BBQ hamburgers

Not charcoal... but flame broiled anyway.

GNO

Girls Night Out!

Taco Salad

Also known as Mexi-bar... without the margaritas!

Koi Recipe

I just recieved my Koi club newsletter, and as promised (on 4/11/11), here is the Koi recipe:

1.25oz canned sardines, salmon or tuna
1oz canned or fresh veggies (peas, spinach, squash, carrots) finely ground
1oz cooked oatmeal
1 tsp. cod liver oil, food grade, unflavored
1 tsp. brewers yeast
250mg vitamin C
50 units vitamin E
1 tsp. gelatin as a binder

Add warm water to ingredients to make a slurry which is just pourable. Dissolve gelatin in 1 or 2 cups of boiling water and add to the food slurry after allowing it to cool but before it sets up. Mix and pour into Ziploc bags or container. Let cool in refrigerator and then freeze. It will keep in the freezer for a season.

When feeding, shave off a portion needed with a grater.

Split Pea and homemade bread

There is nothing special about making split pea soup. Just follow the directions on the bag of peas, plus boil the bone (if you have one) and skim off the fat. I added Italian Seasoning which has garlic and Tony's Chachere's creole seasoning to spice it up plus onion, carrots and ham.

Whole Wheat Honey Bread

3 cups stone-ground whole wheat flour
        (some oatmeal may be included)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup shortening
1 tablespoon salt
2 packages of yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
2 1/4 cups very warm water (120°F to 130°F)
3-4 cups white and wheat flour

Mix whole wheat flour, honey, shortening, salt and yeast in large bowl. Add warm water. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle.Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

Place in greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place 40 to 60 minutes or until double. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.Grease bottoms and sides of 2 loaf pans.

Punch down dough and divide in half. Roll dough up tightly, beginning at 9-inch side, to form a loaf. Press with thumbs to seal after each turn. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Press each end with side of hand to seal. Fold ends under loaf. Place seam side down in pan. Brush loaves lightly with butter. Cover and let rise in warm place 35 to 50 minutes or until double.

Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire rack. Brush loaves with butter; cool.

Left-overs

Of course! Plus deviled eggs.

Easter Dinner

If you are going to make a face like that, I'm still going publish it!

Charlie made this strawberry shortcake!

Boxed Pizza

It's happened before and will happen again. Boxed pizza with our own toppings.

But I also made Chocolate Easter Nests by melting chocolate chips on a double burner (bowl over pot) and stirring in broken pretzels and peanuts. Shape into little nests on parchment paper sprayed with pam and add "eggs".

Happy Birthday to me...

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear Leslie,
Happy Birthday to Me!

Moroccan Chicken

This was just OK. I let several recipes guide me but nothing I want to bother to compile. I won't make it again.

Beef steak burritos

Teriyaki Chicken

Teriyaki Sauce

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger root
• 1 or 2 cloves crush garlic
• 1/4 cup sweet rice wine

mix and marinate for 1/2 an hour

No cook night

We all just ate whatever we wanted. I had left over soup. Charlie made blueberry muffins.

Minestrone Soup

 

Cook about a pound of hamburger with onions and drain off fat. Add a 16oz. can of tomato sauce and 2 cans of water. Add chopped carrots, 1 clove of garlic and Italian seasoning to cook until tender. Add pasta and more water if needed to cook until tender. Add green beans, kidney beans, olives and more water if needed. Heat through and top with Parmesan cheese (I was out).

Charlie made coconut cookies for dessert, they were so good I had to share the recipe:

Charlie's Coconut Cookies

2 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
4 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

He mixed them up the usual way: cream butter and sugar, add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture until just blended. Use spoon to mix in coconut-- bake at 325.

Breakfast for dinner

Leftovers

Read Thursday's post.

Sloppy Joes

I couldn't decide what to have until the last moment. I didn't follow a recipe-- just threw things into a pot. It's important to chop the hamburger into tiny pieces. To do that I use a pampered chef tool- I don't even know what it is called- a six inch chopping blade with a handle? Once the meat was finely chopped I added tomato sauce, ketchup, red wine vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and a splash of red wine.

Usually when I have a drink of wine while cooking, my dishes turn out wrong. But last night it worked for me. After tasting the sauce I knew it was missing something... in went about 1/4 cup of wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) and it was perfect!

Kung Pao Chicken

Really I made Kung Chicken... no Pow! I didn't make it spicy-hot so Gordon had to add his own spice. Marielle loved it. The recipe wasn't quite right. Once it's the way I like it- I'll post it.

Pizza night from Figaro's

I thought I might make homemade pizza but changed my mind.

Koi Club Potluck

I went to a Koi Club potluck, and the food was great. I took pasta salad so I left some for Marielle and Gordon. I also cooked up some broiled chicken breast. It's all gone so I imagine it was good...

Roast Beef with mock mashed potatoes

I cooked the beef in a crock pot all day. For the mock mashed potatoes recipe see the post on March 14. Charlie still doesn't know he's eating cauliflower- or maybe he knows but doesn't want to say anything. He had me put the bacon chunk on top for the photo.

True Cod

Blogger won't pop up a photo up-loader. Never mind-- look on March 22.

Make your own beef burritos

Need I say more?

Chef Salad (with a little shrimp)

Beef Stroganoff

Quick Chinese Salad with peanut sauce

On March 16, I made Chinese Chicken Salad from a recipe. Tonight I didn't have time or energy for that. I put out the basic ingredients (cold chicken, oranges, slivered almonds and Napa cabbage) and let people have at it. I threw together a quick Asian peanut sauce (Sweet Chili Sauce, peanut butter, olive oil and soy sauce) and it turned out pretty well.

I'm already thinking of some sort of recipe where I can use that peanut sauce again.

Costco roast chicken

Not enough time to cook tonight so it was Costco roast chicken, Costco multi grain artisan bread and peas.

Chicken Enchiladas

I stuff my enchiladas with chicken or beef, lots of cheese and green chillies. Top them with my very easy enchilada sauce, a little extra cheese and bake them for 20 minutes at 350.

Gordon made "deer and pickle pie"--mincemeat for dessert. I'll probably blog that later after our walk.

Enchilada sauce

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3-4 cups of hot  water
• 1/2 cup chili powder
• cumin and cayenne pepper to taste

Heat a large sauce pan, add first the oil then the flour. Cook for a few minutes until smooth and bubbly. Add some hot water and it will thicken right away-- add more to the right consistency. Add the spices to taste. Pour over rolled and stuffed enchiladas. This will probably make more sauce than you need.

Deer and pickle pie

...also known as mincemeat pie. Gordon makes the mincemeat pies at our house. It consists of venison, apples, oranges, raisins and sweet pickles.
When I uploaded the photos there was a random picture of the deer that went into the pie. I thought it only fitting that he be included in the blog. Before you get all teary eyed consider that we fed and watered him for a year or 2. Why shouldn't he feed us now?
Moral of the story-- kids: be careful where you eat!

Omelet bar

I made up omelets for dinner and set out fillers so everyone could make them up as they wanted. The secret to making a good omelet is to not cook it too hot. That makes the egg puff up and crack when you fold it over. That's OK but doesn't look pretty! The pan needs to be hot enough to melt the butter but not make it sizzle and brown. Thoroughly whip the eggs with a fork until foamy. A 2 egg omelet is the best size for a small pan.

My omelet: cheese, bay shrimp, spinach, bacon, salsa, and avocado...

I had trouble deciding so I put it all in.

Gordon's: everything but the kitchen sink!

Charlie's: pepperoni, cheese, jalapenos, salsa, fresh onions, avocado.

Marielle's: cheese, shrimp and a little bacon with a side of spinach.

Timmy the Cat: shrimp-- hold the egg and cheese!

Spicy dogs

These are really too spicy for me and Marielle but Gordon and Charlie didn't seem to mind.