These are really yummy mashed potatoes. The Yukon Gold potatoes make these extra yummy!
Mashed Potatoes
6 to 8 servings
6 medium russet or Yukon Gold Potatoes
coarse salt
3 Tbs milk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 to 4 Tbs buttere
salt and ground black pepper
1. Peel and cut the potatoes into 2 inch chunks. Put them in a large saucepan with salted cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, cover slightly, and cook until they are tender when pierced with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain completely and cover to keep hot.
2. Heat the milk and butter in a small pan or in a measuring cup in the microwave.
3. With the hot potatoes in the same pan or in a large bowl, mix with an electric mixer on moderate speed or by hand with a potato masher. Add the milk and butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Spinach Mandarin Salad
2 cups spinach
Romaine Lettuce
1 /3 cup feta cheese
1 small can of mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Poppy seed dressing
1. Tear spinach and lettuce into pieces and put into a large salad bowl. Add the cheese, mandarin oranges, and almonds.
2. Just before serving, add just enough dressing to moisten the ingredients, annd toss to coat.
You can also use different fruits in place of the mandarin oranges. It is very yummy with strawberries, red seedless grapes, dried cranberries, apples and blueberries.
Romaine Lettuce
1 /3 cup feta cheese
1 small can of mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Poppy seed dressing
1. Tear spinach and lettuce into pieces and put into a large salad bowl. Add the cheese, mandarin oranges, and almonds.
2. Just before serving, add just enough dressing to moisten the ingredients, annd toss to coat.
You can also use different fruits in place of the mandarin oranges. It is very yummy with strawberries, red seedless grapes, dried cranberries, apples and blueberries.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Three Cheese Chicken Quesadillas
Another yummy recipe from the Food Nanny.
Three Cheese Chicken Quesadillas
6 servings
1 lb boneless skinless chicken
6 taco size flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack
1/2 cup shredded pepper jack
Toppings:
shredded iceburg lettuce
1 avocado, sliced lengthwise
sour cream
salsa
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Saute the chicken cut into strips with olive oil and onion. Lay out the tortillas and scoop 1/2 cup of the chicken on one half of each torilla.
3. Combine the cheeses and sprinkle 1/3 cup over the chicken on each tortilla. Fold each tortilla in half, secure it with a toothpick, place on the prepared baking sheet, and bake for 6 to 10 minutes. Carefully turn the quesadillas and bake until barely brown, about 5 minutes. Discard the toothpicks.
4. Cut each quesadilla into three wedges and serve with lettuce, avocado, sour cream, and salsa.
You can make this meatless by using refried beans instead of chicken!
Three Cheese Chicken Quesadillas
6 servings
1 lb boneless skinless chicken
6 taco size flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack
1/2 cup shredded pepper jack
Toppings:
shredded iceburg lettuce
1 avocado, sliced lengthwise
sour cream
salsa
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Saute the chicken cut into strips with olive oil and onion. Lay out the tortillas and scoop 1/2 cup of the chicken on one half of each torilla.
3. Combine the cheeses and sprinkle 1/3 cup over the chicken on each tortilla. Fold each tortilla in half, secure it with a toothpick, place on the prepared baking sheet, and bake for 6 to 10 minutes. Carefully turn the quesadillas and bake until barely brown, about 5 minutes. Discard the toothpicks.
4. Cut each quesadilla into three wedges and serve with lettuce, avocado, sour cream, and salsa.
You can make this meatless by using refried beans instead of chicken!
Meal Planning
I owe my new found joy of cooking to the Food Nanny.
The great thing about the Food Nanny is that she helps you plan out your meals, and the cookbook is organized by themes. She reccomends that you have a food theme for each day of the week. My kids are really excited about this and got super stoked when looking at our menu for next week! They are excited to help in the kitchen too. Since Nic has decided he either wants to be a baseball player or a chef when he grows up...he is the most excited about helping in the kitchen! We will see how long that lasts.
I printed out the Menu plan from the Food Nanny's website. I went through the cookbook which is organized by these themes and built our menu for the next month.
Then I printed out the shopping list from the Food Nanny site, which is organized by product type, why did I never think to do this before??? That shopping list is what I have been needing for a long time...so much better than my long list of unorganized stuff and having to run all over the store when I get to the bottom of the list and realize I forgot something at the back of the store. (last time I was at the grocery store I had to run back to places I had already been like 3 times! UGH!)
The great thing about the Food Nanny is that she helps you plan out your meals, and the cookbook is organized by themes. She reccomends that you have a food theme for each day of the week. My kids are really excited about this and got super stoked when looking at our menu for next week! They are excited to help in the kitchen too. Since Nic has decided he either wants to be a baseball player or a chef when he grows up...he is the most excited about helping in the kitchen! We will see how long that lasts.
I printed out the Menu plan from the Food Nanny's website. I went through the cookbook which is organized by these themes and built our menu for the next month.
Then I printed out the shopping list from the Food Nanny site, which is organized by product type, why did I never think to do this before??? That shopping list is what I have been needing for a long time...so much better than my long list of unorganized stuff and having to run all over the store when I get to the bottom of the list and realize I forgot something at the back of the store. (last time I was at the grocery store I had to run back to places I had already been like 3 times! UGH!)
Beef and Curly Noodles
I tried this new recipe. It doesn't exactly look pretty...but it sure was YUMMY! Everyone loved it, including my picky eater!
Beef and Curly Noodles
Ingredients: (I loved this cause the ingredients are things I always have in my cabinets!)
1 lb ground beef or ground venison
2 3 oz packages of ramen noodles (I used chicken but expect any flavor would work fine)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn
1 cup of water
Heat a large skillet to med-high heat. Crumble the ground meet and brown, stirring frequently.
Drain off grease.
Break up the noodles before opening by crunching them on the counter (careful cause the end might burst)
Stir in the flavor packets from ramen noodles.
Add tomatoes, corn (with their juices).
Add water.
Add broken up noodles to the skillet.
Bring to a boil, then reduve heat to love, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Stir occasionally to break up any noodle clumps.
Beef and Curly Noodles
Ingredients: (I loved this cause the ingredients are things I always have in my cabinets!)
1 lb ground beef or ground venison
2 3 oz packages of ramen noodles (I used chicken but expect any flavor would work fine)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn
1 cup of water
Heat a large skillet to med-high heat. Crumble the ground meet and brown, stirring frequently.
Drain off grease.
Break up the noodles before opening by crunching them on the counter (careful cause the end might burst)
Stir in the flavor packets from ramen noodles.
Add tomatoes, corn (with their juices).
Add water.
Add broken up noodles to the skillet.
Bring to a boil, then reduve heat to love, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Stir occasionally to break up any noodle clumps.
Eggplant Parmesian
Eggplant Parmesian
2 med eggplants (sliced and fried)
2 cans of Italian tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
salt
Mozarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese (I prefer fresh)
1 1/2 tsp oregano
2 1/2 tsp butter
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Line the bottom of a buttered baking dish with a single layer of fried eggplant slices. Top this layer with chopped tomatoes. Add a pinch of salt, a generous sprinkling of mozzarella and a tablespoon or parmesian. Sprinkle a pinch of oregano and cover with another layer of sliced eggplant. Continue building layers of eggplant, tomatoes, cheese until you have used up all the eggplant. The top layer should be eggplant. Sprinkle the remaning parmesian cheese over it and dot with butter. Place in the upper third of the preheated ove.
Bake for 20 minutes. Pull out the pan. Press with the back of a spoon to check if there is an excess amount of liquid. If there is, tip the pan and draw it off with the spoon. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Allow it to settle and partly cool before serving. It should not be piping hot.
Note: this is a great dish to prep ahead and refrigerate. It also makes for fabulous leftovers!
2 med eggplants (sliced and fried)
2 cans of Italian tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
salt
Mozarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese (I prefer fresh)
1 1/2 tsp oregano
2 1/2 tsp butter
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Line the bottom of a buttered baking dish with a single layer of fried eggplant slices. Top this layer with chopped tomatoes. Add a pinch of salt, a generous sprinkling of mozzarella and a tablespoon or parmesian. Sprinkle a pinch of oregano and cover with another layer of sliced eggplant. Continue building layers of eggplant, tomatoes, cheese until you have used up all the eggplant. The top layer should be eggplant. Sprinkle the remaning parmesian cheese over it and dot with butter. Place in the upper third of the preheated ove.
Bake for 20 minutes. Pull out the pan. Press with the back of a spoon to check if there is an excess amount of liquid. If there is, tip the pan and draw it off with the spoon. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Allow it to settle and partly cool before serving. It should not be piping hot.
Note: this is a great dish to prep ahead and refrigerate. It also makes for fabulous leftovers!
Eggplant Lasagna
Eggplant Lasagna
2 med eggplant
1 lb ground chuck
1 lg can tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 lg bell peper
1 lg onion
Parmesian Cheese
Mozarella Cheese
3 eggs
1 c flour
1 tbs oregano
olive oil
Slice eggplant 1/4 inch thick and soak in salt water for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, saute onion and pepper. Add burger and brown. Add tomatoe and paste. Cook until sauce thickens. Add water and season as needed.
I do this assembly line style! Mix flour and oregano in flat dish. Dip eggplant slices into egg and then dredge in the flour mixture. Heat oil in large pan and then
add the slices as go. Lightly brown each side.
Layer sauce, eggplant, parmesian cheese and mozzarella cheese until the pan is full.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
2 med eggplant
1 lb ground chuck
1 lg can tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 lg bell peper
1 lg onion
Parmesian Cheese
Mozarella Cheese
3 eggs
1 c flour
1 tbs oregano
olive oil
Slice eggplant 1/4 inch thick and soak in salt water for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, saute onion and pepper. Add burger and brown. Add tomatoe and paste. Cook until sauce thickens. Add water and season as needed.
I do this assembly line style! Mix flour and oregano in flat dish. Dip eggplant slices into egg and then dredge in the flour mixture. Heat oil in large pan and then
add the slices as go. Lightly brown each side.
Layer sauce, eggplant, parmesian cheese and mozzarella cheese until the pan is full.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
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