I don't have pictures, but I made real BLTs this week. No bread, just bacon, lettuce and tomatoes. It was amazing....I'd never had it before.
I added a bit of mayo to the romaine lettuce, right on the lettuce, topped it with tomatoes and a strip of bacon on top. I am so doing that again! Remember this dinner!
- SamiMae
Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Yummy Salad
Sunday night, we had a bit of extra lettuce, apple and avocado. I whipped up some chicken to top it with. So, I turned it into a salad. I wish I had a cucumber, red onion, and cherry tomatoes. It was tasty even without that stuff though.. I put a bit of raspberry vinaigrette on it and it was quite tasty.
- SamiMae
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Second time Guacamole (Rotel included!)
Update on my guacamole making skills, I found a magical secret to making tasty guac. Are you ready? Mix in some Rotel with it. Yes, that's right. Rotel. (Save most of it for Spanish rice.) This batch of guacamole was SOOOO TASTY. It had quite a bit of heat to it. Rotel includes the pepper seeds in it, so that's where the heat is.
Ingredients:
- Avacado
- Rotel
- Minced onion
- Salt
- Lemon/lime juice.
1. Mash up avocado
2. Add a tiny bit of Rotel. A little goes a long ways! Learned that the hard way.
3. Add minced onion, salt and lemon/lime juice to flavor.
4. Let sit for at least 15 minutes. The longer you let the mixture mix, the more the flavors will combine. I let it sit in the fridge 15 minutes while I finished up dinner, and it did wonders!
It's super easy to make tasty guacamole! Avocados around here are only .99 cents. That's all this cost me! Everything else I keep on hand!
- SamiMae
Ingredients:
- Avacado
- Rotel
- Minced onion
- Salt
- Lemon/lime juice.
1. Mash up avocado
2. Add a tiny bit of Rotel. A little goes a long ways! Learned that the hard way.
3. Add minced onion, salt and lemon/lime juice to flavor.
4. Let sit for at least 15 minutes. The longer you let the mixture mix, the more the flavors will combine. I let it sit in the fridge 15 minutes while I finished up dinner, and it did wonders!
- SamiMae
Homemade Bean and Chicken Burritos!
Today I had the hardest time trying to figure out what I wanted to make for dinner. I cruised Pinterest for quite a while and gathered a few ideas. Finally, I decided to make homemade bean and chicken burritos.These burritos were delicious because - the tortillas were homemade, the inside was kept simple.
Some times, things are better and tastier when kept simple. This dish was one of those. I've been perfecting my tortilla making, so they were soft and flexible and oh so flavorful, way better than store bought. Even though there is no extra seasoning involve in this stupidly simple dish, it had a LOT of flavor. You can spice it up however you like with any extra spices or keep it mellow.
You'll laugh when you hear the inside mixture. A drained can of pinto beans, and a drained can of chicken. Ya, that's it. Nothing else. I drained both cans, put them together in a pot on the stove and warmed them up. Wrapped up inside a tortilla with a little bit of cheese, sour cream and salsa if you like, these things were AMAZING. Better than any frozen bean burrito and belly filling delicious for homemade.
I also made homemade guacamole again, (which was EVEN better than before.), and Spanish rice. (Super easy, see recipe here)
Ingredients:
- Can of chicken (or cooked chicken breasts)
- Drained pinto beans
- Tortillas
- Cheese
- Sour cream (optional)
- Salsa (optional)
1. Make/ warm tortillas
2. Drain chicken and pinto beans. Warm up on stove.
3. Load it all up and dig in. :)
Doesn't get better than that. Homemade, healthy, fast, simple, cheap. Altogether this meal cost me probably less than $5 and it'll get us both lunch tomorrow as well! :) Trevor and I ate way to much! So tasty!
It's to easy not to try it!
- SamiMae
Some times, things are better and tastier when kept simple. This dish was one of those. I've been perfecting my tortilla making, so they were soft and flexible and oh so flavorful, way better than store bought. Even though there is no extra seasoning involve in this stupidly simple dish, it had a LOT of flavor. You can spice it up however you like with any extra spices or keep it mellow.
You'll laugh when you hear the inside mixture. A drained can of pinto beans, and a drained can of chicken. Ya, that's it. Nothing else. I drained both cans, put them together in a pot on the stove and warmed them up. Wrapped up inside a tortilla with a little bit of cheese, sour cream and salsa if you like, these things were AMAZING. Better than any frozen bean burrito and belly filling delicious for homemade.
I also made homemade guacamole again, (which was EVEN better than before.), and Spanish rice. (Super easy, see recipe here)
Ingredients:
- Can of chicken (or cooked chicken breasts)
- Drained pinto beans
- Tortillas
- Cheese
- Sour cream (optional)
- Salsa (optional)
1. Make/ warm tortillas
2. Drain chicken and pinto beans. Warm up on stove.
3. Load it all up and dig in. :)
Doesn't get better than that. Homemade, healthy, fast, simple, cheap. Altogether this meal cost me probably less than $5 and it'll get us both lunch tomorrow as well! :) Trevor and I ate way to much! So tasty!
It's to easy not to try it!
- SamiMae
Monday, February 10, 2014
BBQ Chicken Tin Foil Dinner
This was another original. Not to complex by any means though. It was quite tasty, completely healthy (other than the BBQ sauce), and I had everything on hand. It's similar to my favorite BBQ pineapple quesadillas .
Ingredients:
- Chicken tenderloins
- Pineapple
- Green or red bell pepper
- Green chilis (I used a tiny bit from a can, optional)
- BBQ sauce
- Onion (Optional)
- Tin Foil.
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Put chicken on tinfoil, top with pineapple, green chilies, about 3 slices of green pepper, a few slices of onion. Top with BBQ sauce. Wrap it up.
3. Bake for 45 min to 1 hour.
Ingredients:
- Chicken tenderloins
- Pineapple
- Green or red bell pepper
- Green chilis (I used a tiny bit from a can, optional)
- BBQ sauce
- Onion (Optional)
- Tin Foil.
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Put chicken on tinfoil, top with pineapple, green chilies, about 3 slices of green pepper, a few slices of onion. Top with BBQ sauce. Wrap it up.
3. Bake for 45 min to 1 hour.
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| Pretty customizable. Use whatever you have at home! |
In the last 10-15 minutes this had to cook, I prepared an super easy and quick stir fry. I LOVE stir frys
Stir fry:
I cut up 1 zucchini and 1 squash. You can add in peppers or other veggies like broccoli. I cooked them in a bit of canola oil and topped with Mrs. Dash seasoning. Quick, simple. Tasty. Healthy.
This was a favorite. Quick and easy. It was perfect for a weeknight. I love meals that I can put in the oven and continue on doing my own thing. The BBQ sauce is pretty liquidy after it comes out, but the chicken was so moist! I'm making this again.
- SamiMae
Saturday, February 8, 2014
First Time Guacamole
Earlier this week, I bought an avocado. The first one in my entire 6 month marriage! I didn't know quite what to do with it, until tonight. I made guacamole! YUM! I found a recipe on Pinterest, so I could see what it called for, because I had no idea what is in guacamole. I found this recipe. I did mine quite a bit different, because I didn't have a lot of it, but it was a start!
Ingredients:
- 1 avocado
- Lemon juice
- Garlic powder
- Diced tomatoes (leftovers from last night, yes, I got creative)
- Diced onion (I actually used frozen!)
- Salt
Pretty simple to make. Cut up avocado and mix in all the ingredients! Use a fork. Go off of taste, but remember that after it sits for a while, the flavors will absorb and it'll taste better. I can't wait to taste mine tomorrow. :) Even the 10-15 minutes that it sat while Trevor and I finished making dinner, was enough for it to start absorbing the flavors. I was quite impressed. It was pretty good. :)
I didn't have any lime, only lemon. I had cilantro, but was to lazy to see what parts of it were good to use. (It was 9 pm when we were making dinner). I even used frozen onions, just a bit though, and they were diced, so they thawed pretty quick.
I gotta say, for my first time, it was pretty good! I think I will SO be making this again!
- SamiMae
Leftover Success - Bean and Rice Burritos
So, dinner tonight gave me a challenge. I had leftover rice, beans, corn and diced tomatoes. I also had an avocado that I needed to use soon. After a few minutes on Pinterest, I came up with the idea to do rice and bean burritos. I made guacamole for our chips and salsa I already have. We made up some homemade tortillas and BAM! Dinner!
The rice gave me a bit of a challenge. I've never made mexican rice before, and I wanted to keep it simple. Many recipes said use tomato paste. I was thinking about using tomato sauce, but went with the paste instead. Well, I should have had about another cup of rice to even things out. It was very...pasty. But, I think we recovered.
For the beans, this was pretty good. I sauteed some diced onion, red peppers and minced garlic in some canola oil. Then I added by leftover black beans and cooked those. After it was all warm. I added it to the rice. With a bit of cumin and some taco seasonings - hey, it was edible! Hahaha, Trevor actually, really liked it. This recipe just wasn't up to my normal level of creativity and awesomeness that most of my other meals are. I had quite a few set ingredients that I had to use, and I had to make it all work. Overall, at the end, it wasn't so bad. :)
Trevor made some homemade tortillas. We are getting pretty good at those homemade tortillas, they sure are better than store bought! That's for sure. While he was making the tortillas, I whipped up some guacamole.
This was interesting, because I had never made it before. I remembered from cooking in the kitchen with my mom, that it takes a little while to absorb the flavors of the things that's in it. Because at first, I added a ton of stuff, and it still tasted like avocado! See how I made the guacamole here!
Ingredients:
- Rice
- Black Beans
- Corn
- Cumin
- Taco seasoning (optional)
- Diced Onion
- Red bell pepper (diced)
- Tomato Paste
1. Warm rice up, (or cook it), put in tomato paste, cumin, and tomato seasoning.
2. Saute onions, red bell pepper and 2 gloves of garlic (minced) together. After onions are cooked, add in black beans and corn.
3. Once rice is cooked/warmed, add in bean mixture.
4. Serve on tortillas as a burrito. (Ours were more like tacos, because they were so stuffed!
5. Top with sour cream, cheese, guacamole, salsa, whatever is your favorite!
What I love about this recipe, is how simple it is. This recipe is more like an idea. You can do anything you want with it, and customize it to your crowd. There is only Trevor and I so, we generally cook and prepare less. This was all natural really. Nothing was pre-made. Only the beans and corn came from a can. Everything else was natural. How awesome huh?! AND - it was meat free and very filling. :) Way to have an awesome meal on a tight budget.
This is one I think I'll make again. :) We used all leftovers from the night before, and all the leftovers got used! Success!
- SamiMae
The rice gave me a bit of a challenge. I've never made mexican rice before, and I wanted to keep it simple. Many recipes said use tomato paste. I was thinking about using tomato sauce, but went with the paste instead. Well, I should have had about another cup of rice to even things out. It was very...pasty. But, I think we recovered.
For the beans, this was pretty good. I sauteed some diced onion, red peppers and minced garlic in some canola oil. Then I added by leftover black beans and cooked those. After it was all warm. I added it to the rice. With a bit of cumin and some taco seasonings - hey, it was edible! Hahaha, Trevor actually, really liked it. This recipe just wasn't up to my normal level of creativity and awesomeness that most of my other meals are. I had quite a few set ingredients that I had to use, and I had to make it all work. Overall, at the end, it wasn't so bad. :)
Trevor made some homemade tortillas. We are getting pretty good at those homemade tortillas, they sure are better than store bought! That's for sure. While he was making the tortillas, I whipped up some guacamole.
This was interesting, because I had never made it before. I remembered from cooking in the kitchen with my mom, that it takes a little while to absorb the flavors of the things that's in it. Because at first, I added a ton of stuff, and it still tasted like avocado! See how I made the guacamole here!
 |
| Not too bad, eh?! |
Ingredients:
- Rice
- Black Beans
- Corn
- Cumin
- Taco seasoning (optional)
- Diced Onion
- Red bell pepper (diced)
- Tomato Paste
1. Warm rice up, (or cook it), put in tomato paste, cumin, and tomato seasoning.
2. Saute onions, red bell pepper and 2 gloves of garlic (minced) together. After onions are cooked, add in black beans and corn.
3. Once rice is cooked/warmed, add in bean mixture.
4. Serve on tortillas as a burrito. (Ours were more like tacos, because they were so stuffed!
5. Top with sour cream, cheese, guacamole, salsa, whatever is your favorite!
What I love about this recipe, is how simple it is. This recipe is more like an idea. You can do anything you want with it, and customize it to your crowd. There is only Trevor and I so, we generally cook and prepare less. This was all natural really. Nothing was pre-made. Only the beans and corn came from a can. Everything else was natural. How awesome huh?! AND - it was meat free and very filling. :) Way to have an awesome meal on a tight budget.
This is one I think I'll make again. :) We used all leftovers from the night before, and all the leftovers got used! Success!
- SamiMae
Stuffed Bell Peppers
So, last night I made stuffed bell peppers. Secretly, growing up I never liked them. But I wanted to give them another try. I've learned the only way to like things, is to eat them. :) This was pretty tasty. I was able to eat about half the pepper, and then I was done, but the insides were really good! These were simple to make. They can be time consuming depending on how you choose to make them. This was another recipe I made from Pinterest. But, I made mine quite a bit different. You can view the original recipe here.
Ingredients:
- Bell Peppers
- Cumin
- Salt
- Diced tomatoes
- Black beans
- Corn
- Rice
- Meat (I used ground beef.)
- Cheese
- Green onions (optional)
1. Clean out peppers, remove seeds and veins. Let them dry
2. Start cooking rice. I used brown rice, no instant stuff. So, that took a while to cook.
3. Cook meat, add in cumin, salt, tomatoes, black beans, and corn.
4. Add rice to meat mixture after it's cooked. Season to taste if you feel it needs more.
5. Next comes the stuffing. Stuff each pepper full of the yummy meat mixture!
6. Cook peppers in the oven for about 30-45 minutes at 350, depending on your preference. Mine was about 35 minutes. Top with cheese and green onions.
I found that it was really good with ranch. That's how I was able to eat the pepper! I love peppers in dishes, but to eat one whole or raw or even cooked can be a challenge. But, nonetheless, this was a tasty dish! Trevor ate the whole thing! For being in a pepper, it was pretty mild on heat and taste. Give it a shot!
We only cooked two peppers, and had quite a bit of leftover rice stuffing mix, so we put it in the pan with the 2 peppers to cook to eat later. (We actually used the leftovers tonight for dinner. :) Along with our stuffed peppers, we had a salad and my yummy homemade bread.
Ingredients:
- Bell Peppers
- Cumin
- Salt
- Diced tomatoes
- Black beans
- Corn
- Rice
- Meat (I used ground beef.)
- Cheese
- Green onions (optional)
1. Clean out peppers, remove seeds and veins. Let them dry
2. Start cooking rice. I used brown rice, no instant stuff. So, that took a while to cook.
3. Cook meat, add in cumin, salt, tomatoes, black beans, and corn.
4. Add rice to meat mixture after it's cooked. Season to taste if you feel it needs more.
5. Next comes the stuffing. Stuff each pepper full of the yummy meat mixture!
6. Cook peppers in the oven for about 30-45 minutes at 350, depending on your preference. Mine was about 35 minutes. Top with cheese and green onions.
I found that it was really good with ranch. That's how I was able to eat the pepper! I love peppers in dishes, but to eat one whole or raw or even cooked can be a challenge. But, nonetheless, this was a tasty dish! Trevor ate the whole thing! For being in a pepper, it was pretty mild on heat and taste. Give it a shot!
We only cooked two peppers, and had quite a bit of leftover rice stuffing mix, so we put it in the pan with the 2 peppers to cook to eat later. (We actually used the leftovers tonight for dinner. :) Along with our stuffed peppers, we had a salad and my yummy homemade bread.
- SamiMae
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Homemade Tortillas! This Recipe is GOLD!
Alright, I scored BIG with this one! I've gotten tired of buying tortillas. They are expensive and I don't like having to run to the store after every 10 that we eat. Trev and I love Mexican food, or anything that involves tortilla. Quesadilla, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, you get the point. Well, I get all my good meals off of Pinterest, and HERE is another!
This lady came up with a wonderful idea to make a huge batch and pull it out whenever she needed tortillas. She also makes large batches of other things. Go check it out! I decided to give it a try tonight. IT'S AMAZING! I'm never buying store bought tortillas ever again. These were so good and so super easy to make!
Ingredients:
- 16 cups of flour
- 2 Tbsp of baking powder
- 2 Tablespoons of salt
- 2/3 C shortening (She says 1/2 to 1 C)
Ok, mix the flour, baking powder and salt all together. (I had to separate it out into 2 big bowls and do half of the recipe in each bowl.) Whisk it all together. Now, everybody is different with how they choose to go about making it. What I had to do next was take one bowl and put it in my KitchenAid and 1/3 C. of Crisco shortening. I was worried that it would ruin the flour where it seemed to be more of a liquid. But the Crisco mixed right in with the flour and soon you couldn't see it. It's like the salt and baking powder! :) Then I had to dump the mix that was in my KitchenAid into my container that I have. Then I took the second bowl, put it in the KitchenAid and added the Crisco. I had fun, there was flour everywhere.
Anyway, I did get it all in my container. Except for 2 cups. Which was great, because I used it for dinner. :) Remember, you are adding volume to the flour by adding in the shortening, salt and baking powder. I didn't think anything of it, until I realized that I couldn't get my "16 cups" into my gallon container. So really, this 16 cup recipe makes 18 cups. (At least that's how mine turned out).
To make Tortillas:
Add 1/2 cup of water to 2 cups of mix.
Don't stir with a whisk. It didn't work for me, I had to use a fork. I let mine rest for 15 minutes, but really didn't notice a difference. I did notice however, that I had added a bit more water than I should have. My dough turned out really sticky. I had to add a lot of flour as I was rolling my tortillas out. Less water, I think is better. Divide your dough out into balls. I got 9 out of my 2 cups. They made little tortillas, but were a bit thicker, so I think they were perfect.
I rolled my tortillas out with a glass cup, they kept sticking to my rolling pin. I also didn't get any "circular" tortillas, but that's ok! I kept adding flour to it as I rolled it to help keep it manageable. Then, toss one at a time onto a hot pan and let them cook. Once the first side starts bubbling, give it about 20 seconds, then flip it and give it another 20-30 seconds. Each stove is different, you just have to experiment with it. (Next time, I think I'll add a bit more salt.)
I used these tortillas to go with my homemade fajitas that I'll post next. :) Trevor and I did the math, we got 18 cups worth out of this, and I got 9 tortillas our of 2 cups. That's an average of 81 tortillas! The only real expense on this is the flour, which was 1 1/2 one pound bags of flour. Not bad! I picked mine up cheap at a case lot sale at Smiths. The salt, baking powder and Crisco are things I have on hand. So at the most this cost me was $5, and I'll get 81 tortillas! AWESOME!
This lady came up with a wonderful idea to make a huge batch and pull it out whenever she needed tortillas. She also makes large batches of other things. Go check it out! I decided to give it a try tonight. IT'S AMAZING! I'm never buying store bought tortillas ever again. These were so good and so super easy to make!
Ingredients:
- 16 cups of flour
- 2 Tbsp of baking powder
- 2 Tablespoons of salt
- 2/3 C shortening (She says 1/2 to 1 C)
Ok, mix the flour, baking powder and salt all together. (I had to separate it out into 2 big bowls and do half of the recipe in each bowl.) Whisk it all together. Now, everybody is different with how they choose to go about making it. What I had to do next was take one bowl and put it in my KitchenAid and 1/3 C. of Crisco shortening. I was worried that it would ruin the flour where it seemed to be more of a liquid. But the Crisco mixed right in with the flour and soon you couldn't see it. It's like the salt and baking powder! :) Then I had to dump the mix that was in my KitchenAid into my container that I have. Then I took the second bowl, put it in the KitchenAid and added the Crisco. I had fun, there was flour everywhere.
Anyway, I did get it all in my container. Except for 2 cups. Which was great, because I used it for dinner. :) Remember, you are adding volume to the flour by adding in the shortening, salt and baking powder. I didn't think anything of it, until I realized that I couldn't get my "16 cups" into my gallon container. So really, this 16 cup recipe makes 18 cups. (At least that's how mine turned out).
To make Tortillas:
Add 1/2 cup of water to 2 cups of mix.
Don't stir with a whisk. It didn't work for me, I had to use a fork. I let mine rest for 15 minutes, but really didn't notice a difference. I did notice however, that I had added a bit more water than I should have. My dough turned out really sticky. I had to add a lot of flour as I was rolling my tortillas out. Less water, I think is better. Divide your dough out into balls. I got 9 out of my 2 cups. They made little tortillas, but were a bit thicker, so I think they were perfect.
I rolled my tortillas out with a glass cup, they kept sticking to my rolling pin. I also didn't get any "circular" tortillas, but that's ok! I kept adding flour to it as I rolled it to help keep it manageable. Then, toss one at a time onto a hot pan and let them cook. Once the first side starts bubbling, give it about 20 seconds, then flip it and give it another 20-30 seconds. Each stove is different, you just have to experiment with it. (Next time, I think I'll add a bit more salt.)
I used these tortillas to go with my homemade fajitas that I'll post next. :) Trevor and I did the math, we got 18 cups worth out of this, and I got 9 tortillas our of 2 cups. That's an average of 81 tortillas! The only real expense on this is the flour, which was 1 1/2 one pound bags of flour. Not bad! I picked mine up cheap at a case lot sale at Smiths. The salt, baking powder and Crisco are things I have on hand. So at the most this cost me was $5, and I'll get 81 tortillas! AWESOME!
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| 16 cups of pure awesomeness. |
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| Yes, these tasted very good. |
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Bread Bowls and Potato Soup!
For a few weeks now, I've been craving homemade bread bowls and soup. So, on Thursday, I had a bit of extra time. So I decided to finally make it. Let me say now, It was AMAZING! This delicious meal was worth all the time and effort that was put into it. This isn't a meal you can just whip together in a matter of minutes, at least, it wasn't for me. It took a bit of time, but oh baby. It was worth it.
I started with the soup. (I'll admit now, I find all my recipes on Pinterest, and then tailor them to my own desires and sizing.) I have a cute little crock pot that I use. I cut up a few potatoes and poured them in. I put in a fair amount of my frozen diced onions. One can of chicken broth went in as well. I also added in about 6ish ounces of evaporated milk. I didn't quite use a whole can. Lastly, I added a bit of water, salt and pepper and then let it cook on high!
I headed back to campus for about an hour or two. Once I got back home to finish dinner, everything was cooked quite nicely. All the potatoes were soft, almost mushy. I'll admit, looking down at it, it didn't look very appetizing yet. Next, I melted about 3-4 tablespoons of butter, mixed in about 1/3 cup of flour. It got think pretty quick. Then I added in about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the evaporated milk mixture from the crock pot. I let it cook for a minutes. It quickly thickened. At first, I didn't know if I was doing it right, but went along with it. I added the creamy butter/flour/evaporated milk mixture all back into the crock pot, added about half a can of corn and some sour cream and let it finish cooking. I stirred it up good, added some extra onions and let it sit. It started to look and smell REALLY yummy. After I mixed in everything, it was starting to look like soup. :)
While that cooked, I started working on the bread bowls. When it comes to breads, I usually follow the recipe pretty close. I love bread, I like to make bread. But I'll admit, I'm not very good at it yet. These bread bowls, are fool proof, and the flavor is amazing. This recipe could easily make flavored bread bowls, or any form of bread in general. This could have been really flavorful if I had added some rosemary, or onion or dill, or any other herb. I really like this bread recipe that I found. (I'll attach links below.)
For the bread, I mixed the sugar, water and yeast together and let it rise. (While it rose, I finished dishes. :) Then, I added the salt, oil, and flour to the mix. When I cook breads, I'd rather have it be sticky and get all over my hands, then dry and super manageable. More flour = drier bread. Less flour = moister bread. So, after I added the flour, I moved it to another dish to rise for about 45 minutes. Then I formed it into 3 bread bowls. The dough was really sticky because I had used only 3 cups of flower total. But, I got it into nice little balls, and let them rise for another hour. They got quite large and I was thrilled! I popped them in the oven and let them cook for about 20 minutes, pulled them out and TA-DA! Dinner was hot and ready. I was pretty proud!
Doesn't that look nice? I'm drooling just thinking about them. Please excuse the poor pictures. I'm working in it. We also have really poor lighting in our little apartment, and I don't know how to use my fancy camera! HA. Here is the recipes and links below! Enjoy!
I started with the soup. (I'll admit now, I find all my recipes on Pinterest, and then tailor them to my own desires and sizing.) I have a cute little crock pot that I use. I cut up a few potatoes and poured them in. I put in a fair amount of my frozen diced onions. One can of chicken broth went in as well. I also added in about 6ish ounces of evaporated milk. I didn't quite use a whole can. Lastly, I added a bit of water, salt and pepper and then let it cook on high!
I headed back to campus for about an hour or two. Once I got back home to finish dinner, everything was cooked quite nicely. All the potatoes were soft, almost mushy. I'll admit, looking down at it, it didn't look very appetizing yet. Next, I melted about 3-4 tablespoons of butter, mixed in about 1/3 cup of flour. It got think pretty quick. Then I added in about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the evaporated milk mixture from the crock pot. I let it cook for a minutes. It quickly thickened. At first, I didn't know if I was doing it right, but went along with it. I added the creamy butter/flour/evaporated milk mixture all back into the crock pot, added about half a can of corn and some sour cream and let it finish cooking. I stirred it up good, added some extra onions and let it sit. It started to look and smell REALLY yummy. After I mixed in everything, it was starting to look like soup. :)
While that cooked, I started working on the bread bowls. When it comes to breads, I usually follow the recipe pretty close. I love bread, I like to make bread. But I'll admit, I'm not very good at it yet. These bread bowls, are fool proof, and the flavor is amazing. This recipe could easily make flavored bread bowls, or any form of bread in general. This could have been really flavorful if I had added some rosemary, or onion or dill, or any other herb. I really like this bread recipe that I found. (I'll attach links below.)
For the bread, I mixed the sugar, water and yeast together and let it rise. (While it rose, I finished dishes. :) Then, I added the salt, oil, and flour to the mix. When I cook breads, I'd rather have it be sticky and get all over my hands, then dry and super manageable. More flour = drier bread. Less flour = moister bread. So, after I added the flour, I moved it to another dish to rise for about 45 minutes. Then I formed it into 3 bread bowls. The dough was really sticky because I had used only 3 cups of flower total. But, I got it into nice little balls, and let them rise for another hour. They got quite large and I was thrilled! I popped them in the oven and let them cook for about 20 minutes, pulled them out and TA-DA! Dinner was hot and ready. I was pretty proud!
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| Almost done! |
 |
| My potato soup! |
 |
| HOW BEAUTIFUL! (and yummy) |
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| Topped with a bit of green onions....my favorite |
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| AHH! Dream come true! |
Doesn't that look nice? I'm drooling just thinking about them. Please excuse the poor pictures. I'm working in it. We also have really poor lighting in our little apartment, and I don't know how to use my fancy camera! HA. Here is the recipes and links below! Enjoy!
Loaded Potato Soup
- 4 russet potatoes
- 1/2 yellow onion. (I also used dried minced onion at the end to give it more flavor)
- 1 can low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 can evaporated milk
- 3-4 tablespoons of butter
- 1/3 cup flour
- sour cream (about 1/2 cup)
- Salt and Pepper
- Cheese
- Bacon
- Green onions
We topped it with green onions. I had some bacon, but it was frost bitten, so we didn't use it. :( You can also top it with cheese, but we found it didn't need it and was perfect on it's own. This is an easy soup I'll be making again.You can find the recipe I used HERE.
Italian Bread Bowls
- 1 tbsp yeast
- 1 1/4 C warm water
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 - 3 1/2 C flour
This is a great bread recipe. I'm glad I found it and will be making it again. :) Hopefully, I'll get really good at it. That'd be awesome. Anyway, You can find the recipe I used HERE.
Thanks for reading my novel of a post and I hope you enjoyed it! Maybe it'll inspire you to cook a bit more. :)
-SamiMae
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Tin Foil Dinner - Carolina Country
Earlier this week, I made tin-foil dinners. It was supper yummy and was made from everything I have on hand. The items I used are common items in my kitchen, so this is a great meal to make, just about any time. I didn't have any kind of marinade, or teriyaki sauce to put on it, so I tried something new. I'm a huge fan of the Grill Mates season packets. (My favorite is their Montreal steak) For this dinner, I used Carolina Country marinade. It was an excellent choice. :)
Ingredients:
Potatoes
Carrots
(Frozen) sliced green and red bell peppers
Sliced (can be frozen) onion
Chicken tenderloin
Grill Mates seasoning packet: Carolina Country
It's super easy. Put it all together in tinfoil. Pour the seasoning on it, wrap it up and cook it at 350 degrees for about 45-60 minutes. I found that the potatoes were perfectly soft and the carrots were cooked well too. We cooked ours for 60 minutes and that was just perfect. I love meals like this, because then I have about 15 minutes of prep work and then an extra hour to do whatever!
The flavor was amazing in our tinfoil dinner.. The meat was moist and fell apart easy. The veggies soaked up the seasonings. The seasoning wasn't too spicy. Trevor loved it. :) I served this with a side dish of green salad. Wa-La! Dinner is served. I can't wait to make this dinner again!
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| Looks tasty huh! |
- SamiMae
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Veggie Grilled Cheese!
So, one of my New Year's goals is to cook one new recipe a week. This week I cooked grilled cheese with a twist. (I found the recipe on pinterest). It was new and certainly interesting. It's a vegetable grilled cheese.
Ingredients:
Whole grain bread
Sliced cheese
Green peppers
Sliced Roma tomatoes
Spinach.
Make is just like a grilled cheese, but put 2 green pepper rings, 4 slices of tomatoes and a handful of spinach. I'd recommend cooking it on low on the stove. You want your cheese to melt, but not burn the bread. You also want it to cook all the way through, so the veggies are tender and warm.
Not bad, right? :) (Ignore everything in the background. :) I was worried about the peppers being cooked all the way, and I had never had any kind of cooked spinach. Spinach is one of those veggies that I'm really working on liking. This sandwhich, as simple as it it, was a stretch for me, but turned out to be really yummy! When I make it next, I think I'll add some bacon onto it. As Trevor and I sat, eating our sandwhiches, we craved bacon on it.
We also served this with a simple side of baby carrots and ranch. I'm all about healthy dinners, and this sure was one! I'll definitely be making this again! :)
Ingredients:
Whole grain bread
Sliced cheese
Green peppers
Sliced Roma tomatoes
Spinach.
Make is just like a grilled cheese, but put 2 green pepper rings, 4 slices of tomatoes and a handful of spinach. I'd recommend cooking it on low on the stove. You want your cheese to melt, but not burn the bread. You also want it to cook all the way through, so the veggies are tender and warm.
Not bad, right? :) (Ignore everything in the background. :) I was worried about the peppers being cooked all the way, and I had never had any kind of cooked spinach. Spinach is one of those veggies that I'm really working on liking. This sandwhich, as simple as it it, was a stretch for me, but turned out to be really yummy! When I make it next, I think I'll add some bacon onto it. As Trevor and I sat, eating our sandwhiches, we craved bacon on it.
We also served this with a simple side of baby carrots and ranch. I'm all about healthy dinners, and this sure was one! I'll definitely be making this again! :)
Saturday, October 26, 2013
DINNER IN A PUMPKIN!
This was super fun to make. Not only did we get to get and carve 3 pumpkins, we also got to do it to a small pie pumpkin tonight! We were feeling festive and did dinner in a pumpkin! It turned out great and yummy! We had apple juice with it. It was a very fall meal.
Ingredients:
Here's what I did:
1. Start cooking the brown rice (or any other rice).
2. Start cooking the hamburger, be sure to really give it some good pepper and worcherstershire. This is where most of the flavoring is
3. After the hamburger is cooked toss in some green bell peppers and some onion, both of which are sliced up.
4. After the rice is done, mix it in with the hamburger mixture, along with a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of corn.
5. Stir the mixture good. Test taste it and add in any extra seasonings you feel it may need. I added a bit extra salt.
6. STUFF THE PUMPKIN!!! This is the funnest part. :)
7. Cook at 350 degrees for about an hour. My pumpkin was small, so it took about 45 minutes. To test if the pumpkin is done, just poke the outside with a fork. You'll be able to tell if it's done, by how soft it is.
It turned out great for us! The things I would do different are: 1) I would have used better quality of hamburger and rice. We had walmart beef, which is a no go. The meat has been tough and there is a big difference in flavor. I bought the cheap rice. We could tell, a better quality of meat and rice would have really improved the meal, but as far as everything else goes, it was great.
This meal is really forgiving, there is no way to mess it up. Be careful when eating, the rice retains the heat, so it stayed hot the whole time we were eating. This little pumpkin was plenty for the both of us, but I would only recommend that this is a meal for 2 people. If feeding more, use a bigger pumpkin, or more. Trevor also has the metabolism of 3 people and can eat a lot. lol. We ate most of it all together. :)
Here are our pictures from our meal!
Ingredients:
- A pumpkin (can use a squash, don't recommend a spaghetti squash thought)
- ground beef
- onion
- green bell pepper
- corn
- rice, I used brown
- can of Cream of Mushroom
- Salt and pepper to taste
Here's what I did:
1. Start cooking the brown rice (or any other rice).
2. Start cooking the hamburger, be sure to really give it some good pepper and worcherstershire. This is where most of the flavoring is
3. After the hamburger is cooked toss in some green bell peppers and some onion, both of which are sliced up.
4. After the rice is done, mix it in with the hamburger mixture, along with a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of corn.
5. Stir the mixture good. Test taste it and add in any extra seasonings you feel it may need. I added a bit extra salt.
6. STUFF THE PUMPKIN!!! This is the funnest part. :)
7. Cook at 350 degrees for about an hour. My pumpkin was small, so it took about 45 minutes. To test if the pumpkin is done, just poke the outside with a fork. You'll be able to tell if it's done, by how soft it is.
It turned out great for us! The things I would do different are: 1) I would have used better quality of hamburger and rice. We had walmart beef, which is a no go. The meat has been tough and there is a big difference in flavor. I bought the cheap rice. We could tell, a better quality of meat and rice would have really improved the meal, but as far as everything else goes, it was great.
This meal is really forgiving, there is no way to mess it up. Be careful when eating, the rice retains the heat, so it stayed hot the whole time we were eating. This little pumpkin was plenty for the both of us, but I would only recommend that this is a meal for 2 people. If feeding more, use a bigger pumpkin, or more. Trevor also has the metabolism of 3 people and can eat a lot. lol. We ate most of it all together. :)
Here are our pictures from our meal!
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| All cooked and ready to eat! It smelled so good! |
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| We had extra rice mixture, so we just cooked it with the pumpkin. |
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| The juices were just oozing out! |
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| We cut the pumpkin in half and both just took forks to it to eat! |
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| YUMMY! LOOK AT WHAT WE GET TO EAT FOR DINNER! |
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| Time to dig in!!!! |
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