Mommie Cooks, Mommy cooks

Family Friendly Fridays: Tuna Noodle Casserole

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Julie

Can you believe it’s Friday? That means it’s time for another edition of Family Friendly Fridays! Don’t forget to add your link to the bottom of this post to share with my thousands of adoring fans. It can be anything from a recipe to a vacation, to a review of your new favorite children’s toy. Anything goes so long as it’s family friendly.

Be sure to stop by next week for a visit (or 5) because all week long we’re going to celebrate an all American favorite; the sandwich! National Sandwich Month was actually in August, so I’m a week behind (what’s new?) but I figured you’d forgive me once you see the sandwich line up I have for you. We’ll be hopping to a new and exciting sandwich creation every day next week and I can hardly stand the wait!

And can I say that I’m super excited to host my second giveaway today?! The lucky winner will get their choice of a one reusable snack bag and one reusable sandwich bag compliments of Kristin over at KB Exquisites.

I first found Kristin last year at this time. School was starting back up and I wanted to find a way to keep from throwing away so many plastic bags each day just from packing lunches and snacks. Of course, my first stop was Etsy because pretty much all the women and men that sell products over there are amazing. Kristin was no exception. I tracked down her snack and sandwich bags, bought three sets, and haven’t looked back.

Guys they’re sturdy. We still have the ones left from last year and have had no signs of wear and breakage. They’re pretty. She has several different fabric patterns to choose from, both boy and girl, so every child (and parent!) should be happy with the choices. They’re easy to clean. When Nick and Alex get home from school, I simply remove them from their bags, turn them inside out and run hot water over them to clean them off and then set them next to the window over my sink to dry and reuse the next day.

This year I’ve bought six new sets to add to our collection and the boys can hardly wait for them to arrive (and neither can I!) So if you would like to win a set of these for your kiddos, all you need to do is be a follower of this site and visit Kristin’s site to tell me which fabric choice is your favorite for either the snack bag or the sandwich bag in your comment. The contest will be open over the weekend and I’ll announce the winner on Tuesday.

So get over there and start checking them out! But make sure you come back, because I’ve got a super yummy, kid friendly, leave the can of soup in the cupboard cuz this is homemade baby, tuna friggin’ noodle casserole today and oh mama, is it good. Let’s talk about putting this beauty together.

8 Oz of Egg Noodles, Cooked
2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
1 Small Onion, Chopped
2 Celery Sticks, Chopped
5 Tbsp of Butter
1 Can of Mushrooms
1/4 Cup of Flour
1/2 Cup of Milk
1/8 Cup of Sherry
11/2 Cups of Chicken Broth
2 Cans of Tuna
1 Cup of Frozen Peas
1 Jar of Pimientos
1 Cup of Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup of Shredded Cheese
Parsley for Garnish
Salt and Pepper to Taste

First up, you’ll melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat and add in the garlic, onion, celery, mushrooms and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook it all up for 3 to 4 minutes. And, of course, fresh mushrooms are fine, better even! I made this down at my mom’s house so I was using what she had on hand.

Once the veggies are cooked and hot, pull them out of your pan, turn the heat down to medium low and add in the remaining 4 tbsp of butter. Once it’s good and melted, add in 1/4 cup of flour and combine it to make a roux.

To your roux, add in the milk, sherry, and broth. Combine it well and bring it to a boil until thick.

Once it thickens, turn the heat down to low and add the veggies back in along with your tuna, peas, and pimientos.

Stir it all together and add in your cooked noodles.

Pour the whole concoction into an oven safe dish and top it off with the bread crumbs and cheese. Sprinkle a little parsley over the top to make it all pretty.

Throw it in your oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and golden.

Pull it out and give it a minute or two to cool; if you can wait that long. Then grab up your plate and pop a heaping spoonful of the creamy noodle goodness onto your plate. Oh yea, you just gotta love the tuna noodle casserole.

Have a fabulous Labor Day weekend!

Grab a Copy of the Recipe HERE.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Grilled Salmon with Fresh Citrus Salsa
Oven Baked Fish Sticks
Fish Tacos in the Great Outdoors

Posted in Fish, Main Course | 16 Comments

Better than Leftovers, Jambalaya Cream Pasta

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Julie

I promised a second meal and wouldn’t you know I deliver. Introduce yourself to the better than leftovers Jambalaya Cream Pasta. I don’t know about you, but cooking up a whole chicken left us with lots of extra cacciatore. I sent a few rounds with Scott for lunch and ate a round or two of it myself, but sooner or later you’ve had enough of the same dish.

Scott’s been “not so subtly” hinting the past few days (love ya babe) that he really wanted a bowl of jambalaya to come and grace his dinner hour. I am not one to disappoint, so I came up with this tasty little concoction. This pasta was so good, that I could have eaten it every day for a week and not gotten sick of it. I’m thinking I need to make cacciatore on a regular basis from here on out, just so I can have this pasta.

Oh, and if you get to the end, look at the picture and say “Mighty Mo! Where did she get that beautiful roll?” Well, you can find the recipe waaaaaay back on the website HERE. It’s a recipe for breadsticks, but you can just make some balls, throw them into a muffin tin and cook up some gorgeous little beauties to accompany your meal.

2 Tbsp of Butter
1 Zucchini, Chopped
1 Large Celery Stalk, Chopped
1/2 Onion, Chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
2 Cups of Cacciatore Chicken, Deboned
11/2 Cups of Diced Ham
1 Tbsp of Cajun Seasoning
2 Cups of Cacciatore Sauce
1/2 Cup of Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup of Heavy Cream
10oz of Small Penne Pasta

First up, add your butter to a large saucepan and melt it on medium heat. Once melted add in your chopped zucchini, celery, onion, chicken, ham and garlic. Cook it up for about 4 or 5 minutes.

Now add in your cajun seasoning.

Finally, turn the heat down to low and add in the chicken broth and the heavy cream.

Stir it up and let it heat through for a minute or two and Voila! You’re done with your better than leftovers pasta. Dinner is served my friends; for the second time.

Grab a Copy of the Recipe HERE.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Chicken and Asparagus Saute
Chicken Parmesan a la Frugal
Stuffed Chicken Burritos

Posted in Chicken, Main Course | 19 Comments

Curried Chicken Cacciatore – Slow Cooker Style

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Julie

Who’s ready for some chicken cacciatore, slow cooker style? With school starting back up and the busyness of every day life returning, I find that I am having less and less time to put together a quality meal for my family.

One of the easiest ways that I combat this problem is through the use of my slow cooker. If you are a mom (or a dad!) and haven’t gotten one of these snappy little contraptions yet, I highly recommend you pick one up. They’re not that expensive and they can save you a world of hurt on busy school night evenings when all you have to do is open up the top of the cooker and eat.

And as far as this meal goes, the best part about it is that we can use the leftovers to make a complete second dinner (more on that tomorrow, can you stand the wait?) which, dare I say, was just as tasty if not even a bit better! And that’s saying a lot because this cacciatore was pretty darn good.

I know, I know, you’re busy. Let’s get to it.

1 Whole Chicken Cut into its Respective Pieces
1 Cup of Flour
1 tsp of Salt
1/4 tsp of Pepper
1Tbsp + 1/2 tsp of Curry
1 28 Oz Can of Tomatoes
1/2 Cup of Red Wine
1 Tbsp of Fresh Basil (or 1 tsp of Dry)
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 Onion, Chopped
1/2 Cup of Chicken Broth
2 Green Peppers

Mix your flour, 1 Tbsp of the curry, 1/2 tsp of the salt, and the pepper together in a bowl.

Dredge the chicken in the flour and throw it in a large sauce pan with a couple tablespoons of oil heated up on medium high.

Let the chicken cook on all sides for a minute or two each side to get them crispy and yummy on the outside.

To the slow cooker add in your tomatoes, red wine, fresh basil, garlic, onion, chicken broth, peppers, 1/2 tsp of the curry and 1/2 tsp of the salt. Mix it all up good.

Now grab your chicken and set it on top of your tomato mixture.

Close ‘er up, turn the heat on low and let it cook for the next 6 to 8 hours. And here’s what you should have when you open it up to serve dinner.

annnnd… YUM. If that doesn’t look like a tasty meal then I don’t know what does! Boil up a little rice or noodle and serve it up for a tasty, easy weeknight dinner.

I hope everyone with kiddos is having a smooth transition back into the busyness that is back-to-school time! Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow to see what we create with all these yummy leftovers!

Grab a Copy of the Recipe HERE.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Tequila Lime Roasted Chicken
Mexican Chicken with Jalapeno Popper Sauce
Chicken Vegetable Stir Fry a la Your Daily Vegetable Intake

Posted in Chicken, Main Course, Slow Cooker | 22 Comments

Plank Grilled Pork

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Julie

Way back this past Christmas, I received a plank grilling cookbook from my Aunt Ann. It looked delicious and I was excited to try it out. Well, fast forward 8 months and I’ve finally pulled it off the shelf and given it a go.

The premise to cooking your food on a plank is that it will help to keep your foods juicier and more flavorful. When cooking on wood you retain most of the liquid on the plank instead of allowing it to drop into the grill. The smoke that is released from heating the plank will make your foods more flavorful by infusing the subtle taste of the wood smoke into your meal.

There are several different types of wood planks that can be used; everything from alder, to cherry, to oak. The most common plank used however, is the cedar plank. Cedar is the most aromatic of all the woods and is best complimented with salmon but can also be used well with pork, chicken, seafood, vegetables and fruit.

I decided to give it a go with marinated pork and see what I thought. Well, as someone who regularly overcooks pork (not intentionally mind you, but more so because I have a fear of undercooked meat), I can say that this method clearly kept the meat juicier and more flavorful. I put together a fairly simple marinade, but the smoke from the plank kicked it up a notch I hadn’t truly expected.

If you want to try plank grilling at home, you can find grilling planks at your local grill store, cookware store, or of course, over the internet. The cookbook I used as a guide for my plank grilling adventures was The Plank Grilling Cookbook.

Alright, enough chatter. Let’s grill up some plank grilled pork!

1 Pork Tenderloin
1/4 Cup of Soy Sauce
1/8 Cup of Red Wine
1 Small Bunch of Basil, Chopped
1/2 Lime, Juiced
1/2 tsp of Ginger
1/4 tsp of Onion Powder
1/2 tsp of Brown Sugar

First up, grab your plank and submerge it in water. Cedar was my choice for this meal, mainly because it’s the plank I had on hand. Leave it there to soak for a good 4 hours and up to 24 hours. The longer the better!

A few hours before you’re ready to grill up the pork grab all your ingredients minus the pork. Add them to a gallon sized bag and mix it up good. Now add in your pork. Cover the pork completely with the marinade and put it in the fridge to soak up the flavors for 3+ hours.

When you’re ready to grill up the meat you’ll need to get your soaked plank and preheat it.

Turn on your grill and get it heated up to about 425 degrees. Place your plank on the grill, close the top, and let it heat up on the first side for about 3-5 minutes. Flip it to the other side, close the top again and let it cook up for an additional 1-2 minutes.

It’s normal to hear some crackling and popping and for the plank to get lightly charred from being on the grill. It is NOT ok to set the plank on fire. If this happens, I’m not sure what to tell you except you better grab your fire extinguisher, quick!

Here’s my plank ready for the pork.

Add your pork to the plank.

Close up the grill and let your pork cook for about 15 minutes. When the 15 minutes are up, leave the grill closed and turn it off. Keep the meat on for an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Once finished, stick a meat thermometer in to make sure your pork is cooked through. The internal temperature should be between 145 and 150 degrees.

Remove the meat from the grill, cover it loosely with foil and let it sit for an additional 5 minutes.

All that’s left to do now is slice it up. And look how beautiful that pork turned out. I loved the flavor of this. Cooking with the plank really made a delicious difference that I wasn’t expecting!

This recipe was submitted to Tasty Tuesdays, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, and Two for Tuesday recipe hops.

Grab a Copy of the Recipe HERE.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Hey! Hey! It’s a Cassoulet!
Blimey! It’s Limey Pork and Rice
Leggo My Schnitzel

Posted in Main Course, Pork | 21 Comments

Daring Bakers Challenge: Ice Cream Petit Fours

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Julie

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

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I was so excited to hear that this month’s challenge involved whipping up a batch of my favorite homemade ice cream again. And as if they were reading my mind, we were additionally challenged to make a brown butter cake to go along with it.

Now, I’ve eaten browned butter before, but I’ve never actually made up a batch of it myself. All I have to say to that is “Why the heck didn’t I try this out sooner?” I’m telling ya, that brown butter was the best smelling, best tasting stuff I think I’ve ever put my mouth on. The flavor was so complex and delicious. The subtle taste of carmel and nuts that it infused into the cake nearly sent my tastebuds over the edge. And the smell! My whole house smelled like a big ol’ sweet nut. You know those german roasted nut stands that you catch a whiff of when you walk by them at the mall? They’re the ones that make your stomach instantly jump and start begging for just one (ok maybe two) handful of the sugared roasted goodness? Yep, that’s what it did to my kitchen. Sheer heaven. And to top it off, my first cake flopped because I pulled it out before it was done (bad mommy) so I had to take a second go at it and make another brown butter cake (bummer! No, not really).

This has been a pretty busy month for me, so I opted for an ice cream that I have already done and love, love love. I put together a batch of homemade pistachio. I figured the nutty flavor of the cake would compliment the pistachio well. I’m not going to rehash that whole recipe today as it’s already on the blog from last month’s challenge. You can find it HERE. We’ll focus mainly on the brown butter cake and the assembly of these beautiful little petit fours.

Assuming you’ve already put together the ice cream flavor of your choice, the first thing you’ll want to do is grab it out of the freezer and give it a good 5 to 10 minutes to soften up a touch. Once it’s softened, you’ll grab a 9×9″ pan, line it with plastic wrap, and spread about 2″ worth of it over the bottom of the pan. Cover it up with plastic wrap and throw it back in the freezer to re-harden for a few hours before assembling your petit fours.

Now we’ll get started on the cake baking.

19 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter
2 Cups of Sifted Cake Flour
1 tsp of Baking Powder
1/2 tsp of Salt
1/2 Cup of Packed Light Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup of Granulated Sugar
4 Large Eggs
1/2 tsp of Pure Vanilla Extract

First up, you’ll want to preheat your oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour up a 9×9″ pan.

Next you’ll drop your butter into a medium sized skillet and let it cook up on medium heat. It will take about 5 to 7 minutes for your butter to brown up. Keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn. You want the milk solids to be a golden brown and smell so good you practically want to drink the pan of butter right then and there. Now transfer it to a container and pop it in the freezer for about 15-30 minutes until the butter is just starting to congeal. Here’s my butter sequence.

Starting to melt….

Cooking up on medium heat…

And browned and ready to be placed into the freezer.

You can see that browned goodness settled on the bottom of the container. Yummmm.

Once your butter is sufficiently cooled, pull it out of the freezer and add it to your brown and white sugars. Whip it all together for a couple minutes in your mixer.

Now, go ahead and add in your vanilla and your eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt.

Finally add in your flour mixture and mix it on low speed until just combined.

Scoop your batter into the greased pan you prepared and place it in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes.

If the center is still a bit jiggly, leave it in for a few more minutes! The cake is really buttery, so your toothpick may still come out clean even though more cooking time is needed. This was my issue the first time. I had a feeling it wasn’t done, but the toothpick came out clean so I went with it. The second time I left it in for another 5 minutes and it came out perfectly cooked. Here’s mine fresh out of the oven.

Let the cake cool completely and then slice it horizontally to make two separate layers. I did this with a serrated knife and then slid a cutting board between the layers to separate them.

Pull the top layer off, bring out your ice cream layer from the freezer and lay that on top. Now place the top of the cake back onto the top. Isn’t it pretty already?

It didn’t mention it in the directions, but I gave it a couple minutes for the ice cream to soften up around the edges and meld a bit better with the cake.

Your next step is to cut the edges off in order to form a nice squared edge.

Do this all the way around and then cut your cake into bite sized squares. I was able to get about 20 petit fours out of mine.

I also need to mention that I didn’t have a 9×9″ pan so I used an 8×8″ instead. The result was that my petit fours were more like towers than squares. And to top it off, I somehow managed to cut a good bunch of them at an angle. It was at this point that I decided I was no longer making petit fours, but little edible leaning towers of pisa. Have no fear, despite their “unique” shape, they still tasted delicious.

Once they’re cut up, we’re going to dip them in a delicious chocolate glaze. To make this you’ll need:

9 Oz. of Dark Chocolate, Finely Chopped
1 Cup of Heavy Cream
1 1/2 Tbsp of Agave Nectar
2 tsp of Vanilla Extract

First up, bring your heavy cream and agave nectar to a boil. Once the cream is boiling, turn off the heat and add in your chopped up chocolate.

Let the chocolate fully melt in and then stir in your vanilla.

Let your chocolate cool down until it is just tepid. Then grab a fork, place a petit four on it, and spoon the chocolate over the top to cover it.

Once it’s covered, set it down a tray lined with parchment paper. Put the tray of completed petit fours in the freezer and let them chill for at least one hour.

Feel free to decorate them up any way you see fit. I simply sprinkled a few candy dots on top to add a bit of a color splash.

And that’s all there is to it! You are now ready to indulge in one of the best little cake and ice cream delicacies this side of the Mississippi. Mine might not have been the most beautiful petit fours on the block, but they were definitely the tastiest!

Grab a copy of the recipe HERE.

A special thanks again to Elissa and Jen for putting together such a wonderful challenge to honor the end of summer!

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Daring Bakers Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake
Daring Bakers Pavlova
Daring Bakers Croquembouche

Posted in Daring Cooks, Dessert | 26 Comments

Family Friendly Fridays: Amaretto Banana Bread

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Julie

As a lover of all things food, I make and bake a lot of different dishes. Most of them are tasty, some just plain aren’t, and some; well some are so good, that they remind you exactly why you enjoy cooking, baking and eating the way you do. This is one of those recipes.

I love banana bread as much as the next gal, but it seems that it’s usually at its best in the first hour you take it out of the oven and then it tends to go down hill from there. One of the biggest factors for most of us is the level of moistness that a banana bread has. Because as we all know, dry sweet bread is not tasty sweet bread.

Cooks Illustrated had a feature this month talking about how to make the perfect banana bread. I always have a large stash of ripe bananas frozen in my freezer, so between my inspiration attained from CI and my overflowing frozen fruit stash, I became inspired to attempt a moist and delicious banana creation of my own.

Enter in Amaretto Banana bread. My initial thought at obtaining moistness in a bread was, why not add a glaze to it? So that’s what I did and, let me tell you, the results were amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever had a banana bread as delicious as this one. Scott and I would eat a piece and then sneak back into the kitchen when the other wasn’t looking and steal another piece. It was just that good.

And in case you’re wondering why I placed a bread with alcohol into family friendly friday, I can tell you that I boiled the amaretto first so that the alcohol would be removed and my children could enjoy this bread guilt free. And enjoy they most definitely did.

So let’s get started putting together this recipe! And don’t forget to add your family friendly link to the bottom of the post. It can be a recipe, a review, or a post about your kids. Anything is welcome so long as it’s family friendly.

2 Cups of Cake Flour
1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
1 tsp of Baking Powder
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
1 Cup of White Sugar
11/2 Sticks of Butter, Softened
3 Eggs
1 tsp of Vanilla
1/2 Cup of Milk
1 Pkg of Vanilla Pudding
4 Ripe Bananas
1/2 Cup of Amaretto
1 tsp of Almond Extract
1 Cup of Powdered Sugar, Sifted
3 Tbsp of Heavy Cream
(a last minute addition not pictured)

First up you’re going to sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

Now let’s move on to the wet ingredients. In your mixer add in the two sugars and the butter and cream them together.

Next you’ll add in your eggs, vanilla and milk.

Followed by the vanilla pudding, and the bananas. Mix it up good.

Finally, add in your flour mixture and combine it together well. Pour your mixture into a greased up bundt pan.

Cook the bread up for about 60 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean.

It’s looking good already but you’re not done yet. Let’s whip up some amaretto glaze to kick this bread up one more really big notch.

Now, it should be noted that it’s not necessary to boil the amaretto. I only did so to cook off the alcohol off so that my kids would be able to partake of this treat along with the rest of us. If you’re not serving it up to kids, feel free to skip the cooking part.

Grab up a small saucepan and add to it your amaretto. Bring it to a boil and let it roll for about a minute.

Remove it from the heat and add in your almond extract and sifted powdered sugar. Whisk it together until smooth.

Last but not least, stir in the heavy cream.

Now, grab up your cake, take a toothpick and poke the begebus out of the bottom.

Once you’ve done that, grab your glaze and pour half of it all over the bottom of the cake. Give the cake a good 20 to 30 minutes to finish cooling and let the goodness soak in.

Now, flip that beautiful bread out of the pan, admire your handy work and finish it off by stabbing the wappatoolie out of the top of it and pouring the remaining glaze over your finished product.

And are you ready for this? I can hardly stand it. Prepare to feast your eyes on the best darn piece of banana bread you’ve ever had. Ever. No really.

Look at how beautiful that looks. If you aren’t craving a piece of amaretto banana bread after that, then there’s nothing more I can do for you except to eat your piece after I finish up mine.

Grab a Copy of the Recipe HERE.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Orange Strawberry Shortcake
The Worth Every Pound Cake
Short Stack Toffee Torte

Posted in Bread, Breakfast, Dessert | 32 Comments

Curried Shrimp

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Julie

I’m tired this morning. I’m on day two of getting Nicholas up for school and I think he’s doing better than I am. His start time is 7:30 and the bus shows up at the unbelievably early hour of 6:40 in the morning. Last year I was able to put on the mommy charm and convince him that he needed to have his father drive him to school and in doing so, bought myself an extra half hour of sleep time. Not so this year. He has decided he really wants to ride the bus with his friends and who am I to say no? It’s only sleep after all, right?

Here’s Nick after getting home from his first day of school; not sure about the pose. And yes, that shoelace is broken already. After one day on the job.

And of course Alex needed to follow suit.

To top the day off, I downloaded Skype yesterday and tried to load it onto my computer only to realize it brought with it a rather nasty malware program that all but froze my computer to a complete and total standstill. Talk about panicked. Somehow my amazing husband managed to free my computer from the grips of this thing; I still don’t know how he did it, but I’m glad he did because now I can share this dish with you guys!

If you’re not in the mood for a big kitchen mess and you’re not in the mood for a complicated meal and you’re looking for a lighter, healthier dish, then I think you’ll definitely be in the mood for a plate of this deliciousness. I brought this meal together in under 30 minutes and was licking my plate clean it was so good. Sometimes I even amaze myself. So why are we still here talking! Let’s do this dish!

2 Tbsp of Sesame Oil
2 Cloves of Garlic
1″ of Chopped Fresh Ginger
1 Pd of Shrimp
1/4 Cup of Vegetable Broth
1/2 Lime, Juiced
1 Tbsp of White Wine
1 tsp of Curry
2 tsp of Fresh Cilantro (or 1 Small Bunch Chopped)
2 tsp of Fresh Basil (or 1/2 tsp Dry)

To get started, grab your wok and heat it up on medium heat with the sesame oil added in. Once the oil is hot, throw in your garlic and ginger and let them cook into the oil for a minute or two.

Now go ahead and drop in your shrimp. Give them a few minutes to begin cooking up.

As you can probably tell, I was super lazy with this meal and didn’t even thaw my shrimp. I was worried for a minute or two that my laziness might ruin the tenderness of the shrimp, but I needn’t have. It was delicious and the shrimp were still tender and delicious. I’m just saying.

When the shrimp are about 3/4 cooked, turn the heat down to medium low and add in your broth, wine, lime juice and curry. Give it a minute or two to warm back up.

And last but definitely not least, add in your cilantro and basil. Yep, I used frozen again. I love my cooking shortcuts.

And that’s all there is to this dish. Serve it up with jasmine rice and let the oohing and aahing begin.

Grab a Copy of the Recipe HERE.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Low Country Boil
Cashew and Rosemary Encrusted Salmon with Lime Hibiscus Sauce
Crabby Cakes

Posted in Main Course, Seafood | 13 Comments

Skillet Gnocchi Dinner – Take Two

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Julie

Once upon a time on a blog a long, long ago, there was a skillet gnocchi dinner that was made, raved about and eaten up; every last bite of it. The gnocchi dinner was happy on the blog until one day, the blog queen packed up and moved the blog to a new home and left poor skillet gnocchi dinner behind.

Ok, not really, but for some reason when I moved over to WordPress, one of the casualties of the move was this recipe. The title’s there, but none of the content. So, of course, in my eyes that’s just an excuse to whip up another batch of this yummy dinner! This is one of those meals that has it all to me. It’s quick to cook, healthy to eat, kid friendly with all the cheese and tomato sauce, and a one dish meal, which while I know they aren’t as shi-shi as some meals, we love ‘em in this home because you get everything you need without all the work of putting together sides.

The other great part of this dinner is how versatile it is. The first time I made this I used italian sausage. This time I used turkey. Chicken would also be delicious. Or, you can cook it up like the neighbor who passed it to me does (thank you Valerie!) and leave the meat out all together for a vegetarian dinner that will make even the heartiest meat eater happy.

So are we ready to get cooking? Here’s what you’ll need:

1 Pkg of Gnocchi
1 Pd of Ground Turkey or Italian Sausage
1 Onion, Diced
3 Cloves of Garlic
1 Can of White Kidney Beans
1 Bag of Fresh or 2 Cups of Frozen Spinach
1 28 Oz Can of Marinara Sauce
1 tsp of Basil
1 tsp of Oregano
1/8 tsp of Crushed Red Pepper
1/4 Cup of Vegetable Broth
2 Tbsp of White Wine
1 Pkg or Marinated Mozzarella or 2 Cups of Shredded
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Cook your gnocchi up according to package directions. While your gnocchi is heating up, grab your turkey or sausage and cook it up along with the onion and garlic on medium high heat. If you choose to go vegetarian, simply leave the meat out and add in a tablespoon or two of butter with your onion and garlic.

Once the meat is cooked through, turn the heat down to medium and add in the beans and the spinach. I added a combination of fresh and frozen spinach because that’s what I had on hand.

Cook the beans and spinach until heated through and then add in the marinara, basil, oregano, crushed pepper, vegetable broth and white wine.

Stir it all together, let the dinner heat up one more time and throw in some salt and pepper to taste. Finally place the mozzarella on the top of the skillet dish, put the top on the pan and let it sit for about five minutes until the cheese is melted.

And that’s all there is to it! As quick as that you have provided your family with a delicious, healthy meal and the skillet gnocchi dinner can once again live happily ever after.

Grab a Copy of the Recipe HERE.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Chicken and Asparagus Saute
Turkey Mushroom Risotto
Loaded Mac and Cheese

Posted in Chicken, Main Course, Sausage, Turkey | 22 Comments

Homemade Strawberry Breakfast Bars

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Julie

I’m excited to say that yesterday I entered my first cooking contest ever. Can you guess what my entry was? Yep, that’s right, homemade strawberry breakfast bars. The contest asked that you create a recipe using a Kelloggs breakfast cereal as one of the primary ingredients. Well, I took one look at that and knew I had it in the bag! I mean, I’m one of the ambassadors selected by The Motherhood for the Kellogg’s Love Your Cereal campaign for goodness sake. Remember that trip a few weeks back in New York? The Kellogg’s breakfast. And coming up in a couple of weeks; part two of the campaign kicks off. I’ll have the privilege of hosting a group of friends over to my house for a Kelloggs sponsored brunch. We’ll be able to enjoy a nice meal and Skype with a Kellogg’s representative to share more about what breakfast means to our family.

If you want to learn more about Kellogg’s Love Your Breakfast campaign, feel free to click the button on my sidebar. I’m willing to bet you’ll learn something you didn’t already know. Oh, and if you wouldn’t mind voting for my cereal bars over at the Mixing Bowl, I’d be eternally grateful! The voting is open until September 16th and you can vote once a day if you feel so inclined. Alright on to the good stuff.

3/4 Cup of All Bran, ground up
3/4 Cup of whole Wheat Flour
3/4 Cup of White Flour
1/2 Cup of Oats
3/4 Cup of Brown Sugar
1 tsp of Baking Powder
1/4 tsp of Baking Soda
11/2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter, Cut into Small Pieces
1/4 tsp of Salt
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of Nutmeg
2 tsp of Vanilla
2 Cups of Strawberries
1/4 Cup of Water
1/4 Cup of Agave Nectar
2 Tbsp of Corn Starch + 1 tbsp of Cold Water

First up, grab your dry ingredients; the bran, flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and add them to your bowl.

Mix them up and then add in your vanilla to the dry mixture.

Now start adding in your butter a handful of pieces at a time and use a pastry fork to incorporate. If you don’t have a pastry fork a regular fork works well too. Continue to add the butter until it’s all incorporated into the dry mixture. Here’s my butter pieces….

And here’s the flour after all the butter’s incorporated.

Now grab your strawberries and throw them in a pan with the water and agave nectar.

Get it boiling and then emulsify the strawberries to create a smooth liquid. Add in your cornstarch mixture and let it boil for a minute or two until thick. Remove from heat and put in the fridge to cool completely.

Grab your crumb mixture and press half of it into an 8×8 baking dish.

Pour the cooled strawberry mixture over the top. Add the rest of the crumb mixture and gently press it down into the pan to tighten up your top layer of bar.

Throw the whole thing into an oven heated to 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Let cool completely and get ready to enjoy a true breakfast treat!

Thanks again to Kelloggs and The Motherhood for letting me participate in such an amazing campaign! And be sure to stop by and drop a vote for these delicious bites!

This recipe was submitted to Tasty Tuesdays and Two for Tuesday recipe hops.

Grab a Copy of the Recipe HERE.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

New York, New York!
Creme Brulee French Toast
Homemade, Eat it by the Handful Granola

Disclosure: I am working in conjunction with Kelloggs and TheMotherhood as a host for this event and have received a stipend.

Posted in Breakfast, Vegetarian | 36 Comments

High Plains Bison Part II: Grilled Ribeye

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Julie

So it’s Monday again and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to talk steak. Bison steak that is. If you are a regular reader of my blog then you’ll know that I did a review of High Plains Bison sausage a few weeks back. You can find that review HERE. Then, if you recall, I took my second batch of sausage and turned it into a yummy Low Country Boil last week which you can find HERE. Today, we’re going to conclude this review with a taste of the High Plains piece de resistance, the grilled ribeye.

I need to start out by saying that even though my husband could hardly wait for me to cook these beauties up, I initially found it a bit hard to wrap my mouth around them. I’ve been pretty much cow meat free for the past two years, indulging myself once or twice a year in the occasional beef hot dog, or sausage. I don’t know about you, but to me there’s just something so “red meat” about a steak that in all the time I’d stop indulging I’d never even had the urge to re-partake in one.

My withdrawal from red meat came after learning more about the cow industry; how cows are treated and even more so, what they are fed and how it affects their body and the products we subsequently consume. The whole process really turned me away from steak in particular and I hadn’t even thought about reintroducing it back onto my plate until it was staring me right in the face.

The differences between conventional steaks and High Plains Bison are many, but the biggest two that struck me, and which High Plains prides themselves on the most, were their ethical treatment of the bison and the fact that their animals are let out to pasture to freely graze on grass, the way ruminants are meant to eat. My concerns being answered by High Plains Bison, I figured I owed it to myself and to them to try out a steak that aligned with my beliefs of how beef truly should be.

I thought of several different ways I could prepare them, but in the end, Scott and I agreed that we wanted to taste as much of the true flavor of the bison as we could, so we opted for the Grilled Bison Ribeye recipe off of High Plains website. The recipe was simple and at the same time really complimented the flavor of the meat.

My husband raved about these steaks. They were cooked perfect, very juicy and equally as flavorful. You really couldn’t ask for more. As for me, I relished the fact that I was finally able to enjoy a steak the way it was meant to be eaten. I felt good knowing that I was eating quality meat and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Will I give up my red meat ways? Probably not. But what I will say is that whenever I get that occasional craving for a piece of red meat, I now know where I’ll be turning.

High Plains Bison’s Recipe for Grilled Ribeye Steak

2 High Plains Bison Ribeye Steaks
1 Tbsp Extra-virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp of Sea Salt
1 tsp of Cracked Black Pepper
1 tsp of Granulated Garlic

Fire up your grill and coat both sides of your steaks with the oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.

Throw your steaks on the grill and cook them for 5 minutes on the first side and three minutes on the second side (for medium rare). Pull them off the grill (use tongs and not a fork to keep the juices sealed in!) and let them rest for about 10 minutes to allow the juices time to seep back into the steaks.

And that’s it! Grab your fork and knife and dig in. I took the liberty of shooting a picture of a piece of my finished ribeye so you could see the inside of the steak as well. Perfectly cooked, just as the recipe states.

Before I close up shop for the day, I also want to mention that I have been offered a 20% discount that I can share with you should you choose to partake in a little bison meat eating of your own. Simply enter the code EATGOOD22 at your checkout and be prepared for some tasty eating.

I want to offer a hearty thanks to High Plains Bison for allowing me the opportunity to review their product!

Grab a Copy of the Recipe HERE.