Toast from Grammy's

Kate spent spring break with David's family.  She came home with a "recipe" for brown sugar cinnamon toast.  She thought it was the best thing in the world.  I must say that I'm not shocked that she loved it.  I mean, seriously...who WOULDN'T!?!?!?  Toasted brown sugar? Um, yes, please!  So, one Sunday night her supper was brown sugar cinnamon toast with scrambled egg and fruit.  (Sweet supper prayers!)

I will be honest and say that I didn't follow the "recipe" but I'm pretty sure it was close to the same.  And, really, who can recreate Grammy's toast anyway!?  :-)  You could probably do this several different ways - mix the butter and sugar together, mix the sugar and cinnamon together, etc - but this is how I did it.  Kate seemed to approve.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Toast
bread
butter/margarine
brown sugar
cinnamon

Spread butter/margarine on a slice of bread and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Be sure to put enough and to "pack" it down.  Then sprinkle this with cinnamon.  Place in toaster oven (or oven).  No, a traditional toaster will NOT work!  Toast and enjoy!

Hummus Chicken

WAAAAY back in March, David found a recipe for a chicken dish.  It was quick and easy but I must say that I was surprised he picked this one.  It was a hummus chicken.  I'm glad I saw this again because I'll need easy meals coming up and this is SUPER easy!  My mom even tried it at her house and enjoyed it.  Gonna have to do this one again. 

Hummus Chicken
chicken breasts
salt
pepper
hummus

Preheat oven to 425.  Cut chicken breasts to the desired size.  Season as desired with salt and pepper.  Place into a baking pan.  Spread hummus over the top of the chicken breasts.  Place the pan into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the juices run clear.  Enjoy!

Fajita Casserole

During January, I bought a rotisserie chicken on clearance at the grocery store.  Nothing on my "menu" used chicken but I decided to alter for frugality sake.  I decided to do a Mexican fajita casserole. 

At first I was going to use tortillas on the top and bottom, but once I got into making it, decided that it only needed the bottom layer.  I think I was correct.  I used tomatillo salsa, refried beans, sauteed onions and peppers, and cheese.  It turned out GREAT!  I will definitely make this again!  I think my little taste tester enjoyed, too!

Chicken Fajita Casserole by me!
4 corn tortillas
refried beans
rotisserie chicken, meat pulled off the bone
tomatillo salsa
1 onion
1 pepper
cheese, shredded (variety of your choice though I'd do cheddar or monterey jack)
salsa (If desired)

Cut peppers and onions into long pieces.  Saute until translucent; place in a bowl and set aside.  Pull chicken meat off the bone.  Warm in saute pan along with enough tomatillo salsa to coat the chicken. 

Preheat oven to 350.  In a casserole pan (11x8 or 13 x9), pour a small amount of tomatillo salsa.  Place the tortillas over the bottom of the pan.  Spread refried beans over the tortillas.  You may need to warm the beans slightly.  Place chicken over the beans.  Place the vegetables on top of the chicken.  Cover with cheese.  If you want some traditional salsa you can place some over the cheese.  Place the casserole in the over and bake until cheese is bubbly, about 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

New Year and New Recipe

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years with family.  We enjoyed time with both of our families and had Christmas morning with just our little family of three.  I'll share that later.  K is with family.  David is on service this week and hasn't been feeling well, so we didn't do anything last night. 

After clinic, I came home and we got an estimate on floors for the house (oh the joys of getting ready to sell).  Then I spent 4 plus hours putting away the Christmas decorations while David did notes from work.  I "watched" the MS State game while I worked.  Hail State!  Then we watch the Duke game.  I made macaroni and cheese for David and heated up my crab cake.  Yum!  Then I made a dessert for the residents who are on the New Years portion of holiday schedule.  I think we were in bed around 1130...but our lovely neighbors were shooting fire works.  Today, I've enjoyed "Gifted Hands" about Ben Carson.  I HIGHLY recommend it!  We'll see what the rest of the day bring. 

And now for your tasting pleasure, a recipe to start off the new year.  I made this back in October when my family came for homecoming and David wants me to bring it back.  It was actually in a Kroger coupon mailout.  It does call for 2 cups of tortilla chips but I'm pretty sure I used about 1 cup.  It is called Chilaquiles.  It calls for ground chicken but you could use ground pork, turkey, or even beef.  Everyone really enjoyed it and it was easy and quick to make.  Try it out for a new recipe this year.

Chicken Chilaquiles
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground chicken (or other ground meat) - or 2 cups shredded chicken, cooked
2 cans diced tomatoes and chiles (10oz. cans, could use any brand)
15 oz. black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups broken tortilla chips (I used LESS)
1 cup cheese
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped

Cook meat. Drain.  In heated pan, cook onions and garlic.  When softened and browned, add meat, tomatoes, beans and 1/4 cup water or broth.  Stir then reduce heat to medium; cover and cook for 8-10 minutes.  Stir in the chips and cook for 5 minutes.  Add cheese and cook about another minute.  Sprinkle with cilantro and ENJOY!

Savory Pies...YUM!

This month's Daring Baker's challenge was a bit different.  Typically a baking challenge is something that is sweet. Hannah of Rise and Shine was our October 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she challenged us to bake our own double crusted savory pot pies. Using any from-scratch crust and filling we choose, we were allowed to get completely creative with our recipe, showing off the savory flavors and fillings from our own home or region.  When I told David that this was the challenge his immediate reaction was "sigh."  He's convinced he doesn't like chicken pot pie.  I quickly ensured him that the challenge wasn't for chicken pot pie but for a savory pot pie.  We had fun with this one.  I made two pot pies. 

The first one was a pizza pot pie.  I just made a batch of my pizza crust and rolled it out thin. 

Then I placed the dough in a pie plate.  I used pepperoni, roasted veggies and cheese as filling.

 We all liked it fine but decided we prefer regular pizza. 

The next pie I made was a breakfast pie.  I used a gluten free biscuit recipe because we are going to be trying a couple of weeks of gluten free meals.

 It was actually really good and David said that he liked the pie better than my traditional Christmas breakfast casserole.  Wow! 

I just scrambled eggs then layered biscuit, eggs, sausage, cheese, and biscuits and cooked it until the biscuits were done.  It was SO good!  I will definitely be making this one again!

Pizza Pot Pie
Daddy's Pizza crust
Mix and sift:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup bread flour
2 heaping teaspoons yeast (or one packet)
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar

Add a scant cup of hot water. Mix. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil. Add 1/2 cups of flour as needed (usually around 2 times). Knead. Place dough in an oiled bowl. Place this bowl in a larger bowl with warm water. Microwave for 2 minutes at power level 2, rest for 5 minutes (or longer if needed). Punch down and knead a couple of times. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Allow the dough to rest then roll out fairly thin.  Put in a pie plate.  Put pizza sauce on the bottom of crust.  Then layer with your desired toppings.  I used turkey pepperoni and roasted veggies.  Place cheese on top then fold the extra dough over the top and pinch the layers closed.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until crust is done.

Breakfast Pot Pie
You need scrambled eggs (6 eggs), sausage (about 2/3 bag of precooked turkey sausage), cheese, and one recipe of biscuits.

Scramble eggs (6 eggs was perfect).  Make your desired biscuit recipe.  I used this one:

1½ cups superfine white or brown rice flour plus more for rolling
¾ cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
6 tablespoons cold fat (such as butter, Earth Balance or shortening), cut into small pieces
¾ cup milk (any kind including dairy free) - I think I used a bit more than this


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Whisk together the flour, starch baking powder and salt. Cut the fat into the flour either with a pastry cutter, two knives or by rubbing the fat into the flour with your fingers. Make sure you leave some larger pieces of fat. Add the liquid, starting with ½ a cup and gradually adding a little more at a time, mixing until the dough comes together. Put a little flour on a work surface and dump out the dough. Knead 3 or 4 times then either roll or pat it out to about ½ inch thick.

In a pie plate, put half of the biscuit dough and press over the plate.  Put scrambled eggs on top of the biscuit dough.  Then put a layer of sausage, then a layer of cheese.  Spread the remaining portion of biscuit on top.  Place plate in oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes until it is golden.  Enjoy!

Burrrrrrrrrrr-ito!

We love Mexican dishes around here...especially David and K.  I think they would eat Mexican daily if I'd let them.  I mean, I like Mexican but three weeks of Sunday Mexican out AND me making Mexican during the week is enough.  I definitely prefer the Mexican at home. 

I found a recipe for Chicken Verde Burritos the other day and thought it sounded really good.  I thought I pinned the recipe but then later I couldn't find it; so, I just made my own!  It turned out REALLY good.  I think I'll likely repeat this in the future.  Despite K's face here...she LOVED this.  Devoured it!

 And you can easily make it vegetarian if you want to.  I actually used a Rotisserie chicken that was on sale at Kroger, which made the dish super quick and easy...perfect for ballet nights!

Chicken Verde Burritos
1 rotisserie chicken (breast meat only)
8 flour tortillas (we used low carbs...K picked them out)
1 jar tomatillo salsa
1.5 cans beans (I ran out with two tortillas to go!)
1 can sliced mushrooms (this was for me)
cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Open one can of beans.  Stir in 1/2 cup of tomatillo salsa.  Pull the breast meat off the chicken. 

Then place the ingredients in each tortilla as follows: chicken, beans, cheese.  (Omit chicken and add mushrooms for vegetarian)

Do this on the side of the tortilla closest to you.  Then wrap the tortilla by folding the tortilla towards the center, then fold the edges in (toward the center), then keep rolling into the closed burrito.  By folding the edges in, that keeps the chicken filling in.  Do this with all the tortillas.  Then pour the remaining tomatillo salsa over all the tortillas and top with more cheese.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until everything is bubbly.  Enjoy!

Mexican in a Minute

Well, maybe a few minutes but still quickly!  David and K both LOVE Mexican.  I like it, too but usually not the same form as they do.  The thing about Mexican is that is can be super quick if you need it to be...which is helpful on the days when I have clinic all day.  This day, I decided to make quesadillas on our Le Cruest grill pan. 

We've done this before but I decided to change things up a little by adding refried beans.  The good thing about this that you can tailor it for each person's taste.  On David's and K's I put beans, chicken (Tyson grilled strips - nice occasionally for convenience sake), cooked peppers and onions, and cheese.

  On mine, I put MORE refried beans, peppers and onions, and cheese.  Enjoyed with some salsa for dipping it was a great quick dinner.

Minute Quesadillas
tortillas
grilled chicken strips/chunks
grilled peppers/onions
cheese
refried beans
salsa

Preheat grill pan so that it is HOT.  Spray with cooking oil.  Put tortilla on pan then top with the fillings you want.  Fold tortilla over and place grill top on to keep the tortilla folded.  Cook until cheese is melted and tortilla "marked."  Enjoy with salsa and sour cream.

Satay Sandwich

In a "celebration" of past Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges, Lisa challenged all of us to search through the Daring Kitchen archives and pick any one we'd like! The REAL challenge was picking which delicious recipe(s) to try!  In looking through the many challenges, there were so many that I would enjoy trying.  So many, in fact, that I almost waited too long to choose one!  Last week, I made cashew butter...which was quite simple to do.  I tried to make a cashew sauce but it just didn't turn out.  However, I chose to do some satay and make it into sandwiches this past week.  I was a bit nervous about it, as David isn't a big fan of Asian flavors and this satay involved soy sauce.  Despite my worries, we all enjoyed it...and it was so easy with lots of flavor.  I did use the "easy and cheap" version but I don't think, it was lacking in any way.  I chose to marinade some chicken and mushrooms then grill them on my Le Creuset grill pan.  Then I put it atop whole wheat hoagies with some green bell pepper and cheese and toasted it.  Success!!!  Satay Sandwich.  I'd do it again for sure!

I also redid the biscuit recipe that Audie had us try.  Added some garlic salt and cheese to it in an attempt to mimic Red Lobster.  It wasn't QUITE as buttery as Red Lobster but was definitely enjoyable.  Such a fun challenge this month!

Satay:
Ingredients:
T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (1 oz or 30 mls)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ginger powder (5 mls)
1 tsp garlic powder (5 mls)
1 tsp cayenne pepper (5 mls)
Directions:

1. Mix well.
2. Cut meat into 1 inch thick strips (2-2.5 cm thick), any length.
3. Cover meat/mushrooms with marinade and chill.  I used a bag.  Chill overnight.
4. Cook on grill pan until cooked through.

 Basic Scones (a.k.a. biscuits)
Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk

Preheat oven to 475.  In a bowl, triple sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.  After that, put cold butter into bowl and cut into flour (I used my pastry blender but you could use two knives or your hands).  Then stir in about 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk and it was fine).  You should have a slightly sticky dough.  Place dough on pastry cloth or board.  Roll out to 1/2 inch thick.  Then cut into desired shape.  If you have a biscuit cutter, use that.  If not, just use a knife.  Place biscuits on baking stone and place stone in oven.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.

BBQ Red Bean Burgers

Thankfully, K is a good eater.  In fact, I think some of her favorite meals are when we have bean burgers.  So far I had tried black bean, white bean, chickpea...up next, red bean.  This one has a bar-b-que flavor to it, which makes it a little sweet.  I overcooked them, so they were a little dry, but David and K both liked them a lot.  David put cheese and more sauce on his.  A little healthy option for BBQ in the summer????  Probably not quite the same but still good and easy.

BBQ Red Bean Burger from The Kitchen Witch via Jackie Likes to Eat via pinterest
Ingredients:
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 15 oz can reduced sodium red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce, plus extra for bun
4 slices cheddar cheese

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil and the onion, garlic, tomato, jalapeno, and chili powder. Saute until the onions are soft.

Place the kidney beans in a medium bowl and mash with a fork. Add the onion mixture, bread crumbs, egg, and barbecue sauce to the bowl and mix well.

Form the bean mixture into patties.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and brown the patties on both sides.

Amish quick bread

A couple of weeks ago when D was working in the ER, K and I decided to make some bread. 

I had seen a recipe for Amish breakfast bread on pinterest and thought it looked good.  Well, let me just tell you...it was!  Poor David didn't realize that is was a sweet bread when I sent it to work...he thought it was "just" my typical sourdough bread, so he didn't eat it. 

But, I will tell you that it was all gone from the peds lounge and the ER lounge by the end of the day.  I did have to make some minor changes in that I didn't have any regular flour, so I used cake flour.  The flour I typically use (White Lily) is more like cake flour anyway...I think.  It worked well.  The best part of the bread...the crunchy top!  YUM!!!!

Amish Breakfast Bread
(makes 2 loaves)

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk or 2 cups milk plus 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice

4 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

Cinnamon/sugar mixture:

2/3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 2 loaf pans with cooking spray.  In the bowl of a mixer, cream together butter, 2 cups of sugar, and eggs.  Add milk, flour, and baking soda and stir until mixed.  Put 1/2 of batter (or a little less) into greased loaf pans (1/4 in each pan).  Mix in separate bowl the 2/3 c sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle 3/4 of cinnamon mixture on top of the 1/2 batter in each pan.  Add remaining batter to pans; sprinkle with last of cinnamon topping.  Swirl with a knife.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 min.  or until toothpick tester come clean.  Cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing from pan.  Enjoy!

No Meat on the Menu...at Least Some

In the aforementioned menu planning, I am trying to have at least one meatless meal.  Before David and I got married...well, actually before David and I started dating almost all of my meals were meat free unless I had fish or ate out.  It just wasn't worth buying for one person...and I prefer meatless most of the time.  David and K, however, love meat!  So, I'm doing my best to make us all happy but still healthy. 

We're done a good bit of bean burgers because they both like beans.  Our most recent one was a white bean burger from How Sweet It Is.  One thing that drew me to it was quinoa.  I haven't used it much but know it's good.    Needed a little more seasoning but was good.  Definitely one I'd repeat!

 Red Pepper Quinoa Burgers

Total Time: 30 minutes

1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup chopped red peppers
1 tsp dried, minced garlic
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 whole wheat bun, toasted
for topping: whatever you want!

In a small bowl, mix together bread crumbs, basil, paprika, onion powder, salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, add beans and mash coarsely with a fork. Stir in quinoa, garlic and roasted red peppers, mixing well to combine. Add in bread crumb mixture and egg, mixing well to moisten. Once combined, add in the flour and mix well. Form into patties of desired size.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Press each quinoa ball into a large patty, being careful to press the sides together so they don't fall apart while cooking. Add to skillet and cook until golden and crisp on each side, about five minutes. Serve immediately on toasted buns with your favorite toppings! Enjoy! (reheats well, too)

Easy Biscuits - Homemade is Best!

There is something about homemade biscuits that is so much better than canned.  I made some a few weeks ago to go with a pork loin that I put in the crock pot (turned out good, too!  Some Worchestershire sauce, a can of cream of asparagus soup, and seasoning overnight).  Found some on pinterest that are from Cooking Light.  They were called fool proof.  Mine were a bit flatter than I'd like but they tasted really good!  David took them to work for breakfast for a few days.  K enjoyed them, of course.  I figure they only add about 5-10 minutes to prep time, so I'll do them over canned.  :-)

Foolproof Biscuits from Cooking Light, November 2008

9 oz (about 2 cups) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup cold buttermilk
3 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter cubes, and use a pastry cutter (or your fingertips, if you'd rather) to cut in the butter until the pieces are no bigger than peas - the mixture should resemble coarse meal. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, whisk together the buttermilk and honey in a measuring cup. Add to the bowl with the butter/flour mixture and stir gently just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently about 3-4 times to bring it together. The dough may still be a little crumbly, that's fine. Roll the dough into a 9x5-inch rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Fold the dough into thirds like a business letter (using the long sides of the rectangle). Once again, roll the dough into a 9x5-inch rectangle about 1/2-inch thick, and again fold it into thirds like a letter. Roll the dough out to 3/4-inch thickness (the shape doesn't really matter). Using a 1 3/4-inch round cutter, cut biscuits from the dough (don't twist the cutter, use a straight up and straight down motion) and transfer to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch of space between them. (I gathered the scraps and cut more biscuits once or twice to get as many as possible.)

Bake for about 11-12 minutes, or until the biscuits have risen and are golden brown on top. Remove the baking sheet and transfer the biscuits to a wire rack. Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve warm. Or, if you won't be serving immediately, pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds when you are ready.

Makes 12-14 biscuits

Adios, February

This month has been so long!  Yes, it's the shortest month but it doesn't seem like it.  Not only is the wedding drawing near but D has been on a call month.  The good thing is that he doesn't take overnight call.  The bad thing...you never know how late he'll have to work.  I'd rather know that I'll be staying with K rather than wondering if I'll be with her or back at my place.  Sigh...so frustrating.  Anyway, right before this month started, K was staying with D's parents and I had D pick what he wanted for dinner.

  I kind of figured he'd pick the Mexican casserole.  He loves ground beef...I do NOT like the flavor of it!  So, I used ground pork.  It is much better to me and I don't think anyone else really knows it's not beef.  The recipe calls for quite a bit of cheese and chips.  I didn't use nearly as much as called for and I don't think there was anything lacking.  D really liked it and I actually enjoyed it, too.  A good, easy dish that I think would please the whole family.

Mexican Casserole adapted from Plain Chicken
1 pound lean ground pork
 1 can Ranch Style beans
 tortilla chips, crushed
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided (not really sure how much I used - original recipe said 2 cups, I know I didn't use this much)
1 package taco seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large skillet, brown meat and drain off fat (I did this the night before). Stir in beans, tomatoes, onion, taco seasoning, soup and water. Simmer over medium-low heat until everything is well combined and heated through.

Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. Put down a layer of crushed tortilla chips, followed by a layer of the meat/bean mixture, then half of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Soup's On!

We've been having the typical MS winter weather...3 days of "cold" weather followed by 3 of 70+ temps and back again.  When it gets cold (or even when it's not!) I like to have soup.  K went to see her grandparents last week, so D and I were alone.  We had a couple of parties to go to but several days in between.  I told D that I thought about soup or Mexican for dinner; so, he went and found a Mexican soup recipe after his clinic was over.  :-)  We ended up not having enough time to make it that night; so, I changed it to make overnight in the crockpot.  At first, we weren't so sure about it...but it turned out really good!  The recipe calls for 2 quarts of chicken broth, which I think was a little too much and I added an extra can of rotel tomatoes and red kidney beans.  YUM!  I still have some in my refrigerator and can't wait to have it for lunch.

Mexican Bean and Squash Soup adapted from AllRecipes
2 cups butternut squash - pealed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 Chipolte peppers (canned in adobo sauce) seeded, and minced
2 teaspoons basil
1 teaspoon cumin
2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes
2 quarts chicken broth (maybe 6 cups next time?)
1 can cannellini beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can corn

For serving:
limes
tortilla chips
cheese
sour cream
green onions

Put all ingredients into crockpot and cook on high for 6-8 hours or low for 10 hours.  When ready to serve, squirt lime juice on each bowl and top with desired toppings.  Enjoy!

What You Get When You Make Meatloaf Muffins!

Monday, D was on call, so I kept Miss K.  The next day, they were coming to my house for dinner because I needed an early night to get ready for my board exam the next day.  So, I decided to make dinner Monday to make Tuesday as easy as possible.  Now, D loves meatloaf.  I'm not the biggest fan because of the ground beef but can handle it because of the tomato sauce on it!  :-)  However, I didn't get around to making it until around 800 and I still hadn't eaten supper, was tired, and needed to study some.  Hmmm....how to make fast meatloaf?

 Meatloaf muffins.  It cuts the baking time from about an hour to about 20 minutes.  Winner!  Plus, it's preportioned, easy to reheat, and easy to transport.  I ended up using half beef, half turkey because that's what was in the oldest frozen ground meat pack.  Turned out good.  Tuesday D said he liked it (and then on Thursday when we had left overs..."This is good!"  Yay!).  K didn't care for it that much.  I can handle that.  Make meatloaf muffins for D and send them with him to work for lunch.  BTW, check out these beautiful pre-test flowers D gave me! 

They went home and I got ready for my test.  It was okay...not as awful as I was expecting but still difficult.  Now to wait for results in January!  YIKES!  For celebration, D and I decided to go out to eat.  He suggested a local Drive-In called Walker's.  YES! 

Now, this isn't your typical Drive-In.  Guy Fieri should totally visit here.  They serve mostly seafood.  We had redfish and red snapper...delicious!  D encouraged me to get dessert; so I had pumpkin, pecan, praline bread pudding....oh my!  Divine!  Then....whether it was the meatloaf muffins or something else....D asked me to marry him! 

Of course, I said "Yes!"  He picked out the ring all by himself and it is gorgeous!  I am so thankful that God placed him and K in my life, and that I am going to be able to be a part of their lives as a family. 

So, I guess there will be some different posts in addition to normal food stuff for a little while.  :-)

Meatloaf Muffins
1 pound ground meat, I used half beef, half turkey
20 crumbled saltine crackers
2 eggs
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
garlic salt
pepper

Sauce
Ketchup
Mustard
 Sorry...no real measurements, I did about 3/4 ketchup, 1/4 mustard.  Warm and spoon over muffins.

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a medium sized bowl, place all ingredients.  Mix together with a wooden spoon or your hands.  Spray muffin pan with cooking spray.  Spoon meat mixture into muffin pan.  It will make 12 muffins.  Place into preheated over and allow to cook for 25 minutes.  Remove and allow to cool.  Enjoy...you might even get engaged if you make these!  ;-)

Enchiladas for All

I've been wanting to make enchiladas for a while but D kept saying that he didn't like the sauce.  I've been looking for recipes despite this! 

Well, I came across a recipe for beef enichiladas with zucchini in the filling - compromise is key here!  D likes ground beef, I don't really...I like zucchini, D doesn't really. 

We'll just have both!  Along with this recipe was a recipe for homemade enchilada sauce that "doesn't taste like the metallic store-bought sauce."  Hmmmm....ingredients were all things that D likes.  I decided to give it a whirl. 

Now, the recipe calls for you to mix the beef and zucchini together; but, because of our differing tastes, I just decided to put the components together individually.  This gives you the ability to make each enchilada with more or less of a certain ingredient.  I made D's with more beef and less zucchini and mine just the opposite.

 Miss K ended up picking out the filling and eating it without the tortilla (and then later wouldn't eat the filling of quesadillas but only at the tortilla...go figure!).  I'd say it was a successful try at enchiladas that could be repeated.

Beef and Zucchini Enchiladas from Recipe Girl

1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 cups (about 2 medium) finely diced zucchini
12 corn tortillas, slightly heated to soften
2 1/2 cups enchilada sauce (see below for recipe!)
About 1 cup cheese
Serve as desired.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray.

Heat a large skillet. Add ground beef; break apart with a spoon or spatula to crumble the meat. Saute the meat on medium heat until browned (about 5 minutes). Tilt the pan and spoon the fat out of the pan; discard. Remove cooked meat to a bowl.

Return pan to medium heat and add onion and zucchini. Saute until just soft.  Now you're ready to prepare the enchiladas.

Add 1/2 cup of sauce to the prepared 13X9 pan. Spread it around so it coats the entire bottom of the pan.
Place tortilla on a work surface. Spoon the desired amounts of meat and zucchini on top of the tortilla. Sprinkle a small amount of cheese the meat and zucchini. Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of sauce on top. Wrap the tortilla around the filling tightly and place it seam-side-down in the pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling until you have finished filling 12 tortillas. Place the tortillas side-by-side in the pan- it's okay if they are all snuggled in there tightly. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the stuffed enchiladas. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove pan from the oven and take off the foil. Sprinkle1/2 cup cheese on top; return to the oven and let the cheese melt (about 5 minutes).  Serve immediately with desired condiments.  Enjoy!

Enchilada Sauce

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon salt
 
Heat oil in a large skillet to medium heat. Whisk in flour and chili powder. Reduce heat to medium and continue to whisk until lightly browned. Gradually whisk in tomato sauce, chicken broth, cumin, garlic powder, onion salt and salt. Stir until smooth, and continue simmering over medium heat about 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Serve immediately, or keep in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

 

Source: RecipeGirl.com

An Old Favorite Jazzed Up

Who doesn't love a good rice krispie treat?!  A couple of months ago, Kroger had Rice Krispies on sale and I decided to try the gluten free version.  They weren't bad but I didn't really care for them to eat as cereal...so I decided to make some treats. 

The box instructions read as if there was some new, awesome recipe...but it really is just the classic recipe with the new cereal.  K started out helping me but it just wasn't as fun, apparently, as cookies or cupcakes!  I've always thought that rice krispie treats were hard to make because they are so sticky but these actually worked well. 

When I was done, I decided to top it off with some leftover white chocolate candy topping.  This was really a perfect use for the half-package that I had left.  I took some to work in the ER and sent the rest home with D.  The ER folks ate them quickly and D said that his family really liked them.  So, if you want a little twist on the traditional rice krispie treat use gluten free cereal...or top it with white chocolate...or both!  :-)

White Chocolate Topped Rice Krispie Treats
2 tablespoons butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups rice krispies
1/2 package white chocolate melting chocolate (the kind you use to cover cake balls, etc)

Melt marshmallows and butter in a sauce pan and stir until melted.  Once melted, stir in the cereal until well coated.  Pour mixture into greased OR wax paper coated 13 X 9 pan and press down with a cooking spray coated spatula.  Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top. Melt the chocolate per package instructions and spread over the krispie treats.  Place in refrigerator to allow chocolate to firm.  Cut into desired sized treats and enjoy!