As a mom I'm always sure to have something cold and sweet on hand during the summer for my kids. I'm sure all the other moms that read this blog would agree with this statement. Whether you make your own fruit smoothies or frozen fruit bars or buy them at the store it's easy to find lots of cool sweet treats for kids, but what about mom and dad?
My answer: Chocolate Baileys Milkshakes!!!
yes it's been a while since we had a sweet dessert recipe on here and with the heat I felt it was time to address this issue. Below you will find a generic recipe for Baileys Milkshakes. You can mix and match all kinds of ingredients with this recipe and make it your own.
this serving is for one person so to make more simply double the recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup French Vanilla Ice Cream
1/4 cup Hersheys chocolate syrup
1/4 cup Milk or
1/4 cup eggnog
1 banana (if you choose to include the banana I reccomend using the milk)
Baileys Irish Creme. (Please note that I did not list a suggested measurement for the Baileys. The reason for this is that I've found that everyone has thier one desired taste they are going for. So the suggest measurement is to your own taste).
DIRECTIONS
1: Add in a blender the ice cream, baileys, chocolate syrup, banana (if you choose this option) and milk (or eggnog whichever you prefer)
2: Blend lightly to desired consistency
3: Pour or spoon into tall frosted glasses and garnish with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, or a sprig of mint.
There are many variations of this milkshake that you can make. You can use strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, just about any kind of fruit will make this milkshake good.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Mexican Pasta Bake
I like mexican food but the prep work for it soooo messy and I hate the clean up! Still when I came across this recipe I just had, HAD to try it. Little did I realize when I decided to make it that it would make SOOOOO much. My suggestion to you all is to freeze half of it or else cut the recipe down by half.
MEXICAN PASTA BAKE
2lbs of ground beef
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 large white onion
6 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 tbsp Olive oil (substitution is 2 tablespoons butter)
4 tspns cumin
4 tspns chili powder
4 tspns dried oregano
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes in oregano, basil, and olive oil (like it actually says that on the label)
2 14 oz cans of black beans
2 14 oz cans of corn
Mexican cheese blend (I used regular old cheddar cheese)
2 box Penne Pasta
Step one:
Dice and mince the peppers, garlic and onion. Heat the olive oil, or butter if you use that instead, next you're going to sweat the onions, peppers, and garlic until the aroma permeates your kitchen. Basically your going to saute until all the flavors come together yumm.
Step two:
Once you've sweat the veggies put your ground beef in the same pot and add all your spices (cumin, chili powder, oregano) and the cans of diced tomatoes. Start brown the meat and veggies and spices all together. Now while that is cooking start your water for your noodles.
Step three:
Once the meat is browned and the noodles are cooked you'll need a LARGE bowl. Mix in that bowl the browned meat concoction along with the noodles and the cans of black beans and corn. and mix it all up. Divide your mexican pasta into two 9x13 casserole dishes and cover with the mexican cheese and bake in the oven at 350 until the cheese melts. Viola you are done :)
Side Note:
As I said at the beginning of this post this makes a LOT of food and I divided mine up to make more meals than just this one. The awesome thing about this meat mixture is it's a great mexican filling for tacos, taco salad, and nachos. In order to use the meat mixture for other mexican dishes I suggest only mixing your noodles in with the first 9x13 pan and leaving the noodles out of the second one. This way you can use the meat mixture for many and more recipes throughout the month. The meat mixture freezes extremely well and anytime you want to throw together a quick mexican meal you have the filling already made :-) I do suggest leaving the cheese out of the portions you plan to freeze though. So far out of this one recipe I've made:
the original pasta bake
Taco salads
Quesadillas
Soft Tacos
Loaded nachos
Since the meat mixture is a basic mexican blend of spices, veggies, and ground beef it translates well into many different meals so left overs don't have to be boring :)
Kid reviews:
Gavin 5 yrs old: Liked the pasta bake and the soft tacos was not crazy about the Quesadillas. (he never likes Quesadillas no matter what's in them lol)
Magnus 2yrs old: Magnus felt the need to eat this with his hands and at one point abandoned even that method and just stuck his face in the bowl. I'm taking that as two thumbs up :)
Andrea 14 yrs old: Andrea really liked this she even ate with black beans in it and she HATES black beans. I think it helps that you really can't taste them because they are just mixed in with everything else. It was her idea to make loaded nachos, leave it to a teenager with the metabolism of a greek god to come up with that LOL, she also added sour cream and salsa to her mexican pasta bake as a topping. That was surprisingly good and made my foodie heart proud to see her experiment.
MEXICAN PASTA BAKE
2lbs of ground beef
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 large white onion
6 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 tbsp Olive oil (substitution is 2 tablespoons butter)
4 tspns cumin
4 tspns chili powder
4 tspns dried oregano
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes in oregano, basil, and olive oil (like it actually says that on the label)
2 14 oz cans of black beans
2 14 oz cans of corn
Mexican cheese blend (I used regular old cheddar cheese)
2 box Penne Pasta
Step one:
Dice and mince the peppers, garlic and onion. Heat the olive oil, or butter if you use that instead, next you're going to sweat the onions, peppers, and garlic until the aroma permeates your kitchen. Basically your going to saute until all the flavors come together yumm.
Step two:
Once you've sweat the veggies put your ground beef in the same pot and add all your spices (cumin, chili powder, oregano) and the cans of diced tomatoes. Start brown the meat and veggies and spices all together. Now while that is cooking start your water for your noodles.
Step three:
Once the meat is browned and the noodles are cooked you'll need a LARGE bowl. Mix in that bowl the browned meat concoction along with the noodles and the cans of black beans and corn. and mix it all up. Divide your mexican pasta into two 9x13 casserole dishes and cover with the mexican cheese and bake in the oven at 350 until the cheese melts. Viola you are done :)
Side Note:
As I said at the beginning of this post this makes a LOT of food and I divided mine up to make more meals than just this one. The awesome thing about this meat mixture is it's a great mexican filling for tacos, taco salad, and nachos. In order to use the meat mixture for other mexican dishes I suggest only mixing your noodles in with the first 9x13 pan and leaving the noodles out of the second one. This way you can use the meat mixture for many and more recipes throughout the month. The meat mixture freezes extremely well and anytime you want to throw together a quick mexican meal you have the filling already made :-) I do suggest leaving the cheese out of the portions you plan to freeze though. So far out of this one recipe I've made:
the original pasta bake
Taco salads
Quesadillas
Soft Tacos
Loaded nachos
Since the meat mixture is a basic mexican blend of spices, veggies, and ground beef it translates well into many different meals so left overs don't have to be boring :)
Kid reviews:
Gavin 5 yrs old: Liked the pasta bake and the soft tacos was not crazy about the Quesadillas. (he never likes Quesadillas no matter what's in them lol)
Magnus 2yrs old: Magnus felt the need to eat this with his hands and at one point abandoned even that method and just stuck his face in the bowl. I'm taking that as two thumbs up :)
Andrea 14 yrs old: Andrea really liked this she even ate with black beans in it and she HATES black beans. I think it helps that you really can't taste them because they are just mixed in with everything else. It was her idea to make loaded nachos, leave it to a teenager with the metabolism of a greek god to come up with that LOL, she also added sour cream and salsa to her mexican pasta bake as a topping. That was surprisingly good and made my foodie heart proud to see her experiment.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Slow cooked Sunday
Most nights I'm rushing to get a meal on the table. Many of the meals I frequent are quick, versatile, and translate into other meals with their left overs. This is why I feel Sunday Dinner, or Saturday whichever is your slow day, is sacred family dinner time. Sunday Dinner is the only meal I will spend hours lovingly prepping and preparing even plating our Sunday Dinner. It's a chance for us to slow down and recap our full week and our weekend. Sunday may be my favorite day of the week just for this tradition.
Usually I try to post recipes that fit my busy schedule but I thought it important to post Slow cooked Sunday for any of you that also cherish that extra time on Sunday before the madness of the week descends. This particular recipe is not hard but it is a slow cooked meal which does not make for an easy weekday dinner. I have have to share this one with you all especially my non-cooking friends because the ease of this recipe will change your mind about cooking. I originally stumbled across this recipe at Nigella Lawson's online blog. Once you make this you may never make Chicken and Ribs the same way again!
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
2 Aluminum roasting pans (regular roasting pans if you have them sadly my kitchen is lacking one :( ).
2 Large Freezer bags.
Maple Glazed Chicken N'Ribs
Ingredients:
12 pork spare ribs
12 chicken thighs, skin and bone still on
8.5 Oz's. apple juice, as sharp as possible
4 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick, halved
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
(you will notice that Nigella's measurements are in ml. and I've converted them to tablespoons and ounces for those of us who don't use the metric system)
Prep and Cook
Put the ribs and chicken pieces in a couple of large freezer bags or into a dish.
Add the remaining ingredients, squelching everything together well, before sealing the bag or covering the dish.
Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight or up to two days.
When the marinating time is up, take the dish out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 200°.
Pour the contents of the freezer bag into one or two large roasting tins (making sure the chicken is skin-side up), place in the oven and cook for about an hour and a quarter, by which time everything should be sticky and glossed conker-brown. (I don't know what conker-Brown is but as long as it's glossy and brown you're good)
In America we call this dump chicken and no matter what name you give it it's good every single time!!!!
This Sunday I'll be serving this with steamed broccoli and cauliflower along with some ears of corn.
Usually I try to post recipes that fit my busy schedule but I thought it important to post Slow cooked Sunday for any of you that also cherish that extra time on Sunday before the madness of the week descends. This particular recipe is not hard but it is a slow cooked meal which does not make for an easy weekday dinner. I have have to share this one with you all especially my non-cooking friends because the ease of this recipe will change your mind about cooking. I originally stumbled across this recipe at Nigella Lawson's online blog. Once you make this you may never make Chicken and Ribs the same way again!
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
2 Aluminum roasting pans (regular roasting pans if you have them sadly my kitchen is lacking one :( ).
2 Large Freezer bags.
Maple Glazed Chicken N'Ribs
Ingredients:
12 pork spare ribs
12 chicken thighs, skin and bone still on
8.5 Oz's. apple juice, as sharp as possible
4 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick, halved
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
(you will notice that Nigella's measurements are in ml. and I've converted them to tablespoons and ounces for those of us who don't use the metric system)
Prep and Cook
Put the ribs and chicken pieces in a couple of large freezer bags or into a dish.
Add the remaining ingredients, squelching everything together well, before sealing the bag or covering the dish.
Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight or up to two days.
When the marinating time is up, take the dish out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 200°.
Pour the contents of the freezer bag into one or two large roasting tins (making sure the chicken is skin-side up), place in the oven and cook for about an hour and a quarter, by which time everything should be sticky and glossed conker-brown. (I don't know what conker-Brown is but as long as it's glossy and brown you're good)
In America we call this dump chicken and no matter what name you give it it's good every single time!!!!
This Sunday I'll be serving this with steamed broccoli and cauliflower along with some ears of corn.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Everything but the Kitchen sink Spaghetti Sauce
I like pasta but I'm not usually a huge fan of spaghetti sauce. That's why I had to figure out how to make my own. Maybe if I made it from scratch I'd like it better so I opened my fridge and took stock of all the veggitables I had in there and started collecting ones that I thought would be good together. What I came up with was so yummy that even I used the last of the bread to scrape the bowl! The best part about this recipe is you can use whatever veggies you have on hand and it should still be good..you know unless you're trying to mix things like corn and mushrooms that might not be so good.
I'm calling this 'Almost home made' because I do use a can of tomatoe sauce.
What you will need:
A pot big enough to hold all your chopped veggies.
A blender
Ingredients:
One large portabella mushroom diced
One yellow onion (I used vidalia but you can use any kind of onion)
One yellow bell pepper diced
One red bell pepper diced
2 stalks of celery chopped
Italian seasoning
Dried Oregano
Minced Garlic
1 bay leaf
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
This is so easy it will blow your mind!!! Chop everything up and put it in a pot. Now if you want to get creative and try some other things you can put a tablespoon of olive oil in there and a teaspoon of Balsamic Vinegar I've tried both combos and they are really good. Pour in the can of tomato sauce and let everything come to a simmer. Keep it at a simmer until the veggies are tender and then pour it all into your blender. Now If you like your sauce chuncky then you don't have to blend it but if you like your sauce smooth (and I do) just blend away until it's the consistency you like. Viola you have made your own spaghetti sauce!! You can use it on ANYTHING my kids like to pour it over bread and eat it that way. I prefer using it on traditional pasta but either way it's totally worth making.
I'm calling this 'Almost home made' because I do use a can of tomatoe sauce.
What you will need:
A pot big enough to hold all your chopped veggies.
A blender
Ingredients:
One large portabella mushroom diced
One yellow onion (I used vidalia but you can use any kind of onion)
One yellow bell pepper diced
One red bell pepper diced
2 stalks of celery chopped
Italian seasoning
Dried Oregano
Minced Garlic
1 bay leaf
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
This is so easy it will blow your mind!!! Chop everything up and put it in a pot. Now if you want to get creative and try some other things you can put a tablespoon of olive oil in there and a teaspoon of Balsamic Vinegar I've tried both combos and they are really good. Pour in the can of tomato sauce and let everything come to a simmer. Keep it at a simmer until the veggies are tender and then pour it all into your blender. Now If you like your sauce chuncky then you don't have to blend it but if you like your sauce smooth (and I do) just blend away until it's the consistency you like. Viola you have made your own spaghetti sauce!! You can use it on ANYTHING my kids like to pour it over bread and eat it that way. I prefer using it on traditional pasta but either way it's totally worth making.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Nothing screams summer like Lemonade and nothing is better than a tall frosty glass of Pink Lemonade. The tart, sweet, tangy taste just makes your mouth water and your face pucker thinking about it. I love lemonade and especially pink lemonade it always reminds me of my Granny's house in Mississippi. I remember she would have the Country Time Pink Lemonade on hand everytime we came to visit and we'd sit out on the back desk swinging and drinking Pink Lemonade. I used to pretend that I was some southern belle from Gone with the Wind or Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. So many beautiful memories surround that drink that in honor of Summer and the fourth of July I HAD to make Pink Lemonade Cupcakes and because today is a huge deadline at work and I'm a nice person LOL..no really I am ;) I made two batches of these cupcakes and brought them to work for my fellow co-workers. A little bribe to sweeten our day.
I had no idea these things would start a revolution!!! Apparently everyone in our office is chomping at the bit to get a taste of summer!! I'm already committed to making two more batches for employees in other departments not to mention my friends and family at home that feel "cheated" thier words not mine hahaha.
If you want to make these amazing summer time cupcakes for your family, friends, co-workers, or as a bribe to get your way the recipe is below. It's amazing simple and completely fantabulous to eat :)
Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Cupcake Batter:
1 box of white cake mix (prefer to use the Pillsbury one that has the pudding in the mix)
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
3 tbs. Country Time Pink Lemonade mix (powdered not pre-made)
water.
Prepare cake batter according to the instructions on the box then mix in the 2 tbs of pink lemonade mix. The box may call for egg whites but I just used the whole three eggs not just the whites and it mixed fine and tasted better :).
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and arrange cupcake wrappers in muffin pan. Fill using an ice cream scoop. I used a scoop and a 1/3 to fill the cupcake wrappers but really you can fill however you want. Cook according to directions.
Icing:
1lb powdered sugar
3 tbs. pink lemonade mix
1/4 cup butter or margarine
Easiest icing ever!! Dump it all in a bowl and mix!!! Careful though because it melts when it gets hot!! So I suggest spooning it on top of the cupcake. I was going to go for a thicker sturdier frosting but everyone loves the glazed powdered sugar one so i'm gonna stick with what works!! :)
Usually I do a review from my kids and then one form the adults but since I sampled this in my office i'm just going to post a few of the e-mail responces I got on these.
J.Cromley (Academic Advisor) said:
Yum! Those are good! Thanks for bringing them in.
K.Lang (Transfer advisor from UMSL) said:
mmmhhmm oh my god so good nom nom nom!!!
M.Clincy (Academic Advisor) said:
Are there enough for me to have three? (consequently Ms.Clincy NO there were not enough for you to have three)
H.Steiner (LPC counsilor) said:
I love the glazed icing on these it compliments the cake well and doesn't leave a greasy, overly sugary mess. It tastes like summer.
K.Hadley (Dept.Secretary) said:
I had to sneak another one but shhhh don't tell!!! Wow I can't believe how good these are! they really taste like pink lemonade..i'm in cupcake love with these.
Why I love this recipe:
First off how easy is this recipe!!!!! I love when something so simple, so easy, and so cute comes together in an amazing package of perfect zen! I especially love when I make something that gets eaten in less than an hour, I mean hello you can put in such a small amount of work and get the greatest pay off. If you make these you will be the talk of any party and I mean that in a good way, not in a 'you drank too much tequila at the last moms night out and now you're the talk of the party oops!!!', kind of way. I'm way more leery of tequila, and pinata's now.
I had no idea these things would start a revolution!!! Apparently everyone in our office is chomping at the bit to get a taste of summer!! I'm already committed to making two more batches for employees in other departments not to mention my friends and family at home that feel "cheated" thier words not mine hahaha.
If you want to make these amazing summer time cupcakes for your family, friends, co-workers, or as a bribe to get your way the recipe is below. It's amazing simple and completely fantabulous to eat :)
Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Cupcake Batter:
1 box of white cake mix (prefer to use the Pillsbury one that has the pudding in the mix)
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
3 tbs. Country Time Pink Lemonade mix (powdered not pre-made)
water.
Prepare cake batter according to the instructions on the box then mix in the 2 tbs of pink lemonade mix. The box may call for egg whites but I just used the whole three eggs not just the whites and it mixed fine and tasted better :).
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and arrange cupcake wrappers in muffin pan. Fill using an ice cream scoop. I used a scoop and a 1/3 to fill the cupcake wrappers but really you can fill however you want. Cook according to directions.
Icing:
1lb powdered sugar
3 tbs. pink lemonade mix
1/4 cup butter or margarine
Easiest icing ever!! Dump it all in a bowl and mix!!! Careful though because it melts when it gets hot!! So I suggest spooning it on top of the cupcake. I was going to go for a thicker sturdier frosting but everyone loves the glazed powdered sugar one so i'm gonna stick with what works!! :)
Usually I do a review from my kids and then one form the adults but since I sampled this in my office i'm just going to post a few of the e-mail responces I got on these.
J.Cromley (Academic Advisor) said:
Yum! Those are good! Thanks for bringing them in.
K.Lang (Transfer advisor from UMSL) said:
mmmhhmm oh my god so good nom nom nom!!!
M.Clincy (Academic Advisor) said:
Are there enough for me to have three? (consequently Ms.Clincy NO there were not enough for you to have three)
H.Steiner (LPC counsilor) said:
I love the glazed icing on these it compliments the cake well and doesn't leave a greasy, overly sugary mess. It tastes like summer.
K.Hadley (Dept.Secretary) said:
I had to sneak another one but shhhh don't tell!!! Wow I can't believe how good these are! they really taste like pink lemonade..i'm in cupcake love with these.
Why I love this recipe:
First off how easy is this recipe!!!!! I love when something so simple, so easy, and so cute comes together in an amazing package of perfect zen! I especially love when I make something that gets eaten in less than an hour, I mean hello you can put in such a small amount of work and get the greatest pay off. If you make these you will be the talk of any party and I mean that in a good way, not in a 'you drank too much tequila at the last moms night out and now you're the talk of the party oops!!!', kind of way. I'm way more leery of tequila, and pinata's now.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Portabello Mushroom and basil Panini
My mom friends and I are always talking about how the older we get the more we sound like our mothers. I'm pretty sure my mom is the worlds wisest mom I'm ok with hearing her words come out of my mouth when I'm talking to my kids. What I never expected was to hear phrases and sayings my FATHER said come out of my mouth. I remember very clearly the first time I heard one of his sayings uttered by me. It was as if I were in slow motion and yet helpless to prevent them being spoken. A true out of body experience. I won't go into his doubtful words of wisdom sufficet to say i've managed to come to grips with the fact that i'm more like my father than I originally thought. One of the biggest things we have in common is our love of kitchen gadgets and the soothing, peaceful feeling we get when we spend time in the kitchen. Today's recipe is in honor of my dad a man who could find a million and one uses for a skillet and was the king of improvisation: As my dad would say if you don't have what you need you find a way to make it work.
Portabello Mushroom and Basil Pesto Panini
Ingredients
Sliced Ciabatta, or other sturdy Bread4 portabello mushrooms,
slice tomato
sliced onion (preferably vidalia if you have it otherwise a sweeter onion like a red would work just as well)
mozzarella cheese (sliced mozzarella if you have it but the shredded one worked just as well)
fresh basil pesto (save yourself some trouble and money and just pick it up at Walmart)
olive oil
salt and pepper
Method
1. Saute mushrooms in olive oil until tender over medium heat. Brush one side of bread with olive oil. Turn over and layer both pieces with mozzarella. Then add to one side a teaspoon of pesto, sauteed mushrooms, sliced onion and tomato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and put sandwich together.
2. Grill in panini press until browned.
If you don’t have a panini press, that's ok you can just grill it like a regular grilled cheese or you can improvise like dear old dad would have done and use a heavy plate or another smaller skillet to press the sandwich down.
If you are a member of the Produce Coop Portabello Mushrooms can be ordered through them. It's five pounds so I would suggest finding someone that can share them with you. Vidalia onions are also available through the coop but you're on your own with the cheese and bread :) I would suggest for money saving purposes hitting up your local discount bread store. You can often find the more expensive breads like ciabatta or sourdough on sale. If money is no option then Panera makes a great sourdough bread that you can buy and bring home to make these awesome panini's.
This weeks kid reviews for this recipe:
Gavin said: It's good but I don't like the green leaves. (that would be the basil)
Magnus said: More but I noticed he didn't eat the basil either.
Why I like this recipe:
Technically it's not a "recipe" it's a sandwich but I like it because it's a good hearty dinner without a lot of mess. You get a ton of veggies, protien and calcium from the mozzarella and it's a sandwich you can feel good about serving your children for dinner. For added vitamin oomph you can serve this with a side of Sweet Potato Fries. The best best best part of this dinner is it took less than 45 minutes to make it from the prep to table! For a busy working mom with after work activities you just can not beat that!!!
I hope you enjoyed this weeks I MADE THIS!! If you decide to try this at home I would greatly love to hear your feedback on what you thought. If you have your own reviews you'd like to add of this weeks recipe please feel free to post them below. I'm always on the lookout for great modifications to everyday recipes.
Thank you and happy improvising :)
Portabello Mushroom and Basil Pesto Panini
Ingredients
Sliced Ciabatta, or other sturdy Bread4 portabello mushrooms,
slice tomato
sliced onion (preferably vidalia if you have it otherwise a sweeter onion like a red would work just as well)
mozzarella cheese (sliced mozzarella if you have it but the shredded one worked just as well)
fresh basil pesto (save yourself some trouble and money and just pick it up at Walmart)
olive oil
salt and pepper
Method
1. Saute mushrooms in olive oil until tender over medium heat. Brush one side of bread with olive oil. Turn over and layer both pieces with mozzarella. Then add to one side a teaspoon of pesto, sauteed mushrooms, sliced onion and tomato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and put sandwich together.
2. Grill in panini press until browned.
If you don’t have a panini press, that's ok you can just grill it like a regular grilled cheese or you can improvise like dear old dad would have done and use a heavy plate or another smaller skillet to press the sandwich down.
If you are a member of the Produce Coop Portabello Mushrooms can be ordered through them. It's five pounds so I would suggest finding someone that can share them with you. Vidalia onions are also available through the coop but you're on your own with the cheese and bread :) I would suggest for money saving purposes hitting up your local discount bread store. You can often find the more expensive breads like ciabatta or sourdough on sale. If money is no option then Panera makes a great sourdough bread that you can buy and bring home to make these awesome panini's.
This weeks kid reviews for this recipe:
Gavin said: It's good but I don't like the green leaves. (that would be the basil)
Magnus said: More but I noticed he didn't eat the basil either.
Why I like this recipe:
Technically it's not a "recipe" it's a sandwich but I like it because it's a good hearty dinner without a lot of mess. You get a ton of veggies, protien and calcium from the mozzarella and it's a sandwich you can feel good about serving your children for dinner. For added vitamin oomph you can serve this with a side of Sweet Potato Fries. The best best best part of this dinner is it took less than 45 minutes to make it from the prep to table! For a busy working mom with after work activities you just can not beat that!!!
I hope you enjoyed this weeks I MADE THIS!! If you decide to try this at home I would greatly love to hear your feedback on what you thought. If you have your own reviews you'd like to add of this weeks recipe please feel free to post them below. I'm always on the lookout for great modifications to everyday recipes.
Thank you and happy improvising :)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Mini-Lasagna's (pictures to come later)
As promised I made the mini-Lasagna's last night. I was up till 1 a.m. making these because I had to get a late start on them :(
http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/mini-lasagna-cups.html
If you click on the link it will take you to Kevin and Amanda's website which lists the original recipe for the mini-Lasagnas. You can use their version or you can use my modified version below. The only thing I would say is to make sure you use the wonton wrappers as actual lasagna noodles will dry out and get hard in the oven baking process. I discovered this when I tried it last night!
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb sausage
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
24 wonton wrappers
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
2 toes minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
You'll notice that I took out the pepper and kosher salt in my modified version. My reasoning for this is that canned spaghetti sauce has a LOT of sodium already in it and in place of pepper I used minced garlic and some dried Italian seasoning to kick up the flavor. Cause you know I'm Cajun and we can't leave ANYTHING alone lol. The recipe calls for 1lb of sausage Kevin and Amanda used Jimmy Dean pork sausage..I say no! Schnucks has an excellent selection of ground Italian sausage and pork sausage. Take your pick of these two sausages and you will be much happier with the end result. Just to be fair I did try the meat sauce with Jimmy Dean sausage and it wasn't bad but it was very bland. So if you're afraid of spices or seasonings go ahead and use the Jimmy Dean sausage but don't say I didn't warn you. Feel free to use any kind of shredded cheese you have on hand but I stuck with the traditional Mozzarella cheese.
How to cook this:
First get a big wide skillet for browning the meat. Normally I boil my ground meat in a pot of water to get rid of the grease but in this case we're cooking the sausage and the hamburger together and you want that grease from the sausage to flavor the hamburger. Go ahead and dump the ground meat and the sausage into the skillet together and mash it all up to start browning. While that's heating up and cooking go ahead and mince the two toes of garlic and set aside. Next go ahead and open the can of spaghetti sauce or jar whichever your favorite sauce is. I used Schnucks brand spaghetti sauce the Garlic and Herb one. In case you haven't noticed my family likes garlic. Ok now go check on your meat, if it's close to being done now would be the time that you want to toss in the minced garlic and the Italian seasonings, so go ahead and do that and mix it all up. Depending on how strong a garlic taste you want depends on when you toss it in. If you toss the garlic in early a lot of the flavor will cook away, toss is in toward the end if you want a stronger garlic taste. Let that simmer together for a few minutes then pour in your spaghetti sauce and mix together! Yum!! Then set aside and LETS GET READY TO ASSEMBLE!!!!
Preheat your oven to 350.
Next get out your muffin and grease the pan. I used Pam spray because it's easier and neater and cleaner then regular margarine or butter. Once greased place the wonton wrappers inside the muffin pan and use a regular small spoon to spoon in your cheese. If you have a small melon baller you can use that but I found a regular kitchen spoon works just as well. Next spoon a small amount of your meat sauce on top of the cheese and layer another wonton wrapper on top. Repeat with the cheese and meat sauce and then top with whatever shredded cheese you chose to use. Do this for all of them and then place in the oven and cook until the cheese melts.
Pull out and let stand for about 5 minutes or until cool enough to handle by hand. These slide out of the muffin pan extremely easy and bonus you don't need to dirty a dish to eat these :-)
RATINGS:
Gavin and Magnus both gave this recipe two hands up! Gavin loved that he didn't have to use a fork and Magnus just loved eating it.
Phillip gave it a 7 out of 10
Roxanne's rating is pending her trial taste tonight.
WHY I LIKE THIS RECIPE:
I love versatile recipes and this one is hands down the most versatile I've seen outside of Jamabalaya. I loved how easy it was to cook and assemble. The bonus of this recipe, other than it's portability, is the left over meat sauce. I don't know about the rest of you but when I can stretch one meal out into three or four I feel like a SuperMom and a SuperWoman all rolled into one and this recipe lets you do just that! With the leftover meat sauce you can either refrigerate it or freeze it to use later for spaghetti or bonus you can boil some lasagna noodles and make regular lasagna with the leftover meat sauce and ricotta cheese.
Since I was already in the kitchen and pretty slap happy by now I decided to use my two fancy new loaf pans to make two lasagne's with the leftover meat sauce and cheese. That means this one recipe yielded three dinners for my family of four. Now if my teenager had been home that would not have stretched near as far ;-)
http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/mini-lasagna-cups.html
If you click on the link it will take you to Kevin and Amanda's website which lists the original recipe for the mini-Lasagnas. You can use their version or you can use my modified version below. The only thing I would say is to make sure you use the wonton wrappers as actual lasagna noodles will dry out and get hard in the oven baking process. I discovered this when I tried it last night!
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb sausage
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
24 wonton wrappers
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
2 toes minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
You'll notice that I took out the pepper and kosher salt in my modified version. My reasoning for this is that canned spaghetti sauce has a LOT of sodium already in it and in place of pepper I used minced garlic and some dried Italian seasoning to kick up the flavor. Cause you know I'm Cajun and we can't leave ANYTHING alone lol. The recipe calls for 1lb of sausage Kevin and Amanda used Jimmy Dean pork sausage..I say no! Schnucks has an excellent selection of ground Italian sausage and pork sausage. Take your pick of these two sausages and you will be much happier with the end result. Just to be fair I did try the meat sauce with Jimmy Dean sausage and it wasn't bad but it was very bland. So if you're afraid of spices or seasonings go ahead and use the Jimmy Dean sausage but don't say I didn't warn you. Feel free to use any kind of shredded cheese you have on hand but I stuck with the traditional Mozzarella cheese.
How to cook this:
First get a big wide skillet for browning the meat. Normally I boil my ground meat in a pot of water to get rid of the grease but in this case we're cooking the sausage and the hamburger together and you want that grease from the sausage to flavor the hamburger. Go ahead and dump the ground meat and the sausage into the skillet together and mash it all up to start browning. While that's heating up and cooking go ahead and mince the two toes of garlic and set aside. Next go ahead and open the can of spaghetti sauce or jar whichever your favorite sauce is. I used Schnucks brand spaghetti sauce the Garlic and Herb one. In case you haven't noticed my family likes garlic. Ok now go check on your meat, if it's close to being done now would be the time that you want to toss in the minced garlic and the Italian seasonings, so go ahead and do that and mix it all up. Depending on how strong a garlic taste you want depends on when you toss it in. If you toss the garlic in early a lot of the flavor will cook away, toss is in toward the end if you want a stronger garlic taste. Let that simmer together for a few minutes then pour in your spaghetti sauce and mix together! Yum!! Then set aside and LETS GET READY TO ASSEMBLE!!!!
Preheat your oven to 350.
Next get out your muffin and grease the pan. I used Pam spray because it's easier and neater and cleaner then regular margarine or butter. Once greased place the wonton wrappers inside the muffin pan and use a regular small spoon to spoon in your cheese. If you have a small melon baller you can use that but I found a regular kitchen spoon works just as well. Next spoon a small amount of your meat sauce on top of the cheese and layer another wonton wrapper on top. Repeat with the cheese and meat sauce and then top with whatever shredded cheese you chose to use. Do this for all of them and then place in the oven and cook until the cheese melts.
Pull out and let stand for about 5 minutes or until cool enough to handle by hand. These slide out of the muffin pan extremely easy and bonus you don't need to dirty a dish to eat these :-)
RATINGS:
Gavin and Magnus both gave this recipe two hands up! Gavin loved that he didn't have to use a fork and Magnus just loved eating it.
Phillip gave it a 7 out of 10
Roxanne's rating is pending her trial taste tonight.
WHY I LIKE THIS RECIPE:
I love versatile recipes and this one is hands down the most versatile I've seen outside of Jamabalaya. I loved how easy it was to cook and assemble. The bonus of this recipe, other than it's portability, is the left over meat sauce. I don't know about the rest of you but when I can stretch one meal out into three or four I feel like a SuperMom and a SuperWoman all rolled into one and this recipe lets you do just that! With the leftover meat sauce you can either refrigerate it or freeze it to use later for spaghetti or bonus you can boil some lasagna noodles and make regular lasagna with the leftover meat sauce and ricotta cheese.
Since I was already in the kitchen and pretty slap happy by now I decided to use my two fancy new loaf pans to make two lasagne's with the leftover meat sauce and cheese. That means this one recipe yielded three dinners for my family of four. Now if my teenager had been home that would not have stretched near as far ;-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)