Touchdown Casserole

3 cups egg noodles
1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
1 large orange bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1# ground beef
1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 pkg pepperoni
1/4# olives, pitted and sliced
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese

1)  Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Spray 2-qt baking dish with nonstick spray.   Cook noodles as directed.  Rinse and drain.

2) Cook onion, bell pepper and mushroom over medium-high heat 5 minutes.   Add beef.   Cook until browned.  Drain fat.   Add spaghetti sauce, soup, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese and noodles.   Spoon into baking dish.

3)  Bake, until hot, about 30-35 minutes.   Top with remaining cheese (1/4 cup), pepperoni, olives, and parmesan cheese.   Bake 5 minutes longer.

Verdict:
TOUCHDOWN!!!   This one wins!   A great company pleaser, even the kids love this one (though I did find a few stray mushrooms left on the plate).   My kids call this recipe "Pizza Pie".   Hey, whatever works for getting them to eat their dinner!  Great to fix for watching all the great college ball tomorrow on New Year's Day or a great one to make next month for the big Super Bowl Game! 

Stuffing in the Crockpot

Call it Dressing or call it Stuffing...but whatever you do, be sure you haven't overlooked a post I made last December.  With company and holiday meals in the limelight, now is the time to revisit this one:  Slow Cooker Stuffing.  It's always a favorite at our house. 

Hope your Thanksgiving has been as blessed as mine!  Laurie

From Scratch Pot Pies

I'm so happy to finally be sitting down and posting a recipe to this blog! With our move (twice) and all the unpacking and the adjusting (and not adjusting) to new schools...new recipes, cooking full meals, photography and blogging have been out of my reach.  I'm oh so full of relief to see the light of hope and get myself back into the kitchen on a routine. I love to cook!

Here's a perfect recipe just in time for the holidays. Wondering what to do with your leftover turkey? Make these pot pies from scratch and your family will be Thankful for you!

My recipe is a hybrid from two of my favorite cookbooks:  The Joy of Cooking, 75th Edition, by Irma Rombauer and French Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Loomis.   If you only own one cookbook, The Joy of Cooking should be it! You'll find a reference for everything inside. 

The star ingredient in this homemade delicacy: chicken or turkey. I start with organic chicken; Costco has a bag of two for a sweet price. Organic free range birds make for the most savory, flavorful broth.  After you've roasted your bird, you'll end up with some delicious left overs just waiting for good use. Pull the meat off the bone and save in a dish. Don't forget to make a wish! Throw the whole carcass, juices and skin into a big pot. Add enough water to cover bird, and simmer for at least 30 minutes.  It's that easy!

Here is the pastry I like to use for pot pies, based on the French Farmhouse Cookbook.

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

7 Tbsp unsalted butter (chilled & cut into 7 pieces)

• In kitchen aide mixer, place 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour, 1/4 tsp sea salt and 7 Tbls unsalted butter.  Blend until mixture looks like course peas.

• Add 5 Tbls ice water and blend until pastry begins to hold together and is sticky.  Add 1 Tbls more of ice water as needed to just hold pastry together.

• Place pastry on floured pastry mat and shape into round. If at all possible, let it rest for 30 minutes lightly dusted with flour and covered with a tea towel.

• Roll out dough. For a pie dish, roll and cut into 2 9-inch rounds.  
• For individual ramekins, cut into 12 5-inch rounds.

For filling:

3 Tbls butter

1/2 cup flour

1 cup rice milk, divided

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups frozen vegetables

1-2 cups cooked chicken or turkey

Salt

Pepper

•  Melt 3 Tbls of butter in large saucepan.
• In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of cold rice milk.  Whisk until smooth and completely mixed.  Add another 1/2 cup of cold rice milk, and mix.
• Add milk mixture to melted butter and whisk in saucepan over medium heat.
• Add 2 cups of broth and whisk thoroughly. 

• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Add 2 cups of frozen petite vegetables.
• Add chopped, cooked chicken/turkey to saucepan.
• Stir until heated.
• Place pastry in bottom of each ramekin.

• Using a soup ladle, place 2 scoops of filling into each ramekin.
• Place a pastry round on top of each. Cut a small hole/slit in the top of each pastry.

• For nice glossy finish, brush top of each pastry with a little beaten egg.
• Bake at 350 convection or 375 standard
• For single pie, bake about 30-40 minutes. 
• For individual ramekins, bake about 20-30 minutes, until tops are brown and filling is bubbling.

Snow Ice-Cream

It SNOWED & school is canceled!!  I'm dedicating this recipe to our new pastor and family who just moved here from San Diego and are loving all of the snow.   I grew up in snow country and we would make this every year though I don't think we ever had an official "recipe" for it.   I still live in the Pacific NW, but we don't get as much snow on this side of the mountain and its not a winter guarantee.   A friend did reminded me that this recipe is best not done with the "first" snow of the season, but since the first snow might also be the last, I just highly suggest that you make sure you get CLEAN snow for this recipe and maybe add extra sugar!


Snow Ice-Cream

1 medium size serving bowl full of CLEAN snow
1-2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 - 1 cup milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla syrup (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and eat immediately.

I don't think I've ever actually measured out the ingredients.   I just eye ball it for the most part.   I have a medium size tupperware bowl that I collect the snow in.   I sprinkle the sugar on top so there is a light coating covering the top, gently pour out some vanilla and syrup, then keep pouring the milk in and stirring until it gets slightly soupy.   My kids decided they wanted chocolate chip ice-cream so we threw a few chocolate chips to the top.  Eat and enjoy right away.   You can save it and freeze, but it becomes pretty hard and not as good.   Fresh is the best!

Harvest Soup

Harvest Soup

1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1# ground meat (I used turkey)
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
3 red potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 acorn squash, peeled and chopped
1 (15oz) can kidney beans, drained
1 (10oz) can diced tomatoes
4-6 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Saute onion and garlic in a little bit of oil for about 3-5 minutes.   Add meat.  Cook until brown, drain fat.   Place meat/onion in large stock pot.   Add potatoes, squash, kidney beans, and tomatoes.   Pour 4-6 cups of chicken broth on top (should barely cover ingredients).   Add cloves & allspice.  Mix well.   Bring to boil, then simmer on stove for 45 minutes to 1 hour.   Potatoes and squash should be soft. 


Verdict:

When I first read this recipe, I was kind of dreading it because it had so many ingredients, especially the kind that involves a lot of peeling and chopping.   I had all of the ingredients for 2 weeks (meat was in freezer) before I ended up making it, but after the first bite, it was all worth it!   This soup is full of nutritional yummy!   Everyone had seconds and thirds, except for the 2 year old who kept complaining it was "hot".   The 6 year old kept asking what would happen if you ate too much good for you food.    They also topped theirs with cheddar cheese.   I think it could have used a little more salt (which we added at the table), but I had also only used 2 cups of  broth and then for the rest just used water.   I guess I should have added a little more salt or my magic broth.    I would definitely make this again.

For some reason I was also craving Irish Soda Bread, so we had that as our bread for the meal to go along with the soup, but I also think we counted it as our dessert.   I think it is the first time I've made that bread on any other day other St. Patrick's Day.  

Slow Cooker Apple Pork

I searched for "apple" recipes on our blog the other day and nothing showed up!!!    Apples just say "autumn" to me, so not only do we have them as our main fruit staple right now, but I've been making tons of different apple recipes.   I guess I'm on a big apple kick right now.  This one turned out well and was easy, not to mention budget friendly, so had to add it to the list of recipes to share with you.

Apple Pork

Ingredients:

1# pork tenderloin or roast
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 onion, chopped
3 apples, peeled and sliced
1 t ground cinnamon
2 T brown sugar
2 T lemon juice


Directions:

Put 1/2 cup water into the bottom of a slow cooker.   Place pork into it and sprinkle with salt and pepper.   Place chopped onions around the pork.

In a bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, and brown sugar.   Toss well.  Pour over the roast in the slow cooker.   Set the slow cooker to low, cooking for 8 hours.

Verdict:

I don't know what it is about pork and apples that go together so well.  Yum!  Talk about comfort food!   Most of the time I make pork chops with applesauce.   This is a version of that, but with homemade applesauce chunks.   The pork almost fell apart in the slow cooker and was deliciously juicy with a sweet apple taste.   We served ours with brown rice and salad.   I used a 1-1/2# pork tenderloin and there should have been left overs for our family of 5, but it was sooo yummy that everyone had seconds and some thirds, even the picky 1 1/2 yr old!   This is what is for dinner this week.

Mini Apple Pies

Mini Apple Pies

Directions:

1 pkg of refrigerated biscuits
1 apple, peeled and cut into small pieces
2 T brown sugar
1 T lemon juice
1 t apple pie spice (or 1/4 t of allspice, cinnamon, ginger, & nutmeg)
1-2 T butter

Preheat oven to 350.   Put the apple pieces into a small bowl.   Add brown sugar, lemon juice, & spice.   Let set while preparing biscuits.   Have spouse or kids open biscuits (the popping sound freaks me out!)    Take each biscuit and divide in half (should have 12 total pieces).   Take each section and stretch out with your hands until slightly wider than a muffin tin hole.   Push stretched out biscuit piece into a hole of a muffin tin.   Add a small scoop of the apple mix onto each pie crust.   Add a dab of butter to the top of each pie.   Cook for 15 minutes.   Can be served with a dollop of whipped cream.

Verdict:

Deliciously easy!   The kids were able to help prepare and the mini pies were the perfect amount for an after dinner treat!  It would also make an excellent after school snack.   I don't think it will ever replace Mom's homemade apple pie, but if you are craving a bite of apple pie, this is super fast and easy and will hit the spot! 

~Denise

White Chocolate & Craisin Scones

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup craisins
1 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions:
Combine flour, soda, baking powder, and sugar in a mixing bowl; blend together.

Cube cold butter and blend into the mixture until it becomes small crumbs.

Mix together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla; add to the butter/flour mixture.   Mix just until blended.

Add the craisins and white chocolate chips.  Mix just until well blended.  Don't overmix!!

Divide dough in half.  Form into two 9" circles.  Cut each circle into 8 pie shape wedges. (I actually do this last step after I bake it, though you'll need to increase the cooking time a bit if you leave it in a large lump for cooking---see picture below)

Bake 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Verdict:
I've had several requests from family and friends asking for this recipe, so here it finally is.  If you don't think you like scones, you'll have to try this recipe.   I haven't found anyone who doesn't like it.   I made it for company the other day and it had been so long since I've made these I almost forgot how good they are.   I think its a great excuse for eating cake for breakfast!   Of course, can't beat tea and scones for any meal or snack of the day as far as this Tea Queen is concerned!  

Don't worry about doing substitutes either.   I didn't have buttermilk in the house so I made my own by adding 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice to regular milk (any percentage is fine) and letting it set for about 10 minutes (while I was mixing the other stuff).   I also couldn't find any white chocolate chips so just used regular.   I ultimately prefer the white chocolate in this recipe, but regular milk chocolate worked just fine!

~Denise

Robert's Japanese Rice Dish (a.k.a. Soboro Donburi)

We have some friends that spent a year in Japan for work.  They brought this recipe home with them to share with all of their friends.   The name of the recipe is Soboro Donburi, but we kept forgetting that name so we have renamed it to Robert's Japanese Rice Dish.

Robert's Japanese Rice 
(Soboro Donburi)


2 cups rice
1/2 # ground chicken or beef
3T soy sauce
3T sugar
3T mirin (or water)
1 tsp ginger

4 eggs
1T sugar
1T mirin
1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:
Cook rice.

Put ground meat, soy sauce, sugar mirin and ginger in a pan.  Saute the meat, stirring constantly until moisture is almost gone.  (I used 1# of ground turkey.)

Beat eggs in a bowl and add sugar, mirin, and salt.  Scramble eggs finely until moisture is gone.  

Put steamed rice on a platter.   Arrange ground meat and scrambled egg topping in two different sections on top of the rice.   Sprinkle green peas over the toppings if you would like.

My favorite recipe blog site has a section in each post that is called "verdict" in which the blogger describes how she liked the dish and the big one- how the kids liked it!   I always immediately go to that part of the post before even thinking about making the dish.   Since it is my favorite part of the post, I decided I would like to start that, too, here on this blog post. 

VERDICT:
Love this recipe!!!   I was trying to think of an easy recipe to make for dinner tonight of ingredients that I already had in the house and this is the recipe.   It's one of those recipes that everyone loves and will eat, even all the kids and my brother-in-law (as long as the peas are left off).   My sister made this one time for all the people in her small group and it got great approval reviews from everyone who tried it.   Thanks Roberts!

Lime Grilled Ahi

Goodbye high-end restaurants! Hello backyard BBQ!  This is one amazingly easy, fantastic recipe, and it quickly made it into my Favorite Recipes Cookbook.

We make this at least every other week in summer time.  For our family, THIS IS summer at it's best:  the smell of seared seafood on the grill, the taste of a chilled wine on your tongue, the sounds of children playing, the warm rays of the setting sun, the pink sky promising a beautiful tomorrow - - the perfect al fresco dinner.

This is so easy you'll wonder why you've paid so much in a restaurant! The key is finding a butcher who knows about delicate seafood, not just meat. You want a high grade yellow-fin tuna, or low grade ahi. Don't pay for a shashimi grade ahi; you are going to sear this fish. In Central Oregon, I go to Newport Market for the freshest seafood and knowledgeable staff.

Here's what you need:

• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup lime juice
• ⅛ cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, fresh, minced
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 lb yellow fin tuna or low grade ahi tuna

***glaze ***

• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

What to do:

• Mix together olive oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, garlic, ginger and cilantro for your marinade. (Note: If I'm out of cilantro, I skip it. Don't make a trip to the market just for the cilantro.)

• Place tuna fillets in shallow baking dish and pour marinade to coat. Turn over and coat again with remaining marinade.

• Allow to marinade 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

• Mix glaze and set aside.

• Preheat grill for high heat. When high temp is reached, rub grill grate with an oil soaked paper towel. Resoak towel with oil and rewipe grill until grill is shiny clean from oil, about 3-6 times.


• When grill is hot, reduce heat to low and place fillets on cleaned grate.

• Close lid and cook 1-2 minutes.

• Flip carefully and close lid to sear fish, about 1 minute. 

My husband likes his rare, so 1 minute per side is plenty. He usually leaves mine on for another 1-2 minutes when it is just barely pink in the middle. At this point, our family is done. We like it mostly seared and rare.

• Open lid and baste with remaining marinade until cooked as thoroughly as you like brush on glaze and serve.

Serve any remaining glaze with tuna on the table.

Happy grilling!   Laurie

Wheat Berry Salad

This is my new favorite summer salad recipe.  I had some leftover grilled chicken, and noticed a jar of wheat berries in my pantry. So I googled "Wheat Berries" on Food Network and came up with a recipe from Healthy Appities with Ellie Kriger.

Of course I changed a few things, but I still need to give her the credit for getting me started.  The first time I made it my fridge was empty of greens, so I left them out and just did the walnuts without toasting them, and changed the cherries to craisins.  And it was good. Comparable to that expensive wheat berry salad sold at Whole Foods.  

Next I made it with all the greens, and to be honest, it was too much. I prefer it with alot less celery, onions and parsley so I cut them in half for the recipe below.  Serve it outside on the patio with grilled chicken for a perfect summer evening meal.

The great thing about this salad it how easy it is! The wheat berries take about an hour, so make them in the morning while you are fixing breakfast, or the night before as you make dinner.

I also like that this salad holds up well for transporting, and that it doesn't wilt or melt in the warm summer sun.  Perfect for picnics!

Here's what you need:

• 1 ½ cups hard wheat berries
• ¾ cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 small stalk celery, finely chopped
• ½ cup dried craisins, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons small green onion, white and green parts, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to prepare:

• In a large pot combine the wheat berries and enough water to come 2 inches over the wheat berries. I used almost 6 cups of water.  Bring this to a boil and cook uncovered for 1 hour, or until tender.

• Drain and let cool.

• While the berries are cooking, chop the veggies. This is where a Pampered Chef Chopper comes in real handy, or look at it as good practice for your knife handling skills.

• In a large bowl, combine the wheat berries, walnuts, celery, craisins, green onion, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

See how easy that is!

Raspberry Streusel Muffins

Its mid-July, raspberry season in my region of the Pacific Northwest, and this year I am terribly sad because the fabulous organic raspberries which I lovingly grew and tended the past five & a half years are now miles and miles away awaiting a new owner, and I am in a rental house longing for the joy of fresh picked raspberries every morning.  I comfort myself knowing that a few girlfriends are enjoying them with their family. Oh how I miss those berries and all the wonderful treats I've made with them....here's a sample of some of the creations my family and friends have enjoyed:

Raspberry Tea Cakes...

Raspberry Delight

Raspberry Cobbler

 Raspberry Tarte

 Raspberry Syrup

Raspberry Cheesecake

Raspberry Jam

Sigh...now for the reason I started this post... a moist muffin combining the tartness of raspberries with a delicious nutty streusel topping. 

This is a another recipe once made, then placed in my piles of cookbooks and recipe clippings never filed or categorized...thus lost in a wonderland of recipes hoping to be rediscovered. How many of you can relate?  (Ummm, this is where you post a comment on the blog and dialog with me.)

Here's what you need to begin:

• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ cup rice milk
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup whole raspberries, divided

***Streusel Topping***

• ¼ cup pecan, chopped
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

So let's get started:

• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder.

• In a small bowl, blend rice milk, butter and egg.

• By hand stir rice milk mixture into flour mixture just until moistened.

• Scoop one small PC scoop of batter (about 1 Tablespoon) into each of 12 muffin cups.

• Divide half of the berries into the 12 cups on top of batter, about 2-4 raspberries per cup. Top raspberries with the remaining batter, about another PC scoop or so.

• Top the batter with the remaining raspberries, 2-4 raspberries each cup.

• For the topping, combine streusel ingredients until mixture resembles moist crumbs. Sprinkle on 1 Tablespoon per muffin.

• Bake at 350 convection for 20 minutes (high altitude, so adjust to 375 standard, and about 25 minutes).

• Let stand in muffin pan 5 minutes.

• Cool on rack.

Here's hoping you'll find a berry patch nearby where you can pick your own and delight your family as well.

Happy Summer,  Laurie

Summer Sangria

It's been a while since I've posted because our family moved the middle of June. So in the midst of boxes to pack and unpack, and sunshine finally arriving and my kids wanting to be outside, cooking hasn't been a priority for me.  I've been relying on tried and true, easy grilling recipes, salads, and lots of fruits.  I love the Farmers Market and can hardly wait for each Wednesday to arrive.

This is summer fruit:

But kick it up a notch and you'll have a really quick crowd pleaser for summer fun hanging with your friends: homemade Sangria.  This recipe is so easy you can make it in less than 20 minutes, start to finish, but it's best made the day before so the flavors really mellow together.

Here's what you need:

• 4 cups water (see, how easy is that!)
• 2 tea bags
• 4 to 5 tablespoons raw sugar
• 1 peach, peeled, pitted and sliced thin

• 4 large strawberries, hulled and sliced thin
• 1 orange, peeled and all white pith removed, cut into slices
• 1 cup of dry red wine (or white if that's your thing)
• ice cubes

Mix it up:

• Bring water to boil in medium saucepan. Remove from heat.
• Add tea bags and steep while prepping the fruit. (Steep at least 3 minutes).

• Stir sugar into warm tea and stir to dissolve.
• Slice fruit and place into a pitcher. 

• Pour wine over fruit.
• Remove tea bags, and pour tea over fruit and wine.
• If serving immediately, fill glasses with ice and pour Sangria over ice.
• Otherwise, chill overnight.

Serves 4 -8 depending on the size of your beverage glass.