Having a Ball for Thanksgiving

I've not been cooking much lately to be honest. With three kids constantly on the run between dance, piano and girl scouts, by the time we get home the most I can muster is dialing for take out or telling the kids there is cereal in the cabinet.

And when I do cook, it's pasta, or one of my staples from this blog like "Whatsa Matta..Chicken Picatta" or it's redo "Picatta more better dish" and other quick meals I should be blogging about... But it happened last week. I cooked.

It appears that blogs such as this are a thing of the past and going by the wayside.  Being replaced by short 30 second videos on Facebook or Twitter, or some other popular social media site of the minute.  They're videos by Tasty or a quick article by Buzzfeed regarding the latest Top 10 something or another.  Or maybe it was a Pinterest pin.  And thing is, it's catching on.  People are saving them.  People are trying them.  It's getting people cooking.  It's also to get people to click their stuff, and earn money.  And so I've tried a few Tasty recipes.  They've been complete and utter failures.  I've had to tweak, or change, or cook them often much longer than they say to.  So, when tonight's recipe showed up in my Facebook feed as a Tasty video, I knew I wasn't going by the books.  But do I ever?  And man I'm so glad I changed this recipe.  It's so much better to play.  I present to you, Thanksgiving dinner... meatball style.

Ingredients 

• 2lbs Ground Gurkey
• 1 box Turkey Stuffing Mix
• 1-2 Garlic Cloves
• Salt & Pepper
• Parsley
• Basil
• Thyme
• Chives
• 1 Egg
• Splash of Milk

And per usual, you're going to ask, so how much of everything?  And that's really up to you.  How much garlic do YOU like?  Or in my house, how much garlic can I get away with?  Picture to the right shows you how much of everything I dumped in for spices.

So, place all the spices into your bowl, drop in the ground turkey, crack open and put in one egg, then a splash of milk.  If I had to estimate, I would say I put in about 1/4 cup of milk.  The first time I ran this recipe, the meatballs were a tad dry, so I will be considering altering it next time with either more milk, or the original amount of milk plus a splash of chicken stock.  Thing is, turkey is a very wet ground meat, so making meatballs is sticky.
Next up, you have to crush your stuffing down a bit.  I liked having large pieces and crumbs.  So open your bag of stuffing and dump into a plastic bag.  Grab your rolling pin and crush away.




You'll need to add about 1.5 cups of stuffing to your meatball mix.  Go by look and feel as you start mixing your meat.  I prefer to mix by hand, you're able to incorporate all ingredients faster.  If you think you need more stuffing then add more.






Once it's all mixed, start making your meatballs.  I was able to make 20 balls out of the 2 pounds this mixture.  The meatballs were slightly larger than a golf ball.  I wanted something you had to cut into, but also not so large it took forever to bake, and couldn't be considered a meatloaf.








Any leftover stuffing I had, I sprinkled it on top and around the meatballs in the bottom.  Adding additional texture to the plate, not wasting food, and besides the fact that extra stuffing is always a plus.  Into your pre-heated oven they go.  They should bake for about 30-45 minutes on 375 degrees.  I like to turn mine about half way through so that you can an even cook throughout.  If you have any doubt they're not done, you can and should, always take their temperature with a meat thermometer.  Pull them out and let them rest a bit.




While the meatballs are in the oven, it's best to start cooking your sides.  This isn't a blog about how to cooks sides today.  Come back some other time.  So, I made mashed potatoes, peas and gravy.  And honestly, whatever the best looking rolls on sale were that day.  No one has time to bake their own bread anymore, and if you do, I'm all kinds of jealous.  I made real mashed potatoes, not box as these deserved better and I actually had time that day, but I did cheat on the gravy.  What? I never said it was going to be perfect.

I served my kids separate gravy from potatoes from peas from meatballs.  Cause we all know their foods can't touch.  But this was truly plated with the meatballs placed on a mound of potatoes, smothered in gravy.  Peas and roll on the side.

Not the most beautiful plating in the world, I blame the phone and the rush to the table because we were all hungry.  I'd be afraid to send this to Gordon Ramsay's Twitter feed for fear of what he might call it.  But regardless of what it looked like, it tasted AHHHMazing.

Results

• The almost 2 year old picked at it. What's she's two.. and had already snacked all afternoon.
• The 6 year old gobbled it down well enough.  
• The soon to be 10 year old gave me a 9.5/10 points.  When asked why the 1/2 deduction, I was told "just because" although I suspect it was because she doesn't like gravy.  Weirdo.  <3
•  The husband made it disappear pretty damn fast.
• Safe to say, this will be returning to our table.  Kids even had leftover meatballs for the lunches the following days.

Also, what kind of Thanksgiving meal would this had been had I not served cranberry sauce/jelly?  Served correctly, perfectly popped out of the can.


Enjoy!

Piccata More Better Dish

Since first making this recipe some time ago, I've served it now over rice, over egg noodles, over nothing, with breading and without.  It's become a staple in our dinner menu; something I can now whip out in 30 minutes or less and the family gobbles it down, capers and all. Tonight is just a revisit of this recipe simply because I killed it, it was amazing.

 

Here's a few adjustments I've made over the years:

• Chicken, not always breaded.  This cuts calories, and minutes.  Tastes the same. Been sautéing in olive oil instead of all that butter.
• Sauce, bouillon has been working great! Fresh chives out of my garden instead of scallions. Onion powder when I have neither. Garlic, 2-4 gloves, minced and sautéed first. Oregano, dried, sautéed with the garlic. Butter, not always stocked so margarine has worked just fine. Thickening agent, flour/water or cornstarch/water. Fresh lemon and the entire jar of capers since my kids love them so much!
• Sides, have been over rice, usually, but tonight I served over spaghetti, and it was awesome.

My kids have been watching a lot cooking competition shows lately so I was also being judged.  This has become a nightly routine.  Tonight, I was given a 4/5 stars, with the chicken losing points because I offered dark meat in addition to breast meat. The capers were of course a huge hit and my pasta was cooked "nicely." Overall the 5 and 8 year old voted to let me stay. Phew.

And here's the cool part.  I made extra chicken and doubled the sauce. Freezing it all for a second meal.  It's gonna be great.

Last Minute Easy Spicy Squash Soup

It's been a year since my last update.  So much going on.  New baby (ok not so new at this point, 10.5m old) and two older children taking up all my time.  Husband adding on to the house, me juggling trying to get the kids here, there, and everywhere.  I've had very little time to cook, let alone actually play with any recipes I've found.  There have been a few successes and a few failures.  None of which I have pictures for, but I'll attempt to get you caught up over the coming weeks.

It's my favorite time of year to cook.  It's crisp outside, so heating up the kitchen isn't quite as big a deal as it is in the summer.  I baked an apple pie yesterday.  Middle child is begging for a slice with every single meal.  Always a good thing, and I can validate pie for any meal with a variety of reasons.  Last week we went to the orchards; Russell's Orchards to be exact.  That's where the apples came from for aforementioned pie.

While there, I selected an acorn squash.  Just a small one, knowing full well I would be the only one consuming it.  However, middle child said she'd try it with me.  This is not my first time with an acorn squash, I ADORE acorn squash.  Roasted in the oven, then served with butter, maybe a smidge of maple syrup.  So much yum.  But, it sat all week.  One dinner went by, two, then three, then pizza take out, followed by Chinese take out.  Which got me where I am today.  Knowing I was going out tonight I wanted to make the squash, for myself, for lunch.  So I set the oven at 350 to pre-heat.  Sliced the squash in half, scooped out the guts, gave it a good spray of cooking oil (so it doesn't dry out), and placed them on a middle rack.  45m later out they came.  And that... is when I decided to do more with it.  Remembering back to a Spicy Pumpkin Soup recipe I received from a friend, I started to pull spices from my cabinet and decided to play.

Spicy Squash Soup

1 acorn squash, guts scooped, roasted to tender, cooled
1-2c chicken broth (I keep jars of Better than Bouillon in my cabinets should the need ever arise, I use it in everything)
Onion Powder
Ground Ginger
Curry Powder
Cumin
Coriander
Cinnamon
Salt/Pepper
Cream

1.) Scoop the squash into a blender, add to it 1c chicken broth
2.) Start adding spices, how much?  Come on, you know me better than that by now. If you don't like Curry, add less curry.  Don't want onion, don't add any.  Start with "less is more" and add some later.  But add a little bit of everything.
3.) Whirl it all together on puree setting.  If you like a thick soup, add less broth, if you like a thinner soup, add more broth.  I tend to go about 1.25 to 1.5c of broth.
4.) TASTE, adjust spices
5.) Whirl more, finish with a splash of cream, whirl again.
6.) Pour into pan to warm on stove, bring to simmer.  Let simmer for 15 minutes.  This is where the spices will really come into their own.

Serve.  Enjoy.

And then realize, that, you purchased this for your middle daughter try with you, and now that it's soup, she's not going to touch it.  Thankfully, this made just two servings.  Lunch today, and lunch tomorrow.  Win.

Sweet Tooth Dinner

This past grocery shopping trip I picked up a pork tenderloin, not exactly knowing what I wanted to do with it, but figured it would be a nice long roast I could start before my daughter's dance class and come home to dinner already cooked.  Or maybe turn it into a crock pot meal.  Well, a beautiful pork butt was put in the crock pot on Monday and the lazy mother than I am, it wasn't clean by today (Wednesday) so the tenderloin needed an alternative.  A quick search online for a new recipe produced quite the variety of options.  Decisions, decisions, what to do, how to play?  School bus was coming and I had very little time to get to dance once it did... so off to the pantry I went to find what I could to toss in, cover and drop in.  Results were real good and the kids gobbled it up, with dipping sauce and all!

Ingredients
2lb pork tenderloin
salt
pepper
spicey brown mustard
honey
brown sugar

Remember, I don't measure, just toss it all in until it tastes right to you.  Heavily salt and pepper the pork.  In a bowl, combine the dijon mustard, honey and brown sugar.  Equal parts mustard and honey, then add brown sugar to make a thick paste.  Once combined well, smother pork well and coat all sides.  Place into baking dish and cover with tin foil.

Now, since I was leaving the house early, I decided to use the timer function on my awesome ovens.  I set the oven to start at 4:30 and cook for an hour at 350 degrees.  Placed the pork in the oven and headed off to grab the kid and get to dance.  After which... I stopped at a friend's house to pick up the other kid and we gabbed for an additional hour before I made it home.  Of course by then, the oven had long turned itself off.  Take note here, the pork was already in the oven as the oven warmed up to 350 and stayed in the oven until it was almost completely cooled down.  I am attributing the juiciness and tenderness that resulted to the cool down extra hour.  Checked the pork once I got home and it was at a PERFECT 165 internal temperature.  The mustard/honey/sugar paste had cooked down to an awesome juice, so I basted it a few times and let it sit while making sides.

Sides, I chose a boxed shells and white cheddar and then made candied carrots.  Yep, more brown sugar.  There's where the sweet tooth came in!  I had also mentioned carrots in conversation earlier in the day, so they were on my mind.  So what are candied carrots?  Carrots with brown sugar and butter, in a saute pan, cooked until tender.  That easy.  And I use frozen carrots, just easier.

Not a single picture did I take, sadly.  Never even crossed my mind until we sat down to dinner and the kids gobbled up the pork.

Pulled Pork

I made the most amazing pulled pork last night.
 Too bad for you that I failed to get pictures of it.

Crock pot.  Pork Butt.  Various Spices (heavy handed).  Beef broth.
8 hours later, total yummy goodness.
NO SAUCE REQUIRED (shocker right?)

Even my picky eater 7 year old went back for 3rds.  Mom win.

Soup is Easy

I recently signed up for a weight loss challenge at work.  What my actual weight is, is none of your business, but I have to lose 5% in the next 8 weeks.  I had to pony up $20 and all those in the pot who reach the 5% goal get to split the pot.  It's at $460 right now.  I'll take those odds.  Losing weight is not a first for me.  After the birth of my oldest child I joined Weight Watchers (WW) and lost 75lbs on the program in one year and kept it off for 2 years after that until the birth of my second daughter came along.  And I haven't been able to lose the baby fat since.  So I know my limits, I know my pain points and I know what I'm up against.  I can do this.

I dug deep into my memory bank to try and remember how I did it 7 years ago and remember starting in the first month and going WW recipe crazy.  I pulled out all the stops and measured and counted and followed all the rules.  In WW land, today those have all changed.  But one thing I remember that helped me jump start was by making soup.  WW has this soup recipe that's all broth and vegetables and it's REALLY GOOD.  But you think I could find that again?  I remember what was in it so I planned to just wing it.   Although, the grocery store had other plans for me, they didn't have 1/2 the ingredients I needed in the vegetable aisle.  So.  Ok.  I'll change it up and use intuition and play.  And here's what happened.

Ingredients
All amounts are relative to how much soup you want to make!

• Carrot
• Onion (I use vidalia, i like 'em sweet)
• Celery
• Rutabaga/Turnip
• Chicken/Vegetable Stock (low sodium)
• 1-2 cloves Garlic
• 1 Bay Leaf
• Caraway
• Coriander
• Basil
• Salt/Pepper
• Ditalini Pasta (optional)
• Olive Oil

Seriously?  Rutabaga (aka Turnip)?  Yep.  I didn't want to use potato, all that starch.  I recently made boiled dinner which got the flavor of Turnip/Rutabaga in my brain, and I really like that root vegetable.  (See it used with Beef Brisket boiled dinner)  And I started to research it after I bought it.  Granted, you can only trust half of what you read on the Internet, but most of what I found seemed to all corroborate these results.  They are low carb.  And calories in a Rutabega are much less than calories in a Potato.

"Mise en Place" aka Preparation

I heard Chef Anne Burrell use this a lot on Worst Chefs in America on the latest episode and I like it.  Basically, it's "get your stuff ready before you start cooking"

• Carrots - peel, slice down middle lengthwise and chop
• Onion - peel, slice off ends, slice in half, chop into 3rds
• Celery - trim dirty ends, chop
• Rutabaga - peel, slice dice into 1/2" cubes
• Garlic - smashed and finely chopped or pressed in a garlic press

Play

1.  In a large stock pot, drizzle the bottom with olive oil, turn heat to medium, add onions
   
2. Salt and Pepper heavily
3. Keep onions moving and saute until they start to soften and become translucent
4. Add carrots and celery
   
5. Add bay leaf, basil, carraway and coriander
6. Continue to saute until carrots become soft
7. Add garlic and saute long enough for the garlic to soften
8. Add stock, you're going to want at least 4cups, I used 6 as I had more veggies
   
9. Add Rutabaga
   

At this point, you need to decide if you want to add the pasta or not.
And if so, are you going to eat it now, or store it for later?
If you're not going to use pasta, you're done, serve and enjoy!

       10. If you're going to add pasta and eat tonight
             - let stock boil until Rutabaga is almost soft
             - add pasta and serve once pasta is at desire texture.
       11. If you're going to add pasta and eat the soup next day
             - let stock boil until Rutabaga is completely soft
             - add pasta and get soup into your containers.
             - As the pasta sits in the soup as it cools down, it will cook.

And of course, if you find yourself home the next night, alone, after the kids went to bed having had their own dinner, you can always have soup.  With grapes (NOT olives.  Ew)

Gettin' Saucy

Lasagna night!  But not for me yet to consume.  Cooking to help cater a party tomorrow.  Mmmm love me some red sauce!

Biggest lasagna, ever.

3lbs mozzarella 

2 batches sauce

64oz ricotta, seriously could eat this stuff with a spoon 

Parmesan cheese

2 boxes noodles

Choose a pattern and layer it all the way to the top.  Love.

Stir Fry Fun

It was mentioned to me the other day that I hadn't updated my blog in a while, so of course I ran home and decided to do something interesting for dinner to blog.  And wouldn't you know, about half way through I realized I wasn't taking any pictures.  So, I have a picture of this final product, but no step by step instructions.  But really, you don't need visuals for this, it's super simple and very quick.  I made this meal in under 30 minutes and 1 out of 2 kids enjoyed it, and even the husband took a second helping.

Inspiration for this dish actually came from my three year old.  Walking through the grocery store she finds Chinese Bean Thread, or what some may call Cellophane Noodles.  Any time the kids pick up something in the store that is "out of the ordinary" I jump at the chance to bring it home and try something new, or introduce them to something they normally would not have considered.  So of course I grabbed the bag and tossed it in the cart and banked it for a future dish.  And that dish just happened to be the other night.

Bean thread cooks quickly in a pot of boiling water.  Not 5 minutes and they're done.  So plan the associated dish carefully enough and you have a dinner that can be cooked in 20 minutes.  And I didn't exactly know where I was going with this meal until I started tossing items in the pan and started to play.  It made itself along the way.

Ingredients

• Chicken, diced into small pieces (or Shrimp!)
• Carrots, I used diced frozen
• Peas, I used frozen
• Broccoli, I used frozen
• Mushrooms, fresh if you have them, canned if not
• Bean Thread noodles
• Sesame Oil
• Sesame seeds
• Soy sauce
• Sugar, brown if you have it preferred, White if you're out (like I was)
• Ginger, fresh is best grated 1/4t., I used powdered as I was out of fresh
• Garlic, fresh is best, minced 1t, I used garlic salt as I was out of fresh
• Scallions, 2 or 3 smalls one chopped, I used onion powder as I didn't want to go out in the rain and dark to find mine in the garden

Time to Play

1. Fill pot with water, bring to boil, toss in bean thread.  
2. Let boil for 5 minutes and drain.  
3. Let sit until ready to use.  

Meanwhile, waiting for the pot to boil...

1. Heat your frying pan (12" minimum, needs to be big), or wok to high.  
2. Generously drizzle sesame oil.  
3. Toss in your frozen veggies and saute until no longer frozen, but not yet cooked.  
4. Then toss in the diced chicken.  
5. Keep the food moving so it doesn't burn and all sides get cooked.

Meanwhile, waiting for the veggies to cook, and water to boil...

1. In a small bowl, pour in about 1.5c of soy sauce
2. Add to that 3T (roughly, I don't measure, ever, when making sauces, always TASTE) sesame oil
3. Add the ginger, the garlic, the scallions, the sesame seeds, the sugar
4. whisk together
5. TASTE it.  needs something more, add it

Going back to your frying pan...

1. When the veggies are cooked through and the chicken is done, grab the bean thread and dump into the pan
2. Pour your sauce over the bean thread and start tossing everything together for 2-3 minutes allowing the sauce to permeate the noodles and soak into the chicken.
3. Remove from heat
4. Serve.

Kielbasa Risotto

My girls and I watched Ratatouille the other night.  If you have never seen it, stop what you're doing now, buy/rent it and go watch it.  And of course, since it's a movie that involves food, and cooking, it follows suit that I was in the mood to cook.  Add to that someone in my Facebook feed talking about recently having made risotto, and top it with being hungry for kielbasa, then we have a match made in heaven.  The following week, I just had to play.

Up until 1994 I had never had kielbasa a day in my life, let alone even knew what it was.  I grew up on German, and Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine.  This delightful sausage is Polish, and until I met my husband, didn't even know where Poland was on the map.  Not that he's strong in his heritage or anything, but with a last name with 10 letters, one must assume homeland food runs in the family somewhere right?  I mean, I grew up with sauerkraut (YICK).  Well, eventually I learned it's actually a pretty common food in this area, eaten by more than just Polish heritage.  And it's freaking AWESOME!  So of course, I cook with it as much as I can.  And this time around decided to put it into risotto.  I present to you, Kielbasa Risotto.

Ingredients

• Kielbasa, one link, sliced down the middle then diced so you have half moons
• Chives, 3 or 4 stalks.  I prefer to use chive over onion as it's not so strong a flavor
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Cloves, 3 or 4 small ones, smashed and minced
• Aborio Rice, 1 cup
• Chicken Stock, or boullion/water, 6 cups
• Sweet Vermouth, splash

Directions
 

1.  In an 8 cup pot, drizzle olive oil in the bottom and place in chives and garlic.  Saute on med heat until the garlic is brown and chives are softened.  Add to that your kielbasa and cook until browned, continuously stirring so as not to burn the bottom too much.  It's OK if some of it turns brown.  That's called "fond" and it's flavor.  Besides it goes away in this next step.

 2.)  Take meat out, retaining juices and oil in the pan.  Set aside in bowl for later.  Pour the rice into the pot.  Stir briefly then, then splash with the sweet vermouth.  If you HAVE to measure, it was probably 1/4 cup.  Keep stirring until the vermouth is absorbed into the rice.

 3.)  Pour 1 cup of chicken broth in and bring to simmer on low.  You don't ever want this to boil, just a soft simmer.  Continue to stir.  We don't want the water the boil away, we want the rice to absorb it.  Continue to add water at 1/2 to 3/4 cup at a time.  Wait until you have nothing but rice left before adding the next addition of water.  This WILL TAKE FOREVER.  Or approximately 30 minutes, of you standing there stirring rice and adding stock.  But it's SO worth it.  When you have just 1-1/2 c of stock left, dump the kielbasa back into the pot with 1/2 cup of water and continue to stir and let it absorb.

 4.)  With 1/2c of stock left, optional... dump in some frozen peas.  I'm a mom, gotta have that vegetable.  Oh hey, speaking of mom, this is also a ONE POT MEAL!  Score.  Let the last of the stock absorb into the rice and you'll notice that it has taken on a creamy consistency without actually having any cream in it.  Ta-da, you just made risotto.



AND... the kids and husband gobbled it up!

Serve and Enjoy!

Side Note:  This reheats well in the microwave.  Just be sure to re-heat after adding a splash of water for it to steam by.

Almost Like Green Bean Casserole but not...

School is back in session.  Dance classes have started up.  In another month or so, we will add swim class and Girl Scouts.  No mom has time for dinner after all that, let alone DISHES.  So finding something I can whip up in less than 30 minutes, ideally less than 20 minutes with as few dishes as possible is key.  Talk all you want about crock pot meals.  My family (not me) doesn't like them, they're a waste of food for us, they go uneaten... finding one they all love is rare.  So, if I can whip it up in one pot and make it look like it took all day, even better.

This particular meal is by no means gourmet, it's not "unhealthy" or "healthy" but it's grub, it's devoured, quick and less mess.  Once what took me 3 pots, is now 1.  It almost tastes like green bean casserole.  It almost tastes like tuna noodle casserole.  A good chicken substitute just might be tuna... but that could cause 2 pots since you'd want to toss that in LAST after just barely sauteing it.

Ingredients 

• Egg Noodles
• Frozen Green Beans
• Cream of Mushroom Soup (condensed)
• Milk
• Chicken, diced
• Olive Oil
• Salt/Pepper

Directions

• Bring a large (but not massive) pot of water to boil, toss in egg noodles and cook until tender.  Drain, let sit. 

• Return empty pot to stove, pour in ~2T olive oil and toss in your chicken.
• Heavily salt and pepper the chicken.  If you think it's enough, toss in a bit more, remember we're adding more to this pot later.
• Saute the chicken until all sides are browned.

• Toss in the green beans.

 

• Dump in the can of mushroom soup and one can of milk.

 

• Stir and bring to boil, don't let burn.
• Turn heat down and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Get your noodles.  Remove pot from heat, and dump in noodles and stir.
• Serve.

Optional components.. if your family really likes mushrooms, you can toss in some diced ones while you're sauteing the chicken.

The recipe isn't rocket science.  It's not that "original" but it gets the job done.  But who knows, maybe you've never seen it before and now I've added time back into your evening.  And with that, I have a crying child to attend to.

One Pot Trickery

I'm on fire tonight!  2 posts.  Wow.  Gotta make up for the last 8 months, so hopefully I can keep up some "steam" and get things "cooking" around here again.    This is by NO means a typical "Jenn Plays" meal, but this is a triumph for me.

I LOVE spaghetti and meatballs.  It's a meal I could devour until it came out my ears.  It just doesn't get any better than homemade sauce, savory meatballs, and al dente pasta smothered in fresh Parmesan cheese.  Growing up in my house, Sunday night was spaghetti night.  Mom would make a giant bowl and we'd dip in.  All you can eat.  Spoons and forks clanking, napkins folded into shirts, the sound of thin spaghetti noodles being slurped up, and honestly, the familiar chatter it brought about between kids and adult. 

--Excerpt from Today:
I've recently learned it was a maternal family thing.  My cousins and I recently reminisced about it, apparently, the tradition held true in their households as well.  That's cool.
--And now back to our story.

Fast forward to marrying my husband and Sunday Spaghetti came to a screeching halt.  He doesn't like "red sauce" dishes.  Almost grounds for divorce right there.  STOP THE TRUCK, BACK UP.  There has to be a way around this.  No way.  I can't go without it.  But I did.  Spaghetti Sunday was lost, an ancient ruin in the memory of comfort foods. I learned to eat it when I could find it.  Make it in small batches when he wasn't home.  Buy... gulp... canned sauce just to get my fix.  Then one day, I learn he like lasagna, and then it's baked ziti.  Oh the joys!  I can have something similar to spaghetti, at least.  It's a glimmer.  Small hope that maybe someday Spaghetti Sundays could be back in my life again.  But alas, these escapades with sauce are still few and far between.

Along comes baby #1.  Maybe I will have a partner in red sauce love.  Maybe I can raise this one as my own.  Perhaps she too, will share my love of this blessed meal.  Alas, no.  She's too smart for me.  She overhears the husband one night complain that I've made one to many baked zitis lately and he doesn't like red sauce. And I hear from the kitchen table... "Mommy, I don't like red sauce!" Nooooooooo... what have you done!? I didn't hear that! It's can't be true, it shan't be true!!!  But it is.  So begins my life with child #1 not liking "red sauce" and even pizza is ordered sans sauce.

Along comes baby #2.  Could it be this time?  I'm not getting my hopes up.  I can't come crashing down like that again.  No, I won't let it.  I introduce it slowly.  Making spaghetti one night as butter/garlic only, I toss a batch of red sauce to the side for me and offer it with no other option to child #2.  And?  No hesitation!  We have a winner!!!  Angels sing, the people rejoice.  I have a friend in red at last!

Being the stubborn mother than I am, do you have ANY idea how frustrating it is to have a 6 year old that doesn't eat pizza with sauce?  Go to a child's birthday party, what's served, pizza.  Sorry kid, too bad.  So my never ending attempt goes on.  "Try it" "Try it"  "Try it"  Which brings me to tonight's post. I'm forever looking for ways to ease child #1 into red sauce.  I KNOW she likes it.  She's just being stubborn.  WHO DOESN'T LIKE RED SAUCE!?  (Oh right, my husband, but I digress.)

So tonight.  Tonight's dish is semi-homemade and done in ONE pot.  That's the best part and reason I'm really blogging.  One pot dishes are the best, easier to clean up, quick meals.  Watch me play.

Ingredients
1 box pasta, pick your favorite shape
1 lb ground beef
Broccoli
1 pkt Knorr's Parma Rosa sauce mix
1 T butter/margarine
1.25c milk
Water

Boil pasta to almost desired tenderness, add broccoli finish boiling, drain, let sit

Return pot to stove and brown beef

Add Milk, Butter, and contents of Knorr packet.

Follow directions to boil for 4 minutes

 Dump pasta/broccoli into pot and stir.

 

So Jenn.  What does this have to do with red sauce and child #1?
Well... Parma Rosa... hello, red sauce!  She ate it.
Gobbled it right up, like it was going out of style and even had seconds!!
Tasted like tomato sauce but lighter in color
Genius.
Score one for mom.

Maybe Spaghetti Sundays aren't too far off in my future to return....

Quick Ribs

I failed to take a picture last night.  Busy busy and frankly just flat out forgot.  My parents were coming over to see the girls for a couple of hours before they run off on vacation for the next month, so I needed to put something in the oven that required very little work.  Something that could sit and bake in there for a while.  Something that if it overcooked, would be a good/OK thing.

At the local grocery store over the weekend I had happened upon a package of pre-sliced pork ribs.  8 of them.  I LOVE ribs.  We know this from past posts.  But the idea of keeping the oven on in this sweltering heat the past week has not been too appealing.  But what if I could cook fewer ribs, already cut, for less time?  Well then that would certainly work.  Oh, and I grabbed a bottle of my favorite BBQ sauce, knowing that this week I wasn't going to have time or patience to make my own, though I do have a great recipe for one.

I like my ribs tender and to be pullable off the bone without too much effort, but I also prefer that they not literally fall off the bone.  And this combination totally got them there.

So, into my 2.5qt CorningWare covered dish went my ribs to play.
Followed by 1/2 bottle of sauce, maybe a smidge less and.
Lid on and nto a 350 degree cold oven.  Meaning, I had JUST turned it on and put the ribs in as it was warming.
Let them get all happy until about 6:30.
I believe I turned them at least once so both sides could get wet.

Served them up with peas and buttered egg noodles.
Both girls PLOWED through them.
Success.  Will definitely be doing this again.

No Mimosa, No Problem

Tonight was breakfast for dinner.  Nothing special, just pancakes from Joy of Cooking, bacon and sausage.  Sided up with orange juice for the girls.  Kassidy has been asking to have pancakes all week, and I kept putting it off and putting it off.  So last night I told her fine we'll do breakfast for dinner and do it right, for tonight. While there were no Mickey Mouse pancakes this evening, I did toss in some dark chocolate chips.

I chose today as Day 1 in potty training for Karsyn.  So.  Today was a long day.  I'm glad I chose breakfast for dinner.  Nothing better than comfort food, and something easy, while not quick, was certainly in order.  But as 6:00 rolled around, I needed more than just comfort food.  With a fresh bottle of orange juice in the fridge and breakfast being put on the table, a cocktail was indeed being called for.  Yet, the breakfast standard mimosa could not be made as my stock of champagne was fresh out.  It's one that honestly I don't keep stocked.

So, what to do?  Open the cabinet and see what I can find of course!  And voila, have fun, I did indeed.  This turned out to not only be a great substitute for Mimosas, but dare I say better??

Ingredients:
Orange Juice
Triple Sec
Coconut Vodka
Blue Curacao
Ice

• Place 3 or 4 ice cubes in the bottom of your drink shaker.
• 2.5 shot classes of the coconut vodka
• 1.5 shots of triple sec
• pour orange juice to fill the shaker
• Shake vigorously
• pour drink into martini glass
• pour about .5 shot glass of the blue curacao into the glass and watch it settle

Enjoy!

Ribs Revisited

This past weekend, was a 3 day weekend.  And lucky me, my youngest daughter woke up sick on Saturday morning.  We spent the day at my in-laws where she filled several diapers and I got thrown up on, as did my car on the ride home that night.  Sunday was a good day, Monday was not (for many reasons but personal and public).  While at the grocery store on Saturday, while I got a small chance to escape, I saw ribs on sale.  I get pork ribs perhaps once, maybe twice a year.  They're not always affordable , and they're time consuming to make.  But so worth it.  But I did not purchase said ribs on Saturday. No, I let them go, and went about the sick weekend yearning for that ooey goodness of BBQ sauce slathered on mouth watering pork.  Fast forward to Tuesday where I ended up at home from work since daughter was still sick and I was determined to finally purchase this delectable delight.  Hopefully, still on sale.  And they were.

Due to the aforementioned terrible sick weekend, and the tragedy at the Boston Marathon, it was important that I restore some mental normalcy, if not in the household, than at least my own brain.  And this meant putting on a spread.  Which, in my mind from the weekend, was ribs, asparagus and to appease my 5 year old, french fries.  I'm a semi-homemade mom, so the french fries this time did come out of a bag, but the ribs, oh no, I played.

I like to give my ribs a dry rub massage with their 300 for 3 bake.
And, as you know, I don't measure.  Simply shake/pour on in your desired amount.


Here are the ingredients for today's version of ribs.

• Salt/Pepper
• Garlic Salt
• Onion Powder
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Chili Powder

Sprinkle it all on at your desired taste and just rub it right in.  Get dirty, and love the meat.

 Place the ribs into a roasting pan.  I like to put a rack on the bottom, we are steaming them in the roast pan more than we are boiling them.

This gives the juice the ability to drain to the bottom and the ribs keep their spices attached.

Cover the roasting pan and place into the oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours.




Once your 3 hour timer goes off.  Take them out of the oven, keep the lid on and just let them sit inside the roasting pan on your counter.  Meanwhile, get your grill nice and hot, as hot as you can.  I kept mine about 400 degrees for this yesterday.

Slather your ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce and place them meat side down on the grill.  Cover the lid, turn your burners down to low, we are now aiming for a nice 300 degree grill.
Leave them be for about 10 minutes.
Open the lid, turn them over.  Let 'em sit for 10 more.  Apply more BBQ sauce as necessary and as wet as you like them. Repeat process until they are at the desired texture for you.  I left them on here for a total of 30 minutes, long enough to start cooking my sides and get the table set.

 

 When they're done, slice them up for your desired serving size, 1 to 2 ribs per slice.
As I said, I served these up with Asparagus and french fries.  They were oh so yummy.  Wet paper towel required.

A Meatloaf Makeover

Today was a snow day.  Both my work and my husband's work were open, but with 2 hour delays.  Leaving the children unattended since day care and preschool were closed was not an option.  The coin was tossed and it was unanimously decided by the husband that I was to stay home.  There really was no coin.  Apparently he lives by Sheldon's rule of voting. (The Roommate Agreement, Controversial Clauses)  Anywho, I settled in for the day.  Got a solid 3 hours of work in before having to fly solo for the day, so one could say that I was "successfully working from home."  Hey, I got to drink a hot cup of coffee.  That's rare, even at work.

Sunday, the decision had been made to make meatloaf this week.  I had defrosted the meatloaf trio (pork, veal, beef) and it was just sitting cold, waiting to go.  Sunday ended up as New England Boiled dinner with family.  Monday, well Monday went the way of Kraft for the kids and Chinese for us.  Which meant, meatloaf HAD to be tonight.

Now, if you've ever had to work from home with a 5 year old and a 2 year old, you know that the day never goes as planned.  While you may not actually get dressed, you still get absolutely nothing done, due to the cost of dedication to connect and check e-mail.  My oldest is thankfully now at an age where I can somewhat trust that's she OK in her room doing her thing.  Of course, recent history has proven this statement wrong as we have found marker on floors, doors, walls and clothes, but hey, she's learned her lesson by now...... right?  God I hope.  The 2 year old however, it another ball game altogether.  Can't take my eyes off her for a minute!  So knowing the day was not going to be easy, I knew I wasn't going to want to deal with dinner at 5, let alone anything later like 6 or even 7.  And I couldn't go another night with not cooking.  We've had take out, or hot dogs, nuggets and whatnot far too much recently.  So meatloaf had to be cooked, today.

Light bulb!  Crock pot.  That wonderful invention of 8 hour slow cooking.  Toss everything in, set it, forget it, and love it later.  I personally grew up on crock pot food.  My mom made the BEST pot roast in the world.  No man (or woman for that matter) could out do her roast.  And even though I have the recipe, it still doesn't hold a flame to hers.  So, a quick google search produced that you can, indeed, actually cook a meatloaf in the crock pot.  How interesting.  It shall be done.

So.  Mixed up my meat.  Formed said loaf.  Dropped it into the bottom of the pot.  Turned it on.  Walked away. .  .  .  Wait.  What about sides?  I don't want to have to worry about that later.  Ugh.  Now what?  Well, it's a crock pot, throw stuff in!  Turned off the crock, pulled out the loaf.  Rummaged through my cabinets and fridge.  Produced a couple of carrots, a few yellow potatoes and a turnip (aka. rutabaga depending on what side of the Mississippi you live on)  Peeled, chopped big and put them in the bottom (after spraying with cooking spray).  Hrm.. now the loaf.  Going back into my cabinets, I produced the inside of a 2 piece meatloaf pan.  You know, the ones where the juices are supposed to run through but just down into the other pan?  Balanced that baby on top of the veggies inside the pan and still had room to put the lid on.  Voila.  Yeah, this'll work!  Turned the crock pot back on, set for 8 hours.

5:30 all was done.  House smelled good.  Meatloaf temp was right!  Veggies were done.
The verdict?  The 5 year old devoured it, no ketchup.  The 2 year old, yeah well she's 2, so between the ups and downs in her seat she eventually ate all of it.  Husband.. ate it!  Didn't love it, but certainly did not get the reaction I did with the apple-sauce pork.

As the creator... I have to say it wasn't terrible.  The veggies were great!  I had modified my recipe for the meatloaf (again) and left out a few things like the chopped mozzarella, so the loaf dried out a bit.  Changes for the next time I do this, and there WILL be a next time, would be to make sure i have the mozzarella in there, and I think I will be putting the loaf right into the pot, no extra pan so it can stew in it's own juices, and pile the veggies around them. 

Good experiment.  Fun to play and was for sure a time saver.

Not Your Average Chicken & Corn Chowder

Every once in a while I get in the mood for soup.  Which is great, because soup is so easy to make, and there are so many different ways to make the same soup, adjusting ingredients to your individual liking or taste at the time.  I don't think I've ever made the same soup twice.  The bad part is, I have yet to figure out how to make soup for 1, with a couple nights' leftovers.  When you make soup, you make for the masses.  One of these days I will have to master how to make soup for 5, and not 25.  See, I'm the only one in the household who will eat soup.  5 year old girls tend to be picky eaters at this phase, 2 year olds don't yet have the ability to manage it on a spoon, and well husbands... the one in my house just doesn't like soup.  And that's OK.  More for me!

Several weeks ago, some time around Valentine's Day, my mother in law throws this really fun party for the adult women of the family.  Much laughter, as you can imagine.  This year, I was unable to attend, but was there to drop my girls off for the afternoon.  Her menu for the party that day included Corn Chowder.  She makes a great corn chowder.  After finishing two and a half bowls of it quickly before we had to leave, I was determined to get it on the menu at my house in the following weeks.  And wouldn't ya know... Sunday night, I made a roast chicken.  How convenient for me, now I can make my own stock.  Score! 

I like chicken in my corn chowder.  Growing up, my dad was a Boy Scout Executive leader, and there was this one troop that had a chicken and corn chowder meal every year.  Raising funds for some project or another.  Well, the gentleman who was in charge of making the chicken and corn chowder had the most amazing recipe.  I have never had another like it.  So I always think back to that, and eventually I will find my recipe falling into that memory.

So, last night was Chicken & Corn chowder.  I didn't even bother with a recipe, I figured I could get it close enough.  I had a general idea of what is supposed to go into it and what it supposed to taste like.  I must say, I was right on.

Chicken Stock

One leftover roast chicken.  Put it in a large pot, fill with water to just 1 inch over the height of the bird, and boil it for about 3 hours.  Not a high boil, but a medium simmer.  You shouldn't have to add too much extra flavoring to this, since your chicken should have already had flavor to it when you roasted it.  We're going to add flavor to this stock later anyhow when we make it soup.  Once the 3 hours are up, you'll want to drain the stock into a collander over another large stock pot or bowl to save for later.  Keeping the bones out, but retaining the stock.

SOUP Time!


Ingredients
4-6 cups chicken stock
Chicken, shredded or cut into small pieces (as much as you like)
4-6 carrots (chopped to 1/2 inch pieces or smaller)
4-6 celery stalks (chopped to 1/2 inch pieces or smaller)
1 medium vadallia onion (chopped to 1/2 inch pieces or smaller)
2 cans sweet corn
1 can creamed corn
1 dozen small (golf ball size) red potatos - can't find the golf ball size, then adjust accordingly - chop in to bite size pieces
1 pint Light Cream
Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper


In the bottom of a stock pot, drizzle the olive oil and heat to med-high heat.  Add your carrots, celery and onion.  This is a classic mirepox, or the holy trinity, of soup. Some people use this in just making the stock only and then dispose of it.  In this case, I like a colorful soup.  If it's not fun to eat, then why eat it?  I decided to leave these in.

Add salt and pepper.  Saute over medium heat until they are soft and the onions become translucent.  Don't rush this part, the longer they sit and marry, the better the flavor.  If you get a touch of burning on the bottom, that is ok, it's not actual burning, it's "fond" which I've talked about in past posts.  You'll scrape this off once you add the stock.

Once the mirepox is soft and translucent, add the corn and creamed corn.  Give them a good stir and let saute for just a moment.  Then add your chicken stock.  So how much?  How thick do you like your chowder and how much soup are you making?  Start by adding 4 cups and go from there.  After you add just 4 cups of stock, add the whole pint of light cream.  Stir everything together.  If you need more stock, adjust accordingly as you add the potatoes and chicken.  Bring the heat to high to boil 1-2 minutes, watching not to burn the milk.  Turn back to low and simmer until potatoes are tender.

Remove from heat, let cool so you don't burn your tongue... enjoy!

White Lasagna

I adore lasagna.  Could eat it every day if I had to.  What's not to love?  Pasta, sauce, and cheese and cheese, and more cheese!  Growing up, my mom made the best lasagna and I of course carry on that same recipe, but seriously, no one ever makes it as good as mom does.  But I like to think I hold a small flame to her, she did teach me after all.  I don't get red-sauce dishes very much in my house.  Neither my oldest child or my husband likes tomato sauce.  Though, husband has been known to enjoy the family lasagna recipe.  I was so craving this a few weeks back however that I had to adapt the recipe.  I figured, if my daughter doesn't eat red sauce, then I'll make it with white sauce.

I have to say, it turned out pretty darn good!  Only change is that next time I will use MORE sauce, and perhaps if time allows, I will make my own white sauce.  But when you're a full time working mom of two, with a busy household, making your own Alfredo sauce is a luxury you can't always have time to afford.  So, this recipe is truly "semi-homemade" and so simple!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
• 2 jars Alfredo sauce (or homemade)
• 1 box lasagna noodles
• 1 pkg chopped spinach (defrosted and drained)
• Salt/Pepper
• 16oz Ricotta cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• 2 pkgs shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Boil your lasagna noodles according to directions on the box, to al dente
2. In a large skillet, cook up the ground beef and sliced mushrooms.  
3. Drain off any excess fat.
4. Pour in the Alfredo sauce and bring to light simmer.  Set aside.

 

1. In a large 13x9 lasagna pan, spread some of the sauce on the bottom, this prevents the noodles from sticking.
2. Then lay your noodles over the bottom of the pan, in one layer, covering the entire bottom of the pan, one layer of noodles only..
3. On top of the noodles, spread ricotta.  Honestly, just use your fingers to press it in and around, makes it much easier.  Just enough to cover the noodles, as shown.
4. On top of the ricotta, sprinkle on the chopped spinach.  Just a bit, maybe 1/3 of what you have in the package.
5. On top of the spinach, sprinkle on your mozzarella cheese, then on top of that, shake on the Parmesan cheese.
6. At this layer, you will now pour on more sauce/meat, get it wet, but dont' use it all, you need to have enough for at least one more layer.

Repeat steps 2 through 5 until you've reached the top of the pan.

The final layer should end with Mozzarella cheese and just a smattering of spinach for color.

Place dish into a 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes until the tops are golden brown and sauce is bubbling.

Cut into squares, serve and enjoy!