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....

Salmon Packets

 It's been a while, eh? Sorry about that. I've been cooking lots of new, yummy things, I just haven't taken time to take pictures or post them. But this was too good NOT to! And so simple!

Put everything in.... 

And Dinner is served. 

Salmon Packets with roasted Squash

Ingredients:

2-4 Sockeye Salmon filets

1/2 onion, halved then sliced thick

handful grape tomatoes per filet

handful of red grapes per filet

2TBS capers per filet

1-2 lemons, quartered

2TBS white wine per filet

1TBS olive oil per filet (grape seed oil would be great too)

sea salt and fresh pepper

For the Squash:

2 Zucchini squash, diced into fairly large chunks

1- 8oz pkg button mushrooms (baby bells my favorite), cut in half (remove the stems)

1/2 onion, diced (fennel would be great too)

2TBS-1/4C olive oil

sea salt and fresh pepper 

1 C. prepared Quinoa

Instructions:

 Preheat oven to 400.

 Line a cookie sheet with foil, then prepare 2-4 sheets of foil for packets. Spray lined cookie sheet with Pam. 

Place salmon filets in center of each sheet of foil. Add sliced onions, tomatoes, grapes, capers and lemons. Starting with one side, fold up edge of foil, creasing the center in as if to form an envelope. Bend the top corner over to seal. Repeat on opposite side, leaving a small opening in the top to pour liquid ingredients. 

 Add white wine and oil. Seal opening shut. Continue until all filets are used up. Line up on one end of cookie sheet. 

For the squash:

On the same cookie sheet, add veggies. Pour oil over, sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix around until well coated. Spread out evenly across cookie sheet.

Bake entire sheet for 25 minutes. Once in the oven, start the Quinoa per package directions.

To serve: Divide Quinoa between plates. Fork out salmon and cover with veggies and sauce from foil packet. Side with squash mixture.

A Meal Fit for a King... (or Queen...)

Beef Wellington.

I first heard about this one day while watching an episode of Take Home Chef. It sounded fancy, and being a French dish, I thought it would be hard. But watching, it didn't seem to bad. So I decided to try it. 

My hubby hates mushrooms. No joke. He will pick them out of everything. And sometimes once he picks them out, he gives them to me. I could eat mushrooms on almost everything, or just raw. Yum. But even though he hates them, I thought maybe this would be a way I could "sneak" them in without him noticing, and if he liked the flavor I could spring it on him and he'd decide they weren't that bad?! It was worth a shot. 

Well my pastry didn't work out so well.. I tell you, I'm not a baker. Anything dough related and I just don't get along. It was too thin and too small and I did the scores too deep. Needless to say, it completely fell apart during cooking. I took the broken pieces and ate them with my meat anyway, but my hubs didn't even try them (the mushrooms came off with the pastry).

And preparing for this meal was an adventure. I have never purchased wine before and had no clue what I was doing. Because of our religion, (and our choice not to)we don't drink wine, or any alcohol for that matter. The thing about cooking with wine is you cook out all the alcohol and are left with the flavor. I picked up a cheap bottle of the same kind they used on the show and checked out. And who do I see as I'm leaving the store? The Missionaries, of course! Of all the days to run into them in the middle of the Southern Bible Belt. What are the odds? Crazy. 

I get everything out and start preparing the meal and I ask my hubs to work on opening the wine bottle. Only problem, we didn't have a cork screw. He tried sticking it with a nail, screwing it... nothing worked. He eventually had to run to the store for one.

Even with all the mishaps, it turned out delicious and definitely something I want to try again (I'd better... I have a more than half-full bottle of wine sitting on my cupboard! It will add a nice flavor to tomato sauces as well!). 

You don't have to use a Beef Tenderloin. I didn't. I found a cheaper roast with little fat that was a uniformly round size. I would recommend cutting all fat off first, no matter what piece of meat you choose. 

I hope you find the courage to try this, it is really delicious and a meal in itself. I paired it with sauteed spinach (1TBS butter in a frying pan, add the spinach, a little lemon juice, salt and pepper and cook just until wilted.). And we used the left over beef for French Dip sandwiches the next day, mixing our wine sauce with an Au Jus packet. 

Yum!

Day #1 of Thanksgiving Posts

With only 11 days left until Thanksgiving (I know!!!) I thought I better get my tooshie into gear and get some goodies posted for you! Each day until Thanksgiving Eve, I will have a new recipe for you to help prepare you for the big Turkey day!
Today's recipe is one I just found... and I think I'm going to try it this year! It looks so good! I can't really tell you where I got the recipe, sadly. I found it on an old card (you know those ones you get as freebies in the mail when they want you to sign up for the whole program?!) tonight while I was preparing a Christmas gift!


GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

1 1/2 TBS butter

3TBS all-purpose flour

1 1/2 C milk

3-4 tsp dry ranch salad dressing mix

1/4– 1/2tsp white pepper

1C chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2C sliced fresh mushrooms

1 1/4lbs fresh green beans, cooked until crisp-tender

1C fresh bread crumbs, toasted

Instructions:

To make white sauce, melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour; cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Using wire whisk, stir in milk; bring to a boil. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in dressing mix and white pepper; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray medium skillet with nonstick cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Remove half of onion mixture, set aside.

Add mushrooms to onion mixture remaining in skillet and cook about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Combine mushroom mixture, green beans and white sauce in 1 1/2qt. casserole dish. Combine bread crumbs with reserved onion mixture; sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered, until heated through, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Stay tuned for another recipe tomorrow!!! :) It's gonna be good!

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!

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!

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.