Vegetable Ribbon Pasta

Sorry Steph, it's another dairy recipe :) I swear I have non-dairy ones somewhere...

Vegetable Ribbon Pasta (adapted from Great Taste, Low Fat)

2 small zucchini

2 small yellow summer squash

2 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow or sweet onion, sliced thin

1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips (i just did two green bell peppers)

1/2 pound baby portabello mushrooms

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup bottled Italian dressing

1/2 cup chicken broth (reduced-sodium is a good idea)

8 oz fettuccine

2 oz Neufchatel cheese (reduced fat cream cheese), cut into small pieces

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp black pepper

salt to taste

Place the chicken breasts and Italian dressing in a plastic ziploc bag and put in refrigerator for about two hours to marinate. When ready to start cooking, saute mushrooms in a large, deep skillet in 1 tbsp olive oil until softened and browned. Set aside. Remove the chicken breasts from the bag and slice into 1/2 inch thick strips. Cook in the same skillet until done through. Set aside. With a vegetable peeler, cut the zucchini and yellow squash lengthwise into ribbons. Set aside. In the skillet, heat the oil until hot but not smoking over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5-8 minutes. Stir in peppers and broth and cook until peppers are softened, about 6 minutes more. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta until just tender (al dente). Drain well. Add the zucchini and yellow squash to the skillet and cook until the squash are tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cream cheese, milk, Parmesan, and black pepper and cook until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes longer. Add the pasta and toss to coat. Serve hot.

Enjoy! It's delicious.

Burgoo

I know I promised I would post more often, but life has been all over the place lately. When I do get a chance to sit down, I usually end up napping or reading a book or watching Gilmore Girls instead of posting. I'm sorry. That's just the way I am... I'm pregnant with baby #2, and life takes more energy than normal these days.

BURGOO! Have you ever heard of Burgoo? It's a stew that originates in Kentucky, also known as "Roadkill Stew." Doesn't that sound wonderful?? Don't worry, I didn't run out to the street and pick up an armadillo for this one. I used genuine, grocery store meats, thanks very much.

The recipe that inspired me to make Burgoo can be found here, but this is what I did:

Burgoo (this is a really rough set of instructions more than a recipe)

I had leftovers from a crock pot pork roast that contained about 1 1/2 pounds pork, 20ish oz of diced tomatoes, 1/2 pound carrots, Lipton's Onion Soup Mix, garlic powder, and black pepper. And one sliced onion. That all comes into play here shortly.

First, I browned 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, 4 bone-in chicken thighs, and 2 thin pork chops in about 4 tbsp oil in a giant stock pot. When I say giant, I mean 12 quart. Giant. Oh, and I lightly salted those meats before I threw them in.

Next, I took out all the browned meats and put them in a bowl to make room for 1/2 pound sliced carrots, 2 large chopped bell peppers, and 1 large chopped onion. I cooked those until they softened, then added in about 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp black pepper. I continued to cook those for a couple more minutes, then I tossed in the meats I had browned, the leftover diced tomatoes and juices from my crock pot roast, the leftover carrots I'd also sliced, 8 cups of water, 4 chicken bouillon cubes, and 4 beef bouillon cubes. I gave that all a good stir, then I brought it up to a simmer and let it simmer for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so.

Next, I took the chicken out and pulled it off the bone. It didn't take much; it basically collapsed off. Then, I added about 16 oz frozen corn, 1/2 pound frozen okra, the shredded pork roast leftover from the crock pot, and 1/2 pound fresh shelled cream peas (also known as conch peas). I brought all that back up to a simmer and let it do its thing for about 30 minutes.

After all that, I tossed in another cup of water because it looked too thick for me. Then I poured in about 6 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and brought it back up to a simmer for another 20 minutes.

At this point, the hubby came home from work and I promptly went into our room and hid for 15 minutes because I was exhausted and needed me time. But you don't have to do that if you make this. I needed it. My feet were swelling.

I made some good Southern cornbread and we ate the stew on top of leftover mashed potatoes. It was really good, BUT here's what I'm doing today: since I think there's way too much meat in this stew in relation to everything else, I'm going to make another 6 cups of broth, add another 1/2 cup sliced carrots, 2 more bell peppers, another onion, more okra, and more corn. I'm going to wish I had more cream peas. But I don't. I'm going to let all that get all soft and good, then I'm going to add it to the vat again and toss in a few cups of cooked brown rice (we're out of potatoes now). Then we're going to have it again and I'm going to hope it's a better consistency for my sensitive pregnant stomach.

Tonight, I'll add a picture to this post. I forgot last night. My feet were too big and I was way too tired. Maybe I'll even format this into a real recipe.

But only if you comment and tell me you want me to.

:)

I love...

Hi, it's me again.

For anyone who reads this, I wanted to let you know about a fun give away over at Make It and Love It. She's giving away the watchband of your choice from Bejeweled Beads, and there are some super cute ones! Check it out :)

P.S. That squash casserole I told you about freezes beautifully. Thought you ought to know.

remember me?

So I'm really terrible at keeping up with this blog.

Let me explain why.

I feel like, in order for a recipe to be interesting, it needs a picture. That's just how I am. I require my cookbooks to be FILLED with pictures. We eat with our eyes, truly. If I don't know what it looks like, I don't know if I'll like it or not.

Therefore, the majority of my slacker-ness with this blog can be attributed to the fact that when I cook food, I'm STARVING and can't be bothered with finding the camera and holding my squirming child at bay and snapping a few pictures before I devour my yummy concoction. True story. Now you know all my weaknesses: extreme and constant hunger, impatience, and lack of brain organization.

Oh, and also, I really never use measuring implements when I cook. Ever. Unless I'm baking. Or making Indian food (God bless the Indians for their food). So it's hard for me to remember proportions of how much of what I threw into what I make if I'm not following a recipe. Really, I'm just scatterbrained and the kitchen is my creative outlet where I can be my crazy self.

Before I tell you my life story and get you more concerned about my well being, let me dive into the reason I'm updating in the first place.

Picture!

Please excuse the eaten corner there. Famished, remember?

This is Squash Casserole. Now, if you hate squash, I would like you to rethink your life and then move on to later in this post, because you'll hate this. If you're indifferent to squash, you will like this. If you LOVE squash like yours truly, you will LOVE this like yours truly.

Squash Casserole is one of the delicious creations of my dear MawMaw. MawMaw is currently in the Critical Care Unit of our local hospital and has been for going on two weeks now. Before that, she was in the hospital for a week. It has been an extremely difficult month for everyone in our family. Lots of prayers. We still need them.

MawMaw is one of those cooks that you just can't beat. You just can't. Simple, southern, country, unhealthy but oh so delicious food just comes from her kitchen in a seemingly effortless flow. Always has.

Squash Casserole

modified from MawMaw

3/4 cup diced cheddar cheese (sharp is best)

1 1/2 cups cooked squash, mashed (it's really good if you use a mixture of squash and zucchini)

1 cup crushed cracker crumbs

2 tbsp parsley

3 tbsp chopped bell pepper (red or green or mix)

3 tbsp chopped yellow onion

3 tbsp melted unsalted butter

1 cup milk

2 eggs, well beaten

2 slices cooked bacon, chopped

black pepper and seasoned salt to taste

Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes, uncovered.

Seriously. Get up and make this. Now. It's delicious.

To make up for my ridiculous lack of posting, here are a few more recipes to ease my guilt. Sorry, no pictures on these ones.

Lasagna

1 lb ground beef (we only buy lean or extra lean)
1 yellow onion, chopped fine
1 green bell pepper, chopped fine
*to add veggies that you really won't be able to taste but that your body will appreciate, i suggest grating (like with a cheese grater) 1 small carrot and 1 small zucchini and adding it to this mixture. really, you won't be able to tell and it's good for you :)*
dried oregano (about 1/2 tsp)
dried basil (about 1/4 tsp)
salt and pepper to taste
Brown these together. Add:

1 small can tomato paste
1 can (14 oz) tomato sauce
garlic powder (i do about 1/2 tsp ish)
Simmer for 30 minutes or so. You want this to be rather thick, but if you need to add a little more tomato sauce, do. Just don't make it at all runny. Thick = tasty.

You will also need:
a lot of lasagna noodles (we do whole wheat and they're wonderful. NOT cardboard, don't roll your eyes at me)
1 16 oz carton of cottage cheese (reduced fat tastes the same, but DON'T get fat free. it tastes like soap)
1-2 cups mozzarella cheese (please use fresh. it's amazing. if you use fresh, it's impossible to grate, so just tear into small pieces)
1/2 cup ish sharp cheddar cheese, grated
lots of Parmesan cheese, grated (again, fresh is amazing. but expensive)

Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions. When the noodles are finished cooking, spread them out on wax paper. Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam. Layer the lasagna in this order: noodles, 1/2 of the sauce, 1/2 of the cottage cheese, 1/2 of the mozzarella, 1/2 of the cheddar. Repeat. Ok, really, layer it how you want. Sometimes it's fun to just do lots of layers (as long as you have enough noodles). Sometimes I'll do a layer of noodles, then meat sauce, then noodles, then the cheeses, then repeat. Just have fun with it. The important factor is how you end. I like to end with noodles on top and then TONS of cheese, mostly Parmesan. My hubby, however, likes to end with sauce and then tons of cheese. It's up to you. Ending with noodles gives you a nice crunchy crust on top. Ending with sauce kind of makes it all nice and gooey. Really, save most of your Parmesan for the top, no matter how you do the layers.

After you've deliberated on the meaning of life, the universe, and the importance of lasagna layering, bake your yumminess at 350 for 30-35 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Mexican Casserole

This is a standby in our house. We got the idea from the side of a Mission Tortilla Chips bag.

1 lb ground beef
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 small onion, diced
Taco seasoning (or I use a mixture of chili powder, black pepper, garlic, cumin, and seasoned salt)
1 can cream of mushroom soup + ½ can milk
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
2/3 cup shredded pepperjack cheese
1 tsp cilantro
Tortilla chips, crushed

Brown the meat and onion together in a skillet. Add the diced tomatoes and seasoning and let simmer. In a medium saucepan, combine soup, milk, cheese, green chiles, and cilantro. Stir over medium heat until cheese is melted and soup is warmed through. Lightly spray a 9x9 baking dish with Pam and sprinkle a layer of tortilla chips on the bottom. Spoon about ½ the meat mixture on top, followed by ½ the soup mixture. Sprinkle another layer of tortilla chips, followed by meat then soup. Bake at 350 for 20-30 until bubbly. *I like to save the crumbs nobody wants from the bottom of tortilla chip bags to use in the recipe. It doesn’t matter if they’re a little stale, you can’t tell in the casserole. Also, you can do more layers than I say, you just have to repeat the process and use less in each layer.

Alfredo Sauce
2 tbsp butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp parsley
¾ cup Parmesan cheese (the good, expensive stuff is best in this, but the normal sprinkle kind works, too)

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the heavy cream and increase heat to medium high, stirring constantly. Heat until the cream is slightly bubbling. Stir in garlic and parsley. Add cheese a little at a time, letting it melt before you add more and stirring constantly. Heat and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is warmed through. Serve over your favorite pasta. *This is REALLY good if you add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and some sliced grilled chicken. Delicious.

Ok, so that covers me for another month, right? :) Just kidding. I'll try to be better, I promise. Leave me a comment if you stop by! That's also incentive for me to actually post. If no one reads the thing, why bother?

Food. What else?

I haven't posted in forever. I think it's partially because I don't believe anyone actually reads this thing. Sigh.

Moving on.

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately. A lot. I've had some really horrendous flops and some very triumphant successes. Flops include Naan and Whole Wheat Sourdough breads. Not good. Not good at all. Of course, it's highly probable that they were flops due to my own usual inadequacy when it comes to baking. They are both from cookingbread.com, the same website that I've gotten really great recipes from. Case in point: a success, French bread. FABULOUS. I used it to make Pioneer Woman's Olive Cheese bread. Oh. My. Gosh.

Olive Cheese Bread

adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

1 loaf French bread, sliced in half horizontally

1 14 oz can black olives, drained and coarsely chopped

1/2 green bell pepper

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 cup mayonnaise

approx 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

Mix the olives, peppers, mayo, and cheese together in a bowl. Spread the mix onto the French bread and bake on 350 for 20-30 minutes. Slice and devour.

My mother-in-law gave me The Pioneer Woman Cooks for Christmas, and I've already read it cover to cover. I know, I'm a nerd. The pictures in it are amazing! My maternal grandmother gave me the family cookbook for Christmas, for which I was ecstatic. It has so many of her fantastic recipes in it, I couldn't wait to get started.

This next recipe is a fusion between the Pioneer Woman and my MawMaw.

Meatballs

(meatballs from MawMaw, sauce from Pioneer Woman, adaptations made)

1 lb ground beef

1/2 yellow onion, diced fine

1/2 cup saltine crackers, crushed

1/3-1/2 cup milk

1 egg

seasoned salt

black pepper

1 cup ketchup

1tbsp sugar

3 tbsp white vinegar

3 tbsp worcestershire sauce

several dashes of hot sauce

dash of garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Shape into balls and put into a 9x13 baking dish. Mix the last 6 ingredients together and drizzle evenly over the meatballs. Place in oven and bake for 45-50 minutes.

The Olive Bread and the Meatballs and salads were our dinner tonight. Delish! as Rachael Ray would say :)

Many more cooking adventures are going to occur this week. I'll try to be better about keeping my imaginary audience posted.

Chicken Parmigiana

Do you know who the Pioneer Woman is? Oh, if you don't, stop reading right now and go to her website, www.thepioneerwoman.com. Seriously. You'll be glad you did. I love her. My favorite discovery on there was "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels." If you have several hours (ha!), read the whole saga in one go. If not, it will no doubt keep you coming back for more.

Anyway, PW has some great recipes on her site. One of those is Chicken Parmigiana. Now, I personally like Eggplant Parmigiana better than Chicken, but my hubby is kind of anti-eggplant. Anything that resembles squash makes him shudder a little. So I found PW's recipe and it looks great, it just wasn't quite what I was in the mood for. Sounded a little plain for me. Plus it called for red wine, and we're LDS, so no alcohol lying around over here. So I embellished. I just used what I had in the kitchen at the time, so really feel free to omit things or change things around. That's what recipes are for, right? But do check out her recipe; I'm going to try it one of these days for sure.

Chicken Parmigiana
Serves 2

2 medium to large chicken breasts, pounded flat
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup butter and garlic flavored croutons (wait for it...)
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 egg
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
8 oz (ish? Hubby cooked the pasta when I wasn't looking) whole wheat angel hair pasta
1 jar Paul Newman brand marina sauce (seriously. try it.)
1/2 cup canned or fresh diced tomatoes
1/2 tbsp dried basil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese

*Tip: To avoid splashing salmonella germs all over your kitchen while pounding the chicken (gross!), put the chicken breasts either in a gallon ziploc bag or between a few sheets of plastic wrap. I prefer the bag. Then pound away and revel in the fact that you will NOT have to bleach everything in your kitchen. Hallelujah.

Pound the chicken flat. Place the croutons in a small ziploc bag and crush. On a plate, combine flour, crouton crumbs, and bread crumbs. Whisk egg in a shallow bowl.

Meanwhile, heat butter and olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. Dip chicken in flour mixture, then egg mixture, then back in the flour mixture. Place in skillet and let it turn nice and brown on each side. If your chicken isn't cooked through all the way in the pan once both sides are browned (It depends on the thickness of the breast. Use a meat thermometer. Since we're avoiding salmonella today, your chicken needs to reach 165 degrees to be considered safe), put it on a cookie sheet, cover it in Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and stick it in a 350 degree oven until done. If it does get done in the skillet, add some cheese on it and put it in the oven for just a couple minutes anyway, just to melt the cheese.

While your chicken is finishing in the oven, cook your pasta to al dente. Using that same buttery nonstick skillet, add that jar of marina sauce, the tomatoes, basil, garlic, and chili powder. Let cook on medium low heat for about 5 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. Go ahead and dump some Parmesan cheese in there, too.

Once the pasta is done, here's how plating goes: pasta, sprinkle some Parmesan, spoon some sauce (about 1/2 cup), place chicken breast on top, and drizzle about 1/4 cup more sauce on top. Dig in.

FROSTING!

Ok, so you know how that little "About Me" section to the right over there says that I like to cook healthy food for my family?

I lied.

I love to cook. Really I do. But healthy food all the time? How boring! I know, I know, if you use fresh and organic ingredients, healty food is just as delicious as its more deadly counterparts, but come on! Sometimes, you have to splurge.

Seriously, let's just say that the food you eat did not influence your health in any way. No heart problems, no high cholesterol, no diabetes, no drooping energy levels, no obesity, nothing. Let's just say that you can eat what you want without it hurting you. At all.

Now that we've established that glorious phenomenon, if you were given a choice between two plates of food - one piled high with french fries and a double cheeseburger (the kind with BBQ sauce and onion rings on it, praise heaven), the other consisting of celery, carrot sticks, hummus, a salad with no dressing, and maybe an apple - which would you choose?

DUH! Bring on the greasy cheeseburger and don't skimp on those onion rings under the bun! I like hummus as well as the next girl, but come on! There's a reason Americans are the most obese people in the world. We invented the cheeseburger! Heaven on a plate! Seriously.

Sadly, we must be cautious of the foods we consume. I think the epitome of the obesity epidemic in America can be summed up by changes on Sesame Street. Remember Cookie Monster? His favorite food - and all we viewers ever saw him consume - was, obviously, cookies. Now what does he say about his former obsession? "Cookies are a sometimes food."

Makes me want to cry.

Now, since you're not here for my food rantings, but for actual recipes, here is a recipe for a *sniff* "sometimes" food: Buttercream Frosting. Yum.

I got this recipe from http://www.bakerella.com/ - a fabulous site with some really cute baking ideas and recipes. I am, by no means, a baker at all, so the cake that I put under this delicious frosting was a box cake. Heinous, I know. Who has time for homemade cake AND frosting? On just a normal day? Not me.

Buttercream Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb 10x powdered sugar

1-3 tsp milk, half and half, or cream

Using a mixer, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Add sugar gradually, making sure that sugar and butter cream together before you add more. Add milk one teaspoon at a time until you get the right texture (I only used about 1 1/2 tsp). Add food coloring for desired color.

*WARNING!* For real, this frosting just about killed me. I have hypoglycemia, and eating this cake with this amazing frosting put me over the edge to not okay-ness. Really. So proceed with caution. Extreme yumminess awaits.