Camping was tons of fun! The rain kind of followed us around for a bit, but didn't totally dampen our trip (pun intended). It was great being outdoors, and really taking/having the time to enjoy the beauty God has endowed all nature with. One of the things I enjoyed most was cooking over the open fire, and yes...I did bring my apron.
Here's what we had:
Friday
Lunch: PBJ sandwiches
Supper: Chili w/crackers
Saturday
Breakfast: Banana Pancakes
Lunch: Bean Burritos w/salsa
Supper: Grilled Cheese sandwiches, Tomato-Basil Soup, Sweet potato fries
Sunday:
Breakfast: Sweet potato pancakes
Lunch: Leftovers- PB&Banana Sandwiches, tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, mashed sweet potatoes
We had TONS of fruit to snack on/for desert as well. Needless to say, we didn't starve. On the way back to home, we stopped in a neighboring town for supper. A cute, little Mexican restaurant. I had chicken enchiladas. Not bad. We got back in Sunday at close to midnight, so tired we could barely keep our eyes open.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Camping 1
So I'm pretty excited. This weekend, I'm going camping with some dear friends. What really excites me is the culinary challenge, as I have never cooked on a camping trip. I'm not exactly sure how it will turn out, but I know I'll enjoy the experience. Another frontier to be conquered! (not that I've conquered any frontiers) I'll let you know how it goes, of course. If you happen to have any menu suggestions, please post them in the comment section!!
Happy eating!
Happy eating!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Riiiiiibs!!
The grocery store here has some pretty amazing deals from time to time. Recently, there was a sale on some lovely HUGE pork ribs. $1 a pound!! Monday, I made some super yummy, oniony, slow cooked ribs. They absolutely melted in my mouth!
What you need:
Huge, well marbled pork ribs (not baby back ribs)
1-2 pkg onion soup mix
2 tbs worshire sauce
large plastic or glass container with lid
Olive oil
What you do:
Rub the soup mix and worshire sauce into each rib. They should not be soaking wet, just damp. Allow the marinade for at least 2 hours, but preferably 6-8 or even overnight.
Preheat oven to 375. In a super hot pan, add a about 3 tbs olive oil. Place each rib in the pan, but DON'T CROWD THEM! Let each side get well seared (dark brown)...roughly 3-4 mins per side, eye ball it. You're not looking to get them totally done!!
In a large, covered baking dish, lightly coat the bottom with olive oil...maybe 4 tbs. Put the ribs in the dish, and use a bit of water (maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup) to deglaze the pan. Deglazing just means, adding enough water or liquid to get the crusty stuff off the bottom of the pan...it makes a lovely sauce, since that's where all the flavor collects! Add the juice over the top of the ribs. You can add chopped veggies at this point (potatoes, carrots, celery, turnips, etc.)
Cover the dish and bake for around 30 mins. Check the ribs, to see if they're done to your liking. There should be no blood, but a touch of pink is okay. Don't overcook them...unless you like super tough meat.
Happy eating!
What you need:
Huge, well marbled pork ribs (not baby back ribs)
1-2 pkg onion soup mix
2 tbs worshire sauce
large plastic or glass container with lid
Olive oil
What you do:
Rub the soup mix and worshire sauce into each rib. They should not be soaking wet, just damp. Allow the marinade for at least 2 hours, but preferably 6-8 or even overnight.
Preheat oven to 375. In a super hot pan, add a about 3 tbs olive oil. Place each rib in the pan, but DON'T CROWD THEM! Let each side get well seared (dark brown)...roughly 3-4 mins per side, eye ball it. You're not looking to get them totally done!!
In a large, covered baking dish, lightly coat the bottom with olive oil...maybe 4 tbs. Put the ribs in the dish, and use a bit of water (maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup) to deglaze the pan. Deglazing just means, adding enough water or liquid to get the crusty stuff off the bottom of the pan...it makes a lovely sauce, since that's where all the flavor collects! Add the juice over the top of the ribs. You can add chopped veggies at this point (potatoes, carrots, celery, turnips, etc.)
Cover the dish and bake for around 30 mins. Check the ribs, to see if they're done to your liking. There should be no blood, but a touch of pink is okay. Don't overcook them...unless you like super tough meat.
Happy eating!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Humpday Hunger Happenings
Tonight was the first night in a while that I didn't have anything scheduled, so I took advantage of the free time to make a colorful, healthy(ish), yumalicious meal.
Menu:
Roasted Red Pepper/Spinach Pizza (whole wheat crust)
Garden salad tossed with bacon bits and flax seeds (Ranch Dressing, of course)
Coconut Rice pudding
The meal may sound kinda fancy, but it's actually super simple and quick to make (40 minutes or less)
Pizza:
Preheat: 450
For the Crust:
1 tbs. dry active yeast (1 packet)
1 cup warm water (not boiling!)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
2 1/2 cups flour (go half whole wheat, half all purpose if you'd like)
For some reason, people feel like good homemade pizza has to be this all-day, excessively complicated undertaking. When you use this recipe, you can actually make, from scratch, a pizza more quickly than you can cook a frozen one!
1.) Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt, and oil. Whisk until will mixed.
2.) Add flour and mix until dough pulls away from sides.
3.) Dump dough onto floured surface and knead 2-4 minutes.**
4.) Grease pan, and sprinkle the bottom lightly with cornmeal. Roll out dough until it is large enough to fit your pan. Place rolled out dough into pan.
Toppings:
About 1 cup pasta sauce
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup or so roasted red peppers, from a jar, drained and roughly chopped
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
I just use the cheapest pasta sauce I can find. Nothing fancy there, it's good and saves time. For extra kick, you can sprinkle Italian seasonings onto the crust, pre-sauce. Pour the sauce on, and spread it out. I layered the veggies and cheese, just to get everything mixed up and evenly distributed.
Bake: 10-12 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is well melted. Enjoy! Notes: ** You can let the dough rise for up to 30 minutes, if you'd like. It's a good way to give yourself some time to do other things (like make a salad) since the cooking time is so short**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coconut Rice Pudding
What you need:
2 cups Arborio rice (the kind usually used for risotto...it makes for a very creamy pudding! You can use regular rice, as well)
1- 14.5 oz can coconut milk (unsweetened)
1/2 cup or so sugar (to your taste)
1 1/2 cup milk (evaporated milk works great here)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
2 egg yolks
What you do:
1.) Warm milks, water, extracts, and sugar in medium sized sauce pan until warm but not boiling.
2.) Add rice. Cook 25-35 minutes, or until the rice is done to your liking.
3.) Put egg yolks in a small bowl, and add about 1/4 cup of the rice cooking liquid to the yolks and whisk with a fork until well incorporated.
4.) Add egg mixture to rice pan and mix well. Allow to cook 5 more minutes, pudding should be somewhat set.
5.) If you have tons of liquid still in the pan, cook a bit longer and be prepared to remove the excess and cook more rice in a smaller pot with it. (Don't add more rice to the original pot or you'll end up with some crunchy rice and some gummy rice in the same spoonful).
You can serve the pudding immediately, or you can serve it chilled. If you'd like, you can also melt some chocolate or carob into the pudding for an added layer of flavor!
Menu:
Roasted Red Pepper/Spinach Pizza (whole wheat crust)
Garden salad tossed with bacon bits and flax seeds (Ranch Dressing, of course)
Coconut Rice pudding
The meal may sound kinda fancy, but it's actually super simple and quick to make (40 minutes or less)
Pizza:
Preheat: 450
For the Crust:
1 tbs. dry active yeast (1 packet)
1 cup warm water (not boiling!)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
2 1/2 cups flour (go half whole wheat, half all purpose if you'd like)
For some reason, people feel like good homemade pizza has to be this all-day, excessively complicated undertaking. When you use this recipe, you can actually make, from scratch, a pizza more quickly than you can cook a frozen one!
1.) Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt, and oil. Whisk until will mixed.
2.) Add flour and mix until dough pulls away from sides.
3.) Dump dough onto floured surface and knead 2-4 minutes.**
4.) Grease pan, and sprinkle the bottom lightly with cornmeal. Roll out dough until it is large enough to fit your pan. Place rolled out dough into pan.
Toppings:
About 1 cup pasta sauce
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup or so roasted red peppers, from a jar, drained and roughly chopped
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
I just use the cheapest pasta sauce I can find. Nothing fancy there, it's good and saves time. For extra kick, you can sprinkle Italian seasonings onto the crust, pre-sauce. Pour the sauce on, and spread it out. I layered the veggies and cheese, just to get everything mixed up and evenly distributed.
Bake: 10-12 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is well melted. Enjoy! Notes: ** You can let the dough rise for up to 30 minutes, if you'd like. It's a good way to give yourself some time to do other things (like make a salad) since the cooking time is so short**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coconut Rice Pudding
What you need:
2 cups Arborio rice (the kind usually used for risotto...it makes for a very creamy pudding! You can use regular rice, as well)
1- 14.5 oz can coconut milk (unsweetened)
1/2 cup or so sugar (to your taste)
1 1/2 cup milk (evaporated milk works great here)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
2 egg yolks
What you do:
1.) Warm milks, water, extracts, and sugar in medium sized sauce pan until warm but not boiling.
2.) Add rice. Cook 25-35 minutes, or until the rice is done to your liking.
3.) Put egg yolks in a small bowl, and add about 1/4 cup of the rice cooking liquid to the yolks and whisk with a fork until well incorporated.
4.) Add egg mixture to rice pan and mix well. Allow to cook 5 more minutes, pudding should be somewhat set.
5.) If you have tons of liquid still in the pan, cook a bit longer and be prepared to remove the excess and cook more rice in a smaller pot with it. (Don't add more rice to the original pot or you'll end up with some crunchy rice and some gummy rice in the same spoonful).
You can serve the pudding immediately, or you can serve it chilled. If you'd like, you can also melt some chocolate or carob into the pudding for an added layer of flavor!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Free Pancakes at IHOP
Yes, that's right, FREE pancakes at IHOP! On February 24th from 7am to 10pm, all participating IHOP restaraunts will give you a "short stack" (3) free pancakes. You will have the option to give a donation to a Children's Hosptial or whatever charity your particular IHOP is supporting, but it's only a suggestion. Let your concience be your guide on that. Here's the link with more details. Woohoo for free food!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Harvest time
So we all know I love bacon...obviously. But, shhhhh, don't tell Mr. Tocino, I'm seeing someone one the side. Pumpkin rocks my world. I had some old bread in the fridge and decided the time had come for me to experience pumpkin bread pudding. After perusing multiple recipes online, I came up with one that is a mixture of the best.
Harvest Bread Pudding
What you need:
6-7 cups cubed whole wheat bread
2 eggs
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
7-8 oz pumpkin puree
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla extract
What you do:
Pre heat: 350. In a large bowl toss the bread, cranberries, and walnuts together. In a medium bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Pour the egg mixture over the bread, and allow it all to hang out for about 10 mins, though the longer it hangs out, the tastier it will be! Grease a casserole dish or 8x8 inch baking dish. Pour the pudding in and bake 30ish minutes, or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve with Cinnamon Caramel Sauce
Cinnamon Caramel Sauce:
This is my own invention...I'm kind of infatuated with it.
The players:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbs cinnamon
1/4 cup powdered milk (you could use regular milk or cream, but you need to warm it first)
The game plan:
Melt butter in small saucepan, add sugar and cinnamon. Allow the mixture to boil, then WHISK in the milk (again, if you're using regular milk or cream, warm it before adding it to the sugar mixture or it will curdle and leave lumps in your sauce). If you're using dry milk, it won't take long for the sauce get to the right consistency (4-5 mins). If you're using the regular stuff, it may take longer. You'll know what consistency you're looking for.
That's it folks! Serve the pudding warm with the sauce. Happy eating!
Harvest Bread Pudding
What you need:
6-7 cups cubed whole wheat bread
2 eggs
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
7-8 oz pumpkin puree
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla extract
What you do:
Pre heat: 350. In a large bowl toss the bread, cranberries, and walnuts together. In a medium bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Pour the egg mixture over the bread, and allow it all to hang out for about 10 mins, though the longer it hangs out, the tastier it will be! Grease a casserole dish or 8x8 inch baking dish. Pour the pudding in and bake 30ish minutes, or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve with Cinnamon Caramel Sauce
Cinnamon Caramel Sauce:
This is my own invention...I'm kind of infatuated with it.
The players:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbs cinnamon
1/4 cup powdered milk (you could use regular milk or cream, but you need to warm it first)
The game plan:
Melt butter in small saucepan, add sugar and cinnamon. Allow the mixture to boil, then WHISK in the milk (again, if you're using regular milk or cream, warm it before adding it to the sugar mixture or it will curdle and leave lumps in your sauce). If you're using dry milk, it won't take long for the sauce get to the right consistency (4-5 mins). If you're using the regular stuff, it may take longer. You'll know what consistency you're looking for.
That's it folks! Serve the pudding warm with the sauce. Happy eating!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday's roast becomes Monday's stroganoff
So I really enjoy giving leftovers a makeover (that's a mouthful). It's fun making something completely new and different from something old, and possibly mundane. I am afforded this opportunity quite often thanks to getting leftovers from catering. Today, I made beef stroganoff with some leftover roast beef.
What you need:
Leftover roast beef (however much you have)
1 can (14.5 oz or so) beef stock
1 can (10 oz or so) cream of mushroom soup
chopped mushrooms
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
cooked egg noodles
What you do:
Mix together the first 5 ingredients in a large skillet (or big pot, if you've got lots of roast). If the sauce needs to be thickened, mash 1 tbs. butter and a teaspoon or two of cornstarch together, and add it to the sauce. ***Using a fat to add the thickening agent to a sauce makes for a smoother sauce.*** Simmer for about 15 mins, and toss w/noodles.
Enjoy!
What you need:
Leftover roast beef (however much you have)
1 can (14.5 oz or so) beef stock
1 can (10 oz or so) cream of mushroom soup
chopped mushrooms
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
cooked egg noodles
What you do:
Mix together the first 5 ingredients in a large skillet (or big pot, if you've got lots of roast). If the sauce needs to be thickened, mash 1 tbs. butter and a teaspoon or two of cornstarch together, and add it to the sauce. ***Using a fat to add the thickening agent to a sauce makes for a smoother sauce.*** Simmer for about 15 mins, and toss w/noodles.
Enjoy!
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