I recently came across a recipe when browsing the blog Keeper of the Home (http://www.keeperofthehome.org/). It was something very different and I was so intrigued that I absolutely had to try it. I had never heard of sweet potato burritos before but let me tell you, they are completely, utterly, delectably delicious! Since I knew my sweet potato hating husband would never eat them, I decided to make them tonight when he would be away.
You can follow the link to the actual recipe, but I will tell you how I made them for myself. As usual, I used the recipe as a guide, and then did my own thing with it. You can find the recipe here: http://safewaycanada.allrecipes.com/Recipe/recipe.aspx?shop=1&nprid=13954&scale=12&metric=False
I didn’t have kidney beans, but happened to have a can of good old fashioned pork and beans in the pantry. I didn’t want the sweet sauce, so I rinsed about three quarters of the can. After sautéing onion and garlic in some olive oil, I added the beans to the pan and mashed them up as best I could with a wooden spoon. I added the water and let it simmer. I added soy sauce, cumin, chili powder and dry mustard powder (we don’t use prepared mustard). I omitted the cayenne but added some fresh, chopped cilantro. Truthfully, I didn’t measure anything. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, follow the recipe above!
Then, as the recipe says, I put some mashed sweet potato and the bean mixture onto whole wheat tortilla shells and sprinkled with grated cheddar cheese. I wrapped them burrito style and baked at 350 for 12 minutes. The amount of filling I made amounted to four burritos. Since I will be the only one eating them, I saved one for tomorrow and froze the other two. I simply wrapped them tightly in plastic wrap and sealed them in a freezer bag. Next time I am alone for dinner (by alone I mean with a baby who mashes up her food with her hands then rubs it in her hair) I can pop one of those in the oven and will have a delicious dinner!
I know, I know, this recipe sounds a bit strange. I thought so too which is why I just had to try it. I can’t even believe how scrumptious it was. If you like sweet potatoes and beans, you must give it a try! Let me know what you think!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Slow Cooker Pork Chops
Well, as I mentioned before, I found a recipe for pork chops done in the slow cooker and gave them a try for dinner last night. They were pretty good! Here is the exact recipe which you can find the link to here : http://www.recipezaar.com/5-Ingredient-Chops-in-a-Crock-Pot-141847
6 whole pork chops (boneless or whatever you like)
1 whole onion, chopped
3 tablespoons ketchup
10 3/4 ounces 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Mix soup together with the chopped onions, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.
Pour 1/2 of the mixture in the bottom of the crock pot.
Place chops in the crock pot.
Cover with the remaining sauce mixture.
Cook on low 4-5 hours or until done.
Makes a lot of sauce which I served on a side of steamed rice
In my humble opinion, a recipe is just a guide to spark some culinary creativity. What I made was pretty much the same as above with a tweak here and there. I used half fat cream of chicken soup because that is what I had. I used boneless pork chops, extra Worcestershire sauce, fresh ground pepper, and garlic powder. It did make a lot of sauce, which was mild but flavorful. I knew that I had a very busy day ahead of me yesterday so I prepared this early and let it cook for 8 hours. The meat was so tender it fell apart on our forks and the flavor really permeated it. I served it with mashed potatoes, peas, and corn. It was a nice dinner and it tasted like something I spent hours on when really I barely did anything. My Crockpot did all the work…brilliant!
6 whole pork chops (boneless or whatever you like)
1 whole onion, chopped
3 tablespoons ketchup
10 3/4 ounces 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Mix soup together with the chopped onions, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.
Pour 1/2 of the mixture in the bottom of the crock pot.
Place chops in the crock pot.
Cover with the remaining sauce mixture.
Cook on low 4-5 hours or until done.
Makes a lot of sauce which I served on a side of steamed rice
In my humble opinion, a recipe is just a guide to spark some culinary creativity. What I made was pretty much the same as above with a tweak here and there. I used half fat cream of chicken soup because that is what I had. I used boneless pork chops, extra Worcestershire sauce, fresh ground pepper, and garlic powder. It did make a lot of sauce, which was mild but flavorful. I knew that I had a very busy day ahead of me yesterday so I prepared this early and let it cook for 8 hours. The meat was so tender it fell apart on our forks and the flavor really permeated it. I served it with mashed potatoes, peas, and corn. It was a nice dinner and it tasted like something I spent hours on when really I barely did anything. My Crockpot did all the work…brilliant!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Supercook
I thought I’d do a quick post tonight to recommend a fantastic recipe website to you. It’s called Super Cook and it is a recipe search engine. It is my lifesaver whenever I have an ingredient but have no idea what to do with it. Just enter your ingredient in the search engine and recipes will start popping up. It will ask you if you have other ingredients and as you click on them to add to your list, more recipes suited to your list will pop up. It is amazing! I have been using it a lot lately. Just now, I couldn’t think of what to do with some pork chops I have so I typed “pork chops” into the search, added some more ingredients and I now have a Crockpot recipe to try tomorrow! I’ll let you know how it goes.
I don’t know about you, but I go through phases of losing creativity in the kitchen. When I am totally uninspired, this website fans that creative spark and brings it back to a flame. Even if I don’t use a recipe, I end up at least getting ideas of things I can make up on my own. Give it a try, I’m sure you’ll love it! You’ll find it at www.supercook.com
I don’t know about you, but I go through phases of losing creativity in the kitchen. When I am totally uninspired, this website fans that creative spark and brings it back to a flame. Even if I don’t use a recipe, I end up at least getting ideas of things I can make up on my own. Give it a try, I’m sure you’ll love it! You’ll find it at www.supercook.com
Friday, July 3, 2009
Easy Chicken and Rice
Recently, my husband has started working more evenings than days, which leaves me and the baby on our own for dinner more often. I am trying not to fall into the sandwich trap even though it is so much easier to just eat a salad and sandwich for dinner. That is ok sometimes, but not day after day. A few nights ago I decided to throw something quick and healthy together with food I already had in my cupboards. It was a simple rice and chicken dish and the bonus was I could feed it to my little munchkin too!
I started some brown rice to cook in the rice cooker. I have a serious problem with burning rice. I have tried and failed to solve this problem so I have become completely dependent on my rice cooker. Anyway, before I take this rabbit trail too far…
While the rice was cooking, I took two chicken breasts out of the freezer and placed them in a pot of boiling water. I added chopped onion, carrot and celery and seasoned with some coarse salt. I also added barley which went really nicely with everything else. When everything was almost done, I added corn, peas, and green beans from my freezer. Once those were cooked, I drained the water, added the rice and shredded the chicken with two forks. That’s it! How easy does that sound?
I put some aside and whizzed it through the food processor with a bit of water for the baby. Once that was done, I added some butter, salt and pepper to mine and we had ourselves a lovely dinner. It was so simple and totally delicious.
There is something to be said for a very simple dinner. These days, I’m leaning more toward simplicity when it comes to cooking. It can be fun to fuss over a dish and make something really nice but lately I’ve been finding that the meals that seem the most plain have been tasting the best. Less time cooking and cleaning up equals more time playing with my baby and her daddy. Can’t argue with that!
I started some brown rice to cook in the rice cooker. I have a serious problem with burning rice. I have tried and failed to solve this problem so I have become completely dependent on my rice cooker. Anyway, before I take this rabbit trail too far…
While the rice was cooking, I took two chicken breasts out of the freezer and placed them in a pot of boiling water. I added chopped onion, carrot and celery and seasoned with some coarse salt. I also added barley which went really nicely with everything else. When everything was almost done, I added corn, peas, and green beans from my freezer. Once those were cooked, I drained the water, added the rice and shredded the chicken with two forks. That’s it! How easy does that sound?
I put some aside and whizzed it through the food processor with a bit of water for the baby. Once that was done, I added some butter, salt and pepper to mine and we had ourselves a lovely dinner. It was so simple and totally delicious.
There is something to be said for a very simple dinner. These days, I’m leaning more toward simplicity when it comes to cooking. It can be fun to fuss over a dish and make something really nice but lately I’ve been finding that the meals that seem the most plain have been tasting the best. Less time cooking and cleaning up equals more time playing with my baby and her daddy. Can’t argue with that!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Great Grandma's Oahu Chicken
As promised, here is the first of my Great Grandma’s recipes! I think it is so neat to try out meals that my family made three generations ago. I told my mom I was making this and she could remember her grandma making it. How cool is that? Someday my daughter will remember eating this dish that her Great-Great Grandmother made!
Tonight I tried her recipe for Oahu Chicken. It was delicious! My husband has already asked me to make it again and I am so looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow night for dinner. Here is the recipe, with a few minor adjustments made. The original recipe calls for ¼ cup of butter to brown the chicken in but I lightened it up and used about 1 ½ tablespoons. I dredged the chicken in whole wheat flour. I also added green peppers to the recipe because it just seemed as though they would fit…and I was right! It was a great flavor.
Oahu Chicken
3 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1-2 Tbsp butter
1 8 oz can pineapple chunks
1 small green pepper, diced
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
¾ cup chicken broth
Dredge chicken in flour. Melt butter in a large skillet and slowly brown the chicken.
Drain pineapple, reserving ½ cup of the juice. Mix pineapple juice with brown sugar, ginger, and a pinch of salt; add to chicken.
Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, and peppers to skillet. Stir well. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove lid and continue simmering an additional 20 minutes.
I served this over brown rice with steamed carrots on the side. It was such a delicious dinner. Great Grandma would be proud!
Tonight I tried her recipe for Oahu Chicken. It was delicious! My husband has already asked me to make it again and I am so looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow night for dinner. Here is the recipe, with a few minor adjustments made. The original recipe calls for ¼ cup of butter to brown the chicken in but I lightened it up and used about 1 ½ tablespoons. I dredged the chicken in whole wheat flour. I also added green peppers to the recipe because it just seemed as though they would fit…and I was right! It was a great flavor.
Oahu Chicken
3 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1-2 Tbsp butter
1 8 oz can pineapple chunks
1 small green pepper, diced
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
¾ cup chicken broth
Dredge chicken in flour. Melt butter in a large skillet and slowly brown the chicken.
Drain pineapple, reserving ½ cup of the juice. Mix pineapple juice with brown sugar, ginger, and a pinch of salt; add to chicken.
Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, and peppers to skillet. Stir well. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove lid and continue simmering an additional 20 minutes.
I served this over brown rice with steamed carrots on the side. It was such a delicious dinner. Great Grandma would be proud!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Bugaloo Kids Shoe Giveaway!
I have very recently discovered a fantastic blog called Keeper of the Home. Her values and ideas really mirror a lot of my own and it has been wonderful to read through her site and glean from her wisdom.
There is a giveaway on her blog right now for Bugaloo Kids baby shoes so all you moms out there, check it out! They are a high quality leather shoe similar to Robeez but sell for only $15 a pair (compared to up to $35 for Robeez, depending on where you buy them).
Another great thing is Bugaloo Kids will donate 5% of every sale to International Justice Mission. A group of the youth at our church is currently raising money to free 151 slaves through that ministry, so I will definitely promote that one! It’s a great cause and I recommend looking further into it on their website: www.ijm.org
If you are interested in what exactly our youth are doing to free slaves, visit their site at www.freedom151.com. It’s pretty awesome!
Please check out Keeper of the Home if you are interested in these great shoes! The blog address is: www.keeperofthehome.org
There is a giveaway on her blog right now for Bugaloo Kids baby shoes so all you moms out there, check it out! They are a high quality leather shoe similar to Robeez but sell for only $15 a pair (compared to up to $35 for Robeez, depending on where you buy them).
Another great thing is Bugaloo Kids will donate 5% of every sale to International Justice Mission. A group of the youth at our church is currently raising money to free 151 slaves through that ministry, so I will definitely promote that one! It’s a great cause and I recommend looking further into it on their website: www.ijm.org
If you are interested in what exactly our youth are doing to free slaves, visit their site at www.freedom151.com. It’s pretty awesome!
Please check out Keeper of the Home if you are interested in these great shoes! The blog address is: www.keeperofthehome.org
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Cooking with Cream of Mushroom Soup
Skillet Dinner
I really like to make a nice dinner for my family, but sometimes I just need to throw something together-and fast. I’m all about cooking without a recipe and I thought I would share what I whipped up for dinner the other night. It was extremely simple, used ingredients I always have in the kitchen, and tasted great. It was very simple and not at all fancy but thankfully, we don’t mind that!
I peeled and diced some potatoes and boiled them. In the meantime, I browned ground beef in a large skillet. When the potatoes were about three quarters done, I added them to the ground beef, threw in some frozen corn and peas, seasoned it all with pepper and onion soup mix, and poured a can of cream of mushroom soup over top. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes and it was done. I added a few drops of beef broth now and then when the sauce seemed a bit thick. Super easy and it was pretty good for a recipe I made up as I went! Served with fresh whole wheat bread and butter and a glass of milk and it was a decent dinner!
Cooking with Cream of Mushroom Soup
If you know me, you know I hate mushrooms. The taste and texture makes me gag something awful so I avoid them. I never used to cook with mushroom soup but my husband likes it so I adapted. It’s actually not that bad and I’ve made some delicious meals with it. I stock up on store-brand cans when they are on sale and I buy the low fat variety. It is so easy to put a roast and some onions in the crock pot, season as you like, and pour a can of mushroom soup and some beef broth over top. It cooks all day and makes really nice gravy. I thought I’d share a couple more meals I make with the soup that are very easy and pretty economical too!
Stroganoff
When I have sour cream that needs to get used up, I often make stroganoff for dinner. I brown some ground beef with onions, pour in a can of mushroom soup and some beef broth to make a sauce. I season with beef bouillon and during the last five minutes add sour cream to taste. Add a little dill, pour over egg noodles and you have a cheap and easy shortcut stroganoff. It is GOOD! I serve it with peas and a salad.
Pork Chop Magic
I’ll never forget the day my husband asked me to make pork chop magic for dinner. I thought it was so funny and cute! That is what they called this dinner growing up in his house.
Thinly slice potatoes and place in a greased 9x13 pan. Top with pork chops and season with salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, mix cream of mushroom soup with some beef broth (I really use that combination a lot, don’t I?). Pour over the potatoes and chops and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until done (this will vary depending on the size of the chops and whether or not they are boneless). Pork chop magic!
Cooking without Recipes
You’ll find a lot of my recipes don’t include measurements or step by step instructions. I can’t help it, that’s just how I cook. Often, if I learn a new meal, I will follow the recipe and once I’m used to it I adapt it to my own ways and the recipe starts to fade into the background. I wonder if I’ll be one of those grandmothers who keeps all my recipes in my head?! I used to need to follow recipes exactly but I feel so liberated the way I cook now. If you haven’t tried it, I encourage you to let loose and experiment in the kitchen!
Coming Soon…
My grandma has been emailing me some of my Great-Grandmothers recipes. I decided I will start trying them out and posting the results here. From what I remember as a little girl, she was one good cook! Hopefully we’ll have some good ones coming your way very soon!
I really like to make a nice dinner for my family, but sometimes I just need to throw something together-and fast. I’m all about cooking without a recipe and I thought I would share what I whipped up for dinner the other night. It was extremely simple, used ingredients I always have in the kitchen, and tasted great. It was very simple and not at all fancy but thankfully, we don’t mind that!
I peeled and diced some potatoes and boiled them. In the meantime, I browned ground beef in a large skillet. When the potatoes were about three quarters done, I added them to the ground beef, threw in some frozen corn and peas, seasoned it all with pepper and onion soup mix, and poured a can of cream of mushroom soup over top. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes and it was done. I added a few drops of beef broth now and then when the sauce seemed a bit thick. Super easy and it was pretty good for a recipe I made up as I went! Served with fresh whole wheat bread and butter and a glass of milk and it was a decent dinner!
Cooking with Cream of Mushroom Soup
If you know me, you know I hate mushrooms. The taste and texture makes me gag something awful so I avoid them. I never used to cook with mushroom soup but my husband likes it so I adapted. It’s actually not that bad and I’ve made some delicious meals with it. I stock up on store-brand cans when they are on sale and I buy the low fat variety. It is so easy to put a roast and some onions in the crock pot, season as you like, and pour a can of mushroom soup and some beef broth over top. It cooks all day and makes really nice gravy. I thought I’d share a couple more meals I make with the soup that are very easy and pretty economical too!
Stroganoff
When I have sour cream that needs to get used up, I often make stroganoff for dinner. I brown some ground beef with onions, pour in a can of mushroom soup and some beef broth to make a sauce. I season with beef bouillon and during the last five minutes add sour cream to taste. Add a little dill, pour over egg noodles and you have a cheap and easy shortcut stroganoff. It is GOOD! I serve it with peas and a salad.
Pork Chop Magic
I’ll never forget the day my husband asked me to make pork chop magic for dinner. I thought it was so funny and cute! That is what they called this dinner growing up in his house.
Thinly slice potatoes and place in a greased 9x13 pan. Top with pork chops and season with salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, mix cream of mushroom soup with some beef broth (I really use that combination a lot, don’t I?). Pour over the potatoes and chops and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until done (this will vary depending on the size of the chops and whether or not they are boneless). Pork chop magic!
Cooking without Recipes
You’ll find a lot of my recipes don’t include measurements or step by step instructions. I can’t help it, that’s just how I cook. Often, if I learn a new meal, I will follow the recipe and once I’m used to it I adapt it to my own ways and the recipe starts to fade into the background. I wonder if I’ll be one of those grandmothers who keeps all my recipes in my head?! I used to need to follow recipes exactly but I feel so liberated the way I cook now. If you haven’t tried it, I encourage you to let loose and experiment in the kitchen!
Coming Soon…
My grandma has been emailing me some of my Great-Grandmothers recipes. I decided I will start trying them out and posting the results here. From what I remember as a little girl, she was one good cook! Hopefully we’ll have some good ones coming your way very soon!
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