long time, no blog

Hey all... I've been bad on the blogging lately.... i don't know why... i guess i just haven't been cooking things that are that interesting... I have been cooking every night though... I've been working on a few other things... I purchased a sewing machine, and I've been "re-purposing" old clothes of mine, into new clothes for McKenzie. I made her a cute skirt, and tutu... pics to come soon... This weekend Me and Kel headed to San Fran... He had a DJ gig, and i decided to tag along. I hope you enjoy the pics... I'm going to post a good recipe soon! I PROMISE!

my cooking tips...

These are just a few tips that i use when cooking:

- when sauteing anything in the pan, like veggies, meat, and onions, use a little bit of broth, either vegetable, chicken, or beef broth to "de-glaze" the pan. You can avoid using oil or butter because the liquid will pull the food up from the pan and prevent it from sticking. It also helps to make a little sauce in the pan so the items aren't dry, do this once the items have cooked a little and you notice there are brown bits in the bottom .

- when cooking anything on the stove, and you want to make a sauce to cover the food, pull things from your condiments. I like to use Ketchup and Italian dressing for a zesty flavor. Sometimes I use ranch and taco seasoning for a ranchero sauce (like from taco bell), sometimes just ranch. Honey mustard is also a good flavor.

- Always add some kind of seasoning to vegetables while steaming, this will make them more appealing to your picking husband... (kelvin!)

- For a lighter take on spaghetti, use shredded chicken instead of ground beef. Sounds strange, but its very good.

- I like to make flavored butters for garlic or Cinnamon bread. I take a stick of butter, and i put it in a glass bowl, one that has a lid (i have the mini prep bowls from pampered chef) i melt the butter about half way, and then mix it up until the solids and the liquids are one. Then i flavor it, with garlic and basil, or Cinnamon and sugar, or any other flavor you could think of! Then i use what i need, and then refrigerate the rest. The butter will harden and you can use it any time you need a little flavored butter. And if its in the fridge for a while and you just want to get rid of it, just put it in the pan when you need to use butter or oil.

- when I'm making gravy's or soups that need to be thickened, instead of using flour or cornstarch, i use Bisquick. It seems to taste better, and doesn't need to be "cooked out" like flour, and doesn't instantly turn to a solid like corn starch.

well I hope these tips were useful to you! I'll be sure to give some more along the way!

CocoCornflakes

This is one of Kelvins favorite things in the world! he often begs me to make it but I don't like to because we end up eating it all... so i decided i would make him a half batch so he would bug off... here goes the original recipe... at the end I'll give you my changes:





6 cups of cornflakes


1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips


1 bag of milk chocolate chocolate chips





Melt the chips together in a bowl,


add the cornflakes


stir, scoop out, on to a wax paper lined tray or cookie sheet, refrigerate until set.



Variations:


you can add powered sugar or sprinkles before chocolate has set, You could also add nuts if you like them.





MY WAY:


I love love LOVE dark chocolate, so I only use semi-sweet chips, and i do 1 bag and 3 cups of flakes if I'm just making them for us to snack on. If I'm making them for the holidays, i usually add powered sugar and/or x-mas sprinkles. But it seems like everyone likes them plain, so that's how i usually make em. eat up and enjoy!

Zesty Chicken and Veggies

I made this one up with all lots of stuff from my fridge. Here's what i used:

Ketchup, Honey mustard, garlic, Italian seasonings, lemon juice, season salt, and pepper,

vegetables: potatoes, squash, onions, carrots, and broccoli (you can use what ever you want!)

And Chicken Breast cut up into strips, you could use other pieces of chicken, or pork or beef if you wanted.



I cut up all the vegetables small and in a bowl i mixed them along with all the condiments from my fridge, you can mix and match anything, but i think the ketchup and lemon are key to making it zesty. You could use lime too if you wanted. Just a squirt, or a dash of everything. Mix it up really well, and then add to a casserole. Make sure that you lift the vegetables out of the bowl with your hand rather than dumping into the casserole. This way you will have left over marinade for the meat. Let the meat marinate for a few mins. You may want to start the veggies because my potatoes came out raw and i had to put them back into the oven to cook a little longer. Once they've cooked for about 30 mins, add the meat to the top and let cook for another 20 to 30 mins.

Zesty Chicken and Vegtables

These pics are a little backwards, but basically you'll put the chicken into the oven at 350. add a few dots of butter to the top. Bake for about 30 mins. at the 30 min mark, spoon some of the juices from the bottom onto the chicken. Bake for a little longer until the chicken is golden brown. (side note) my potatoes did not come out cooked, so i had to take the chicken off and bake the potatoes longer. You may want to marinate the chicken for a little longer, and let the vegetables cook for about 3o, and then add the chicken and bake until the chicken is done. I added a spoon of sour cream to the plate and ate it up!

Strawberry Lemon Cake

For this cake, i just use a store bought lemon cake mix, and strawberries. you'll also need 2 lemons, and 1 cup of powdered sugar.

to start, mix cake batter together as directed on box, and add juice of 1 lemon.

spray the bottom of cake pan with cooking spray, and then dust with regular sugar, about 1 tablespoon. slice the strawberries into 1/4 thick pieces. Don't make the slices too thin because they will just disappear. Lay the strawberries in the bottom of the pan, and pour the batter over. Bake as directed....

Strawberry Lemon Cake

Pour in the batter, you may have to use 2 pans, but the box of cake i bought was only for 1 pan
Bake as directed on the box.
once the cake is done, let it cool, but not completely, just enough so that you can touch the pan with out getting burned. Gently loosen the sides and bottom from the pan, and turn out onto a plate. Make a glaze using 1 cup of powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon, mix and pour over top and let drip down sides.
cut into small slices and serve. okay, you can cut into big slices and serve too

Meat Loaf Dinnaaaaa

This is my FAMOUS Meat Loaf Dinner. I usually Serve Mashed potatoes, and either veggies or a salad.
Here is what you'll need:
1 Onion
1 lb of beef (some get fancy and use 1/2 pork, 1/2 beef... I don't)
Beef Broth (just buy a box and keep it in the fridge, and use it for other things... it lasts a LONG TIME!)
Worcester sauce

Ketchup
BBQ Sauce
salt & pepper
Bread crumbs
Sage (if you have it.. if not, don't worry about it)
Italian seasonings
garlic
french fried onions (can you guess... this is my favorite thing! i use em almost every night!)

So start off by chopping an onion and sauteing it until almost transparent, you don't want them to disappear into the meat loaf.
While they are cookin, add into a large bowl, the meat, a few squirts of ketchup and BBQ sauce and Worcestersauce. A sprinkle of salt, pepper, and other seasonings, Garlic, How ever much you like! I added about a table spoon full of minced garlic. about a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, and about a 1/4 cup of broth. Do not mix until the onions are ready. Once the onions are ready, mush it all together with your hands, be gentle, and don't over work the meat! all of the ingredients should be incorporated. Put the meat onto a baking pan, make sure it has edges because you don't want a mess on your hands. Form into a loaf, add some ketchup to the top and brush all over. Add French Fried onions to the top and bake @ 350 for 45-1 hour. or until you think its done :)

Mashed Potatoes for the Meat Loaf

Take 3-4 potatoes, and chop them up into about 5 or 6 pieces each.
Add the potatoes to cold water, add in seasonings, I added half package of onion soup mix, parsley, garlic, and salt. Bring to boil, and when fork tender drain out the liquid. Place the potatoes back into the pan and add in half a stick of butter, and 1/4 cup of milk, you could use evaporated milk (which makes them VERY GOOD!!!) or cream. Beat the potatoes with electric beaters until smooth, NO LUMPS! if you need more liquid add a little more milk until creamy.

Veggies for the Meat Loaf

I used zucchini, and squash, i chopped up all the veggies into bite sized pieces,
I added seasoning: Season Salt, Garlic, a few table spoons of Onion Soup.

Added the veggies to a steamer, and let steam for about 10 min, or until fork tender. You could also make a foil pack: just lay a large piece of foil out, pour the veggies into the center, take the opposite sides and fold together, and then bring in the sides. Make sure the packet is sealed and won't come lose. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven @ 350 for about 20 to 30 min.

Final... Meat Loaf Dinner

Mashed potatoes
Meat Loaf
and
the meal on plates!

Breafast.... or dessert.. or... snack

Here is what i call breakfast, and my hubby calls dessert... Ricotta Toast. Here's how:

Take a baguette, slice it up, and toast it up. I put a little bit of olive oil in a pan, and let the bread toast up on the stove. I thought they would be too small for the toaster, so i did it over the stove.
While they are toasting, spoon some ricotta into a bowl, and add a bit of salt until the flavor comes out... Ricotta can be a little bland... once the bread is toasted.. add the ricotta and then spoon Jelly over the top, I used Blackberry, but you could use ANY flavor you like... and Then Eat it up! its really yummy!!!