Ok, so I’m late again posting Joelen’s latest challenge–The Martini Mixer… Oh well. At any any rate, I composed two original drinks (though one isn’t a martini, just in a matching glass… LOL) so here goes…

Nothing says Disco Duck like neon orange... made possible by the signature day glow yellow of the Galliano

First the martini, The Disco Duck… So do you remember Rick Dees (or is it Deez) and his 70s mad lib of a song Disco Duck? Complete with Donald Duck impersonation?

Well, I desperately wish I could say I cracked open a can of Donald Duck orange juice to make this super niftily kitch but alas, I did not… I did however contemplate what type of martini such a creature would have though… well, what I came up with is the Harvey Wallbanger was one of the it things of the 70s and Disco Duck would have been very certainly drawn to what he thought would make him seem popular and hip… so that was a start… a martini of course updates it just enough to exemplify that suaveness he was so certain he possessed… but let’s not forget he was not exactly a cautious seeming fellow so it would most undeniably not faze him to bruise the gin, hence it must be shaken not stirred… really a lot more things occured to me, because I can be a loser about thinking deeply on off topics… but on to the drink…

The Disco Duck
1.5 oz gin
1 oz ea: orangecello and orange juice
1/2 oz Galliano
splash of vermouth (about 1/4 oz I guess)

And since I don’t drink martinis but it was our anniversary weekend, and I’m not one to let anyone feel they must drink alone, the not a ‘tini specially for yours truly was born… So for that I pondered what would appease me–complete with brownies of course as what else would round it into the perfect dessert??

Umm, know someone with a sweet tooth?

The Pecan Pie
2 oz Bourbon
1 oz pecan liqueur (you could sub frangelico but obviously it wouldn’t be “pecan” at that point but similar enough to be tasty)
1/2 oz Sweet Lucy (Duck’s Unlimited Bourbon Liqueur)
[optionally, stir in a tiny dab of blackstrap molasses... because the calcium makes it healthy... just kidding, it because that's delicious in a pecanut pie and it'll ironically enough help cut the sweetness...]

Swirl and enjoy…

PS. The Round up is here (and Cara’s awesome sounding Pumpkin one won… cool!!)

My wacky BeeGee helping me in the kitchen...

So I made Amber’s pasta a while back but knew I wanted some changes so I finally got to it and it was a hit!!! The BeeGee helped me in the kitchen and sang his own disturbing version of “It’s getting hot in here” to the broccoli as we prepped it… meanwhile, he somehow manages to stand on a chair shaking his shoulders and booty while rinsing and plucking leaves from the 4 broccoli stalks and passing them to me as he’s singing without missing a beat… ”It’s getting hot in there *points into pot of not yet boiling water for the pasta and broc* so let’s take off your leaves… I am getting hungry (uh uh), so help me take your leaves off.” At which point he falls in to giggles and flashes an ornery grin and I groan to myself at the fact that hubby clearly exercises little caution with his selection of school driving tunes, but am at the same moment mildly amused at my silly boy… (Don’t get me wrong I like Nelly and all I just didn’t think it wore well on my 4 yo…)

while boiling the sauce, I was serenaded with Lets get it saucy, saucy

Garlicy-er Limey-er Pasta
8 oz box spelt rotini
1 head broccoli florets (about 4 c)
1 lb chicken breasts, cut in strips
1/2 head of garlic, minced
olive oil

quick taste for the cooks...

1.5 T ea: butter and flour
1.5 c chicken stock
1/4 c lime juice
(and zest of one lime, optional)
1 tsp ea: blk pep, garlic pwd, onion pwd
1/2 tsp ea: salt, smoked paprika, cayenne, thyme
parm to garnish

Boil the pasta in salt water for about 5 mins, stir in the broccoli cover and cut off the heat. After starting the pasta (but before adding the broccoli), soften the garlic and start browning the chicken in a little olive oil… push the chicken off to one side, make a quick roux melting the butter and flour together and whisk in the liquids and seasonings… mix the chicken back thru anad bring to a boil… drain pasta and broccoli and toss with the chicken sauce… top with the cheese and serve…

Ok so last night I really didn’t work hard at dinner, I just sliced and browned some andouille drained it off (and reserved that to brush on the tops of some of the biscuits instead of butter before popping them in the oven) and added a box of the chicken helper jambalaya hubby had buried in the pantry, a can of diced tomatoes and water—boiled, simmered, the end… But while chatting on the phone someone asked me about dinner last night… They did the “oh wow how do you make that?” inquiry and I explained that I didn’t I just cheated and they were unphased and said “But if you did make it, how would you do that? Because I’ve never made it, and I’m sure you have.” Well, yes of course I have… So if I’d made it from scratch last night it’d probably be about like this (oh yeah, and while I say diced, chop as you wish)…

Sausage Jambalaya
12-16 oz andouille, sliced (or a lb of whatever assorted cooked meats were in the fridge or freezer if you don’t want sausage)
2 onions, diced (or 1 lg yellow onion)
1/2 head of garlic, peeled and crushed or minced
1/2 head of celery, diced
2 bell peppers, diced (I have both red and green at the moment so I’d probably use one of each, but normally I just use green)
1-1.5 T cajun/creole seasoning of choice (or 1/2 tsp ea: garlic/onion pwd, thyme, cayenne pep, 1 tsp ea: s/p)
1.5 c rice
1 can tomatoes
3 c water, stock or white wine (if you use brown rice you can use 2 FULL tomato cans worth as it’ll fall right about 3.75 c)
maybe 1/4-1/2 tsp salt (depending on taste–the saltiness of your sausage and/or liquid–but best not to skip entirely or the rice will drain the flavor from the dish, so take it just a little past where you think it needs to be…)

Brown the sausage and remove to a plate… Use the drippings (or drain off and use some oil) to saute the veg… and the rice and seasonings and stir well to coat, bring to a boil cover and simmer… until rice is tender and liquid is mostly absorbed (if it gets completely absorbed add back a little boiling water while stirring to get it looser and a bit silken instead of dry) around 15 mins or so… {I’m guessing again but it simmers for just enough time to preheat your oven and bake some rolls… when you pull out your rolls/biscuits and flip them over on their heads it should be time to pull the rice…}

Ok, so I like my chicken and dumplings with veggies in it… now usually this is just the typical broth making veggies… but on occasion I want this loaded with veggies, like this time, so that it is an all in one pot dinner that needs nothing on the side but a drink… but it’s abnormal, no one I know puts this many veggies in it at all, not my dad, not my friends, not restaurants, no one–but oh well I’m do what I feel like kind of girl so I guess I’ll scoff at convention… now truth be told chicken and dumplings to most of my southern friends usually means chicken, thick saucy broth and dumplings (like in the link below); and to the majority of my yankee friends, it’s a creamy chicken soup with huge biscuits floating on top (which can only cook from one side and even with flipping end up kinda chewy and strange in the center, god bless ‘em)… 

well, I married just such a yankee so he’s got this contrary line of thinking… and I made him chicken and dumplings the way my daddy did as we grew up with a roll out biscuit dough dumplings that you cook submerged in the liquid… he thought it was great but said it just didn’t have the comfort food factor because the dumplings were different, almost like gnocchi… having never had gnocchi at the time–and thinking they seemed just like daddy’s dumplings to me–I tried really hard not to roll my eyes, even hearing my grandfather’s voice in my head saying “Don’t wall your eyes” but I clearly must not have been successful… as the Hubs followed up with “I mean that in a good way. I love gnocchi. And this isn’t so much the same as similar.” and I smiled at him but thought to myself it’d be a long time until I’d put so much work into dinner again…

but of course the irritation passed rather quickly, as is usual for me, so I made him one with spoonfuls of drop biscuits (some submerged for me and some floaters for him)… he found this mildly more familiar but complained it was still not the same… and yes it really was complaining and he even waxed nostalgic about the dumplings he grew up on… and at the time we were still so newly married and in that honeymoon phase that I didn’t/couldn’t just tell him “Duh! I’m not gonna make anything that’s the same because I think your way is nasty… But you’re welcome to get in the kitchen and make it the way your mama used to if you want it like that.” or something to that effect, as I probably would have had it happened later in the sequence when I was comfortable enough to be my snarky self… so instead I said, “Well this way was a bit of extra work, so if you don’t really like it I’ll just make it my regular way from now on…” To which he replies, “Ok honey, that’s fine. I like your cooking anyway. You can make whatever you want. Really.”

Well the catch is that one of his favorite foods (not his favorite favorite, but high ranking) is of course chicken and dumplings… and my way(s) were not satiating that favorite craving… So over the course of our marriage I’ve asked tons of people how they make theirs in the hopes of discovering a different dumpling method that might serve as a compromise for us… Generally, there was more variations to the soup base than there were to the dumplings… so I finally got the tip from someone that they used cut up canned biscuits… at the time, I didn’t think to ask more questions and figured that it was essentially a roll out dough cut smaller to minimize the nasty middles problem with floaters… but later came the second tipper to mention the same cut up canned biscuits, but she explained that she indeed cooked them submerged… I was excited by the ease of doing it this way but decided to hold of on it because it really would be the same thing the Hubby didn’t especially care for so no particular compromise… well, again I found the canned biscuit tip online, but this time I really liked the idea of trying it…

so yes, it’s true it’s no compromise and makes no head way to his side… but now that we’ve got 4 kids and crazy hectic evenings it sounded the perfect time for shortcuts… so I’m trying it and I even sold the Hubs on the idea that it was a compromise somehow when he mentioned they’d used canned biscuits… (but truth be told I’ve picked up another online tip for baking the “dumplings” resting on top of the soup in individual dishes… which may prove to be somewhat satisfying to the Hubs while not being undercooked for my tastes… so that’s in the works for the future, though I plan to test it with more of a beef stew base as I dread that it may turn out undumpling-ish from baking and don’t want to exacerbate things in this arena…) and just as one last word, this is nothow I normally make my chicken and dumplings base for those of you who know I use it for pot pie… but I don’t see why this couldn’t work (just cut the buttermilk to 1 c or so and add some corn starch to it, stirring it in after the meat and veg warm thru… bring to a boil to thicken to put under a crust instead of fussing with the dumplings… or cool it first if you wanted a double crust…) if that’s what you wanted to do…

girlies bowlful... that thing there on the spoon that'd be a dumpling... the shredded chicken made it hard to tell the difference by photo...

Shortcut Chicken and Dumplings
1 roasted or rotisserie chicken
1 can layered biscuits
about 1/3-1/2 c ap flour **
1 qt chicken stock
2-3 c buttermilk
2 c ea: green beans and carrots
1 c ea: corn and green peas

I boiled the beans and carrots in the stock until I was done pulling meat from the chicken (I pulled the meat because I got lazy–I’d had an exceptionally bad day and it was going to be another scout night full of paper mache on the other side of things not rest, so I was a bum and I regretted it–but I’d recommend you cut it as the cubes I bothered to cut before I lost interest worked better IMO…) strained out the beans and carrots, added the dumplings in 3 batches each kept submerged under a third of the chicken, and a third of corn and peas, straining out and adding to the beans and carrots as I went…

after the last batch has been strained out, whisk in your buttermilk as needed to get the broth as you wish texturewise… (I apparently didn’t do a good enough job of shaking off excess flour from the dumplings as mine was as thick as paste and took more milk than I’d planned…) taste the broth and season as desired–I think I did more Mrs Dash grill seasoning – prob 2T, about 1T ea: s/p, g/o pwd… add back the reserved stuff and mix well…

** I seasoned mine with 1.5 T Mrs Dash chicken grilling seasoning and a little salt, because when I make my dumplings I put seasonings inside the biscuits and though this would help… it did so little I’d vote for not bothering… (and yeah mine’s Lily too, as ap pretty much always is in this house… but a hard white wheat would make no difference here, so if that’s not what you keep on hand as your staple you can use what you keep on hand for this… I mean you’re just dusting, it’s not like you’re actually making the biscuits…)

Inspired from Publix’s Asian Chicken Quesadillas With Sweet Orange Brown Rice and of course the semi-recent success of the Dinner Divas Mandarin Orange Chicken spinoff success… the verdict: not bad but the brown rice didn’t hold it’s own so much for me I found it a little bland but the Hubs insists it was fine and the 6 yo said it was “the best sandwich [he] ever tasted”… so I don’t know maybe I didn’t add enough salt or then again maybe it’s just the cold… who knows…

Asian-ish Orange Chicken Burritos

inside, outside, but not upside down... HAHA, I crack myself up...

1 c brown rice
2.5 c water
1 T butter
2 T rice vinegar
salt, 1 tsp ginger, 2 tsp garlic
1-2 cans mandarin oranges in juice, drained (3/4 c juices reserved)
1/4 c sugar
1 T dk soy sauce (or tamari)
1 c water
1 lbs bnls/skls chicken tenders (mine were frozen)
1 bag Pacifica Veggie Supreme Salad **
1 c shredded colby jack cheese
6 10 in flour tortillas

Bring rice thru garlic to a boil and simmer until rice is cooked… Mix reserved juice, sugar, soy sauce, and water & bring to a boil… add chicken tenders and poach, flipping once… remove chicken and shred while poaching liquid reduces to a sauce… Mix salad together… add the shredded chicken to the sauce and coat…

add your shredded chicken to the sauce...

add the rice, then the oranges...

add your chicken and sauce...

add your salad, then add your cheese...

 

 

 

 

 

To assemble: put a bit of rice on each tortilla, top with oranges, top with chicken and sauce (or not, as this chicken was good on its own and the rice needed a boost, so this sauce might have been better mixed with the rice… *shrugs*), top with salad and top with cheese… roll up burrito style, and put seam side down in a pan with a little bit of hot oil to melt the cheese and seal shut the burrito… flip and fry the top side until a bit golden… (if you’re gonna also crisp up the sides, then start with the side that tucks under the outer flap… then move to the bottom… this will help insure a good tight seal…)

** A bit lame on the add in veggies especially the peas (which though disappointing, is apparently is no fluke but a rather common occurance), so next time I’ll do my own version of this… I’m thinking: lettuce (which I’ll probably shred) or just a bag of mixed greens, maybe 1/4-1/2 c ea: snow peas and grated carrots, 2-3 T ea: roasted soynuts and sesame seeds, 1/3-1/2 c Brianna’s Rich Poppy Seed Dressing… (but truth be known, I may revisit the bag again too… LOL)

Behold the newborn son of blob... ok, potato casserole is not exceptionally photogenic... but it's pretty good, especially when you add the onion and cornflakes (I saute the onions with part the butter and coat the cornflakes with the rest of the melted butter)... if you open the oven half way thru to add the cornflakes you do need to cook it the full hour...

Girl Scout Potato Casserole (original recipe given, tried and true)
2 lb hashbrowns or cubed Irish Potatoes
1 pt Sour Cream
a can of cream of chicken
10 oz grated cheddar
1/2 c butter
1 c minced onion

Mix in 9×13 pyrex. Cook at 350. After 30 min, top with corn flakes and cook 30 min more.

My Modified Version: (as I was lazy and wanted to do even less)
28 oz bag frozen potatoes o’brian (diced potatoes w/peppers and onions; I measured and this was about 6 c), not thawed
1 c sour cream
1 c cottage cheese
s/p, garlic/onion powder
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 lb grated cheddar

Mix together all but cheese… Then top with cheese and bake about 50 min @ 350…

yeah I know, I am not a food porn artist... but I just eat, you are the ones who asked for pictures, despite being less than fabulous with the camera I try to indulge...

before the boil and simmer...

Beef and Mushroom Sauce
1.5 lb cubed beef
s/p, garlic/onion pwd
3T flour
(oil if needed)
1 c red wine (I used cab, oh yeah that S.African obsession)
1 c water (could use beef broth if you are prepared)
13 oz can mushrooms, drained (dr 8 oz; can use fresh and cook with the meat)

Season the meat and brown it up on all sides… push the meat off to one side and add the flour to make a roux with the run off (if you have leaner meat add oil as needed until the flour is coated, or you can drain the grease and do the whole thing with oil too)… stir the roux until the flour begins to golden a bit, the mix in the wine and the water, and then the mushrooms… Cover and bring to a boil for a couple of minutes, then reduce to a simmer… when beef is tender, serve over rice or noodles or even mashed potatoes…

Daddy’s Cornbread (Muffins)
1 lb bulk pork sausage, browned and drained
2 c sharp cheddar
1 batch cornbread batter (or cheat like I did this time, 2 boxes jiffy mixed up)

Mix up your cornbread batter and fold in your meat and cheese… I used silcone muffin cups, but if you don’t have or want to use those, you’ll probably want to use paper liner to prevent the cheese sticking to your pan…

So first thing first, this isn’t really a crockpot recipe in the since of dump it all in the crock in 5 mins or less on your way out the door… but rather a “I have time to cook the bits but I need to leave the house a few times while it is simmering so I’ll put it in the crockpot” kind of thing… so you do need to plan some time to deal with it either in the morning or the night before… and you could skimp on browning your meats and sauteing your veg if you’re not worried about the caramelization/flavor loss there… but you should really take your time with the roux and get it nice and dark over a slow heat as this will make a huge impact on flavor, and if you rush it you’re likely to either burn it or have uneven patches and starting over makes it take a lot more time than doing it slow and right in the first place… so at least plan time for the roux…

If you want to make the whole thing on the stove, just use a serving platter to pile the cooked meat and veg on as you go and while you make the roux, then whisk in all your liquid and bring to a boil… add back all your bits, cover, return to a boil and reduce to a simmer… then add the shrimp in the last five minutes or so from when you want to eat and simmer right in the gumbo (until they are pink and curled up tight like a clip on earring)…

with the shrimp and over rice...

Crockpot Simmered Gumbo
3/4-1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
1.5-2 lb cubed beef **
1.5-2 lb chicken breast tenders (mine were frozen), cut in spoon friendly chunks
2 qts chicken stock, separated (if you want to make this not in the crock you’ll probably want around 3 qts)
1/2 lb cajun style bacon ***
2 lg onions, diced
1 head garlic, minced
oregano, garlic/onion pwd, thyme, blk pep, bay leaves
1/2 head celery, diced (about 2-2.5 c)
7 carrots, diced (about 2-2.5 c)
about 1/2 c flour
1-2 bell peppers, diced
handful of okra pods (or say 7), finely sliced ****
1-1.5 T King Creole seasoning (courtesy of Joelen from the prize booty, but please adjust to your tastes)
2-3 lbs shrimp (most people will prefer these shelled, I’d suppose)

Preheat your crock on high, preheat your pan to med high or high… Brown up the sausage on both sides, add to the crock… brown up the beef on all sides (doesn’t have to cook thru just want a good sear with some nice browned bits), and add to the crock… then I added water to deglaze the pan and poached the chicken a bit to thaw it and make it easy to chop… chopped and added them to the crock… topped the meat in the crock with 1 qt of the stock… dumped the deglazed poaching liquid down the drain (as I didn’t need the extra liquid in the crock and knew the stock would be tastier)… reduce to medium, and set about crisping the bacon, drained off about 1/2 c of the bacon grease (most of it)and reserved… add the onions and garlic (more oil if particularly needed, I did not but depends on the leanness of your bacon and how crisp you cooked it, so you gauge that) along with the seasonings (which I actually remembered to measure but didn’t remember to write down) and cook until onions are becoming translucent… add celery and carrots (I add only half the celery to saute so there is a contrast of soft and crisp, but you can saute all or none as you wish…) and continue cooking until they caramelize a bit, then add to the crock… I reduce the heat to med-low (but you could probably get by on med if you are careful, attentive and a diligent stirrer) add the reserved bacon grease and the flour to the pan to make your roux, and darken to about a walnut color, stirring constantly… whisk in the other qt of stock and bring to a boil, boil 2-3 minutes to thicken and pour into the crock… add the peppers,okra, and cajun/creole seasoning and reduce the heat to Low and allow to simmer all day… when we were getting ready to eat, pulled out some of the gumbo broth into the pan to boil the shrimp and add back to the gumbo (I added them to the kids’ and the Hubster’s portions)…

give it a little stir... and now you are ready to simmer it, while you go about what you have to do...

this is about how dark you want it... trust me, it is worth it to go slow...

Ive got carcasses, yes I do... but Im not making stock, how bout you?

 

 

 

 

 

             NB: technically, I took the roux a touch darker than the pic… but that was a good point to snag the pic and still get the broth in in time…

** If you want to use pork instead that is fine, but it’ll need to be cooked all the way thru first as it’s not gonna taste so good cooking from the simmer… hence beef is easier if you don’t have leftover pork roast or such on hand…

*** pretty much a hickory smoked one with a dry rub on it, so you can use regular and add more seasonings if you don’t have this… I just like that it’s smoked with the rub, need to get charlie’s to make it this way as their bacon would make a better base… [note to self: attempt to sweet talk the butcher into cajoling whoever smokes it]

**** but oddly this time it was truly a fluke as it was just a grab and bag… I only counted as I was chopping, but it brought a smile to my face… and I forgot to measure but I’m guessing this was in the neighborhood of 1 c… of course if you like okra feel free to use however much you want, personally I hate the stuff… but for me gumbo is not gumbo until it’s got that okra ooze in it (even if I do fish out the actual pieces)…

we really liked the mini bowties... so cute...

Tuna and White Bean Pasta Fagiole
7 carrots, 7 stalks celery
1 lg onion
1/2 head garlic
13 oz can mushrooms, drained (drained weight)
2 cans tuna
3 c white beans
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1.5-2 c small pasta (we had no elbows)
1 qt water or broth
lemon juice, s/p, oregano, thyme, red pep flakes

Saute the diced/minced raw veg, add the remaining ingredients and simmer until pasta is cooked (under 10 mins).

NB: I’d like to add more lemon, some blk olives, and fresh parsley for starters… but this will be made again, and I will tinker…

So Sunday after church, the Hubs hurt himself… he managed not to break his foot, but has a deep muscle sprain and is in a boot and a fair amt of pain… thereby making my restful weekend not so restful… so another slap-bash meal as I didn’t want to cook and the kids were upset about how daddy’s foot put a cramp in their plans and cried and carried on about every piddling thing imaginable… so I needed it to be simple but happily eaten, since at the time I had high hopes of getting them to bed early… HA!

a yummy soup when you are the only physically capable of fetching more for the entire family, not the best laid plan... plus your soup goes cold as you do so...

Ravioli Soup
1 lb ground meat (again, I used veal because it was on sale cheaper than beef)
seasonings (salt/pepper, dried herbs–rosemary and other italian type seasonings, garlic pwd)
1 lb frozen green beans
1 lb can campbell’s tomato soup (slightly bigger than usual size)
2 (15 oz) cans diced italian style tomatoes
2-2.5 c frozen cheese ravioli
grated parm (opt)

Brown the meat with the seasonings and stir in the frozen beans… Add the tomato soup and 2 canfuls of water, and the tomatoes… bring up to a boil and taste for seasoning, and adjust… reduce the heat to med-med low, add the ravioli and simmer until they float… top with parm to serve…

[Quick Reminder: Make sure to scoop low to get meat as well as it sinks while the pasta and veg float...]

brown the meat and add the frozen beans...

step two add everything and bring to a boil...

when the raviolis float to top it is done...

See making soup can be almost as easy as 1, 2, 3… and the slight guilt I felt making another slap dash so soon after the last, passed quickly as everyone started needing this and that and I realized I couldn’t sit down long enough to think let alone eat… and in the midst of all this flurry, I also forgot to start the washer so I had to stay up another hour after getting everyone to bed… : (

So I could find my recipe last second and the one in my go to breakfast cookbook, SL Breakfast and Breads, was made from wheat germ (I had none), so I had to scramble and googling a bit and rejiggering slightly from what I can remember of the ones we used to make and this is what I made…

it makes a larger batch but I only remembered to snap the pic before giving the kids more... so this is the much picked over stack and several of them turned out better than these, but they'd been eaten by this point...

Cottage Cheese Pancakes
1 (24 oz) container lowfat cottage cheese (1%), about 3 c
6 lg eggs
2 c flour + 1 T bkg pwd (normally I make them with ww pastry flour but tonight I had none so it was the white lily instead)
2 T oil
1/3 c + pineapple juice (reserved from the canned fruit, could have used the orange juice or just milk or water with a bit of sugar)
pinch of salt
2 capfuls of vanilla
butter and oil as needed

Blitz together in the blender and add the pineapple juice as needed to reach pancake batter consistency… (this was just slightly over 1/3 c so I’m guessing 6 T would make a nice round estimate to start from if you want to tinker it up or down… but pour it in as needed as the wetness of the cottage cheese and the humidity affecting the flour, etc can change how much liquid you want to add…) then just fried them up in a bit of butter and oil as one does the pancake dance (watch for a bubbled surface to flip and let them get golden on the second side to finish cooking thru)…

They weren’t bad, but as usual I would have sweetened them a bit more to eat them plain but knew the fruit was coming. And this is what the lovely branny directed me to: a cottage cheese pancake that uses oatmeal(you have to scroll down)… no less than 5 min from my asking, and I wish I’d found it before cooking them but I was starving and impatient so I quickly moved on to google (and when hubs went to check if anyone gotten back to me, my Papa called so he had to get the phone) so I do plan to try these soon… and then there was this jillian michaels number which I may consider as the simplicity of it is very appealing…

as for the fruit salad, I had the 4 yo and 2 yo mix it up to distract them while I finished cooking…

what you need... pineapple, orange segments, dried unsweetened coconut... (plus two ornery children who are chasing each other around the house in need of something reasonable to do with themselves while you finish cooking...)

what you end up with/top the pancakes with...

Pineapple, Orange, Coconut Salad
1 (20 oz) can pineapples in juice, drain (reserve juice)
2 (11 oz) cans mandarin oranges in juice, drain
1/2 c dried unsweetened coconut

Thoroughly drain the canned fruit. Put in a bowl along with the coconut. Toss/mix all together.

[You really want the fruit drained as dry as you can, and you don't want to make this up before you plan to use it as it will juice up and you lose coconut in the juice... you can of course do this with fresh fruit as well, but you still have to drain the excess juices...]

The baby’s finger food b-day dinner (from last month’s catch up, obviously)…

Pitty Pat’s B-day Polenta
1 lb ground pork + lots of seasonings (if you aren’t concerned about the salt/sodium you can just use a ready made sausage–but I you know babies/salt)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 c finely snipped or diced dried tomatoes (dried but a bit moist, like raisins, and preferably not in oil)
1 roasted bell pepper, skinned, seeded, and diced (I did green but if you aren’t making your own, the red ones are fine)
2 c cornmeal
about 2 T sea salt (might be a little shy of this really, as I don’t officially measure, but the point is it’s kind of a lot… if you undersalt it before you cook it you won’t be able to redo it and hence will never have the chance to bring out the flavor of the cornmeal again… but if you’re a learn-the-hard-way type try boiling cornmeal in unsalted water just for kicks, and when you’re ready to eat you’ll know what you should do next time…)
2 qts – 9 c water (I reckon you could use some broth if you want, and if you use canned or salted broth you can obviously cut back on the salt a bit… but frankly salt water is cheaper, and you’ll have plenty of stuff in this so flavor won’t be a problem…)
1-2 jars of italian marinated mushrooms, drained (or undrained the liquid can replace some of the water if you’d like, but add the liquid at the same time as the water)

Mix up the pork and seasonings and test a pinch of your sausage (ie. cook it up a taste it)… if it’s ok, finish cooking the rest with onion (otherwise tinker and test another pinch, etc…) once all the sausage is well browned and the onions translucent… add your liquid and let it start to come to a boil… meanwhile, chopped and add the tomatoes and peppers… when the liquid is boiling, reduce to medium low and mix it the polenta S L O W L Y and let simmer stirring as often as you can until it thickens up and pulls from the sides, around 20-30 mins… Then add your drained mushrooms, butter and parm and turn out onto a pan or into a casserole dish and let cool a bit to set up and then slice and serve (or slice and fry/bake/grill and serve)…

Hubs made this pretty much from Redbook Recipe but sauteed/pan-fried instead of roasting… and make different sides… I really would like to try the roasted version with dark meat, but since this was made for skin-on bone-in chicken and we were using skinless boneless breasts I think it kinda needed the extra oil so if baking it with skinless chicken I would probably rub it or mist it with oil first (or maybe just add some to the glaze itself)… But on to it…

Paprika Chicken
1.5 T ea: smoked paprika, red wine vinegar, honey
2 T roasted garlic paste (cloves of roasted garlic muddled a little to make a paste)
3/4 tsp s/p and garlic pwd
3 IQF breast halves, thawed **

Preheat your pan, with a little oil… Mix all but the chicken and brush on one side of the chicken… Put in the pan glaze side down into the hot oil and brush the other side… Flip and cook the other side… (When we make it again I’ll be sure to get times…)

** emailer, and anyone else who may wonder: IQF = Individually Quick Frozen… these are just the pieces in a big 5 lb freezer bag that are individually frozen so you can pull out only what you need…

yeah, it is really nothing special but it was eaten by even the lentil groaners, aka. the kids...

Just a slap bash dinner, as I was tired and didn’t want to cook that night…

Lentil Hodge Podge
5 carrots, peeled and diced
3/4 lb frozen chicken, cut in chunks
2 c water
salt and garlic pwd
3 c leftover cooked white rice
2 c leftover saucy taco lentils or lentil soup (or a can of lentil soup? is that 2 c?) **

Boil ingredients carrots thru seasonings about 7 min (or until chicken is cooked thru and carrots soft, may vary based on your chopping, but it really took me 7 min I used the timer for you)… add rice and soup and simmer until warmed thru…

** Please note that if you aren’t using the taco lentils and/or your soup is bland you may need to add more seasonings as this is where most of the flavor comes from… chicken, rice, and carrots are good but not bringing much oomph so something has to shine as the star… and I did this with lentils that were pretty much just lentils–I think there were some onions and such, but if this was not full of chunks of things like sausage and potatoes and such… if yours is you can still use it you just may need more like 3-4 c or it to coat everything, but I’m betting it’d be yummy and probably better than this was… but sometimes you just gotta eat what’s on hand in the house… LOL

[Disclaimer: still catching up on September's meals... this one is from the middle of the month...]

This was just a rounding up of odd and ends that needed using… Tomatoes threatening to go soft, cabbage shamefully buried in the back of the produce drawer (discovered only when we couldn’t fit all the new produce in the bins), ground bison sadly still buried in the deep freeze from January and leftover bits from the weekend’s lasagna, plus a small amt of of corn that is too little for our big family and I had previously figured I’d throw in a soup or something (which I of course didn’t)… Oh and please forgive me on the name, I’m truly useless at these sorts of things… and I really was at a loss for a name, as I’m not used to naming my dishes (probably the second most cumbersome part of taking this blog on) and usually just take a name from whatever inspired it… Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option here… just slapped leftovers together and seasoned it to taste pleasant (though this got raves, even the girlie ate all of hers and bluejay asked for seconds–and my kids tend to give the evil eye to casseroles, so this is big deal–it really was tasty and very comfort food-ish)… I almost just called it Lasagna Roll-ups but figured it wasn’t just plain lasagna so that might be misleading…

Southwestern-ish Lasagna Roll-ups
1-1.25 lb ground bison
1/2 head of cabbage, shredded (leftover from the Mandarin Chicken)
3 romas, diced (I obsessively cut each one into 32 pieces, but do however you see fit)
1 c mexican stewed tomatoes (squeezed the tomatoes to break them up)
frozen corn (not sure how much as it was the end of the bag, at least a cup maybe 1.5)
1/2 c leftover salsa sauce (from the BB Lasagna)
8 2/3 softened lasagna noodles (soaked the BB Lasagna night)
1.5 tsp Southwestern Chipotle Mrs Dash
1/2 tsp ea: s/p, g/o pwd
1/4 tsp ea: celery seed, nutmeg

Brown the meat, stir in remaining and 1/4 c water and simmer 20 min or until most of the liquid is absorbed or mostly so… Use a slotted spoon to fill the noodles with drained filling…and roll them up lengthwise jellyroll-style and transfer to a baking dish (I placed them seam side down)…

cook it until it’s around this neighborhood of absorbsion or so…

then use a slotted spoon to add it to the softened noodles…

tuck the rolls in pan… (then top with sauce, forgot that pic)

Sauce
2 T ea: flour, oil
1.5 c milk
1/2 c ea: leftover filling from above and cottage cheese
1 c grated colby jack

Cook flour and oil together until well incorporated but still pale, whisk in milk slowly to avoid lumps. As it approaches a steady simmer add remaining and bring to a boil to thicken. Pour over the rolls (can line the base of the pan, under the rolls, with it too if you wish… and you don’t have to use all of it I suppose if you don’t want it so saucy, but creamy sauce equals comfort so I lay on…) and bake at 350 until warmed through or noodles are cooked if that is necessary…

[Note to self/spouse: Make this again! On purpose!]

This is super easy, and we have a few versions... you can make it in the crock instead of roasting veggies and just add the tortellini last minute as you prep for serving or whatever...

always, with the how much seasonings... about this much...

Spicy Chicken Tortellini Soup
1 lb chicken tenders
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 c salsa (hot)
2-3 tsp ea: kosher salt and Mrs Dash Southwestern Chipotle
1-1.5 tsp dried cilantro
2 c water
3 diced red potatoes (1 c-ish)
oil
pinch of sea salt
1 c frozen corn
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 c water (milk or cream would turn this to a chowder which I was going to do but decided against last second)
2 c cheese tortellini (1/2 lb-ish)

Poach chicken in liquid drained from canned tomatoes, salsa, seasonings and water… Meanwhile, roast @ 500: the potatoes toss with oil and pinch of salt and on a separate tray, the tomatoes, corn, peppers tossed with a bit of oil…

Pull out chicken and let cool enough to handle… Meanwhile, add the roasted veg to the pot and simmer… while simmering, separate the chicken into chunks and add back to the pot with the additional liquid and tort… simmer until tort float, about 5 more min-ish…

Praline Pecans
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg white
1/2 capful vanilla
1/4 tsp ea: salt and cayenne
1 c broken up/chopped pecans

Beat egg white until foamy, add sugar and beat together… bring all but nuts to a boil for about 2 min and stir in pecans to coat… spread out on a greased or lined pan to cool slightly…

Caramel Sauce
1 c sugar
1.5 c heavy cream
couple pats of butter (maybe 2-3 T)

Sift sugar (helps to insure that the sugar melts more evenly) into the bottom of a wide mouthed skillet over MED heat… Try to get the sugar spread somewhat thinly throughout the whole pan with any excess/thick spots in the center rather than at the edges… Cover and let sugar melt and brown until all sugar is dissolved and desired color is achieved… (A glass lid is helpful if you are a peeker as the lid encourages the bubbles–from small bits of water returning from the lid– that help the sugar dissolve quickly and without overbrowning, but you can still what’s going on…) Meanwhile, scald the cream in a separate pot or in a 2.5 c or larger container in the microwave (if doing this on the stove start the cream first as while they should take about the same time, if something goes awry for some reason you will want the cream waiting on the sugar not vice-versa)…

When sugar is ready, slowly whisk the hot cream into the melted sugar… cut the heat, and add butter until you get a good sheen…

ETA: yeah oh2de2 (cute handle btw, almost star wars-ish and yet not), there is an easier way to control it… put cream in a pan and scald, sift the sugar into the cream while whisking quckly to dissolve… then use a candy thermometer to watch til you get it where you want it: 230-234 (thread) for a runny fluid sauce, 236-240 (soft ball) begin to be gooey sticky caramel sauce, 244-248 (firm-ball) another good place to have it for the pie, 250-265 (hard ball) don’t take it past this for topping a pie (because you’ll really be entering candy land at that point and you won’t be able to chew it the same)… but I don’t have a candy thermometer and hate fussing with all the ice water testing crap… I’d prefer a soft ball or firm ball for something like this… But in addition to the thermometer reason, I can get a really rich dark caramel that is not a hard candy my way and not with the cream added from the start… so that’s why, I do it this way… hope that helps you, and anyone else wondering…

pre-microwave, chop choc w/a steak knife...

Chocolate ganache
1 oz bittersweet choc
2 T heavy cream

Rough chop th chocolate, with a serrated knife and melt the two together in double boiler or in the microwave (30 sec, stir and then another 5-10 sec, if needed)…

Yields about 2 oz ganache…