Welcome to my new Cooking and Booking blog August 9, 2009

I am a huge reader and love book blogging but since my daughter was born I feel like I need to spend some time expanding my cooking repertoire.  I’m hoping I can not only track my recipes here and what I thought of them but also get some suggestions of new recipes to try.  I’m tired of trying new ones, hating it and then wasting all that food.  I’m going to start moving some of my favorite recipes here since my geocities site is closing down.  Hope you enjoy and have some yummy suggestions.  You can also view my book blog at Debbie’s World of Books.

Although I’m just porting a bunch of recipes over so I don’t lose them when Geocities goes down I’ll add pictures as I cycle through them again.  There aren’t many so you will see why I need new suggestions!

I will warn you I am a horrible cook, know almost nothing about cooking terminology and hate when people tell me season to taste because it never turns out well for me.  LOL.

Spaghetti and Meatballs-could it get any easier? August 18, 2009

I was tired and lazy so went with the quick and dirty spaghetti and meatballs with a side of fresh corn.

I’ve tried these Mama Luca’s Italian Meatballs and they are pretty tasty.  So I just toss those in a pot with Ragu’s mushroom spaghetti sauce and heat it up.  Boil some noodles and voila!

The other nifty thing my parents introduced me to during their last visit are these Ziploc Zip and Steam bags.  I love them!  The medium one fits one ear of fresh corn broke into two pieces.  Pop the bag in the microwave for 3 minutes and done.  The large ones fit two ears of corn broken into 4 pieces.  Microwave for 4 minutes and done.  So tasty!  And no need to boil water, drain it after boiling and then washing the pot.  Definitely worth it. 

Where oh where is my clotted cream? August 17, 2009

So I bought a bunch of yummy blueberry scones from a friend and was going to give them as a thank you gift to my daughter’s day care teachers with some clotted cream.  Finding the cream was harder than I thought.  I never figured it was anything fancy or special but when I looked at Safeway no luck and the bakery person and one other worker looked totally confused and like they thought I was crazy.  So now I am debating to just give them to her teachers minus the cream and suggest it or jam to them.  Wait and try Trader Joe’s and hope they don’t go stale before I find the cream?   Maybe I’ll have to check out a tea time place in Niles although when I went their for tea with some friends the service was horrible and I hesitate to even buy anything from them.  Dilemmas, dilemmas.

By the way if you live around the East Bay, California you should really try these scones. Yummy and only $5 for 4!  I saw Starbucks selling their scones for $1.95 each!  Drop me a comment if you want to find out more.

Today’s Lasagna August 15, 2009

I finally made the lasagna I had been planning all week.  It was just too hot during the week to turn on the oven.  So today I started early in the morning.

Ingredients:

• Lasagna noodles
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• cottage cheese (I use the reduced fat container)
• Turkey pepperoni
• Mushrooms
• Jar of spaghetti sauce (I like the Ragu mushroom sauce)
• Ground beef 1- 1 1/2 lbs

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef

2. Drain the grease and add the spaghetti sauce, heat and then set aside

3. Boil the lasagna noodles and then drain the water

4. In a casserole dish spoon some sauce to cover the bottom

5. Put a layer of noodles

6. Then layer the ground beef/sauce, cottage cheese, pepperoni, mushroom and cheddar cheese

7. Put another layer of noodles and repeat until your dish is filled (I usually have 2-3 layers) and end with a layer of meat/sauce & cheddar cheese

8. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted

Bluberry Muffins Comparison August 13, 2009

At a case lot sale at the commisary we bought two cases of Betty Crocker blueberry muffin mix so that is usually what I make:

This one is pretty good but each pouch only makes 5 muffins so I usually make two bags at a time.  All you need to add is water.  My hubby takes these for breakfast.

I decided to try the Krusteaz Fat Free Blueberry muffin mix since it was on sale. All you need to add is water and it makes 11 muffins.

This is what the Krusteaz muffins look like baked:

I have to admit I was not impressed with the Krusteaz muffins although it’s probably not fair to compare fat free muffins to regular muffins.

Here is how they compare nutritionally:

Betty Crocker calories: 150 calories

Krusteaz: 130 calories

Betty Crocker fat grams: 3.5 g

Krusteaz fat grams: 0 g

Betty Crocker Sodium: 270mg

Krusteaz: 280mg

Betty Crocker Carbs: 27g

Krusteaz Carbs: 31g

Betty Crocker Sugar: 14g

Krusteaz Sugar: 15g

Apricot Glazed Chicken-Dinner August 12 August 13, 2009

I got this recipe from my best friend, Jenn, check her food blog out, The Fishie’s Kitchen.  I liked this dish but my hubby said there was something about it that he didn’t care for.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup apricot (or peach) preserves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons grated orage peel (I didn’t add this)
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon coarsly ground black pepper
2 large onions
2.5 lbs chicken thighs w/bones (I removed the skin)

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In small bowl, mix apricot preserves, balsamic vinegar, orange peel, salt, and pepper.

3. Cut each onion into 4 wedged.

2. Arranges chicken pieces and onion wedges in 17″ by 11 ½” roasting pan.

3. Spoon apricot preserves mixture over chicken and onions.

4. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, basting occasionally with pan juices, until onions are tender and juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife.

It wasn’t pretty but it was yummy-Dinner August 10 Cream of Mushroom Pork Chops August 11, 2009

Yes, the pictures don’t look very appetizing but I love this and it’s one of my daughters favorite dishes.  I’m still experimenting to get it just right though.  Think next time I will try 2 cans of cream of mushroom and 1 bag of onion soup mix.

Ingredients:

• pork chops (I used thin sliced)
• 1-2 cans cream of mushroom soup (depends on how many pork chops you are making, want enough to coat them all)
• 1 packet of onion soup mix
• pepper
• small can of corn

Directions:

1. Season the pork chops with pepper and brown them in a skillet on medium
   
2. In a bowl mix the cream of mushroom soup, onion mix and corn along with enough water to get it soupy(yes I know not the most technical terms but I warned you I’m a horrible cook)
3. Pour over the pork chops and turn down to low until pork chops are cooked
   
4. We like to eat this over rice

Dinner August 9-Polish Kielbasa Pasta w/Broccoli August 11, 2009

It was way too hot to really cook yesterday so I went for something simple. I didn’t have the bowtie pasta so used elbow macaroni.  Doesn’t make a difference in taste but I prefer the bowtie pasta.

I love this recipe!  I can’t remember where I found the basic recipe but just added a few things.

Ingredients:

• Bowtie pasta cooked
• Polish kielbasa sausage
• Red pepper flakes (I used the pepper from pizza hut)
• Broccoli chopped up
• Olive oil
• Crushed garlic
• Chicken broth

Preparation:

1. Heat the olive oil and garlic in a pot

2. Add the sausage and heat up the sausage

3. Add about 1/2 cup chicken broth (amount depends on how much pasta you add. Want enough to coat the pasta)

4. Add the broccoli and pasta

5. Add the red pepper to taste

6. Add salt & pepper to taste

7. Simmer until broccoli is tender

Banana Bread August 9, 2009

I had a couple bananas that were about to go bad so I had to use them up.  I only had 2 but it was still tasty.  I should have added some chopped nuts but I wanted my daughter to be able to eat it and I haven’t given her nuts yet.

From the 50th Anniversary Best of Our Favorite Recipes 1946-1996 Maui Association for Family and Community Education recipe book

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups floor, sifted
• 2 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 to 4 ripe bananas

Steps:

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt

2. Beat shortening in mixer bowl until creamy (I couldn’t exactly get it creamy)

3. Add sugar and eggs

4. Continue beating at medium speed 1 minute or 150 strokes by hand beater

5. Peel bananas and mash; add to egg mixture

6. Mix until blended. Do not overbeat

7. Turn into greased loaf pan (I forgot to grease the pan but it turned out ok)

8. Bake in a moderate oven at 350 degrees for about 1 hr to 1 hr 10 minutes or until bread is done.

Easy Ground Beef Casserole With Potatoes August 9, 2009

I made this for dinner for the first time this past Friday.  The recipe is from About.com Southern Food.  I really liked it although next time I think I’ll leave off the cheese.

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef, browned
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• salt and pepper
• 3 large potatoes, sliced
• 2 Carrots, shredded
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Forgot the cream of mushroom and had to run to Target cause I can’t believe I was out.  I usually have a stock.

Preparation:

1. Brown ground beef in a skillet with chopped onions; cook until onions are tender.

2. Drain off excess fat

3. Transfer ground beef and onion to casserole dish.

4. Add layer of sliced raw potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper

4. Shred carrots to cover potatoes. (can someone tell me how to shred carrots other than trying to cut them really narrow?  I ended up just grating the carrots.  Feeling really dumb here.)

5. Put soup over carrots.(I know it doesn’t look appetizing but believe me it’s tasty)

6. Bake at 350° for 40 to 50 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

7. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top and bake for about 5 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted.

This easy ground beef and potato casserole serves 4 to 6.

Gooey Chocolate Butter Cookies August 9, 2009

My brothers gobbled these up like hotcakes!

Food Network: Paula Dean

Ingredients:

• 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preparation:

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner’s sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and “gooey.” Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.