Taco Pasta Bake

I ran across this recipe on Pinterest a few days ago and knew it would be a great weeknight meal.  I don't make a lot of casseroles but this one had simple ingredients (with no canned soups!) and was something I thought the family would like.  Everyone loved it and I have enough ingredients left over to make another batch, maybe for the freezer.  I substituted ground turkey for the beef and garnished with chopped tomatoes, green onions and salsa. 

Taco Pasta Bake
from Canadian Moms Cook

1/2 - 3/4 of a bag of large noodle pasta like ziti (I used 10 oz penne) 
1lb of ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 pkg/envelope of taco seasoning
1C water
1/2 pkg of cream cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 1/2C shredded cheese

Boil pasta until just cooked, drain, run cold water over it.
Brown ground beef and add taco seasoning and 1 cup of water.  Let simmer for about 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced.

Add the cream cheese to the beef mixture, stir until melted and combined, and remove from heat.

Put pasta in your casserole dish or pot and mix in 1 cup of shredded cheese.  Add beef mixture and stir until combined.  Top with remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese and bake at 350 (uncovered) for 30 minutes.
 

Shrimp and Cheesy Grits

I came across this recipe for shrimp and grits on Pinterest the other day and immediately thought it would be a dish DH would love.  He loves grits but I had never cooked (or eaten) them before.  I'm pretty open to trying new foods, but the idea of shrimp and grits seemed weird to me.  Being the good wife that I am, though, I made them for DH and ended up eating two helpings myself.  I left out the scallions because I didn't have any, but I think they would be very tasty.  We both agreed that, while the bacon is good in this, it would be good without it too. 

Shrimp and Cheesy Grits
kevinandamanda.com

2 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes or 2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup quick grits
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, without tails
cajun seasoning

4 slices thick cut bacon
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 garlic clove, minced

Arrange bacon on a cooling rack (like for cookies) and set the rack on a sheet pan (something with a lip all the way around). Place the bacon in a cold oven, then turn the oven on to 400 degrees F. Cook the bacon for 15 mins on each side, or until done. Chop into bite-sized pieces and reserve the bacon grease from the bottom of the pan.

In a medium saucepan, bring water, bouillon, butter and grits to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 7 mins, until grits are thickened and tender. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of the bacon grease to a medium skillet over medium high heat. Season the shrimp with plenty of cajun seasoning. Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook until the shrimp turn pink, about 1 minute per side. Lower the heat to medium and add the bacon, scallions, garlic, and squeeze in some lemon juice. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until the garlic and scallions are softened and the shrimp are done.

Serve the grits in bowl and top with the shrimp.  Serves 2.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

 

This recipe has been sitting in my pinboard for quite awhile.  I've heard that it's fabulous, but the hubby isn't a huge fan of sweet and sour chicken.  He doesn't like vinegar-y things and he doesn't like sweet flavors with meat.  Well, he loved this, and so did I!  It takes an hour to bake (after the initial browning of the chicken) which seems like overkill for little nuggets of chicken, but that is what makes the sauce so yummy.  It caramelizes and soaks into the breading on the chicken, making an almost sticky glaze.  The fried rice was simple and tasty and could be adapted to a one-dish meal by adding shredded chicken, beef or pork. 

 

 

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

from Life as a Lofthouse



Chicken:

 

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

 

Sauce:

 

3/4 cup sugar

4 T. ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 T. soy sauce

1 t. garlic salt

 

Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees.  Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat and then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through.  Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish.

 

Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and pour evenly over the chicken.  Bake for one hour, turning every 15 minutes.

 

 

Rice

 

3 cups cooked white rice (preferably cold)

3 T. sesame oil

1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)

1 small onion, chopped

2 t. minced garlic

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup soy sauce

 

On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok.  Add the peas and carrots, onions and garlic.  Stir fry until tender.  Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side.  Pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled.  Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well.  Stir fry until thoroughly heated.

 



Honey Butter Pork Tenderloin

This was a really simple pork dish that didn't require any marinating or planning ahead.  I used my enameled dutch oven and it got a nice sear before placing in the oven.  I did have to cook it a little longer than the directions.  I used a meat thermometer as my guide, cooking to 160 degrees.  I think that's probably a little overcooked, but since I'm pregnant I don't want to risk eating raw pork!  I've read that 145 to 150 degrees is about where you want it.  The sauce really made this dish, so make sure to drizzle plenty of it on top.

Honey Butter Pork Tenderloin
food.com

4 T. butter
2 T. honey
1.5 lb. pork tenderloin
salt
pepper
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 375.  In a dutch oven or ovenproof skillet, heat the butter and honey over medium heat, stirring to melt butter.

 

Season the pork with 1/2 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper and place in pan.

 

Cook until the underside is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

 

Turn pork, and cook until other side is browned, about 5 more minutes.  Lower the heat if the honey begins to burn.

 

Put the pan in the oven, and roast until the pork is just cooked through, 7-10 minutes (I left mine in around 25 minutes).

 

Transfer the pork to a plate and cover with foil to rest.

 

Add the water to the pan and stir over medium heat to loosen the browned bits.

 

Add any accumulated pork juices from the plate, and simmer until sauce is reduced to about 1/2 cup.

 

Slice the pork on the diagonal and served drizzled with the sauce.

 

Anniversary

Celebrating 8 years of marriage to my wonderful husband this week!  Things have changed a lot in the past 8 years:  new jobs, new house, adorable 2 year old, another little girl on the way.  I'm excited to see what the next year brings!

Summer Fun!

Here in Missouri, we've been under an extreme heat wave and drought for over a month.  I was actually pretty excited to hear that the highs this week are *only* in the upper 90's.  For a few weeks, we had a run of 100+ degree days.  It's been hard to spend much time outdoors, what with my growing belly and all.  I don't know how people used to cope without air conditioning on days like this.  I guess I'm spoiled by it now, but I wouldn't have it any other way! 

The other evening we had some clouds move in and a nice breeze, so I took Clara out for some bubble and water play.  She loves to fill up her water table with the garden hose and throw all of her toys in there. 

Here she is, blowing bubbles all by herself.  She's pretty independent when it comes to bubble blowing but she still enjoys chasing after bubbles when I blow them.

Popping a bubble against her face.  Ouch!

Notice how brown our grass is.  We haven't bothered watering it this summer and it went dormant with the extreme heat and lack of rain.  That's okay, though...we haven't had to mow since May!

She's getting to be such a big girl!

Microwave Lemon Curd

I've made this several times and it always turns out so delicious!  I love really tart, lemony sweets, so this is perfect.  I normally use it as a cupcake filling but it would also be good in a mini tart shell, spread on bread, layered in a trifle...or just on a spoon.  It's supposed to keep for 3 weeks in the fridge, but mine always gets used up much sooner than that!  The technique is very simple, as you just mix everything together in a bowl (I use my Pampered Chef quart sized batter bowl) and microwave one minute at a time until thickened.  The recipe says to store in small sterile jars but I've never had a problem using just clean jars.

Microwave Lemon Curd
from allrecipes.com

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 cup fresh lemon juice

3 lemons, zested                  

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the microwave, and pour into small sterile jars. Store for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

Banana Bread Pancakes

I can across the recipe for these banana pancakes on Pinterest last night and immediately knew I had to make them.  Banana bread is one of my favorite foods, for breakfast or a snack.  The maple vanilla glaze is what really sold me on them, though.  To me, everything is better glazed!  My 2 year old ate these without the glaze, as the brown sugar in the batter makes them sweeter than regular pancakes. 

The original recipe calls for whole wheat pastry flour but I didn't have any.  I substituted all purpose flour instead. The only other change I made was to increase the milk.  The original calls for 2/3 cup, but it seemed too dry to me with only that amount.  I increased it to a cup and it was perfect.  Since I was making these for a toddler, I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup for the batter and they were 4 inches in diameter.  I got about 18 pancakes out of the batch.  Enjoy!


Banana Bread Pancakes
adapted from How Sweet It Is

2 cups flour (I used AP, but you could substitute whole wheat pastry flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Measure out the milk and add the vanilla extract to it. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add in milk and vanilla, stirring to combine. The mixture will still be dry. Add in mashed bananas and mix. Add in melted butter and stir until batter is somewhat smooth.

Heat a skillet or grill on medium heat. Using a 1/4 cup measure, spoon batter into rounds and cook until bubbles form on top – about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for a minute or two more. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve hot with butter and syrup, or the vanilla maple glaze.

Vanilla Maple Glaze

1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Pour over pancakes.

Grilled Pineapple Slices

I first tried this last summer and have made it several times since.  It's really quite simple but has a lot of flavor.  I serve mine hot off the grill with vanilla bean ice cream and a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg.

Grilled Pineapple Slices
allrecipes.com

1 fresh pineapple - peeled, cored and cut into rings

1/4 cup canned coconut milk

1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Preheat a grill for medium heat. When the grill is hot, lightly oil the grate.

Place the coconut milk and cinnamon sugar into separate dishes. Dip slices of pineapple into coconut milk, then coat in cinnamon sugar.

Grill slices for 4-6 minutes on each side. Remove to plates, and serve.

Sausage Casserole

This is one of those recipes that I've memorized because I make it so often.  Every time we have a brunch baby/wedding shower in my family, we have this casserole.  I always make it for staff meetings at work, too.  It's easy to throw together the night before and then bake the morning that you need it.  I've used turkey sausage before but my favorite is Jimmy Dean Hot sausage.  You could substitute plain hash brown potatoes if you don't like peppers and onions.

Sausage Casserole
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 pound breakfast sausage

2 lb. bag of frozen potatoes O'Brien, thawed

8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

1 (16 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese

9 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Drain fat.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Place into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake uncovered for one hour.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Apple Pie

I seriously love pie.  When I was dating DH, every pie I would make was a disaster: soggy crusts, runny fillings, collapsed meringue, etc.  I worked at it, read a lot of tips online and I think I've overcome the unfortunate reputation I had made for myself.  This apple pie is easy as....ummm, you know.  The recipe has been sitting in my allrecipes.com recipes box for years and with over 4000 reviews, I figured it was a home run. 

The recipe uses an unconventional (at least, to me) method of piling the raw apples in the bottom crust, placing a lattice crust on top, and then pouring a cooked butter/sugar mixture over the top.  It was very sweet, but the Granny Smith apples I used gave it the right balance of sweet and tart.  I'll confess, I'm too lazy to make pie crust myself these days, so I use the roll out ones from the refrigerator section.  I do, however, use a zig zag pastry wheel when I cut the lattice pieces to give it a little flair.  To be sure the bottom crust gets cooked all the way, I baked this on the lowest rack of my oven.  I also put a sheet pan under it to catch any drippings.  Enjoy!

Apple Pie by Grandma Ople
allrecipes.com

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.               

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Nature Center

We visited the local nature center on Mother's Day and it was a beautiful day.  Luckily I had my camera along.  When my daughter wasn't making friends with everyone in sight and trying to walk off with other families, I managed to get a few shots in.  

Mississippi Mud Cake

This is a cake I've been eating my whole life!  My Aunt Jan makes this cake for family gatherings and it's the first thing I look for on the dessert table.  The cake layer is nothing special on its own, but once it comes out of the oven, a jar of marshmallow cream gets spread on top.  After that has set up and cooled, the fudgy frosting goes on.  It is so rich and gooey that a small piece goes a long way!

Mississippi Mud Cake

2 sticks margarine
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 T. cocoa
1 t. vanilla

1 pt. marshmallow cream

1 lb. powdered sugar
1 stick margarine
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Cream sugar, margarine and cocoa well.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Beat well, add flour.  Beat well about 2 minutes. 

While still hot, spread with marshmallow cream.  Let cool.

To make the frosting, combine the powdered sugar,  1 stick margarine, 1/2 cup cocoa and evaporated milk.  Frost cake and let sit 1-2 hours before serving to allow the icing to crust over.

Curtain Accessory

I've been wanting to change things up in my daughter's room for awhile now and finally got motivated to do so when we converted her crib into a toddler bed.  Hubby doesn't like the idea of painting the walls any color but white, so I was trying to find a way to add color without painting.  Vinyl decals are out because we have pretty heavily textured walls and I'm not sure they would stick well.  I bought some turquoise curtains but the black curtain rod was bugging me.  I decided to get creative and add a whimsical row of circles to the top of each curtain.  It took a little trial and error to find the best way to hang it, but I'm not very savvy when it comes to handyman-type work. 

I started with 8" and 6" cake circles, patterned scrapbook paper and spray adhesive.  I traced the circles onto the back of the paper and cut out the circles.  For each of my curtains, I used 2 - 8" circles on the ends and then 6 - 6" circles in the middle.  Simply spray the cardboard circles with adhesive and apply the paper, following the instructions for your particular adhesive. 

I inked the edges of all my circles with a small ink pad that I use for scrapbooking.  It gives the circles a little more definition and helps tie all the colors together. 

Next I took a piece of thin wood that was the length of my curtain rod and hot glued the cardboard circles to it.  I offset mine to make it look more fun.  To hang it, I just tied a piece of string around each end of the wood (but hidden behind one of the circles) and then tied it to the curtain rod.  Easy peasy.

Here's the before and after!

Mexican Villa

If you've ever been to Springfield, MO, you might have heard of a little chain of restaurants called Mexican Villa.  I can't say that much of their food is authentic Mexican, but it's comfort food for me.  Growing up, we ate there quite often and their cheese dip is my all-time favorite.  It's not your typical white queso dip.  I've been wanting the recipe for years but haven't had any luck searching for it.  A few weeks ago, my sister got a {supposed} copy of their enchilada sauce and cheese dip recipes.  I made both the other night and the enchiladas were *exactly* like they are in the restaurant.  The cheese dip was almost the same.  I think if I had added a bit more of the chili seasoning, it would have been perfect.  That's probably just a matter of taste, though.  It was very good, regardless.  I live 3 hours from Springfield now, so it's nice to be able to have Mexican Villa whenever I want!


***Update 3/21/2014:  I've found the original creator of this recipe!  Her original post can be found here!  Glenna, thanks for re-creating this awesome recipe for those of us not fortunate enough to live in Springfield, MO!  :)



Enchilada Sauce

3 T. butter
3 T. all-purpose flour
14.5 oz can beef broth
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp Williams chili seasoning (found with the seasoning packets, not with the spice jars)

In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and whisk in flour until thoroughly combined. Cook, continually whisking, for 2 minutes.  Slowly add beef broth, continually whisking until all is mixed in. Add brown sugar, and chili seasoning.  Continually whisk until sauce bubbles and thickens. Take off heat immediately.
To make enchiladas, fill small white corn tortillas with meat of your choice.  I used roasted, shredded chicken and thinly sliced raw onion.  Ground beef (with a bit of the sauce stirred in) or cheese and onion are the other options offered at the restaurant. 

Place rolled tortillas on individual plates or shallow bowls and cover with sauce.  Sprinkle liberally with freshly shredded white American cheese.  I like Land O' Lakes.  Place under the broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly. 

The restaurant tops it with shredded lettuce and tomato, which is delicious, but I didn't have any on hand.  Next time I'll make sure I do, though.  Oh, and, be careful.  "Hot plate!"

Cheese Dip

To make cheese dip use a 1:1 ratio. One part sauce to 1 equal part grated white American or Monterrey Jack cheese whisked together for cheese dip.  I used white American, which I believe is what Mexican Villa uses.  Next time I will add a little extra chili seasoning to spice it up.  Enjoy!

P52 Week 8

This week was hard!  I've never really done a self portrait before so it was difficult to set the focus.  This one is actually out of focus but it was the best that I got.  On top of that, it feels pretty silly to pose for a camera when there's no one behind it!  I'll have to keep practicing this.

P52 Week 7

I've gotten behind in Project 52 and it's all because of week 7.  I really struggled to come up with an idea.  I didn't want to just photograph red hot candies.  That seemed pretty obvious, you know?  I racked my brain and kept my eyes peeled for something red that would make an interesting photo.  Finally I was grocery shopping the other day and thought, "Hey.  I could photograph Twizzlers."  In reality, this might have just been an excuse to *buy* Twizzlers, but there you have it.  Week 7.

What's in a name?

This is a very simple project but I love the way it turned out.  I was browsing Pinterest the other day and saw the cutest idea to make a monogram out of buttons.  I thought that would be so cute hanging in Clara's room.  I have a ton of pink buttons in my scrapbooking stash, so I opted to use shades of pink on a blue patterned paper.  I laid the buttons out first to make sure I liked the way it looked.  Then I went one by one and added a dot of Tacky Glue to the back of each one.  To display, I simply put it into a 12"x12" frame that I had.  The best part?  I already had everything I needed for this project! 

To take it one step farther, I bought cardboard letters to spell the rest of her name.  I traced the letters onto scrapbook paper and cut out the paper.  Then I used spray adhesive to glue the paper to the letters.  For the letters that had holes in the middle, I used a knife to cut that part of the paper out.  To give it a more finished look, I took a nail file (for the small areas) and sandpaper (for the larger areas) to smooth the edges.



These were easy to hang with the 3M poster hanging tabs.  They're great because they won't damage your wall when you remove them.   The finished product:

Caramel Apple Dip

I went to an all day scrapbooking event recently and volunteered to bring this dip.  I had seen it on Pinterest and it looked scrumptious!  I have a group of girls that I scrapbook with and we always have good food when we get together, so I thought this would be perfect.  It's super simple to put together and really delicious.  The topping is toffee bits, but I think you could use chopped peanuts or mini chocolate chips also.  Any of them would be yummy.  If making ahead of time, I would set it out 1-2 hours before serving so it can soften up a bit.

Caramel Apple Dip
from http://www.tastykitchen.com/

• 16 ounces Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese, Softened
• ½ cups Powdered Sugar
• 16 ounces Old Fashioned Caramel Apple Dip (I Used Marzettis)
• 1 cup Heath Bits-O-Brickle Toffee Bits
• Apples for dipping

Combine the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Spread into pan or on a plate. 

Spread caramel on top of the cream cheese mixture.  I warmed my caramel for a few seconds in the microwave first because it had been refrigerated and was pretty thick.

Sprinkle the top with toffee bits or topping of choice.

Snow Day!

We finally got some snow today!  We have about 2 inches right now but could get a few more before tonight.  Clara and I got all decked out in our snow gear and headed outside.  She actually lasted longer than I thought she would.  She kept falling down, though.  I think it was because of her boots.



Ready to go?



Fell down!





Trying to taste a snowflake.





Marshmallows and hot chocolate.