Thursday, August 27, 2009

Golden Sweet Cornbread

From Allrecipes.com

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Honey Lime Enchiladas


From Sisters Cafe

1.5 lbs pork or chicken, cooked and shredded
Sauce:
1/3 c honey
1/4 c lime juice
1 Tb chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 (10 oz) cans green enchilada sauce
equal parts mixed together of:
mozzarella cheese, shredded
cheddar cheese, shredded
flour tortillas

Mix together sauce ingredients then add to shredded pork or chicken. Let the sauce soak into the meat for about 30 minutes.
Lightly spray 2 pans with non-stick baking spray. (I usually use one 9x13 and one 9x9 but it may vary with how thick you stuff your enchiladas) Pour green enchilada sauce into pans to coat the entire bottom. Fill tortillas with shredded meat and desired amount of cheese. Roll and place in dish.
Pour remainder of sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle more cheese on top - don't be stingy! (I sometimes use more like 1 1/2 cans- you can freeze left over enchilada sauce in a baggy.) Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then turn on broiler and place enchiladas nearer the top of oven. Let it broil until cheese is slightly brown and crispy. It is now time to WOW your family!!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Lemonade Chicken


Lemonade Chicken


Adapted From: Recipe for Disaster

4-6 chicken breasts

3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate

3 Tbs. ketchup

2 Tbs. brown sugar

1 Tbs. vinegar

2 Tbs. cornstarch

2 Tbs. water

Minced onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper and thyme, to taste


Put chicken in the crockpot. Mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over chicken. cook for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Before serving, remove chicken and shred. Add back to sauce. Serve over rice.

Chili-Beef-Stuffed Zucchini



From EveryDay with Rachael Ray

4 zucchini (about 2 pounds), halved lengthwise and seeded
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3/4 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 cup jarred pickled jalapeño chiles, finely chopped
One 8-ounce bag Mexican-style shredded cheese

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450°. Arrange the zucchini cut side up in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add 1/2 cup water to the dish, cover with foil and bake until the zucchini begins to soften, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the beef and cumin and cook, breaking the meat up, until just browned, about 4 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes and pickled jalapeños.

Uncover the baking dish, pour off the water and season the zucchini with salt. Fill with the beef mixture and sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Lime Glazed Raspberry Cupcakes/Muffins




This recipe said it was a cupcake recipe, but I thought it was more muffin inspired. I definitely can eat these for breakfast!
Adapted from Elle's New England Kitchen

Supposed to make 24 cupcakes, but I got 18...

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup raspberries
1 cup milk
lime zest

glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
lime juice, enough to get a glaze consistency
grated lime zest

Heat oven to 375. Grease muffin pans or line with papers.In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.In medium bowl, sift 2 cups of the flour with the baking powder, soda, and salt.Toss the berries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. On medium speed, add flour mixture to butter/sugar, alternating with the milk. Fold in the berries and zest. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 20-22 minutes. While those are baking, make the glaze. Whisk the sugar, zest, and juice until smooth. After cupcakes are cooked, run a knife around each one immediately and after a couple minutes, remove to a rack to cool. Take them out of the pan and glaze them.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins


I had been looking for something to take to a family reunion to eat for breakfast. I love muffins and thought these sounded really good. They are so good. Orrin kept saying, "Mom they taste like lemonade."


Recipe by: Dorie Greenspan

2/3 cup sugar
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream (I used light sour cream)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

icing:

1 cup confectioner's sugar
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I used more, Port kept saying it wasn't lemony enough.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.In large bowl, rub sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon is strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.In another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently stir to blend. Do not over stir!Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake 18-20 minutes.Transfer pan to a cooling rack. Cool 5 minutes then remove from pan. Cool completely, then glaze with icing. (I put the glaze on them as soon as they were on the cooling rack and still hot. It was great. It created kind of a crunchy glaze on them. SO GOOD!!!)

Garlic Chicken Farfalle

From Real Mom Kitchen

1 lb. Bowtie pasta
1 cup heavy whipping cream (I used whole milk)
3-4 chicken breast
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. pepper
1/2 cup butter
1 lb. bacon,cooked and crumbled (I am not a huge fan of bacon so I halved this)
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 (12 oz.) bottle Lawry's Mesquite marinade with lime juice

In the crockpot, cook chicken and marinade on low heat for 6-8 hours. Pull marinated chicken out of the juices, allow to cool a bit and shred. Set a side. About a half hour before serving, boil the pasta. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add garlic, cream, pepper, parmesan and curmbled bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour over cooked, drained pasta. Add chicken and stir to combine. Sprinkle a little bit more shredded parmesan cheese on top.

Sour Cream Chicken


From Dinner's Ready


2-4 chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

½ c mayo

2 Tb chopped onion or sprinkled dry onion

½ pint sour cream

1 cup cheese

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper


Place chicken, cream of chicken soup, onion, lemon juice, salt and pepper in crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hrs or high 3-4 hours. During the last hour of cooking time, shred chicken then add mayo, sour cream and cheese. Serve over rice and sprinkled with shredded cheese, salt and pepper.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Mushroom Marscapone


From Rush Meets Grill


Preparation Time: 10 min.

Cooking Time: 10 min.


Serves 2.


Ingredients

* 1-pound rigatoni pasta
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 pound baby portabello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
* 1 cup tomatoes and its juices, crushed with your bare hands
* 1/2 cup of the drained pasta water
* 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature (I used cream cheese)
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
* 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
Method

1. Cooking the pasta - Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the rigatoni and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Now, While the pasta is cooking…take a Large skillet and heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.

3. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until u smell the garlic aroma.

4. Add the mushrooms to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the heat to high.

5. Add the hand crushed tomatoes along with the juices to blend in and cook for 2 min, lower the heat to medium.

6. Now add the Rigatoni and pasta water and cook for 3 minutes until all the liquid evaporates and the flavors blend in.

7. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the mascarpone cheese. Stir until creamy.

8. Season with more salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with the chopped basil leaves.Grate some lemon zest on top.

9. Serve the steamy creamy pasta into a bowl and right in!!!!

Creamed Peas, Carrots, and Potatoes

We plant this...


To get this...



To make this!



I love love love this dish! It always reminds me of summer and why I plant a garden. I never make this unless I can have fresh baby potatoes, peas, and carrots from our garden. It just doesn't taste the same with store bought vegetables. I made a big pot of this for Sunday dinner and I was in heaven.

New potatoes
New carrots
New peas
1 stick butter
8 T. flour
Milk
Salt and pepper

Cut and cook potatoes until just about done. Add the carrots. When carrots are just about done, add the peas. Drain and set aside. In the same pan, add the butter and flour. Melt together and cook until it has a nutty smell. Add the milk a little at a time so you can see how thick it will be. Keep adding milk until your desired thickness. Add salt and pepper and then the vegetables. Enjoy!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Brownies

From Mom Hill

Beat 6 eggs and 3 C. sugar

Add:
3 T. Vanilla
½ C. cocoa (4 sq. chocolate)
1 ½ C. oil

3 C. flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Texas Brownies

My sister called the other night while I was making brownies. She assumed I was making them from scratch ( I rarely do!). She said that she didn't have any good homemade brownie recipes. I told her I had this one from my sister-in-law and promised I would share it. Here ya go, Holly! I told you there weren't many weird ingredients!

Boil in heavy saucepan:

½ C. butter
½ C. shortening
1 C. water
¼ C. cocoa

Mix in bowl:

2 C. sugar
2 C. flour

Pour boiling mixture over and barely mix.

Add to above and mix well with mixer:

½ C. buttermilk
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. soda

Put in jelly roll pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool.

Frosting:

½ C. butter
¼ C. milk
2 T. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
3 ½ C. powdered sugar

Mix butter, cocoa, milk and boil. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat and pour on cake quickly.

Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini

Our garden has exploded with zucchini! Last year we only got a few, but this year we get a couple a day. We love it, but I have had to dig deep for recipes to use it. I have froze a lot of it to use in the winter months. The next few posts are some ways to use this zucchini.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins


1 C. Sugar
3 eggs
1 C. vegetable oil
3 C. shredded zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
3 C. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. chocolate chips

Whisk together sugar, eggs, oil, zucchini, and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cocoa, salt, and chocolate chips; mix well. Combine flour mixture and wet ingredients just until blended. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick tests done.

Zucchini Soup

Here's another sister-in-law recipe. Brenda's kids love this soup. I haven't tried it, but I plan to make it on a cold day!

Peel and dice several small or one large zucchini. On the large ones remove the seeds.
Boil diced zucchini till tender. Ladle zucchini out of the boiling water into your blender. Add some boiling water to the blender to facilitate blending. Puree zucchini. Add 1-2 bullion cubes to remaining boiling water. Return blended zucchini to water.

Wisk ¼ c. flour, add 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce. Remove from heat and add 1 c. milk or 1 can evaporated milk and 1 tsp thyme seasoning. Add grated cheese till pale yellow color and salt and pepper. Return to heat till cheese is melted and soup is warm. DO NOT BOIL.

Zucchini Bread

My sister-in-law Debbie has the best zucchini bread. We look forward to family reunions or family gatherings where she pulls it out. We all love it.

½ cup oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups shredded raw zucchini
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon baking powder

Combine oil, applesauce, sugar and eggs in large mixer bowl. Beat well. Blend in vanilla and zucchini. Combine dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add to mixer bowl and blend well. Pour batter into 2 loaf pans that have been greased and lightly floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Let loaves stand in pans for 10 min. then turn out on to racks to cool.

Chili Cheese Rice Burritos

If anyone is like me right now, you need creative ways to use those truckloads of zucchini coming out of your garden. I can't remember where I found this recipe but we love it. You can't even tell the zucchini is in it.

6 (6-inch) flour tortillas
Non-stick cooking spray
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chile
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced green onions
1 cup cooked rice
3/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1 tomato, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons salsa

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
Warm tortillas in oven.
While tortillas are warming, heat a non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Add zucchini, chile, and green onions and sauté for 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in the rice, cheese, salt, and pepper and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Fill warmed tortillas with rice mixture. Top with lettuce and tomato. Roll up the burrito and serve with salsa.