Tag: recipe

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Adventures with Food

This week I decided to get out of my rut and give in to my wild side at the grocery store. I took my regular list to Kroger yesterday but made a point of going down all the aisles – every single one, and to buy some new things to try in the kitchen.

I started with the deli and bought some hummus and pita bread. I have never had store bought hummus but have eaten it at restaurants. So at least I know what good hummus is supposed to taste like and I’ll see if this brand is any good.

I looked at the meat counter and the prices for beef are crazy high. Instead of buying a strip steak like I usually do, I decided to try some lamp chops. They were on sale for about half price, and I decided that if I didn’t like them then the dogs would get a nice treat and I would not be out much money, thanks to the sale price. Turns out that on the grill they tasted just as good as the strip steaks I’ve been buying.

In the dairy aisle, I bought a quart container of buttermilk. I have no idea what to do with it, but I know that every once in a while I come across a recipe that calls for buttermilk and I never have any on hand so I skip over that recipe and find something else. Well, now I have it on hand and I will be looking for any recipes that call for using buttermilk as one of the ingredients. It will be fun trying something new.

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Summer Squash Recipe

I found a great summer squash recipe that has become a favorite here too.  It’s a New England Summer Squash casserole type dish.  I thought you might like to give it a try.

  • 2 pounds (about 6 cups) of Yellow Squash
  • 1/4 cup chopped Sweet Vidalia Onion
  • 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
  • 1 cup Sour Cream
  • 1 cup shredded Carrots
  • 1 8 oz Herb Seasoned Stove Top Stuffing mix
  • 1 cup melted butter

Boil Squash and onion for 5 minutes and drain. Combine chicken soup and sour cream. Stir in shredded carrots. Fold in squash and onions. Combine stuffing mix and melted butter. Use a 12 x 7 casserole dish. Put half of stuffing on the bottom of the pan, then the squash mixture and top with remaining stuffing.  Bake at 350 degree for 25 – 30 minutes or until heated through.  Serves 6 unless they really like it and then it only serves about 4.

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Easy Easter Egg Tarts

I was on a mission to find something simple and easy to make for dessert for the neighborhood picnic this year. Well I found a a delicious looking fruit tart recipe. It has a sugar cookie crust and is topped with a yummy cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit. Because I’ve been short on time I’m using a store bought refrigerated cookie dough that I just have to slice and bake and a tray of fresh fruit. The cream cheese frosting has just a little vanilla and  powdered sugar mixed in with whipped cream cheese. This is just the type of thing I was looking for. Simple, fast, easy, and will still have the crowd oohing and ahhing.

To make it festive I thought I’d bake it in the shape of a giant Easter egg. Then, I thought it would be fun if I made them in individual sizes. I’m going to bake  a few dozen egg shaped cookies and then bring the frosting and fruit with me. Of course I’ll decorate a few to give people an idea of what to do.

I bet the kids will LOVE to decorate their own tarts. It’s a great way to get them to eat fresh fruit and have fun doing it. I’m excited for them just thinking about it.

I can’t wait to dive into these yummy Easter Egg tarts!

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Comfort Food for this Cold Weather

Winter is being a little more harsh this year than in recent years. It’s not just in this area, we are actually missing some of the snow and extreme cold (knock on wood!). Even so, the cold that we are having makes me crave comfort. The kind of food that cooks for a long time and makes the whole house smell yummy. The kind of food that tastes so good that you barely chew it – you shovel in your mouth so fast that you practically inhale it.

Some of my favorite comfort foods are chili, beef stew, and the #1 favorite, chicken and dumplings. All three of these are made from scratch and often turn out slightly different each time, depending upon what I have on hand and how hard I shake the spice jar.

I also love macaroni and cheese, but that always turns out different and I have several different recipes. I have a speedy version, my cheap version, recipes clipped from magazines over the years, and my full blown childhood memory of my mom’s version. Sometimes I use elbow macaroni, other times I uses ziti or rotini or other specialty pastas. And the kind of cheese can be anything from from shredded four state cheddar to Velveeta.

What are some of the special foods that you like to cook during the cold weather months?

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Discovering the Fun of Baking

baking (free clip art)
baking (free clip art)
This week I have felt very creative and brave, so I’ve been downloading recipes and learning how to bake from scratch!Thanks to my mom, I already knew the basics of baking. I know the difference between flours, the difference between baking soda and baking powder, and how to measure ingredients properly. But until now, all of my baking has been done using packaged mixes and following the directions on the box.

Now I have a small collection of recipes to use for baking cakes, breads and cookies. I will be moving up to pies next week. I have been thrilled with the excellent results of my baked from scratch cakes so far. I can’t wait to try some of the different icings and frosting types on the different cakes. This is fun – but fattening. I will be doing longer walks and some aerobics with my Wii to help keep off the extra pounds.

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No More Box Cake Mixes

The grocery store had box cake mixes on sale for $1.50 per box and then matching frosting on ale for $1.50, too. So add in the cost of a couple of eggs and some oil, the electricity used for a hand mixer and the oven to bake the cake, and you can make a cake for under $5 – that’s a pretty good price. You cannot buy a bakery cake for under $10 these days, so making it yourself does save some money – plus you know exactly what is in the cake. I know that I use real butter – not margarine, shortening or lard. I know that I use real eggs and real vanilla extract – not powdered, dry or imitation anything.

But now that I have seen a recipe for making a yellow cake from scratch, I wonder why I have been using a box mix to bake cakes? I can use regular flour and some baking soda and have just as good a cake as what comes out of a box. It just means I have to measure out a few more items. Big deal! I have decoded to make the next cake from scratch and not buy any more box mixes. And I am going to experiment with the amounts to make just one cake layer instead of the traditional 2 layers, or just 6 cupcakes instead of a whole dozen.

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Waiting for My Fruit to Grow

It’s been about a month and a half since I’ve put up the upside down planters in the garden. We are starting to see some growth. I can’t wait for the plants to start producing yummy fruits. I’m excited to be able to eat some of the strawberries this time around. Every other time we plant strawberries they are gone before I get any. This year we planted two strawberry plants. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to get some this time. I’m also anxious to try out all of those tomato recipes that I have stockpiled over the past month.

I don’t think I have anything to worry about when it comes to getting my share of the peppers. It’s just me and my husband who will be eating those. I haven’t thought about finding recipes for all of the peppers. Maybe I need to start working on pepper recipes now too!

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More Tomatoes Please

The tomato plants we have having from the patio, by the garden, are growing nicely.  I can’t wait to taste the plump and juicy tomatoes that these plants are going to produce.  I was looking through a couple of my magazine and found a few recipes that I wanted to try them out in.  There was a sweet and sour tomato salad that looked absolutely delicious. There was also a very tasty sounding pasta sauce that I’d love to try and maybe even can.

I’ve been collecting recipes to try and the pile keeps growing.  It’s kind of ironic that at first I went looking for recipes to the tomatoes in because I thought I was going to have too many.  Now, with the size of this tomato recipe collection, I think I’m not going to have enough.  Either way, I know I’m going to love eating the hard work from our garden.

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Time for the Girl Scout Cookies

samoas
I ordered my Girl Scout cookies a long time ago. I’m pretty sure they said I would have my cookies delivered around Valentine’s Day. I’m really looking forward to getting the cookies. This year I ordered by Thin Mints and Samoas. I actually found a recipe online for a similar Samoa cookie. If my cookies don’t come soon I might be tempted to make up a batch of the copycat Samoa cookies.

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Breakfast with the Family on the Patio

Breakfast with the family is one of my favorite times of the day. Yesterday we had breakfast outside on the patio. I made blueberry scones, scrambled cheesy eggs, and a fresh fruit salad. My husband and I sipped our coffee as the kids gobbled up their breakfast. The scones turned out great. It was a new recipe that I got from a gal at work. It’s definitely a keeper.

When the kids finished eating they played in the back and we kept an eye on them from the patio.  The girls ran around in the grass and kicked a soccer around. I noticed the lawn needed to be mowed and politely mentioned it to my husband. He promised to mow it before lunch and made good on that promise with a smile on his face.  I told him I would pick up a few planters for some peppers and tomatoes as a thank you the nex time I went to the garden center.