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Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

Today’s post is another wonderful recipe from a wonderful blog called Plain Chicken.  I have tried several of their recipes in the last few months and they have all turned out great!  I can’t recommend their site enough. Go check it out now!  Well, maybe not RIGHT now…you can finish my post first.

This is close to the perfect weeknight meal since it is tasty, simple, quick, and did I mention tasty?  Try it and see if you like it as much as we did.

italiansloppyjoes

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. Italian sausage

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped bell pepper

1 tsp. garlic powder

26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce

sliced cheese of your choice

buns

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In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the beef, sausage, onion and pepper until there is no pink left in the meat and the veggies have softened.  Drain the fat and put the meat back in the pan.

Stir in the garlic powder and sauce.  Simmer on low-medium for 5 to 10 minutes while you prepare the buns.  Put the cheese on the buns and put them in a low oven for a few minutes, just until the cheese starts to melt really well.  I would have loved to use provolone on these, but I was out so American had to do.

Scoop a little of the meat mixture on the bun and enjoy!

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Good Monday morning, everyone!  I hope you had a nice relaxing weekend, or at the very least, an enjoyable one.  We took things pretty easy around here and caught up on a little housework and laundry.  You know how I said I was going to try one new recipe a week last Monday?  Well, I did, just not the recipe I had planned.  Instead of making the new pasta dish, I used an old favorite and made a new cake instead.  So I guess I still followed my rule! 

This week is a little haphazard.  We have a few plans that will have us eating out.  Bummer…well, no, not really.  We should get to have some fun and I will have all of the details later.  Have a great week!

Grilled pork chops with oven baked fries & corn on the cob

Minestrone soup (new)

Sausage bake with salad

Grilled steaks with baked potatoes & corn on the cob

Pizza night

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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While browsing on Pinterest one day, I came upon a pin for these iconic New York deli cookies called, simply enough, Black & White Cookies.  The recipe was posted from Brown Eyed Baker and the cookies looked so yummy!  I pinned the recipe for later and decided to try it one Sunday afternoon.

These are somewhat of a classic cookie so I am glad I tried them, but I am not sure if I will ever make them again.  The cookie is just your basic butter/sugar cookie with black and white frosting on them.  The white portion of the frosting turned out great but as soon as I added some of the white in with the melted chocolate to make the black frosting, disaster struck. 

My chocolate seized and there was nothing I could do to make it smooth again.  I put the bowl over another bowl of simmering water to loosen it and that didn’t work.  I even tried microwaving it for a few seconds and NOTHING!  So, the “black” part of my cookies is just melted semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Don’t get me wrong…the melted chips worked find, but it just wasn’t the same.  Oh, well, you win some and you lose some.

I am listing the original recipe, but there won’t be any photos of the chocolate frosting.

bwcookies

For the cookies:
4 cups cake flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup milk

For the frosting:

2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, finely chopped

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup light corn syrup

5 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

Beat the butter at medium speed for 30 seconds then gradually add the granulated sugar.  Slow increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for about 3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla extract.  Beat at medium speed for about 30 seconds.  Scrape the sides of the bowl again.  On low speed, add the flour mixture and milk alternatively, starting and ending with the flour.  Mix just until combined. 

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Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet.  Gently press each cookie dough mound until it is about 2 1/2 inches wide.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges are set and light golden brown.  Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet and then put on a wire rack to cool completely.

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Now let’s make the icing: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the water and corn syrup to boil.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla.  Transfer 3/4 of a cup to another bowl.  Melt the chocolate and add it to the 3/4 cups of frosting.  Combine and that makes the chocolate frosting.  (That is also where mine seized and wouldn’t do a thing so I just used melted semi-sweet chips instead.)

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Ice half the cookie with the white frosting and half with the melted chocolate.  Allow the cookies to dry completely before eating or storing.  They will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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Do you ever feel like you cook the same meals over and over again?  I know I do so I am going to try to make more of an effort to try a few new supper ideas in the coming weeks.  I hope to add one new thing each week if time permits and it should.  My hope and prayer is that life just settles down in the near future.  There are a few projects, both big and small,  that C & I would like to start on so hopefully we will be able to. 

I had a new experience over the weekend and I hope it is not the last time.  I took exhibits to Louisville on Saturday to enter in the Kentucky State Fair.  I was a nervous wreck by the time we got up there.  I don’t know if I was just scared that something was going to happen to my food and photo before I handed it off or it is just the thought of someone “judging” the things I do.  We made it safely though and I hope to get a good response from my entries. 

I hope all my readers have a safe and blessed week! 

Basic meatloaf with baked potatoes and corn on the cob

Beef stew with noodles

Enchilada beef with salad

Grilled pork chops with oven fries and salad

Pizza night

Classic baked ziti (new)

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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Lady Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge

Who doesn’t love peaches?  They are one of my favorite fruits and when Lady Behind The Curtain decided to use peaches and cream as the special ingredients for the August edition of her Behind The Curtain Dessert Challenge, I knew I had to participate.  I have an easy peach cobbler recipe that I use a lot, but I had never used both peaches and a creamy ingredient together so I got to experiment a little.

I found this recipe at Mel’s Kitchen Café where you will find all sorts of tasty new treats to try.  I have followed her blog for a long time and always enjoy her recipes and photos.

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For the cake:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup milk

6 tbsp. butter, melted

29 oz. can sliced peaches in juice

For the topping:

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tbsp. reserved peach juice

cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13×9” baking pan.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar & cornstarch.  Make a well in the center and add the vanilla, eggs, milk, and melted butter.  Stir until well combined and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan.

Drain the peaches, reserving the juice.  Chop the peaches into bite sized pieces and sprinkle over the cake batter.

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In a separate bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and reserved peach juice until the mixture is light and creamy.  Carefully spread this over the peaches and cake batter.  If a few peach pieces are showing through, it is okay.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the cream cheese layer liberally. 

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until the edges of the cake are done.  The center may still jiggle just a little, but it will firm up nicely as it cools. Let the cake cool completely before slicing and eating.  This will let the cream cheese layer “set”.

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Why does it seem like summer is over already?  Oh, that’s right…school starts tomorrow.  Bummer!  C & I don’t have little ones in school, but since C works for the school system, we still feel the back to school stress around here.  I know it will all calm down once we get into the regular routine, but the first few days are hectic.  This is also a extra busy work week for me since we have multiple court days scheduled so both of us will be on the go quite a bit.

That means a week of fairly simple meals so I don’t have to spend all of my evenings in the kitchen.  The taco roast got rescheduled to this week because it got knocked off the list last week, as did the frozen Oreo pie.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week especially school staff, teachers and students headed back to work!

Salsa burgers with oven baked fries

Bubble up enchiladas with salad

Baked ziti

Pineapple pork loin with baked potatoes

Banana pancakes with sausage

Beef taco roast with fries

Frozen Oreo pie

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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I have been on a bit of a smoothie kick in the last few weeks and I came up with this recipe myself.  I like to eat bananas when they are still a little green so when the black spots start to appear, they lose their appeal to me.  No pun intended!  Now when that happens, I just slice them and freeze the slices for later use in smoothies or ice cream.  No more wasted bananas!  I also bought two or three pineapples when they were on sale, chopped them, and froze the chopped pieces with the bananas.  Now when I want to make this smoothie, I don’t have to use ice and the fruit is ready to go.  Hope you enjoy!

pbsmoothie

1 cup plain unsweetened almond milk

1/8 cup plain low fat Greek yogurt

1 1/2 cups frozen pineapple chunks

1/4 cup frozen banana slices

1 tbsp. honey

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Place all of the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  This makes a delicious and filling breakfast drink.

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Hi, all!  One of my favorite blogs is HerKentucky which is written by an all female team who also have a great love of Kentucky.  The last couple of weeks, they have had guest writers and I got to be included.  It is quite an honor for me and I hope you jump over to their site and read my post, but don’t just stop there.  Read them all!  I hope you enjoy their posts as much as I do.

This link will take you to my post.

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Good morning, folks!  It’s Monday again so it is time for a fresh start at home and work.  This weekend has been beautiful and the unusually cool weather is supposed to continue through this week.  I finally had a chance to weed the garden and strawberry beds last week and I hope to clean out the front landscaping this week if all goes well.  The weeds like this nice weather as much as the good plants do.  They just keep growing and growing and growing!

Since it has been cooler, it gets me in the mood for fall home improvement projects and we may have a couple in the near future.  We have to get past the beginning of school first.  Even though my husband works year round for the school system as technology coordinator, the beginning and ending of the school year is always a stressful time.  Once he gets back in the swing of things, life can get back to normal. 

Cheesy steak sandwiches with oven fries

Enchilada beef with fruit

Taco ring with fresh veggies & fruit

Pineapple pork chops with grilled potato wedges

Taco roast with oven fries

Pizza night

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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For many, many years I have made Kansas Cucumber Salad and I posted about it here back in 2009.  When I saw this recipe on the awesome blog, She Wears Many Hats, it reminded me how good the Kansas Salad is.  The two are very similar except that this new one is healthier since it uses Greek yogurt instead of mayo. 

I have come to love the tangy flavor of Greek yogurt.  It can be used to replace sour cream and mayo in many recipes to make them a little lighter.  So if you like creamy salads, but are watching your weight, give Greek yogurt a try.

cucumberdillgreekyogurtsalad

5 or 6 medium cucumbers

4 tbsp. Greek yogurt

1/2 tbsp. dried dill

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

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Peel, half and slice the cucumbers.  You can seed them if needed, but mine didn’t need to be. 

In a bowl, combine the yogurt, dill, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and garlic powder. 

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Pour this over the sliced cucumber and toss to coat.  Chill for about an hour and serve cold.

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