Easy Christmas Fudge

One of the signs that I have been feeling better during this 2nd trimester is the fact that i have baked two days in a row! (I have even done my own dishes!!!) :)

I got this super easy (easy for fudge anyways) recipe out of the Pillsbury Holiday Baking book from a few years ago.
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 2 hours

You will need (I highly suggest having EVERYTHING out and cut before beginning the process):
4.5 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
12 oz evaporated milk
4.5 c (or one bag) of mini marshmallows
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
12oz sweet baking chocolate, cut into pieces
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, cut into pieces
2 t. vanilla
1/4 t. almond extract

Optional:
1 c. chopped walnuts, pecans
colored sugar for topping

Line 15x10x1 inch pan with foil, grease. In a 5-6 quart saucepan, cook sugar, butter and milk over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir constantly till sugar is dissolved and mixture is boiling. Boil uncovered without stirring for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Add mallows; stir till melted. Add chocolate chips, sweet and unsweet chocolate, stirring constantly till all is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in extract, vanilla, and nuts. Quickly spread mixture in pan. Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired. Cool completely (about 1.5 hours).

Remove fudge from pan by lifting foil; remove foil from sides of fudge. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Feta Chicken

My midwife wants to me to try to get 80-100 g of protein a day while pregnant. I don't think I have succeeded thus far, but this should help! (one piece of chicken has 30g+ in it!!!) I made it awhile ago and it was so good. Moist and just different. I got it off of AllRecipes.com.

Some changes I made were: using just Feta Cheese and sprinkling basil inside and out of the chicken, I do NOT sprinkle bread crumbs on the bottom of the pan cause it was a mess to clean afterwards, Use olive oil to bread the chicken, and finally, I had a hard time getting the chicken to fold over and stay that way - so I'll use a toothpick to assist with that. 

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 6 ounces tomato basil feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup Italian-style dry bread crumbs, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Place chicken breasts between 2 pieces of waxed paper. Gently pound chicken with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick; remove wax paper. Place 1 ounce of feta cheese in the center of each chicken breast, and fold in half.
3. Spread 2 tablespoons bread crumbs in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange chicken in the dish, and top with remaining bread crumbs.
4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Italian Meatballs

Mario Batali's Lemon Scented Meatballs

These are amazing. They freeze really well, and reheat nicely in our toaster oven under foil.

We usually eat them with fresh crusty bread, a sage and white bean spread, and a lightly-cooked green veggie of some sort (e.g. asparagus, broccoli rabe, etc.).

The only substitution I make is ground pork for the veal. Also for ease and to make it slightly healthier, I bake them, and they're almost as good as fried (which I did the first time). I usually bake them on a sheet pan at 400 degrees, for about 20 minutes or until they're nice browned on the outside and cooked through in the center.

French Dip sandwiches

This meal is another favourite of my partner in crime. I feel like it's more of a fall/winter dish, and I made it this past week for this first time this season. I got the recipe from Allrecipes. I make a few modifications (explained below). It is amazingly easy for how good it tastes. I just get up half an hour earlier than I usually do, and that's enough time to get it prepped. You wouldn't believe how good the house smells when I come home after work.

I don't do too much different than the original recipe, but this is how I do it. I think it probably adds a bit more flavour. If you don't have a slow cooker you could just do it in your oven in a covered casserole dish instead, adjusting times and temps accordingly.

Brown the outside (all sides) of a 3 lb beef roast (fat trimmed off first). (I usually get what's on sale and/or looks good. This week I used eye of round. It was a 3 lb roast on sale for $6 (from $12 because it was close to the sell-by date). I was quite pleased with my thriftiness, especially because we get at least 3 meals out of this.)

Put in slow cooker (I have the smaller size, not the larger family-size one, which is why I use a smaller roast than the recipe calls for). Deglaze the frying pan with the beer. Add to the slow cooker.

Add the soup/broth as in the recipe.

I also add a few cloves of garlic, chopped into a couple of chunks each, and a small sprig of rosemary (or some dried rosemary). I also add a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce to it, and a few grindings of black pepper.

I don't know if I need to do this or not, but when I get home, I take the roast out, slice it up, and then put it back in all those juices while I get the side dish ready, toast the buns, etc.

I usually serve this with something light and mostly vegetable-y because it's so meaty and rich. This week it was just plenty of raw veggies and dip on the side. But homemade oven fries are very nice too - you can dip them in the au jus. :)

So anyway, toast your hoagie buns, put your meat on them, and serve with the juices in the slow cooker, ladled into ramekins or small bowls. Dip your sandwiches with each bite. Yum!

I actually hardly ever use my slow cooker (though I want to use it more - post your recipes!), but I think it's worth it to have one just for this dish, it's that good.

Spaghetti Cheese Bake

This is a comfort food dish that I've found is especially enjoyed by kids. It freezes really well and it's great to pull out and pop in the oven when you don't have time, or feel like cooking. I will put it in the fridge in the morning to unthaw somewhat before baking. Taken out of the freezer/fridge, it'll take probably about 30 - 45 minutes to bake.

8 oz. (250 g) spaghetti (I use multigrain or whole wheat spaghetti)

1 lb. hamburger

1 cup chopped onion

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can tomato soup

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. salt (or seasoned salt)

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 cups of grated cheddar cheese

Cook spaghetti, drain and set aside

Brown the beef and chopped onions

Add soups, water, salt & pepper to the beef & onion mixture and simmer slowly, uncovered, 10 - 15 minutes

Add cheese and stir until melted

Add spaghetti and mix well

Turn into a 2.5 - 3 quart greased casserole

You can sprinkle some more cheese on top or top with buttered breadcrumbs before baking

Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes until hot and browned

Serves 6 - 8

Fast weeknight dinner no. 2 - chicken "fajitas"

Now I don't claim that these are even remotely authentic, but they are very tasty and pretty fast. They are also heavier on veggies than on meat, which I like.

Brown an onion (sliced into thin half-moons) and some minced garlic in a frying pan (you could also add a pepper like jalapeno or serrano). Add 1 chicken breast, cut into strips. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, cumin (lots), coriander, chili powder (lots) and oregano (a little). Stir around to coat.

While the chicken cooks in the spices, chop up two bell peppers (two different colours is nice). I do them in strips - it looks nicer than cubes and is easier to eat out of a tortilla. Add the peppers when the chicken is cooked and browned. I add a bit of water (couple of tablespoons) to deglaze the pan, to make a bit of a sauce out of the spices for the peppers, and to steam the peppers. I cook it just a few minutes more to soften the peppers slightly. I don't like them too mushy.

We often cook this together, so while one person mans the stove, the other person does the toppings. Warm tortillas in the toaster oven wrapped in foil. Grate cheese and chop a tomato, set out in bowls. Dice an avocado, sprinkle it with lime juice, salt and pepper, set out in a bowl. Set out salsa, sour cream, and Mexican hot sauce (I really like Pico Pica). Serve it with lime wedges if you have a lime hanging around.

You're done! Scoop the pepper/chicken mixture into warm tortillas, top with cheese, tomatoes and avocado. Add sour cream, salsa, and hot sauce to taste. Squeeze a lime wedge over top to finish, then roll up and eat. Yum! If you take it easy with cheese and sour cream, this is actually a pretty healthy dinner.

Generically Chinese fast weeknight dinner

When I'm tired after work and don't want to think too hard about what to make for dinner, and I don't want to do complicated shopping, this is often what I do. A fair amount of the things I have in the house already, and so I always know exactly what I need to grab at the store, which makes for a very fast shopping trip. It's yummy and leaves enough for leftovers for lunch the next day. It's also good with a cold beer. :) I'll just write out what I do and include ingredients as I go.

Chop a knob of ginger, a couple of cloves of garlic, and the white part of a bunch of green onions. Put on a small plate.

Chop the green part of the green onions and put on a small plate with a handful of peanuts or cashews.

Chop a small head of broccoli (or Chinese greens - much better but not easy to get for me), put on a plate.

Dice a cake of extra-firm tofu (or firm would be okay too), put half on a plate, and put the other half in a ziploc to freeze for next time. (Be super-industrious and squeeze in some oyster sauce into the ziploc, and squish it around, so the tofu marinates as it freezes and thaws next time you make this dish.) I guess you could substitute some chicken or other meat if you prefer that to tofu.

Preheat your wok (or frying pan). Pull out of the fridge: soy sauce, Chinese cooking sauce of your choice (e.g. oyster sauce, black bean sauce, hoisin sauce), sesame oil.

Now the wok is hot. Add some vegetable oil and some sesame oil, and the garlic, ginger and onion whites. Stir around while they sizzle. When they smell fragrant but haven't burned, throw in the tofu. Add a splash of soy sauce to deglaze and to add moisture and flavour. If you want to be really fancy, you could add a splash of dry sherry (equivalent for Chinese cooking wine) for a nice flavour. Let cook for a few minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking sauce you want (hoisin or whatever), and add the broccoli. I usually add a bit of water too at this point (no more than a couple of tablespoons), to help the sauce thin out and to steam the broccoli a bit. Stir around till the broccoli is cooked how you like it. I do it till it's a vibrant green colour and has a bit of crunch to it still. Turn off the heat, and add a splash of sesame oil, the greens of the green onions, and the nuts. Stir it all around. You're done!

I serve with either rice or with a package of fresh Chinese noodles (I get them from the same case as the tofu at the store), cooked according to package directions.

Note about the Chinese sauces: In my town in the States Lee Kum Kee sauces can be found at the one Asian specialty grocery store. If you live in a bigger town this brand might be easier to find. Fred Meyer and Albertson's don't carry it here, but maybe Safeway does - I'm not sure. It's definitely the best, but I have also used Sun Luck which seems to be more common in the States. It's okay, but definitely use Lee Kum Kee if you can find it.

Also, sometimes I add a can of baby corn or a can of bamboo shoots to the stir-fry, along with the tofu. It's really yummy and adds a third texture and colour to the dish.

Super easy macaroni salad

My partner in crime loves macaroni salad. But the kind you get at the deli is way too sweet for our taste, and a lot of the recipes I looked at seemed over-complicated. They'd add vinegar for tang and then add sugar for sweetness, and then lemon juice for more tang, etc. Harrumph. I thought I could do something simpler, so I came up with a recipe that after a few tweaks, now resembles deli macaroni salad but without being so sweet (and is probably a lot healthier).

Boil 2 cups of whole wheat macaroni noodles until they still have a bit of bite to them (they will soften further as they sit in the dressing), then drain and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process.

Dice finely and uniformly:

• 1 large red pepper
• 2 or 3 sticks of celery
• a couple of pickles
• half a red onion OR a bunch of green onions

Make the dressing by stirring together:

• 1 cup of mayonnaise OR 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt (partner in crime did not notice when I subbed yogurt for some of the mayo)
• 1 heaping tablespoon (not the measuring variety but the kind you eat cereal with) of Dijon mustard
• 1 heaping tablespoon (not the measuring variety but the kind you eat cereal with) of yellow mustard (e.g. French's)
• Salt and pepper (maybe a half teaspoon of each? do it to taste)
• 1/2 tsp (or so) of dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp (or so) of dried dill

Mix veggies and macaroni in a large bowl and season it with some salt and pepper. Stir in the dressing. You're done! For the best flavour, let the salad sit for a few hours before you eat it. This makes enough for two of us to eat for a few days.

Oma Noodles!

Cheesy Broccoli Noodles

5 Cups Pasta Shells
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Flour
2 Cups Milk
2 Cups Grated Cheese
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Cups Broccoli Florets

Cook pasta shells. Melt butter in pan, add flour until thickened about 4 or 5 minutes. Add 1.5 Cups cheese, salt and pepper. Add pasta, broccoli and toss together. Transfer to 1.5 qt baking dish and cover with remaining cheese, broil till golden brown.

I don't really know where the 2 Cups of milk come in, or if they do, because I added the milk into the flour and butter, and then the pasta and broccoli, and it was a bit soupy. Tina- could you help me out with this quandary? DELICIOUS recipe though! I highly recommend it.

Quick and Easy Dessert

1 container of Philadelphia Ready to eat cheesecake filling
1 jar of 1/2 the sugar smuckers strawberry jam
Shortbread cookies or graham crackers

Mix jam into cheesecake filling, dip cookies into filling, and enjoy.

"That almost makes me ill, it's so good" -Dave

SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obviously I haven't cooked anything decent in quite a few months. We've been eating our frozen meals that we prepared before Maisy came along. But we've just about emptied the freezer, finally, and I'm getting back on track with cooking. It's fun now, cause it's a new season, with all new recipes! Putting away my crock pot and stews, and getting out my BBQ! SO Excited! Just wondering- does anyone have any good recipes for fish? i want a tasty, maybe breaded but not fried fish recipe. Does such a thing exist? We're trying to eat better, but we don't want to be miserable doing so:)

Here's my favorite, and SUPER easy summer dessert recipe. It always makes me think of summer fun.
angel food cake
Shredded coconut flakes
Strawberry Cool Whip (you could use regular if you cant find strawberry, it's just cuter when its pink)
and Strawberries

Flip Angel food cake upside down on a plate. Mix the coconut into the cool whip till it's all fluffy and chunky, cut up strawberries to a good size for eating.

Frost the Angel Food Cake with the cool whip and coconut mixture all over, just like a cake. then fill the hole of the bundt with the strawberries till it's overflowing onto the cake. For garnish, sprinkle some coconut flakes over the strawberries.

This cake looks so pretty, and summery, and is perfect for get togthers and potlucks. I usually make one for the 4th of July, so if I do, I'll post a picture.

I love slow cooking!

I'm on a slow cooker (crockpot) binge...here are two favourites of mine. The first is a really easy and super delicious soup that also freezes well. The second recipe is in my slow cooker right now!

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

2 frozen chicken breasts, whole

1 large can crushed tomatoes

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 med. onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups water

1 can chicken broth

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 bay leaf

2 cans corn (or 1-10ounce package of frozen corn)

1 tsp dried cilantro

7 corn tortillas (coloured ones are fun!)

vegetable oil

sourcream

cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

-Add first 13 ingredients to slow cooker. Stir and cover. Cook on high setting for 5 hours.

-Before serving, remove chicken breasts and cut into shreds. Stir back into soup.

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10-15 minutes. (If wanting to freeze some of the soup, put some aside now)

-After pouring soup into a bowl, sprinkle tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and a scoop of sour cream over each person's individual soup bowl.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Barbecue

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce (choose your favourite flavour)

1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.

2. Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

3. To serve, you can either serve the chicken breasts whole and use the sauce over potatoes, rice, or pasta. Or shred the chicken with a fork and put it back into the sauce and mix it all together and then serve it on a bun (just like a pulled pork sandwich, but with chicken).

Curry Chicken-Mango Wrap

This is great for a lunch or a light dinner.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup finely chopped mango

3/4 tsp. curry powder

1/8 tsp. red pepper

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1/2 cup red bell pepper

1/4 cup onion

Pita bread or flour tortillas

Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken, bell pepper and onion. Stir to combine. Fill pita bread pockets or flour tortillas and enjoy.

awww pascetti

My favorite food growing up was spaghetti. My mom is a wonderful cook and I will never ever match up to her awesomeness. I'm currently missing her pretty badly right now. Can you tell? :) My Mom learned her spaghetti sauce from her Mom and tweaked it and I did the same. I think I like making it because I never do the same thing twice. I play around with the spices or which kind of cans of tomatoes to add. It always turns out at least eatable. :)

The basics:

Brown in sauce pan with some onion. (I use the spice called "Chopped Onion" so that I don't have to cry every time.)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 tube of Italian sausage

In crockpot add:
1 large can of Tomato Puree OR crushed Tomato
1-2 small cans of diced tomatos - Nick prefers petite diced
1 teenie can of tomato paste
1 small can of tomato sauce
1-2 T Oregano
1 T Basil
some minced Garlic
Pinch of salt/pepper
browned meat from earlier

Stir together and cook in crock pot for at least all afternoon on low.

Sometimes I like the sauce thicker so I add more paste and less diced tomatoes. If you want it more liquidy less tomato paste or none at all. Have fun!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I have memories of my grandpa (who came from Italy as a boy) telling me how his mom would slow cook the sauce all day long, and the house would be filled with the pleasant aroma. I have tweaked the traditional recipe a bit, but I think it tastes pretty good. Also, just so you know our family sauce recipes are not written down anywhere. It is passed down by the grandma's teaching the granddaughters how to make it in the kitchen. There is not a whole lot of exact measurements, we mainly eye ball the amounts that go into the sauce pot. So, the measurements I list below are estimates. Thought I'd add that disclaimer.

A little Italian cooking lesson: Pasta is not intended to be drenched in the sauce, rather lightly coated. But if you are like my husband, he just loves his sauce and drowns the poor noodles in it. Also, the pasta and meat are traditionally served separately. However, I like to put the meatballs in with the sauce and noodles. Now for the recipes:

Sauce:

1 cup onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 can tomato paste

3 cans tomato sauce

1/2-1 cup beef broth

2 cans whole peeled tomatoes, undrained and chopped (or you can buy already diced or crushed tomatoes for quicker meal prep.)

Italian seasoning or basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute garlic and onion in olive oil until onion is tender. Add tomato paste and cook for approx. one minute. Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Then I add a little splash of beef broth to add another dimension of flavor, and to thin it out if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for as long as you would like or have time for. The longer the better! Add the Italian seasoning or basil in at the end, so you don't lose the flavor of the herbs in the sauce. 1 tsp. of dried equals 1 Tbs. of fresh.

Meatballs:

1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 links sweet turkey Italian sausage, remove casing

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup fresh basil (yummm!!!)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 egg

2 garlic cloves

1 pound ground chuck (or whatever ground beef you prefer)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. It is easier to remove jewelry and just get your hands in this concoction.

Then with wet hands roll the mixture into little meatballs. Place meatballs under the broiler for about 15 minutes.

I like to add the meatballs to the sauce and let them soak in their a bit, but if you want to go the traditional route let them sit poolside.

Spahgetti Week!

I am declaring this to be Spaghetti week! I want everyone to post their favorite Spaghetti recipies, tricks, quirks, and sentiments!


I just made spaghetti, so it's fresh in my mind. There is something so wonderful about a spaghetti dinner. It's so simple and easy and common, however I always seem to feel like a meal of spaghetti makes a house a home. The smells are amazing, it's always way too filling, and I guess it reminds me of cheap and frequent childhood meals or something. I have a few ways of making Spaghetti... a veggie one and a meaty one, depending on the contents of my pantry--usually meaty though.

I always start off with a jar of marinara in the crock or stock pot. I don't really know how to make the sauce with canned tomatos, etc, and marinara seems just as cheap and easier, so I stick with that. I saute my onions, garlic, peppers and mushrooms (if i have them) and throw them in the marinara to simmer. Then I brown my ground beef, and I always throw my italian seasonings on the beef to saute them a bit, and so the seasoning sticks to the beef- then throw it in the marinara. Simmer as long as possible, usually 5 or 6 hours, then pour over our gluten free spaghetti and dine.

We usually light candles when we have spaghetti, because it dresses up such a simple meal. My favorite is garlic french bread covered in mozzerella and parmesan and toasted to perfection on the side. Once I tried meatballs and loved them, but have been to lazy to try them again. Dave always likes mixing alfredo into the spaghetti sauce for more of a Vodka sauce.

SO what about you all?? Have any good meatball, sausage, bread and sauce variations? Where did you get your spaghetti recipie from? How often do you have spaghetti in your household? I want to gather some excellent ideas and recipies for my LONG future with spaghetti!!!

honestly- i got my spaghetti recipie from my dad of all places! He used to always make a mean veggielishious spaghetti simmered in the crockpot all day. I still think of him everytime I add the bayleaf. As kids we always thought we were special if we ended up with the bayleaf in our food. We have spaghetti about once a month (depending on how many leftovers there are:)

John Mazetti - Maternal Family Recipe

Since I have received requests from people for frozen dinners before baby arrivals, I thought this one was perfect. And can easily be made gluten free.

John Mazetti
1 lb. Ground Beef (Have thought about using ground turkey, but have not tried it yet.)
1/3 lb. bacon – i have switched to Turkey Bacon before and it tastes fine.
2 med chopped onions
28 oz diced tomatoes (Nick prefers petite diced)
8 oz med noodles
dash of salt and pepper
1/3 lb. cheddar cheese (I never measure it…just enough to cover the entire top layer of the pan you are using)

Begin boiling water for noodles. Brown bacon and drain. Cut up bacon into small pieces and set aside. Add noodles to boiling water. Brown beef in bacon fat (I don’t always do this due to health reasons) and add onions. Add seasoning, tomatoes, and bacon. Stir. Drain noodles and add to mixture. Place in dish and add grated cheese. (You can do one 9 by 13 pan or 2 smaller ones. If you do the smaller ones you can freeze one for later and have one for dinner tonight!)
Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes.

Feta Chicken

I tend to have lots of chicken breast in the house. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com...

Feta Chicken Recipe

I did a horrible job of "pounding"...but it still rolled up ok. Plus i only had a rolling pin. I only used regular feta cheese and added some garlic salt and basil to the breast before I put the feta cheese on it. During the last 10 min I added mozzarella cheese and a tomato. Oh and I only used regular bread crumbs.

Nick and I enjoyed it! Hope you will too!!!

Pistachio crusted chicken tenders

This was an amazing recipie and so super quick and easy! the honey mustard gave it a hint of sweet. My family loved it, and it's definetly going on my monthly menu rotation.

-Preheat oven to 500 degrees
- Mix 1 C. chopped pistachios and 1/2 C. bread crumbs
- In separate bowl mix: 2 tbsp dijon, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp honey, salt and pepper to taste

Dip raw chicken into honey dijon mixture to coat then coat with dry mixture. Turn oven down to 375 and put chicken on greased cookie sheet. Cook 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I thought this would be an especially great recipie for you, Melissa, because you always seem to have an abundance of Pistachios...which is where we get ours from!! Enjoy, everyone!

Update: Last night I (finally) tried Cassidy's Apricot Glazed chicken recipie (and french dressing) over stir fry veggies and rice, and it was AMAZING! Almost like a sweet and sour type of sauce. Ya'll should definetly try it!

Freezer meals for after baby's arrival!

Yay for babies! I love babies! But they keep us busy that's for sure. Especially after baby number two arrives (or more), who has time to make gourmet meals? So, here are some simple, delicious recipes to cook ahead of time before that little peanut rocks your world!

Meatloaf

1 lb. ground pork

1 lb. ground beef

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 small onion (chopped)

1/4 cup ketchup

Salt and pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients together with your hands. Yeah that's right, get them in that cool, slimy mixture and blend all of the ingredients together. Make sure you take your wedding ring off! Place in a loaf pan and top with more ketchup or Barbecue Sauce.

Bake at 325 for about 60 minutes.

You can either cook this ahead of time, let it cool, and then freeze it. Or shape it into a meatloaf shape, freeze it, and cook as usual.

_______________________

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 lb. ground beef

salt and pepper

1 1/4 cups water

2 Tbs. cornstarch

1/2 cup Teriyaki sauce

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1/4 crushed pineapple

1/2 brown sugar

2 Tbsp. olive oil

In a large bowl combine eggs, bread crumbs, ground beef, and salt and pepper. Form into meatballs.

Whisk together water and cornstarch. Add the Teriyaki sauce, vinegar, ketchup, garlic, pineapple, and brown sugar. Heat on stove top over medium-high heat.

Heat olive oil in pan, add meatballs. Brown on all sides. Then add to sauce, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with rice or egg noodles.

_________________

Blueberry muffins

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups frozen blueberries, unthawed
• TOPPING:
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 
  

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. I like to sift these ingredients, but for time purposes it's not necessary.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, milk and vanilla.

Stir in dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in frozen blueberries. You may not need to use all of the blueberries. Add as much as you want. Do not overmix.

Fill a muffin tin with the batter. Combine sugar and nutmeg; sprinkle over muffins.

Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes

__________________________

Cranberry-Orange Loaf

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. grated orange zest

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

1/2 cup pecans

1/4 butter

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in orange zest, cranberries nand pecans. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and egg. Stir in orange juice. Beat in flour mixture until just moistened. Pour into pan.

Bake for 1 hour, or until the bread springs back when touched.

Let stand for 10 minutes in the pan, and turn onto a wire rack.

Optional: I mix up an orange juice and powdered sugar glaze on the stove top and drizzle it over the loaf before removing it from the pan.

The Baby Train's A Comin'!!

A few of us are due to have babies in the next couple of months, and I was wondering if anyone has any good recipie ideas for freezable foods? Rachael Cornelsen and I are wanting to stock our freezer ahead of time to make the transition a bit easier, but i'm having a hard time coming up with ideas other than spaghetti sauce and lasagna. Let me know if any of you have any good ideas, and prefereably the recipies would not contain copious amounts of dairy, broccoli and other foods that give newborns gas:) Thanks guys!!