Winner

I am currently on vacation and don't have a new post, but I do want to say congratulations to the winner of the Land o lakes giveaway - poster #1 Jen who said "Um...I LOVE cinnamon and sugar on my french toast! Cinnamon roll french toast from Ruby's is my favorite & I bet I could replicate that pretty easily with this!" 

Congratulations!!  I will be contacting you shortly to get your shipping info.

I'll be back to posting when I get back from vacation next week.  In the meantime, definitely check out these cheese enchiladas.  We'll be making those for family tomorrow night.  Third time in a month - sure sign of a winning recipe for us.  :)

Land o lakes cinnamon sugar butter giveaway

Guess what??  I am doing my first giveaway!!

So a while back I signed up at my blog spark to do surveys and giveaways.  I couple of weeks ago they sent me the opportunity to do a giveaway.  I have to say this was so much fun!
First of all, the product I was sent was Land o Lakes cinnamon sugar butter.  This stuff is so tasty!  If you like cinnamon toast, you'll love this.  Basically they took the toppings of cinnamon toast and mixed them up in one easy to use spread with all natural ingredients.  My husband says I'm addicted to it.

This prize pack also included all of this stuff.

The little waffle iron makes waffles, but like pancakes - I tried the recipe on the back for super simple buttermilk waffle pancakes.  They were pretty good.  The red spatula worked perfectly to flip the waffles. (As a tip if you are the winner, do NOT overfill the squares.  Leave space in between the waffles.  It isn't too bad to turn them one at a time, but trying to turn 4 at a time was a chore.  The waffles turn out pretty cute because the squares are so tiny.  (Oh, and the waffles were good with cinnamon sugar butter.)

I have a very similar heart shape cookie cutter that I used last week to make English muffins.  I'm actually glad to have a second because everyone (at least the kids) wanted the heart shaped English muffin the other day. Yum!

Back to the butter, We've had this entirely on bread products.  (fresh bread from the oven, toast the next day, waffles, and crescents - I wish I had a picture of the crescent rolls, but that was totally spur of the moment snacking.  We opened them up, spread the cinnamon butter on them and rolled them back together.  Think of an easy cinnamon roll.  YUM!)

The package suggests some other uses -try it on hot cereal, baked apples, vegetables and more.

To enter the giveaway, leave me a comment telling me how you would use the cinnamon butter and/or another flavor of butter you'd like to see.  You have until Friday night (7/29) to enter.  Winner will be chosen by random.org and posted on Saturday morning.

For an additional entry, post about this giveaway on your blog or facebook and leave a comment letting me know that you did.

Good luck.

Now I'm off to find the waffle recipe that came on the little waffle iron.  (Yes, I've lost it already - surely it was thrown in the trash.  I hope Norpro posted it online.  It was so simple.  Should have blogged it.  :)


Disclaimer:  Although I was provided with the same prize pack I am giving away, the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

English muffins

Brandon wanted me to make Eggs Benedict for either father's day or his birthday, and it just didn't happen on either of those days. (with home made English Muffins and everything.)  However, I did finally get them done.  We had wanted to try an Alton Brown recipe we had seen on Good Eats, but on the day we finally decided that we had time to do these we hadn't started the dough the night before.  However, we found another good recipe on The food network to try and it worked out great.  It is yet another Alton Brown recipe - just not the overnight one.   Just click on over to their site.  Brandon made the dough.  I scooped did the baking after it had risen.  I highly doubt he changed anything, so no need for me to post my version.  :)
I did like making them in fun shapes.  Everyone wanted the heart shaped one.

I definitely want to try these again.  They were not overly difficult.  I'd love to try them in a wheat variety.  I'm also pretty sure that this is from the muffin man episode and he did some flavored ones (like blueberry or something) that I'd love to try.  Certainly I'll think twice before buying them at the grocery store.  (Although I do need to get another set of rings.

crescent rolls

This is the roll recipe I used to make the chicken squares the other day.  I actually didn't change anything from the original recipe over at Mel's kitchen Cafe.  (I can't say enough good things about her site.  I love it.)  I did only use a 1/2 batch for the chicken squared and used the other 1/2 batch to make crescents.  I just rolled out all of the dough and cut it into 12 triangles (as opposed to Mel's 3 batches with only 8 wedges each.)
Here is Mel's recipe + my commentary.

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 2/3 cup yellow corn meal (I used ground popcorn with no problem)
• 1 ½ tablespoons instant yeast
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter (I used a frozen stick from my freezer -helped cool my corn meal mix)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 5 ½ – 6 cups flour (I used all 6 cups)

Directions

Heat the milk to just below a boil so bubbles are just appearing around the edges.  Add the cornmeal and cook and stir until thickened, lowering the temperature if needed so the mixture doesn’t boil (she has a lovely picture of the consistency here. Pour the cornmeal/milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl and let cool until lukewarm. (or be lazy like me and add frozen butter and let that melt in/cool your mix.)  Add the yeast, butter (If you weren't lazy) and sugar. Mix. Add the salt and eggs. Mix well. Add the flour gradually until a soft dough forms. Knead for 5-8 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl covered with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.

Divide the dough into three portions and roll each into about an 8-10 inch circle. Brush the top lightly with butter. Cut into 8 wedges and roll each wedge up starting from the wide end so it forms a crescent roll shape. Place each roll on a lightly greased or silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing about 1-2 inches apart to allow for rising. Cover lightly with greased plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise until doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Brush with butter while still warm.

Wheat berry salad

Yet another recipe I picked, but then worried if I or anyone else would like.  Luckily I was pleasantly surprised. It was tasty.  I had seconds and DH did too, but I do have to say, the left overs are not calling my name.
This meal comes from a book I have called  healthy meals by Jonni McCoy.  A lot of her recipes will do something like call for 2 cups meat, or 3 cups veggies - with some suggestions of what to use.  This recipe was that way.  It called for 3 cups diced veggies with suggestion to use broccoli, carrots, celery, bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant, leeks, etc.  DH chose leeks.  I wasn't the hugest fan of the leeks but I think I probably overcooked them a tiny bit.  Other than that, the flavor of this dish was nice - a nice Italian red sauce flavor.  I doubled the original and of course adapted it.

Ingredients

• 1 cup wheat berries
• 4 cups water
• 3 leeks, chopped (I only chopped the white section and barely into the green because I didn't feel like washing the dirt off each individual strand.)
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 5-6 tiny sweet bell peppers, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes  (I may have used 2 cans - original was 1, and I wrote notes in my book of all my changes, but not that I used 2 cans of tomatoes.  Hmm.  Would be good with 2.)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon)
• 4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Heat wheat and water in a sauce pan until boiling.  Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until berries are tender.  
2. Meanwhile, in a separate sauce pan,  cover the carrots with water, bring to a boil.  Boil for 3-4 minutes then remove from the heat and drain.  They should still be a bit crisp.
3. In a large skillet, heat butter and coconut oil over medium heat.  Saute onion and garlic in oil until onion is clear.  Add remaining veggies and continue cooking until veggies are desired doneness.  Drain the berries and add them while stirring.  Add tomatoes, lemon juice and seasonings and cook until heated through - 2 to 3 minutes.

Simplifying and an announcement

I feel like I should be behind in my posting, (and I am a bit, but only by one post.)  I guess because it is summer and I'm a little lazy, or maybe because I'm actually using my blog the way I originally intended (looking for recipes our family has rated 5 stars) to plan my meals, but probably a combination of the both.  Sure has been nice not to post nearly as often.  (After finishing this post I have decided it comes down to simplifying - which I ended up using to title the post.)  Below are 2 of my favorite new ways to simplify.  I'm still trying new things all the time, but sticking with a simple base of something.

The first thing I have been truly enjoying -that I don't post always is the waffle/muffin mix.  I love that for breakfast.  I can make waffles, pancakes, or muffins of any flavor.  Most have been good.  (Although I tried some with lime yesterday that were too tangy for me.)  Anyway, I love that.  It has accomplished 2 of my latest food goals - eat more healthy, and simplify.

The second thing that I have really liked this week has been salad in a jar.  I made a super simple dinner last night of ham, salad and mashed potatoes.  Since there was nothing to do for the ham, I chopped various salad toppings to go on the lettuce that I had chopped and put in the jar.  I don't consider myself a real big salad person.  In fact they often don't seem to appeal to me (except at a restaurant. -could have something to do with the prep work involved.)  So last night I chopped sweet peppers, shredded carrots (3 jars worth - 2 for muffins, 1 for salads.)  Point being,  I had a great salad with lettuce, spinach, sweet pepper, sliced almonds, shredded carrot, and freeze dried strawberries.  I couldn't believe how yummy it was. The best thing about it - if I want to do it again, everything is already ready in the fridge.   Maybe one day if I get better at this salad business, I'll do a post of my favorite salad toppings, but for now, I'm very happy with that way to simplify.  My new goal for the week - use all of the salad I put in jars by replacing cooked veggie side dish with a fresh salad.  Baby steps for us at our house.  We may end up eating healthier yet.

ANNOUNCEMENT
I will actually be doing a give away on this blog either later this week or next week, so stay tuned.

Cheese enchiladas

Update - yes, I did just post these this past week and they have an update already.  They were really good and we made them again this week.  Much better with store bought corn tortillas.  Wish I could make those properly, but I can't (yet anyway)  This time we did add the pepper, and  used 4 8 oz cans of tomato sauce.  I updated the recipe accordingly. Still very yummy.

So, I have wanted to try this enchilada sauce on my sisters food blog for ever - (seriously, for like over a year - it was posted in May of 2010.)  Anyhoo,(wow, that only stays and doesn't get edited because it is so something my sister would say, so in honor of this being her recipe, Anyhoo...)  since I've been doing more vegetarian meals, and decided to do cheese enchiladas.  I remembered this home-made sauce, so I decided to try it.  I ended up changing it a bit.  It still turned out well.  I think I could have added more spice.  I had planned on doubling the chili powder (from what I added -which was 1/2 the original.) but I ran out.    I also debated adding 1/2 teaspoon pepper to add some spice but didn't.  This turned out to be a wonderful mild sauce.  You could always add more chili powder or black pepper to make it spicier.  This is great for little ones who don't like it too hot.
I also tried to make some tortillas out of maseca - that was a failure.  They turned out like mush in the enchiladas (not to mention the fact that they were insanely hard to make because the dough was stickier than with flour tortillas.)

Ingredients

• 1-1.5 Tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, minced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon cumin
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 29 oz can tomato sauce (or even 4 8 oz cans)
• 1/2 cup water
• tortillas (enough to fill the pan.  I made probably around 16 or so - I prefer corn, so I made some corn and some flour)
• cheese - enough to go inside and on top - 2-3 cups or so

Directions

1. In a large saute pan, Saute onions in butter until softened.  Add garlic and salt and saute for another minute or 2.  Add chili powder, cumin and sugar.  Stir another minute - until fragrant.  Stir in tomato sauce and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes (I did this while making some tortillas)
2. To make enchiladas, pour a bit of the sauce in the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan.  Dip the tortilla in the sauce (the sauce in the saute pan.)   Add a handful of cheese.  Roll up and put in the pan.  Continue until the pan is full of tortillas.  Pour remaining sauce on top.  Top with additional cheese.
3. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 

My new playtoy

Update 9/26/2011 - I love this jar sealer.  I now always buy my lettuce in bulk at costco, bring it home, chop it and put it in the jars.  Makes meal time so much quicker and makes me more likely to eat salad.  I also seal my brown sugar (keeps it from going hard) my brown rice (hoping this keeps it from going rancid since I bought 25 lbs - it is not something I normally store because when it gets old it is bad.)  Same for nuts - I have pecans, walnuts and almonds that got to move out of the fridge opening up a lot of space there.   I also have some other grains that are prone to get bugs in them stored in jars.  Then there are the mixes I have stored in there -a taco seasoning that I made, a veggie mix of dehydrated veggies.....  Very useful toy tool.

Update: - The spinach didn't work so well, and it kind of ruined the salad.  It got all wet and mushy.  I'm trying again this week with just spinach and just salad (seperate jars) and tried to dry the salad a little better.  Will post results next week. I've also tried chopping some bell peppers and shredding some carrots - in other smaller jars.  Will post how that goes as well.

So I finally broke down and bought a foodsaver the other day.  Then I got a wide mouth jar lid attachment.  Totally my new favorite toy.  A friend of mine told me about this salad in a jar blog, so I had to try it.  I already buy the spinach in the huge bag at costco hoping I'll make green smoothies out of it, but inevitably (every time but 1 I think) I end up tossing a good portion of the bag.  I'll never buy the lettuce because I know it will go bad.  However, with the foodsaver at home, I bought both the huge bag of spinach, and the 6 romaine hearts and turned it into this.

So far so good.  I've used a couple on Cafe Rio pork salad  that we had yesterday and the day before.  I have to say it was so nice to have the lettuce/spinach mix all ready and just have to pop the top.  I made a bunch of lettuce/spinach mixes for salads and then a few pure spinach for smoothies.  Hopefully that will cut down on my waste.  

I also packed my nuts in these and took them out of the fridge - Yea, more fridge space.  I now need to go and pack my brown rice.  :)  Like I said, my new favorite toy.

Vegetable Lasagna

I love lasagna but have never tried a vegetable lasagna.  I've been trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals into my menu, and this looked like a tasty way to do it.  I used a recipe from The Food Nanny's book, and a marinara from American Pie -adapting each.  It was quite time consuming - which lasagna always is, but this was more so due to the number of veggies to chop - however, I felt great about serving it to my family.  1st day in a long time I feel like they got enough veggies in them for the day.

Here is our version of Vegetable lasagna from this evening.

Ingredients

• 12 lasagna noodles
• 1 (15 oz.) container ricotta 
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (but I didn't measure)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced (I used a handful of tiny sweets (red, yellow and orange) from costco)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• 2 large handfuls fresh spinach (2 cups)
• 1/2 container diced olives (or 1 full contain of the sliced)
• 1 jar marinara (26 oz) or recipe below
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Cook noodles according to package directions until slightly chewy, about 10 minutes.  Drain and carefully drape over the side of the colander or pan so they don't stick.  (I loved this tip -never do it, but it took a long time to finish everything and I was glad they were draped over the pot they cooked in.)
2. Combine the ricotta, egg, 1/2 cup Parmesan and basil in a bowl.  Set aside
3. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook and stir onions for 2-3 minutes - then add peppers, carrots and garlic and continue stirring for 8-10 minutes more - until carrots are tender.  Add zucchini and spinach. (I chopped my spinach with my cooking scissors a bit so it would be in a bit smaller chunks.)  Cook and stir until spinach wilds and all the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and add the olives.
4. Heat oven to 375 and grease a 9 X 13 pan.
5. Spoon about 1/2 cup of marinara sauce in to the pan.  Arrange 4 noodles, overlapping on top of the sauce.  Top with 1/3 of the ricotta mix, 1/3 of the vegetable mix, 1/3 of the marinara sauce, 1/2 cup mozzarella and 2 Tablespoons of the remaining Parmesan.  Add 2 more layers in order -noodles, ricotta, vegetables, marinara, mozzarella & Parmesan.  (I added the extra mozzarella on top - I was generous.  I wanted it nice and cheesy.  The book had you dot it with butter then drizzle with olive oil when it got out of the oven.  I just figured why not put extra cheese instead.  Sounded better to me.
6. Bake 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and it is heated through.

Marinara sauce ingredients

• 1 15 oz can tomato puree
• 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/3 teaspoon pepper (I know crazy measurement, I just filled my 1 teaspoon up a little under 1/2 so I'm calling it 1/3)
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  

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Italian pasta salad

This is yet another recipe that started out in $5 dinner mom's book.  I love that book for ideas but somehow always manage to change the recipes somehow or another.  This one started as a chicken pasta salad with a homemade vinaigrette, (named summer pasta salad) but it used Italian style diced tomatoes which made me want to give it an Italian spin so it became a pepperoni pasta salad with Italian dressing.  I really liked it the way we made it.

Ingredients

• 1 package (16 oz) bowtie (or other) pasta
• 1/2 package sliced pepperoni, chopped
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cucumber, seeded and diced
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 can (15 oz) Italian-style diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 cup light Italian dressing

Directions 

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Rinse with cool water.  
2. Combine noodles with remaining ingredients in a large bowl.  Can let set for a while to allow flavors to blend or serve right away.

Taco mac and cheese

Although this recipe was called mac and cheese, the original definitely didn't have enough cheese to be called that (In my opinion of course.)  Even with the addition of extra cheese, I still wouldn't call it mac and cheese as much as a skillet taco casserole or something.  The original recipe was from $5 dinner mom, but my recipe is very different.  I would have been making something very similar to the southwest chicken pasta salad I have made last week, so I changed it up a good deal - still sticking with the southwest/taco theme, but going with a smoky chipotle flavor rather than a mix of cayenne and green chilies.  I was happy with the results.  I could definitely have added a bit more spice, but I always err on the side of too little.  People wanting more can always sprinkle extra.
My other large change was that I thought this had WAY too many noodles for 1 meal.  I doubled the meat and added beans and called it 2 meals.  I put 1/2 in the freezer.  I've done that a lot this past week.  Ought to make for an easy week of cooking later on - maybe the first week back to school or something when life gets busy.  :)
This meal could easily be made vegetarian by omitting the beef and adding another can of beans.

yield - at least 12 servings (I made it and froze the left overs - may have even been more than 1/2.)

Ingredients

• 1 package (16 oz) elbow macaroni
• 1 pound lean ground beef (I use pre-cooked)
• 1 15 oz. can pinto beans
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 can (6 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (I like the petite diced)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin 
• 1 cup Cheddar cheese (I used more - sorry to say I don't know how much - probalby more like 2 -2.5 cups)

Directions

1. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and set aside
2. Meanwhile, cook ground beef in a skillet (if not using pre-cooked you may want to add some diced onion, salt and pepper) or toss pre-cooked in a skillet with garlic powder, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and milk.  Stir in cayenne and cumin and simmer for aobut 10 minutes.
3. Add macaroni and cheese to the beef mixture and stir to combine/melt the cheese. 

Cinnamon Chicken

Here is another recipe from $5 dinner mom.  I didn't do too bad at actually following this one - only very minor adaptations.  It turned out pretty good.  One of the kids said it had too many spices.  True there were quite the combination of flavors with Italian seasoning and cinnamon, but it was good for something different.  I also liked the pasta she served to the side - it was really just pasta with Parmesan, but I also added the stewed tomatoes from the chicken and chopped them up a bit.  It was tasty.

Possible changes for next time -The original recipe called for 1 cup of water in the bottom of the slow cooker.  I debated putting none, and probably should have.  As it was I doubled the recipe and only put maybe 1/3 cup, but I didn't drain my stewed tomatoes.  Next time I think I'd not add water and add either tomato sauce, or, swap out the stewed tomatoes with 1 can crushed tomatoes and 1 can diced - mixing the Italian seasoning into the tomato sauce before pouring over the chicken??)  Those are just my suggestions for myself.  I'd love to see the sauce be something thicker that could go with the noodles.  (Although I have to say the noodles were quite tasty with the Parmesan because it melted on there.  Yum!
Sorry about the picture today.  I had some much more appetizing servings, but of course I forgot to take a picture.  This was the only un-eaten plate.  The left overs were all falling off the bone.  (Not a bad thing flavor wise, but not pretty for a picture. :)

Here is how I made it this week.  It served our family of 6 with left overs.  Total servings 7-8.

Ingredients

• 1 family size package chicken legs (3-4 lbs)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• salt and pepper
• 4 whole garlic cloves
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 2 cans (15 oz) stewed tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
• 1 package linguine pasta
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1.     Remove skin from chicken (I use my kitchen scissors.)  Place chicken in the bottom of a 5 quart slow cooker.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, salt and pepper.  Place the whole garlic clover, onion pieces, stewed tomatoes and Italian seasoning on and around the chicken.  

2.     Set the slow cooker on low and cook for 8 hours.

3.     Near the end of cooking time, cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain.  Return to pot and stir in Parmesan cheese.  

4.     Serve.  (I served the chicken with the pasta to the side, and tomatoes and onions to the side of that to be eaten with the chicken or the noodles.  Personally I chopped up my tomatoes and stirred them into the pasta and really liked it that way.)

Rainforest cookies

This recipe came from a story book we checked out of the library.  It was about the rain forest, and had a cookie recipe at the end.  I made a couple of changes - one just a typo correction, and I added more coconut.  These were a bit on the cakey side for me for cookies - I assume it must be the addition of banana because other than that they are a basic chocolate chip cookie.  I liked the flavor, but if I'm going to waste the calories, and 2 sticks of butter I'd rather the cookie seem like a cookie more than a bread.  I could have just made banana bread - would have had more bananas and less butter.  But that is me being silly - they are super tasty, and I do want to eat a ton once I start eating, but then again I'm a cookie monster.  :)

Ingredients

• 2 to 2 1/4 cups flour (I actually used 1 cup wheat and 1.25 cups white)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 stick butter -(oops I used 2.  Maybe that was my problem. Now I'll have to make them again.)
• 1 medium ripe banana
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 2 cups chocolate chips (12 oz)
• 1 cup chopped cashews

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.  combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and set aside.
2. beat butter, banana, and sugars until creamy
3. beat in eggs and then add coconut.
4. Add flour mixture using extra flour if needed.
5. Stir in chocolate chips and cashews.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet (I always cover mine in parchment or a baking mat.)
7. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.