Stuffed Mushrooms!

 If you know me at all, you know I love mushrooms. And cream cheese. And Parmesan. And well... it should be no surprise then that I love these little creations. So much, in fact, I think I shall have some for lunch today! I had no idea how relatively easy they are to create. I'm so glad I decided to give it a go. This is my new Party go-to food, but it works great as a side dish also! Try it. You'll love it! 

Ingredients:

2- 8oz packs White Button mushrooms

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3C white wine

8oz cream cheese, softened

3/4C Parmesan cheese, grated

dash each Oregano and Thyme

salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Wash mushrooms in cold water. Pop out stems, reserving both parts. Chop mushroom stems finely and set aside. 

Saute onions and garlic for about 2 minutes over medium low heat. Pour in wine to deglaze pan, allow liquid to evaporate. Add in chopped mushroom stems, stir to cook about 2 minutes more. Add salt and pepper and other seasonings. Set mixture aside to cool. 

In a bowl, combine the cream cheese and Parmesan. Add cooled mushroom stem mixture and refrigerate for about 20 minutes. 

Smear mixture into the cavity of each mushroom, creating a sizable mound over the top of each. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Oh. My. Goodnessssss....

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! 

Easter menu

I feel like such a slacker. I have been meaning to post this for a week now... so please forgive me for not getting it up in time. I realize Easter was LAST weekend and it may be pointless to even post this now... but it was so delicious, it deserves to be up.
I had never cooked a ham before, but it didn't seem that hard (and it's not). You don't even need a recipe, the little card attached to it will tell you exactly how to cook it. But I wanted mine to be EXTRA special. Start off by finding a decent 10lb-ish spiral sliced ham. Mine was from the Springfield brand. Highly recommended, and not overly-priced like some of those "Honey" brands. I will also list the recipe for "funeral potatoes take 2" and a super yummy dessert salad.

For the ham:

1 (10lb) fully-cooked spiral cut ham
2/3C brown sugar
1/3C apricot jam
1 tsp dry mustard powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Place ham cut side down on sheet of foil that has been placed on a rimmed baking sheet. Mix together the sugar, jam and mustard in a small bowl (here I added half the bag of glaze from the ham). Brush onto ham using a pastry brush. Reserve any leftover glaze. Enclose the foil around the ham.
3. Roast for 2 hours, or 14 minutes per pound if your ham is a different size. Apply the remaining glaze 20 minutes before the ham is done.

Note: if making funeral pots, start them when you add the final glaze and they will be ready for the oven when you pull the ham out.

Funeral Potatoes - take 2

Ingredients:

1 large bag frozen hash browns
1/2C butter, plus extra for buttering dish
1 can cream soup
1 pint sour cream
1/2C chopped onion
2 C shredded cheese (I like to add about an extra cup)
1C smashed corn flakes
salt and pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the soup, sour cream, and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Add onions.
Butter a 13x9 baking dish and add the potatoes. Pour cheese mixture over and combine well. Cover with corn flakes. Bake for 45 minutes.


Apple Dessert Salad

Ingredients:

1C shredded coconut
1C mini marshmallows
1C pineapple tidbits
1C mandarin oranges
1C cored, diced apples
1C sour cream

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients well and allow to chill at least an hour.

Cola Pork + sides

A friend posted this recipe on her blog the other day and it sounded so good, I had to try it. The picture she had attached looked like she used ribs instead of chops (which she didn't) and that got me thinkin... I don't like pork. Plain and simple... it's not my favorite. But I can say I do like ribs. I prefer the meatier Country Style type without bones... but this past summer we ate PLENTY of baby backs smoked on our charcoal BBQ (recipe to come soon). With this sparked interest, I thought I would try out this "Coke Chop" recipe only substituting the chops for country style boneless ribs. It was yummy... and the best part, it IMMEDIATELY started to smell once the crock-pot was turned on. My mind kept switching between the tragedy in Japan and the BBQ aroma filling my house all during church. I was torn....
And the recipe is so easy. I do have to say one thing.... don't get a strong flavored BBQ sauce. I would use an Original flavored, or something a little more mild. I only had Hickory Bourbon flavored sauce on hand, and it was a little too much. But once again... I recommend Stubbs brand sauce. Yum!

No more waiting... here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

6oz (or 1C) Coke
1C Ketchup
1C BBQ Sauce
Country Style ribs, or 4 Chops

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to crock pot. Cook either 4-5hrs on HIGH, or 7-8hrs on LOW. Enjoy.


That simple. Now for the sides.
I have grown up on both of these sides... and they will always be a favorite of mine. My husband has come to love the Dutch Oven Potatoes. He hasn't tasted the Mac Salad, otherwise I'm sure he'd like it too. But for now, that's all mine!!

Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

Elbow macaroni (cooked and drained)
cherry tomatoes (halved)
cucumber (peeled and diced)
bunch of radish (sliced thinly)
green onions (sliced)
about 1C Mayo
about 1C milk
2TBS Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:

Prepare all veggies into a medium to large bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Add cooked/drained macaroni.
In a small jar with a lid (or practically empty Mayo bottle), add the milk, mayo and Worcestershire sauce. Tighten lid and shake well. Pour over macaroni mixture and stir until well combined. Refrigerate for at least an hour, up to overnight.


Dutch Oven Potatoes

Ingredients:

4-6 potatoes (washed, peeled and sliced)
1lb bacon
half an onion (diced)
season salt
pepper
garlic salt
pinch of onion salt and celery salt

Instructions:

Cook the bacon in either a large skillet or dutch oven. Do not discard oil. Once browned, add onions and cook about 2-3min. Add potatoes and all seasonings. Add a cup to two cups of water just to almost cover potatoes. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to med-low and allow to cook until potatoes are tender. Turn heat back up to barely brown potatoes and have water completely evaporated.

Day #4 of Thanksgiving Posts: Cranberry Sauce

I actually didn't know you could make fresh cranberry sauce until 2 years ago when my cousin brought it to dinner. I always thought it came from a can that you open at both ends and slop down into a serving dish. And I never liked it.
But when I saw K's I was AMAZED. I thought she spent ALL afternoon in the kitchen making it. That was until today when I asked for her secret recipe and she directed me to the OceanSpray site! Lol. Silly girl! :) Love her.
I will probably end up making this for our little Turkey dinner we're having after Thanksgiving. I'm really excited. If you're in the area, feel free to stop by Friday afternoon or anytime Saturday for some grub! I'm sure we'll have lots!
I'm really excited for another posting that will be happening here in a few days once we get to the Thanksgiving Dessert portion! I'm going to make it to take to my mom's. Mmmm... it's gonna be good!!
Thanks for stoppin by... and keep checking back. I have 6 more DELICIOUS Thanksgiving recipes comin atcha! :)

Homemade Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 12-ounce package Fresh or Frozen Cranberries, rinsed and drained

DIRECTIONS:

Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil; add cranberries, return to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover and cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate until serving time.

Makes 2 1/4 cups.

UPDATE as of 11/24: I just made this last night and I was NOT anticipating it being that simple!! Is buying a nasty (who knows how old) can of the jellied stuff really worth it? And if you do what I did and find bags of cranberries for less than $1/bag, it really is worth it to make your own!! Go on... try it!!

Day #2 of Thanksgiving Posts: Potatoes

What's Thanksgiving Dinner without a potato dish? My opinion? NOTHING!!! :) I haven't yet tried this recipe, but I plan to very soon, maybe even for my own T-Day Dinner! I know, I know, I always say something that's really GREAT about each of my recipes... and today is no different! :) This recipe (that comes from Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious) contains a super great ingredient.... Cauliflower puree! Can I just say I've had cauliflower in a potato-like setting before and it was so delicious! I'm sure your picky eaters (and mine too!) will still love this dish!

Ingredients:

1lb. Baking potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 tsp. salt

1/2 C cauliflower puree

2TBS soft margarine

1/2C low fat buttermilk

Instructions:

1. Put the potatoes and salt in a large pot and add enough water to cover by about 3 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well.

2. Set a potato ricer over the pot and pass the potatoes through in batches, or return to pot and mash with potato masher. Add the cauliflower puree, margarine, and buttermilk, and beat with a large spoon until the potatoes are smooth and creamy.