A Post! Father's Day Feast --- plus sides perfect for summer!

 I know what you're thinking... SHE'S ALIVE!! Or maybe it's more like "Who are you?!" I honestly can't give you a definite reason why I've been MIA this time. I've been cooking, coming up with new recipes... just haven't really felt in the mood to post anything, and most times by the time the food is done, I just want to EAT it, not take pics of it! But Father's Day is here and my husband picked the meal: Filet Mignon, Corn on the Cob and Dutch Oven Potatoes (Mac salad is left overs from last's nights Ribs and Fries -- we don't always eat like this, I promise!! ) I'm on a carb-overload this weekend, for sure!!

Here's my little secret about the steaks: pay attention to your meat dept.'s sales on WHOLE beef tenderloins. When it's on sale, grab one (or two if budget allows). Ask the butcher to filet it into 1.5" steaks. If he's super nice, he'll not only filet it, he'll trim the steaks of fat, and grind the small bits into ground beef for you (it's only happened to me once... but it was AWESOME!). Bring the steaks home, individually wrap each one and place all of them into a freezer storage bag in the freezer. Easy to pull one or two out for thawing the day you need. A whole tenderloin can be pricey, but you end up with about 10 steaks, plus either the pound of ground beef or a pound of stew meat, so at about $4-5/per steak that's a great deal -- especially knowing what GREAT quality they are. I mean come on... these are so juicy and tender and mmmmmm.... Plus, they're perfectly portioned, each one being about 4oz! No need to marinade these beauties!

The other two recipes I'll include in this post are wonderful additions to any summer BBQ. I love Mac Salad with fries and a steak. And Dutch Oven Potatoes go with anything! Just FYI: if you're making this meal, start the potatoes first, preheat the oven, then once you add the potatoes to the pot, you can start the steaks. Macaroni Salad is best made the day before.

Filet Mignon

Ingredients:
4- tenderloin steaks, about 1.5" thick
coarse sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1TBS olive oil

Sauce:
1C drinking wine
2TBS Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425.

Heat oil in oven-safe skillet. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper on all sides, and to scorching hot pan. Allow to sear for 5 minutes -- DO NOT TOUCH! Allow to sit the entire 5 minutes, set your timer.
When the timer buzzes, transfer the entire pan into the oven.
For Rare: roast 5 minutes
For Medium (seen here): roast 6 minutes
For Well: roast 8 minutes

Take pan out of oven and allow to "rest" for 5 minutes. You may cover with foil for this, or just leave it as is.

After 5 minutes, remove steaks from pan to serving dish. Turn stove on to medium and add wine and Worcestershire sauce.  Be careful as the pan may still be hot -- I know from experience! Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes scrapping up any browned bits with wooden spoon or whisk. Serve over steaks. (Great as a gravy for mashed potatoes too!)

Literally, that simple. Just remember this: 425 for 5/6/5. Easy peasy!

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Macaroni Salad -- my mom's version, with a twist of me. 

Ingredients: 

1 pkg cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, peeled (unless using English), and diced
a bunch of Radish, sliced
a bunch of green onions, mainly greens sliced
about 2 C macaroni, cooked and cooled
1C mayo
1C milk
2TBS Worcestershire sauce
1TBS mustard
salt and pepper

Instructions:

Prepare macaroni and allow to cool in colander.

Prep all veggies into a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add macaroni.

In a small jar (great if your Mayo is almost gone, just use it's jar!), add mayo, pour in milk, Worcestershire, and Mustard, close tightly, and shake for a good minute or two. Pour into large bowl. Combine well. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to enjoy.

Great to add baby shrimp!

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Dutch Oven Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/4"
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2lb bacon
2 garlic cloves, minced
dash of celery salt, red pepper flakes, thyme
salt and pepper
season salt

Instructions:

Cook bacon until crispy in large skillet. Drain all but about 2TBS of bacon grease. Add onion and cook about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add minced garlic, cook another minute.

Add potatoes and all seasonings, gently stir. Add about 1C of water and once it boils, turn the head down to low, cover and allow to simmer about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Careful as to not break apart the potatoes -- trust me, you don't want mush!

Uncover and allow to cook another 2 minutes. Enjoy with ketchup! 

3-Cheese {Manicotti}

So these aren't technically manicotti shells, but those would work too. I happen to like the jumbo shells better. They're easy to cook and cool and fill. And much easier to serve! I would have taken my own picture but after I covered them with sauce, you couldn't really see the shells anymore...

I've made manicotti (and jumbo shells) before and it's never tasted this good. This is the best recipe I've found. Thank you Food Nanny for restoring my faith in you. The sauce takes a bit of time to prepare, but it all works out with the time it takes to boil water and cook the pasta. It really is quite simple. Sided with frozen garlic bread and a simple green salad... it's the perfect Monday night Italian dinner.

Three-Cheese Manicotti (made with Jumbo Shells)

Ingredients:

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4C sm onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2TBS canola (or olive) oil
1 can tomato sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp salt
24 Jumbo shells, uncooked
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2C Ricotta or cottage cheese
2C shredded Mozzarella, divided
1/2C grated Parmesan
1/4C fresh parsley, chopped (I used dried, almost worked better)
1/4tsp salt
1 pinch black pepper

Instructions:

Optional step: pulse the tomatoes in a blender, until crushed and set aside.
To make the sauce: cook the onion and garlic in the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, until the onions are tender but not browned. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, oregano, thyme, bay leaf and salt. Bring to a boil, decrease the heat, and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring often. Add water if needed to thin.
While the sauce is cooking, cook the shells according to package directions, being careful not to overcook. Rinse in cold water and drain. Separate the cooked shells and lay them out on a sheet of foil (you will use the foil to cover the baking dish with).
Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine the filling ingredients: eggs, ricotta/cottage, 1C mozzarella, Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper. Working on the foil, stuff the filling into the shells with your fingers. Do not over-stuff.
Discard the bay leaf from the sauce and pour half the sauce into a 13x9 baking dish. Arrange the filled shells in the dish. Pour the remaining sauce over and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Cover the dish with the foil. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Shells may be prepared and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before baking.

Crunchy Parmesan Baked Chicken

Last night was our first adventure trying out BYU's The Food Nanny's recipes. I had seen this recipe on one of the two episodes I watched and it looked easy and yummy... and let me tell you. It was SO easy, and SO delicious. My husband was RAVING about it and said it was a keeper! I had a really long and trying day yesterday, one that ended up making an emergency trip to the phone store an hour away. By the time we got home I was exhausted and didn't really want to cook anything. But I had pulled chicken out of the freezer that morning, and I knew I had to do something with it. This was such a quick throw-together meal. We had marinara sauce on the side to dip, but I ended up not dipping them at all. They were that good.

Crunchy Parmesan Baked Chicken

1-2C Buttermilk
1/2C grated Parmesan Cheese
Chicken Breast tenders (buy breasts on sale in bulk, freeze in double ziplock baggies and cut them up yourself. Save $$ - I used one large chicken breast, it filled up my baking dish and could've fed 3 people)
pinch of salt
2C Panko bread crumbs
2 tsp Garlic Salt
half stick of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400. Grease an oblong baking pan. Pour the buttermilk into a wide shallow dish or pie plate. Mix the Panko, cheese and garlic salt in another shallow dish or pie plate. Roll each piece of chicken in the buttermilk then dredge in the Panko mixture to coat. Arrange in the prepared baking pan. Drizzle the butter over all. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the chicken is tender and no longer pink. Sprinkle with salt to taste.


YUM!!! Food Nanny, I {heart} you!

Sausage and Veggie dinner

I know I have seriously been slacking in my posts this week. But I have lots of things I'll be posting this coming week... as long as nothing else comes up and gets in my way!!



Do you have a bunch of veggies left over from your garden this year and are sick of the same ol' dish? I love this meal. It's so simple and easy and it has everything in it. And the best part? You can pretty much put whatever you have on hand in it and it will be delicious!

*Side note: I tried out a Turkey Polsa Kielbasa sausage and it just wasn't the same. Unless you really love turkey sausage, I don't recommend using it in this dish. Also, be aware of the Sodium intake in Turkey sausages. Did you know Turkey bacon is actually WORSE for you than regular bacon? Crazy!

Ingredients:

2 Polska Kielbasa Sausages (or a mix of your favorite, the already cooked kind)
2 Russet Potatoes, 1" chunks
1 Med. Onion, diced
2 Zucchini, about 1" chunks
1 Yellow Squash, 1" chunks
Sm bag of Cut Carrots, halved
2 pkgs. Cremini Mushrooms (have you had these? I used to only use white buttons... but these carry so much more flavor!)
2 ears of Corn
3 cloves Garlic, minced
Salt, Pepper, Red Wine Vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Soy sauce, Olive Oil
3 pats of butter
Reynolds Oven Bag

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Lay oven bag into large, deep baking dish. Add Potatoes and a little salt and pepper and olive oil. Add remaining veg and a little more salt and pepper. Add sausage and rest of seasonings. Toss well and pour in a little water, almost to cover. Tie off bag.

Bake for 45-75 minutes until potatoes are soft.

You can serve it on a platter family style, on individual plates allowing those "picky" eaters to only take what they want, or in bowls with a little of the broth. I prefer soup-style with the delicious broth!

Chicken Pockets

This meal is so simple and quick. And it really only calls for a handful of ingredients. A great meal idea on those days you're stretched for time. My first time tasting a similar recipe was from my husband's sister, Maarsi. I instantly fell in love.

Chicken Pockets

Ingredients:

1 can chicken breast
2 8oz cream cheese
2 crescent roll tubes
2C mozzarella cheese, shredded
Salt
Pepper
Celery Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Italian Seasoning
1/4C Panko Bread crumbs
drizzle of olive oil
*once again, I just throw the spices in until it tastes right. Feel free to experiment.


Instructions:

1. Set oven at temp. according to roll instructions.
2. Allow cream cheese to soften, either by leaving out for a few hours, or microwaving for about a minute. In a large bowl, combine chicken, cheeses and spices. Set aside and prepare the rolls.
3. To prepare the rolls, open and unroll one tube. Separate rolls, not by the crescent shape that they're supposed to be, but in rectangles (2 rolls = 1 rectangle). Place onto a cookie sheet (each tube should yield 4 rectangle pockets.
4. Place about 2 heaping TBS in center of pocket. Enclose filling and pinch edges closed, leaving a little gap in the top. Continue until all 8 pockets are filled. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
5. Bake 25-40 minutes until outsides are golden brown.

A Classic: Spaghetti

When it's so easy to make a REALLY great sauce, why would you spend money buying a pre-made, packaged sauce with extra JUNK that's bad for you?! Sometimes, I'll start with a bottled sauce and add fresh veg and spices to it (and meat). But today (err... yesterday), I made it from scratch. Yum. Because it's my own concoction, I didn't really measure spices. Just taste it. If it's too spicy/salty, add some sugar and/or vinegar.


Ingredients:

1lb. ground hamburger
1 small onion, diced
1 pkg. sliced mushrooms
2 Cans Tomato Sauce
1 Can diced tomatoes
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Red Wine Vinegar
Red Chile Flakes
Salt and Pepper
*optional: diced Bell Pepper, minced fresh garlic (if you have time, which I didn't)

Whole Wheat pasta (I used Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Thin Spaghetti)

Instructions:

1. Boil large saucepan/stock pot half full of hot water with about 2TBS salt. Once boiling, add pasta and cook accordingly. Drain.

2. Brown hamburger in medium saucepan. Once almost browned, add onions and mushrooms. Sautee until hamburger is completely browned and add diced tomatoes and sauce. Throw in your spices until it tastes right.

Side note: this is the garlic bread I use. Walmart sells it in a 2 pack for just around $2 and it's super yummy and easy to make!

Sunday Dinner AND Dessert: Herb-Roasted Citrus Chicken w/ Root Veggies AND Peaches 'n' Cream

It's Sunday, it's a special day. Which calls for a special meal! Tonight's menu includes a whole herb-roasted Chicken with roasted sweet potatoes, carrots and onions.
Plus, a yummy dessert of Peaches 'n' Cream. Enjoy!!

Herb-Roasted Citrus Chicken

The chicken recipe is a mixture of Ming Tsai's Cranberry-Glazed Chicken, Jamie Oliver's Herb-Roasted Chicken, and a little of my own ideas.

Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken (can also use 4 chicken breasts, cooking time will vary)
8 Cloves Garlic, minced (or pressed is my favorite) and separated
thumb-size piece of fresh Ginger, minced
Olive Oil
Juice of 1 lemon (keep rind to place inside cavity) and 2 limes
Fresh Parsley (I used 3-5 ice cubes - check under Herbs for info on that)
2 TBS Rosemary
1TBS Red Chile Flakes
2 Bay Leaves
Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
2 Yellow Onions, diced
2-3 Sweet Potatoes, diced
sm. bag of baby Carrots (or 2 Fennel/Anise bulbs, cored and sliced)

Instructions:

1. Combine all herbs and spices- except Bay Leaves, half the minced garlic, oil, lemon and lime juices into food processor/blender. Blend well. Pat chicken dry and carefully poor marinade mixture all over. Starting at the neck, lift up the skin to break it apart from the meat and gently stuff a little marinade inside. Pour remaining marinade inside cavity, and add lemon rinds. Allow to sit at least 4 hours, or over night.

2. Pre-heat oven to 500-550 and pre-heat roasting pan. Once heated, place chicken in pan, place bay leaves on top, and brown 15-20 minutes, turning pan around half-way through. In the meantime, in a large bowl, combine potatoes, fennel/carrots, and onions. Drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once chicken is browned, reduce heat to 350 and cover with foil. Roast for 45-55 minutes.

3. Uncover and add the veggies to the pan. If you can, lift up the chicken a little so the veg can fall underneath. (Once again, I don't like my veg soggy, and I've found this it the best way to fully cook everything without OVER-cooking anything). Recover with foil and allow to cook another 50-60 minutes, depending on size of chicken (you're looking for a temp of 160-165). Take it out and place it on a cutting board and lightly tent with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving it. Spoon the veg into a bowl.

Enjoy!

Peaches 'n' Cream - Grandma Style

Three simple ingredients and 20-40 minutes is all it takes for this delicious recipe, brought to you by my own mom!

Ingredients:

Peaches (1-2 per person)
3TBS white Sugar (per serving)
Half and Half


Instructions:

1. If you prefer, you can place the peaches into a pot and barely boil them, then dunk them into cold water and peel them. Or you can skip this step and just cut them up.
2. Cover with sugar. Lots. Of. Sugar. Allow to sit at least 20 minutes, until a "syrup" forms.
3. Dowse them in half and half.

Just a side note: I. Love. Half and Half. Yum! This recipe also works with strawberries. When I make it with strawberries, I add about 1/4 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (remember I like texture!) to my bowl, and not as much sugar.

Enjoy! I know I just did!!

Beef and Veg Stir Fry

*This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution that aired on ABC last Fall. If you didn't watch it, "Shame on you!" *

Ingredients:

1-Pkg. Egg Noodles (see below)
Flank Steak, thinly sliced
Vegetable oil
2-3 Garlic cloves, minced
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1-2 fresh chiles (I use jalapenos, but am a huge wimp and 1 is enough for us!)
Peanut shoots or beansprouts (I used beansprouts the first time and we didn't like it... your choice)
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Fresh lime juice (2-3 limes)
1 Lg. red pepper, deseeded and either sliced or chunked (I used 1/3 Red, 1/3 Green/Yellow, and 1/3 Orange)
Can of water chestnuts
Handful of baby corn
Bunch of green onions, sliced. Separate whites from greens.
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped *optional

Instructions:
1. Prepare all veg and seasonings, keeping Garlic, Chiles, Ginger and the Whites of Green Onions separate (as this takes me the most amount of time and this meal cooks fairly quickly). Slice meat and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat a large wok or skillet until VERY hot. Add a splash of oil and stir fry the beef with garlic, ginger, chiles and onion whites until just cooked. With Flank Steak it doesn't have to be cooked to Well. It's actually better if it's a little pink! Add the shoots/sprouts (if using), a good splash of soy sauce and a little sesame oil and the lime juice for the last 30 seconds of cooking.
While the meat is cooking, cook the egg noodles according to their directions, drain and set aside.

3. Tip the contents of the wok into a large bowl, including all the lovely juices (Jamie Oliver's words, love them!). Put the wok/skillet back on the heat, add a little more oil and all the vegetables. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the cooked noodles and toss well over the heat. (I usually can't fit the noodles, so I add them to the meat). Combine everything, including Cilantro/Onion Greens and enjoy Family Style.

When the ingredients are this fresh, you know it's gonna be good!!

NOTE: Feel free to mix and match the veggies in this meal. I always have fresh mushrooms (BIG FAV!) and I added Zucchini this last time and it was so good! Broccoli would also be a good addition. I personally prefer different colors and textures and I don't like my veg to be soggy.
I like to buy Bell Peppers when they're on sale and either chunk-cut or slice them up and divide different colors among freezer bags to be stored for a quick addition later.
And if you live in a small town like I do, where Flank Steak is VERY HARD to find, when you can find it, buy 3-4 packages and freeze them! It's the best meat for this and Carne Asada (recipe coming soon!)

Egg Noodles,
can be found at most Walmarts and probably most grocery stores.
Can also use spaghetti/linguine noodles.