Monday, October 29, 2012

Hurricane Sandy and Monday's dinner

Today is Monday, August 29th.  Hurricane Sandy has been blustering and showing off since yesterday.  She has been a naughty girl, that Sandy!  We are safe and dry here in Virginia.  We have not yet lost power (thank you God) and so far even though our canal has turned into a river, we have not had a flooded house or vehicles.

Instead of the usual three teenagers tonight, I had four.  I needed a way to make dinner stretch.  My initial thought was to make scallopped potatoes and fried chicken.  I decided against it as I just did not feel like standing at the stove for a long time.  I had already sliced the potatoes thin.  That is when it came to me to do a variation of the Hobo dinner I made a few weeks ago.

Step one:  slice potatoes thin and put in the bottom of the roasting pan.
Step two:  rough chop an onion and put it on top of the taters.
Step three:  layer chicken breast on top
Step four:  sprinkle liberally with Soul Seasoning and a little bit of Chipoltle chili powder.
Step five:  Add one can of chicken broth
Step six:  Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour.
It was very good.  The only problems I encountered with this were the following:

1.  I used very thin cut chicken breasts and an hour in the oven is a little too long for them.  The got a little tough.  I might should have put them under the potatoes?

2.  It was kind of bland.  It needed a little more "oomph".  I wanted to put carrots in it but I did not have any and because of the storm, I could not go to the store.

3.  I think next time I will use regular chicken breasts and not the thin ones.  I might even add some cream of chicken soup or whip up a bechemel cheese sauce for it.

If you have any suggestions, let me know.  I would love some help! 

I pray you are all safe and dry! Take care in this storm and in the everyday of things.
In all things give thanks!!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Hurricane Sandy and my cookie urge!

Hello! I hope everyone out here on the East Coast is staying safe and dry!  We are doing fine although our canal that runs on the side of our house is starting to rise quite high.  I am not nervous because I am confident all will be well.

Since church was cancelled tonight, I got a little crazy and decided to try some new cookie recipes.  The first one I thought I would look for a mocha chocolate chip because I have some real coffee heads in the house.  Here is the link to the recipe I used:

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

One word of caution:  The batter does NOT taste good which is totally weird because the cookies taste GREAT!!  My oldest daughter, and my biggest coffee addict, almost ate the entire batch!!  She loved them.  My sweet husband and the other two kids liked them as well.

The next recipe I tried was for Raspberry Thumbprint cookies.  I am not going to post the recipe as it was rather incomplete.  I got the inspiration off of allrecipes.com.  The basics of the recipe were there.  They forgot to include the temperature they should be baked at and (you know me!) I altered the recipe slightly.

The first batch I did fill with Raspberry jam.  They are light and heavenly.  The second batch I took great liberty with.  I filled a few with peanut butter and mini chocolate chips, a few more I filled with Nutella and finally the rest of them I filled with Strawberry Jam.  I have not tasted the second batch yet.  The first batch were so wonderful.  I was most happy that my husband said they tasted good and reminded him of Italian Christmas Cookies. 

I am taking a small break.  I am not sure if I will venture to a third recipe yet or not.  It was fun and it makes me happy making my family happy.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Hog on a Dog

Tonight was another night I did not want to go to the grocery store.  I stepped into the kitchen and do what I do best:  create!  Here is what I started with:
The hot dogs and bacon were in my freezer.  I put them in the sink in hot water to help thaw them out quickly.  The crescent rolls were on hand as well although honestly I would have preferred using canned biscuits.
Fry the bacon until good and crispy.  Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel.  Turn the heat down a few (don't smoke up your kitchen!)

Cut about (8) hot dogs first in half then in half again lengthwise.
Add them to the pan in the bacon grease and fry for just a few minutes to heat through.  Remove to a paper towel to drain.  Open the crescent rolls (preheat oven to 375 degrees) and separate. 
Lay 1/3 of a slice of American cheese lengthwise on the rolled out crescent dough.
Add a slice of hot dog and some of the crispy bacon ontop of the cheese and dough and then roll it all up and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in the oven for about 12 - 14 minutes. I actually put them too close together and some of the sides when they expanded stayed a little big doughy.  They need to have room to spread out and turn brown.  Overall it was a little weird but when feeding teenagers, weird can be okay.
I served it with baked beans with my leftover hotdogs and bacon that I did not use.  It is not "Iron Chef" worthy but it did the trick for tonight.  It definately was not a favorite of mine or Breezy but it was fun and creative.  I think I would have liked some barbeque sauce added in before baking.  And please, don't anyone hit me because I used so much bacon and bacon fat.  I was DEFINATELY not going for low calorie!

Are you brave enough to try it?

Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Hobo Dinner

In the midst of my cleaning spree today, I plopped down at the computer to find inspiration for tonight's dinner.  I wanted something quick and easy or at least easy!  I went to one of my favorite recipe sites, allrecipes.com and typed in easy dinner.  This is one of the first recipes that popped up:

The Hobo Dinner

I had most of the ingredients.  The only thing I lacked was the ground chuck (poor Chuck).  I ran down the street (okay...I did not run, I jumped in my Mustang and sped...ummm...I mean slowly drove) to my closest grocery store.  I decided to use the leanest beef I could find since it called for it to NOT be pre-cooked before adding everything else.  I did not follow the recipe exactly.  You know me! I have to put my "Crystal" twist on everything I do. 

(2) pounds of lean ground chuck (poor Chuck)
(2) packets of Lipton Beefy Onion dry soup mix
(5) or (6) medium to large russet potatoes
(1) bag of baby carrotts, peeled and ready to eat
(1) egg
(1) large sweet onion, cut into rings

Mix the ground chuck (poor Chuck) in a bowl with both packets of dry soup mix and the one egg until mixed well.  Form thick, medium size patties and place in the bottom of a roasting pan.  Peel the potatoes and slice like steak fries.  Layer the potatoes on first.  Then add the whole bag of carrots. Next place the onion rings on top.  Cover with aluminum foil and put in a pre-heated 400 degree oven and bake for one hour.

That was perfect for me.  I put it into the oven and went back on my cleaning spree!  After about 45 minutes the house was smelling like Sunday afternoon pot roast!  When the hour was up I carefully removed the roasting pan from the oven and peeled back the foil.  I served it in bowls and fed all my hungry crew.  It was quite tasty.  Even though the dry soup mix added a lot of salt content, it still needed some more.  I think next time I make it, I will probably add some cream of mushroom soup in to flavor it up some more.  It definately would have been great with some fresh sliced mushrooms added to the mix!  I can tell you I will definately be making this again!  I can take no credit for the recipe but I am sure thankful that it was posted on allrecipes.com!


Monday, October 15, 2012

Boss's Day

Boss's Day is on Wednesday but since I know that I have to carry both girls to voice lessons on Tuesday that I will not have time to make anything! I am doing that now.

It is sort of another one of my throw together whatever I have deals.  I am using fillo dough for the first time.  I feel a little intimidated but I think I can do it.  I am going to make cupcake size fillo cups with chopped apples with sugar and cinnamon.

I rolled out the dough and put the first sheet down.  I spread melted butter over that and then continued until I had five layers stacked.  I tried to cut them into a circle using a glass cup and it was a disaster.  Not wanting to use a knife on my new laminate countertops I opted for what I will call "the rustic look".  I ripped it with my hands and put it into the cupcake pan.  It only filled five cups.  I did not want them to dry out so I stopped there and put them in the oven for 12 minutes until golden brown.

After that I am going to fill it with my chopped apple mixture and bake again for a few minutes.  We shall see how it turns out.  I should have thought ahead and bought a real biscuit cutter to use.  Oh well! You will never know until you try, right?

The apple mixture was okay but did not soften up like I would have liked.  I also tried to make a caramel sauce and burned it.  I guess inspiration has failed me tonight.  I let my middle child devour the fillo cupcakes as she said it tasted like apple pie.

Oh well, I guess only a card it is!!  I will try again one day when I have better tools to use! AND follow someone's recipe!!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Momma's Potato Salad

I made my momma's potato salad for my Sunday School class tomorrow.  It is a bittersweet thing to make.  It was one of my mom's favorite dishes and she made it for all occasions.  It was always present at Thanksgiving.  It makes me sad that my kids dont really like it.  Well...Paulina likes it but that is about it.

She told me to write the recipe down but how do you define taste? There are no measurements just a typical Crystal method of throwing things together in the bowl.  I start with a 5 pound bag russet potatoes.  I peel them, chop them into chunks and boil until slightly tender.  Do not boil until mushy!!  Drain and throw into a bowl with 2 medium or 1 large chopped onion.  Add 1 dozen eggs that have been hardboiled, peeled and chopped (true confession? I never really chop them, I crush them up in my hand right over the bowl...laziness I guess).  Add Duke's mayonaise.  Yes, Duke's.  It is a true Southern treasure and any substitute will mean less taste and quality.  I also add Sauer's yellow mustard and a generous amount of sweet pickle relish.  I add all the above until it tastes like Momma's.  I don't know how to define the right balance of Duke's mayo, mustard and relish.  The eggs are an important componet. 

Oh well, maybe one day when they are missing their mom, they will make it to and remember how it tastes and be successful at it.  I hope so.  I would hate for this simple yet good recipe to fade away with me.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Cornbread Pot Pie

I FINALLY felt inspired tonight!  I had a big crowd to feed and I knew that I only had enough chicken for five people so I had to make it stretch.  I fried the chicken after dipping it into some flour mixed with my Soul Seasoning and Chipotle chili powder in some extra virgin olive oil.  When it was done I set it aside on a plate.

I took two small boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix and dumped them into a bowl.  I added two eggs and 2/3 cup of milk plus 1/2 a regular size can of white and yellow corn that had been drained.  I mixed it really well and set it aside.

In a 9 x 13 glass pan I put in one can of Campbells Cream of Chicken soup with 1/2 a can of milk and mixed until combined.  I then added a package of frozen corn in a light butter sauce (it was what I had in the freezer and butter only makes things taste better so I figured it would be okay!) and about 1/2 a package of frozen peas.  I also dumped in the rest of the can of corn that I did not use in the cornbread.

I cut the fried chicken into small pieces (I forgot to tell you the only chicken I had was some thinly sliced chicken breast, 5 pieces only).  It actually made a whole lot cut up.  I spread it out over the vegetable/soup mixture.  I then poured the cornbread mixture over the top of the chicken and veggies.  I put it in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes until the top was golden and it was all bubbly.

It was so delicious! And it was a hit with all eight people I fed!!  There was none left! Of course, I also made some homemade mac and cheese to serve on the side to make sure it stretched far enough! 

I am a happy momma when I can take care of all the people that I love.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Bread Pudding (on the fly!)

I must have bought too much emsanada bread (I have no idea if I am spelling it right!) at Angies Filipino Bakery...(Angie's Facebook page)

I decided to make bread pudding.  I love Angie's bread so I knew it would make awesome pudding.  I did not really feel like digging for recipes so I just went in the kitchen and did what I do all the time, just throw stuff together!

(4) cups of Angie's bread, cut into small pieces (not fresh, this really needs stale bread, please forgive me Angie but we had some left over!) (you can really use any bread you want as long as it is not fresh)

(4) cups of 2% milk
(1) stick of real butter

Scald the milk with the butter (don't burn your milk!).  Set aside and add:

(1) cup of sugar and stir well

Break (4) eggs into a large bowl and beat well.  Very slowly stir in the milk/butter mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time so as to temper the eggs and not scramble them.  About halfway through adding the milk, mix in:

(2) teaspoons of apple pie spice (okay, I was lazy, I did not feel like doing the cinnamon and nutmeg separate...I'm tired!)

Add the remaining milk.  Put your bread into a 13 x 9 pan.  Pour your egg/milk mixture over and press down.

Put into a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes (or until a knife inserted comes out clean)

Meanwhile, I made a vanilla hard sauce to go over it.

I put (1) cup of sugar and (2) tbsp of cornstarch into a pan on medium high heat and gradually stir in (2) cups of water.  Bring to a boil (be careful!) and boil exactly one minute.  Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup of real butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla and stir until melted/combined.

Serve some of the hard sauce over the bread pudding. YUM!