Another break

Hello!

Looks like I took a few months off, unintentionally, of course. Life just sometimes gets in the way. (oh, that...and pinterest).

I wanted to share that I recently have become obsessed with a few things.

Pickle Wrap Dip Ahmazing. And simple. 1 package of cream cheese, 1 package of beef lunch meat (I use Buddig) and some pickles. Chop the meat and pickles and mix. Add in a little pickle juice to make thinner if needed. Serve with crackers. I really like it with club crackers. YUMMY. The boys like it too.

Kim's Magic Pops.  They are similar to a flat rice cake, but bigger. and sold at HyVee. I've only had three flavors. My favorite is cheese. YUMMY. Emerson likes them, Spenny does NOT.

Oreos. Not just some plain ones, which are ok, but Oreos. It started around Valentine's day I think, Oreo was celebrating it's 100th birthday and they came out with these delish birthday Oreos. I thought, oh, fun, they say 100 on them, I'll bet Spenny will like that! Honestly, I don't think he got to try one. and I bought probably 5 ok, fine... 10 boxes of them total. LOVE them. They have the normal oreo cookie, but on the inside is Funfetti frosting. So good. I haven't seen any in stores lately, if you do, please let me know so I can buy them ALL.

This obsession with Oreo's led me to start trying other new and unusual Oreo products. Golden Oreos with Sherbert frosting (not such a fan, too sweet and the frosting literally looked like playdough). Regular Double Stuffed Golden Oreos (really good, a little more...lighter? than a regular Oreo), Golden Fudge Covered birthday Oreos (Seriously delish. only one cookie, frosting fudge and sprinkles!) Most recenty I just finished off the container of Breyer's Blast's Birthday Cake Oreo ice cream. Probably just as good as the birthday cake Oreos, if not better, since it also included ice cream.  I even have a Pinterest board now called All the things OREO. Can't wait to start cracking on the list.

Popcorn Shrimp. Ok this isn't mine, it's actually Spenny's. Who knew the pickiest kid alive would decide that he likes pop corn shrimp and actually asks for it 2 out of 3 nights? He doesn't get it that often, thank goodness, but loves it.

Fruit. We love fruit, especially in the summer when it's nice and fresh. We had a fruit salad last weekend that I loved, kids not so much. I read a recipe or 2 online and decided just to make my own. Sliced strawberries, bananas, apples and blueberries were the fruits involved. I made a sauce with cinnamon, honey and lemon juice then poured it one, mixed it up and enjoy. I think the kids were mostly upset that the fruit wasn't just fruit. Oh well, more for me :D

We also tried grilling pizza...not such a successful attempt, but might try again when we have more time and can plan ahead a little more.

That's about it that's happening in the food world around here.

Until next time :) (Which hopefully won't be another several months).

What, February already?!

Lots has been going on in the Duggan household, but I've been cooking quite a bit!

Couple weeks ago I put some pork loin in the crockpot on low all day, covered them in sauce and had bbq pork sandwhiches. Complete with homemade potato salad, which I had never made before.

There were a TON of recipes online and hard to choose from, but I called Grandma Jean and she walked me through it.

I used Red potatoes, quartered them (some I cut even smaller, as they were kinda big potatoes) then boiled them for a while until they were soft, but not mushy. While this was happening, I boiled some eggs. Apparently the best way to boil eggs is to put them in the pan and bring the water to a rolling boil. Then turn it off and let it sit for several minutes, then soak them in cold water. I think it was a little over 10 minutes that I let them sit and they were about perfect.

I then cut up the eggs, mixed with the drained potatoes and added in relish and some chopped celery.  Then I added in some mayo and mustard and mixed. It was pretty good! Needed something, maybe some pepper? But will def try making again!

This week I made Shredded Salsa chicken, which is a favorite of mine. I just put two thawed chicken breasts and salsa in the crockpot all day, and serve as taco meat. I also put it in rice and do all kinds of other things. So yummy, easy and healthy!

I've also baked some cookies and made homemade pancakes for the first time. It turns out baking from scratch isn't that much more work than the box, so been working on that.

I need some new tried and true crockpot meals...any ideas?

2012, Here I come!

This weekend we decided to make Hamballs. All the recipes I found, asked for milk, however, and my friend A is lactose intolerant, so I improvised based of of several recipes. Seriously...I dug out my old church cook books. 

Ham Balls

3 lbs ham loaf (available at Fareway and sometimes Hyvee)
1 sleeve of graham crackers, crushed (it was about 1 1/2 cups)
3 eggs

Mix and roll into balls. I used a 1/2 cup measuring cup to make some big balls.

Sauce:
1 large can of Tomato soup
2 cups brown sugar
2 table spoons mustard
4 tablespoons of cider vinegar

Mix and pour over the top. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Technically, you are supposed to baste the balls with the sauce while they cook, however I forgot and they still turned out fantastic! Served with some Mashed potatoes and green beans, it was a hit!

Last week I also made a lasagna using a Ricotta Alternative. I made a full batch, but in the future, will only do half batches, it was more than enough for an 8x8 pan of lasagna.

2-12 oz packages of extra firm tofu
1 tsp of Agave Nectar (Can also use honey)
2 t apple cider vinegar
2 t salt (plus more to taste)

Mix it up until you get the desired consistency and away you go! Personally, I could taste the vinegar still, even after it was cooked, but A said she didn't notice it and thought it was delish!

I'll (hopefully) be blogging more actively between this and 2 other blogs I have, which hopefully I'll eventually merge into one. But for now, I'll just link back to this one for the recipes.

Chow!

Cassie :)
(hahaha, get it!)

Stuff It!

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was delicious!

I've been being much healthier and been blogging at my new blog about my weight loss adventures. I'm headed there to update next, but wanted to swing by here and put my recipe for stuffing on here before I forgot. Our Thanksgiving dinners were pretty basic: Green Bean Casserole, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy (from a jar...next year I WILL tackle making homemade gravy...next year), homemade cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Oh, Turkey as well and corn for the boys.

I've never made homemade stuffing before, and usually I think it looks disgusting and won't even try it but this year, I branched out. I actually saw a recipe in a HyVee Ad that looked delicious (Ok, so Curtis Stone was in it lol) but I didn't have all the stuff to make it and decided to adapt it. I looked at several recipes online to get an idea and made my own.

1/2 lb bacon, browned

1/2 lb ground mild Italian Sausage, browned (I actually used about 3 sausages, cut them out of their casings)

1/4 onion chopped

3 celery stalks, sliced

1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1 bag of unseasoned stuffing

2 normal sized (15 oz?) cans of Chicken Broth

2 eggs

I first browned the sausage then let it drain (random tip I learned: put about a tablespoon of water in while the sausage is cooking, it helps pull the grease out).

Then I browned the bacon, but kept the bacon grease.

While the grease was still hot, I dumped in the onion, celery and apple chunks and cooked them until they were brown and softened.

I then added 2 cans of broth and 2 eggs, mixed all the ingredients up well. I dumped the bread into a giant bowl, dumped the other stuff on top and mixed well. Tossed in a pan and baked until done (probably like 30-40 minutes?...enough time to shower, get dressed, toss dishes in the dishwasher and mash the potatoes).

It was deeelish! I cheated the second time I made it, I mixed up the cooked meats and veggies, kept in the fridge covered over night, then added the liquid ingredients the next day with the crouton thingies right before tossing it into the oven.

oh! And the cranberries.

SUPER easy. I will never buy a can again!

1 cup of orange juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 bag of cranberries.

Mix the sugar and juice until the sugar is dissolved and boiling.

Toss in the berries. Cook until the berries are popping (trust me, you'll know...) Use a splatter screen, by the way...and a deep pot. Please learn from my mistakes, your stove will thank you!

Toss in your serving bowl and let cool to room temp, then toss in fridge, covered, over night. I think the recipe I found said chill about 4 hours, I made mine the night before, so yummy!)

Off to enjoy some time with my little boys that I am super thankful for. NIght, kids!

Summer's Over...

Time to start blogging again.

I've been out there, cooking, cleaning etc...but I have found the biggest time suck/coolest thing EVER.

Pinterest. If you haven't joined yet...you're missing out! It's fantastically amazing and it has everything on there.
Recipes? check. crafts? check. Inspirational sayings? Check. Ridiculous pictures of Ryan Gosling biting his shirt? CHECK.

Anyway, I'm trying to start a healthier adventure. I'm joining Weight Watchers this coming week.

My goal is to lose 30 lbs by next summer and I'm not going to do it by continuing to eat whatever I come across, and lots of it. I'm hoping to learn portion control and better choices rather than just starving myself or starting some diet that is completely out of control that kills me the second I stop it.

I've started baking, which I thought I couldn't do...but I'm learning. I've made breads. I've made cakes...from scratch. I've made brownies. I've made cookies. (ok, they were more of a fail, but I tried).

And I've been introducing all 4 of us to new foods. Spenny usually won't try them, Emerson's usually down for anything and J's even starting to come around to some things...like Trader Joe's Gnocchi...it was sweet potato flavored and not only did he eat it, he went back for 2nds!

Before I leave, I'll share my dinner experience tonight. I had it all planned out...bbq chicken breasts, green beans (with applewood smoke bacon..YUM!) and some creamy garlic pasta. I start the bacon, mix my water and milk for the noodles and toss my chicken in the oven. About 4 minutes later, I hear this noise that sounded almost like uncooked spaghetti being poured onto the floor. I look for a kid or animal to holler at and realize they are all in the living room...I don't see anything on the floor...and realize the sound came from the oven.

Apparently the pan, which is designated as oven, dishwasher and freezer safe, was NOT actually oven safe...despite being room temp when I put it in the oven, it erupted into a bajillon little pieces and several larger ones. Needless to say, we had microwaved chicken nuggets for dinner with our pasta and green beans....

Have you ever had that happen to you?

Dinner Potential fail

Tonight I tried making Lasagna Cupcakes.

Long story short, I decided they were too much work for the time I had and I made a regular lasagna for tomorrow night and I needed a quick idea.

We ended up having grilled ham, swiss and pineapple sandwiches. SO. YUMMY. We will definately be making these again.

Other than that, we've been pretty much on the same ol same ol dinner path. Lots of grilling, our favorite is the Mango Pineapple Chicken from Dahls, served with some roasted potatoes and a side salad. Tons of fresh fruit has been making an appearance in our house...the boys will eat more of it that anything else.

J's is now staying home with the boys 4 days a week, and we're open to suggestions on what to feed the kids for lunch...they seem to like just the regular kid food--nuggets, hot dogs, mac n cheese...and we'd like to have some new ideas, hopefully healthier ones :)

What's going on in your kitchen?

Salisbury Steak

One of my favorite meals is Salisbury Steak...Simple, Easy and delicious. I usually make up a HUGE batch so I can freeze the patties (or meatballs) and then have quick meals for during the week when we are too busy to actually make it.

Basic Recipe:

1 lb of Ground Turkey
1 cup bread crumbs
Seasonings (I usually use Parsley and Chopped Onion)


Mix it in a bowl.
Shape it into patties.


Or Meatballs if you want...
Brown them in a skillet.
or bake them in the stove, if they are meatballs.
Either way, when they are done, mix a can of Cream of Mushroom soup with a can of 1/2 water and 1/2 milk.
Then serve :) When we eat the patties, we usually have mashed potatoes and peas. If we are serving them as Swedish Meatballs, I do the same thing, but serve over egg noodles. YUMMY!