I was feeling inspired from the farmers market and their huge sweet potatoes that they had. Nothing screams sweet potato like a big Thanksgiving dinner, so I decided to make it in August. Being that the heat outside has made me absolutely miserable, I was attempting to confuse myself with food, which worked a bit. For those of you that know my recent surgical endeavors you know that I cannot eat very much right now, but if I could I think I would have eaten myself into a coma just like on Thanksgiving! First I baked a 20 lb Carvers ham for 4 hours at 325. We also had mashed sweet potatoes and scalloped corn. Granted this was for 7 of us (my troop and my folks). Yummy!
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
About 7 small-medium sweet potatoes
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tsp kosher salt
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into about 1 inch pieces. Boil until tender, about 20 mins. Drain and return to pot. Let the butter melt on top of the potatoes. Add remaining ingredients and mash with a potato masher or mixer.
Scalloped Corn
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
1 package Jiffy Corn Bread mix
1 stick butter, melted
2 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
2 heaping teaspoons sugar
Mix all of the ingredients until smooth. Pour into 8x8 baking dish (or any smaller ceramic baking dish). Bake at 350 until metal knife inserted in middle comes out clean. This ranges for me based on what dish I am using, but it usually takes at least an hour. Sorry for the vagueness, today it took closer to 90 mins because I baked it at a lower heat with the ham. This is also good with honey drizzled over the top!
Busy mom meatball sub
I made a quick meatball sub tonight for dinner. Although I didn't make it all from scratch it was still pretty good for a quick meal.
hoagie buns
mozzarella slices (2 per sandwich)
frozen meatballs (or can definetly make fresh if you have enough time, enough to cover each bun)
spaghetti sauce
garlic salt
olive oil
pepper
Cook meatballs according to package directions. I dug out bread from the top portion of each hoagie roll. Brush each roll with olive oil and srpinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Broil rolls on high from 2-3 minutes or until brown. In a seperate suace pan, heat spaghetti sauce. Spread over the bottom of the hoagie, topping with meatballs and 2 slices of mozzarella. My meatballs were small and took about 8 to cover the hoagie. Place the bottom roll wtih meat and cheese back in over (now turned off) just until cheese melts. Place top roll on sadwich and enjoy!!!
Next time I make this I will add shredded parmasean to the cheeses. Also I would make my own sauce and meatballs, but I was in a time crunch.
hoagie buns
mozzarella slices (2 per sandwich)
frozen meatballs (or can definetly make fresh if you have enough time, enough to cover each bun)
spaghetti sauce
garlic salt
olive oil
pepper
Cook meatballs according to package directions. I dug out bread from the top portion of each hoagie roll. Brush each roll with olive oil and srpinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Broil rolls on high from 2-3 minutes or until brown. In a seperate suace pan, heat spaghetti sauce. Spread over the bottom of the hoagie, topping with meatballs and 2 slices of mozzarella. My meatballs were small and took about 8 to cover the hoagie. Place the bottom roll wtih meat and cheese back in over (now turned off) just until cheese melts. Place top roll on sadwich and enjoy!!!
Next time I make this I will add shredded parmasean to the cheeses. Also I would make my own sauce and meatballs, but I was in a time crunch.
3 Cheese Turkey Burgers - Italian Style
So, I bought some turkey meat to make some burgers with, but had just got done watching a burger showdown on Food Network, so I was feeling creative. I think if I made this again, I would use lean ground meat, or even add a little ground sausage in the meat with it. They turned out really good, especially if you like cheese!
Burgers
1.5 lb ground turkey or beef
1 package onion soup mix
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
provolone cheese slices
fresh mozzarella, cut into bite size pieces
buns
Topping
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
fresh basil chopped (about 10 leaves)
1 tomato chopped (or can use can diced tomatoes drained)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sauce
About 3 tablespoons mayo (or miracle whip)
About 1 tablespoon spaghetti sauce
Mix all of the burger ingredients except the provolone and mozzarella cheeses. Divide into patties (probably about 6. Place a piece of mozzarella in each patty and shape meat around, making sure to seal up the edges so the cheese doesn't melt out. Grill each patty on a grill until done to likeness. Top with provolone cheese at end until melted. Mix toppings together and drizzle with oil, add salt and pepper to taste. Mix mayo and spaghetti sauce to taste. Place sauce on bottom of bun and topping on top of bun and enjoy!!!
Burgers
1.5 lb ground turkey or beef
1 package onion soup mix
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
provolone cheese slices
fresh mozzarella, cut into bite size pieces
buns
Topping
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
fresh basil chopped (about 10 leaves)
1 tomato chopped (or can use can diced tomatoes drained)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sauce
About 3 tablespoons mayo (or miracle whip)
About 1 tablespoon spaghetti sauce
Mix all of the burger ingredients except the provolone and mozzarella cheeses. Divide into patties (probably about 6. Place a piece of mozzarella in each patty and shape meat around, making sure to seal up the edges so the cheese doesn't melt out. Grill each patty on a grill until done to likeness. Top with provolone cheese at end until melted. Mix toppings together and drizzle with oil, add salt and pepper to taste. Mix mayo and spaghetti sauce to taste. Place sauce on bottom of bun and topping on top of bun and enjoy!!!
Crock Pot Mom
I have been asked lately by a few people about raising kids and having dinner ready every night by 5:30. It isn't super easy, but much easier with a crock pot, and if I wasn't a teacher and got off early, I for sure wouldn't have a chance to make dinner every night. So, for all the mom's and busy people that don't have an extra hour every night after work to make dinner, these recipes are my compilation that I go to when I know time is short. I am not saying that they are the best or creative at all, most are just a few ingredients, but they will feed the masses. *These recipes are used with a big crock pot, so adjust for smaller size.
Fajita Chicken
Frozen or fresh chicken breasts
1 jar salsa
1 package taco seasoning
2 onions sliced
2 peppers sliced (green, yellow, or red)
Toppings (sour cream, salsa, guacamole, shredded cheese, etc.)
Place onion and pepper slices on the bottom of crock pot. Place chicken on top. Mix salsa and tact seasoning and pour over chicken. Let cook on slow all day (6-8 hours). Shred chicken with fork before serving and return to crock pot until ready to serve. This meat and veggies can be served with tortillas, used as nacho topping, or enchilda filling if you have a few extra minutes to put them in the oven. If you were doing that, I would suggest filling each tortilla with meat and veggies, roll up and place in bottom of 9x13 pan. Cover with cheese and desired sauce (red enchilada, green tomatilla). Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and sauce bubbly.
BBQ Chicken
This is Alex's favorite dinner. He LOVES chicken drumsticks, but you can use any part of the chicken and either homemade sauce or from the bottle. I have used both and don't tell much difference, it just depends on what you have on hand.
Fresh or frozen chicken thighs, breasts, drumsticks, or whatever piece you like.
BBQ sauce, bottle or homemade (see recipe below if you make your own)
Cook on low all day in crock pot. The meat will be falling off of the bone by the time you get home and it will be yummy!!! You can also use this same thing with a cut of any kind of roast and have BBQ sandwiches for dinner. That is also a hit!
BBQ sauce from scratch
ketchup (about 2 cups)
brown sugar (1-2 cups)
Worcestershire sauce (about 1/2 cup?)
minced garlic (2 tablespoon)
liquid smoke (2 tsp)
Dijon mustard (1-2 tsp)
red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar) (about 2-3 tablespoons)
chili powder (1-2 tsp)
salt and pepper
Honestly these are very rough guesses. I never measure anything, just start dumping and tasting. So, if it is too sweet, add more worchetershire sauce and vinegar. If you like it with more of a kick add more chili powder/ liquid smoke. If it is not sweet enough add more brown sugar. You can't really mess it up as long as you don't add too much mustard.
Pot Roast
My mom always makes hers in the oven and roasts it all day. This is the crock pot version!
About 3 lbs boneless chuck roast
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can beef broth
1 onion, chopped
1 bag baby carrots
10 yokon gold potatoes (or about 3 russet) quatered
Place onions, carrots, and potatoes on bottom of crock pot, covering with meat. Sprinkle onion soup mix and pour broth over. Cook all day (6-8 hours) on low. You can make gravy off of the liquid in the crock pot if wanted. Just bring liquid to boil on stove top and add corn starch or flour (mix with a little hot water before adding to the big pot of juice to avoid clumping) Enjoy!
When I made this last, I double the recipe and kept half of the meat and made another Alex's favorite Shepard's pie. If you want that recipe I can give it to you, just let me know.
Sloppy Joe's
1.5 lbs lean ground beef (I even used ground deer from my dad)
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 chopped green pepper
1 cup ketchup
1-2 tbls brown sugar
1-2 tbls vinegar
1 tsp yellow or dijon mustard
hamburger buns
Mix the sauce the night before. Place meat and sauce on crock pot and cook on low all day. Mix and enjoy. You really need to use lean ground beef, or it will be too greasy when it is done. You could also just buy the can sauce, but for me I just always have the ingredients on hand and can whip it up without another trip to the store.
Veggie Beef Soup
1.5 lb stew meat
Large (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
2 envelopes onion soup mix
5-8 Yukon gold potatoes (cut into bite size pieces)
1 bag baby carrots cut in half
1 can corn
1 can green beans
Place all in crock pot and cook all day on low. You can also use canned carrots or canned potatoes if you want. Or even a bag of frozen stew veggies. I usually make corn bread with this soup. Yummy!
Beef Burgundy
I just made this one tonight. It was too salty, so I am going to write the recipe as I think it should be.
1 lb stew meat
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package fresh mushrooms sliced
1/2 onion chopped (optional)
1 bag egg noodles
Mix all ingredients but noodles in crock pot and cook on low all day. If sauce is thin, thicken with corn starch or flour (mixed with a little hot water first to avoid clumping). Serve over noodles. I served steamed carrots with this and it was a good addition.
Fajita Chicken
Frozen or fresh chicken breasts
1 jar salsa
1 package taco seasoning
2 onions sliced
2 peppers sliced (green, yellow, or red)
Toppings (sour cream, salsa, guacamole, shredded cheese, etc.)
Place onion and pepper slices on the bottom of crock pot. Place chicken on top. Mix salsa and tact seasoning and pour over chicken. Let cook on slow all day (6-8 hours). Shred chicken with fork before serving and return to crock pot until ready to serve. This meat and veggies can be served with tortillas, used as nacho topping, or enchilda filling if you have a few extra minutes to put them in the oven. If you were doing that, I would suggest filling each tortilla with meat and veggies, roll up and place in bottom of 9x13 pan. Cover with cheese and desired sauce (red enchilada, green tomatilla). Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and sauce bubbly.
BBQ Chicken
This is Alex's favorite dinner. He LOVES chicken drumsticks, but you can use any part of the chicken and either homemade sauce or from the bottle. I have used both and don't tell much difference, it just depends on what you have on hand.
Fresh or frozen chicken thighs, breasts, drumsticks, or whatever piece you like.
BBQ sauce, bottle or homemade (see recipe below if you make your own)
Cook on low all day in crock pot. The meat will be falling off of the bone by the time you get home and it will be yummy!!! You can also use this same thing with a cut of any kind of roast and have BBQ sandwiches for dinner. That is also a hit!
BBQ sauce from scratch
ketchup (about 2 cups)
brown sugar (1-2 cups)
Worcestershire sauce (about 1/2 cup?)
minced garlic (2 tablespoon)
liquid smoke (2 tsp)
Dijon mustard (1-2 tsp)
red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar) (about 2-3 tablespoons)
chili powder (1-2 tsp)
salt and pepper
Honestly these are very rough guesses. I never measure anything, just start dumping and tasting. So, if it is too sweet, add more worchetershire sauce and vinegar. If you like it with more of a kick add more chili powder/ liquid smoke. If it is not sweet enough add more brown sugar. You can't really mess it up as long as you don't add too much mustard.
Pot Roast
My mom always makes hers in the oven and roasts it all day. This is the crock pot version!
About 3 lbs boneless chuck roast
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can beef broth
1 onion, chopped
1 bag baby carrots
10 yokon gold potatoes (or about 3 russet) quatered
Place onions, carrots, and potatoes on bottom of crock pot, covering with meat. Sprinkle onion soup mix and pour broth over. Cook all day (6-8 hours) on low. You can make gravy off of the liquid in the crock pot if wanted. Just bring liquid to boil on stove top and add corn starch or flour (mix with a little hot water before adding to the big pot of juice to avoid clumping) Enjoy!
When I made this last, I double the recipe and kept half of the meat and made another Alex's favorite Shepard's pie. If you want that recipe I can give it to you, just let me know.
Sloppy Joe's
1.5 lbs lean ground beef (I even used ground deer from my dad)
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 chopped green pepper
1 cup ketchup
1-2 tbls brown sugar
1-2 tbls vinegar
1 tsp yellow or dijon mustard
hamburger buns
Mix the sauce the night before. Place meat and sauce on crock pot and cook on low all day. Mix and enjoy. You really need to use lean ground beef, or it will be too greasy when it is done. You could also just buy the can sauce, but for me I just always have the ingredients on hand and can whip it up without another trip to the store.
Veggie Beef Soup
1.5 lb stew meat
Large (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
2 envelopes onion soup mix
5-8 Yukon gold potatoes (cut into bite size pieces)
1 bag baby carrots cut in half
1 can corn
1 can green beans
Place all in crock pot and cook all day on low. You can also use canned carrots or canned potatoes if you want. Or even a bag of frozen stew veggies. I usually make corn bread with this soup. Yummy!
Beef Burgundy
I just made this one tonight. It was too salty, so I am going to write the recipe as I think it should be.
1 lb stew meat
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package fresh mushrooms sliced
1/2 onion chopped (optional)
1 bag egg noodles
Mix all ingredients but noodles in crock pot and cook on low all day. If sauce is thin, thicken with corn starch or flour (mixed with a little hot water first to avoid clumping). Serve over noodles. I served steamed carrots with this and it was a good addition.
Homemade Pizza
So to welcome the new boys in our life to our house we.... sorry I mean I made pizza from scratch this weekend. Well, at least I made the dough. Which I must say was the first time making any bread product from scratch. Not exactly the greatest experience. After the 3rd pizza I got the hang of it. I used the following recipe for the crust, adapted a bit.
1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (
4 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Pizza Sauce:
tomato sauce
diced tomatoes
olive oil
garlic cloves, crushed and minced
onion
fresh basil, oregano, and parsley
salt and pepper to taste
In saute pan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Simmer with tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. for 30 minutes. Add fresh herbs and salt and pepper.
Topping we used:
mushrooms
sausage
pepperoni
green peppers
red onions
mozzerela
Italian blend cheese
Making the Pizza Dough:
1 In the large bowl of a Kitchen Aid, add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.
2 Attach a mixing paddle to the mixer. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Remove the mixing paddle and replace with a dough hook. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.
3 Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or several hours longer). Place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.
At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Preparing the Pizzas
1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (
4 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Pizza Sauce:
tomato sauce
diced tomatoes
olive oil
garlic cloves, crushed and minced
onion
fresh basil, oregano, and parsley
salt and pepper to taste
In saute pan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Simmer with tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. for 30 minutes. Add fresh herbs and salt and pepper.
Topping we used:
mushrooms
sausage
pepperoni
green peppers
red onions
mozzerela
Italian blend cheese
Making the Pizza Dough:
1 In the large bowl of a Kitchen Aid, add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.
2 Attach a mixing paddle to the mixer. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Remove the mixing paddle and replace with a dough hook. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.
3 Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or several hours longer). Place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.
At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Preparing the Pizzas
1 Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.
2.. Remove the plastic cover from the dough and punch the dough down so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in half. Form two round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 10 minutes.
3 Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza
4 Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter - 10 to 12 inches. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. You can pinch the very edges if you want to form a lip
5 Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.
Breakfast Empanadas
This morning I made brunch with a new recipe I came up with for the Cream Cheese Contest. I made breakfast Empanadas and they were yummy. I made 2 different versions.... Not sure which one is the best, so here they are both.
Original Flavor
1/2 lb bulk sausage
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 green or red bell pepper, chopped fine
1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
2 oz cream cheese, softened
5 eggs, separated
1 tbsp butter
2 refridgerated pie crust
salt and pepper to taste
Brown sausage in medium sauce pan and drain, reserving drippings in pan. Saute onions and peppers in reserved sausage dripping until tender, about 5 minutes. In another pan, melt butter. Whisk 4 eggs in bowl and add to pan, mixing constantly to scramble. Combine sausage, cheese, cream cheese, eggs, pepper, onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until cream cheese incorporated. Roll pie crust out on floured surface. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter cut out circles from pie crust. Place 1 tablespoon egg mixture in the center of each circle. Fold each circle in half, using a fork to seal the edges. Whisk one egg in a bowl. Brush each empanada with egg mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until browned.
Breakfast Quiche Flavor
1/2 lb bulk sausage maple flavor
1/2 cup Swiss cheese
1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
2 oz cream cheese, softened
5 eggs, separated
1 tbsp butter
2 refrigerated pie crust
salt and pepper to taste
Brown sausage in medium sauce pan and drain, reserving drippings in pan. Saute onions in reserved sausage dripping until tender, about 5 minutes. In another pan, melt butter. Whisk 4 eggs in bowl and add to pan, mixing constantly to scramble. Combine sausage, cheese, cream cheese, eggs, onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until cream cheese incorporated. Roll pie crust out on floured surface. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter cut out circles from pie crust. Place 1 tablespoon egg mixture in the center of each circle. Fold each circle in half, using a fork to seal the edges. Whisk one egg in a bowl. Brush each empanada with egg mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until browned.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
We have a new addition to one of our favorite families. Roger, Jenny, and Wyatt Adams welcomed Owen into the world this Friday. So, to celebrate I am making the new mama chicken noodle soup, pretty much from scratch. I don't have a noodle maker so those are not from scratch, but I made my own broth, and since I usually add cream of mushroom soup to my chicken soup to make it creamy, I made my own cream of mushroom soup as well. Needless to say this was a 2 day process. I also made homemade croutons for the soup. I made an insane amount because it will be our dinner as well, and I can always freeze it. I don't really have a recipe for most of this, just throw stuff together, but I will list what I did...
Chicken Broth
Chicken Broth
3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped into large pieces
3-4 stalks of celery, cut into large pieces
1 onion, cut into large pieces
Place all in large stock pot. Cover with water. Simmer on medium heat for 5-6 hours, skimming any fat off the top every hour or so. Strain broth through colander using cheese cloth.
Cream of Mushroom Soup (adapted from Taste of Homes)
6 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
6 tbls flour
2 tbls butter
4 cups milk
12 oz (1 and 1/2 packages) cream cheese
1 cup beef broth
Saute mushrooms and onion in butter in large pan until tender. Add flour and stir until dissolved. Slowly add milk and beef broth, stirring until boiling and thickened. Add cream cheese and stir until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes about 6 cups.
Soup
Chicken Stock(see above)
Additional water
Additional water
Chicken from 3 roasted chickens
carrots
celery
onion
cream of mushroom soup (see above)
Amish egg noodles
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