Vegetable and Pasta Soup

I'm pretty sure no one actually needs to learn how to make vegetable soup, but just in case, I decided to blog this tonight. I am still waiting for the weather to get cold and stay cold, but in the mean time, I just had to make soup. Too bad I can't make it in the morning when it's still nice and cool outside. Southern California had better figure out pretty soon that it's Fall or I'm going to be seriously disappointed. Wait...I already am!! So in the afternoons, I still hibernate while patiently waiting for the day time cold weather to finally come and stay. I say cold, but we all know in Southern California, that it's never truly that COLD, it's just less warm haha! (except for the nights...bbbrrrrr)
This soup was so delish!! My hubby probably would have preferred it with some chicken  or some kind of protein in it, but I was just hungry for vegetable soup tonight. I can't wait for leftovers tomorrow. Yummy!!
* I took a picture of my hubby's serving and forgot to take a picture of mine, which had fresh shaved parmesan and fresh basil on the top as garnishes. 

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 can green beans (I didn't have any fresh, but you can use fresh also)

3/4 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes ( you can use less if you don't want your soup spicy at all)

Salt/Pepper to taste

1 Tbsp thyme

1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes

6 cups water

2 cups rainbow rotini (or your favorite pasta)

In a  large soup pot, melt the butter and toss in the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, green beans, italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook until the vegetables are semi soft. Add the can of tomatoes (including the juice) and the water. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add your pasta and cook for about 10 minutes. *You can also serve this with freshly grated parmesan cheese on top, and/ or fresh basil.

Jolly Rancher Lollypops

This by far will be the easiest thing you ever make in your lifetime! It requires only 1 ingredient and a little bit of time. I love how colorful they are and the best part is, that you can change the flavor combination to suit your tastes.

Here is your big ingredient list:
Jolly Ranchers :) oh and I guess you need lollipop sticks too ;)

Heat oven to 275. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam thoroughly. Place 3 Jolly Ranchers together. Leave a big enough space between sets of 3 Jolly Ranchers to place the stick after they come out of the oven.
Place the cookie sheet into the oven for 6-8 minutes, or until the candy is completely melted. Take out of the oven and immediately place a lollipop stick into each one, 3/4 of the way up the sucker. Very gently, roll the stick in the sucker until it is coated with the candy. Leave until they are cooled all the way down. Enjoy :)

Garlic Parmesan Edamame

I have two words for this one. YUM YUM! I love Edamame by itself, but this just gave me even more reason to love it. I'm pretty sure I ate more than my fair share tonight, but fortunately I have some left to take to work tomorrow. The hubby really liked them too. He personally thinks that they are not worth all the effort to get the edamame out of the shell, but I sure think they are.

Here is a link to the recipe!
*Note: I skipped the food processor part of this recipe and I just cooked my garlic in the olive oil. Made it much quicker and more simple!

http://28cooks.blogspot.com/2008/10/garlic-parmesan-edamame-so-other-night.html

Slow Cooked Apples

Cooking this today made my home smell absolutely wonderful. Now if the weather would just cooperate and make it actually seem like it's FALL instead of an extended summer like we are having here in So Cal. I admit that a few times today, I actually went over to the crock pot, lifted the lid and took a big whiff. Ok...Ok...so my spoon actually went in it also to taste test. These didn't need to be taste tested, but it sounded like a reasonable way to explain away why I was constantly lifting the lid. I mean if I'm going to let that kind of steam escape from the pot, just to smell the darn stuff cooking, then I might as well take a taste while I'm there, right? Don't answer that ;)

8 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 8 wedges each
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6 Tbsp melted butter

Spray your crock pot THOROUGHLY with Pam. Coat it at least twice. Place the apples into the bottom of the crock pot. Drizzle the lemon juice over them and stir. In a bowl, mix up the sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir it and then pour it over the apples. Stir to coat all the apples with the sugar mixture. Drizzle melted butter over the apples and stir again. Cook on low for 3 hours or high for 2 hours. Serve warm!

7 up Biscuits

When I first saw these biscuits on the Internet, I seriously thought it might be a joke. Then I looked at the ingredients and thought "hhmmm these just might taste pretty good. So when I went grocery shopping, I bought the ingredients necessary to make them. I think this just might be my new favorite biscuit/dinner roll. Really easy....really fast....really good and oh so buttery.

2 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup 7-up

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 450.

Cut sour cream into biscuit mix, add 7-Up. Makes a very soft dough.

Sprinkle additional biscuit mix on board or table and pat dough out. Cut biscuits with a biscuit cuttter or just cut them into sqaures. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9 inch square pan.  Place cut biscuits in pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Sweet and Salty Bacon Wrapped Pretzels

 Sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy, spicy! Those are the words I would use to describe this treat. My company tonight definitely loved these and I will remember these as a "go to" recipe for a pot luck type appetizer dish. They are quick to make, easy as pie and are a crowd pleaser!! :)

 1 package of bacon, cut into halves
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 Tbsp chili powder
3 Dashes cayenne pepper (next time I'm going to use more cayenne and make this good and spicy)
1 package Pretzel rods


Preheat oven to 375.
Break the pretzel rods in half. Cut the bacon slices in half also. In a bowl, (use a flatter edged bowl for easily dipping the bacon), stir together the brown sugar, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Dip each bacon half into the brown sugar mixture, pushing down and making sure you coat all sides of the bacon with the sugar mixture thoroughly. Wrap the dipped bacon half around the half of a pretzel rod. Cover the entire rod with the piece of bacon. (for some pieces it only "almost" covers them, that's ok)
Place the covered pretzels onto a broiler pan (or any pan that has holes for the fat to drip through into a bottom container) so that when the bacon cooks, the fat drips off of them into the broiler pan below. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. Let these cool as the pretzel "hardens" back up after it cools a bit. Serve!

Pork and Chicken Posole

I love feeding people. I truly think it's my calling :) So when a phone call came at the last minute this afternoon that my daughter and son in law were on their way over with friends....I didn't have to panic because I had almost finished cooking a big pot of home made posole. I am pretty sure it was a hit as there was none left to send with my hubby to work tomorrow. This is not a quick recipe, but it sure is an easy one. This picture does not do this soup justice as you really can't see all the goodies snuggled down deep in the broth, but trust me it's yummy! Also, this picture was taken before I added all my garnishes to the top of the soup.

2 small-med onions, diced
1 lb pork, cut into bite size pieces
2 lbs chicken, cut into bite size pieces
12 cups of beef broth
2-4 lbs of hominy, drained (canned is fine)...use as much or as little as you like
1/4 cup garlic, minced
4 cups red chili sauce ( I use las palmas colorado sauce..it's like enchilada sauce)
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp oregano
4-8 Dried New Mexico Chilies

* for garnish: Chopped cabbage, diced onion, cilantro, fresh lime juice

In a large soup pot, heat your onion, pork and chicken. When meat just begins to brown, add the beef broth, hominy, garlic, chili sauce, cumin and oregano and the dried chilies. Stir well. Cook for about 2 hours or longer, until hominy is softened. Use a spoon to dip out all the dried chilies. Make sure you dip out the stems also. Throw all the chilies away.  Serve with your favorite garnishes.

Asian Slaw with Ginger Peanut Dressing

First off I need to apologize about how this picture looks of this food. I had my grand daughter here today and I guess I got sidetracked and forgot to take a picture before we ate. So after everything was all packed away, my brain kicked into full gear and I thought "whoops....I forgot:. So after spending all day running around after a 15 month old, I was just too lazy to take the slaw out of the tupperware I had already packed for the hubby tomorrow for work. So now that the explanation is done, let me move on to the food. This is another Pinterest recipe. I am really beginning to wonder if I am ever going to create my own food again. I have been spending so much time on Pinterest and there are so many wonderful recipes, that I can't imagine how long it will take me to cook so many of them that I want to make. This was such a refreshing, light slaw. I know it's supposed to be Fall, but it was 102 degrees here today, so yes I made a nice cold, refreshing SUMMER slaw!! If you like the taste of Oriental chicken salads at restaurants, then you will LOVE this (minus the chicken of course)!

Here is a link to the original recipe site!
http://www.onceuponachef.com/2011/03/asian-slaw-with-ginger-peanut-dressing.html

Crispy Fried Brussel Sprouts with Honey and Sriracha

This picture might look unappetizing, but I'm not a photographer, I just LOVE to cook. To be honest, I was just too lazy to even think about getting all the sauce off the sides of the bowl etc. I think I have just discovered one of my new favorite vegetable recipes. I love that this dish offers a spicy kick, along with a sweet undertone and a little bit of acidity from the lime. I'm pretty sure that someone that doesn't even like brussel sprouts would like these.

Here is a link to the recipe I found!
http://www.food52.com/recipes/10813_crispy_fried_brussels_sprouts_with_honey_and_sriracha

Frozen Cappucino Cups

It seems lately that I haven't been creating as many of my own dishes and I've been trying a lot of  new recipes I have found here, there and everywhere on the Internet. This is another idea taken from Pinterest and oh boy...is it ever wonderful!!! I made these with the intent of having something small to eat when a sugar craving hits, but now the task will be to just eat one and  not eat the entire making of them ;)
The hubby tried one out tonight and really liked it. Since he is not much a sweet eater, this is saying a lot for him to like this. I can't wait to have one tomorrow night. I am too full from our wonderful dinner to even think about eating one tonight!
I know this picture is terrible of this dessert. The camera broke again and I really needed to pop these back into the freezer quickly to get them solid again after topping them with the cool whip and cookie crumbs. Tomorrow I will try to take a picture of one cut in half so you can see all the yummy goodness....

15 Oreo cookies
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 pt coffee ice cream, softened

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
cool whip
Oreo cookie crumbs
* you can also top it with chocolate syrup or any other "fixins" you like

Crush oreos in your food processor. Place into a bowl and stir in the melted butter. Mix thoroughly. Place cupcake liners into a muffin tin and place a small amount of cookie mixture into the bottom of each liner. Press down with the back of the spoon until it's flat and evenly pressed down.
In a bowl, place softened ice cream with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir and mix well. When it's all mixed, place a small amount of the ice cream mixture on top of the cookie crumb mixture in each cup. Top with cool whip and extra crushed cookie crumbs. Place in freezer until frozen.

Orange Rum Glazed Salmon

Don't you love when you come across a recipe on the Internet and it turns out to be really good? That's how I feel about this one....and trust me I have tried many duds! Red Lobster has a section on their restaurant page that gives free recipes. I got this recipe from that site. I didn't happen to have any snapper, which is what the original recipe calls for, so I tried it on salmon. John loved it, I loved it, so I will definitely be making this one again.

Here is a link to the recipe:
http://www.redlobster.com/kitchen/recipes/default.asp?recipe=orgs

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Rolls

This is another recipe I found on Pinterest. I cannot tell you how much I love that site! These rolls were super delicious and went very well with my vegetarian enchiladas and spicy asparagus.Yep, I had to keep the "spicy" theme throughout the whole meal. I did modify the amount of rolls the original recipe said to cut these into, as I wanted a little more than just a bite size.  These take only a few minutes to whip up and make for a great tasting bread side dish.

• 1 package Cream Cheese (8 Ounce Package)
• 4 ounces, weight Canned, Diced Jalapenos
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 8 ounces, weight Tube Refrigerated Crescent Rolls

Preheat oven 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, half the jalapenos ( I used almost the whole jar because I like my food spicy) and the sugar. Mix well with a fork. Set aside. Open crescent rolls and place on a cutting board. Separate them into two rectangles. Pinch together the perforations in each rectangle. Spread  the cream cheese mixture evenly onto the rectangles.Starting with the long side of each rectangle, roll up each rectangle into a "log" Once they are rolled up, cut each "log" into 8 pieces. Place the pieces onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 13 minutes until they are golden brown.

Blue Raspberry Chocolate Filled Meringue Cookies

Once again, this is what happens when you wake up at 4:30 AM and your alarm isn't set to go off until 600 AM. You bake!!! I attempted these cookies yesterday from a recipe I found on Pinterest and it didn't work at all. The meringue would never set up and the cookies just came out flat. They did taste good though :)
So this morning I attempted to re-make them since there isn't much to them and they came out much better. I skipped an entire step from the original recipe and added much more cream of tartar than the original recipe called for. I really liked the results. They taste the same as yesterday's batch, which was yummy, but they look a whole lot better!       

                                                     

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp flavoring ( I used raspberry, but you can choose any flavor)
Food coloring (as little or as much as you would like to produce a color of your choice)

 Heat oven to 175 degrees.
In a mixer, blend the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. This takes quite awhile, but be patient. After stiff peaks have formed, stir in flavoring and food coloring.
Line a cookie sheet (you will probably need 2 cookie sheets) with parchment paper. Place a single chocolate chip (for each cookie) approximately 2 inches apart on parchment paper. Insert a star tip into a decorating bag. Fill the bag with meringue and pipe it over each chocolate chip to form stars. Bake at 175 degrees for an hour and a half. Remove from oven and let cool.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I adapted this recipe from a recipe I found on Pinterest. I must admit that Pinterest could easily take the place as my new found second love haha! Just kidding. God first, then my hubby, then family and friends...then Pinterest? ;)
Even though it's not quite fall yet and I usually wait until then to make soups, I decided to try this one out today. I gave it a quick sample and oh my goodness, I loved it! It was super easy and basically I just threw all the ingredients into a crock pot after I got off of work. (Yes I'm blessed to be home super early everyday from work). It took about 3 hours in the crock pot, but it's still on high at this point and I'm sure the tastes can only get better as it sits in there warming for longer. So I will just let it go until dinner time tonight and then voila...a super easy and tasty meal ♥

3 cups chicken broth
4 skinless, chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
3 large jalapeno peppers, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (12 oz) bag frozen corn
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
8 oz cotija cheese, crumbled
 2-3 oz pepper jack cheese, grated

2-3 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
* for a garnish:

chopped cilantro

extra cojita cheese, crumbled

You can add tortilla chips if you would like

 Place all ingredients (except garnish) into your crock pot. Make sure to use already cooked and shredded chicken. Turn the crock pot onto high and leave for a few hours. I am cooking mine about 5 hours today! I'm sure it can only taste better the longer it cooks!

Butterfinger Candy

This was quite possibly the easiest candy I have ever made. I'm sorry the picture is so bad, but I actually forgot to take a picture of all the candy, until there was only one piece left at work. So hence the horrible picture of an amazing tasting candy! I wish I had thought to cut it open  so you could see the beautiful orange "butterfinger" like center. These take almost no time at all and are so easy that anyone could do it!!

1 (13 oz) bag candy corn
1 cup peanut butter
1 bag Milk chocolate chips

Melt the candy corn in the microwave, stirring every 15 seconds. Keep stirring each time  you check it because it gets hard quickly. When it's all done melting, quickly stir in the peanut butter. Make sure you stir thoroughly and you may even need to use a fork or the back of your spoon to break up any "hard spots" in the candy corn from it setting up too quickly. Line a square pan with parchment paper (leave enough out on the sides to be able to pull out the whole candy piece as one sheet). Press the candy down into the parchment paper lined pan. Spread out the best you can. Chill for awhile until it's thoroughly cooled down. Cut into squares. (These are pretty rich and sweet, so smaller squares work better). Melt your milk chocolate chips in the microwave, also stirring every 20 seconds or so. These burn quickly before they actually lose their shape, so stir a lot each time you check it. Dip squares into the melted milk chocolate and lay on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Place in  the refrigerator until they are cooled down and set up!

Chicken and Pesto Stuffed Shells

If you read my earlier post today, then you will know that I almost didn't leave enough pesto sauce to make tonight's dinner. ;) Well I did have enough and it actually turned out to be pretty tasty! I will definitely be making this one again. You could always substitute store bought pesto sauce, but hey, I grow so much basil in my garden, that I cannot justify not making it myself.

16 jumbo pasta shells
4oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan + 1/4 cup for topping
3 tablespoons Pesto sauce
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken

small handful of sun dried tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

enough butter melted to moisten the bread crumbs(maybe 1/8 cup)


In a large pot over high heat, boil water and cook the jumbo shells for 12 minutes or until "al dente". Drain the pasta and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, except the 1/4 cup of cheese for the topping. Fill the pasta shells with the filling and place in a greased baking dish.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over filled shells. 

In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and stir in Panko bread crumbs. Sprinkle all over the top of the shells and then bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until shells are bubbling hot and cheese melts.

Basil Pesto

Let me first admit that I could sit down and eat this entire making  of pesto sauce with a spoon. Who needs pasta when this tastes so good by itself? Secondly I admit that I did continue to taste this, under the guise of taste testing of course, to make sure I had it right! ;)
So....luckily I had some left to use in my stuffed shells I am making tonight for dinner. (I will post the recipe for those also, after I get a picture of it tonight)

2 cups basil leaves, packed down
1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt/Pepper to taste

In your food processor, pulse the pine nuts and basil a few times. Add the garlic a pulse a bit more. Slowly add the olive oil while the food processor is running. (Stream it in continually while the food processor is going) Turn off the processor and scrape down the sides. Run again for just a few seconds to mix it all up. Add the grated parmesan and mix again until thoroughly blended. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pasta or you can put it over chicken or anything else that sounds good!

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies

I don't think I know anyone that doesn't like the combination of peanut butter and chocolate! It's a classic that always makes me happy. Today I made these cookies for a church ministry tomorrow. Hopefully it will make people there happy also :)

1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup granulated sugar (plus more for dipping)
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
¾ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375˚F.

Stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar, butter and 1/4 cup of the peanut butter until light and smooth.  Add in the vanilla and egg, beating one at a time to combine.  Gradually stir in the flour mixture.  Set dough aside.

To make the filling, cream together the powdered sugar and remaining 3/4 cup of peanut butter until smooth.

To assemble the cookies, spoon a generous tablespoon of chocolate cookie dough and flatten into a circle with your hands.  Scoop a small amount of peanut butter filling mixture and place in the center of the chocolate dough.  Wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter filling, pinching ends together to seal.  Roll the cookie in between hands to smooth into a ball.  Roll into a bowl of sugar and place on the cookie sheet.

Use the bottom of a glass to slightly flatten the cookies.  Bake for 7 to 9 minutes.  Do not over bake.  Let cool on wire rack.

Lasagna Cups

My mom always taught me not to play with my food, but making this version of lasagna in a cup felt kind of like playing with my food. Sssshhhh don't tell my mom ;)
This wasn't necessarily as easy as making regular lasagna in a pan, but it also makes for great single servings to store in the freezer for work lunches. These would be great to make for a party, or for when a pot luck at work calls for more "single serve" style food.

*Makes 11 lasagna cups

Ingredients:
for the sauce-
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion
1/4 lb lean ground beef, cooked and drained
1/4 lb hot italian sausage, cooked and crumbled
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-6 oz. can tomato paste
1-8 oz. can tomato sauce ( plus 1/2 can water)
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar
salt & pepper to taste


for the cheese filling-
1-10 oz. tub Philadelphia Italian Herb & Cheese Cooking Cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese,
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, grated & divided
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg





1 box lasagna noodles ( I use whole wheat)


Parmesan cheese for the top along with the extra mozzarella

For the sauce- heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions, pepper, zucchini and garlic for about 5 minutes. Stir in cooked ground beef and tomato paste and mix together. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook 30 minutes.

For the cheese filling- stir all ingredients together excluding half of the grated mozzarella cheese. Set aside.

For the pasta- Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta sheets 2 minutes less than package directions and drain.Rinse with cold water and place pasta on greased baking sheet until you are ready to put together the lasagna cups.

For assembly- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut out 11 large squares of parchment paper. Line 11 jumbo muffin tins with the squares. They won't stay down on their own, but don't fret, the pasta will help "weigh them down" so they will stay. Line the edges of the muffin tins with 1 lasagna noodle.  The lasagna noodle will overlap itself about 2 inches. Spoon about 1/2- 1 tablespoon of sauce into the bottom of each cup into the center of the noodle lined muffin tin holes.  Next cut the rest of the noodles into quarters and press one of these pieces of pasta into the bottom of each cup,  on top of the sauce. Top the noodle square you just placed at the bottom with a generous tablespoon of sauce. Then place a generous tablespoon of cheese filling on top of the sauce.  Repeat this pasta-sauce-cheese layering one more time being sure to press out any air bubbles. Top these lasagna cups off with a 3rd piece of pasta, more sauce and the remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle parmesan cheese all over the top of the mozzarella. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

Another night of "no cooking" cooking? Yes please! Even though the temps have dropped into the 90's it's still too hot for me. I am yearning for the cold weather and the hearty food that goes along with it. Hurry up fall and winter. Well, not that we really get a fall or a winter much in Southern California, but I long for the days of summer to go far, far away!!

Sourdough Bread
Butter
Cream Cheese
Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded
Cheddar, Cheese, shredded
Crushed Tortilla Chips
Whole canned jalapenos (or green chilies)

Butter the outsides of two slices of bread. Layer the grilled cheese ingredients in any order or amount that you would like on the unbuttered side of the bread. Grill in a skillet or a panini press until golden.

Italian Kabobs

When it's 104 degrees outside, what do you do for dinner? You cook without cooking haha! I will never think it possible to dislike cooking, but I can tell you that when it's this hot, the thought of standing over a hot stove, makes my skin crawl. So tonight's dinner came from that skin crawling dislike of heating up even the stove top during this weather. You could substitute any meat's, cheeses or veges that you like, but I just decided to stick with the italian theme.
*My daughter drizzled Italian dressing over hers which made for a nice taste addition!

Wooden Skewers
Genoa Salami
Pepperoni slices
Marinated Artichoke hearts
Fresh Mozzarella cheese
Tomato chunks
Green olives

Thread your favorite meat's cheeses, olives etc onto the skewer!

Sausage, Rice and Vege Mix

Today our air conditioning went KAPOOT! It's over 100 degrees outside and it's now sweltering inside. Thank the Lord for ceiling fans. Now I just have to figure out how to install one in my kitchen, so it's not so hot while I'm cooking. I'm thinking pizza delivery just might work out fine this week! ;)
This was a very simple, no muss, no fuss kind of meal. I prepared it earlier in the day and then just quickly heated it up tonight when we were ready to eat.

 Then I made a nice Caprese salad to go on the side. It  was amazing considering that the tomatoes and the basil were picked fresh from my backyard garden today. Now I just need to learn how to make mozzarella. ;)

For the Sausage dinner:

• 8 ounces low-fat kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup water
• Hot sauce, such as Tabasco, to taste

1. Cook kielbasa in a large nonstick skillet over high heat, turning from time to time, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add oil to the pan. Add onions, zucchini, bell pepper, jalapenos, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt; cook, stirring, until the onions are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in rice, beans and water; cook, stirring, until heated through, about 4 minutes. Add the reserved kielbasa and season with hot sauce. Serve hot.

For Caprese Salad:

Slice fresh tomatoes and place a slice of fresh mozzarella on the top of each tomato slice. Top with fresh basil. Drizzle olive oil over it and season with salt and pepper.

Pretzel Bites

Who doesn't love pretzels when they are dunked in butter and rolled in flavors? I know I do.Thiis recipe isn't exactly "pretzels" but it's close enough when you are in a hurry and want to make a quick snack.

Here is a link to the recipe which I found on "Pinterest" which has become my new obsession!!

http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=932

Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark

Salt? Chocolate? Caramel? Pretzels? Put them all together and you have one simply amazing, great tasting candy bark. Of course I love anything that combines salty and sweet. Why not tantalize all your taste buds at once? ;)

Before it was broken into bark

After the bark was broken up and ready to take to work

 

 

 

2 cubes butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 bag mini pretzels
12 oz bag semi sweet chocolate chips
Sea Salt

* NOTE- I did this on a fairly large cookie sheet. I think next time I will use a smaller one so the bark will actually come out thicker.

Line a cookie sheet with foil. Spray with Pam. Lay out a single layer of pretzels on the foil. Set aside. On the stovetop, melt 2 cubes of butter. After it's melted, stir in 1 cup of brown sugar.  Continue to stir, breaking up the brown sugar clumps. Bring this mixture to a slow gentle, simmer. You do NOT want this to be at a rolling boil. Simmer this for approx. 3 minutes. It should be a golden brown color now.  Pour over the pretzels as evenly as you possibly can. You can spread it if you have to, but this is hard work, as the pretzels begin to move, and I wouldn't sweat it because it melts together in the oven. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and bake the mixture for 6 minutes. While this is baking, melt your chocolate chips either in the microwave (be careful it's easy to burn them) or in a double boiler. Pour the melted chips (by going up and down the bark) as evenly as you can (again, it's very hard to spread). Sprinkle sea salt all over the top.  Put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator (you might want to wait just a few min for it to cool down a bit) for approx. 1 hour until the bark is hardened and ready to break apart.

Zucchini Pizza Slices

Pizza on zucchini slices? Yes! The fact that I had to turn on my broiler temporarily, to melt the cheese, didn't deter me from making this delicious pizza side dish tonight, even though the 106 degree temperature today made it feel as if I was living on the face of the sun!! This is super easy to make and was actually great. I wasn't sure if I was going to love it, even though I love zucchini. I am not a huge pizza fan and had to make one for me without pepperoni, as I'm definitely NOT a fan.

 *Makes 4 slices
2 Zucchini, sliced lengthwise
1 jar Pizza sauce
Mozarella cheese, grated
Pepperoni, sliced

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. Place face down in a dry skillet and roast for approximately 7 minutes. (Longer if the zucchini is super thick) After it's roasted, it should be semi soft. Place the slices, face up on a cookie sheet or broiler pan. Top with pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni. Place into the broiler on high for approximately 4-5 minutes.

Veggie Sandwich

It's not too often that you eat a sandwich and say "WOW". This is what seems to happen to me every time I eat one of these vegetarian sandwiches. The best part about it is that no skills are required. So if you don't like to cook and you want to eat healthy, this ones for you!!
Basically you just put your favorite veggies on your favorite bread and chow down!!
I used Miltons Multigrain bread
Lite Mayonnaise, spread extremely thin
Cucumber, sliced very thinly
Tomatoes, sliced
Red onion slices
Avocado
Fresh alfalfa sprouts
Seasoned salt and Pepper

Pork Ribs with Tomatillo Sauce

I love being able to walk across the street and have my friend teach me how to cook authentic Mexican food. This is one her recipes and it's ssssoooo good!  It's a little spicy, but that's how I like my food. You will need to have the butcher at the local grocery store, cut the ribs into shorter pieces for you. Then when you get it home, you can cut it in between the bones to make a lot of pieces.

2 lbs pork spare ribs, cut into small sections
1 1/2 cups oil (canola or vege)
salt to taste
5-7 dry chili arbol (small dried red chilies)
2 cloves garlic, whole
1 section of an onion, not cut (approx. 1/4 of a small- med onion)
2 lbs tomatillos, peeled and rinsed
3/4 cup water

Put ribs into a very large skillet or stock pot. Cover with water. Add  the oil and lots of salt. Boil uncovered on high for 1 1/2 - 2 hours on med-high. Stir occasionally. ( Don't add more water. )        Let water boil down and the meat should turn brown.
While the ribs are cooking, make your salsa by  roasting (in a dry skillet with no water or oil) the chili arbol, garlic and onion. Set aside. In the same skillet, (with no water or oil) roast the tomatillos on high for 2 minutes then cover them and turn to medium to roast the tomatillos for 15 more minutes. When they are finished roasting, pour the 3/4 cup water on top of them. Place the tomatillos with the water, and the chili arbol mixture into the blender. Blend until thoroughly mixed.
Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Now take a ladle and remove as much of the oil from the top of the water, that the meat cooked in, as you can. Discard the oil. Put the meat back into the pan after the oil is removed. Add the blended salsa to the meat and stir. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Mango and Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

I love, love, love Vietnamese food. If I didn't love to cook so much, I'd be stopping at the Vietnamese restaurant, down the street, all the time. Today while the hubby was out bike riding with some of the family, I decided to attempt making these. I think for my first time they turned out fairly well rolled. They tasted so fresh and light, and I will definitely be making them again. Maybe next time I can get them rolled a little tighter.

** If you follow the link below to the recipe....I added thinly sliced cucumber to my rolls.



http://www.veggiebelly.com/2010/08/vietnamese-summer-rolls-mango-sweet-chili-dipping-sauce.html

Chocolate Chip, Oreo, Brownie Bars

Yes, you read that title right! It's all of the above....baked into one glorious cookie bar. So simple, so rich, so yummy!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
1 Bag Oreo Cookies
1 Box of brownie mix

Preheat your oven to 350. Make your cookie dough however you normally make it. I use the original Nestle recipe for  this bar. Line a 9 X 13 pan with wax paper. Spray the wax paper with Pam. Spread the cookie dough onto the wax paper in the bottom of the pan. Next, place Oreos on the top of the dough, placing evenly on top. Now mix up your box of brownie mix according to the package directions. Pour the batter directly over the Oreos. Make sure you cover all of the Oreo's and chocolate chip cookie batter. Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes.

Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

Once again I tried to bring the flavor of the tropics to our house tonight. This salsa worked very well on the fish as it had some sweet, some spice and gave the fish a lot of flavor.

1 Pineapple, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper,chopped
2 dry red chilies, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
Salt/Pepper to taste

Combine all salsa ingredients together and stir. Place on top of fish or chicken.

Chocolate Covered, Cake batter flavor with sprinkles, Rice Krispy Treats

This is what happens when I am bored on a Sunday afternoon. I had recently stumbled across an idea on the internet of making cake batter flavor rice krispy treats. I thought it sounded good...I mean who doesn't like cake batter flavored anything???? So I completed the rice krispy treats and then it hit me....cover them in chocolate and they will taste even better. Sugar rush? Yes! But oh so good!!

This is just part of the oh so yummy goodness that you need.....

This is after the rice krispy treats were baked and sitting on the counter. At this point I had not gotten into them.....

Cut into squares and waiting patiently to be "dipped"

This is after I had only dipped one or two. Here you can see how yummy they are looking....

AH...the final product....

3 tbsp butter
10 oz mini marshmallows
1/3 cup yellow cake mix
6 cups rice krispys
1.75 ounce container of sprinkles
Melting chocolate
White chocolate

Melt the butter and marshmallows together on the stove top in a large pan. Stir in little bits of the cake mix powder at a time and make sure you stir it in thoroughly. After all the cake mix is mixed in, stir in the rice krispys and half the bottle of sprinkles. Mix thoroughly. Leave on counter top for at least a half an hour. To insert the stick, I like to melt just a touch of chocolate and dip the end of the stick into the chocolate before inserting it into the krispy pop. This helps stabilize the stick and somewhat adheres it to the rice krispys. Place the stick into the pop and dip into melted chocolate. After the chocolate hardens on the outside, drizzle white chocolate over the top of it.

Chicken Posole

Last week my husband came home from work saying how much he loved the Posole they sell there. I got to thinking "hhmm how does a girl who was never taught how to  make authentic mexican foods, begin to find out how to do this"? Well.....I have the sweetest neighbor who is such a great cook. I went to her house and though her English is still "broken" I did my best to write down the recipe as she told me. Tonight after it was finished, I took a bowl to her house for a seal of approval. Guess what??? I got it!! She told me she really liked it and I made her promise she would tell me the truth even if she thought it would hurt my feelings. My husband also gave me the stamp of approval. So tomorrow for lunch it's yummy leftovers for sure!!
*Her recipe calls for an entire chicken, but my husband doesn't like dark meat too much, so mine is cooked with only chicken breasts and I improvised with a couple bullion cubes to add some chicken flavor to the broth. 

1 Medium size can hominy
1 whole, peeled, bulb of garlic (yes the entire bulb...not just a clove)
1 whole onion
4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
4 California dried chilis
2 clove garlic
lg pinch of marjoram
lg pinch of oregano
salt to taste

*For garnish, cut up cabbage, radishes, lime slices, onion and cilantro

Use a knife to poke holes into the onion and the garlic bulb. Boil the garlic. the onion and the hominy (with plenty of water to keep it covered) for one hour, with a lid on the pot.
In the meantime, while this is boiling, put the red chilies into boiling water for 5-8 minutes to soften them. Cut the stems off after they are soft and put the softened chilis into a blender along with the 2 cloves garlic, the marjoram and the oregano. Blend thoroughly. (you might need to add a little bit of water to the blender). After it's blended, push through a strainer into a bowl. After the hominy has cooked for one hour and is soft, add the chicken and the chili mixture into the pot with the hominy. Cook until the chicken is done. Salt if needed and serve with garnishes on the side.

Hidden Valley Ranch Chicken

Tonight I racked my brain as to what I could do different with chicken. I have never used Hidden Valley Ranch powder on my chicken, so I put my thinking cap on and tried to come up with a creative way to use it. I'm using up things I have present in my pantry, because once again we seem to be in a budget crunch. We both really liked this chicken. It was super moist on the inside and the outside coating gave it just enough of a texture to compliment the juicy meat of the chicken.

*Sorry the picture is so blurry, I think it actually steamed up my camera because it was so hot when this picture was taken ;)

4 chicken breasts
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (powder)1/2 cup corn flake crumbs
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Salt / Pepper to taste

Mix  together the milk and egg in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the hidden valley, corn flake crumbs, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.
Dip each chicken breast into the egg mixture and then immediately into the crumb mixture. Place into a baking pan that you have sprayed with Pam. Bake at 375 for approx 25-45 minutes (depending on how thick your chicken breasts are) or until cooked through. 

Applewiches

Applewiches? I guess that might lead to a question like that! What else do you call an apple sliced and filled like a sandwich? There are many versions out there on the web, but I tried to put my own spin on this by adding some cinnamon and sugar! It was super delicious and I can't wait to have this again. It's really a light dessert and takes only a few minutes to make. No cooking needed for this one!!

1 apple, sliced into thick slices
Cinnamon/Sugar mixture
Peanut Butter
Dark Chocolate Chips

Slice the apple into fairly thick slices. Sprinkle all slices with whatever ratio of cinnamon and sugar that you like. Spread peanut butter onto one slice. Place chocolate chips on top of the peanut butter and place another apple slice on top. Enjoy!!

Almond Tilapia

Tonight we had another dinner at our house that we both really enjoyed. It's super hot outside and so I'm desperately trying not to use my oven, but only use my stove top, so that I'm not in competition with my air conditioner. This morning before work, I laid out tilapia with no idea how I was going to cook it for dinner. After contemplating for quite awhile, I decided on some kind of nut crusted fish. So when it was time to cook it, I decided instead of making an almond "crust" for the fish, that I would just cook it with an almond topping. It turned out really good!!

3 pieces tilapia, or any fish of your choice
1 Tbsp butter, melted

3 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup sliced almonds2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp lime juice1/4 tsp grated ginger root
Salt/Pepper to taste


1. Salt and Pepper your fish.

2. In a small-medium skillet, melt 1 Tbsp butter with 3 Tbsp lime juice. Add the almonds and toast until golden brown. Turn the fire off or turn it to extremely low and keep the almonds in the pan. (If you turn the fire off, make sure you heat up the almonds again just as your fish is finishing up cooking)

3. In a separate skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter with 2 Tbsp lime juice and ginger. Cook the fish in the melted butter and lime juice until the fish is done. Top with almond mixture and serve!

Sake mushrooms

I know what you are probably thinking...Sake and Mushrooms??? I wasn't sure how these would turn out either. I had mushrooms, and because of our budget crunch these days, I am trying to make sure I use up everything that I buy at the grocery store instead of letting things go to waste. So I got out my mushrooms and thought about it for awhile. How could I make a different sauteed mushroom other than just butter? I would have used white wine, but we don't have any so I attempted the saute with sake. After adding the sake and butter I got even more creative. I really, really like these and I do believe that this will be the new way for me to saute any mushrooms in the future in our household. That is....until another creativity bug strikes ;)

2 tsp butter
1/8 cup sake
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp ginger1 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, sliced

In a medium- large skillet, melt butter. Add in the sake, garlic, ginger and mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms are still somewhat firm, but tender. You do not want mushy mushrooms. Add the green onions and saute just a minute more. I like my green onions to have just a bit of a crunch still. You can saute them until they are completely soft if you like.

Orange Glazed Carrots

What a beautiful So Cal evening! It's a full moon outside. The palm trees in the yard are gently swaying with a light breeze. The shadows of the mountains just before sunset were gorgeous! The crickets are chirping outside and the whirring of the fan is a constant hum in the family room. The hubby is already drifting off to sleep after a long day working overtime. Content? Yes....very much! I was reminded tonight as I was thinking about all these things, that the very God who created all this beauty is the very same God who loves me enough to offer me eternal life! AMAZING!!! ☺
I also was thinking tonight how lucky I am to live in a country where I can go to the store and buy pretty much anything I need, to cook and create food for my family. Tonight I decided to try a new idea and see if it turned out ok. It sure did and I will definitely be making these carrots again soon. I love when I create something in my head and it turns out better than I thought it would!

 2 cups of shredded carrots
2 1/2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp Chinese five spice
Salt to taste
Zest of 1 whole orange
2 Tbsp orange juice

Cook carrots until tender. Set aside. In a skillet, melt butter and then all the rest of the ingredients and also the carrots. Cook over medium heat until carrots are glazed.

Orange Chicken

I am just amazed at how much I love cooking Asian food. There is such a great blend of spices and sauces in their foods. Tonight I made Orange Chicken and we loved it! I served it over Jasmine rice and with mustard greens on the side. I know mustard greens definitely do NOT normally go with orange chicken, but I had a bag of them in the refrigerator and I needed to use them up before they went bad. So out of  necessity of not being wasteful, I served them tonight on the side.

2 lbs chicken, cut into bite size pieces

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

1/2 cup cornstarch plus 1 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup flour

Oil for frying chicken

1 Tbsp grated ginger root

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

1 Tbsp sake or rice wine

1/4 cup water

1 tsp sesame oil

Orange Sauce Ing:
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp water
5 Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsp white vinegar
Zest of one orange

Place chicken pieces in large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well.
In a separate small bowl, stir cornstarch and flour together. Stir into the chicken/egg mixture. Stir to coat all chicken pieces. 
Make your orange sauce by stirring all orange sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. 
Heat oil in a skillet. Add chicken and cook in small batches, frying for 3-4 minutes for each batch, until golden crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Clean the skillet and add 1 Tbsp oil. Heat for just a few seconds. Add the ginger and garlic and cook about 15 seconds. Add crushed red pepper flakes and green onions and cook for another 15 seconds. Add sake (or rice wine) and stir once through. Add orange sauce to skillet and bring to a boil. Add cooked chicken and stir until well mixed. In a small bowl mix remaining 1 Tbsp cornstarch with enough water to make it smooth and liquidy. Add this cornstarch mixture to the skillet. Stir until the sauce is thickened. Serve over jasmine rice. 
** YOU MAY WANT TO MAKE DOUBLE THE ORANGE SAUCE SO YOU HAVE ENOUGH LEFT TO MOISTEN THE RICE ON YOUR PLATE!!!!