A post for Danielle

Recently we went over to visit some friends at their apartment and brought dinner along with us. Michael made my cheesy ham and potato casserole (like scalloped potatoes with cheese & ham) and I made some Italian style green beans. One of our friends asked for the recipes so here they are:



Italian Style Green beans a la Jennifer

Source: Me!



1 package frozen Italian style green beans

Water to boil them in (I probably used a quart)

1-2 tablespoons (depending on size of pan) olive oil to coat bottom of skillet

1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons pine nuts (not roasted, raw)

salt and pepper to taste

grated parmesan cheese to top



Steps

1. Bring water to a boil in a sauce pan. Once boiling add green beans and boil until just not frozen. That was probably about three minutes for me. Meanwhile preheat skillet over medium to medium high heat (depending on your stove)



2. Drain green beans. Add olive oil to hot skillet. Allow to heat up. Add in green beans, red pepper flakes, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until done. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and serve.

Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole

The edited recipe that will not make Michael want to pull his hair out the next time he makes it.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

3 medium onions, thinly sliced ( usually leave this out because Michael HATES onions and complains about them and then I sprinkle some minced dried onion flakes on each layer of potatoes but Michael went ahead and used the "real" onions)

boiling water

1 T salt

6 T butter or margarine

4 T flour

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp Paprika

4 1/2 c milk ( I usually use 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 4 cups of milk but Michael got confused and used 1/2 milk and 1/2 heavy cream which is basically half and half)

2 cup shredded cheese (Michael used Colby Jack, I usually use half Colby Jack and half Cheddar)

1 slice of center cut ham steak, cubed (or about 1/2 pound of leftover ham)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put a big pot of water on to boil the potatoes and onions in.

2. Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and paprika until smooth. Slowly add in milk while wisking. Cook over medium until just boiling. Stir about ever minute or so while you work on the rest of the steps. Once it is bubbling, add one cup of the cheese and stir until melted. Sauce should be pretty thick and smooth.

3. Spray a three quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

4. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and onions. Boil in the big pot mentioned in step 1 for about 5 minutes or until slightly tender. Do not cook until tender or they will fall apart once they have more cooking time in the oven.

5. Drain potatoes and onions.

6. Layer 1/3 of the potato onion mixture on the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with 1/3 of the cheese sauce, 1/3 of the ham and 1/3 of the reserved shredded cheese. Repeat 2 more times.

7. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until top is browned and potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

Hints:

I cook this on the top shelf and put a cookie sheet on the bottom shelf because this tends to boil over in the oven.

I tried skipping step 4 (boiling the potatoes and onions before putting them in the casserole dish) once and this did not work. The top of the dish got burned and the potatoes never got done.

I hope you enjoy these recipes!

Drool worthy chicken

This is another apron's recipe from Publix. I am a huge fan of their recipes because they taste yummy, are easy to prepare and have very detailed directions that are easy to follow. My husband refused to even try a bite of this chicken so I made it on a night that he would be working late I halved the recipe and then ate the leftovers for lunch. This is very filling. I served it with wild mushroom risotto. I made it from a mix that I got at Target. I though the flavor of the risotto was very good, but it was just WAY too salty and I had not added any salt at all. Of course Michael loved it (he tried a bite when he got home) since there is no such thing as too much salt for him, so I am going to send it as lunches for him and I will just add some cooked chicken to it and he can heat it all up together.

Anyways, here is the recipe for the chicken copied directly off of apron's website.

Sun-Dried Tomato Artichoke Chicken

Ingredients1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

large zip-top bag

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons canola oil (I used olive oil because it was closer and I am lazy and didn't want to dig through cabinets)

1/2 cup white wine

6-8 sprigs fresh thyme (rinsed)- I used dry and added it in at the same time I added in the wine.

1 lemon (for juice, rinsed)

1 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts (drained)

1/3 cup julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Steps:
1. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2-3 minutes. Cut chicken into 1-inch chunks; place in zip-top bag (wash hands). Add flour; seal bag tightly and shake to coat.

2. Place oil in pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken (wash hands); cook 2-3 minutes, turning once, or until chicken begins to brown.

3. Stir in wine (this is when I added the dried thyme that I used instead of the fresh); reduce heat to medium-low and cook 2-3 minutes or until liquid is slightly reduced. Remove stems from thyme, reserving leaves only.

4. Squeeze juice of one-half lemon over chicken; stir in remaining ingredients (except thyme and cheese). Cover and cook 2-3 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165°F. Use a meat thermometer to accurately ensure doneness.

5. Remove chicken from heat; stir in thyme (if you are using fresh) and sprinkle with cheese. Serve.


CALORIES (per 1/4 recipe) 420kcal; FAT 20g; CHOL 115mg;SODIUM 470mg; CARB 14g; FIBER 2g; PROTEIN 40g;VIT A 8%; VIT C 25%; CALC 6%; IRON 15%

Oh and I meant to tell you I am LOVING all of my new handy kitchen gadgets that I got for Christmas. My lemon hand juicer thingy is the best thing ever. I get so much more juice out of a lemon and it is easier. Plus by flipping up the other side I can use it to juice limes too! Woo hoo! Oh and my handy new microplane makes grating parmesan cheese on top of dishes super easy and fast. I absolutely LOVE it!!!

The benefits to having a cooking blog

Right now I am at work and it is my husband's day off so he is at home. We have plans to go over to a friend's house at 6:30. We don't think that we are having dinner over there so we need to eat before we go. However, I get off work at 5:00 and then would have to drive home. I would get home about 5:15 and then it would take me about 20 minutes to prep dinner and put it in the oven and then it has to cook for 30 minutes. So it would be 6:05 when dinner is ready. Michael is the world's slowest eater so it would take him at least 15 minutes to eat and then it would be 6:20 Our friends live 30 minutes away so that means the earliest we could get there would be 6:50, if all of my math is correct.

But, because I have a blog with the recipe for my cheesy ham and potato casserole in it, my husband can get on his computer, or more likely his Wii browser, and look up the recipe and make it so that it is ready when I get home. No digging through cookbooks and searching for recipes because it is clearly labeled in my blog.

How great is that?

By the way, hi honey and thanks for making dinner.

Love,
The Diva

Easy zuccini

I love zuccini (or however you spell that little green squash) but never really had it growing up so I didn't know how to cook it. Recently I ordered some at a local restaurant. It was breaded and fried and then sprinkled with parmesan cheese and served with marinara sauce. I decided that I really wanted to try this at home but that I wanted to make a healthier version. I saw somewhere that some people dip chicken breasts in Italian dressing and then dip in breadcrumbs to add flavor and save some fat and calories from dipping in egg. That is what I wanted to do, until I realized that we didn't have any Italian dressing. The thought of dipping them in egg was VERY unappetizing so I improvised and used water. Here's my "recipe:"

1 zuccini, thinly sliced into coin shapes
1/4 cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs (I used the stuff from the can)
a few tablespoons water
Olive oil cooking spray
Marinara sauce (I actually used some pizza sauce that I made that same day and I will post that recipe in a couple of days)
a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dip zuccini slices into water and then into bread crumbs and then place on a baking sheet. Spray well with olive oil cooking spray. Bake for 6 minutes or until browned. Flip over. Spray other side with the olive oil spray and then bake for 6 more minutes. Remove to plate. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and serve with marinara sauce.

This is really good and I can't wait to have it again. I think I will make this anytime I am making a red sauce with pasta and then just serve it with that sauce.

Steak potatoes

1/4 pound ground sirloin
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon Worshire (sp?) Sauce

2 potatoes
2 slices cheddar cheese

Cook ground sirloin over medium high heat in a non-stick pan until nearly browned. Add salt, pepper and Worshire Sauce. Finish browing. Drain well to drain off fat and excess sauce. Put in a baggie and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scrub two baking potatoes, then poke holes in them with a fork and bake at 350 degrees for 75 minutes (1 hour, 15 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool until you can handle without burning yourself. Slice open potatoes and put half of sirloin mixture in each potato and top with a slice of cheese. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until sirloin mixture is heated up and cheese is melted.

Last night I made cheeseburger individual pizzas so I doubled the sirloin recipe to use on those. I call these steak potatoes since I use ground sirloin.

Twice Baked Bacon, Ranch and Cheddar Potatoes

My husband is a meat and potato kind of guy. Sometimes I like to treat him to a meal just for him with things that I know he will love. A local grocery store had T-bones on sale for $4.99 a pound this week so a picked a couple up and we had them last night. Since we are having summer weather here I went ahead and had DH grill them outside. With a kiss on the cheek and a request to not under-cook my steak he marched outside to begin his manly task. Meanwhile I whipped these up to serve with them. These take a while to prepare so we probably won't be having them during the week and they are calorie overload so they are definately for a rare treat. DH LOVED them so I know that I'll be making them again.

2 small baking potatoes
4 strips of bacon cooked to crispy and crumbled
4 oz of sharp cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing
1/2 Teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 Teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scrub potatoes and dry. Poke holes in the skin with a fork so that the potato doesn't explode.

2. Bake for one hour.

3. Remove from oven and let cool until you can handle the potatoes without burning yourself.4. Combine bacon, cheese and ranch dressing in a bowl. Cut potatoes in half length-wise and scoop out the white part. Combine with cheese mixture. Put the potato and cheese mixture back into the potato skins and mound up smoothing the tops with the back of the spoon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.5. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and the potato mixture is warmed up.

Suzabelle takes over Mommy's blog

Hi bloggers!

This is Suzabelle. You may have heard my Mommy talk about me before. She usually calls me "the crazy Chihuahua." First of all, mom, I am 1/2 pug too. Secondly, just because I run around the house chasing my sisters 18/7 (I have to sleep sometimes!), destroy anything I can find when you leave the house, and give you militant kisses, I still don't understand why that makes me crazy, that just makes me a Chihuahua!

Oh, Mommy says I have ADD and I got distracted... anyways back to the reason I am taking over Mommy's blog today. I have to tell you about my new FAVORITE THING EVER!!! (other than Mommy of course) Mom brought home a pint of Haagen Das Frozen Yogurt yesterday (Vanilla and Raspberry Swirl) and she gave me and that new puppy (Isabelle) a bite when she was done. I have never tasted anything better in my life! That is way better than jelly beans (which I steal from dad) and Ms. Kitty's food (which I steal from Ms. Kitty- I don't understand why I have to share with Izzy but Ms. Kitty doesn't have to share with me). When I saw Mommy get up to put the rest in the freezer my little heart ached and so I cried. I wanted Mommy to give me the rest but she says I have to stay "healthy" so we can be together forever. So Mommy got me a Breath Buster bone (what are you trying to tell me Mom) but that didn't make my little aching heart feel any better. :-(

Mommy says that if I am good today and do not shred all of the toilet paper in the house or eat any shoes that I can have some after dinner. I guess there is at least that.

All of you should run to the store RIGHT THIS MINUTE and pick some up. Have a bite for me, and if you could sneak me a pint or two behind Mommy's back I am sure that she would never find out. :)