Christmas Pasta

Several years ago, I was watching the Food Network and Rachael Rae made a dish called "Christmas Pasta".  We have adapted it to the likes of our family.

Christmas Pasta
2 pounds hamburger
1 chopped onion
2 cups chopped pancetta
2 cups chopped salami
Spaghetti Sauce (gravy), the amount depends on what you like
1 cup parmesan
2 pounds penne, cooked
chopped roasted red bell pepper
chopped black olives
chopped artichoke hearts (marinated)
slices soft mozzarella cheese

Cook hamburger and onion together.  Add other meats, gravy, and parmesan cheese.  Simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add cooked penne and mix together.  Stir in peppers, olives, and artichoke hearts.

Serve with mozzarella cheese and extra parmesan.

Chicken Spinach Burgers

A few weeks ago I saw a recipe on TV for Chicken Spinach Burgers.  I'm not a huge burger fan, but my family really likes them so I figured I'd give'em a try.  I am a huge chicken fan so that was a point in my favor.  I almost followed the recipe,lol.  I didn't use fresh garlic because I was being lazy.  I used garlic powder instead and it was fine.  The final result was really good.  We've probably made this recipe 3 times already.  It's that good.

Steel Cut Oats

We really like steel cut oats for breakfast, but I'm not thrilled with having to cook them for at least 45 minutes first thing in the morning.  Call me lazy, but I've found a better way and it's healthy, too.  Oats and other grains are much healthier if they are soaked for several hours.  My method gives you the health benefits of soaking, the flavor and texture of steel cut oats, and the convenience of instant.


At night, before going to bed, measure out about 1 1/2 cups steel cut oats and put them in a oiled crockpot.  Cover with about 6 cups of water and add 2 Tablespoons of butter.  Cook on low all night.  In the morning, stir in any crust that has developed.  Serve plain or with honey and milk.  Fresh fruit is also really good in this.


Sometimes we end up with some oatmeal leftover and rather than waste it we just refrigerate it and it heats up very well.  It tastes as good the next day as it did the first.

Meat Loaf

Meat loaf is one of those meals that everyone has made at one time or another.  I really like it so I make it often.  What I've discovered from talking to others lately is that not every thinks it is an easy meal to prepare.  This recipe is very simple and has not failed me yet.


MEAT LOAF
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 cup dry oatmeal
1 cup milk (approximately)
2 eggs
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper


In a large mixing bowl, pour milk over dry oatmeal until covered.  Let the oatmeal/milk mixture sit until the oatmeal has soaked up the milk (about 10 minutes).
To this mixture, add ground beef, eggs, and spices.  With your hands mix all the ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.  Pat into two loaf pans or one 9x13" baking dish.  Bake @350* for about 45 minutes or until the thermometer reaches 170*
About 15 minutes before the end of the baking time, brush on ketchup or bbq sauce, if desired.

Sorry the picture is so blurry.

HEALING FOODS: BANANAS

God has given us many foods to enjoy.  Not only do they make our taste buds sing, many of them heal our bodies of various ailments.  


Today's healing food is bananas.  Here are just a few things bananas can help with:
*diarrhea
*cholesterol
*prevention of pancreatic cancer
*stomach upset
*has antibiotic activity


While most people can enjoy bananas on a regular basis, there are a few people who have unpleasant side effects from eating bananas.  Bananas can cause gas in some people and also migraine headaches in a few.  

One of my favorite ways to eat bananas is in a smoothie.  Here's an easy recipe.

FRUIT SMOOTHIE

1 cup juice (I like orange)

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 banana

1/2 container vanilla yogurt

1 cup frozen fruit or ice

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend till smooth.

Baked French Toast

I made some seed bread a few days ago.  It had a good flavor but I'm still working on getting the texture right.  After the first day, it seemed to get stale quickly.  It was also a little more dense than I liked.  When I get the recipe improved to my liking, I will post it here.  Meanwhile, this is what I did with the  leftover stale bread.


BAKED FRENCH TOAST
1 loaf sliced, slightly stale whole grain bread
5 eggs, beaten slightly
1 cup milk
2 cups blueberries
3 T. maple syrup
1 t. vanilla extract
3 T brown sugar


Lay half of the bread slices in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Mix the eggs, milk, syrup, and vanilla extract together.  Pour half of the egg mixture over bread slices.  Sprinkle blueberries over this.  Lay the other half of the bread slices over the blueberries.  Pour the rest of the egg mixture over bread slices.  Sprinkle with brown sugar. 
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, take pan out of refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Bake at 350* for one hour, turning the top bread slices about halfway through baking.  Serve with butter and maple syrup.

Irish Soda Bread

This is the recipe I used for Irish Soda Bread last week.  It was really good just plain, but I think it would be even better toasted with butter.  The recipe is from the Taste of Home Baking Book.


IRISH SODA BREAD
4 C. flour
1/4 C sugar
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
6 T shortening
1/2 C raisins
1 T caraway seeds
1 1/4 C buttermilk
1 egg


Combine flour,sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.  Cut in shortening until crumbly.  Stir in raisins and caraway seeds.  Combine buttermilk and egg.  Stir into the crumb mixture.  Knead gently 5-6 times. 
Divide dough into two balls.  Shape until round. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cut a cross into dough about 1/4" deep.  Bake at 375* for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Irish Brownies

For Saint Patrick's Day last week, we had Irish stew and Irish soda bread.  For dessert we had Irish brownies made into cupcakes.  We have had these brownies many times in the past and I always made the mint frosting white because we don't use food coloring.  This time, we made them the prettiest shade of green.  I made the frosting like usual, flavored it with vanilla and mint extract, then added a little bit of spinach powder.  The spinach powder made it such a pretty spring-like color and we couldn't taste it at all.  Next time, I'm going to try beet powder to see if I can get a true red.  I bought the powders at a place called Mountain Rose Herbs, where my daughter gets most of her herbs for her studies.  

Brownies

This is from the Boyer family cookbook.  I made it for Bible study Monday night and it was a big hit!   No pictures for this one either.  We ate it too quick.   Here's the recipe.

OLD VIRGINIA BROWNIES
4 eggs
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
10 Tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 cups flour

Beat eggs; melt butter.  Add butter to eggs in mixing bowl.  Add all other ingredients except flour.  Beat thoroughly. Add flour and mix thoroughly with wooden spoon.  Spread in a greased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350* for 30 minutes.

Pam's Apple Cobbler

A few days ago I made my friend Pam's apple cobbler.  I don't have any pictures of it because it was gone before I could get out the camera.  Yum!  This is a good one Pam!


APPLE COBBLER
3 pound bag of gala apples
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
cinnamon
1 stick butter


Melt butter in a 9x13 pan in a 350* oven.  Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice apples.  Spread apples on melted butter.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Mix flour, sugar, and milk 'til smooth.  Pour over apples.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Homemade Cream Soup Mix

A lot of recipes call for canned cream soup.  These can get pretty expensive after a while but as a casserole lover, I thought I had no choice.  I didn't want to make cream soup from scratch every time I needed a can for a recipe, but I also didn't want to take an economical casserole dish and jack up the price with expensive cream soup.  After looking around the internet for different recipes, this is the one I liked the best.  

Homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, 2006-08-20 16:03 by

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup powdered chicken bouillon

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning


1/4 teaspoon onion powder


1/4 teaspoon garlic powder


1/8 teaspoon black pepper


1/4 teaspoon parsley


1/4 teaspoon paprika


3/4 cup flour

Mix dry ingredients and keep in an airtight container.  When you are ready to use it, use about 1/4 cup or mixture and 1 1/2 cups of milk.  Just stir it together and add to your recipe.   You can also heat it until it thickens if you want.  

Steak Sauce: It's Not A1, but it's Good

We really like A1 steak sauce but we can't use it because the ingredients include caramel color which lots of us are allergic to.  Why, why, why???  As we were lamenting the unfairness of our plain steak, we had a brilliant idea.  Why couldn't we make our own?  It had to be possible, right?  It is!  This is our humble attempt at steak sauce.  It may not be A1, but is sure is tasty.


STEAK SAUCE
2 c. ketchup
2 garlic cloves
2/3 c. onions
1/2 c. each:  lemon juice
                    water
                    worcestershire
                    vinegar
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 T mustard


Mix all ingredients.  In a small sauce-pot, bring to a boil.  Turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Strain.  Store in refrigerator.




    
GOOD                          
EXPENSIVE
HEALTHY?                

 BETTER                                                                                                   
 CHEAP
 NATURAL
                                                                                                   
                                                                           

Light, Fluffy Lemon Pancakes

Yesterday we tried a new recipe for pancakes.  The whole family raved about the new recipe so I figured it was a good one to share.


LEMON PANCAKES
3 eggs, separated
2 C.  buttermilk
3 T sugar
1 C. ricotta
1 1/2 C. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 t. lemon extract


Mix together egg yolks, buttermilk, sugar, and ricotta.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and lemon extract.  Stir until smooth.
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.  Fold into pancake mixture.
Cook on oiled, pre-heated griddle.  I like to use a 1/4 cup measure to pour out the batter and spread it a little thinner.  Cook the first side until the edges dry out a little and bubbles appear on the top.  Flip and cook for another minute or two.
Serve with butter and syrup.

Pepperoni Cheese Bread

This bread goes well with all pasta dishes and especially well with the stuffed meatballs from yesterday's post.

PEPPERONI CHEESE BREAD
1 1/2 C. water
4 C. bread flour
2/3 C. cheddar cheese
1 T. sugar
2 t. garlic powder
1 t. dried oregano
2 t. salt
2 2/3 t. active dry yeast
1 C. sliced pepperoni

Mix all ingredients except pepperoni.  If using a bread machine, add pepperoni about 15 minutes into kneading cycle.  If using a mixer, add the pepperoni last.
Put into a oiled bowl and let rise for 1 hour.
Punch down dough and shape into two loaves.  Let rise for another hour.  Bake @350* for 35-40 minutes.

Stuffed Meatballs

Here is a variation on your standard meatball.

STUFFED MEATBALLS
1 lb ground beef
1 lb bulk Italian sausage
2 eggs
1/2-3/4 C. dry bread crumbs
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
5 (about) cheese sticks---I used mozzarella

Mix meats, eggs, and spices.  Stir in bread crumbs until mixture holds together well.  Form into small meatballs, leaving a little meat unformed.  Cut cheese sticks into 1 inch pieces.  Put one piece of cheese into each meatball and reform into a ball, adding a little more meat if necessary.  Cook at 350* for about 30 minutes.

Potato Salad

I know potato salad is traditionally a summer time food, except in my family.  When I was growing up, we always had potato salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Now, I cook the more traditional mashed potatoes on holidays, but I couldn't make it through the winter without potato salad.  Here's my recipe.

POTATO SALAD
5 pounds russet potatoes
12 eggs, hard-boiled
1 1/2 cups chopped pickles (I use dill and sweet)
2 cans sliced black olives
 1/4 of a small onion
1/2 jar of mayo
4 T apple cider vinegar
1 T celery seed

Boil unpeeled potatoes until tender.  Drain and cool.
Peel and cube potatoes.  Slice hard-boiled eggs and add to potatoes.  Add pickles, olives, and onion.  Mix well.  Stir in mayo, vinegar, and celery seed.  Sprinkle with paprika, if desired.  Chill before serving.

Hamburger Soup

One day when we had thawed hamburger that had to be used, we came up with this recipe for Hamburger Soup.  It's so incredibly simple that every time I make it I feel like I've forgotten something.  It takes about 5-10 minutes to put together and then it cooks for about 20 minutes.  A genuine 30 minute meal.  Rachael Rae would be jealous.

HAMBURGER SOUP
1 pound hamburger
1 small onion, diced
1 small package frozen mixed vegetables
2 cartons beef stock
3 medium cans tomato sauce
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
salt & pepper
8 oz Acini di pepe pasta

Brown hamburger and onion together.  Drain grease if necessary.  Add veggies, stock, tomato sauce, beans, salt and pepper.  Cook until veggies are almost done.  Add pasta and cook until tender.  Serve Italian style with grated Parmesan cheese or Mexican style with cilantro and sour cream.

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant parmesan is something that hubby usually chooses for his birthday dinner.  This year he surprised me and chose cheese ravioli instead so, I made the eggplant parmesan for FIL's birthday instead.

EGGPLANT PARMESAN
2 large eggplants, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups flour
4 cups bread crumbs
4 eggs mixed with milk
Gravy
Parmesan cheese
Mozzerella cheese

Bread eggplant slices by dipping in flour, then egg mixture, then bread crumbs.  Fry in hot oil until golden and crispy on the outside.  Drain on paper towels.  Layer in a 9x13 pan.  Eggplant, gravy, parmesan, mozzerella, repeat until out of ingredients. Bake @ 350* for about an hour.  You may need to cover with foil the last 15 minutes to keep from over-browning.   Serve with pasta.

Zapoles

We have been enjoying a visit from family from the east coast.  Every time they come they bring with them a few new recipes to try out.  Today Papa and Talia made zapoles.  They are a pastry very similar to sopapillas, but not exactly.  They taste like a doughnut that is very soft inside.  Yum!

ZAPOLES
2 cups flour
2 T. sugar
1 t. salt
4 t. baking powder
5 eggs
1 lb ricotta
1 qt oil

Mix all ingredients except oil.  Heat oil in a deep fryer.  Use a tablespoon to drop dough into hot oil.  When golden brown, remove and place on paper towels to drain.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and drizzle with honey.

Homemade Chai Tea

Chai Tea can be a nice treat, but it can be a bit expensive.  This is a recipe for homemade chai tea that I found on Recipe Goldmine.


It tastes great in a frog teacup.


Vanilla Chai

4 cups water
3 cardamom pods
3 whole allspice
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1-inch vanilla bean
About 1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon black tea (or 4 tea bags)
Milk to taste (regular, nonfat, soy, or rice)

Put water in a saucepan with cardamom, allspice, cloves, cinnamon stick, and vanilla bean. Simmer for 5 minutes, bring to a boil, and pour over black tea. Let steep for a few minutes. Add honey and milk to taste.