Archive for the 'Adventures' Category
I grew up with this basic dish eating it at least 4 times a week. It wasn’t until I reached my teens I found out that there was an even better version that didn’t all come out of a box. Have fun with the cheese in this recipe as there is no real one choice. Cheddar is a safe bet (staying close to original recipe) but by just combining some white new york cheddar I added a bit of a smoky flavor and made the overall look a bit brighter. Let me know how the cheeses turn out for you and make sure to share this with friends, they will love it!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 (16 ounce) package of elbow macaroni
- 1/2 pound brick of Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 pound brick of New York White Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
- 1 dash of salt
- 1 dash of pepper
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add elbow macaroni to boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with vegetable oil. Place a quarter of the macaroni in the bottom, followed by a layer of cheese slices (half new york white and regular sharp). Dot with butter and season with salt and pepper. Repeat until once again and then pour milk over top of dish. Bake in the oven for one hour or until the top is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes, cut and serve. This will make 6 generous portions.a
Cookies are a great dessert and they sure are easy to make. These pumpkin cookies are great for the fall season and work well as snacks before and after holiday dinners. I am a huge fan of oatmeal cookies so I decided to smash in some pumpkin to bring up the fall flavor.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cup quick cooking oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter (soft)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
METHOD:
Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease the baking sheets or use parchment paper.
Mix the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and then mix well. Add flour mixture to large mixing bowl and mix well. Stir in the walnuts once blended well. Using a tablespoon, make round balls and place on your baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minute or until cookies are lightly browned and set in centers. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes and then move to wire racks to cool completely.
Thanksgiving can get boring with just Turkey every year, so why not change things up a bit and cook up a nice ham. Ham is a staple for many other holidays but, with it’s sweet and savory taste combination it will work just about anytime. The key to ham is low and slow cooking so prepare to have that oven running for 4+ hours with a few basting actions in the middle. Hams are priced pretty well and for the amount of left overs that’ll be available, they can pay for themselves if you skip two meals out.
INGREDIENTS:
- Ham (Fully Cooked)
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove the Ham from the package and trim the rind or “skin” off the ham. You can do this by cutting around the shank bone or if you have a boneless ham, just cut a line from the already cut portion to the other end. Now with your knife, cut under the skin but only the skin as you will want to leave the fat on. Once the rind is removed you then cut little diamonds into the fat which is called scoring.
Now that the hard part is done, mix up your brown sugar and cinnamon until they are blended well. Place a cooling rack into a shallow pan and set the ham cut side down on the rack. Pour the maple syrup over the top of the ham and make sure that it gets into all those good scoring marks. Now take your sugar/cinnamon mix and pack it around the ham.
Put the shallow pan into the oven and cook for about 15 minutes per pound. If you have the time, reduce the oven temperature by half and increase cooking time to 30 minutes per pound. Doing the longer version will make it taste even better!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 large onion, diced
- 6 cups mixed diced whole-grain and white bread
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 eggs
- 1 dash salt
- 1 dash pepper
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup dried apricots
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a pan with medium-high heat, combine 1/2 cup of the chicken broth and the onions. Cook for until onions have softened then remove from pan and pour into a mixing bowl.
Add the remaining broth, bread, paprika, eggs, salt, pepper, dried cranberries, and dried apricots to the cooked onions and mix well. Pour mixture into baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.
Another Thanksgiving feast worthy dish! I give you the great green bean casserole in all it’s simplicity and cheesy goodness! Yup, just cause you are feasting doesn’t mean you can skip your vegetables… It also doesn’t mean you can’t make those vegetables fit your tastes either. With only 6 ingredients, no reason not to make this outside of the holidays either.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 10 oz cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 can French fried onions
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 packages frozen cut green beans
- 1/2 pound sliced processed cheese
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Greese a 9 x 13 baking pan with vegetable oil. Combine mushroom soup, milk, cheddar cheese, and half of the onions in a mixing bowl until blended nicely.
Layer one bag of green beans in baking pan. Pour half of the mixture over the green beans and add half of the processed cheese, and half of the cheddar cheese. Add the final bag of green beans, the rest of the soup, and the rest of the processed and cheddar cheese. Top with remaining french fried onions.
Bake for 40 minutes, cool and serve.
Of course the old standby breakfast for eggs toast sausage and milk is great but, every one in awhile it helps to change up the method. This great breakfast bake takes all the goodness of a breakfast and bakes it together into a nice casserole! This recipe is great for making on a Saturday or Sunday for the week and it’s extremely tasty and filling.
INGREDIENTS:
- 6 slices bread, cubed
- 1 pound sausage, browned and drained
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon, salt
- 1 dash of pepper
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 325. Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl and blend evenly. Pour over ingredients in pan.
Place bread evenly in greased 9×13 pan or baking dish. Sprinkle sausage and cheese. Bake 45 minutes. Remove from oven, cool, and cut into squares to serve.
My mom used to make these for me as a kid, but I found myself constantly just eating the filling! Well over the years I grew to love the whole pepper with stuffing and had to share my recipe with everyone! It can seem intimidating to make these guys but trust me when I say it goes by very easy. See for yourself!
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 green or red bell peppers
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 1 medium onion
- 1 1/2 cup cooked rice
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1/4 cup marinara
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- dash of ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil
METHOD:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add several pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using something to keep peppers completely submerged, until green (or red if red peppers) and they become soft, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Drizzle remaining 1 tbsp. Oil inside peppers, arrange cut side up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Spoon marinara sauce over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes.
This dish is somewhat of a stable in our household. Switching between rice and noodles helps keep things lively but in the end, I love me some noodles! This is a standard stir fry with just soy sauce. The vegetables are delicious as shown, but feel free to change our add whatever you are in the mood for. Try some nice hot green tea with this meal and break out those chopsticks!
Asian Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 box/bag of egg or rice noodles
- 12 ounces chicken meat
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 cup of green beans
- 1 carrot
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon of mince ginger root
- 1/2 cup onions
- dash salt
- dash pepper
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
METHOD:
In a mixing bowl, pour boiling water over the noodles.
Cook/Brown the chicken in a little bit of oil on the stove. Once cooked, add onions, garlic, and ginger cooking until the onions are translucent. Add the bell pepper, green beans, carrot, salt, pepper, and soy sauce. When vegetables are soft, drain the noodles and add to the pan. Mix well and let cook for a 5 or 10 minutes.
Dish and serve!
You ask and I deliver Jason, here you go! Lasagna… With the weather cooling it’s time to break out that oven and put a nice smell in the house. This meal is good for 6-8 servings, if you do 6 I won’t tell, so be sure open up your stomachs and enjoy this mash of tomato sauce, pasta, and three cheeses. Be sure to leave your requests and any tips or tricks are always welcomed in the comments.
Lasagna
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 box of no boil lasagna noodles (16 pieces)
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 jars of tomato sauce (48 ounces)
- 1 15 ounce ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 2 eggs
- 1 table parsley
- 1/2 salt
- 1/2 pepper
- 1 dash nutmeg
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brown the ground beef on a skillet and drain the juice. In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Mix until blended.
In a 9 x 13 glass baking pan, pour 1 cup of tomato sauce and cover the bottom. Lay 4 pasta noodles down and make sure they overlap a little bit. Put 1/3 cheese mixture and 1/3 meat in a nice layer. Repeat starting with another layer of tomato sauce and continue until you are out of pasta. The top layer should just be tomato sauce and pasta. Add some additional parmesan cheese on top.
Cover with a sheet of foil (shiny side down) and bake for 60 minutes, remove the foil for the final 10 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for 15 minutes and serve.
What can I say, I just simply love the oven! Brace yourself plant eaters, I got a great tasting zucchini bread here for you to make! You can now join in with the meat eaters in their love of zucchini bread. Meat eaters, you can also just use real eggs in this instead of the flax seed and you will get the same effect. I made two loafs and in the end, decided that I would eat them both this week rather than give away because they were so tasty!
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Vegan Zucchini Bread
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 90 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups grated zucchini, about 2 medium zucchini
- 3 tablespoons milled flax seed + 9 tablespoons water (3 eggs)
- 1 cup oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350, combine grated zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla, flax seed/water and stir until blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder then mix until a thick batter is formed. Grease two bread pans and pour the batter evenly into each. Place in the oven to cook for 60 minutes then remove and cool for about 30. Serve warm and enjoy!