Shall we take another walk down memory lane? I don't connect my childhood with a lot of food, I am not really sure how we survived but someone cooked something. I have a few recipes that remind me of my childhood like puffed carmel corn and dill dip, this is one of them. Honestly, the only way I like this BBQ sauce is with chicken on the bone. It's probably a "memory" thing we never ate boneless skinless chicken breasts when I was a kid (and if we did, I don't remember them). My husband is not a chicken on the bone kind of person, no matter how amazing the BBQ is or how I prepare them, it's just not his thing. He will suck it up from time to time just to satisfy my need to reminisce in my childhood. He's weird, cause as soon as I pick the "meat" off the bone to use it for something else he'll eat it...whatever...if you've seen him, you know he's not starving (love you babe).
2 pound of bone in chicken (use whatever is on sale-I used chicken legs that I picked up for $1.49
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup diced onions
4 Tablespoons sugar
pepper
3 Tablespoons vinegar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in pan. Bake for about 45 minutes uncovered. After about 40 minutes place the ingredients for the BBQ sauce in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes. Turn off. Remove pan of chicken from the oven. Cover the chicken with the sauce. Bake for an additional 15 minutes until chicken is cooked through. I usually double the BBQ sauce recipe to have extra for dipping. YUMMY and it always brings me back to my childhood.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Marinated Mushrooms
Way back in December 2006, I attended a work gathering and someone brought these mushrooms. I am a mushroom girl. These would be great with steak, chicken, or used as an appetizer. They were served as an appetizer for the work gathering. I brought these along to a pool party where the main dish were kabobs. Smashing if I do say so myself...these are also not light, I'm sure you could find ways to make them lighter but I didn't really try. Enjoy.
![]()
2 sticks butter (I know they must be good with all that butter)
1 chicken bullion cube
1 bottle Italian dressing
1 packet Italian seasoning dressing mix
3 lbs of whole mushrooms, cleaned
Put first four ingredients in crockpot, stir. Add the mushrooms. Heat on low for 8 hours. Stir once or twice.
2 sticks butter (I know they must be good with all that butter)
1 chicken bullion cube
1 bottle Italian dressing
1 packet Italian seasoning dressing mix
3 lbs of whole mushrooms, cleaned
Put first four ingredients in crockpot, stir. Add the mushrooms. Heat on low for 8 hours. Stir once or twice.
Pepperoni Pasta Salad
Although there are many recipes out there just like this one...this resulted from cleaning out the fridge.
15 pepperoni, cut into quarters
3 slices string cheese, sliced
3 cups of cooked pasta
1 cup Italian dressing
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup broccoli, chopped
Cook the pasta according to the package directions. While the pasta is cooking cut carrots, broccoli, cheese, and pepperoni to put in a bowl. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Add to the mixture and pour on the Italian dressing. Toss together. Either serve immediately or allow to marinate in the fridge. Which ever way it's good.
15 pepperoni, cut into quarters
3 slices string cheese, sliced
3 cups of cooked pasta
1 cup Italian dressing
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup broccoli, chopped
Cook the pasta according to the package directions. While the pasta is cooking cut carrots, broccoli, cheese, and pepperoni to put in a bowl. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Add to the mixture and pour on the Italian dressing. Toss together. Either serve immediately or allow to marinate in the fridge. Which ever way it's good.
Berry Syrup
Every summer mid to late June, we go strawberry picking. Most years I make freezer jam, however, this year I am not going to since I still have some left from making 4 batches last year. This year, my son also decided that he no longer liked peanut butter and jelly or jelly for that matter. Since both my husband and myself don't really eat much jelly either, that leaves one precious little girl. There is no way she can eat 4 batches of freezer jam, although she's trying. Anyway I had a flat of fresh picked strawberries so I decided to prepare this syrup...it worked out perfect since we had run out of maple syrup. Of course, this is from my new favorite cookbook The $5 Dinner Mom Breakfast and Lunch Cookbook by Erin Chase.
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries (I used fresh picked strawberries)
3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon sugar
Prepare the syrup by placing the berries and honey into a blender or food processor. Puree, streaming in 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until it reaches the desired consistency.
Serve drizzled over blueberry breakfast bake or pancakes.
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries (I used fresh picked strawberries)
3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon sugar
Prepare the syrup by placing the berries and honey into a blender or food processor. Puree, streaming in 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until it reaches the desired consistency.
Serve drizzled over blueberry breakfast bake or pancakes.
Blueberry Breakfast Bake
Another great recipe from The $5 Dinner Mom Breakfast and Lunch Cookbook by Erin Chase. I just can't get enough from this cookbook, I have not been disappointed with any recipe. This book is from the library, but it might be worth me picking up if I can find it at the right price, cheap!
6 slices stale French bread or banana blueberry bread
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
8 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 8 x 8 (I actually used a 9 x11) glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Place the slices of bread into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the blue berries around and on top of the bread slices. I decided to use the blueberries even though the bread had blue berries in it...you can't get enough fruit when you're trying to be healthy, right?
In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. Pour the mixture over the bread and blueberries in the baking dish. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. For best, cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Bake the casserole in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the eggs have cooked through and the top is golden brown. Let cool before cutting and serving.
Top with maple syrup or strawberry syrup.
6 slices stale French bread or banana blueberry bread
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
8 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 8 x 8 (I actually used a 9 x11) glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Place the slices of bread into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the blue berries around and on top of the bread slices. I decided to use the blueberries even though the bread had blue berries in it...you can't get enough fruit when you're trying to be healthy, right?
In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. Pour the mixture over the bread and blueberries in the baking dish. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. For best, cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Bake the casserole in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the eggs have cooked through and the top is golden brown. Let cool before cutting and serving.
Top with maple syrup or strawberry syrup.
Banana Blueberry Bread
So I am still on the look out for the perfect, yet easy banana bread. I have tried banana bread #1 and banana bread #2. Neither one of those were as delicious as my go to recipe but that doesn't mean I wasn't still trying to find the perfect one. Here is my 3rd try at an alternative to my usual "go to" banana bread. The recipe is from The $5 Dinner Mom Breakfast and Lunch Cookbook by Erin Chase. According to this recipe, the cost is about $3.30 for 2 loaves of bread. This is great, I loved this recipe. Since it made 2 loaves, I was able to "flip" this into a blueberry breakfast bake.
3 cups all purpose white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
3 bananas, mashed
2 cups blueberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, beat together the eggs, sugars, oil, vanilla, milk, and the mashed bananas until well combined. Mix in the flour mixture until a smooth batter forms. Gently fold in the blueberries by hand.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake the loaves in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the centers of the loaves comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack before serving.
Makes 2 loaves
3 cups all purpose white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
3 bananas, mashed
2 cups blueberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, beat together the eggs, sugars, oil, vanilla, milk, and the mashed bananas until well combined. Mix in the flour mixture until a smooth batter forms. Gently fold in the blueberries by hand.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake the loaves in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the centers of the loaves comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack before serving.
Makes 2 loaves
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Sweetness Saturday
Another day, another dollar, Isn't there a saying like that? Well it's Saturday and it's a hot one. As usual this was another great day.
It was so beautiful out. Tonight I ate dinner on the deck with these 2 characters, who shall remain nameless. Part of their faces have been hidden to protect their identity. Aren't they sweet?
![]()
![]()
On this amazing Saturday, I hit the jackpot in the "meat" department. Not only do I shop clearance clothes racks but I try to hit the clearance meat racks, too. I scored some pretty sweet deals of boneless, skinless chicken thighs for $1.00 per pound, pork stew meat for $1.99 per pound, and some thin, sirloin steak for $2.50 per pound. I bought the meats and froze them in one pound packages for later use, however, I kept out a few of the steaks to grill up for myself. As I was driving home, day dreaming focused on the road, I remembered a great recipe from my go to meal site, these cowboy steaks with shallot butter.
![]()
Doesn't that look super SWEET? It's so yummy. The kids and Scott are not really steak people. I had picked up some clearance garlic, Parmesan bread for less than $1.00. I made the kids ham and cheese on one half of the loaf. Scott isn't a big plain steak person but will eat it once in a while so I thought I'd make it more his style by turning it into a cheesy, cowboy steak sandwich. It looked good. I won't really know until he eats it tomorrow night for dinner at work. If I was eating this, I would have put sauteed onions, peppers, and mushrooms on this with less cheese.
![]()
Although there are many things to be thankful for today...I am most thankful for my amazing children. Yes, they drive me nuts at times and once in a while I want to try to give them away sell them, the legal ramifications would just be too great though. At the end of the day, I am always amazed at SWEET it feels to be their mommy and I would not trade one single moment of my life for any other. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday...I hope you had at least a few sweet moments today.
It was so beautiful out. Tonight I ate dinner on the deck with these 2 characters, who shall remain nameless. Part of their faces have been hidden to protect their identity. Aren't they sweet?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)