Sunday, July 18, 2010

Weekend Cooking & Cheesy Garlic Bread

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Garlic Wheat Bread (recipe later this week)
Cheesy Garlic Bread (instructions below)


To make the Cheesy Garlic Bread I took a slice of the Garlic Bread I made (recipe later this week) and topped with slices of Provolone cheese.  I broiled it in the toaster oven for just a few minutes until the cheese melted.


It was a great snack and I plan to do it again.




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Friday, July 16, 2010

Kool-Aid Play Dough

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Some how we ended up with a packet of Kool-Aid.  It's a rare thing in our house.  Instead of tossing it or giving it away, I decided to try to use it to color play dough.

I used the same play dough recipe I did before, except I added the Kool-Aid for color.


When it's holding together, take it out of the pot and knead.



I stored this batch in a Ziploc baggie.


The toddlers love that it's a different color than the beige of the non-colored batch I made earlier.


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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Cranberry Beef

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Cranberry is a new flavor for me.  I gave it a try for the first time last Thanksgiving.  I looked around for more ideas using cranberry and found some people use the same recipe with beef as the cranberry chicken recipe linked above.



Cranberry Beef

2 pounds of stew meat
2 cans whole berry cranberry sauce
1 bottle Catelina dressing
1 envelope onion soup mix

Combine the cranberry sauce, dressing, and soup mix.  Fold in the meat.

I divided it up into 6 meal-sized portions and put in the freezer.

On the day I wanted to eat it, I thaw for a bit in the morning, then cook in the crock pot on high for 3 hours or low for 5 or 6 hours.

Yum!


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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Ready-To-Go Grapes

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I'm really enjoy grapes this season.  With my crazy schedule, I need them washed and ready to go.

I spend a few minutes on shopping day picking all the grapes off the vine, washing them, and putting them in sandwich baggies and in the refrigerator.  Now, on a busy day, I can grab a bag on the go.





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Monday, July 12, 2010

Easy Mac N Cheese Pie

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This is an easy recipe for mac-n-cheese that freezes well.  The last time I made it was last September.  It's fun to rediscover a recipe :)


Easy Mac N Cheese Pie

1cup uncooked elbow macaroni (3 1/2 oz)
2cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 oz)
1/2cup Bisquick Mix
1 1/2cups milk
1/4teaspoon red pepper sauce
2eggs


1.Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Place uncooked macaroni in pie plate. Sprinkle with 1 3/4 cups of the cheese.
2.In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate.
3.Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray; place sprayed side down over pie plate. Bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake 1 to 2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.


I followed the recipe except omitted the pepper sauce. I don't like hot stuff and I was feeding it to toddlers.  I made a double batch and made one in a square pan.

I packaged in meal-sized portions and put into the freezer.  Well, all except the meal I served to the toddlers, who ate it all up.

For reheating, I put the frozen package into the mini crock pot with a splash of water first thing in the morning and it will be heated through by lunch time.

This is a toddler favorite meal with a fruit and veggie on the side.  It would be easy to add vegetables like peas and/or cooked ground meat or turkey or chicken to this dish before cooking.





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Sunday, July 11, 2010

Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

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I love using vinegar for cleaning just about everything!  All around the house, we have spray bottles filled with straight vinegar we use for a multi-purpose cleaner on windows, mirrors, counters, floors, and so much more!  Vinegar is not only a great grease cutter and cleaner, but it kills bacteria, mold, and germs, too!  

It's safe to use around people and animals and even an environmental friendly way to clean.  It's also way less expensive than traditional chemical cleaners.

Yes, there is a "vinegar odor" when you use it, but it goes away quickly.  I don't mind the odor and remind myself it is also an air neutralizer.

Because I use it so often in the child care area, I've made a more nose-friendly version:

1 part water
1 part vinegar
40-50 drops of lemon oil
(I only had lime oil available, so I used that)

Put in a spray bottle and shake lightly.  It has tamed that vinegar odor some and has a more lime scent.  Just perfect for general cleaning around the child care.




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Friday, July 9, 2010

Lime (Lemon) Chicken & Coconut Rice

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About a year ago, I had worked on perfecting this recipe.  I finally had it down good and even wrote it down.  It's one of the few recipes I made up entirely on my own.

Fast forward to last weekend.  I wanted to make it again and I haven't made it for almost a year!  I searched everywhere for the recipe and couldn't find it anywhere.  I was back to square one!


Lime Chicken & Coconut Rice

2/3 cup lime juice (I used lemon juice)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 t. lemon pepper
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. onion powder
1 T. brown sugar
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups Jasmine rice
1 can coconut milk, plus enough water to make 6 cups


Put the rice in the rice cooker, add coconut milk with enough water to make six cups of liquid.  Turn on the rice cooker.  (You can also make the rice on the stove if you prefer).


Whisk together the lime juice, oil, seasonings and sugar.  Reserve half of it.  Cube the chicken into bite-sized pieces and marinate in half of the juice mixture.  Marinate for a few minutes, or overnight in the fridge.  I can never wait that long, so I end up cooking it right away.


Pour chicken and juice into a frying pan and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Cook until the juice is gone and the chicken is brown.

Serve chicken over rice.  Pour a bit of the reserved juice mixture over all.

I divided it into five servings, one to eat and four to freeze.


I prefer lime juice for this recipe, but didn't have any on-hand.  Lemon juice worked fine (I just like lime better).

It's a wonderful mixture of sweet (coconut rice) and sour (juice mixture).




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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Sausage & Cheese Biscuits

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Again, I was excited to find a basic recipe with added nutrients.



  • 3 c. flour
  • 1 T. + 1 t. baking powder
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/2 c. butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 lb. bulk pork sausage, crumbled and fully cooked, cooled
  • 1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
  • 3/4 – 1 1/4 c. milk




1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter until crumbly.
2. Stir in the cooled sausage and cheddar cheese. Add milk just until the dough comes together without being sticky. Be careful not to add too much.


3. Drop onto a baking sheet. (I used my ice cream scoop to make 17 biscuits.) 



4.  Bake at 400 degrees for 12- 18 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top.




I had two with some grapes for lunch on the day I made them.  They made a quick and easy lunch and would make a wonderful "on the go" breakfast.


I packaged them into meal-sized portions and will serve them for hearty toddler snacks or a "breakfast for lunch" lunch adding a fruit and vegetable.






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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Multi Grain Bread

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When I got my bread machine, someone sent me a wonderful gift of this cookbook:  Betty Crocker's Best Bread Machine Cookbook: The Goodness of Homemade Bread the Easy Way

I've tried a few recipes from it, but by far my favorite is Multigrain Loaf.  It's my most-used recipe.

Multigrain Loaf (1-pound recipe)

3/4 cup plus 2 T. water
1 T margarine or butter, softened
1 cup bread flour (I use all-purpose)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup 7-grain or multigrain cereal (I use Kroger granola)
2 T. packed brown sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. quick active dry yeast

Measure carefully, placing all ingredients in bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer.

Select Whole Wheat or Basic/White cycle.  Use Medium or Light crust color.  Remove baked bread from pan and cool on wire rack.

This bread comes out just right--not too fluffy, but not too heavy.  It smells and tastes so good!

It is by far my favorite recipe for the bread machine!



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