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March 28, 2008

Sausage Stromboli

Yesterday I made Sausage Stromboli, and it was fantastic, so I thought I would share this recipe.

(The photo above is similar to what mine looked like!)

You will need:
1lb. of Pork sausage.
3 cloves of Garlic, minced.
Medium onion, diced.
Medium bell pepper, in thin strips.
1/2 bag fresh Spinach.
1/2lb. grated Mozzarella.
Grated parmesan cheese.
2 packs premade Pizza dough.
Marinara sauce (optional).

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Saute' garlic, onion and bell pepper with extra virgin olive oil (or veggie oil) until it is starts to caramelize, set aside, brown sausage until it is fully cooked and ground, combine with veggies, blanch spinach in boiling water, combine to veggie and sausage mixture.

To prepare pizza dough sprinkle flour on to flat surface, place pizza dough on top of floured surface, sprinkle flour on top of pizza dough and begin rolling pizza dough out with a rolling pin until it is a rectangular shape (similar to the picture below).

Pour half of the sausage mixture in to the center of the rolled out pizza dough, sprinkle with parmesan and half of your grated mozzarella, and roll pizza dough up in a jelly roll type fashion (similar to the photo below, but a larger roll, use photo of finished product for a better example).

Place dough seam down on to a lightly floured baking sheet with a little extra virgin olive oil (or veggie oil) to help prevent dough from sticking, lightly drizzle some extra virgin olive oil (or veggie oil or egg wash) on top of your Sausage Stromboli.

Repeat with second pack of dough and the rest the rest of the sausage mixture.

Place in to your oven for 30-45 minutes or until your dough is nicely browned and crispy looking!

Serve with Marinara sauce on the side for dipping and enjoy!

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March 12, 2008

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

I decided to go about making enchiladas a little differently then I usually do tonight for dinner, and they were the best I've made so far. The recipe is below.

You will need:
Chicken.
Cheese.
24oz jar of Salsa.
30 count Corn Tortillas.

Chicken:
I used a whole chicken, but you can use any cut you prefer: whole, breast, thigh, drum, ground, or any type of meat or meat replacement you prefer.

To season, I used: 2 tsp chili powder, 2 tsp sweet basil, 1 tsp adobe, to be baked in the oven. Other seasonings that would be good for this dish is paprika, and onion or garlic powder.

Here's a few sites with temp guides for cooking different cuts of chicken: Recipe Tips: Chicken Cooking Times, Chicken Safety and Preparation, and Super 1 Foods Cook & Prep Guide.

After your chicken is cooked and cooled, cut and debone your chicken and finely mince it in a food processor, dice, or shred it up yourself. You can add canned chopped green chilies to meat mixture, if desired.

Cheese:
I used about 3/4 of a 1lb block of cheese and grated it by hand. I used 1/2 a block of Pepper Jack and 1/4 of a block of Medium Cheddar, mixed together in a bowl. Use whichever kinds of cheese you prefer for a Mexican dish.

Assembly:
Evenly grease your baking dish with shortening or veg oil (I needed three baking dishes for all 30 enchiladas).

Put about 1/4 of a cup of chicken in to a corn tortilla, close and place seam down in to the baking dish, until either all of your filling is used, or all of your tortillas. I tried using a little less filling in some to ensure all of both the filling and tortillas were used.

Evenly spoon about 1 tbsp of salsa over each enchilada.

Evenly sprinkle your cheese mixture across your enchiladas.

Put your enchiladas in to the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted to your liking.

You can serve them with leaf lettuce and sour cream if desired. Enjoy!

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February 18, 2008

Chicken Meat Loaf / Seasoned Potatoes

Tonight I made Chicken Meatloaf and some Seasoned Potatoes, so I'm going to shared both of the recipes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Seasoned potatoes: Cut about 5 idaho potatoes into bite sized pieces and chop up 2 small onions. Place into a greased baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, cut into pieces on top and 1 teaspoon of the following spices: garlic, italian seasoning, adobe, basil, cheyenne pepper, and about a palm full of seasoning salt, mix together.

Optional: Spinkle your favorite cheese on top.

Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until potatoes are nice and soft.

Tip: Put under your broiler to make the potatoes brown and crispy on top!

Meatloaf: In a bowl, combine 1 pound of ground chicken, 1/2 cup of oatmeal (or bread crumbs), 1/2 of a small onion, minced (about 1/4 of a cup). 1/2 teaspoon of italian seasoning, garlic, and pepper, 2 pinches of salt, 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce, and mustard.

Put into a greased rectangular baking dish, perhaps a bread pan, pack gently.

Sauce: In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup of ketchup and 1/4 of a cup of honey (or brown sugar) and pour evenly on top of the meat loaf.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Tips: Add a green veggie on the side, and/or make a fruit salad for desert to make it a balanced meal.

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February 17, 2008

Chicken Cheese Burgers

Last night I made some chicken cheese burgers, and they were yummy, not to mention pretty darn healthy!

Yield: 4 Burgers.

Need:
1 pound of fully defrosted ground Chicken.
4 hamburger buns/ hard rolls.
Cheese of your choice (we used pepper jack).
Condiments of your choice (if desired).

Make your patties by splitting your meat in to 4 separate, evenly sized balls, and flatten them, making them look like little patties.

I baked ours on a lightly greased cookie sheet in the oven at 450 degrees (with the fries, when the fries were half way done) for about 15-20 minutes. Put the cheese on top, and put them back in the oven until the cheese was melted.

I also cut up some cantaloupe as another side besides the fries.

Serve and enjoy!

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February 15, 2008

Homemade Pizza

We had some homemade pizza for dinner tonight, here's the recipe.

(This is how it looks before it's baked).

Depending on how thick or thin you like your crust, this will make about 1 medium or large pizza, double crust recipe if you need to.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Pizza Crust:
2 1/2 cups Flour.
1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast.
Pinch of Sugar.
1 teaspoon of Salt.
1 cup of Warm Water.

Combine, let set for 10-15 minutes.

Alternative Crust:
2 1/2 cups Flour.
Pinch of Sugar.
1 teaspoon Salt.
1 cup Warm Water.

Combine.

Homemade Sauce:
Since we didn't have much money, I used what we had, and it surprisingly turned out pretty good too!

3 cans of Tomato Soup.
2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning.
2 teaspoons of Sweet Basil.
1 teaspoon of Pepper.

Combine and heat or just heat up some prepared spaghetti sauce.

Use what ever toppings you love on your pizza.

We used:
Pepperoni.
Bell Pepper.
Onions.
Parsley.
Sliced Tomatoes.
Cheddar Cheese.
Mozzarella Cheese.

You will also need:
Parmesan Cheese.

On your table or a large cutting board, sprinkle flour on your choice of hard surface, and on your rolling pin, and roll your dough out into a square or a circle, whichever you prefer. Use olive or veggie oil to grease your cookie sheet, place rolled out crust on to the cookie sheet.

Put some olive or veggie oil on the dough before you put the sauce on it.

As desired: Add tomato sauce, then sprinkle with parmesan cheese, sprinkle with cheese and other toppings of your choice, and sprinkle some more parmesan cheese on top (if desired).

Cooking Times:
Thin Crust:
Soft: About 20-30 minutes.

Medium Thick Crust:
Soft: About 30-40 minutes.

Add 10 minutes for a little extra crunchy crust.

Enjoy!

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January 22, 2008

Sweet, Tangy & Spicy BBQ Ribs!

So I had this thought, I am cooking dinner every night anyway, so why not keep sharing some of the recipes I use as I go along? It will help me keep my mind off of some things, and give me something to talk about on my blog, because, let's face it, I don't post enough on here!

So I wanted to share a recipe I made up tonight, these ribs were to die for! They were sweet, tangy, and spicy all in one. If you love BBQ ribs, then you must try this homemade BBQ sauce instead of the regular pre-bought BBQ sauce!

I would imagine that this homemade BBQ sauce would be great on hot dogs, chicken, hamburgers, beef or pork ribs, or anything else you want to put BBQ sauce on! At least try it once and tell me what you think? And yes, this time I measured the amounts of stuff I used!! =)

Sweet, Tangy & Spicy BBQ Ribs.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.

What you need for the BBQ sauce:
1 cup of applesauce.
1 cup of ketchup.
1-2 tablespoons of honey.
2 tablespoons of melted butter.
1 tablespoon of molasses.
1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce.
1-2 teaspoons of mustard.
1 teaspoon of ground ginger.
1 teaspoon of paprika.
1 teaspoon of chili powder.
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
1-2 teaspoon of brown sugar.
1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
Pinch of season salt.
Pinch of salt.
1 small onion, minced.
1 clove of garlic, minced.

Combine all the ingredients in to a medium bowl (in no specific order).

Now take your fully defrosted beef or pork ribs, or your meat of choice (I used one of those "big buy" packages of pork ribs, which contained 10 ribs) and sprinkle some salt and pepper over them, both sides, now dip them into the BBQ sauce one at a time (if your using a rack of ribs just pour it on), cover generously, and place them into a baking dish. Sprinkle some fresh parsley on top (if desired).

Now you can place them, covered, in the refrigerator for a few hours, but I didn't let them marinate, and they turned out fine.

Put your ribs in the oven at 500 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees for another 45 minutes. I also placed mine under the broiler for a few minutes for a nice look.

Prepare your sides while your waiting.

We had salad and rice with carrots and onions in it on the side. Some other things that would go good with ribs is potatoes (mashed, seasoned, baked, fried), corn on the cob or coleslaw.

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January 20, 2008

Whole Roasted Chicken!

Tonight I made some roasted chicken, stove top stuffing, mashed potatoes, a delicious salad and some sliced cantaloupe! It was lovely. So I decided to share the roasted chicken recipe with you.

Simple Whole Roasted Chicken:

*Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.

*Take your fully defrosted whole chicken out of the refrigerator and place it in a baking pan or casserole dish.

*Make your dry rub. This is the fun part! Ready? Take a bunch of spices and herbs out of your cabinet. Whatever sounds good that you would like on your chicken, or something unusual that you might think would taste good.

Here's what I used:
Salt.
Pepper.
Lemon Pepper.
Thyme.
Paprika.
Rosemary.
Adobe.
Onion Powder.
Fresh parsley.
Sweet Basil.
Cinnamon.
Some Mint.
Little bit of Sugar, not too much.

Sounds strange, but tastes good!

Now if you don't like that idea or just don't trust yourself, just use one of the two combinations below:
Salt.
Pepper.
Paprika.
Thyme.
Rosemary.
Other herbs you like, fresh or dry.

Or:
Cinnamon.
Allspice.
Nutmeg.
Ground Cloves.
Sugar.

*Now combine all these herbs and spices in a bowl. But how much of each herb or spice should I use? Just eyeball it! You can't really mess it up.

However, if you decide to use the third spice option with cinnamon, allspice, etc. I would recommend being careful with the ground cloves, they can be a little strong! =)

*Rub your dry rub all over your chicken! Inside and out!

*Take 1/2 of an onion cut in to four pieces, 1 clove of garlic per chicken (or use garlic powder in the rub), and about a tablespoon of butter and place them in the cavity of your chicken! This is for flavor. Oh, and put a few little pieces of butter on top of your chicken aswell.

If you want to let your chicken set in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour to an hour before you cook it, you can.

*Put your chicken in the oven. Cook it for 15 minutes at 500 degrees. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees for another 45 minutes to an hour or so, and if the meat on your legs isn't pink, then it's done. If you want to 350 degrees for an hour and 1/2 to two hours works pretty well also.

*Prepare the sides of your choosing and enjoy.

I really hope if you try this recipe that you enjoy it because the chicken was really moist, juicy and delicious!

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June 27, 2007

Chicken Pot Pie

I made some good homemade chicken pot pie last night for dinner, and the crust was decent, but tonight I made myself a individual chicken pot pie, and it's to die for! The crust is sooo flakey and delicious! Yummy!! :D

The recipe:

Yield: 4

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.

Crust:
2 1/2 cups of flour.
Stick of butter.
1tsp. Salt.
About 1/8c.- 1/4c. of iced water (drain ice, and add more water if neede for a doughy substance).

Mix together in bowl until crust is doughy, roll out with a rolling pin.

Filling:
4 Chicken Breast, diced (if your a vegiterian, leave it out, it's still good).
2 Carrots, diced
2 Sm - Med Potatos, diced
2 Celery, diced
1 Med Onion, diced
Froz. Peas
Froz. Corn
(any other veggies you desire)
Garlic (1-2 cloves), minced
Pepper and Salt, eyeball it
A little of your favorite grated cheese for on top before the crust (if desired).

Egg Wash:
1 Egg
1/4C. of Water.

Mix together in a bowl, put into a large pan with some veggie oil, olive oil, or butter (whichever you perfer). Cook until potatos and carrots are almost done. Put the filling int o a baking dish, and cover with rolled out crust, use pastry brush to coat with egg wash. Put in oven, takes about 1 hour to cook, or until crust is golden brown, let stand for 10-15 minutes and serve!

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February 5, 2007

Delicious Cheesecake

I made a really yummy cheesecake! I followed a basic plain cheesecake recipe and added crushed oreo into the mixture, poured it into a oreo crumb crust that I bought, baked it... and put layers of delicious toppings ontop! I chopped up some walnuts and sprinkled them ontop, then drizzled melted chocolate over the walnuts, waited for it to semi-harden, placed a half of a container of whipped topping over the melted chocolate, then put some chopped walnuts around the top of the chessecake and chopped chocolate bar in the middle for decoration. It's very thick, moist, and fattening! But it's very delicious!

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December 31, 2006

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I was craving oatmeal raisin cookies all day and night yesterday. My problem? I have no white sugar in the house. My solution? Finding a recipe online for oatmeal raisin cookies that does not call for white sugar. My choices? Made with brown sugar or maple syrup. My decision? Maple syrup.

So I made oatmeal raisin cookies early this morning, at about five. I must of been tired because I put 1 1/2c. of flour instead of 3/4c. of flour. I was luckily able to salvage the cookies! They turned out pretty good. If I had not been half-asleep, I'm sure they would of been better.

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Need:
2 Eggs
1/2 c. Butter
1 c. Maple Syrup
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 c. Oatmeal
3/4 c. Flour
1/2 c. Raisins
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 c. Walnuts (optional)
1 c. Coconut (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl: Whip butter. Add syrup, eggs, and vanilla extract to the butter. Beat well.
In another bowl: Combine oatmeal, flour, raisins, wanuts, coconut, salt, and cinnamon. Stir. Add in butter combination and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 2 tsp., drop dough onto baking sheets in mounds, 1 inch apart.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. After 7 minutes switch the top cooking sheet with the bottom cooking sheet to ensure even baking.

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