Coffee Toffee Chex Mix recipe I have been sitting on since last Christmas. I have all the ingredients for it so let's hope it gets made!
I made a list of how much of every ingredients I would need to make three batches of each bread and bought all I could find of what I needed today. Now to clean the kitchen and organize it and set it up for a day of baking all I can tomorrow. Hopefully I will have everything done by Thursday so I can mail it out to those who live afar and it will be fresh when they get it.
If I need to bake more I will have the 26th to do it. I will for sure be baking some Amish friendship bread that day since my starter will be ready. I have a couple extra starters too so maybe I'll have enough to make a few loaves to take with us to Houston.
Typing all this out hasn't killed me so I think I can get it all done. Oh, man, did I just jinx myself?? *sigh*

Menu 12/17 - 12/22/2011

2011-12-18T09:36:00.001-06:00

Well, the only thing from last week's menu that we actually had was the pizza! So this week there is just a repeat and a slight shuffle. I'm already off to a bad start though because we didn't have what I planned to have last night. I will make it for lunch today though because I felt horrible as I watched Jayme make himself a bologna sandwich to take to work for dinner. BAD WIFE!!
Sunday-- Hoppin' John
Monday-- French Dip Roast ( I will post recipe after taking pics)
Tuesday-- Chicken with Spaghetti
Wednesday-- Cheesy Potato Soup and Grilled Cheese
Thursday-- Breakfast, I am hoping my hubby will make his killer waffles!
I am planning to shop on Friday for our Christmas Eve and day menu so Thursday is as far as I planned this time. Lots of baking to do this week, wish me luck! and Health!!

Menu 12/10 - 12/16/2011

2011-12-11T09:08:00.001-06:00

Menu time again! There was one thing last week we didn't have, Pumpkin Pancakes. I was too low on syrup. Luckily we had some leftovers and were able to cope. We have also had a sickly 11 year old with not much appetite :( Hopefully this week will go more smoothly!

Saturday-- Leftovers
Sunday-- Tacos (my parents will be here!!)
Monday-- French Dip Roast (new one, not this one)
Tuesday-- Chicken with Spaghetti
Wednesday-- Cheesy Potato Soup and Grilled Cheese
Thursday-- Hoppin John
Friday-- Clay has a Christmas party to go to so I really think we'll order pizza! I'm kind of craving it. It's also the last day of school before Christmas break so we'll have to celebrate!!

Beef Stew

2011-12-05T16:50:00.001-06:00

Along with pot roast, beef stew is a dish I have never failed to ruin. After my recent success with pot roast (thanks to Pioneer Woman's recipe), I thought I would give beef stew another chance. There are bajillions of recipes out there so I decided to go the super easy route of buying a Beef Stew Seasoning packet at the grocery store and following the recipe on the back. Here we go:
The Ingredients

2 pounds stew meat (I used a chuck roast that I cut up into pieces)
1/4 cup flour (I took the picture with plain flour but ended up using my Kentucky Kernel Seasoned Flour)
3 cup water
1 pkg Beef Stew Seasoning
5 cup vegetables

After I cut up my roast:

Pour the flour over the beef and make sure all sides are coated.

Brown beef in a large pot or dutch oven. If there is a lot of fat when they are done, you may want to drain it off. I cut all the fat off the meat so I did not need to do that.

Add the water and seasoning packet. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours until beef is tender.

Prepare your veggies. I skipped the celery I had in the picture above and since my favorite part is the onion, I went heavy on them. You do what you like!

Add the vegetables to the pot and simmer, covered, another 45 minutes.

In actuality I simmered mine for a little over an hour. The potatoes weren't quite done at the 45 minute mark. I think the heat was too low. I turned it up to about medium for the last 15 minutes.
I had intended to make a loaf of bread to serve with this but I didn't have enough honey on hand so I just grabbed some biscuits from the fridge.

I was really happy with this! It was hearty and filling and felt great on Raley's sore throat this evening. A nice meal to cook and eat on a rainy, cold day.

Menu 12/3 - 12/9--2011

2011-12-03T15:54:00.001-06:00

Here is our menu for the coming week. We had a couple meals last week that were skipped so they are being recycled here.
Saturday-- kids and I are having Corn Dogs. I just needed them, you know?!
Sunday-- Raley Gravy
Monday-- Shredded Pork Wraps
Tuesday-- Chicken Chili
Wednesday-- Salmon and pasta
Thursday-- Beef Stew
Friday-- I bought some maple sausage that is just screaming out for Pumpkin Pancakes!
Have a great week!!

Creamy Baked Ziti

2011-11-28T14:48:00.001-06:00

Here's another recipe from Kraft Food & family magazine. I have been wanting to make it for a while but I thought it would be extra good with some homemade marinara. so today I made both! Here is the step by step for the Ziti...
The Ingredients:

4 cups ziti pasta, uncooked
1 jar (26 oz) marinara sauce (or equivalent)
1 can diced tomatoes
6 oz cream cheese**
3/4 cup sour cream
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
**I happened to have some Philly Cooking Cream so I used it in place of the cream cheese

You may have noticed there is no marinara sauce in the picture. Well, it was still cooking. Here you go:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cook ziti according to package instructions.

Drain pasta.

In the pot you cooked the pasta in, combine the marinara, tomatoes and cream cheese.

Stir and cook over medium heat until cream cheese is melted. Add in the pasta.

Layer half the pasta in a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Top with the sour cream and 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella.

Add the remaining pasta and top with the rest of the shredded cheese and the Parmesan.

Cover and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

I was very pleased with the flavor here. The recipe also said you could assemble the dish and refrigerate for up to 8 hours. If so, then increase cooking time to 35 minutes or heated through.

Menu 11/12 - 11/18 2011

2011-11-12T10:57:00.000-06:00

Remember when I used to post my menu for the week? Back when I paid better attention to my poor sweet little blogs? Well, I am going to try that again. Wish me luck!
In the meantime, here is what we'll be eating this week:
Saturday-- Pizza
Sunday-- Raley Gravy
Monday-- Steak Fingers
Tuesday-- Chicken Chili
Wednesday-- Tuna Patties and Mac & Cheese
Thursday-- Kobayashi Maru
Friday-- Tacos

What's on your menu??

Bourbon Mustard

2011-10-24T13:51:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, I was looking for something I could send out as Christmas gifts that would be nice but not too pricey. One of the things I found was this recipe from Emeril's portion of the Food Network website. It was so delicious I have kept some in my fridge ever since! Easy too:
The Ingredients

**I have tripled the original recipe because then it uses the entire jar of mustard, the whole little bottle of bourbon and fills my container to the top. Serendipity!!
12 oz container (or 1 1/2 cups) Dijon mustard
3/4 cup honey
1 tiny bottle (or 3 Tbsp) of Bourbon

Empty the mustard bottle into a mixing bowl. To help you get the last of the mustard out, pour the bourbon in the bottle and shake it up.

If you look closely you can see the bourbony mustard at the bottom.

Add the honey.

Whisk it all up. And pour it into a container.

Label your container and enjoy on everything! I'm having some on my pita for lunch.

Hamburger Noodle Bake

2011-10-09T09:43:00.000-05:00

This recipe is out of my Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2011 cookbook. It was listed in the chapter "cooking for One or Two" but I doubled the recipe and it worked out very well for us. The original recipe only called for 1/2 pound of meat so doubling wasn't very hard!
The Ingredients:

4 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 pound ground beef, turkey, venison or whatever else you like to use
4 Tbsp finely chopped onion
2 cans (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp thinly sliced green onion (I skipped this)
2 Tbsp chopped green pepper
2 Tbsp sour cream
4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

WHEW! That sounds like a lot and might make you think this is going to be hard or take a long time but it isn't and it doesn't!! First step, cook the noodles according to package directions. While they cook, brown the meat and onion in a large skillet until meat is no longer pink; drain. Remove from heat; stir in the tomato sauce, sugar, salt, garlic salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, cream cheese, green onion, green pepper and sour cream. When the noodles are done, drain them and place half the cooked noodles in the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish (well greased please).

Spoon half the meat mixture over the noodle base.

Add the cheese mixture next. Use it all.

Follow with the remaining noodles. Spoon the rest of the meat sauce on top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes or until heated through.

Enjoy! This was very good. Kind of like lasagna but not as hard to make and it had a great flavor. We will make this again and again for sure.

4 Cheese Lasagna

2011-09-06T09:36:00.000-05:00

I have never tried to make lasagna before even though it is one of my all time favorite things to eat. When I was a kid my mom would by the Stouffer's frozen lasagna and it was like heaven for me. On nights when the rest of the family was having pot pies, I would get the single serve size just for me. Heaven.
I have tried a few that were named "easy" or "quick" or "skillet" but there wasn't enough cheese or the noodles were dry and hard or some other problem. When I got my issue of "Kraft Food & Family" this month and saw the lasagna recipe I thought I would give it a whirl. I am very happy I did!
The Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
1 onion, chopped
1 (8 oz) pkg Neufchatel cheese, softened
1 cup cottage cheese
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg, beaten
1 (24 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
12 lasagna noodles, cooked

Perhaps the most important ingredient for almost any meal though is:

Moving on! Brown the meat and onion in a large skillet.

While that cooks, mix together the Neufchatel, cottage cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 1/4 cup Parmesan and the egg until well blended.

When the meat is browned, drain any fat and stir in the sauce, tomatoes and oregano. Confession time: I was out of oregano so I used basil. Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat.

Spoon 1 cup of the meat sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

Lay 3 noodles on top of sauce.

Spread 1 cup of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles.

Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce on top of the cheese layer.

Repeat layers twice more and end with a layer of noodles topped with the last of the sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Spray the underside of a large piece of foil with cooking spray and place it on top of the lasagna.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, then remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes. I used my counter-top oven which I had set up on my washing machine in the laundry room. It was a very hot day and the thought of my oven on for over an hour was not a happy one. This way, my house stayed as cool as possible.

Let it sit for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving. We dug in before I snapped a picture but you can get the idea here.

It was cheesy and delicious!

More wine?

Menu 8/28 - 9/3--2011

2011-08-28T11:40:00.000-05:00

Well, here we go again with me apologizing for how long it has been since I posted anything. Now that school has started up I will be busier but meal are more important so I should be able to post more often. We will see! Here is what we are eating this week in Chaosville:
Sunday: Raley Goulash
Monday: French Dip Roast
Tuesday: Happy 14th Anniversary to us! I am making a new Lasagna recipe that you will see here in the future if we like it.
Wednesday: Poached Tilapia and pasta
Thursday: Happy 4th Birthday to Pattie Lynn! I am making her favorite meal, "french fries and ketchup and water and chicken nuggets" It's what she always orders when we go out so we are making it at home.
Friday: We may or may not have a houseful in town so I need to know how many we are serving before I decide. We may end up going out or ordering in.
Saturday: Triple Threat Birthday Bash!! We are having Triple Tacos: regular, Tilapia and Chicken Ranch varieties

GrapeNuts Peanut Butter Bars

2011-08-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe in a cookbook of my sister-in-law's and made it several times last school year. They are a great little treat for after school or in a lunchbox. I kind of forgot about them for a while and recently came across the recipe again and decided to make them today. Since I hadn't blogged them yet, here they are!
The Ingredients:

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

4 cups Grape Nuts (or a reasonable facsimile!)

Mix together the peanut butter, corn syrup and sugar in a microwavable bowl.

Microwave for 2 minutes or just before boiling and smooth. Stir after each minute.

Add cereal and mix well.

Press cereal mixture firmly into bottom of a 13 x 9 dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Cool completely. I like to sprinkle some chocolate chips on the top too. They will melt and then I spread them all over the top before cutting into squares.

Cut into pieces. They don't need to be big. This is a rich little treat and good work for your jaws. A little goes a long way!

YUM!!

Burrito Bake

2011-07-26T10:33:00.000-05:00

I bet you thought I was never coming back, huh? It HAS been a long time since I posted anything new here. I haven't been trying out new recipes every week like I thought I would be this summer. I have been sticking to the known. Last night I was making an old recipe of ours and I realized I had never blogged it! So here it is.
The Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef or turkey

1/2 diced onion

1 pkg taco seasoning

3/4 cup water

12 tortillas

1 can refried beans

1 cup shredded colby jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown meat and onion in a skillet.

Drain any fat and add taco seasoning and water.

Heat to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in beans.

In a pie pan sprayed with cooking spray, place 4 tortillas overlapping edges to cover the bottom completely.

Top with half the meat mixture.

And half the cheese.

Repeat layers once and finish with the last 4 tortillas on the top.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes to heat through.

Cut into wedges and serve.

You can top this with anything you would put on a taco or burrito. It's really tasty!

Menu 6/12 - 6/18--2011

2011-06-12T10:11:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I did a menu post! Here is what I hope to make this week and we will see how that turns out.
Sunday– Roast Au Jus

Monday–Chicken Fried Rice

Tuesday–Double Decker Tacos

Wednesday–Pork and Noodle Skillet

Thursday– Chicken Spaghetti

Friday–Beef Stroganoff

Saturday–Might have to be a leftover night!!

Jambalaya Skillet

2011-06-05T16:18:00.000-05:00

Although my mother is from Louisiana, she is from Shreveport, way up in the northwestern corner. That means I did not grow up with any cajun cooking. Now Mom does make some seriously delicious shrimp gumbo, but that's about it. And please don't ask me what the difference is between gumbo, jambalaya and etouffee. I know there's a difference but I haven't the foggiest idea what it is. They are all delicious though! In any case, I came across this recipe in a daily e-mail from a local grocery store. It looked easy, so I gave it a shot with a couple minor modifications. Here it is:
The Ingredients

1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 Tbsp oil
1 lb chicken breast, cut into strips
2 Tbsp Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, divided
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 pound cleaned shrimp
2 cups brown rice

Saute your trinity vegetables in hot oil until crisp-tender.

Toss the chicken with 1 Tbsp of the seasoning, then add the chicken to the skillet and cook until done.

I put the seasoning and chicken in a ziploc and mashed it around

Add remaining ingredients, except for the rice, and bring to a boil.

Add in the rice, cover and simmer for 5 minutes until heated through.

Remove from heat, let stand for another 5 minutes. Serve with bread.

The original recipe said to use instant brown rice but I used some cooked brown rice I made. It was a little soupier than I think it was supposed to be but it tasted great. Enjoy!

Berry Delicious Freezer Jam

2011-06-04T15:10:00.000-05:00

As I wandered around Tractor Supply recently I found the canning aisle. Now I would love to can my own homegrown veggies for us to eat all year, but A.) I'm lazy B.) I don't have the equipment and C.) It's too stinkin' hard not to just eat them! We don't have enough yet really in any case. But that doesn't stop me from looking!!
Anyhoo, I have been wanting to make some freezer jam and I even bought some frozen mixed berries for that purpose. So I got some fancy plastic canning jars and a package of freezer jam pectin. Then I got down to business.
The Ingredients:

4 cups crushed fruit
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 package Mrs Wares Freezer Jam Pectin

Allow frozen fruit to thaw and then crush using a potato masher.

I didn't have quite 4 cups from my frozen berries so I added in some fresh strawberries.

Add the sugar and pectin.

Mix well and continue to stir for 3 minutes.

Pour into prepared jars and allow to set for 30 minutes.

What you will use right away, put into the fridge. It will last about 3 weeks. Put the rest in the freezer and it will keep for about a year. This jam is very tasty! It tastes like cobbler filling to me. I have used it in sandwiches and on toast. Next time I think I will make peach but according to the package of pectin, peach jam has a different direction set which you can find here.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

2011-05-31T11:27:00.000-05:00

I have been making the Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe I posted a while back with good results so I thought I would try a new recipe this week. I settled on the Basic White Bread recipe from the booklet that came with my mixer. We don't buy white bread but I like it and I thought a homemade version wouldn't be so bad, right? Well, down at the bottom of the recipe it said, "Variations" and then I saw it: "Cinnamon Bread". The light shined down from heaven and I heard the angels sing!! Since the recipe made two loaves I made one plain and did the other as a Cinnamon Swirl loaf. Here's the deets:
The Ingredients

1/2 cup milk (not pictured, sorry!)
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter or margarine
2 packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

Place Milk, sugar, salt, and butter in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl.

Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups of flour. Attach bowl to mixer. Using dough hook, mix on speed 2 for 1 minute.

Keep mixing on speed 2, add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides (about 2 minutes). Knead on speed 2 about 2 more minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat.

Cover and let rise in a draft free, warm spot until doubled in bulk; about 1 hour. Punch down dough and separate into 2 portions. Shape into loaves. Place in greased loaf pans, cover and let rise another hour or until doubled again. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
Now for the Cinnamon Swirl! Take one portion of the dough and roll it out to a rectangle.

Spread with butter or margarine. I used the spray butter we keep around for popcorn.

Make sure it's all over the dough.

I also keep a shaker of cinnamon sugar in my cabinet for use on waffles or pancakes. Sprinkle it all over the dough.

Now roll up the dough like you normally would.

And put it in the prepared loaf pan.

Cover and let rise about an hour or until it doubles in bulk.

I had other loaves rising too and they were all ready at about the same time. The cinnamon Swirl is in the blue silicon pan on the right end.

Ready for the oven! About 45 minutes later....

Cinnamon Swirl loaf is on the right hand bottom. Let's take a peek inside:

Not as swirled as I had hoped. Next time (and there WILL be a next time as it is deelish!!) I will use more cinna-sugar. I actually ate two slices while typing this up. It's excellent as toast or plain with a little butter. I think I will make french toast with it next time I make a loaf :)

Tilapia Tacos

2011-05-26T14:08:00.000-05:00

Something you may not know about me but it is relevant to this post: I AM A BIG FAT CHICKEN! When I try something knew it is very hard for me to post about it unless it is a big success. Recently when trying to find something, anything for dinner that would not involve another trip to the store, this idea popped into my head. I figured it would be something we horked down and forgot about never to mention again so I didn't bother taking any pics. I was soooooooooo wrong; it was insanely good! So yay for me but boo for no pictures on this post!
The Ingredients:
1 pound (about 4 or 5) Tilapia fillets
Chipotle seasoning
lime juice
fresh cilantro
tortillas
taco topping of your choice

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle a shallow casserole dish with chipotle seasoning and place tilapia fillets on top. Sprinkle a little more seasoning on top. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. They probably won't be quite finished yet. Sprinkle on some lime juice and throw a little fresh chopped cilantro on them and check them again in 5 minutes or so. When the fish flakes easily with a fork, remove it from the oven and cut it into bite size chunks.
Get your tortillas and heat them up a little. Now add some of the fish and any toppings you like. I put tomato, a little more cilantro and some Creamy Jalapeno sauce on mine. PERFECTION!!!!! This is something we will have again, and soon. I promise to take pictures next time :)

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

2011-05-23T09:23:00.000-05:00

About a month ago, I happened across this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker. I showed it to Raley and his eyes bugged out of his head. He asked right then for me to make them for his birthday treat at school.
The Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup Oreo crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I was out so I skipped this step and they were fine). Cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

Add the sugar and vanilla and mix until well-combined. Add the flour and mix on low.

Stir in the mini chips with a spatula. I added a little more than the recipe called for.

Get your crumbs ready. I blitzed some oreos in my food processor until crumby :)

Scoop cookie dough by spoonful and roll into a ball using your hands.

Drop cookie ball into crumbs and turn to coat.

Place on cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes per batch.

Cool in pan about 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

I was a little concerned about having enough cookies for Raley's class because the original recipe said it made one dozen cookies. I only had enough butter to double the recipe which would be 24 cookies but there are 35 kids in his class! I don't know if I made them small or just got lucky but we ended up with about 55 cookies. I sent 40 with Raley and we enjoyed the rest. He came home with orders from his teaching team of three teachers to tell me they were very good. SUCCESS!!

S.O.S.

2011-05-07T14:56:00.001-05:00

Every family has one; a recipe they refer to as S.O.S. (the same old sh*t). When I posted our Dried Beef Gravy recipe, one of the commentors said her family called it S.O.S. The general idea is that S.O.S. is something you fix when you are out of ideas or ingredients. It can be modified a thousand different ways to suit what you have one hand and what you like. In Jayme's family growing up, his mom made it like this. Or I guess it is more fitting to say, after asking her for the recipe, this is what I made from what she told me.
The Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, finely diced
1/4 cup green pepper (or as much as you like)
flour (I use Kentucky Kernel Seasoned Flour)
milk (quantity depends on you!)

Brown the beef with the onion and green pepper until cooked through.

Start adding in flour until you see there is no more liquid in your skillet.

Stir it around a little and when you notice the meat is kind of sticking together in clumps, you have enough flour.

Almost there.....

PERFECT! Now start to add milk; SLOWLY.

Stir until the milk thickens and then add a little more until you have the consistency of gravy you desire.

If you used plain flour, this would be the time to add in some salt or pepper or both. It's also time to figure out what you are going to ladle this over. Jayme's family used toast, so that's what we are using. We made a few thick pieces from the bread I made Monday.

Ladle some gravy on top and enjoy! The real question is, or course, what did Jayme think? He thought it was good. He said he didn't remember the green pepper being in it and would like less or none next time. That's fine with me too. I was surprised that all three of the clones ate it up too. I guess we have another keeper here! What's your family's version of S.O.S.?

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

2011-05-02T16:19:00.000-05:00

I am on the hunt for the perfect Wheat Bread recipe. I was going to use the one in the booklet that came with my mixer but it called for powdered milk and I had none! So I decided to go with the one on the whole wheat flour bag. When I got out my yeast I saw that it was Rapid Rise yeast and I wasn't sure if that would work with the recipe I had. Darn it! Why can't I just find a nice easy recipe somewhe---Hello! There's one on the back of the yeast packet. Alrighty then!!
The Ingredients

8 to 8 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 envelopes RapidRise yeast
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil

Combine 3 1/2 cups flour with the yeast packets and salt. Set aside.

Combine the water, milk, honey and oil and heat until very warm (120 - 130 degrees).

Gradually add the warm mixture to the flour mix; beat for 2 minutes to combine. I did have to stop and scrape but it may have been that I was using the dough hook instead of the paddle.

It looked a little like cream of wheat at this stage and I was more than a little nervous! Start adding flour until you reach that dough consistency. Just 1 cup at first and then by large spoonfuls. I ended up adding about 3 more cups total.

Knead on a floured surface, or in your mixer until elastic; about 6 minutes.

I did take it out and knead a little by hand just to check the texture.

Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide dough into halves. Make a 7 inch by 12 inch rectangle out of each half. Roll up from the short side into loaves.

Place dough into greased (I use butter) loaf pans and allow to rise in a draft-free warm spot. I had to set mine in the oven because it's a little cool here today. It took just over an hour for them to double in size.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until done. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks. Now is a great time to taste too!

Oh heaven! May have baked just a tiny bit too long as there is a nice crunchy crust but I don't mind it. Very good and I am proud :)

Bean and Macaroni Skillet

2011-04-22T14:21:00.000-05:00

With all the things going on around here lately (check out the family blog to learn more) I haven't posted anything in a while. But I did make a recipe the other day that I have wanted to add to the list here. granted, it was a very strange preparation, but more of that later. This is an EXCELLENT thing to cook when you are camping, and this prep time was more like that than anything.
The Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 (28 oz) can Bush's Baked Beans, any flavor (not pictured)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes
2/3 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
1 tsp chili powder (optional)

Put the beef and the onion in a large skillet and put your skillet on the stove.

AAAAAHHHH!!!! Where's my stove?!!

Okay, you don't have a stove right now because you are having tile laid in your kitchen. Time to improvise... If you were camping you could use your propane stove. Hey! Your grill has a gas burner on the side!!

So, crisis averted. Brown the meat and onion until cooked through. Drain any fat.

Add remaining ingredients and stir well.

Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until noodles are tender.

After this rather unorthodox preparation, what does the jury say?

"MMMMMMMM! Good!"

Menu 4/9 - 4/15--2011

2011-04-10T10:20:00.000-05:00

Menu stuff is changing here in Chaosville. Since I more often than not am subbing on Fridays, my grocery shopping tends to wait until Saturday. I am trying to stay ahead of that by having enough on hand to cover Fridays too. I may even try to switch thngs up a lot and do the shopping and planning on Mondays but I am not quite there yet! For now, here we go:
Saturday--Grilled cheese and soup
Sunday--Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
Monday--Oven Fried Chicken nuggets with mac & cheese
Tuesday--Chimichurri Casserole

Wednesday--Rotisserie chicken and pasta salad
Thursday--Italian Crescent Casserole
Friday--Steaks and mashed potatoes with Ranch Style beans and salad

Hamburger Salad

2011-04-08T09:17:00.012-05:00

**DISCLAIMER** I did not create this recipe because we were on a low carb diet or anything like that. If memory serves, what happened was, I had bought buns but they were moldy when I went to use them. Don't you hate stuff like that?! In any case it turned out to be a happy accident because we really liked the meal and throw it on the menu now and again on purpose.
The Ingredients

1 pound hamburger meat (I have also used ground turkey)
1 pound ground pork
1/2 cup diced onion
3 slices of bacon
Seasoned salt
Worcestershire Sauce
Burger toppings (not pictured)

First things, first, fry up the bacon.

While that works, dice the onion you need diced and cut the rest into slices.

Add the diced onion, beef and pork in a large bowl. Top with seasonings. Use whatever you like for burger patties. When the bacon is done, chop it up and add it too.

Mix it up using your hands.

When it's mixed, pat it all down in the bottom of the bowl.

Make an X with your hands to give you an idea of how many patties you can make. I make 5 since there are 5 of us.

Shape the patties. Try not to make them too thick or they won't get done in the middle before they burn on the outside.

Remember the onion you sliced? Pour off most of the bacon grease and add the onion. Saute over medium heat until translucent.

Now get your plate ready while the patties and onions cook. Pile on your favorite burger toppings. I'll take some spinach, tomato, bourbon mustard, ketchup, miracle whip and pickle please.

Don't forget the cheese!

Patties are done!

And the Coup de Grace...onions. Bon appetit!!

Kobayashi Maru (aka Yakisoba)

2011-03-31T18:18:00.006-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Jayme asked me to help him look up a recipe. Now I happen to remember exactly how many times this sort of thing has happened because it’s NEVER!! “So, when I was in the Army,” he begins, “they used to serve this stuff in the mess hall. I don’t know what it was called but it was like spaghetti with no sauce.” Ummm, okay. Help me out Google!
So I type “Army Sauceless Spaghetti” in the Google box and up pops a page worth of items. The very first one looks to be some sort of discussion board and it says, “When I was in the Army they used to serve this stuff in the mess hall that was like spaghetti with no sauce…” So I guess my hubby isn’t the only fan of this mystery dish. Anyway, I click on it and someone has answered the guy. According to them the dish is called Yakisoba and it’s a Japanese style dish. When I said the word Yakisoba, Jayme said, “YES! THAT’S IT!!”
So I look around some more and find that there is a basic recipe that you can adapt to your tastes and preferences. I even found the actual Army mess hall recipe that feeds 600 people but I figure I need to try a smaller version first. I bought all the ingredients and added it to the menu. But when I went to write it on our menu, I couldn’t remember what it was called. I knew it was a Japanese word and for some reason all I could think of was “Kobayashi Maru”. Now before any Trekkies track me down and hurt me, I want to make clear that I knew it WASN’T Kobayashi Maru and I really do know what the Kobayashi Maru is. For whatever reason, though, it pops into my head every time I think of the dish name so for our family, this meal is called Kobayashi Maru!

The Ingredients

1 pound of lean ground beef
1 onion
1 green bell pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 can water chestnuts
2 Tbsp oil
Soy sauce (to taste)
½ pound cooked, drained spaghetti

Since I am using a very lean hamburger meat I did not cook it separately and drain it. If you are using meat that cooks up with a lot of grease you will want to drain it before adding it to the rest of the dish. That being said, first I started the oil in a large skillet. I added the garlic and let it cook for a minute then added the carrot, let that cook some, then added the green pepper, and a minute or two later, the onion and water chestnut.

After the vegetables are softened to your personal liking, add the meat and cook until browned.

When meat is browned, add the cooked noodles and stir-fry it all together for a few minutes. This is also when I added the soy sauce. My husband isn’t a huge soy sauce fan so I went light with it.

This meal turned out wonderfully! We were all very pleased with it. In my humble opinion, the water chestnut is a MUST. That crunch is awesome. I can definitely see this as something you can customize to the extent that you never make it the same way twice. You could make it with shrimp or pork (***UPDATE*** I just made a similar dish with a teriyaki seasoned pork loin that I sliced into rounds and pan fried. Very tasty!) or chicken too. Have fun with it; add your own twist with some ginger or flavored oil or hot Asian spices. I think next time I will look around for some real Japanese noodles, or lo mein type noodles. Maybe add some snow peas or bamboo shoots or bean sprouts or…..

My First KitchenAid Bread

2011-03-30T19:11:00.011-05:00

About a week ago, I finally bought myself a shiny red KitchenAid mixer. They happened to be on sale at Target for $50 off and when combined with our 10% discount it was a deal too good to pass up. Today I finally got some time to make something with it. I had a bread mix and decided to dive right in!

The mix was pretty simple. The yeast was included. All I had to add was a little butter to cut in and the water to mix in with the yeast. I attached the dough hook to my mixer and turned it on.

Look at it go!!

After the kneading portion was done, the bread needed to rise. It was a chilly day here so I followed a recommended hint and turned my oven on to 400 degrees for one minute, then shut it off. I set the bowl of bread dough in the oven to rise for about an hour.

Grow my beauty!

Once it had doubled in size I put it on my counter that was floured with a little of the dry bread mix. Following another hint in the mixer booklet, I made a rectangle out of the dough and then rolled it into the loaf shape. Plop that into a greased loaf pan and let it rise until just above the top of the pan.

After it rose this second time, I baked it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until it was golden brown. The bread turned out really tasty but there isn't enough of it left for a picture. I guess I'll have to make some more, huh?

Slow Cooker Sliced Pork Roast

2011-03-28T19:08:00.003-05:00

This recipe was for sliced BBQ pork sandwiches but we skipped the BBq sauce and the sandwich portion. It was very flavorful and moist and my kids INHALED it!!
The Ingredients:

1 pork roast (3 to 4 pounds)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 can French Onion soup (if using a condensed soup you will need to add the required liquid)

Place roast in slow cooker. Mix together salt, pepper and cayenne. Sprinkle mixture and garlic over roast.

Add carrot. Pour soup on top.

Cook on low for 4 hours or high on 8 hours or until pork is cooked through but fork-tender. Slice thinly and serve.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Crescents

2011-03-28T11:28:00.010-05:00

I made these as our dessert for Valentine's Day and I could have sworn I blogged them! Sorry about that; better late than never! I am fairly certain I found this recipe on the Pillsbury website.
The Ingredients:

1 can crescent rolls
2 packages (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips-semisweet
1/4 cup caramel topping

Unroll dough into 2 long rectangles. Press one rectangle in bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a greased 8-inch square baking dish. Press perforations to seal.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.

Add egg. Beat on low speed just until mixed.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Slip your sous chef any extras

Spread over crust. Top with remaining rectangle of dough. Press edges to seal.

Drizzle with caramel.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool one hour on cooling rack. Cut into bars. Dive in!

Store leftovers in the fridge. They are even better the next day so be sure not to eat them all :)

Irish Soda Bread

2011-03-19T09:45:00.000-05:00

Last year just before St. Patrick's Day I found this recipe on another blog. It fit all my criteria for trying it out (easy, not too many ingredients, nothing weird or hard to find here in the sticks, taste described as "giant biscuit) so we had it with our St. Patrick's Day dinner last year. Then it languished, forsaken and unremembered until this St. Patrick's Day. It's still yummy though! And easy! And there aren't too many ingredients! You get the idea!
The Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 Tbsp white sugar

Sift together all dry ingredients.

Make a well in the center.

Add butter and buttermilk.

Mix together quickly. Knead for about a minute. Use the spoons you were born with!

Shape into a round cake. Put on a floured sheetpan and carve a cross in the top.

Bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes.

Cut into wedges and enjoy. It doesn't "need" butter but butter never hurts! We actually had ours with gravy and it was fantabulous!

Is this thing on?

2011-03-17T11:27:00.000-05:00

Hello, there! Remember me? I used to cook here from time to time...I know, I know, it's been a coon's age but I promise we are all still healthy and alive and no tragedies have befallen us that would make a valid excuse for my long absence from the food blog. I've posted a few things to the family blog though; that has to count for something! Anything? I can see you are not in the most forgiving of moods right now so I will just keep rambling on until you forgive me or laugh becuase we all know you can't laugh when you're mad!
Let's see...How about if I tell you some of the things we have eaten lately? Would that be cool?
Monday we had Tuna Patties
Tuesday we had Beef Taco Skillet
Wenesday we had breakfast for dinner with some of our lovely yard eggs.
Tonight we will celebrate St. Patrick's Day by having Cheesy Potato Soup and Irish Soda Bread.
Last week was Spring Break and we went on a monster trip all over the Texas Hill Country. We ate mostly camping food but there was one dinner at some friends when we ate this:

AND!! We got some meat from a cow that Mom and Daddy had butchered. What deliciousness! So, here is my usual promise: This weekend I am going to scour my cookbooks and look for new things to make and share with you. Part of the problem is that I have started making so many new things that we love that I don't look for new stuff any more. I need to just try for one new thing a week or something like that. ANyhoo, the first will have to be the Irish Soda Bread I am making today because I thought I had blogged it but I haven't. In the meantime you can click here to get it from the blog I got it from. Easy and delish, I promise.

My Major Award!!

2011-02-13T10:57:00.009-06:00

A little over a week ago, I was checking out one of my favorite food blogs, Strawberry Cake, and she had a giveaway post. All you had to do to enter was leave a comment about what you like to bake for your family. The prize was a cookie tin from Nestle Tollhouse with some freebie coupons inside. I wrote my comment and went about my normal stuff. A couple days later, I saw this! I won!!!!! I sent a reply e-mail to Shiela and waited none-too-patiently. I didn't have to wait very long though. Friday when I got home from school it was here :)

Even the box was bursting with excitement!

Why, there could be anything in there!

What is it? What is it?

TA-DA! *shake shake shake* There's something inside!

OOOOHHHH....AAAAHHHH

SCORE! Coupons for free cookies!!

I just happened to have some delicious Blondies on hand!

Pattie was excited too!

Those oh-so-pinchable cheeks!!

Thanks so much Shiela!! I can't wait to refill it over and over again with yummy treats whenever I Bake Some Love!

Menu 2/11 - 2/18--2011

2011-02-13T10:46:00.000-06:00

Menu time again!!
Friday--We had leftovers/scrounged around. It was a crazy week!
Saturday--Butter Bean Soup
Sunday--Chili
Monday--Shredded Beef Au Jus
Tuesday--Frozen Pizza (Grannie will be here!!)
Wednesday--Out with Grannie!!
Thursday--Stupid Chicken
Friday--Chicken Spaghetti
Next weekend we will be heading to take Grannie back home so I probably won't post another menu until we get home next Monday! Have a great week

Butter Bean Soup

2011-02-12T20:30:00.009-06:00

This is a wonderful vegetarian recipe that I have added some meat to. If you want it to be vegetarian, just omit the meat! This recipe is adapted from one found on the can of Bush's Butter Beans.
The Ingredients

1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
3/4 cup onion, finely chopped
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp flour (I used Kentucky Kernel Seasoned Flour)
4 cups water
2 cans Bush's Butter Beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp basil (I used 1/2 tsp dried basil)
1 pkg diced fully cooked ham

In a large pan, saute celery, carrot and onion in oil until soft.

If using any meat, add it in just before veggies are done so that it can warm through and add some flavor.

Add flour.

Cook and stir for about one minute.

Slowly add in water, stirring to smooth as it thickens.

Bring to a boil. Add remaining ingredients.

Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 25 minutes until slightly thickened. Season to taste (which when you use Kentucky Kernel, you don't have to do!)

Cornbread Waffles

2011-02-06T09:50:00.001-06:00

The Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs

1.) Preheat waffle iron.
2.) In a large bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt.
3.) Add milk, oil and eggs. Stir until smooth.
4.) Pour batter into hot waffle iron and bake in batches.
5.) Top hot waffles with chili for lunch or dinner or with honey and butter for breakfast

Crescent Cinnamon Rolls

2011-02-05T17:18:00.007-06:00

I can't remember where I first saw this recipe but it was a big hit with us. I haven't made them for a long time but I had a coupon for Crescents that was about to expire and I thought these would be yummy. I was right!
The Ingredients:

Crescent rolls (I really like to use the Recipe Creations sheets for this but I have a lot trouble finding them!)

Spreadable butter/margarine (I have used the squeeze kind too)

Cinnamon & Sugar (I keep this shaker filled with Cinna-Sugar. We have one filled with Powdered Sugar too. Awesome for pancakes, waffles, French toast, etc.)

Are you ready for how easy this is? Here we go. Unroll a tube of crescent rolls. Press perforations to seal. I like to make little bite-sized rolls so I only use two triangles worth at a time.

Spread dough with butter.

Sprinkle with Cinna-Sugar.

Roll up, jelly-roll style.

Slice into one inch sections.

Place on a cookie sheet about one inch apart as they do puff up while they cook.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 22 minutes or until golden brown.

These are very good just like this but I have also been known to buy a container of cream cheese frosting to slather on them. I have also made them a lot bigger by using the whole sheet of dough at once instead of separating the rectangles.

Menu 2/4 - 2/10--2011

2011-02-05T17:15:00.001-06:00

Friday--We had Steak Fingers with potatoes and gravy
Saturday--We are having Fish sticks with mac & cheese
Sunday--Shredded Pork Wraps
Monday--Butter Bean Soup
Tuesday--Cheesy Garlic Chicken Parmigiana
Wednesday--Breakfast
Thursday--Double Decker Tacos

Italian Crescent Casserole

2011-02-02T05:47:00.000-06:00

This is a great recipe from the Pillsbury website. I have modified it slightly to suit our tastes.
The Ingredients

1 pound ground beef or turkey
¼ cup chopped onion
1 cup pasta sauce
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup sour cream
1 can crescent rolls
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp melted butter

Brown meat and onion; drain fat. Add pasta sauce and heat through.

Combine mozzarella and sour cream.

Pour meat mixture into deep dish pie pan or 11 x 7 dish. Spoon cheese mixture over meat.

Unroll crescent dough over cheese layer. Points to center if using a pie pan. Mix Parmesan cheese and butter. Spread on top of dough. I like to sprinkle a little garlic salt or powder on top as well.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18-25 minutes until dough is golden brown.

** I double everything except the crescent and topping and use a 13 x 9 pan. This feeds us all very well and yields at least 2 servings of leftovers.

Mini Donuts

2011-02-01T09:04:00.013-06:00

For Christmas this past year, my in-laws got me one of these:

A baking pan that has little forms for mini donuts. I was very excited about this!! There were two recipes with it for Cake Donuts and Chocolate Cake Donuts. I finally got around to making them yesterday and I am fairly pleased with the results.
First up were the Cake Donuts. Here are the ingredients:

2 cups flour
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cinnamon

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add nutmeg and cinnamon. Combine eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix in melted butter. Combine dry mix and wet mix until well blended.

In order to fill the little forms easier, I put the batter in a Ziploc bag and snipped off a corner to make a pastry/piping bag.

Pipe batter into prepared pan until wells are 2/3 full.

Bake at 325 degrees for 8 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

Allow pan to cool before repeating with remaining batter. Yield is about 36 donuts.

Now for the Chocolate Cake Donuts. The Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup milk
2 Tbsp butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl combine eggs, sugar and vanilla. In a third bowl combine milk and butter.

Alternate adding egg mix and milk mix to dry mix until well blended. Fill a Ziploc with batter to form a piping bag.

Pipe batter into wells of prepared pan until wells are 2/3 full. Bake at 325 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool pan before refilling. Yield is about 36 donuts.

Now for the dipping! For the plain donuts I used a cinnamon sugar mix and some plain powdered sugar.

Drop in a donut and flip it around to cover all sides and nooks and crannies. I also made a glaze with powdered sugar and hot water (1 cup sugar per 2 Tbsp water)

I dipped some of the plain and all of the chocolate ones in the glaze. After tasting we still had a lot of donuts to snack on for the next couple of days.

Chocolate with glaze, plain with glaze, cinna-sugar and powdered

The verdict? I think they are good. They aren’t as sweet as store-bought ones of course. I think next time I will leave the spices out of the plain ones and see how that tastes. For now, the powdered are the most popular with the plain glazed a close second.

Menu 1/28 - 2/3--2011

2011-01-29T11:08:00.000-06:00

Friday--I had big plans, but we ended up eating leftovers. I had a REALLY rough day at work!
Saturday--Kids and I are having Totino's Pizzas for dinner, but I am cooking a big brunch.
Sunday--Tuna Patties and Mac & Cheese
Monday--Shredded Pork Wraps
Tuesday--Chicken Alfredo
Wednesday--Steak Fingers
Thursday--Italian Crescent Casserole

National Pie Day?

2011-01-23T12:27:00.003-06:00

I saw a post this morning on my Facebook wall that said, "Happy National Pie Day! What's your favorite pie?" After answering that my favorite is a toss-up between Peach and Kentucky Derby pies, I started really wanting some pie today! So when I ran to the store to get a rotisserie chicken for my Chicken & Gnocchi soup I'm making for dinner tonight, I grabbed a few other things as well. Here's what I did:
The Ingredients

1 3/4 cups milk
graham cracker pie crust (I got the minis)
1 package Instant Pudding and Pie Filling (any flavor). I bought a vanilla and then discovered I still had a Pumpkin Spice one in my cupboards!!

Whisk the milk and pie mix together for 2 minutes.

Pour into shells.

Refrigerate until set. Because I am an awesome Mom and he's so stinkin' cute, I made some Chocolate ones for my Clay-Clay.

Menu 1/21 - 1/27--2011

2011-01-22T09:24:00.000-06:00

Wow! I thought my family blog was neglected! It's been 5 weeks since I posted a menu on here. We HAVE eaten in that time frame, I promise and swear! At least I have posted some recipes for you to look through. Well, here we go with my first posted menu for 2011. It's not much, but it's what's for dinner :)

Friday--We went super healthy (NOT!) and had Taquitos with Rotel dip and chips while we watched The Sorcerer's Apprentice on pay-per-view. That's Family Night in Chaosville!
Saturday--I'm going to make a big breakfast before Jayme leaves for work this afternoon and then the kids and I can have whatever we feel like eating later on.
Sunday--Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
Monday--Steak Fingers and "camping potatoes" with gravy
Tuesday--Taco Soup
Wednesday--Pork Fried Rice
Thursday--Raley Gravy

Cheesy Potato Soup

2011-01-03T17:07:00.000-06:00

I was flipping through my cookbooks looking for a soup recipe the other day and came across one in my Taste of Home 2011 Annual Recipes book called "Cheddar Potato Soup". I changed a few things from that version to make it a little more Chaos-friendly and I am very happy with the results!!
The Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup butter
5 cups cubed, peeled potatoes
3 cups water
3 cups milk, divided
4 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
(**I used 1/4 cup Kentucky Kernel Seasoned flour instead of the 3 above listed)
4 cups shredded colby-jack cheese
(recipe called for Cheddar, but I like co-jack better. THis is also one of the rare times I used LESS cheese than called for. I just didn't want the soup to be overly cheesy. I used about 2 cups and added more to my serving. It was perfect)
1/2 pound sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, saute onion and celery in butter for about 5 minutes. While that is working, fry up your bacon.

Add potatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

I like to run my masher around a potato soup pot a few times, even when the recipe doesn't call for it.

Stir in 2 cups of milk

and add the bouillon granules.

Mix the flour with the remaining milk until smooth.

Gradually stir into soup.

Bring to a boil; cook and stir for two minutes or until thickened.

Reduce the heat. Add the cheese

and the bacon.

Stir until cheese is melted. Ladle into serving dish of your choosing and enjoy. It is very yummy!!

Baked Onion Dip

2011-01-01T19:07:00.001-06:00

I made this at my in-laws house during our holiday visit. Very yummy and lots of compliments and requests for the recipe! Since I was out of town though I did not take pictures; sorry! But it is very easy with few ingredients and no tricks so I think you can manage it;
The Ingredients
1 cup mayo (I used the Olive Oil mayo and it was yumm-o)
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic salt (I didn't have this so I used garlic powder and added a little salt)
minced fresh parsley optional
assorted crackers

In a bowl, combine mayo, onion, cheeses and garlic. Spoon into 1 qt baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley if desired. Serve with crackers. CAUTION: This stuff is MOLTEN LAVA hot when you first take it out. Several of us burned our mouths in our frenzy to try it first :)

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T11:30:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year from Chaosville to you! We are having black-eyed-peas for good luck and we hope you are too. If you don't have a good recipe for them, try this one on for size, it's a winner!!

Maple-Pecan Snack Mix

2010-12-27T16:57:00.004-06:00

I was looking for a replacement for the Pumpkin Spice Chex Mix I usually make for Christmas gifts to include in my in-laws gift basket. My father-in-law is allergic to cinnamon and nutmeg and basically anything you would put in a pumpkin pie. Although I could have simply warned him not to eat it, I just thought that wasn't right and I should find something he would like and swap it out. I looked through my cookbooks and found this recipe in my Taste of Home Quick Fixes book. I made a few substitutions but the end result was very tasty!
The Ingredients

5 cups Honey Nut Chex
1 cup granola (without raisins)
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I used some glazed pecans I had leftover from another recipe)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup syrup
1 package (3 1/2 oz) dried blueberries (I left these out)
3/4 cup semisweet morsels (I used some Special Dark Pieces I had laying around)

In a large microwavable bowl, combine cereal, granola and pecans. *I left the pecans out of mine because they were already glazed. I didn't want them to get too sweet.

In a small microwavable bowl, combine syrup, brown sugar and butter. Microwave 2 minutes, stirring once.

Pour over cereal mixture and turn to coat. Microwave mix for 4 minutes, stirring after each minute.

Spread out onto waxed paper to cool. *I added my pecans now.

When cool, add the berries (if using) and the chocolate. Break into chunks and enjoy!

Mashed Potato Casserole

2010-12-26T13:56:00.006-06:00

A couple years ago at Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law made this for our potato dish. I loved it so much I asked her for the recipe and she told me it was a Betty Crocker dish called "Crunchy Onion Potato Bake". We just call it Mashed Potato Casserole.

The Ingredients

2 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup butter
1 box Betty Crocker Mashed Potatoes (I use the Creamy Butter flavor)
1 can corn
1 cup shredded cheese
1 can (2.8 oz) fried onions (I could only find a large can at the store)

In a large saucepan, bring milk, water and butter to a boil.

Add both puches of potatoes and stir until moistened. Let stand one minute, then stir smooth with a fork. Add the (drained) can of corn.

Spoon half the mixture into a well greased 9 x 13 dish. Sprinkle with half the cheese and half the onions.

Repeat layers and place into a preheated 350 degree oven.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and onions are golden. I didn't get a picture until *someone* had taken a few servings out!

We had this with our steaks for Christmas dinner last night. Very yummy and oh so good leftover too :)

Dried Beef Gravy

2010-12-24T18:52:00.007-06:00

For Christmas this year, my parents got me the 5 quart covered saute pan that matches my Paula Deen cookware set. I am so excited! I have been wanting this forever!! Anyhow, I thought a perfect thing to cook in it for the first time would be something that starts out "Take a whole stick of butter..."
The Ingredients

2 small jars dried beef
8 Tbsp (1 stick) of butter
8 Tbsp flour
4 cups milk

Take a whole stick of butter and melt it over medium heat in a saucepan or large skillet.

When butter has melted, begin adding the flour, whisking to prevent lumps. I use a seasoned flour. If you were using regular flour you would want to also add some Worchestershire sauce and some pepper.

When all the four has been added, allow the roux to cook for a minute or two. Then begin adding milk gradually, whisking it in. The mixture will thicken quickly and if you don't add the liquid in, you will have a lumpy mess.

Once the milk has all been added, cook over medium heat and allow to thicken to gravy consistency. Chop up the beef.

Add the beef once the gravy is as thick as you like it.

When I was a kid, my mom served this on bread with fries. Once I married and made it for my hubby, I happened upon the addition of biscuits in place of bread. It has become our standard form of eating it ever since.

Christmas Gift Trays 2010

2010-12-20T20:49:00.000-06:00

This year's Christmas trays have a couple new items in them. I have made posts for each thing and I will link them out for you. I call them trays, but none of them actually are on a tray. Originally they were though and the name has stuck. In any case, this year they had a mix of the following items (unless I knew someone in the family did not like a certain thing or if I wasn't sure they liked it).
Cranberry Orange Mini-Loaf
Dipped Pretzel Chips and Candy Canes
Pumpkin Spice Chex Mix
Mocha Cappuccino Mix
Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Here's a picture of my parents' bag-o-goodies. You can see the little ornament I put on some of them. I wrote the names and the year on the front, and our names on the back. I wanted to do this for everyone but it got a little too expensive for the Holiday coffers!

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

2010-12-20T20:37:00.006-06:00

I found this recipe in a local grocery store's weekly flyer. With so many sweet puppies on our holiday list, I thought it would be a fun and easy way to make something just for them. I was right!
The Ingredients

1 cup flour (recipe called for whole wheat but I used all-purpose)
1 cup oats
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp molasses

In a large bowl, mix together flour oats and baking powder.

In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter, milk and molasses.

Combine two mixtures.

Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut a bone shape out of the dough.

Place "cookie" on baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until browned.

My boys were a lot happier than they look, I promise. Something about the camera makes them look like they are being beaten, but they seemed to like the treats very much!

Cranberry Orange Mini-Loaves

2010-12-20T20:30:00.003-06:00

For the past few years I have included these in our Christmas gift trays. It's so easy and very tasty. The little loaves are just right to serve along with breakfast one morning too! Prepackaged muffin mix makes this one a no-brainer. The recipe is on the package (the muffins are good too).
The Ingredients

2 packages Martha White Cranberry Orange muffin mix
2/3 cup milk
1 cup sour cream

Mix together ingredients until moistened.

Pour into prepared loaf pans; either one standard pan or three minis.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 55 minutes for big loaf or 30-40 minutes for minis. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the bread. If it comes out clean, they are ready!

Dipped Treats

2010-12-19T17:31:00.005-06:00

This year I am trying to make easy treats for our Christmas trays. With increasingly short time on my hands I decided to redo one of the hits from last year, chocolate dipped pretzels. I changed it up a little but I am pretty happy with the results.
The Ingredients

1 box of Ritz Munchables Pretzel Thins--Buttery flavor
1 box miniature candy canes
1 (12 oz) bag vanilla candy discs
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate candy discs
1 (12 oz) bag dark chocolate candy discs

Melt the discs (however you like) according to package instructions. When it's melted, grab a pretzel thin.

Dip it into the chocolate/vanilla to coat on both sides.

Place onto wax paper to set.

Repeat for candy canes.

Keep going with the other types of discs until you are done.

I am bagging up a few of each type with a little tag and including them in the trays we are giving for gifts to some of our family and friends. I hope they like them as much as we do.

Peppermint Bath Salts

2010-12-14T17:51:00.005-06:00

I hesitate to put this here on the food blog because it isn't food...I guess if I call my blog a recipe blog it fits because there is a recipe. In any case, I came across this recipe in a weekly ad flyer for a local supermarket. It sounded easy and I thought it would fit nicely for a few people on my Christmas gift list.
The Ingredients

2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp mint extract
3 drops food coloring
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup baking soda
1 Tbsp salt

In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, extract and food coloring.

In another bowl combine cornstarch, salt and baking soda.

Mix contents of both bowls until well blended.

Pour mixture into ice cube trays and let harden overnight.

To use, place one cube in warm bath water and relax your worries away!!

**UPDATE**
These did not quite set up for me overnight. They were mostly set but had a layer of liquidy stuff on top. I poured off the liquid and set the tray in a sunny window for a few hours. Then they were solid enough to pop out of the tray for the most part. The ones that crumbled or broke I put into a container to keep for myself. I figure I can put an old tablespoon measure in there and just dole out a scoop or two when I want to soak. In h9indsight, this would be a good way to give this out as well. Just let it dry out in the mixing bowl and put a scoop or tow into a pretty little jar of some sort. Lesson learned for next time!

Mocha Cappuccino Mix

2010-12-14T09:36:00.002-06:00

I was so supremely happy to run across this recipe on StrawberryCake's blog! It is just the thing I was looking for to add to our treat trays this Christmas and I think it would be a nice gift for the boys' teachers too!
The Ingredients

1 cup Coffeemate powder
1 cup Nesquick powder
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup instant coffee granules
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until well blended. That's it!!

Add 3 Tbsp mix to 8 oz hot water. Stir Enjoy!

I put about 1 1/2 cups of the mix into a ziploc baggie and I made a tag that says what it is and how to mix yourself a cup. I was able to make 1 1/2 recipes with the jar of instant coffee I had purchased which yielded 5 packages of mix. I still have Coffeemate and Nesquick left so I am running back to the store for more coffee. This is so quick and easy, how can you not?
***UPDATE***
Fast forward to the present (middle of stinkinhot summer 2011) day and I was really jonesing for a caffeine fix. I had nothing! Well, I had my Keurig but I didn't want hot coffee. I dug this out of the cupboard and fixed it with cold milk over ice. DEELISH! So good that I just rounded up ingredients to make a fresh batch :)

Menu 12/10 - 12/16--2010

2010-12-12T11:48:00.001-06:00

Well, another week is crossed off the calendar and we are creeping ever closer to Christmas!! I have been so busy lately and it won't really end anytime soon. This is the new normal in Chaosville I reckon. Here is the week's menu:
Friday--We ordered the new Cheesy Bites pizza from Pizza Hut. In a word: disappointing
Saturday--Clones and I ate corn dogs (I know, I know!)
Sunday--Hoping to redeem myself with Raley Goulash
Monday--Chicken Strips and pasta salad
Tuesday--Tilapia and noodles
Wednesday--Chicken Enchiladas
Thursday--Hoppin John

Salisbury Steak

2010-12-05T19:59:00.006-06:00

When I was a kid, we used to eat TV dinners on TV trays in our living room every once in a while. My brother and I loved those nights! I believe Mike was probably in college before he stopped saying that TV dinners were his favorite meal. While he preferred the fried chicken version, I was always a sucker for the Salisbury Steak with mashed potatoes. I have never tried to make it myself, but I came across this recipe in my new Taste of Home Almost Homemade cookbook and it looked easy enough. I had to try it out!
The Ingredients:

**I made a double recipe. All ingredients listed are for a single recipe version.
1/2 cup milk
14 saltines, crushed
2 Tbsp dried minced onion
2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 pound lean ground beef
1 jar beef gravy
2 Tbsp ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp pepper

In a large bowl, combine milk, saltines, onion and parsley.

Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Use the mixers God gave you!!

Shape into patties and place in a baking dish coated with cooking spray. A single recipe will yield 4 patties. My double recipe yielded 8.

In another bowl (or rinse out the first one and use it again like I did), mix the gravy, ketchup, Worcestershire and pepper.

Pour over patties.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until done through.

Pattie ate this up! The boys and I liked it too. I have to admit, I wasn't too excited about the canned gravy. This isn't something I'll make a lot but it's a nice switch from meatloaf and it was pretty tasty.

Menu 12/3 - 12/9--2010

2010-12-05T12:22:00.001-06:00

Friday--Zuppa Toscana with bread. It was so yummy!
Saturday--We scrounged
Sunday--Salisbury Steak (new recipe, if it's good I'll post it) and mashed potatoes
Monday--Chicken Ranch Tacos
Tuesday--Raley Goulash
Wednesday--Oven Fried Chicken Strips and pasta salad
Thursday--Venison Roast with potatoes, onion and carrots

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup (copycat)

2010-12-04T17:03:00.008-06:00

I had such great success with finding a good copycat for the Chicken & Gnocchi soup that I always order, I figured I would try to find one for the Zuppa Toscana that Jayme and Raley love so much. I didn't have to look far! I found a great one on Two Peas & Their Pod. I made it last night with just a couple changes to their recipe. It was a big hit with Jayme and Raley and I loved it (not so much the sausage but the flavor was amazing). Clay wasn't a big fan, but I did not expect him to be. Pattie liked the broth portion of the soup too.
The Ingredients:

1 pound Italian sausage
1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes **
1 large white onion, diced
4 slices bacon, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup heavy cream
3 large Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cups Kale, washed and roughly chopped (I used spinach instead)
**I left this out because the sausage is almost too spicy for me. I'm a wimp!!

In a medium skillet, saute the Italian sausage with red pepper flakes (if using). Drain excess fat and set aside.

In a large soup pot, saute the bacon. When the bacon is half-way cooked, add the onions and garlic. Saute until onions are tender.

Add the chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil.

Add the potatoes and cook until soft, about 30 minutes.

Whenever I make a potato soup, I like to mash up some of the potatoes when they are done cooking. It makes it a little thicker, which I prefer.

Add in the heavy cream and the sausage. Heat through.

Stir in the chopped kale/spinach.

Serve hot with some crusty bread. Buon appetito!

Menu 11/26 - 12/2--2010

2010-11-28T11:55:00.001-06:00

What a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I hope yours was as good or better. We really had a wonderful time with Grannie and Pop. We even had enough leftovers for two more dinners!!
Friday--Leftovers
Saturday--The last of the leftovers
Sunday--Chicken Spaghetti
Monday--Zuppa Toscana I didn't try last week
Tuesday--Breakfast
Wednesday--Salisbury Steak recipe from one of my new Taste of Home cookbooks. I hope we like it and if we do, you'll see a post!
Thursday--Pork Fried Rice

Menu 11/19 - 11/26--2010

2010-11-20T11:10:00.001-06:00

Well, I haven't posted a menu for a while, but I have tried to maintain them, for the most part. It is still a day-by-day, likely-to-change-at-the-last-moment thing though if I subbed that day.
Friday--We went to the drive in to see The Deathly Hallows, so we scrounged for leftovers before we left.
Saturday-- Ravioli Lasagna
Sunday-- Burrito Casserole
Monday-- Chicken Spaghetti
Tuesday-- I am going to try this Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana recipe I found. It's Jayme's favorite there and since we had such success with the Chicken & Gnocchi recipe, I am trying another!
Wednesday-- Not sure! We will be with Jayme's family for the evening so I am sure it will be something yummy
Thursday-- THANKSGIVING DINNER!!! My favorite meal of the year. We will be camping again this year. My parents will be with us and we have split it up like this:
Mom is making the turkey and Cornbread Dressing.
I am making the Green Bean Casserole and boiled red potatoes. For dessert I am making Kentucky Derby Pie and we will have a pumpkin pie too but I forget who is making it!

Kentucky Derby Pie

2010-11-16T08:14:00.007-06:00

One year when we still lived in Germany, our wonderful friends Matt and Ann invited us over for Christmas dinner. Ann is from Paducah, Kentucky and she served this truly amazing pie for dessert. I left with the recipe and a new favorite thing to make for parties. I have even used the small tart-sized pie crusts to make individual pies with this recipe.

The Ingredients

2 prepared pie crusts**
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup stick margarine (I use butter, softened)
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup pecan halves or pieces
2 Tbsp bourbon (this is where the "Kentucky" comes in. Use Jim Beam instead of Jack Daniels)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Add sugar, margarine/butter, corn syrup, bourbon, salt and eggs in a medium bowl.

Whisk until well blended. Divide chocolate chips and pecan pieces between two pastry-lined pie plates.

Pour sugar/butter/bourbon blend on top of chips and nuts in pastry-lined pie plate(s).

Bake at 375 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes or until set.

This stuff is almost too good!

**If you have a deep pie dish, you could probably fit the whole recipe in one pie. I don't have one so I usually make the full recipe listed and split it between 2 crusts. This makes for an almost fudgy texture on the bottom that I just adore!

Green Bean Casserole

2010-11-16T08:05:00.005-06:00

Here is another Thanksgiving staple for us. One of the few dishes I adore that day but cannot stand to eat leftovers of the next day. I think it's the absence of crunch the next day. In any case, the recipe I make is pretty basic. I use the one on the can of French's Fried Onions with a minor change or two.

The Ingredients *This makes a double recipe in a 9 x 13 pan.

2 cans (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp pepper
1 large can (6 oz) French's Fried Onions
1 small can (2.8 oz) French's Fried Onions
4 cans (14 1/2 oz) French Style Green Beans, drained and rinsed

Mix together soup and milk. Add pepper, green beans and large can of onions.

Stir. Pour into a prepared 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle small can of onions on top.

Return to oven for 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy. It's the perfect side for your holiday feast.

Cornbread Dressing

2010-11-16T07:57:00.006-06:00

I wanted to post a few Thanksgiving recipes this year, but since I will be in the middle of the East Texas Pineywoods with no internet when I actually cook them, I guess I should go ahead and post them now without pics and add the pics in later when I get back home. Will that work? Let's find out, shall we?
My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner (beside the turkey) is the dressing. It's a dish that we can and do have other times during the year, but on the Thanksgiving table, it has a surreal quality and tastes much better. The one I make is my mom's recipe and I am not sure where she got it. I think it may have been on the package of cornbread mix. I do know it has been around ever since I can remember. It's just not Thanksgiving without it!

The Ingredients *All amounts are for a single recipe in a 8 x 8 pan. I usually double it and use a 9 x 13 pan.

Prepared 6 ounce package of cornbread (I like the Betty Crocker kind that costs about $.38 per package)
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 stick butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 1/4 cups chicken broth

Melt butter in skillet or saute pan. Add celery and onion and cook over medium heat until slightly browned and soft.

Crumble cornbread in a large mixing bowl.

Add remaining ingredients, including sauteed onion and celery with all remaining butter in pan.

Mix well and pour into casserole or baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until top is set and edges are golden brown. This stuff is even more amazing the next day, trust me!

Cheesy Garlic Chicken Parmigiana

2010-11-08T19:08:00.000-06:00

It's my 100th post on the food blog!! They haven't all been recipes but I am so happy about reaching my 100th post so soon. Thanks to all my sweet friends who have followed along and used the recipes and let me know how they liked them. It's so much fun to hear. For this 100th post I have a long-time family favorite around Chaosville. I got the recipe off the back of a package of Lipton Noodles and Sauce (now called Knorr Pasta Sides) and that is what I usually serve with the dish. I have since discovered the recipe is also on the package of soup mix called for. Speaking of said soup mix--I very nearly thought I would have to figure out a way to recreate this dish on my own because I couldn't find the soup mix anywhere. My sweet neighbor Misty saved the day by finding some for me and letting me know where it was when she gave me a box of it. So if you like this one, thank Misty!!
The Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 envelope Lipton Recipe Secrets Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix
1/3 cup water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese *as usual I use more than the recipe calls for on the cheeses
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange chicken in a 9 x 13 baking dish and top with tomato.

In a small bowl, blend together the soup mix, olive oil and water.

Pour over chicken.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Top with cheeses and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted and chicken is no longer pink.

I serve it with the Parmesan flavored Knorr Pasta Sides and we LOVE it! I hope you love it too!!

Chicken & Dumplins

2010-11-01T13:22:00.001-05:00

Okay, it's your lucky day!! I have finally remembered to take pictures so I can post this FANTABULOUSLY amazing recipe. It's simple, but time consuming. I like to have all day ahead of me with nothing else going on if I am making it "from scratch" like this time. There are some shortcuts which I will mention as we go along. For the record I started the chicken at 9:30 this morning, so we will try to keep track of the time it really takes.
The Ingredients

1 whole chicken
1 family size can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 or 2 cans of chicken broth/stock or bouillon
Bisquick and milk for the dumplins

**A note about the chicken--You can use the equivalent amount of chicken breast if you don't care for dark meat, but I really like to use a whole chicken. I have also used the shortcut of a rotisserie chicken from the deli, but my hubby did not like it as much. Too much "barbecue-y flavor" was his only explanation.
The first thing I did this morning was cook my chicken. I put it in a stockpot of water. I like to use some of the broth for my cooking liquid. This time I added some celery and carrots that I had in the fridge with no other purpose, but I don't always do that since I use bouillon cubes later. As you can see in the picture, my bird was a little large for my pot, so I flipped her over at the halfway mark. I usually bring the water to a boil and then simmer for about 50 minutes and check for doneness. If it isn't quite done I cook her a little longer. Chicken was done at 10:40 so it took exactly 50 minutes.

Now the bird needs to cool down so I can take off all the meat. I keep the broth (minus veggies and giblets) for later but I won't need it all. I waited about 30 minutes and didn't have too many burnt fingers.

Once the bird cools, I take it all off the bones and then we can finish the dish whenever you're ready. I was done with this step at 11:30. So far we are 2 hours into this dish but it hasn't been constant work by any means.

Oh, you're ready now? Fine with me! (I took a short break though to check on Raley who was home sick from school. Once you start the next step you kind of can't stop until the dumplins are all in. I started back up at 12:00) I dropped 4 bouillon cubes into the reserved cooking broth. I don't really measure the amount of broth I reserve, I just fill the stockpot to a point at which there is still room for the dumplins and meat without it spilling over. Add the Cream of Chicken soup (my mother-in-law, from whom I got this recipe, likes to use a small can of Cream of Chicken plus a small can of Cream of Celery soup) and mix well. Bring to a boil.

While the soup base is rising to a boil, mix up the dumplins. I use the recipe on the Bisquick box. For every 2 1/4 cups of Bisquick, use 2/3 cup of milk. I make at least a 1 1/2 recipe because the dumplins are the best part of this whole shebang!

**A note about dumplins--I have never used them, but I have heard you can use refrigerated biscuits and cut them up for dumplins. My mother-in-law has been known to use cut up strips of flour tortillas in a pinch.
Once the soup base comes to a boil, it's time to start adding the dumplins. Get a spoon, grab a bite sized blob of batter and dip the spoon into the pot. The batter will slide off in the soup. Keep going until all your batter is gone. I put in the last dumplin at 12:25.

Once all the dumplins are in, keep on a gentle boil for 10 minutes. The dumplins will increase in size and frankly, for my tastes, they get a little too big so I like to cut them up some as they cook.

Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 10 more minutes.

At this point, you are done! Have a great big bowl and be happy. This is the kind of "soup" that only gets better the longer it sits. And tomorrow? FUHGEDDABOUTIT! It is insanely delicious the next day too. You can freeze some leftovers, should you have any, for another day's happy lunch!

My bowl was ready for eating at 12:45. All told, just over 3 hours to make this stuff and worth every second!

Menu 10/29 - 11/4--2010

2010-10-30T12:53:00.001-05:00

I haven't been posting menus too reliably lately! Here is what's cooking this week in Chaosville:
Friday--We ordered pizza
Saturday--Spaghetti with some of the sauce I made and froze
Sunday--Chicken & Dumplin's which I PROMISE to blog!
Monday--Sloppy Joe Casserole
Tuesday--Breakfast
Wednesday--Poached Fish and mac & cheese
Thursday--Garlic Chicken Parmesan (provided I can find the soup mix I need, and I will blog this one too!)

Chicken Picante with Rice Tutorial

2010-10-27T19:38:00.000-05:00

I have had this recipe for a long time and I am not quite sure where it came from. I think I got it off the Pace Picante Sauce jar to be totally honest. I just know it's one of our favorites!
The Ingredients

1 1/2 cups picante sauce
3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard (I actually use a homemade Bourbon mustard)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3 cups cooked, hot rice**

Mix picante sauce, brown sugar, and mustard together in a small bowl.

Place chicken in a shallow baking dish.

Pour sauce mix over chicken.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

Serve over rice. Simple, easy and deelish!!

** A note on cooking rice. I was surprised at how many people I know who claim they can't cook good rice. It is one of the only things I could make when I got married so I will share my method for anyone who is curious.
The Ingredients

4 cups water
2 cups uncooked rice
2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
This will make 4 cups of rice. Basically for the amount of cooked rice you want you use the following formula: for every cup of cooked rice = 1 cup water + 1/2 cup uncooked rice + 1/2 tsp salt + 1 Tbsp butter
Bring water to a boil. Add the rice, salt and butter.
Simmer with the cover on for 20 minutes. NO PEEKING!!
Take off the lid, fluff the rice with a fork and serve.

Pumpkin Spice Quick Bread

2010-10-26T23:31:00.004-05:00

This recipe is quite possibly the easiest one I have ever found! You literally put all the ingredients into the bowl of your mixer and turn it on. Once it's all mixed you pour it into a loaf pan and bake it. Awesome!
The Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter

2 large eggs

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice **

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan. Combine all ingredients in a large mixer bowl.

Turn on the mixer to medium and when it's well mixed, pour into prepared pan.

Bake 45 - 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in loaf pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

This bread is so good as is but you could add chocolate chips or pecans and it would be even better. My hubby likes it plain so this first loaf I made that way for him. It is so wonderful the next morning after the flavors have had a chance to merge..... or fresh from the oven with a little butter spread on it.... or some cream cheese..... or some peanut butter..... or some Nutella..... oh, boy! I better go make another loaf :)

**If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own.
**UPDATE** So yummy with 1 cup of semi-sweet chips added just before pouring into loaf pan!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

2010-10-26T23:17:00.001-05:00

I saw this recipe posted on my Facebook News Feed the other day by the wonderful people who write Two Peas and Their Pod. This is a quick, easy, delicious snack that you have GOT to try if you are a pumpkin-lover like me!
The Ingredients

3 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 x 8 pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the oats, spices and salt. In another bowl combine all the remaining ingredients except chocolate chips.

Pour wet mix over oat mix

and combine until all the oats are moist. Add chips.

Press into the prepared pan and bake for 25 - 30 minuutes.

Remove from pan and let cool.

Cut into bars and enjoy!

I like to bag them up in a snack-sized ziplocs for the kids lunches (and mine too!)

Pumpkin Pie Chex Mix

2010-10-23T12:37:00.000-05:00

The Ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups Cinnamon Chex® cereal
2 cups Wheat Chex® cereal
2 cups Honey Nut Chex® cereal
8 oz pecans

In small bowl, mix brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. In small microwave-safe dish, microwave butter on High about 30 seconds or until melted. Stir in vanilla. In large microwavable bowl, mix all cereals and pecans.

Best way to stir this is with your hands!!

Pour butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly distributed. Add sugar and spice mixture and stir until coated.

Microwave uncovered on High 5 minutes or until mixture begins to brown, stirring every minute. Spread on wax paper or a cookie sheet to cool. Store in airtight container.

nomnomnom

Olive Garden Chicken & Gnocchi Soup (copycat)

2010-10-20T19:07:00.000-05:00

Whenever we go to the Olive Garden for lunch, I like to get the soup, salad and bread sticks. My favorite soup, BY FAR, is the Chicken & Gnocchi. I always ask them to make sure there are lots of gnocchis in mine too. Naturally once I started this blog and started cooking more and trying more things, I searched for a similar recipe for this amazing soup. There are a lot of them out there! I have only tried one, but it was so darn good, I just stuck with it. It's pretty easy too, once you chop/grate/julienne everything.
The Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup celery, chopped fine
3/4 cup onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup carrot, grated very fine and chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (not pictured)
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
4 cups chicken broth or 4 cups fresh chicken stock (I use bouillon)
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken (I like to buy a rotisserie chicken at the store. I get the Italian Herb one if they have it)
3/4 cup fresh spinach, julienne cut
16 ounces gnocchi
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (I used Thyme since I had no rosemary)
black pepper & salt to taste

Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan. Add onions, celery, carrots, garlic and sauté until soft.

Add flour mixing well, cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add heavy cream, milk

and chicken broth mixing well.

Cook and stir until mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce heat and stir in chicken, spinach, gnocchi and remaining seasonings.

Adjust seasonings to taste. Cook over low heat 8-10 minutes until gnocchi become tender. (you could also place the ingredients in a Crock-Pot and cook on low for 1- 1 ½ hours, this really makes the flavors come together)

Perfection!

Pumpkin Pancakes

2010-10-17T16:57:00.000-05:00

When I logged in to Facebook this morning I scrolled through the posts on my news feed since I went to bed last night. Among them was a link from a friend of mine about the Pumpkin Pancakes she was going to make in the morning. Pumpkin is a magic word for me so I clicked the link and found Martha! With Jayme working nights, I like to make a late, late breakfast on Sunday afternoon when he wakes up. We also have a Breakfast-For-Dinner night almost every week. I decided to try this recipe out since I had all the needed ingredients. (I keep hearing about pumpkin shortages again this year so every time I go to the store I buy a can or two)
The Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves (really Martha? Couldn't give us a measurement?) I used my 1/8 tsp and filled it halfway so I guess I used a 1/16 tsp?
1 cup milk
6 Tbsp pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 egg

Whisk together all dry ingredients.

Mix together all wet ingredients.

Heat skillet or griddle and grease with a little butter.

Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

Drop by 1/4 cup full onto hot griddle.

Cook for 2 -3 minutes per side and serve with butter and syrup. These were FANTASTIC! Every bite was better than the last. I got 11 pancakes out of this single recipe of batter. These would be really good with chocolate chips in them too, or with some icing-type creamy syrup! Yummalish!!

Jayme's Birthday "Pie"

2010-10-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

So we just celebrated Jayme's birthday and the poor guy! His is at the end of a long string of birthdays for the rest of us and by the time his rolls around, we are about caked out in Chaosville! This year he requested some Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream, if I could find it. But I couldn't stop there....
The Ingredients:

1 Oreo Pie Crust
3 pints ice cream I used all Ben & Jerry's flavors New York Super Fudge Chunk, Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Milk & Cookies

I set out the Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream for about 30 minutes to soften, then I put some in the bottom of the pie crust and returned it to the freezer.

I did the same thing with the Milk & Cookies to make a middle layer.

Then the New York Super Fudge Chunk went on the top.

Here's the birthday boy blowing out the candles. This was an easy, yummy idea!

Menu 10/8 - 10/14--2010

2010-10-09T16:58:00.001-05:00

Friday--We got dinner from Sonic because the really cute glassses that are in the kid's meals right now. I had a Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster and I am still drooling!
Saturday--Chicken Enchiladas (requested by the boys to celebrate their FABULOUS report cards.
Sunday--Lasagna Soup
Monday--Tuna Alfredo
Tuesday--Cheeseburger Biscuit Bake
Wednesday--Pancakes
Thursday-Steak Fingers to celebrate the 35th birthday of my amazing husband!

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

2010-09-26T09:35:00.002-05:00

I am a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte fiend!! When I got the e-mail this year that they were coming back I made sure to plan a trip to town and swing by Starbucks to get one. Even though it was hot and I usually drink iced lattes, I could not resist the allure of the PSL. Now it had been a while since I had gotten anything at Starbucks and it was a nice treat but it only served to drive the urges. I have had three PSLs since they came back earlier this month. Luckily I had birthday money to spend. A couple years ago I bought myself a Mr. Coffee Espresso Maker with some money I got for Christmas and I started to make my own lattes and caramel macchiatos at home. I buy the Torani syrups at the grocery store and it's great. Every once in a while I buy a syrup at Starbucks. One day a couple weeks ago I was googling for recipes for the base Starbucks uses for the PSL and I came across this recipe. I decided as soon as I found some pumpkin and some time I would give it a try. Yesterday was the day!
The Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
1 small (8-10 ounce) bottle

Simmer together water and sugar in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved.

Measure out the pumpkin and spices while you wait.

Add the pumpkin and spices to the sugar water and simmer 6 to 8 minutes.

Strain mixture, if desired and once it cools, pour into container. Store in the refrigerator.

Fast forward to this morning and I am ready for my first attempt at the homemade PSL!!
The Ingredients:

Milk
ground espresso
pumpkin spice syrup
water

Start the espresso brewing in your machine. While you wait, add some pumpkin spice syrup to a coffee cup.

Once the espresso begins to brew and reaches the correct level...

...switch over to steam for frothing the milk.

When the milk is finished, switch back to brewing and add some of the steamed milk to the pumpkin syrup in your cup. Stir it up.

When the espresso finishes brewing add your shot(s) and then fill your cup with milk and froth.

This turned out okay. It is a little cinnamon-heavy for me though. I think I will make it with more pumpkin and less cinnamon in the future. In the meantime I may try to make another batch without any cinnamon and mix the two together. Also, I don't know why but this is very gelatinous (for lack of a better word). It mixed okay with the hot milk though. I think maybe I cooked the sugar water too long. It doesn't seem to have hurt the flavor though.
If I do go back and make a modified version I will post the results here. In the meantime, the latte goes really well with a couple of these:

**UPDATE**

I made another syrup base using 3/4 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar with 2 Tbsp pumpkin and added that to the previous batch. It's not as thick now and I will see how it tastes next time I make a PSL. I also found and made this recipe and I will let you know how it tests as well!

**FURTHER UPDATE**

So I made myself a PSL this morning using the second recipe (link above) and it was very good. One of the problems I have run into is the chunks of spice and pumpkin floating around in my drink. I'm not a fan of chunks! The syrup itself proved too thick to strain, but I have had success straining my drink once it is made. I also found I need to add sugar to my drink for it to have the correct sweetness for me, again a personal preference not a fault of the recipes.

The next time I make it I think I will make more of an infusion by adding the pumpkin and spices to the water and bringing to a low boil/simmer. Then I will strain that mixture and add the sugar to make it a syrup. If/when I do that, I will update again. Happy Fall!!

Pumpkin Spice Donut Muffins

2010-09-25T13:24:00.000-05:00

I found this amazing recipe over at Strawberry Cake. I believe she said in her post that she created these with an adaptation to Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs. I have been dreaming about the wonderfulness waiting for me ever since. Today was the day!!
The Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup sugar
2/3 cups Crisco shortening
2 large eggs
1/2 cup +1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin (no sugar or spices added)

Cream together sugar, shortening and eggs in a stand mixer, if you have one. Look at mine...it's older than I am but it is the only one I've got so I love it. But if you feel bad for me and want to send me a new one, that'll be just fine *bats eyelashes*

Once that mix is well blended, add the pumpkin. While that blends, mix together all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and measure out the buttermilk. Begin alternating adding the dry mix...

...and the buttermilk...

...until all ingredients have made a lovely batter, like so:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare your muffin pan(s). I had to resist using my new jumbo pan today. It was calling to me...

In the end I decided I would use my new mini muffin pan. NO! The fact that I can put an entire mini muffin in my mouth most certainly DID NOT color my decision! HMPH!

Spray with no-stick cooking spray (or grease in whatever way you prefer) and fill cups 2/3 full. I used a cookie scoop.

When the pan is ready

cook at 350 for about 15 minutes. While they were cooking I put the rest of the batter in regular sized pans.

When the mini muffins came out...

I dumped them out onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Oh Dear!! One of them is horribly misshapen and deformed! Do you see it? There on the left? I shall have to put it out of it's misery...

But first, I had another job to do!
The Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

Mix together sugar and cinnamon.

Set up an assembly line with your melted butter, cinnamon sugar and cooked muffins.

Take each muffin and dunk it in the melted butter...

...then roll it around in the cinna-sugar until coated on all surfaces.

Oh, there it is again, the sad little misshapen one...there on the right by itself.

Come here little one...it'll be okay.

MMMMMMMMMM! There, now...isn't that better? The regular sized muffins cooked for about 22 minutes and then were treated to the butter bath and cinna-sugar coating. Now try to fight off the rest of your family long enough to snap one last picture and then ENJOY!!

Menu 9/24 - 9/30--2010

2010-09-24T17:55:00.001-05:00

Friday--I was going to make BSTs**, but I had a coupon that was about to expire for pork loin so we are having Maple Bourbon pork loin and mac & cheese
Saturday--BSTs and chips
Sunday--Taquitos and Rotel dip along with Pigs in a Blanket while we watch the Texans beat the Cowboys!
Monday--Garlic Chicken Parmesan (a family fave I have not yet blogged but will after making)
Tuesday--Steak Fingers
Wednesday--Raley Gravy
Thursday--We may or may not be home so I have not planned anything yet

**Bacon, Spinach and Tomato sandwiches

French Dip Roast

2010-09-20T18:05:00.000-05:00

This is the Chaosville version of one I found on PW's Tasty Kitchen. We have a winner!! This was so good! I am trying to be good and not go through a whole loaf of bread just soaking up the au jus.
The Ingredients:

3 1/2 pound chuck roast (I couldn't find one that big so I bought two that added up to that weight)

1 can beef consomme

2 beef bouillon cubes

1 packet onion soup mix

1 (12 ounce) bottle of beer I chose to use a Sam Adams Oktoberfest but I can't wait to try this recipe with other kinds as well.

Season your roast(s) with some salt and pepper.

Place them in the crockpot. Mix the consomme and onion soup mix together.

Pour over meat.

Pour beer over meat.

Drop bouillon cubes in on opposite sides of crockpot.

Cook on low 6 - 8 hours. Slice or shred meat and place back into au jus.

To serve, slice French or Italian bread into thin slices and toast lightly. I put a little butter on them first.

Place a slice or two of meat on top of the toasted bread and top with provolone cheese.

Broil lightly until cheese melts. Dipping into a small bowl of au jus puts this over the moon!!

Crockpot Fajitas

2010-09-19T18:01:00.000-05:00

I came across a recipe the other day for chicken fajitas from the crockpot. I can't find the actual recipe I saw though!! It wasn't in the cookbook I thought it was in, so I googled it and found one on a food blog I love so I based these on it.
The Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used frozen ones)

you could also use beef cut into strips

1 medium onion, cut into strips

1 green pepper, cut into strips

1 packet fajita seasoning

1/2 cup water

Put the chicken, onion and green pepper in the crockpot. Mix the seasoning with the water and pour over meat and veggies.

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 - 8 hours.

Serve on warm tortillas with whatever fixin's you like. I made mine with cheese, spinach and green sauce.

Clay had his with cheese and taco sauce.

Raley opted for cheese, picante and jalapenos.

Marinara Sauce a la Stacy

2010-09-18T16:32:00.001-05:00

When we lived in Germany I had a wonderful friend (well, I still do, but that's where we met) named Stacy. She made homemade spaghetti sauce that was so good, it was very hard not to just eat it with a loaf of bread *Do you hear that? It's the voice of experience because one time, I DID eat it with a loaf of bread* When I asked her for the recipe, she was kind enough to share and for the past 10 years I have used it as my own. Now you can too!
The Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

3 cups chopped onions

2 Tbsp freshly chopped basil (or you can use dried)

1 cup finely chopped carrots

1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic

1 Tbsp oregano

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

4 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes

2 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1/3 cup chopped parsley

salt & pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large stockpot and saute the onions and carrot until golden.

Add the garlic and tomatoes (including tomato sauce).

Simmer, partially covered for 15 minutes.

While simmering, mix together the salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Add to sauce when 15 minutes is up.

Also add the Parmesan cheese.

Please don't be overly jealous of my fabulous Hulk bowl! Simmer, partially covered for 30 minutes. Stir in parsley and season more if needed.

Add parsley.

Serve over hot cooked noodles or use in any recipe that calls for spaghetti sauce.

You can also go the aforementioned loaf-of-bread-route. This makes a LOT of sauce and it freezes beautifully. I have also prepared this in a crockpot. After sauteing the onion and carrot, just add all ingredients except parsley to the crockpot and turn on low heat until serving. Add parsley just before serving. It only gets better the longer it sits! I have also added meat many times, or meatballs. Put the cooked meat in before the 30 minutes simmer.