Thursday, January 31, 2013

BBQ pork sandwiches

I tried out this recipe today.  Normally when I do this type of thing I just put in the pork roast, onions, and a store-bought sauce, but this was SO YUMMY I'm not sure I'm doing that anymore.  I thought I had some apple cider vinegar, so I didn't buy any, but when I got to my pantry today all I had was basalmic vinegar.  And it was delish.  It didn't even really taste like basalmic vinegar either, so I don't think anyone noticed.  I also used pre prepared mustard (spicy brown), too, instead of powdered.

Served it up with some steamed veggies, and it went over really well!


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Chicken and brown rice casserole

I tried out this recipe today.  It turned out pretty well.  I used brown rice instead of wild rice, and soured coconut cream instead of sour cream, and used the chicken and rice soup instead of cream of chicken. Unfortunately I didn't have a non-dairy substitute for Parmesan cheese.  Oh well.  I also forgot to buy celery and didn't realize it until it was too late.  I would have been nice to have had something with a little color in it though! It went over pretty well, as well, except for the 5-year-old.  Can't win them all!


Monday, January 28, 2013

Summer vegetables with sausage and potatoes


I used this recipe.  Since it was my first time making it, I stuck pretty close to it.  I used turkey sausage instead of chicken, though, because the only chicken I could find was hot Italian  and I really didn't want the hotness.  I checked the packaging of the sausage, and it was gluten free, so here's another accidentally gluten free meal!

Aren't the veggies pretty?? I love colorful food.


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Turkey chili

We've been pretty sick lately, but now that we're all pretty much feeling better (especially me...), I'm back to cooking real food!

I started off with this recipe, except that I added a can of tomato sauce and instead of water I used chicken broth.

I browned my ground turkey with the onions and quite a bit of garlic (all the cloves in the middle are pretty small, but it was still quite a bit more than called for!).  After I drained it of grease, I dumped it and all the other ingredients into the crock pot and let it simmer all day.

Yummy!

Today was also my first try at making soured coconut cream (I've been working on eliminating dairy from my diet as an experiment [long story]), and it turned out pretty good!


Sunday, January 13, 2013

Chicken noodle soup

I guess you can say that this is loosely based on this recipe, but I don't actually even look at it anymore.

Today I put some chicken in the bottom of my crock pot, then covered it with chopped onions, celery, and carrots.  I sprinkled it all with garlic powder (I ran out of cloves of garlic), sage, rosemary, thyme and basil.  I didn't measure, just dumped some in.

Then I added a (4c) container of chicken stock, and let it cook all day.

About 20 minutes before I pulled out the chicken and put in egg noodles.  I cut the noodles up in to bite sized pieces (it mostly fell apart) and then put it back in the soup and let it simmer until the noodles were soft.

No picture today. We've been sick and I haven't gotten myself back together quite yet.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Chicken stirfry with Korma curry sauce

Stirfry is one of my favorite foods ever.  Just sauté a protein and whatever vegetables you want, put on a sauce of your choice, and "Voilà!" you have a meal.

Tonight's rendition is chicken, sautéed in a little olive oil with garlic and onions, and then I added green pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, baby corn and broccoli (I can hear my dad go "eugh!").  Tonight's sauce is Sukhi's Korma Curry Sauce.  I love Sukhi's sauces, they're so yummy.  This particular one called for cream as well, but I replaced that with coconut milk.  From my preliminary tastes, it's actually really good.

It's served over brown rice, which I always forget needs a little more time/water to cook with.  And my way of cooking rice is a little different. I got the directions off the bag of calrose rice, call "perfect sticky rice" and I've done it that way ever since.  Preheat your oven to 400* (yes, your oven).  Put your dry rice in the bottom of a casserole dish with some butter and salt.  Then boil the appropriate amount of water (2c. for every 1c. rice.  With the calrose rice I used a little less, with the brown rice I have to use a little more) in a separate container.  I put it in one of my glass liquid measuring containers and put it in the microwave.  Pour the hot water over the rice, stir until the butter is melted, and place it in the oven.  Stir a few times in the interim, and pull out when all the water is absorbed.

Usually I serve Indian food with naan, but...I forgot to buy some and my one try at making my own did NOT turn out well (I may try it again some day).  I think I've forgotten something with every meal I've posted so far.


Oh! And this meal is gluten free!  I have a dear friend that has celiac, so whenever I turn out a gluten free meal I think to myself "if she ever comes to visit, she could eat this!" (except now she's trying vegan, so the chicken wouldn't fly. :/ )


Thursday, January 3, 2013

Beef Stroganoff

When I first got married, I made the same hamburger stroganoff (with cream of mushroom soup) that pretty much everyone makes.  And then, for our 5th Anniversary, Husband and I went to Red Square in the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and he ordered the beef stroganoff.  It had a brothy sauce instead of a creamy one, and it was amazing.  He then asked me to find a recipe similar to that to try, and I found one in my Betty Crocker's Cookbook.  It's my go-to cookbook.  It has nearly everything I could ever want in it.

Here's the recipe.  My changes are in {brackets}.
1 1/2 lbs beef tenderloin or boneless top loin steak, about 1/2 inch thick {I used a pound of stew beef and cut up the larger chunks with my kitchen sheers}
2 tbsp butter or margarine {olive oil}
1 1/2 c. beef broth {reduced sodium}
2 tbsp ketchup {omitted altogether}
1 tsp salt
1 clove garlic {I put in 2 and contemplated more.  I love garlic.  I also crush it with the flat side of a large chef's knife and then dice it}
3 c. sliced mushrooms (8 oz) {baby bella mushrooms, because they last the longest in my fridge before getting slimy}
1 md. onion, chopped (1/2 c.)
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 c. sour cream or plain yogurt {Husband once asked to try it without the sour cream, and I keep forgetting to put it in. It's good with or without}

served over hot cooked noodles or rice {wide egg noodles here}

While I remembered the green beans today (yay!) I forgot the crunchy chow mein noodles we usually put on top (The Red Square version had crispy fried shoestring potatoes and we liked that texture).  I nearly always forget something. I blame it on the "mommy brain."


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Tired (Lazy) Mom's spaghetti

I do have a handful of "lazy day" meals that I make that aren't entirely premade.  Spaghetti is one of those.  I was raised on homemade spaghetti sauce, so I've never been completely comfortable just opening a jar without doing anything to it.

So I usually brown a pound of ground turkey with diced onion and crushed garlic (I crush it with the flat of a big chef's knife and then coursely chop it before dumping it in).  Then I add the sauce (my current favorite the classico tomato & basil), and sometimes I also add more herbs (oregano, basil, thyme).  All served over warm spaghetti noodles.

Tonight though, it was with premade meatballs that we had in the freezer, that I only bought because I had been recovering from the stomach flu and didn't want to do much for dinner and Erin wanted meatballs with her spaghetti.  I also buttered some bread and sprinkled with garlic powder and toasted it in the toaster oven.  I was going to have green beans too, but I'm tired and forgot until we were mostly done already.



Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Pot roast - in the crock pot

Basically, I started off with this recipe, which claimed to be the BEST pot roast ever  ((it IS pretty good)).

I mixed in the au jus mix instead of just putting it on top, and I used sprite instead of coke or pepsi.  ((from what I understand, the carbonation does something to help make it tender? Don't know if that's actually true.))

I also cooked it with onions, baby carrots, and small yukon gold potatoes.  I served it all up with some rolls with butter & jelly.  Yummy.