A New Post?!

Whaaaaaaaat!

I know right? I've been cooking still, a little. I've even taken pictures! But they're on Husband's computer at school all day.

This time I'm going to use the photo that came with the recipe I just made and when husband is home from doing class work and hiking and playing football
{while I sit at home with Peaches and Chancho saying "oh no! don't do that! HEY! GET OVER HERE! I SAID PUT THAT DOWN! PUT IT DOWN! don't hit your brother. Really? you felt a need to dump that EVERYWHERE?!"}
I'll see about doing posts for my other recipes.

We did find a new car. HURRAY! I love it. It's an 03 Expedition and it's lovely. Though yesterday the computer that monitors the door sensors and the gas mileage and all that jazz started freaking out {something to get checked on. Woo!}.

Anyway, recipe.

I love potato chips. Crunchy, crispy, flavorful chips.

But I don't like spending approximately $3 for a bag.

Solution?

Our Best Bites homemade potato chip recipe!

Potato Chips

Ingredients:

Potatoes (1 medium potato makes about 2-3 servings)
Oil for frying
Seasonings

Heat oil in a deep skillet {about 2-3 inches deep} to 375 degrees, slice potatoes {no need to peel first} using a mandolin, food processor or {what i did} a regular potato peeler going horizontally across the top of the potato {rather than lengthwise down the sides}. This got them REALLY thin and were very close to the Lays brand of chips as opposed to the thicker Tims Cascade style. Place potato slices in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes and swoosh them around. Rinse a couple times in cold water to make sure you get the extra starchies off. Lay flat in a single layer on a bed of paper towels. Blot with more paper towels to dry them off.

**OIL AND WATER ARE NOT FRIENDS! make sure you get them VERY dry so the oil doesn't pop and splatter**

Working in batches, fry potatoes for 1-3 minutes or until just GOLDEN. If they get too dark they taste burned and that's not Tasty Town. Remove and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Season immediately while still hot.

That's all she wrote.
They're super easy and SUPER good! Some seasonings the website recommends are:

Salt
Black Pepper
Rosemary {pulsed in food processor with salt}
Malt Salt {salt and vinegar style}
Parmesan Cheese {powdered kind you put on spaghetti}

I used Parmesan and OH MY STARS. It was so good! If you come up with any other seasoning ideas let me know! I'd love to try something new.

♥ K8

Hiatus

Our car died so all my free computer time is being devoted to researching SUVs and
*gulp*
minivans

I'll try to get something posted today or tomorrow.

Promise.

♥ K8

Grandma Carrie's Very Blueberry {or poppy seed} Muffins

There were more, the recipe makes 12-16 muffins, but I took the picture mid dinner

Grandma Carrie is actually my mother in law, but to Peaches and Chancho, she's Grandma Carrie.

These muffins are so delicious and have that classic muffin taste. Its easy to swap the blueberries out for poppy seeds and they make a great addition to any breakfast spread.

Grandma Carrie's Muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla {for poppy seed sub 1 tsp almond extract}
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries {for poppy seed sub 1 Tbsp poppy seeds}

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs {like for pie crust}.

In a small bowl mix eggs, milk and vanilla until well blended. Add to flour mixture then add blueberries.

Place paper baking cups in muffin tin and spoon batter in until 1/2-2/3 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

A little butter, some OJ and a side of fresh fruit...sounds like breakfast to me! I also like to use them in place of rolls or biscuits at dinner time. Thanks for the recipe Carrie and we'll see you on Skype!

♥ K8

O-O-REO!

Ready for something awesome?

Something that will make your taste buds dance and sing?

Something so rich you will need a gallon of milk to survive the next bite?

Oreo Truffles
AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 32 oz package Oreos
2 bags chocolate chips {can also use 16 oz semi sweet baking chocolate}

Crush 9 Oreos into fine crumbs using a food processor or a ziploc bag and a rolling pin. I used the rolling pin. Set aside. Crush the remaining 36 Oreos into fine crumbs {again using whichever method you prefer} and put in a large bowl with cream cheese and mix until there are no more loose crumbs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll Oreo/cream cheese mixture into 1 inch balls {I bought some latex gloves for this part, made it a LOT easier} and place on a baking sheet covered in wax paper. Insert a toothpick into each ball and refrigerate {or freeze} for an hour.

Now, the original recipe is what I followed for dipping them in chocolate. It was a nightmare. That's what reviews are for though! Everyone said to add 1 Tbsp shortening to thin the chocolate and make it easier to get a nice, even coating. Melt chocolate and shortening using a double boiler {don't have one? put a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl} until completely melted and smooth. Using the handy toothpicks, dip each truffle in chocolate, roll in reserved Oreo crumbs and place on wax papered baking sheet.

Refrigerate for 15 minutes, remove toothpicks and Voila! Gourmet lookin' {and tastin'} truffles! Store covered in fridge and eat at your own leisure. I've got a plate of 'em next to me with some Grey's Anatomy on Netflix

Bon bons and a chick flick ;)

♥ K8

Winter Food in July

I love cold weather...around Christmas time.

After Christmas, I'm done. I want summer back.

If we could jump from big, fluffy snow on Christmas to 85 and sunny on December 26th I would be in heaven.

One of my fave winter foods is stew.

Thick, Hearty, Warms your bones.

Well, it's July.

But I wanted stew.
{and I forgot to take pictures}

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1 1/2- 2 lbs stew meat
5 potatoes {washed and peeled as much or as little as you want, i like a little peel}
1/2 lb baby carrots
5 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf {or a few shakes of dried, crushed bay leaves}
few shakes of dried rosemary
Salt & Peppa
1 package Au Jus gravy mix {or brown gravy mix}
2 Tbsp oil
some flour {maybe 1/2 cup?}
6 cups water

Heat oi in a large pot. Roll individual pieces of meat in flour until coated. Brown meat in oil with garlic, Salt & Peppa, Bay leaf and Rosemary until meat is seared on the outside. Slice potatoes into 1/2 inch thick half circles. Add potatoes, carrots and water. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Cover and simmer on low until potatoes and carrots are tender. Add gravy mix and simmer until thickened.
{if you want it thicker, mix 1 Tbsp corn starch with 1 Tbsp cold water until smooth and throw it in the stew}

I served it with Buttermilk biscuits

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp SACO Buttermilk Blend
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup water

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles corn meal. Add water and mix until dough is pliable. Do not overbeat. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick, no less {i did mine about an inch thick}. Cut with floured biscuit cutter {i used a cup}. Place close together on ungreased baking sheet {i greased min with a little Pam}. Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees.
{Recipe from Saco Buttermilk Blend can}

Big thanks to neighbor Audrey for the buttermilk powder stuff. Those biscuits were DELISH! {and the stew was too of course!}

♥ K8

Lemon Cheesecake Pie

I've been dying for a great slice of cheesecake, but being Rexburg, there is none to be found.

So I found a great recipe in a cookbook I got at Ross for $11.00 4 years ago:

4 Ingredient Cookbook

The recipe in the book had cherry pie filling for the topping, but I'm not a huge cherry pie filling fan.

Mine is topped with...

Yup.

Strawberries.
{we're drowning in strawberries over here}

Lemon Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:

1 {8 oz} package of cream cheese softened
1 {14 oz} can sweetened condensed milk {NOT evaporated milk}
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 graham cracker crust {I buy mine pre-made}
1 can cherry pie filling {or 8 medium/large strawberries}

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth. Mix in lemon juice and vanilla. Pour into graham crust and chill for 3 hours.

To serve: Top with cherry pie filling or sliced strawberries. You can also use any pie filling or fresh fruit. This would also make a great filling for a fruit tart!





♥ K8

More Strawberries

I don't have pictures of the recipe right now, but I'll throw some up here later.

We have a little garden behind our town home that husband has been meticulously caring for all spring/summer. Our landlord started it and then moved out leaving behind large strawberry plants.

These strawberry plants are ridiculous. We HAVE to pick strawberries every day or they rot. It's not just one or two berries a day either.


Every 2 or 3 days we have a FULL gladware container!

I've been trying to eat them and use them as much as possible before they go bad, but we still end up giving quite a few away to friends and neighbors.

I wanted ice cream yesterday, but all we had was boring vanilla with no toppings. So I got creative.

Strawberry Ice Cream/Milkshakes

Ingredients:

2 cups strawberries rinsed and de-stemmed
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups vanilla ice cream

put it all in a blender and blend until all the ice cream is pink. If you want chunks of strawberries, put the ice cream in first with the strawberries on top and pulse on low until combined. It'll be like soft serve ice cream, but you can put it in the freezer to harden it back up. If you want milkshakes, add milk until you get the consistency you want.

If you live in Rexburg and want some strawberries, be our guest! I'm getting sick of 'em!

♥ K8

Strawberries 'N' Cream

It's June (almost July) and that means Strawberry Season!

Strawberries are so versatile and delicious. They're in my top five fave fruits.

You can put them in salads, jams, pies, cakes, ice cream, white meat marinades, smoothies, just about anything.

And they're pretty!

This is one of my favorite summertime desserts and its really pretty simple to make and inexpensive.

Whats better than cheap and easy?

Cheap, easy and TASTY!
Grilled Strawberries with Custard
makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

16 medium to large strawberries, washed and de-stemmed
cinnamon and sugar
wooden skewers

While strawberries are still wet, roll them in cinnamon sugar and place 4 deep on a skewer. Grill on medium heat for 45-60 seconds each side.

Custard Ingredients:

2 cups vanilla ice cream
4 egg yolks

Heat ice cream in saucepan on stove until hot. Beat egg yolks. Slowly temper egg yolks with ice cream. Return to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat (about a 4) until thickened.
**NOTE** if you cook it too hot it turns into vanilla scrambled eggs. not good. if you temper it too fast it turns into vanilla scrambled eggs. not good.

Pop strawberries off skewers into bowls and ladle custard on top. I like to sprinkle a little nutmeg on top for "prettiness".




♥ K8

Cookie Fail {and win}

Tonight I made cookies to contribute to the Father's Day gifts for the guys at church tomorrow.

I found a recipe on AllRecipes.com that sounded simple and had 4 1/2 stars out of 5 with almost 1,800 reviews.

Dream come true, right?

Wrong.

Enter The Cookie Fail:

This is what happened when I tried to scrape them off the pan

I think these are crackers...

Not excited about this recipe

Then I turned to my "Cookie Bible" I got as a wedding gift for a classic PB cookie recipe that can't go wrong.

Ingredients:
1 cup {2 sticks} butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter {can use crunchy or creamy}
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Beat butter, peanut butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in eggs. In separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into batter until blended. Refrigerate for an hour. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheets {don't need to grease or use non stick spray, they come right off}. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss cross pattern. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Much better.

{this is a gross picture of me, but when you have 2 kids and you just wasted half an hour on a useless recipe, you look a little tired}

Cookie Bible saves the day and the men of the BYU-Idaho 81st Married Student ward.

♥ K8

Tacos Ole

I found a recipe for shredded pork for tacos probably about a month or two ago and have since been wanting to make them and have a
FIESTA

I'm talkin' sombreros, pinata, fake mustaches.

But I got too antsy for the tacos and made them for some friends who came over for dinner last night.

They were pretty darn good!!!

Once again, the credit goes to AllRecipes.com for this wonderful meal

Pork Tacos

Ingredients:

4 pounds pork shoulder roast {I used a 2 lb pork loin from Sam's Club}
2 {4 oz} cans green chilies
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 packet taco seasoning
2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup orange juice {optional}

In a small bowl, combine green chilies, chili powder, oregano, taco seasoning, and garlic. Rub onto the roast and place in crock pot. Here I poured on the orange juice, but you don't have to do it. Cover and cook on high for about 5 hours. Shred pork with 2 forks, pulling opposite directions, stir and cook another hour on low. Before serving, you can squeeze some lime juice onto the meat.

Here's where you can get creative. You can put the meat on:

soft flour tortillas
lightly fried corn tortillas
salad
sandwiches
or
plain

We had it with lightly fried corn tortillas. Heat about 2 Tbsp oil in a skillet. Fry tortilla for a few seconds on each side, fold in half and let it drain on a paper towel while you fry up the rest. I served it up with some Pico de Gallo {diced onions, tomatoes, and cilantro with some lime juice all mixed up} and lime wedges, black beans and Spanish rice {from a box...I cheat}.

{The blog debut of Husband}



{The tacos were well received}

OLE!

♥ K8

Chicken Salad

When its summer time,
it's hot.
{well it's supposed to be}

The last thing I want to do when it's hot is stand over a hot stove, with hot food, and hot steam.

Chicken Salad
{makes about 2 sandwiches}

Ingredients:

1 large can chicken (you can also cook your own chicken breast, but this is easier and less HEAT)
1 handful grapes, quartered
1/2 apple chopped {you can make the pieces as big or small as you want}
3 spoonfuls mayo {a larger cereal spoon, the kind guys use to shovel food in their mouths as fast as possible}
Salt and Peppa
1 Tbsp dried dill

Throw everything into a bowl and mix it up. You can eat it plain, over some lettuce or spinach, or on a sandwich.

A cool, no stove lunch for summer {if it ever gets here}

♥ K8

Dressing Room

You get a two-fer today.
{again, no pictures}

We had a BBQ with our neighbors on Sunday and I made a nice salad to go along with our chicken.

The only salad dressing we had was this creamy cucumber stuff, which is good.

But not what I wanted.

I decided to turn to my secret lab and concoct a dressing of my own!

{well, not of my own invention, but I made it myself}

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp white vinegar

Heat jam in a small sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Remove from heat and add olive oil. Whisk together until well mixed. Add vinegar and whisk again. Give it a taste to see if you want it a little more vinegar-y. Allow it to cool completely in the fridge. You can either pour it over your fave salad, or stick it in a gladware for another day.

I like it on:

Romaine or green leaf lettuce, shredded
Handful of Craisins
Mandarin orange segments

Toss it all together. BAM salad.

♥ K8

Italia Bella

I lost my SD card last week {I think it was stolen personally, but don't see how} so there's no pictures for this post. Next time I make it, I'll put the pictures on here.

I made a dinner for a girl in our ward who just had a baby and decided to make a bunch of it and we would have it for dinner too!

I felt clever.

Well this girl has a toddler about the same age as my little girl so I was thinking of something that would be kid friendly.

What kid doesn't like spaghetti?

But spaghetti would be hard to transport seeing as all my gladware was dirty or in use.

So I did Baked Ziti instead.

Only I don't know how to make Baked Ziti...so I kind of made it up as I went along.

Ingredients:

Penne pasta cooked
Spaghetti sauce {can do with meat or without, I used about 3 cups}
Mozzarella cheese {one of the pre-shredded bags}

Pour 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish. Toss 1/3 of the cooked pasta with spaghetti sauce and put in the casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Repeat with the remaining pasta. On the last layer, add a layer of sauce before the last layer of cheese. Bake {covered} at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

♥ K8

A Meal Not My Own

I didn't cook dinner tonight.

Tuesday is our 3 year anniversary so my husband and I went out for dinner!

There's a restaurant in Rigby called Stockmans...They feature all you can eat steak for $16.00. It's good steak too! We heard a rumor it was gone. Closed. No more. A quick drive by proved this rumor to be true. I died inside a little. It was our anniversary place. And it was...gone.

When my husband said we were going someplace new in Idaho Falls, I figured it was either the Thai place downtown or The Sandpiper by the green belt.

Wrong.

We pulled into Snake River Landing and into the parking lot of...

STOCKMANS!

IT LIVES ON!

{Cue the Titanic music}

If you're ever in Southeast Idaho, please please PLEASE go check this place out. When you order the all you can eat steak, they start you out with a 16 oz {yeah FULL POUND} sirloin cooked to perfection. You also get a salad and your choice of baked, mashed, french fries, or sweet potato fries all for $16.00!

Tonight Husband decided to box up the sweet potato fries, the salad, the roll, and his half of our peel and eat shrimp appetizer and just eat beef.

He packed away 36 ounces of steak...just typing that sentence makes me feel sick.

Happy Anniversary Husband! Thank you for three wonderful years and two wonderful children!

♥ K8

About a boy and a grill

My husband loves to grill.

Maybe it's the fire.

Any sunny day he wants to grill for dinner.

Today was sunny, so he grilled.

You get a triple header tonight (well sorta) and two of the three pieces of dinner are from AllRecipes.com

{i told you i ♥ that site}

Up first...

Grilled Salmon

Ingredients:

2 lbs salmon filets {I get the Ocean Eclipse because they're individually frozen and pretty cheap. Fresh is always best unless you're landlocked like I am}
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice {can also use lime}
3 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped
1 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary {I used dried}
Salt and Peppa to taste

Mix the oil, lemon, herbs and spices together in a shallow baking dish {like 9x13} and add salmon filets. Get 'em niiiiiice and coated in the marinade and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, longer if you've got the time. Heat the grill to medium and cook salmon, skin side down, for 15-20 minutes or until it flakes easily with a fork. Retain 1/4 cup of the marinade for extra basting during grilling.

Part Deux...

Grilled Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 lb asparagus
roughly 3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and Peppa

Trim ends of the asparagus {don't know what that means? I had to look it up too}, lightly coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and peppa to taste. Grill on High heat for 2-3 minutes.

Numero Tres...

Cheddar Garlic Potatoes

Ingredients:

Instant mashed potatoes {i'm a cheater!}
1 tsp Garlic powder {or 2 cloves fresh minced}
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

While you're heating up the milk, water and butter for your instant mashed potatoes, toss in the garlic. After the potatoes are all mixed and ready to roll, stir in the cheese until its melted. What's that you ask? Of course you can do real potatoes! Just add the garlic the same time you add the cheese.

A perfect summer meal! Well, aside from hot dogs at a baseball game...

♥ K8

BTNBS

Beefy Tomato Noodle Bake Stuff

its good, I promise.

I don't have a story to go along with this one...just know that while it looks like barf, it doesn't taste like barf.


Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (can also turkey)
1 onion chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can RoTel (or off brand equivalent)
8 oz wide egg noodles
some cheddar cheese (of course)

Cook beef and onion until browned, add soup and RoTel and stir until its all mixed up and coated in soupy goodness. Boil noodles until they're done, drain and return to pot. Grate cheddar cheese. Combine beef mixture with noodles and, yup, give it a stir until noodles are well coated. Transfer to a casserole dish and sprinkle cheese on top. Cover and bake at 350 for 10 minutes, uncover and bake 10 more minutes. I whip up either garlic toast or cornbread to go with it.

If you don't like the spice too much, you can do plain diced tomatoes in place of the RoTel.

♥ K8

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes

singing "HEYO! I MADE MAYO!"

I think that's how the song goes.
Maybe not.

Awhile ago I ran out of mayonnaise. This is a tragedy for me as I love tuna sammiches.

So I went to my trusty AllRecipes.com and found one for homemade mayo.

I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil and I didn't really like it.

The consistency is awesome, but the flavor is too strong.

SO

I'm trying again. It can be a tricky process, therefore I'm doing a step-by-step instructions to make sure you have a good idea.

STEP 1:

Gather ingredients-
1 egg
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp prepared yellow mustard
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Salt and Peppa to taste

1 Blender {if you have a hand blender, USE IT. It will save you an insane amount of time. I've included instructions for both regular and hand blender}

STEP 2 HAND BLENDER:

Place all ingredients in a tall container that will hold the ingredients and be less than 1/2 full.

STEP 2 REGULAR BLENDER:

Combine the egg, garlic, lemon juice, and mustard in the blender and blend until smoooooth.

STEP 3 HAND BLENDER:

Place blender in bottom of the container and turn it on. Slowly pull the blender upwards to incorporate all ingredients. If there is still some oil hangin out on top, keep moving the blender up and down and stir it around a little.

STEP 3 REGULAR BLENDER:

this step is important to go slowly...patience is a virtue that pays off here!

Turn blender to low speed and S-L-O-W-L-Y pour oil in a fine stream as the mixture emulsifies and thickens.

STEP 4 REGULAR BLENDER:

Once all the oil is added and your mayo is thick and luxurious, use a rubber spatula scraper thing to scrape down the sides and make sure the whole thing is well mixed with no oil pockets.

STEP 5 BOTH BLENDERS:

Turn off the blender and transfer your mayo to a storage container. I used a mason jar and lid, but you can also use gladware, tupperware, baby food jars, even ziploc bags. As long as it seals well and can be refrigerated, it'll work.

I wanna celebrate and live my life singin' "Heyo! I made Mayo!"

Yeah that's totally how it goes.

♥ K8

Macky Cheese

Enlarged to show texture

So my two year old talks fairly well for her age...but she has a hard time saying Mac and Cheese.

Sometimes we can get "maca-oh-ni", but it's usually Macky Cheese.

She loves it.

I felt a little guilty giving her the boxed stuff all the time because, well lets face it, that stuff ain't exactly healthy.

So after several trial and error dinners I made my own Macky Cheese.

You can make as much or as little as you want depending on the amount of noodles you cook, but the sauce recipe is usually good for about 3 or 4 good sized bowls.

Sauce:

2 cups milk
6-8 slices American Cheese
1/2 cup grated Cheddar Cheese

Heat milk in a sauce pan over medium heat, break American cheese slices into quarters and add 2 slices at a time. Make sure you stir REALLY well and all cheese is melted before you add the next slices...keeps the sauce nice and creamy and smoooooooth. Once all the American cheese is added and melted, add the Cheddar cheese and stir until melted and smooth. Turn heat to low. Cook and drain your elbow macaroni and return to pot. Dump the cheese sauce into the noodles and give her a good stir. Yup, just like with the chili. You can add more grated cheddar or even some mozzarella if you want. If you want to fancy it up a little, you can use Gruyere or swiss cheese as well, or in place of, the cheddar.

To make a thicker sauce, either do less milk or more American Cheese. To make a thinner sauce, do the opposite of what I just said.

For some reason kids love this stuff and so does my husband. As was stated in my previous recipe, I am a cheese fiend...so you know I be grubbin' on this bizness.

♥ K8

Ooh La La

I have a new digital camera so I'll start posting pictures to go along with my recipes soon. However, I'm posting a Google Picture for this one because I won't be making it for awhile. See, today's recipe is French Onion Soup. Onions make you very gassy (tmi? perhaps.) and when you're nursing a baby, they eat what you eat. So for my own sanity and sleep schedule, I'm not eating that many onions while I'm still nursing Chancho.

This recipe skill level is medium and it takes quite awhile to make. It's very much worth the effort and makes for a fancy date night meal when served with a spinach salad tossed in balsamic vinaigrette.

1/2 cup butter (REAL butter, not margarine)
4 onions sliced in half circles
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
1 cup white wine (i like the 4 packs of mini bottles for cooking, that way you don't have to open a huge bottle for one recipe)
3 Tbl flour
2 quarts chicken broth
1 baguette
1/2 pound gruyere cheese grated

Melt butter, add onions, garlic bay leaves, thyme. Cook until onions are very soft and DARK brown. Add wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until onions are dry. Dust with flour and stir. Turn heat to medium and cook 10 minutes. Add broth and simmer 10 minutes.

Slice bread and toast. Ladle soup into bowls on a cookie sheet and float a slice of bread in each bowl. Top with cheese and broil until golden and bubbly. I like to COVER the bread/soup with cheese, but you can add as much or as little as you want. I'm kind of a cheese fiend.

CAUTION: the bowls will be hot when you take them out of the oven.













Bon Appetit mes amis!

♥ K8

Rainy Day Friday

I was going to post recipes on Wednesday and Thursday...

No really, I was.

But then I got tired.

So I didn't.

It's raining and cloudy and chilly today and that means one thing.

Soup.

Behold, a delicious chili recipe perfect for a chilly day.
(you like that play on words, I know you do.)

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can kidney beans
1 can white kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup water

Cook hamburger and onion until browned, add beans and tomatoes including juice, add taco seasoning, chili powder and cinnamon, add water. Give it a good stir. Go on, don't be shy with it. REALLY put some muscle behind it. Whoa, not that hard. There you go. Bring to a boil, cover, simmer on low for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

You can sprinkle some cheddar cheese or do a dollop of Daisy. I like to serve it up with some cornbread. Don't get fancy, I just use the Jiffy mix.
Hint: if you don't like crumbly cornbread, just add an extra egg!

Enjoy your heart (and hand) warming meal my friends.

♥ K8

p.s. high five for 2 followers!

Sweet Tooth Tuesday

Ever have a craving for something so sickly sweet you just smell it and you have a cavity?

Yeah. Me too.

That's how I feel about Cinnabon. I call my dentist and let him know I'm about to eat a Cinnabon and he pencils me in for the next morning.

I don't have a recipe for Cinnabon, but I have something pretty darn close that is faster and easier to make.

Cinnabon Tortillas

Flour tortillas
Butter
Sugar
Cinnamon
Mini marshmallows

Generously butter one side of a tortilla and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, top with marshmallows and roll up taquito style. Microwave on high for about 30 seconds.
You can experiment to find your ideal balance of sugar and cinnamon, for me I like more cinnamon than sugar.

CAUTION: filling will be HOT and eating more than one will result in a destroyed diet.

Devour.

You're welcome.

♥ K8

Comfort Food

Fried chicken, a hot casserole, good ol' mac and cheese.

Comfort food.

Makes a rainy day cheerful and can heal a broken heart. I figured I would start with my favorite comfort food:

Meatloaf

My husband thinks it's a waste of meat. I think it's incredible. This one is a very straight forward recipe with nothing spectacular...except the sauce. The sauce makes this meatloaf extraordinary. I pair it up with some mashed potatoes (instant is A-OK with me) and gravy and green beans.

Makes about 4 servings (2 slices per serving)

2 lbs ground beef (can also use ground turkey)
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg slightly beaten
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup oats (can use quick or old fashioned)

Mix it all together and shape into a loaf in loaf pan or baking dish.

Sauce:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 Tbl brown sugar
1 Tbl mustard

Mix together and spread over top of loaf. Bake at 375 degrees for an hour. Let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

Another thing I love about this recipe is by using spaghetti sauce, you get some veggies in there. It also makes AMAZING sandwiches the next day!

♥ K8

Once Upon a May

It's easier to pop open a blog these days than it is to open a book. Is that what's wrong with society? I don't know, I'm here to cook. I'm not a magnificent cook, but I've got a few faves that I figured I could share and I'd rather copy and paste a blog address than type out a recipe 4 or 5 times to various people. I love having my little netbook in the kitchen with me to reference as I cook, bake, broil, boil, and stew. My husband cringes every time I bring my laptop in because he just KNOWS I'll spill something and there goes $300. Oh well, I like it. If these computers weren't meant to serve as little cookbooks then they shouldn't have made them so small and portable. Right off the bat I'll tell you my favorite recipe finder is AllRecipes.com. I'll post my first recipe tonight or tomorrow. If you make it, let me know how you like it or any changes you made! Like I said, I'm not aspiring to be Julia Childs (Julie and Julia...anyone? anyone? buehler?) and I'm always open to suggestions and new things. If you have a recipe you want me to include on here, the more the merrier!

Let's start a blogging revolution.

Or just a fun little recipe circle.

That'd be cool too.


❤ K8