Father's Day 2010

We had a great time today with Neal celebrating Father's Day!

Beth made Neal scrambled eggs with spinach, mushrooms, feta cheese, chives and dill. That's one of his favorite breakfasts. We went to church and afterward we went to Arby's for lunch. We had a buy one combo meal for Dad and get one free coupon. :) So we enjoyed roast beef sandwiches and then Jamocha Shakes for dessert.

After lunch, we went driving around a part of our town we'd never been before (well, Neal had been when he was a kid, but probably not for 30 years or more). We ended up going down a one lane gravel road. I was driving and those kind of roads always scare me a bit. I'm always afraid I'll meet someone and have to back up and then drive off the road. Crazy! We didn't meet anyone and saw some beautiful scenery!

Then we went to a car show that was in town at our old church. It was fun seeing the cars and also running into old friends. The car show was more fun than I anticipated. They did something called a burnout where they throw water on the pavement near the rear wheels and then the car stays in place for several seconds spinning its' wheels. Then it takes off really fast. Several of the cars blew smoke and were extremely loud. I know it may sound crazy, but it was so much fun watching those cars! The picture above is of a 2008 Corvette. Most of the cars were old (at least much older than 2008). My favorite car there was a beautiful red Studebaker. It ended up winning Best Car in Show.

After the car show we came home and rested a bit and then Beth and I made one of Neal's favorite meals: Spicy Curry Chicken and Cous Cous. Beth actually made most of it, I just helped by getting out spices. While she cooked, I made a blueberry sauce to put over the cheesecake (pie) I made this morning. The pie was so easy and so good. Here's the recipe:

2 packages of low fat cream cheese
1 8 oz container of lite cool whip
1/2 cup Splenda (or sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice

Cream together the cream cheese, cool whip, and lemon juice until smooth, then add your sweetener and vanilla and mix well. Spoon into regular size graham cracker crust and refrigerate. I made a blueberry sauce to put over it...about 3 or 4 cups of frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup of honey, 1 Tbsp lemon juice and just enough water to make the sauce. Cook for a while until berries soften and let cool. It was really good!

I think Neal had a nice day and it was fun to wait on him for a change! :) He's such a wonderful husband to me and father to our children!

"Thank you, Lord, for bringing Neal into my life 20 years ago!"

Those Yummy Cookies I Talked About

Okay, so here are those yummy chocolate cookies I told you about. And the best thing is they are SO easy!

Here's what you need:

1 cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Devils Food)
2 eggs
1 stick butter softened
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together in bowl. It's a very dry mixture, so I added just a little bit of oil to help mix it together. Apple sauce would have been a good alternative. I used a small cookie scoop -- probably about a tablespoon -- and placed on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake about 10 minutes. They will have a glossy look to them, but they will settle down and harden. These are a soft, moist cookie!

This will be a fun recipe to play around with...different flavors of cake mix and different additions like M&Ms, different flavored chips, etc.

If you make these let me know how you like them!

Chocolate Nut Clusters

A friend of mine made these a couple of weeks ago, and they were SO good! Terribly fattening, but if you have a special occasion to make them: DO IT! :o)

CHOCOLATE NUT CLUSTERS

1 (16 oz) jar dry-roasted peanuts
1 (9.75 oz) can salted whole cashews
2 Cups pecan pieces
18 (2 oz) chocolate bark coating squares cut in half (this is about a package and a half)
1 (12 oz) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 (1 oz) bittersweet chocolate baking squares broken in pieces (I leave this out)
1 T shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a 5 quart crock pot/slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours (I check after 1 hour and it never needs more than 1.5 or it scorches) or until chocolate is melted. Stir and THEN ADD VANILLA and stir well to coat. Drop by heaping teaspoonful onto WAX PAPER (or your counter will be a mess!) and let cool for about 2 hours or until firm. Store in airtight container. I think this originally came from Southern Living Magazine. Yum!

How Do You Meal Plan?

The Heart of the Matter is having a "How Do You Meal Plan" meme today. Here's an excerpt from their blog: "Every Friday we will feature a different topic for our meme. Mr. Linky is set up below so please share with us your How Do You Meal Plan? We would love to see recipes of all kinds! I would especially love to find some new homemade bread, crockpot, and meatless recipes." So go on over to The Heart of the Matter and see what's cooking!

I've tried different ways of menu planning. Sometimes I plan for an entire month. I'll print out a blank calendar for the month, and write down the supper on each day. On the back of the calendar I'll write out all the ingredients I'll need from the store. That way I can go through that list and make my grocery list. This works out nicely, but it takes the effort of sitting down for a couple of hours and making the menu. I'm always glad when I do it though!

Another favorite way of mine to menu plan is to sit down and decide on about 14 meals, make my grocery list, and purchase everything and have it on hand. I post the meal list on the side of my fridge and then in the morning choose which meal we'll have that night. This works great. I like having the option of which meal I can serve that day, and not be tied to "today is Tuesday so we must eat...."

It truly does help to plan ahead and have things in stock. It saves time and money.

Here is one of my favorite meatless recipes. I make this mostly in the winter, but it's good any time!

This comes from Betty Crocker's Easy Vegetarian Classics Go Meatless (one of the little cookbooks you can buy in the grocery line)

Pasta and Bean Skillet

1 cup salsa
2/3 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
3/4 cup water
2 tsp chili powder
1 can (15 to 16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Heat all ingredients except cheese to boiling in 10 inch nonstick skillet; reduce heat to low.

2. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until macaroni is just tender. Sprinkle with cheese. 4 servings.

We like meat and we usually eat more than the "serving size" so this is how I usually adjust it:

1/2 lb ground turkey, cooked and crumbled
1 cup salsa
1 1/3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 1/2 cups water
4 tsp chili powder
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup shredded cheese

Follow directions above.

Nourishing Frugal Food Carnival

This week the carnival includes nourishing and frugal sides, salads and desserts. Here are my contributions:

Side:

BAKED SPINACH

½ cup butter (I usually use less than 1/2 cup)
8 oz 1/3 less cream cheese
2 10-oz pkgs frozen chopped spinach (you do not want to thaw this)
1 pkg Lipton onion soup mix (often I use half a package so that it's not so salty)

Melt butter in a large frying pan. Add spinach. Break up and stir. Add cream cheese and onion soup mix. Stir well. Place in a casserole and bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes.

Makes 6 servings. 6.8 carbs per serving.


Dessert:

PEACH COBBLER

1 stick of butter
3/4 cup of sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour (freshly ground if you do that)
1 cup sugar (I use sucanat with honey)
1 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
2 1/2 cups peaches (if fresh or frozen, mix peaches with ½ cup of sugar and refrigerate overnight)

Melt butter in baking dish. In separate bowl, mix sugar, flour, milk, baking
powder & salt. Pour batter over melted butter. Pour peaches on top, DO NOT
MIX. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min. or until golden brown.

Head on over to The Keeper of the Home for more nourishing, frugal recipes!

UPDATED:
** Instead of using packaged soup mix, you could play around with your own spices/ingredients...maybe some finely chopped onion, salt, pepper, garlic ***

ANOTHER UPDATE:

*** Michelle asked about the seasoning packet. It's probably about 1/2 cup, but it's only for seasoning, not for thickening. I think the cream cheese helps thicken it more than anything, and then baking it. Since I've always used the packet, I'm not sure how much in the way of the other ingredients to use...it would probably be a "taste and see" thing. Hope that helps!

For Stephanie - I don't like cooked spinach either, but I love this dish. My kids and husband like cooked spinach and like this dish, too. :o)

Sarah - the Zucchini Parmesan down below was very good! It's a great way to use some of the bigger zucchini. My favorite way this summer to cook the zucchini was to grill it. I cut up large bites of zucchini, yellow squash, mushroom and onion. Lightly coat with olive oil and put in grill basket. Grill at a high temp stirring frequently for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Yum!***

Zucchini Parmesan

My Monday meal was Zucchini Parmesan. My sister-in-law, Janet, told me she made this the other night and I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't have a recipe, so I kind of made it up as I went along. Everyone enjoyed it.

First, it's best to use a big zucchini. Slice it into somewhat thick slices.


Then dip each slice into an egg wash and dredge in a crumb mixture. I used fresh ground whole wheat flour, Italian bread crumbs and garlic salt (Janet used bread crumbs)


Next I "fried" them on my griddle. The ones on the left I coated with a butter spray. It made the slices a bit crisper.


Finally, after putting spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13" pan, I layered the zuchinni slices and covered them with freshly grated parmesan. Then I covered the pan with foil, and baked about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Unfortunately we got so caught up with eating that I forgot to take after pictures! :o( I fixed some elbow macaroni and heated up the rest of my spaghetti sauce. I served the zucchini on the side next to the pasta dish. Neal put his on top of the pasta and then put the sauce on top. Whatever works for you!

I served a salad with this, and that was our meal!

Saturday Night Supper

I was in a quandry this afternoon because I had no idea what I was going to fix for supper. I wanted to do something with rice and hamburger, so I started looking online. Nothing appealed to me. Today I bought a cookbook at a yard sale and found a recipe in there. As I usually do, I played around with it and created my version of the recipe. It's in the oven right now, so I can't really tell you if my family likes it or not, but if I can go by their oohs and aahs over the smell I think it will be a success!

Zesty Rice and Beef

1 lb lean ground hamburger
1 onion, chopped (I used Vidalia)
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
2 1/2 cups cooked rice (I use brown basmati)
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can Mexican-style diced tomatoes (do not drain)
1 can chili beans with chili sauce
chili powder (I sprinkled it generously over the meat mixture)
1 tsp granulated garlic (or powder)
1 tsp salt
1 8 oz pkg Velveeta cheese
1 cup cracker crumbs (I used Town House Garlic and Herb Toppers)
1/2 cup (or more) chopped walnuts (or your favorite nut)
2 tbsp melted butter

In large skillet (I used my wok pan), cook hamburger, onion, yellow pepper over medium heat until hamburger is no longer pink. Drain. Sprinkle chili powder, garlic and salt on top and mix well.

Add rice, corn, tomatoes and beans and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in Velveeta cheese until cheese melts. Move to greased 9 x 13 baking dish.

Combine cracker crumbs, walnuts and butter. Sprinkle over top of casserole.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until casserole is bubbly.

I'll let you know later how we liked it!

Spicy Mexican Skillet Chicken

The Nourishing Gourmet is having a "Nourishing Frugal Food Carnival." I have been enjoying this blogsite for quite some time, and am happy to contribute one of our favorite recipes for this carnival! If you'd like to read more recipes, go on over to The Nourishing Gourmet and see what else was posted!

Here's my Spicy Mexican Skillet Chicken recipe: (this recipe is easy to adjust for how many people you need to feed. This recipe feeds 4 or 5.)

1 tsp (or more) chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup frozen corn
1/3 cup salsa
2 tbsp chopped cilantro (this could be optional, but we grow our own so we have it on hand)
1 large tomato (or 1 can chopped tomatoes)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Mix chili powder, salt and pepper. Sprinkle evenly over chicken. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat until hot. Cook chicken in oil about 10 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 3 to 5 minutes (until chicken is done).

I like to serve this with light sour cream, shredded lettuce and tortilla chips.

Tortilla Chicken Soup

This is what we had for supper tonight and it was a big hit! I got the recipe from my church's cookbook, but I made some changes -- like I do to just about every recipe!

Tortilla Chicken Soup

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen is fine)
1 cup onion, diced
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups frozen corn (or 1 15 oz can, drained)
1 can black beans
1 can chili beans
1 TBSP chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 (10+ oz) can of tomato soup
1 (10+ oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 can full of milk
1 bag tortilla chips or corn chips

In a large crock pot place the chicken, onion, green chiles, tomatoes, black beans, chili beans, chicken broth, corn, chili powder, black pepper and cumin. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Turn crock pot on HIGH and remove chicken pieces. shred meat with a fork. Add tomato soup and cream of chicken soup, one can of milk and the shredded chicken to the pot. Mix well until creamy and thoroughly heated through (approximately another 30 minutes). Serve with tortilla chips crushed on top (and some shredded cheese is good too!).

Spinach Strawberry Salad

Neal loves spinach! He's on coumadin now (for about 8 weeks) and we were afraid he wouldn't be allowed to eat it, but the doctor told us if he eats the same amount every day he can adjust the medicine. While we were in the hospital, one of the doctors told us about her favorite way to eat spinach... Spinach Strawberry Salad. I looked it up online the second day we were home and found this recipe. It is delicious! I made a few changes for what I had in my pantry, and it turned out excellent.

Serves 8

1 lb spinach
1 pint strawberries, sliced set a few aside
1/2 cup pecans, toasted

Dressing

1/3 cup raspberry vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
1/2 cup sugar or sugar substitute (I used sucanat with honey)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
2 teaspoons poppy seeds (I omited)

1. Toast pecans over low heat, set aside to cool.
2. Combine dressing ingredients and shake well.
3. Toss and garnish with a few sliced strawberries.
4. Serve immediately.

(I added mushrooms, cucumber, feta cheese and crumbled bacon)

Homemade Granola Bars

I got this recipe from Kathleen Sullivan last summer and my kids love it. I made a batch the day before we went to the hospital and shared them in the waiting room. A couple of you LOVED them, and wanted the recipe. :o) So I thought I'd share it here:

Line a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick foil
Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Ingredients:

3 cups oatmeal (I used old fashioned)
1 cup puffed rice cereal
1 stick butter, melted
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat free)
1 cup mini-chocolate chips (or one cup of raisins, mini-M&M's, etc. or any combination)

In large bowl stir melted butter and peanut butter together until blended. Add oatmeal and cereal. Stir well. Add 1 cup of chocolate chips and stir together. Add sweetened condensed milk to all ingredients and mix well. Pour into foil lined pan. Press mixture down firmly (I use wax paper or something on my hands and press it down really hard. This will help it to stay together after you bake it and cut into bars.) **I tossed some M&Ms on top of the bars and pressed them into the top on this last batch.**

Bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until brown on top. Let them cool, and then you can take hold of the foil and pull them out. I place them on a chopping board and cut them into bars.

Enjoy!

Recipes

Here are a couple of our favorite recipes...one main course and one dessert:

Mexican Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
chili powder
salt
pepper
1 T Canola Oil

1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup salsa
2 T chopped cilantro
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Salsa
Tortilla chips
lettuce, chopped

Sprinkle sides of chicken with chili powder, salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add chicken and cook until brown on both sides. (I like to cut my chicken up into bite size pieces after it browns -- it's easier for the little ones to eat and it cooks faster). Stir in corn, salsa, cilantro, tomatoes, and black beans. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until chicken is done. 4 servings.

I serve this with salsa, lettuce and tortilla chips.


Fu Fu (Don't know the real name, but this is what we call it)

(This recipe is sugar free)

1 small box sugar free chocolate instant pudding mix
1 10 oz box soft tofu (try it...you'll like it!)
1 heaping Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp instant coffee (more or less depending on how much mocha flavoring you want)
1 small tub sugar free whipped cream

With an electric mixer, beat pudding mix, tofu, cocoa, and coffee until smooth. Then add whipped cream. Blend on lowest setting or by hand. Don't overbeat or texture will become too thick. If you want it fluffier...add more whipped cream.

Enjoy!

For more recipes check out Lysa TerKeurst's blog...there's lots of 'em!

Cookies

Here are two really good (if you like peanut butter) recipes. And they are SO easy!


Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

1 cup peanut butter (I like chunky)
1 cup sugar
1 egg

24 Hershey Kisses

Mix top three ingredients together. Form into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Pull out of oven and place unwrapped Kiss on top of cookie. Place on cooling rack or waxed paper to cool. It will take a few hours for the kisses to harden (if they make it that long!)


I Don't Know the Name of These Cookies, Cookies

Box of Ritz Crackers
Smooth Peanut Butter
Chocolate Bark

Spread peanut butter on one Ritz Cracker and put another cracker on top. Melt chocolate and dip peanut butter crackers into it. Place on waxed paper to harden. (You can also use white chocolate bark. And if you want to decorate them you can sprinkle the colored sugar on them while they are still wet.)

Late Thanksgiving Post

I just downloaded the pictures from my camera and came across this picture of my Cranberry Supreme Salad. It was the first salad I'd made in a gelatin mold. Not difficult, just a little time consuming. I'm not a big gelatin salad fan either, but for some reason I was in the mood to try one. Several people said they liked it though. :o)

1 3 oz pkg raspberry-flavored gelatin (I used sugar-free)
2 cups boiling water, divided
1 16 oz can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 3 oz pkg lemon-flavored gelatin (again sugar-free)
1 3 oz pkg cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
1/3 cup mayo (reduced fat)
1 8 1/2 oz can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup whipping cream (I used 1 cup of Cool Whip)
1 cup miniature marshmallows (I used, uh, well, miniature marshmallows ;o)

Dissolve raspberry gelatin in 1 cup boiling water; stir in cranberry sauce. Pour into an oiled 1-1/2 qt round mold. Chill until partially set. Dissolve lemon gelatin in remaining boiling water; set aside. Beat cream cheese and mayo; gradually add lemon gelatin. Stir in pineapple. Chill until partially set. Whip cream; fold into the lemon mixture. Add marshmallows. Spread on top of the cranberry layer. Chill until set. Yield: 12 servings.

Cheesecake

We had our November birthday dinner at my in-laws last night, and I made this cheesecake. Perri gave me the recipe, and it is pretty good. I didn't process the graham cracker crumbs long enough, so the crust doesn't look too good. I also cut back on the amount of chocolate chips to one cup, and it was still rich enough.

Can anyone tell me how to move a cheesecake off of the springform pan bottom and onto a plate? I always keep it on the pan, but if I wanted to make one for someone else, I wouldn't know how to transfer it.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

1 brown paperbag (lunch size)

1/4 cup popcorn kernels

1 tablespoon oil

salt or popcorn salt to taste

stapler

put popcorn kernels, oil, and salt in bag. press bag flat to get air out. fold down top of bag one small fold (about an inch) and staple twice. (will not spark in microwave)

set microwave for popcorn setting (or about 2 minutes) and stay closeby. when it slows down dramatically take bag out and open. pour into bowl.

bag will be greasy, but popcorn will be good!

Vegetable Soup

I made a yummy pot of vegetable soup today. I thought I'd share the recipe, but please bear with me...I didn't really measure anything.

1 lb ground venison (you could, of course, use lean hamburger or ground turkey)
couple tablespoons flour
salt
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 cup baby carrots, cut up
2 stalks celery, cut up

cook ground venison in large pan, add salt and flour and then add onion, carrots, and celery. Cook and stir until burger is no longer pink and onions are tender. Add:

cup of frozen corn
cup of frozen lima beans
cup of frozen peas
2 or 3 small potatoes, diced
1/2 cup barley
beef broth and/or chicken broth to cover meat and veggies

Bring the above to a boil and then cook on medium or medium high until vegetables and potatoes are tender. Add:

1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can green beans (or leftover green beans)

**Posted Later: I forgot to add that I also added some chili powder and oregano. I didn't measure them, so just sprinkle them on to taste. **

Simmer until ready to eat.

Oatmeal, Anyone?

My family enjoys oatmeal. That hasn't always been the case though. About a year ago I was talking to a couple from our Sunday School class and the husband told me that he puts a little bit of peanut butter in his oatmeal. I thought "what do I have to lose? Maybe my kids will like it!" And guess what? They did! We've tried other ways of making it, but we always come back to this tried and true recipe. If you have a "non-oatmeal" eater out there, give this recipe a try:

For one serving:

1/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
2 tsp sugar (I use demerara sugar)
dash of cinnamon (I pretty much cover the top of the oatmeal)
raisins -- about 1/4 cup or whatever your preference
2/3 cup water

stir and place in microwave on high for 2 minutes

Remove from microwave and add about a tablespoon of crunchy peanutbutter. Then you can either eat it as is, or add a bit of milk to make it thinner and cooler.

Enjoy!

(Our cousin Ruthie discovered she liked oatmeal this way when she visited us last week.) :o)

New Breakfast Item

When we were on vacation, one of the breakfast foods they offered at our hotel was breakfast burritos. Ben loved them. So yesterday morning I decided to make my version of them. I grated a couple of small potatoes and fried them into hash browns, scrambled a couple of eggs and mixed in some cheese, and I had some bacon already fried. I warmed up a tortilla and then put a little of each of those things in the tortilla and wrapped it up. Put a bottle of ketchup on the table and waalaa...Breakfast Burritos! :o)

***Side Note*** Be careful with hand held shredder. It does not feel good to shred one's thumb! ahem...not that I would know or anything.

What to do with leftover mashed potatoes?

Make Potato Cakes! My Mom used to make potato cakes out of leftover mashed potatoes, and I found out this morning that Neal's mom did too. I made them this morning for breakfast and they were a HUGE success! The kids wanted more. I told them the next time I make mashed potatoes (which isn't very often) they probably won't be so quick to get seconds. :o) This is what I did:

I had quite a bit left over so I beat up two eggs and mixed into the potatoes. Then I added flour a little bit at a time until I got a consistency I could work with (you want enough in there so that you can form patties. they will still be a bit sticky). Then I added chives (normally I would used diced onion, but since we had fresh chives I used them), a little salt since my potatoes were quite salty enough, pepper, and a little grated Parmesan cheese. Heat a little canola oil in your skillet at medium-high heat -- enough to lightly cover bottom of skillet -- and place patties in skillet. Flip every minute or so until both sides are golden brown. They are delish! We ate them with a little ketchup, but they're good without it.