Wowzers

Well today is November 1st (I didn't really realize that when I decided to do a new post, FINALLY!!).  I have not done a new post in MONTHS!!  I cannot believe it has been so long.  I am so sorry that I am such a slacker.  I will try to do better.

The first thing I want to address is where in the world have I been the last few months?!?  Well I have been here the whole time, just being lazy.  It started out with missing just a few days, then a couple of weeks, and then a month, and now it's November.  The "snowball affect" is very a real thing.  And just so everyone knows I have been cooking, and taking lots of pictures just not necessarily following through with the "whole put pictures of food and recipes on the internet" thing.

Next, what's new in my life?  Well, nothing.  I work, just as much if not more.  Spend time with my husband.  Visit my family whenever I can.  Deal with lots of drama. All that fun stuff.

One exciting thing, Nic and I celebrated our one year anniversary.  It was an amazing weekend filled with spending lots of time with each other.  We went to a football game and an apple orchard, it was a great time.  I am very fortunate to have such an amazing husband.  This past year was filled with really amazing moments and incredibly heart breaking moments.  We have gotten each other through some of the hardest things that an adult deals with, and because of that I know that out love will continue to grow.  I can truly say that I fall deeper and deeper in love with my husband everyday.  Does that mean I love him more today than I did yesterday? Not necessarily.  Today probably, but Saturday, when we were fighting all day, while trying to get the garage cleaned and organized, and then driving all around town for almost an hour to find a recycling bin, I wanted to punch him in the face!  There are days when that man drives me absolutely crazy.  There are days when I drive him crazy.  But thats a relationship, not just a marriage.

I also made a list of 20 things to accomplish before I turn 30, so I have plenty of time to complete it.  I am actually very excited to work on it.  And then to eventually complete it.

Well, I think I am going to call it a night.  To be continued soon...

Pasta Salad

Ahhh, it's summertime which means good food time!  One of my favorite things about summer is all the different kinds of salads I get to make/eat.  This is a recipe I got from my mom and depending on what I have in the pantry I will slightly change the recipe.  The base is always the same but I add things as I see fit, it also depends on the crowd and what they like.  Very easy to make, and delicious!








Ingredients:
1 box tri-color rotini pasta
1 cucumber diced
1/2 red onion diced
1 packed grape tomatoes, halved
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
Pepperoni, sliced in half or quarters and how ever much you would like
Kraft Greek Vinagrette, to taste I use just about the whole bottle
Cheddar Cheese, again how ever mush you would like


Directions:
1.  Prepare pasta as instructed on box, rinse in cold water.
2.  Add veggies, pepperoni, and cheese.  Mix.  Add vinaigrette, stir.  I always use about 1/2 the bottle and then let it set for a a few hours and add some more.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with a Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.... YUMMM!

Carrot Cake was the type of cake Nic and I shoved in each others faces at our wedding, (we had 5 different kinds of cake!!!)  that means that carrot cake has a very special place in my heart.  You would think that would also mean I know how to make carrot cake, right?? Well, that assumption would be wrong.  I have never made carrot cake, I didn't even have a carrot cake recipe in my recipe box.  To be perfectly honest I don't recall ever having carrot cake prior to wedding cake tasting!  I decided I really wanted to make cupcakes, which gave me the perfect reason to buy a new cupcake pan!  And I found this great recipe online.  So, Carrot Cake cupcakes it was!!  Very easy recipe to follow!  And super yummy!


Cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrot
1 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line 24 cupcake molds with papers, or butter and flour them.
3. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and raisins, if using them. Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.
4. Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing.


Frosting:
Ingredients:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup


Directions:
In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Chill the frosting for about an hour, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly.  I made the frosting the night before.

I made a double batch of these.  Nic and I both took 2 dozen to work.  They were delicious.  Everyone who had one kept telling us how good they were.  Very moist, and very easy to make.  I grated the carrots with a cheese grater, that was the most tedious part.  This has been added to the recipe box and will be made time and time again!

Salisbury Steak

I recently had a cookout and bought WAY to much ground beef.  We had a whole 5 pound package left!  Which means this week is all about ground beef recipes!  I have never made, or even had that I can recall, Salisbury steak.  Nic seemed really excited about it so I decided to give it a shot.  I googled some recipes and found a couple of different ones from allrecipes.com






Ingredients:
1 egg
1 10.5 oz can of condensed French Onion Soup
1/2 c dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/4 c water
1/4 c ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tbsp flour

Directions:

1.  In a large bowl mix 1/3 c of the soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper.  Form into 6 oval shaped patties.
2.  In a large skillet, brown both sides of patties.  Our off excess fat.
3.  In a small bowl blend flour and remaining soup until smooth.  Hand mix in ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard powder.  Pour over meat in skillet.  Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir Fry Vegetables

We had Asian night recently in my house.  I made Peanut Sauce, rice, soy sauce marinaded chicken skewers, and these great vegetables.  I had never had bok choy, let alone cooked with it, before this.  It is very good.  These vegetables were very filling, and very good for you!  The most time consuming part is cutting up all the veggies, but other than that very easy and super fast!

Ingredients:

1/4 c chicken broth

1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger

2 tsp canola oil

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch squares

2 cups chopped bok choy

1 c snow peas, trimmed

1/2 carrot thinly sliced

1/4 c drained canned sliced bamboo shoots

1/4 c drained canned sliced water chestnuts

Directions:

1.  In a small bowl, combine the broth, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger.

2.  In a large nonstick skillet, or a wok, heat the oil.  

3.  Add the bok choy and bell pepper, stir fry for 3 minutes.  Add the broth mixture, snow peas, and carrot.  Reduce heat and cook, stirring frequently for about 3-4 minutes.

4.  Stir in the bamboo shoots and water chest nuts.  Cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Peanut Sauce

I recently got a Weight Watchers cookbook to get some healthier ideas for dinner.  I saw this sauce and thought "Oh my goodness this sounds so amazing!!!"  I made this sauce with a vegetable stir fry and grilled chicken skewers.  This sauce was very easy to make and very good.











Ingredients:
3 tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp water
1 1/4 tbsp rice vinegar

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, sugar, and garlic until smooth.
2.  Add the soy sauce, water, and vinegar stir until combined.

Grandma's Famous Meatballs aka Bavarian Meatballs

This is by far my favorite dish ever!  Whenever I go home my grandma makes these for me.  I believe they are called Bavarian meatballs.  I started out by making some homemade meatballs, let them cool over night, and the next day mix all the sauce ingredients with meatballs in a crock pot and let it cook together.  The ingredients seem really weird but when you combine them it is delicious!!








Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger
1 egg
2 tbsp water
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/4 c finely chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
splash of Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine all ingredients, form into 1 inch balls.  Place on a a cookie pan, or a sheet cake pan.
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Sauce

Ingredients:
12 oz jar of Chili sauce
1 can (16 oz) cranberry sauce
1 16 oz can Sauerkraut, un-drained


1.  Combine all ingredients in a crock pot.  Fill chill sauce jar 1/2 up with water, shake to get excess chili sauce, add to crock pot.
2.  Add meatballs.  Cook in crock pot for 2-3 hours or until meatballs are hot.

Enchilda Sauce

I made a chili lasagna, and one of the ingredients was Enchilada sauce.  I decided to try my hand at making my own homemade sauce.  It was easy and delicious!  The one thing that I have learned because of this blog is that cooking does not need to be complicated, nor does it need to be expensive.  This is a great recipe and I will definitely be making some home enchiladas using this recipe for the sauce.














Ingredients:
4 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 c water
2 8oz cans of tomato paste
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:
1. heat oil, flour and chili powder together in a large pot, allow to cook for a minute or two.
2. Add reaming ingredients, bring to a slow simmer.  Stir well.  Allow to cook for at least 20 minutes on a low heat.  Stirring occasionally.

This sauce is simple, and so easy to make.  I thought I might mess something up because when you cook just the flour, water and chili powder it cooks funny, but nope did not mess it up and it was delicious in my lasagna.

Chili Lasagna

I love lasagna!  It is so easy to make, you can make it in advance, and it is delicious!  I recently found this recipe for Chili Lasagna that seemed delicious.  My husband thought the same thing when I emailed the recipe to him!  I made my own enchilada sauce, which I guess kind of makes the recipe my own.  I suggest that anyone who likes lasagna and anyone who likes chili to make this at some point.









Ingredients:
9 lasagna noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 egg
20 oz enchilada sauce
2 (15oz) Ricotta cheese
1 c monterey jack and cheddar cheese blend.

Directions:
1.  Cook noodles according to the package.
2. Preheat oven to 350° F.
3. Crumble beef into a nonstick skillet.  Add onion, green pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder, and pepper.  Cook until brown.  Stir in 3/4 c enchilada sauce.
4. In a bowl lightly beat egg, stir in ricotta cheese, 1/2 c shredded cheese, and remaining spices.
5. Spread 1/2 c sauce on bottom of pan.  Arrange 3 noodles on top of sauce, spread cheese mixture on top of noodles, arrange 3 noodles on top of cheese mixture, spread beef mixture on top of noodles.  Top with remaining noodles spread with remaining enchilada sauce.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Let set for 10 minutes before serving.

Baked Chicken Tenders

I have a fairly decent number of cookbooks and recipes.  I have a recipe box jammed pack of recipes from family members, and I am constantly googling new recipes and thinking of ways that I can make them my own.  I love to cook, hence the reason for this blog, but I do not consider myself a good cook.  I can take a recipe follow it to the "t" and it will taste good.  Recently, I have been trying to make alterations to different recipes, whether they are minor or major.  With my love of cooking also comes my love of food.  And as we all know loving food can turn into a very bad thing very quickly.  Well, one of the recipe books I have is "Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook" by the American Heart Association.  I got this book a few years ago.  It is filled with great tasting recipes as well as some great tips on how to make recipes better for you and your heart.  This recipe for Baked Chicken comes from this cook book.  I cut the chicken into little tenders so it would cook faster.  It's absolutely delicious.  I hate the term "low fat" because it can mean artificial sweeteners, or not flavor (especially when buying frozen meals).  Food is meant to be good.  We should enjoy what we are eating.  If I do not enjoy what I am eating I will not eat, and that is not very good whatsoever.  The thing I love about this cookbook is that all the recipes I have tried are very good, which is very important.  Here is a simple, easy, and healthier version of baked chicken.  I hope you all enjoy it.

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil spray
4 c cornflakes, lightly-moderately crushed
1-2 cloves garlic crushed, or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into tender pieces

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil spray.
2. In a bowl combine cornflakes and garlic.
3. In a small bowl coming ginger, paprika, salt, and pepper.  Sprinkle the seasoning on both sides of the chicken.
4. Roll the chicken in the cornflakes, lightly pressing the chicken and the cornflakes together.  Lightly spray the chicken on all sides with vegetable oil spray and put on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown, tender and no longer pink in the center.

Delicious!!  We had broccoli and mashed potatoes with this.

Insecurities

An insecurity is a form of fear.  Everyone is afraid of something, men and women.  Women tend to allow their insecurities or fears control us way more than men do.  Why is that?  Why do I allow such trivial things control me, or prevent me from doing something?

Lately, I feel like all the insecurities I experience have been controlling me more and more.  Take this blog for instance.  I started out saying I was going to do all sorts of posts, then I stuck with just recipes because they were the easiest.  Then I didn't post anything at all.  Even though I was cooking, taking pictures and typing up the posts.  I just wouldn't upload the pictures.  Absolutely ridiculous!  I started to think why wasn't I just taking the 3 minutes it took to upload the pictures?  At first I kept telling myself it is because I am so busy.  But, I know that is not the truth.  I was scared.  I did not want this to be a recipe blog but for some reason that is what it has become.  Why? Because it sure is a heck of a lot easier than writing about something I am passionate about, or my opinions.  When you write about your opinions then you are setting yourself up for ridicule and I most certainly do not want to ridiculed.  I am to scared to deal with that.  This blog is just one of my insecurities that I have been dealing with recently.

Key Lime Pie

My siblings came to visit last weekend, so we decided to have a cookout with them and invite our friends.  It was great!  I decided to make a couple of new desserts, which were very good.  I found this recipe on foodnetwork.com, its a Paula Deen recipe.  My older sister Rachel helped me make it, it was a lot of fun cooking with her.  This is a very good pie, however yet again I wished I would have read of the reviews.  You freeze this recipe so it is more like ice cream and it melts easily.  Still very good!

Roasted Asparagus

I love asparagus and am always looking for new ways to cook it.  I made some roasted asparagus the other day when I made this dinner.  It was very easy and so delicious!  The ends were just a little crunchy and tasted fabulous!

Pelotonia

For those if you who do not know what the Pelotonia is, it is a bike ride of up to 180 miles for cancer research.  The riders commit to raising money, and do whatever ride they would like to.  This year my husband has decided to ride 43 miles.  If you are interested in donating to help him reach/exceed his commitment (his commitment is $1250, he will be considered a high roller at $4000), or would like more information about how you can get involved follow this link.

Thank you for your support!

Spicy Apricot Grilled Chicken

My 6 year old niece was recently selling magazines for her 1st grade class so she sent me a post card about it with a PS saying "Aunt Casie, Please help my class."  So freaking adorable!  I decided to order one magazine subscription, Food & Wine.  It was one only $20 for the whole year and I figured of all the things I spend $20 I can help my niece.  I love the magazine!! I learn a lot of new techniques and a ton of great recipes.  I saw this recipe and it said to do it with wings, but I didn't have wings just chicken breast so I decided to make it with breasts.  I also added some Chipotle Chili Powder for extra seasoning.

Blueberry Peach Cobbler

I have never made a cobbler before and decided to try my hand at it.  This was very good, basic cobbler recipe. Delicious!

Pepper-Crusted Tenderloin Steak With A Creamy Mushroom Marsala Sauce

I recently got the cook book "Rachael Ray's Book of 10" and I love it!  I decided that I wanted to cook a really nice meal that is unlike something I have had in the past.  I saw this recipe and just had to make it!  It looks so good, and was fairly simple.  However, just a heads up beef tenderloin steaks are expensive.

Steak

I know what you are all thinking.  Steak, really?  This isn't just your run of the mill steak that is thrown on the grill.  This is my husbands recipe for marinading and it is AMAZING.

Ingredients:
Steak

1/2 c Sweet Baby Rays bbq sauce

1/4 c soy sauce

1/4 c Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Mix the sauce ingredients, pour of steak in a dish.  You can either poke holes in the steak so the marinade really gets in or we have a food saver thing that comes with containers.  It air tight seals them and this process pulls the marinade into the steak.

2.  Let is marinade over night

3. Grill to desired temparture.

DELICIOUS.  I can't say much more than this.  You need to try this marinade.

Boston Baked Beans

I have been trying to use my crock pot more and also make more from scratch foods.  We recently grilled out and I decided that it would be amazing to have some homemade baked beans, and boy was I right!!  I found this recipe online a while ago and decided that I would finally try it.

Homemade Cornbread

I made chili recently and decided to try my hand at cornbread.  I usually hate cornbread because it is dry so I was very apprehensive about it.  This was actually rather moist and tasted great in the chili.  The sweet-ness helped counteract the spicy-ness of the chili without canceling the flavors.  Very good!

Making A Window Seat

My husband and I decided to make a window seat, storage unit for the kitchen.  We broke a chair when moving in and the area is very specific to a table that seats 4 chairs, I did not want to waste the money on 4 new chairs, or a new dining set just to buy another one that seats more than 4 people in a few years when we buy our next house.  So we decided to build a window seat with added storage for all my kitchen gadgets that I use only a few times a year or that are too big to fit in any of my cupboards.

Grilled Red Potatoes

It is finally starting to get warm again!! Which means grilling!! This is a recipe that my mom and grandma make.  It is so good and super easy.

Beef Chili

Chili is my all time comfort food! It is one of those things that I could have anytime of year. It is also a dish that allows multiple variations and so there is never one exact recipe to follow. Whenever I make Chili I make it in the morning and then transfer it from a big stew pot into my slow cooker and let all the flavors slowly absorb into one another.

Shredded Chicken Fajitas

This week I am doing multiple dishes in my crock pot!  Plus, today I am cooking my first whole chicken!! (5 years ago this never would have happened, ask my grandma she has some stories about me and touching raw meat or de-boning chicken)

I started out by cooking the chicken in the crock pot.  I added one can of Swanson Chicken Broth, 2 cloves of garlic, some onion powder and a bay leaf.  I knew I was going to be using this chicken for other things throughout the week, and decided those ingredients would give it a good flavor.  I put all of this in the crock pot, along with a 4 1/2 lb chicken.  I put the crock pot on low and let it cook all day for about 8 hours.  We then shredded the chicken.  I used 12 oz of chicken for the fajitas and the rest went into a container then in the fridge.

In order to make the chicken spicy for fajitas I put the chicken in a medium saute pan then I added my taco seasoning recipe, I saved some (about 1/2 a tbsp) of the seasoning to be added to the veggies.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Brownies

I would like to first apologize for not doing a post for a while.  I have been extremely busy, it was my birthday, and I was sick.  Hope you all enjoy this!


I love chocolate and my husband can only handle a small amount of chocolate, but he loves peanut butter and I can only handle a small amount of it. I am always looking for new recipes that I can use to make us both happy. Tonight I was having a sweet tooth, found a recipe, made a few changes and it was great!

Strawberry Banana Shortcake

I decided to do something very simple tonight.  But still extremely tasty.  Shrawberry shortcake is by far one of my favorite desserts.  I had some bananas so I figured I would add them.  I cut up strawberries added a little sugar mashed them up and added cut up bananas.  We bought angel food cake instead of making it.

Italian Breaded Pork Chops/Chicken

A few months ago I created this recipe for breading pork chops or chicken and it is delicious! Very easy, and tasty. I use it when I make chicken parmesan, or like tonight pork chops! It is a lot of breading mixture, feel free to cut it in half if you don't want to be wasteful.










Ingredients
3 eggs lightly beaten
3 tbsp milk
1 1/2 c plain bread crumbs
italian seasoning, however much you would like
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
parsley, however much you would like
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, chopped or minced
4 pork chops
flour (optional and I never measure this I just put it in a bowl)

Directions
1. In a shallow, flat dish mix eggs and milk. You can use a bowl, just make sure it is a dish that will allow you to fully coat the pork chops.
2. In another bowl add however much flour you would like.
3. In another bowl combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, and Italian seasoning.
4. Preheat oven to 325°.
5. Heat oil in an oven proof skillet heat oil. Cook garlic in oil until brown, remove garlic. I chop the garlic when I do this. If you mince it I am sure you can keep it in there.
6. Dip chops in flour, then egg mixture, and then bread mixture. Cook on both sides for 4-5 minutes, until golden brown. Place skillet in oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.

I made some Alfredo noodles and a fresh salad. It was so good!! Such a great dinner. I hope you all enjoy.

Grilled Chicken

It is getting so nice outside! We decided to grill out tonight. This was super easy and very delicious!

Ingredients:

3 Boneless, skinless, chicken breast, pounded

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/4 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic chopped

lime juice, 1/2 of a lime juiced

Marinade the chicken for a couple of hours. Grill it on a grill. We had left over mashed potatoes so I added some pepper, garlic powder and sour cream. Also made a fresh salad. This chicken was very good tender and juicy.

Lemon Bars

My best friend came to visit and one of her favorite desserts is lemon bars so I made a recipe that I have had for a while. Super easy and very tasty!!

Ingredients:
Crust:
2 c flour
1 c confectioners sugar
pinch of salt
2 sticks butter softened

Filling:
4 eggs
2 c sugar
6 tbsp flour
6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
zest from one lemon




Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°, grease 9X13X2 pan.

Crust:
Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Press mixture into pan. (dip fingers in powder sugar to avoid sticking to fingers.) I don't use all of the crust mixture mainly because I am not a huge fun of pie crust and I don't like when it over powers the filling. I evenly press the mixture in the pan. I probably use 2/3 of the mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes. Cool while making filling.

Filling:
Mix all ingredients. Pour over bake crust. Bake for 25 minutes.
Let set in fridge for 4-6 hours (I put it in the fridge over night), sprinkle with additional powder sugar if desired.

I love these lemon bars. The only thing is I wish they were thicker. I am going to try some different recipes. Sometimes when I make lemon bars they get what looks like foam on top. I was concerned that I was doing something wrong so I asked a friend who use to own a bakery and she said it happens to her too sometimes and not to be concerned. I just sprinkle with powder sugar so no one knows. Enjoy!

Pot Roast

It's Friday!!!  I had an incredibly long week.  And we are having a couple of people over tonight so, I decided to make a pot roast because it is so easy and delicious!  Pot roast is by far one of my favorite dishes.  My family has always used the Lipton Beefy Onion Soup mix, but a few months ago I decided to be creative and I am so happy that I did.








Ingredients:
3 1/2 pound roast
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
italian seasoning
1 large yellow onion, sliced or chopped
4 cloves of garlic peeled
1/2 cup cooking Red Wine
Carrots, peeled and sliced length wise

Directions:

1. Season the meat with the salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.  This can be as little or as much as you would like.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet.
3. Sear roast on all sides, for several minutes.  Do not move meat while it is browning on one side or else it won't brown right.
4. In your crock pot, or dutch oven, add onions, carrots, and garlic.  Place roast on top of onions and garlic.
5. Pour in the red wine
6.  Cook for about 4 hours, or however long you want.  I allow mine to slowly cook all day while I am at work, which was 10 hours today.

I don't have that large of a crock pot or I would have also cut up red skinned potatoes.  I made mashed potatoes since I didn't have the room.  I learned a trick from a cooking show once that if you put the veggies under the meat they will stay firmer, so that is what I do.  Everyone always raves over this whenever I make it.  Enjoy!

Greek Hummus

We love Hummus and are always trying new recipes and variations of it. Hope you like it!

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can of garbanzo or chick peas, drained

juice from 1 lemon

1 sprig of fresh oregano, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

salt

1 tbsp tahini paste

handful of parsley leaves, fresh

1/4 c kalamata olives, drained well and chopped

Directions

This is easy! Throw it all in the food processor. If too thick add a tad of olive oil or water. Use pita bread/chips, celery, cucumbers, and red peppers for dipping.

Homemade Burritos and Guacamole

I love guacamole!!!! I like all kinds of Mexican food. It is by far one of my most favorite kinds of food. I am not the best at making authentic Mexican food, but I am working on getting there. Tonight's dinner was very easy. My husband made burritos and when I got home I made guacamole. We make our own taco/burrito seasoning.

Ingredients: - Seasoning

1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
Chipotle Tabasco Sauce

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Depending how spicy you and your family like your food add as much or as little as you would like. I make about one pound of hamburger and add all of this. I then add the Tabasco sauce to taste, a few shakes. The sauce is a smoky flavor, very good.

Now on to the guacamole!!

Ingredients: - Guacamole

4-5 large avocados, peeled and pitted
1/2 tsp cumin
1 Roma tomato, I used a regular vine tomato because I had a big one and need some of it for burrito toppings
2 serrano chili peppers, seeded
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
1/2 red onion chopped
cilantro chopped, about 1/2 cup
3-4 tbsp lime juice
pepper
sea salt

Add peppers, cilantro, and cumin to a food processor and pulse until chopped. Add avocados, lightly pulse. I like my guacamole to be a little chunky, others like it smooth. It is really your decision on how you want it. Stir in chopped onion, tomato, lime juice, salt and pepper. I have been making guacamole for years, and every time I make it I will add a little of this, or a little of that. I always do the lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. If you don't have a food processor no worries. Make sure that the peppers and cilantro are chopped. How big is really up to you, I do mine finely chopped. Cut the avocados up and then I used use a potato masher and mash them up and then add everything. Enjoy!

Asian Orange Chicken Recipe

I love Asian food! I have never made it from scratch, usually I get a sauce packet and add that to chicken and veggies. Today I decided to be ambitious. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com. I did make some of my own changes, but not to many.

Ingredients:

Chicken:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2" cubes

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1 egg (beaten)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Oil for frying

Orange Sauce:

1 1/2 c water

2 tbsp orange juice (about 1/2 an orange), I had fresh oranges so I used those

1/4 c lemon juice (about 1 lemon), also fresh

1/3 c rice vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp orange zest (about 1 1/2 oranges)

1 c packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp minced ginger root

1/2 tsp minced garlic (two cloves)

2 tbsp green onion (chopped)

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 c water

Instructions:

1. Dip chicken chunks in egg and then toss in the flour mixture. I don't have a deep fryer so I used my wok with some canola oil in single layer batches. Do not over crowd the wok while frying. If you have a fryer: fry the chicken at 375°. I used a skimmer to remove the chicken from the oil. Placed it on a some paper towel on a plate. I preheated my oven to 170° (the fully cooked temperature for chicken needs to be 165° internally). I placed the chicken on a cookie sheet and kept in the oven to keep warm while I made the sauce.

2. In a large saucepan, or wok rinsed after frying chicken, combine 1 1/2 c water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger, garlic and onion. Bring to a boil.

3. Combine 3 tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 c water in a small bowl or cup, mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until sauce thickens. I then took a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies, steamed them in the microwave, added the chicken and veggies into the sauce. Served over brown rice.

This was very good. Took me about 45 minutes from start to finish. Very inexpensive!! Very simple to make! Next time I think I will add the veggies to the orange sauce and then spoon that over the chicken. I used extra crushed red pepper flakes because I wanted a little more heat. Enjoy!

Meatloaf

Today we spent the day with my little sister and her boyfriend. He has never had meatloaf so I decided to make one. I usually make one using Lipton Beefy Onion Soup mix but I decided not to do that and just kind of went with it.

Ingredients:

1 pound hamburger

1 pound ground sausage

1 onion finely chopped

1 green pepper finely chopped

2 eggs

1 c oatmeal

1/2 c milk

1/2 c ketchup

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine all ingredients. I find it easier to mix everything except the meat in a large bowl, make sure your eggs are mixed up, and then add the meat. I use a 13 X 9 glass pan and shape the mixture into a loaf. Cook for 1 hour. Spread additional ketchup on top if desired. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Making a Pillow!!!!

I have been meaning to make a pillow for one of my really good friends, and today was the day.

I make my own pillow forms because it is cheaper than buying the pre-made ones. A lot of people will just stuff the pillow but I like have my cases removable just in case it needs cleaning or fixing.

I got some plain white fabric for the form, and some stuffing. I wanted a pillow that was roughly 18X18 so I measured two squares that were 19X19 for the form.

Here is one of the squares

I pinned the two squares together and sewed them together making sure that I left about a 6-8 inch opening on one side so I could stuff it. I then stuffed it.

Form stuffed before sewing up the hole.

After stuffing I pinned the hole together, using about 5 pins just so it would stay together. I then used the sewing machine to close up the hole. Form completed now on to the hard stuff!

Pinned shut

Sewn shut.

Form completed.

My friend told me she wanted it to be purple so I use a cream colored background and 2 layers of purple organza on top of it for the from the pillow. I cut these to 20x20, I left myself some room because I knew that I would also be adding the back. I pinned the three later together and carefully sewed them together.

The three layers of the front.

I wanted to add something more to the front so I made flower petals. This was very easy because I just cut not perfect circles in a variety of sizes. I had to sew them on one layer at a time. I started in the corner pinned one sewed it at the bottom, I went backwards on the seam also just to reinforce it. The next row was 2 petals, then three, and so forth and so on until I was done.

Since I still had to the sew on the back I pinned the outside of the petals towards the center just so they wouldn't get stuck in the seam.

For the back I made what I call a sham opening. I measured a piece of the cream 20X28. I cut it slightly off centered. One edge I folded in 1/2 an inch and made a seam, the other one I folded in about 2 inches and made the seam (make sure you hold the two pieces up to the front to make sure they are the right size). Since the pillow is sewed inside out it is really important that it is pinned right. I wanted the thicker seam to be on the outside so I took extra care to pin it just right. Then I sewed all four sides together leaving about 1/4-1/2 inch all around. One trick to make the pillow square is to cut the corners diagonally after you sew it together right before the seam (make sure you do not cut the seam) this slanted corner helps create the crisp corner when you are done. And thats all folks!

The sham cover back

You can see the opening and how it is easily removable

All done!