Calico Relish

I think I've shared my childhood aversion to zucchini before.  I really didn't like it, and somehow my mom always had an abundance of it in the summers when I was little.  I don't remember her growing it, so I have no idea how it would end up in our kitchen, but she would use it in everything.  My mom was never big on baking, so my brother and I learned to get very skeptical if all of a sudden there were cookies since it usually meant there was zucchini in them.

There was a delicious relish we'd have a lot in the summer with grilled hot dogs or sausages or brats.  It was my dad's aunt's recipe, and I loved it.  Then I found out the main ingredient was zucchini.  I stopped eating it.  I didn't want anything to do with it because of the zucchini.  I kind of forgot about said relish until recently.  I've since learned to appreciate zucchini and actually eat it pretty often.  I don't begrudge my kids a whole lot for not eating it since I didn't when I was little.  Plus there are enough vegetables they eat willingly that I don't see the point in fighting with them about one that they don't like.

Anyway, remember how I recently mentioned Market on the Move?  One of last month's offerings was a ton of zucchini.  Not an actual ton, but it may have come close.  I was trying to figure out what to do with it since there's only so much sauteed zucchini or zucchini bread one can eat.  Well, maybe not on zucchini bread, especially chocolate zucchini bread.  But I digress.  I remembered I had gotten this recipe from my mom (once I learned to embrace the zucchini) maybe last summer when for some reason I had a bunch of zucchini to use up.  I was so excited to make up some of this, especially with it getting to be the time of year that I do a lot of grilling, so I know we'll be having it alongside a lot of meals coming up.

Calico Relish
Source: my great aunt Irene

4-6 unpared zucchini, coarsely ground (3.5 cups)
6 medium carrots, ground (1.5 cups)
2 medium onions, ground (1 cup)
2 Tbsp uniodized salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vinegar
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard

Combine ground vegetables, stir in salt.  Let stand 3 hours.  Drain well, squeeze if necessary.  Combine remaining ingredients and bring to boil.  Add vegetables, simmer 20 minutes uncovered.  Seal in jars.  Makes 2-1/2 pints.

*****

I found the easiest way to do this was bust out my food processor.  Oh how I love my food processor.  I put in one of the grating/shredding blades (I'm sure there's an official name for it, but I can't think of it and don't feel like looking it up...I only have 15 minutes until I need to leave to pick up kids from school) and put it on the finer of the two options so my shreds of everything would be smaller.  Actually for the onions I put in the regular blade and just pulsed until the pieces of onion were tiny.

I could barely wait to have some of this.  Shortly after making it the husband and I had grilled sausages for dinner one night after the kids had gone to bed, so I got out one of my jars and served some up with our sausage.  Oh it was so tasty!  Just as good as I remembered.  And the husband liked it, too!  It's super easy to make up, and it will be a great way to use up some of that summer bounty of vegetables!

My shredded veggies, awaiting their salt.

Boy #2 was helping with the process. This kid loves the food processor!  He wanted in on one of the pictures.  Don't mind his shaggy-way-overdue-for-a-haircut face or the yogurt stains on the table behind him.  Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't have pointed those out?

Relish cooking away.

 How freakin' adorable are these jars?!  They're wide mouth half pint jars.  I love them.

Refrigerator Pickles

If you follow me on Facebook you might have seen me say recently that I have some great posts to do but was in the middle of a big recipe card project using my camera. My great uncle recently passed away, so my mom went back to Kansas to get some things from their house that had been left to her and things she wanted to keep. Her aunt died 12 or 13 years ago, my grandma's oldest sister. One of the things my mom brought back was her aunt's recipe collection. In case it's not obvious, I'm a sucker for a recipe collection. Especially old ones written on recipe cards in swirly, cursive handwriting and filed away in recipe card boxes. Conveniently shortly after she returned from that trip my mom left on another trip (she's a traveling fool, that lady!), so I brought the box of recipes home with me to take pictures of ones I wanted to have. It was quite an undertaking. I wanted to wait to upload my memory card until I was done, so that meant blog updates got put on hold.

Now, as if that wasn't enough of a tangent, do you have Market on the Move where you live? I don't know if it's just an AZ thing, but it's pretty awesome. The first saturday of the month (dates vary by location, I believe. Mine just happens to be the first Saturday.) you can get up to 60 pounds of produce for $10. Yup...60 pounds, $10. It's all stuff that's too ripe for grocery stores to take, so they sell it for super cheap. This last MOM (as it's affectionately known as) had butternut squash, zucchini, yellow squash, green and red peppers, poblano peppers, roma tomatoes and cucumbers. There are certain amounts of some things you can take, others are unlimited. This time each person was allowed 19 cucumbers. Did I mention they were organic? Score!! I decided to try my hand at making refrigerator pickles. I had wanted to try them at some other point when I had a bunch of cucumbers, but I never did. I don't remember why. Probably my kids ate them. Or they were forgotten in my garage fridge. But this time I was not going to let that happen! I busted out my cukes, vinegar, sugar, and some canning jars, and got busy!

Refrigerator Pickles
Source: adapted from allrecipes.com

1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tbsp salt
2 cups white sugar
6 cups sliced cucumbers
1 cup sliced onions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring vinegar, salt and sugar to a boil. Boil until the sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Place the cucumbers and onions in a large bowl. Pour the vinegar mixture over the vegetables. Transfer to sterile containers and store in the refrigerator.

*****

I had slightly more than six cups of cucumbers. I think I used five cukes, but they were pretty big. I really wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, but we had some on turkey burgers a few nights later, and they were really good! They're on the sweeter side, but not as sweet as an actual sweet pickle. They were just so crisp and fresh tasting. I loved them! So much better than store bought pickles, and I know exactly what went in to them! In fact, I liked these so much I made a second batch a few days later. So now I have six jars of pickles in my fridge. From what I read they'll last up to several months in the fridge. These were also super fast to make. While the vinegar/sugar/salt mixture was coming to a boil I did all my slicing. I did let it all cool in the bowl a little before I put them in jars. And you'll probably want to wipe off your jars after you're done--mine were really sticky!

(Complete side note...speaking of jars, I was at Costco last week, and they had a sozen pint canning jars for $6! That's a smokin' deal! I bought three packages--one for me and two for my friend Amy. One of the employees said they were going really fast, so if you want some, I suggest going soon to check on them!)

Oven Hot Dogs

We had these for dinner last night, and they were SO GOOD I could not wait to post the recipe. I only kind of found it through Pinterest.com. Something I had pinned took me to foodgawker.com and that's where I discovered this. Let me tell you, foodgawker.com is a pretty cool website too. I could spend hours and hours looking at pictures of tasty food. It actually makes me sad when I think about how many amazing recipes there are out there that I'll never try. Sigh.

Anyway. Even though I know how awful hot dogs are, I can't stop eating them. I know they're full of nastiness, but it's one of the few foods that I don't care what the ingredients are. Okay, it may actually be the only one. I went through a long phase when I was younger of not eating hot dogs. Then I had a grilled one at a barbecue at one point in college I think it was, and I was reeled back in. Why are hot dogs even more awesome when cooked on a grill? I don't know. When I saw this recipe I thought it looked super tasty and definitely worth a try. She has great step by step pictures on the original blog post, too.

Oven Hot Dogs
Source: In The Wabe blog via foodgawker.com

8 hot dogs
8 hot dog buns
1 can of chili
1/2 an onion, diced
cheddar cheese
mayonnaise
mustard
sweet relish

Line inside of hot dog buns with mayonnaise and sweet relish. Evenly add mustard. Fill with hot dogs and squish into a 13×9″ baking pan.

Top hot dogs with chili, cheese, and diced onion. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

Carefully remove from the pan with a spatula.

*****

There were some mixed reactions when my family saw what was for dinner. Boy #1 had soccer practice last night, and the husband is the coach, so they weren't home while I was getting dinner together. The husband was ecstatic when he saw these. Boy #1 was less than enthused to say the least. He said he wasn't going to eat dinner. I told him then he could go to bed. What can I say, sometimes I'm mean mommy like that. He decided he'd just eat the hot dog. When he was done with the hot dog I said he at least needed to try the bread. Wouldn't you know he ended up loving it and eating every bite. Darn kids. So this ended up being an overwhelming hit at our house and definitely something I will be making again. Oh, and since we count calories in our house, in case anyone is curious these worked out to just be 321 each--using whole wheat hot dog buns, turkey hot dogs, turkey chili, and reduced fat cheese. I thought that was a pretty good calorie count for something as decadent as chili dogs!

Now, you'll have to excuse me as I go eat one of the leftover dogs for lunch...

Grilled Beef Fajitas

I recently picked up quite a bit of flank steak on sale, and I was kind of tired of marinating it in something and throwing it on the grill. Okay, not really, but I wanted to do something different with it. I once again pulled out my trusty Cook's Illustrated 2009 Summer Grilling magazine for an idea. Grilled Beef Fajitas sounded pretty darn tasty and worthy of a try.

Grilled Beef Fajitas
Source: Cook's Illustrated Summer Grilling 2009 magazine

1 large flank steak (about 2-1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup juice from 2-3 limes
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 very large onion (about 14 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds (do not separate into rings)
2 large red or green bell peppers, seeded, ribbed, and cut into large strips
16 flour tortillas

Turn all burners to high on gas grill and heat with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Use grill brush to scrape cooking grate clean.

Generously sprinkle both sides of steak with lime juice and salt and pepper. Grill steak with lid down until well seared and dark brown on one side, 5-7 minutes. Using tongs, flip steak; continue grilling until interior of meat is slightly less done than you want it to be when you eat it, 2 to 5 minutes more for rare or medium-rare (depending on heat of fire and thickness of steak).

Transfer meat to cutting board; cover loosely with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

While meat rests, lower grill burners to medium heat. Grill onions and peppers, turning occasionally, until onions are lightly charred, about 6 minutes, and peppers are streaked with dark grill marks, about 10 minutes. Remove vegetables from grill and separate onion rounds into rings and cut peppers into long, thin strips; set aside. Arrange tortillas around edge of grill; heat until just warmed, about 20 seconds per side. Take care not to dry out tortillas or they will become brittle; wrap tortillas in a towel to keep warm and then place in basket.

Slice steak very thin on the bias against grain; adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Arrange sliced meat and vegetables on a large platter; serve immediately with tortillas, guacamole, and salsa.

Serves 6 to 8.

*****

I really love fajitas. I think maybe it stems from being fascinated with the sizzling fajita plates that would go by in Mexican restaurants when I was little. Or I just liked Mexican food. Or grilled Mexican food. Anyway, I didn't really change this up a lot. I had never grilled all portions of fajitas before. A lot of times I'll grill the meat or protein for them but do the peppers and onions in a skillet on the stove. Well...NO MORE! The grilled vegetables were amazing. They added so much flavor to the finished fajita with the hint of smokiness the grill gave them. Oh man...TASTY! This is definitely my go-to way to prepare fajitas going forward!

Queso Fundido Burger

I've been up since before the sun was up because Boy #2 decided it was time to be awake. I didn't want him to wake up Boy #1, so I went into his room with him to try and keep him contained and quiet. I'm tired. I also don't feel like accomplishing anything around my house, so I'm going to update my blog and then lay on the couch and read some magazines. Sounds like a lovely afternoon, doesn't it?

As you know, I am a huge fan of Rick Bayless. Occasionally I scour his website for new and yummy sounding recipes. A long, long time ago I came across a queso fundido burger recipe on there. I sent it to my friend Jen along with myself and then somehow forgot about it. She came across the email recently and made the burgers and said they were great. I mean, it's a Rick Bayless recipe so how could it possibly be bad, right?! I slated it for a Friday night because I didn't think my kids would really like it, but the husband and I wanted to try it.

Queso Fundido Burger
Source: RickBayless.com

2 fresh medium poblano chiles
1 medium onion, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons oil
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
8 ounces chorizo, cooked
1 to 2 canned chipotle chiles den adobo, finely minced, seeded if you wish
8 thick slices Monterey Jack cheese
4 hamburger buns, lightly toasted

Roast the poblanos over an open flame or 4 inches below a broiler, turning regularly until blistered and blackened all over, about 5 minutes for an open flame, 10 minutes for the broiler. Place in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let cool. Rub off the blackened skin and pull out the stems and seed pods. Cut into 1/4-inch strips.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium. Once the oil is hot, add the onions, stirring frequently until it begins to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and poblano and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon. Scrape the rajas into a bowl and cover to keep warm.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, cooked chorizo, chipotles and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix until well combined. Divide the meat into 4 equal portions and form the patties.

Heat a gas grill to medium-high, or light a charcoal fire and let it burn until the charcoal is covered with white ash (and about medium hot); bank the coals to one side.

Place the hamburger patties on the grill and cook for a total of 4 to 5 minutes for medium rare. Lay one piece of cheese on top of each burger, top with the warm rajas and then another piece of cheese. Close the lid and continue cooking until the cheese has melted about 1 minute. Remove from the grill and place on a toasted bun. Serve immediately.

*****

I used Anaheim chiles instead of poblanos because I had gotten some in the produce co-op I sometimes use. The onions, peppers, and garlic smelled amazing when it was cooking. Actually the burgers smelled fantastic too. I opted to just use my grill pan instead of heating up the grill and having to go back and forth, inside and out. We were watching a movie, and that would have just been a PITA.

We REALLY liked these burgers. The spice in them was fantastic, like "make your lips tingle" spicy. I love that!! I'd definitely make these again, although probably not for my kids. They do not like "make your lips tingle" spicy.

I went all out and used fancy plates...nothing but the best in paper plates for us!

Grilled Mac and Cheese with Pulled Pork Panini

I know, crazy huh?! I've mentioned my love of the Panini Happy blog before. Awhile back I was at the grocery store and saw the Food Network magazine at the checkout stand. On the cover was a panini with macaroni and cheese and pulled pork. Holy yummy, Batman!! I made a mental note to look up the recipe online. Then a couple days later I got an email from the Panini Happy blog that this recipe was her latest post!! It was meant to be. Recently pork loin roasts were on sale, so I grabbed one with the sole intention of making this sandwich for the husband and me to try. We had pulled pork for dinner on a Thursday, Friday night I made Pioneer Woman's mac and cheese for my kiddos then after they went to bed the husband and I had these sandwiches. Efficient use of food, huh?

Grilled Mac and Cheese with Pulled Pork Panini
Source: Food Network magazine and PaniniHappy.com

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 cups prepared macaroni and cheese, warmed
2 onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup barbecue sauce
2 cups prepared pulled pork
8 slices sourdough bread
12 slices sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)

Spread the macaroni and cheese in an 8-inch-square baking dish to about 3/4 inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 45 minutes. Cut the macaroni and cheese into squares that are slightly smaller than the bread slices.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine the barbecue sauce and pulled pork in a saucepan over low heat and cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes.

Preheat the panini grill to medium-high heat.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and brush on one side of each bread slice. Flip over half of the bread slices; layer 1 slice of cheddar, 1 macaroni-and-cheese square and another slice of cheddar on each. Top each with one-quarter of the pulled pork and caramelized onions and another slice of cheddar. Top with the remaining bread slices, buttered-side up.
Working in batches, cook the sandwiches until the cheese melts and the bread is golden, about 5 minutes.

*****

This sandwich was FILLING. I couldn't even eat half of mine. My only complaint was that my pork could have been saucier, but that was my fault, not the recipe's. This was awesome cheesy yummy goodness. A diet buster for sure, but awesome. If you make it, make sure you use a sturdy bread because this is a monster sandwich. And it's not for the carb-shy. Decadent for sure. Mmmm...now I want to make it again saucier and see if it really does make a difference.

I could only fit one on my panini press at a time.

Look at that gooey cheesy macaroni goodness spilling out...

See, definitely needs more sauce.

Claire's Smothered Turkey Burgers

I'm really not sure what else to call this recipe, but I think what I've dubbed it will work. In figuring out my meals for the week I was looking at recipes on the Whole Foods app on my phone (oh how I heart Whole Foods) and saw one that sounded good and easy. It was Mushroom and Swiss Patty Melts with Peas. Somehow, though, I combined that recipe with one I'd seen in a Cook's Illustrated magazine for salisbury steak. I could have sworn there was a gravy of some sort for the patty melts. So much so, in fact, that when I was grocery shopping I was surprised that beef broth wasn't on my grocery list to make said gravy. Although in hindsight I don't know why I thought there'd be a beef gravy with turkey burgers. Who knows. I'm not completely with it if I have one or more kids with me while I grocery shop. If you're a mom, you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, when I checked the recipe this afternoon to see how long it was going to take I was surprised there was no gravy included. When it came time to make dinner I decided I'd go ahead and make a gravy on my own. I love gravy, and once I had the thought of it in my head there was no way I was going without gravy tonight.

Claire's Smothered Turkey Burgers

1 lb. ground turkey
4 slices Monterey Jack cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 ounce container mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 cup beef broth
2 Tbsp beef gravy mix
Salt
Pepper
Onion powder
Garlic powder

Coat skillet with non-stick spray and heat over medium high heat. Add salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to ground turkey. Mix well and form into four patties. Place patties in heated skillet. Cook 4-5 minutes per side. When burgers are flipped, place cheese slices on patties and let cheese melt.

Meanwhile, in another skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and onion and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add beef broth to pan, reserving 1 tablespoon. In a small bowl, combine beef gravy mix with reserved tablespoon beef broth. Add to mushroom, onion, and broth mixture. Stir to combine and stir until thickened.

Remove patties from pan when cooked through and top with gravy.


*****

I really liked this. Ground turkey is just so bland to me, so the gravy really gave it a lot of flavor. Only the husband and I had gravy on ours. The boy doesn't like mushrooms or onions, so I figured he wouldn't be interested, but I knew he'd eat just the burger. The baby might have eaten it with the gravy, but he's in love with ketchup, so I figured he'd be fine without gravy as long as he had ketchup on his plate. I had originally planned on mixing some cornstarch with beef broth to thicken it up, but I couldn't find any in my pantry. I saw the container of brown gravy mix and figured that would work great--and it did! This was really easy to make and came together really fast, so it's definitely something I'll make again.

Pioneer Woman's Pico de Gallo

This will be my second time making PW's pico de gallo recipe, although apparently I didn't post it before. I really, really love pico de gallo...the chunky vegetables, the combination of fresh flavors...yum. And of course I have yet to go wrong with a PW recipe!!

Pioneer Woman's Pico de Gallo

5 whole Plum (roma) Tomatoes
1/2 whole Large (or 1 Small) Onion
3 whole Jalapeno Peppers
Cilantro
Lime Juice
Salt To Taste

Chop jalapenos, tomatoes and onions into a very small dice. (Leave seeds in your jalapenos for a hotter pico). Adjust amount of jalapenos to your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Just remove and discard the long leafless stems before chopping. No need to remove the leaves from the stems completely. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir.

Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and stir again.

*****

Yum. That's all I have to say about that.

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

So much for my return to blogging earlier this week...I caught the stomach bug my kiddos had and somehow the idea of making and eating the Thai chicken basil stir-fry I had slated for Monday was not at all appealing on Monday. The boy has swim lessons at 5:00 this week, and Tuesday and Wednesday night make it kind of rough since I have a Bible study group each of those nights. Last night we had crockpot bean burritos, and tonight I had planned a crockpot chicken and dumplings recipe, but upon reviewing it this morning I realized it wasn't going to work because the dumplings have to be added in the last 30 minutes of cooking, and I don't want to stick the husband with that responsiblity. So I did some quick searching and found a barbecue pulled chicken recipe I'm going to make instead.

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
RecipeZaar Recipe #242547

Ingredients
1 medium onion, thinly sliced or 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 pinch salt

Cut the onion in half and slice into thin half rings. Line the bottom of the crock pot with the onions. Trim the chicken breasts and place on top of the bed of onions. Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and pour on top of the chicken covering completely. Cook for 6 hours on low setting. The sauce thickens and turns into a dark rich brown during cooking. At the same time the onions dissolve into the sauce. When the chicken is falling apart tender, take two forks and shred the chicken.

Serve on top of split buns.

*****

To keep this simple I think we're just going to have some frozen fries along with it (assuming the husband is up to tossing those in the oven for me), some kind of vegetable, and a salad.

*****

Okay, never mind...I now have no idea what we're going to have for dinner because the crack in my crockpot insert has gotten worse, to the point where I can't even use it now. I'm so very, very, very, very annoyed. I do have another crockpot, but it's still packed and 1) the idea of rummaging through boxes in my garage to find it when it's 105 outside is soooo not appealing to me, and 2) it's really too late to start cooking this anyway for it to be done on time for all of us to eat.

Some weeks (like this one) I wonder why I even bother meal planning at all...

Barefoot Contessa's Hashed Browns

It occurred to me that we hadn't had Biscuits and Vegetarian Sausage Gravy for quite awhile, and I had just bought a box of Morningstar Farms sausage patties at Costco, so I slated it for dinner one night last week. I wanted some potatoes to go with it, so I grabbed a Barefoot Contessa cookbook figuring at least one of her books had to have a hash brown recipe in it. Lo and behold, there was one, in the Family Style cookbook. Super easy with basic ingredients--excellent!!

Barefoot Contessa's Hashed Browns
Copyright, 2002, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, All rights reserved.

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and 1/2-inch diced
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons minced scallions (white and green parts)

Melt the butter in a large (10 to 12-inch) saute pan. Add the potatoes, onions, salt, and pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally with a flat spatula, until the potatoes are evenly browned and cooked through. (Allow the potatoes to cook for 5 minutes before turning.) Turn off the heat and add the parsley and scallions. Serve hot.

*****

I only chopped up one onion because I don't like chopping onions, and I thought that one would be enough. I checked the recipe at least five times to make sure it really said five tablespoons of butter because it seemed like a lot.

These were good potatoes, but I think the five tablespoons was a bit too much for my liking. Maybe since I used one less onion I should have scaled it back a bit? I don't know. They were definitely tasty--I LOVE hash browns--but they didn't really ever brown a whole lot because of all the butter. Or at least that's what I'm attributing it to. Definitely easy, definitely good, and definitely something I'll make again--only with less butter next time.

Baked Orzo with Fragrant Lamb

Man alive, did we have a crazy weekend!! Our realtor called Saturday with some houses she wanted to show us, so my mom ended up coming over to stay with the kids while we went looking at houses. Some were okay, some were horrible. We're still holding out hope that the one we put the offer on will come back approved from the bank. The waiting game sucks!! We should have an answer in four weeks or so at least, so we just have to hang in there. Anyway, the boy and husband went to a hockey game Saturday night, so the baby and I didn't really do anything special for dinner.

Yesterday was just about as crazy. Church, taking lunch to and visiting my friend Jen and her new babies. The boys were both melting down when we left, so we came home for naps. The husband went grocery shopping for me while I took a much needed siesta, then the husband and boy went to get haircuts, the husband went shooting, I made dinner, we ate, kids went to bed, husband and I watched a movie. Man! Not much time in there for updating the blog here. But I'm just a day late so I don't feel that bad.

Awhile back I found some ground lamb on manager's special at the grocery store and scooped it up. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it, but it was a good deal and I thought it would be something new to try. I checked one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks and found this recipe that used ground lamb--perfect! I was really excited to try something new, and this sounded really easy.

Baked Orzo with Fragrant Lamb

1/2 pound orzo
6 ounces lean ground lamb
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fennel bulb
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried mint
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 ounces reduced fat feta, crumbled
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick spray; set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the lamb and cook, stirring to break up the meat until browned, 3-4 minutes. Remove lamb with a slotted spoon and transfer to the bowl with the orzo.

Add the onion, fennel, garlic, mint, and oregano to the same skillet. Cook, stirring until onion begins to soften, 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and cinnamon; cook until mixture thickens, 6-8 minutes.

Combine the tomato mixture with the orzo and lamb. Stir in the feta and mix well. Pour mixture into the baking pan. Sprinkle top with the parmesan. Bake until hot, 25 minutes.

Points Value: 6 (makes 6 servings)

*****

So, I had a bit of a mishap. The baby was standing next to me while I opened the package of lamb, and I checked the baby's diaper because the air smelled pretty gross. It wasn't him, it was the lamb. I was a bit skeptical of using it but went ahead and defrosted it and started cooking it. Then I called my mom to see if she knew if ground lamb was supposed to smell like a baby's dirty diaper. She didn't know, but we both agreed it probably wasn't a good sign. At this point the smell of it was making me want to puke, so I decided to scrap it. Luckily I had some ground veal in the freezer--the only other ground meat I had on hand--and quickly defrosted it and browned it. So, that was substitution #1. I ended up using the whole pound of veal because I needed to be using it up and really had no other ideas for what I could do with it. To compensate for the additional meat I added in more crushed tomatoes (conveniently I bought a 28 ounce can of tomatoes instead of 14) so it was a bit saucier. I also used fresh mint instead of dried.

I took a bite of it all mixed together before I put it in the baking dish and LOVED IT. I wasn't really sure how the cinnamon would play in when I was adding it, but it really accented the flavor of the tomatoes and feta. Who knew! Honestly I took quite a few bites before putting it in the baking dish...I couldn't stop eating it. Even once it was all heated up and baked it was so good!!! We all really liked this. I think it could easily be made with ground beef or turkey, which I would probably do in the future since it's pretty rare for me to have ground veal on hand. This was really so easy and tasty!! I'm glad I tried it--and I'm glad I had the lamb mishap. :)

Easy Chop Suey

How's this for back on track...new recipes, posting daily. I guess I shouldn't brag on it too much in case it doesn't last.

I was flipping through a Betty Crocker vegetarian cookbook I have to get ideas for dinners this week and saw this one for Easy Chop Suey. I had most of the ingredients and had just bought veggie sausage at Costco. I've made other recipes from this cookbook and really liked them, so hopefully this one is a success too.

Easy Chop Suey

Cooking spray
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium stalks celery, coarsely chopped
2 cups frozen sausage-style soy-protein crumbles
1/3 cup uncooked regular long-grain rice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup reduces sodium soy sauce
2 cups water
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 bag (1 lb) frozen seven-vegetable stir-fry, tahwed
4 cups crisp chow mein noodles

Spray 4 to 5 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Generously spray 12-inch skillet with cooking spray. Add onion and celery; generously spray with cooking spray. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender. Stir in remaining ingredients except stir-fry vegetables and noodles. Spoon into slow cooker.

Cover; cook on low 6-7 hours.

Stir in stir-fry vegetables. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook about 15 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Serve with noodles.

*****

Once I got this all together I really wasn't sure how it's going to turn out. I went and saw my friend Jen and her new babies today and was telling her about it. I said it's either going to be awesome or gross and we'll need to go get pizza for dinner, I don't think there's going to be any halfway on this one. Even know I'm still not sure how it's going to be, and it's been in the slow cooker for 5.5 hours. It actually looks pretty done, so I may go ahead and add in the veggies. I'm starving, so I really hope this isn't totally nasty.

Oh, and since I've sworn off canned soups (have you ever read the ingredients for cream of mushroom soup?! Gross!!), I made my own. What?!, you may be asking. She made her own cream of mushroom soup? I did. It was really easy. I was looking through the Make it Fast, Cook it Slow slow cooker cookbook and saw that she had a recipe in there for an alternative you make yourself. It's really more like a quick little cream sauce, but I chopped up some mushrooms, sauteed them and tossed them in the mix so it would be slightly more authentic. I'm so ridiculously excited to have found a substitute for the nasty canned stuff. I really don't like to eat foods that have ingredients I have to struggle to pronounce.

Interested in making your own cream of whatever soup? Check out the Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe on the Year of Slow Cooking blog. She has the ingredients and instructions listed with that.

*****

Did you know that Domino's Pizza is having a two medium two topping pizza for $5.99 each special right now? Guess how I found out...that's what we had for dinner. I tasted this before putting the vegetables in, and all I could taste were the veggie grounds. The husband said the texture was weird--I think partly because the sausage broke down so much it was like mushy rice with veggie sausage particles. I decided to save the bag of stir-fry veggies for another use and went to my UDBP (universal dinner back-up plan): pizza.

Giada's Orzo with Peas, Mushrooms, and Parmesan

The sickness that hit the rest of my family last week finally made its way to me at the start of this week. I think actually mine just took a hiatus until everyone else was mostly better. Ugh. I'm still not feeling 100%, but I've muddled my way through the week.

We haven't had a whole lot of new stuff, so you haven't missed anything. Friday and Saturday of last week I didn't have to make dinner (woo hoo!), Sunday in honor of the Saints playing in the Super Bowl (and then their victory!!) we had muffuletta sandwich, king cake, and a really yummy buffalo chicken dip that the husband and I could not stop eating. I guess I need to post that recipe as well. That will be next.

Monday night we had this recipe that I found on my friend Jen B's blog. I was looking for some kind of vegetarian meal and came across this. All I needed were the mushrooms.

Giada's Orzo with Peas, Mushrooms, and Parmesan

2 Tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil (plus more to drizzle on top for finishing)
1 small onion, finely diced
8 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced in half or quarters (depending on size)
3 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp fresh basil, chiffonade
2 cups of orzo
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and mushrooms. Sauté until golden brown; add the garlic and stir frequently for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, season with salt to taste, and set aside.

Cook pasta per instructions then drain and place back in the pot. Add the peas, mushroom mixture, Parmesan, basil, salt and pepper to taste; mix thoroughly. Finish by drizzling a little more olive oil over the top. Serve and enjoy!

*****

I was pretty excited to try this because Jen and her family really liked it, but I have to say we were pretty disappointed. I don't know if I had too much orzo or too few vegetables, but the picture of hers looks a lot more full and flavorful than mine was. I think if I'd had more mushrooms it would have been better. I don't know if this is one I'd try again. It came together really fast which was a plus, but it just needed some more flavor.

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Two posts in two days--are you shocked?! I tell you, sick kids give you more computer time. The boy seems to be on the mend--he was well enough to go on his preschool field trip today--but now I think the baby might have gotten pink eye. Ugh!! Not cool for a mommy that's supposed to get Lasik done on Saturday!

When I posted about my insanely huge onion asking what I should do with it, and someone named Stephanie--sorry, the Blogger profile was unavailable so I have nothing else to go on--suggested this pasta sauce that had recently been posted on SmittenKitchen.com. I went and checked it out and thought it looked quite tasty and simple. Although I had forgotten it was Smitten Kitchen and instead went to Steamy Kitchen and was so perplexed that I was all the way back in October in the archives and hadn't seen it. Then I checked back on the comment and realized I was on the wrong blog. Oops!

I didn't end up using the giant onion for this--I need to do my post about that still--but I liked the idea of the sauce and it sounded really good. I thought about doing it last night when I needed to come up with a dinenr plan, but I prefer to give my kids pasta sauce like this on bath nights. The baby tends to get quite into his food.

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions
From SmittenKitchen.com

28 ounces (800 grams) whole peeled tomatoes from a can (San Marzano, if you can find them)*
5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan (it fit just right in a 3-quart) over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste (you might find, as I did, that your tomatoes came salted and that you didn’t need to add more) and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

Serve with spaghetti, with or without grated parmesan cheese to pass.

*****

How easy is that?! Mine is simmering away on the stove. I love me a dinner that takes less than five minutes to throw together (not counting pasta cooking time). I had exactly five tablespoons of butter in the fridge which worked out perfect, so I just unwrapped that and tossed it in a pan, opened the tomatoes, peeled an onion and sliced it in half, and voila!!

It's especially nice since it looks like I may need to take the baby to urgent care about this eye issue. Ugh!!

*****

Okay, this was REALLY good and REALLY easy!! I made a little too much pasta, so when I dumped the pasta into the sauce it wasn't quite saucy enough but it was still good. I ended up taking the baby to a Cigna clinic down the street once the husband got home. Good thing I did--poor guy has pink eye AND double ear infections. :( The upside was walking back into our house when we got home, and it smelled amazing!! The smell reminded me of a vodka tomato sauce I used to make but haven't made in years. In hindsight I shouldn't have mixed the pasta in with the sauce so it would have been a little saucier, but that's the only thing I'd change. I ended up using a rotini pasta because my kids have a hard time with spaghetti noodles. This is something I will definitely make again--especially since the ingredients are all things I normally have on hand.

I took pictures, just need to upload them to the camera. Since it looks like we'll mostly be homebound again tomorrow, look for picture updates to be added then!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta

Everyone in my house is sick with a nasty cold. I figure the boy can have a day of TV and movies in the name of "resting to get better" so while he's doing that I can get caught up on my blog posts.

Several years ago I went to a work dinner at TGI Friday's. I'm not a huge fan of chain restaurants, but it wasn't my choice for dinner, and it was paid for so I wasn't going to complain. I ended up having a vegetable pasta dish that was actually really good. It somehow popped into my head recently and I wanted to try and recreate it. I found what I thought was the recipe with a simple Google search, but I wanted to change it up a little because I wanted to roast vegetables, not grill them. In case you're interested, here's the comparable recipe I found.

Claire's Roasted Vegetable Pasta

1 eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, cubed
1 red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. dried pasta
Balsamic vinegar
Shredded parmesan cheese

Combine eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and onion pieces on a cookie sheet and toss with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 400 for 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute mushrooms with garlic in small amount of olive oil.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

When all components are done, toss together in a big bowl. Drizzle tossed pasta and vegetables with balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese. Serve.

*****

I hate writing out my own recipes, especially this late after I originally made it. This turned out really good. It wasn't exactly how I remembered the TGI Friday's dish tasting, but it was quite good. I used some penne and some farfalle because it's what I had in the pantry. We all ate this and really liked it. The balsamic vinegar gave it a nice little zip. I think this would also be good cold or room temperature as a pasta salad.

I have a picture of it, but I'm typing this on our laptop and the picture is on my computer.

Pappardelle with Quick Bolognese Meat Sauce

I think I have one dinner to post from last week still, but I figured I might as well be current and then go back to that when I have a chance. It was pretty tasty so I definitely want to share it.

I had to do a bit of dinner rearranging this week. The husband and I recently joined a gym, and he suggested we meet there tonight after he left work so I could show him around a bit and we could work out together. I already had a crockpot meal planned for tomorrow night and wasn't sure if I could come up with another with ingredients I had on hand. I remembered a package of Trader Joe's pappardelle pasta in the pantry with a recipe on the back of it that sounded easy, and I had everything on hand. So I decided we'd have that tonight, I'd make it up in the afternoon, then throw it in the crockpot on the warm setting so dinner would be waiting for us when we got home. I'll tell you below whether or not it worked!!

Trader Joe's Egg Pappardelle with Quick Bolognese Meat Sauce

8 oz. TJ's Egg Pappardelle pasta
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 Tbsp garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups marinara sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over moderate heat. Add beef and saute until lightly browned and crumbly. Add onions and garlic and saute until onions are transparent. Drain fat and return mixture to pan. Add red wine and marinara. Stir and simmer 10-15 minutes to blend flavors. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to cooking instructions. Drain well, add pasta to sauce. Heat pasta and sauce together on low heat 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan.

*****

I kind of broke the Pantry Challenge because I had to go buy wine for this, but I figured that was easier than coming up with a different dinner. Plus we'd drink it anyway, so it's not like I was buying it just to use for this recipe!! I had a jar of TJ's marinara sauce in the pantry which worked out great.

I was kind of hesitant of how this would turn out. When I tasted it before putting it in my slow cooker I wasn't sure about it. The pasta tasted really egg-y to me. It ended up coming out okay. It sat in there on the warm setting for 2.5 hours. There could have been more sauce, but I don't think it was overly saucy to begin with, so it may not have been just from the crockpot drying it out. This worked pretty well for dinner to be ready when we got home, then all we did was heat up some bread, throw some salad mix in bowls, and heat up some frozen broccoli.

I don't think I'd go out of my way to make this again, but it's something I'd make again if I had everything on hand and needed a quick dinner fix, kind of like I needed tonight.

No picture, I was starving by the time we got home and couldn't be bothered with finding a camera. Oh, and can I just say I'm so fortunate that I get to stay home?! I don't know how I'd get dinner on the table at a decent time if the husband and I were both getting home late like we did tonight!

Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy

My brother is a vegetarian, and while I'm sure he wishes he could indulge in the turkey gravy we had for Thanksgiving #2, he couldn't. His friend Siri made mushroom gravy for their turkey-less Thanksgiving celebration, and my mom got the recipe from her and made it for him for Thanksgiving #2. I didn't make it, so I didn't know if I should post it, but 1) it was really good, 2) she sent me the recipe, too, and 3) I took a picture of it. So, here you go.

Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy

3/4 cup white or button mushrooms, chopped
1 small yellow or white onion, minced
1/4 cup margarine
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp poultry seasoning (or 1/2 tsp each of sage, thyme and marjoram)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, melt the margarine and add onion and mushrooms. Sautee for just a minute or two over high heat.

Reduce heat to medium and add vegetable broth and soy sauce. Slowly add flour, stirring well to combine and prevent lumps from forming. Bring to a simmer or a low boil, then reduce heat.

Add poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, stirring consistently. Allow to cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until gravy thickens.

*****

This was really good gravy! It's something I would make if I wanted gravy for something but didn't want to use a packet or use drippings and go to all that trouble. I had turkey gravy on my dressing and this on my mashed potatoes. Way to go, Siri, for finding this yummy vegetarian gravy!! And way to go for my mom for making it for Thanksgiving #2!

My Grandma's Super Yummy Dressing

Dressing, stuffing...my family always called it dressing because we didn't stuff the turkey with it, but I always wonder if people will think I mean salad dressing if I say dressing instead of stuffing. I know, random things that go through my head. My grandma's dressing is one of my all-time absolute most favorite foods. I could eat an entire pan of it. Although it does make me a little sad now because my grandpa felt the same way about it as I do, so now eating it (and when I was making it) made me miss him a lot. Every year my grandpa would be in charge of toasting the bread for the dressing and he'd always want to do way more loaves of bread than my grandma thought was necessary. I always sided with my grandpa because more dressing is never a bad thing.

I had made this once before, I think for Thanksgiving at my parents' house one year when my grandparents weren't there for Thanksgiving. It was only okay--I think I forgot to add the salt because something was just off. I hadn't attempted to make it since then, just enjoyed it when I could get it. It used to be when we'd go to TX for Thanksgiving, my grandma would make up a plate for me from my family's Thanksgiving dinner and save it for me when we got back because they'd always keep our dog while we were gone. When I could I'd take leftovers home and eat it cold for breakfast the next day. This dish is probably the #1 thing I miss about not having Thanksgiving with my family.

Now that I've waxed poetic and gone on and on about the dressing I guess I should just get down to posting the recipe. I was really pretty surprised with how easy this was to do. Let me tell you--the next time I'm on my own for dinner (although I have no idea when or why that would ever happen) I may just make up a 9x13 pan of this to eat...and I won't even use a plate!

My Grandma's Super Yummy Dressing

1 loaf white sandwich bread, toasted and broken in small pieces (my grandpa usually did 1-1/2 loaves, so that's what I went with)
2 cups chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion

Saute celery and onion in 1/4 stick butter until it looks tender.

Add celery and onion to bread. Add about 1-1/2 Tbsp sage and a little salt. Mix with broth until it looks damp. You may need to use a can of chicken broth if there isn't enough turkey broth, but don't add it all at once--wait and see how much you need. Bake about 35 minutes at 350.

*****

Let me tell you...I was tempted to eat this straight out of the bowl once I had everything mixed together. Then I was tempted to eat it straight out of the pan before I put it in the oven. Then I was tempted to dump the entire pan out on my plate at dinner--but I thought that might be a little rude since my mom and brother love grandma's dressing, too. But it would have only been a little rude because Jen had made dressing too.

Anyway, this is super easy, super tasty, and I'm sad I finished off the leftovers for breakfast this morning. Let me tell you--I savored that last bite for a ridiculously long time!

Bread and veggies, just waiting on the broth...


Mmmm...pre-baked dressing...


The finished product (after dinner, we were all too hungry for me to take pictures before we ate)...

Tuna Cakes with Dill Tartar Sauce

Two cans of tuna were on my list of ingredients I had to work with this week without going to the grocery store, and I found this recipe on a Weight Watchers recipe website I turn to fairly often when I'm doing WW. I had everything on hand, so it sounded like a great addition to the meal plan.

Tuna Cakes with Dill Tartar Sauce

Tuna Cakes With Dill Tartar Sauce
4 Points per Serving

Vegetable cooking spray
3/4 cup finely chopped celery
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons light process cream cheese product, softened
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
dash ground red pepper
1/3 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried whole dillweed
1 9-1/4-ounce can 60%-less salt tuna in water, drained
1 egg white

Dill Tartar Sauce (see recipe)

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add celery and onion; saute until tender. Remove from skillet, and place in a medium bowl. Add cream cheese and next 3 ingredients; stir well. Add breadcrumbs and next 3 ingredients; stir well. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 2-1/2-inch cake.

Coat skillet with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add 4 cakes, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove cakes from skillet; set aside, and keep warm. Repeat proceudre with remaining cakes. Serve with Dill Tartar Sauce.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cakes and 1 tablespoon sauce).

Dill Tartar Sauce
1 Point per serving

2 tablespoons reduced-calorie mayonnaise
1 tablespoon plain nonfat yogurt
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon peeled, finely chopped cucumber
1 teaspoon dried whole dillweed
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine all ingredients; stir well.

*****

I was really intrigued with this and thought it might go over well with the boy because he really likes tuna salad. So how did it turn out? It didn't. We ended up going with my universal dinner back-up plan of Little Ceasar's pizza. Everything mixed up fine, but the darn cakes would not stay together when I went to flip them. I don't know if they needed more breadcrumbs or egg or what, but out of the eight patties, only three held together. I had one the next day for lunch on a sandwich roll, and as a sandwich it was decent, but I don't think this is one I'll be trying again.

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

I have some massive blog updating to do! I was really trying this week to get back into a normal groove and get my house back in order after all the traveling we've been doing, but in doing that my blog fell to the wayside.

As I said in my last post, my challenge this week was to make dinners using only ingredients I had on hand. I cheated only a little and had to buy some chicken broth and brown rice, but that was it. I was excited to realize I had everything on hand for this recipe because it's one we really like, but for some reason I don't make it very often. I definitely need to add it to the rotation more often!

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

I had some andouille sausage in the freezer that needed to be used up, so I cooked that in a skillet to render off some of the fat, then I sliced it and threw it in the slow cooker. The husband and I always enjoy this when we have it for dinner, the boy ate it okay, but I was SHOCKED that the baby shoveled it down! He ate about as much as I did! He's going to be my spicy food kid for sure, even though it wasn't that spicy, but I have to imagine for a baby it was.