Tag Archives: recipes

Superbowl Week: Easy Apps

26 Jan

Apps as in appetizers, not as in for your iPhone or iPad. I thought today I’d share two easy appetizers that you can serve on Superbowl Sunday or any time you need an appetizer idea. One of them we make often when we are asked to bring an appetizer with us and the other one, Don makes all the time for dinner on Friday nights, which is usually his night to cook while I take the girls to dance and Girl Scouts. It’s a late night and they look forward to that night’s dinner as it’s more laid back than our other nights’ meals.

The first is Kielbasa Roll-Ups, something we’ve been making for years and years. Don has pretty much taken over making these as the years have gone by and he’s really, really good at them!

Kielbasa and Crescent Rolls

These only need two ingredients: the kielbasa and the crescent rolls.

You need just two ingredients: two tubes of crescent rolls and one package of kielbasa.

First, open up your package of kielbasa and cut the pieces into bite-sized pieces, about the size of your thumb. Cook them in a frying pan in a little bit of oil. Try not to eat lots of the little pieces while you cook them.

A few easy steps and this appetizer is done.

Next, open up your crescent roll dough and cut each triangle in half. Roll the cooked kielbasa right up in the crescent roll dough and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake in the oven at the temperature on the crescent roll container until they are golden brown, about 10 minutes or so, according to the container. The kielbasa is cooked all the way through so you’re just cooking the crescents around it. Serve warm or cold and with a side of mustard if desired. You may have more pieces of kielbasa then you do crescents to wrap them in, so those you can eat while you wait for the appetizers to cook!

Next up: Loaded Nachos…this is the one the kids crave on Friday nights. When we come home and they see that Don’s made them for dinner, they literally cheer. He often makes them along with another dish like a pizza or calzones, but I could eat a whole plate of just nachos alone.

Loaded nachos

The good thing about this appetizer is you can use whatever ingredients you'd like!

The only definite ingredient you need to make a Loaded Nacho appetizer is the chips. After that you can decide what else you want to add to them on top of the chips: meat (chicken or beef), veggies (lettuce, tomatoes, olives, chili peppers), cheese, guacamole, sour cream etc. You decide.

Layer your chips first, and then the cooked meat of your choice on top. Bake for a few minutes until chips are crispy and then sprinkle your cheese on top. Cook until melted. You can even broil them a little bit to crisp them up, as long as you watch them carefully so that they don’t burn.

Add cold ingredients to the top once your baking is finished.

Enjoy!

Resolutions and Recipes: Basic Pancakes

22 Jan
Basic Pancakes

It's good to have a variety of different syrups on hand for pancakes. We often have maple, blueberry, strawberry or boysenberry.

Last weekend I posted my recipe for Hot Blueberry Compote, and I showed it over homemade waffles. However, it’s also delicious over pancakes. We always make our pancakes from scratch and the recipe is super easy. You can put anything in them or on top of them and we vary them with toppings and fillings such as: blueberries, strawberries, bananas, chocolate chips (of course) and craisins. My absolute favorite combination is a “pancake sandwich” of two banana pancakes stacked with a chocolate chip pancake in between them. Butter, syrup…mmmmm…..

Here is our recipe for Basic Pancakes, which uses very basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand. As usual it’s the recipe I grew up with. We keep it taped into the front cover of our recipe tin so that all we have to do is lift the cover, and there it is (Don’s idea.)

BASIC PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

2 cups Buttermilk (2 TBL white vinegar and enough milk to make 2 c.)

1/4 c. canola oil (or vegetable oil)

2 cups flour

2 TBL sugar or honey

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Pour onto hot frying pan or griddle.  Add desired fillings and/or toppings.

Calling all Crock Pot Cooks!

19 Jan
Crock pot

Shhh.....all's quiet on the appliance shelf in my closet. My crock pot is ready and waiting for your recipes!

I have had a crock pot since I had my bridal shower in 1995. I love it, or should I say I love the IDEA of it.

I love the IDEA of my house smelling fabulous all day long.

I love the IDEA of dinner cooking without me while I’m at work.

On occasion, those wonderful ideas actually come to fruition. For example, yesterday’s crock pot oatmeal, that’s a good one and in the winter we have that a few times a month for breakfast on a school day. I’ve made a crock pot applesauce but other than the fact that it cooked while I was gone, it’s faster to cook it on top of the stove. The Hanukkah brisket, always delicious when we make it…every once in a while. We make a great pulled pork in the crock pot for our birthday party feasts, and next week during Superbowl Recipe Week (gasp…. I told!!!!) you’ll see that Don makes a great crock pot chili.

I have several crock pot cook books, but I just haven’t found “the” recipe or recipes for a regular night’s dinner, something I could do on a regular basis once or twice a month. First off, I hate the ones where you have to cook it all first on the stove and then just throw it all in to the crock pot to cook for 3 hours. That doesn’t seem all that helpful to me really. Second, I hate beef stew. Third, how many cream of mushroom soup recipes are there? Tons. And, I’m not knocking them because I happen to like cream of mushroom soup recipes (I posted one today, non-crock pot, but still…) And last….I hate my food to touch, so that presents a problem. Some foods are supposed to go together, others, not so much. Very tricky….ever see on my dinner plate photos just how far apart my foods are from each other? Uh huh.

So. Where does that leave me? It leaves me asking you for your help. I’ve been providing you with tons of recipes as the days and weeks have gone by on this blog, and I’ve got TONS more that I haven’t even touched yet. But, they aren’t crock pot recipes.

Where do you get your best recipes for the crock pot?

What good ones have you tried and loved?

Send them to me at jenniferlcowart@gmail.com and if I try them and like them, I’ll feature them on my blog in the future.

In fact, let’s make this worth your while. I’ll throw in a little prize for one lucky person who sends me a recipe. On February 2 I’ll use a random name generator to pull one name from all of the people who email me their favorite crock pot recipe(s) between now and the end of the day on February 1, and send one lucky winner a treat. I won’t say what that treat is, but it’ll be a little treat from me. (Don’t go crazy it’s not going to be a brand new crock pot or even a crock pot from 1995.)

Thanks for your help and good luck!!

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Recipe of the Day: Crockpot Oatmeal

17 Jan
Overnight Oatmeal in the crockpot

My family loves this recipe so much, I double it.

As I write this, today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day to remember and reflect, and and a bonus day for us to spend together as a family. Of course, by the time you get this post, it will be the day *after* MLK Day. I hope you were able to take at least a minute to reflect on the legacy of Dr. King and all that he did.

We had to laugh the other day when our youngest came home from school and informed us that today was Dr. Martin “Looter” King Jr.’s birthday and it was a sad day because “he got shooted.” As I listened to her speak though, I was impressed and pleased that she retained so much of what she’d heard in the story they read in class, and I was glad that they took the time to remember him.

The recipe I’m sharing with you is one that my family loves. I found it last year on Weelicous, a foodie website I follow. It’s a recipe for Overnight Oatmeal in the Crockpot. It’s fantastic for a cold winter day and I made it again just last week as the weather has begun to change here. It’s so cold right now, I’d love a big bowl of it right now! Last week on Weelicious, she even posted an update to this recipe, Pumpkin Spice Crockpot Oatmeal. To see that recipe, click HERE. I haven’t tried it yet, but I plan to! In the meantime, below is her original version of the recipe. As an added piece of information, Steel Cut Oats tend to be expensive in the bigger stores. However, last week a friend of mine found them at Aldi’s, and other friends have found them at Ocean State Job Lot, so look around for the best price before you buy.

Oatmeal in the Crock Pot (Serves 4-6)

1 Cup Steel Cut Oats (not instant)

2 Cups Water

2 1/2 Cups Milk

1 Tsp Cinnamon

Desired accompaniments: honey, maple syrup, walnuts and or raisins, etc.

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine. (I add diced apples to mine as well.)

2. Cook the oatmeal on low heat for 6-9 hours (the amount of time can vary depending on your crock pot. Some crock pots that don’t have non stick surfaces can get hotter then others).

3. Stir in desired accompaniments and serve.

Resolutions, TWO Recipes and a New Waffle Maker!

15 Jan

This whole month I am focusing on budget-friendly recipes and tips for eating in without sacrificing your love for good food. Being a Sunday morning, today’s recipe is a great one for Sunday Breakfast (or Saturday for that matter) and if you have leftovers, it makes a great special treat for a weekday breakfast as well.

Each year my parents ask us for a couple of wish list ideas for Christmas gifts and this year  I suggested two items that we were doing without since they’d broken. The first one I featured this week, the food processor, and the second one is today’s feature:

Cuisinart Waffle Maker

This was our other wish list gift from my mom and dad this year.

We’ve always liked to make our waffles homemade and we had a waffle maker for the longest time. Ours broke in September after a long life, and we had not yet replaced it. We missed our homemade waffles on the weekends. Therefore, I was excited that my parents got us this Cuisinart waffle maker for Christmas and I could not wait to use it. Included with the box was a recipe my mom gave us for the waffles she makes so we tried that out this past weekend.

Growing up my mom often made a hot Blueberry Compote to go on top of our waffles or our pancakes.

Hot blueberry compote on waffles with whipped cream

This is one of my favorite breakfasts, after french toast.

It was, and still is, one of my favorite weekend breakfasts. It’s easy to make and delicious to eat. If you like whipped cream you can add it on top.

Therefore, on this lovely Sunday morning, I’m passing along both the waffle recipe and the Blueberry Compote recipe. Enjoy them both!

Cuisinart waffle maker

Brand new and ready to go!

All-American Waffles

serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

1 egg, separated (put yolk in two quart bowl and white in small bowl.)

1 cup plus 2 TBL milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 TBL canola or vegetable oil

1 cup plus 2 TBL flour

4 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

The waffle iron gets hot, so younger kids can't help out with dropping the batter onto the squares, but older kids can. Plenty of mixing and measuring for the younger kids to do though.

Separate the egg,  putting egg white aside in small bowl.

In larger bowl, combine the egg yolk, milk, vanilla and oil. Blend together, by hand, with wire whisk.

Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to the liquid ingredients and blend with wire whisk. (There will probably be some lumps.)

Beat the egg white with electric mixer until stiff. Fold into the batter with wire whisk until just blended.

(Do not beat egg whites into batter,  just fold in.)

When waffle iron is ready, drop batter into the four squares and use according to directions.

Hot blueberry compote

This is what the hot blueberry compote looks like when it's done.

The hot blueberry compote is kind of a neat recipe to make. It looks completely different from beginning to end, and I find it interesting to watch it go from a bright red color when you start,  to a deep purple color when it’s done.

HOT BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cold water
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (I usually do one frozen 16 oz bag unless I’ve got fresh on hand.)
2 1/2 TBL cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 TBL Lemon Juice

Hot blueberry compote

Here's what the compote looks like when you first begin.

DIRECTIONS

In large frying pan combine all ingredients.
Bring to a boil over medium heat.
Stir constantly until it boils. (You’ll see the mixture change from a bright red to a deep purple and thicken when it’s about done.)
Simmer for a few minutes over low heat.
Serve hot (warm).
Whipped cream on top is optional.

ENJOY!

Resolutions and Recipes: Shrimp Scampi

12 Jan
Shrimp Scampi

Tonight's dinner, one of my favorite new recipes.

So many of the recipes I post are recipes I grew up on. Today’s recipe is not. Today’s is a recipe shared with me by my friend Donna. We often have the “so what are YOU having for dinner tonight” conversation and one day her answer was Shrimp Scampi, a recipe she promised was super easy and delicious, my top two qualifiers for a recipe. We tried it for the first time as a surprise dinner I made for our anniversary and it got all thumbs up from everyone in our crew. Even if someone doesn’t like part of it, they all like something in it.

To start with you’ll need to assemble your ingredients because the recipe is a quick one. Have everything ready.

Ingredients for Shrimp Scampi

Get your ingredients ready while your oil and garlic are sauteing.

Here’s the recipe:

SHRIMP SCAMPI
INGREDIENTS

1 pound shrimp (we keep a big bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer.)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup cut up tomatoes (If I have them, I slice grape tomatoes just in half, it’s faster and they hold their shape better.)
3/4 stick butter
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp Parsley (otherwise known as What’s That Green Stuff Mommy?)

DIRECTIONS

Simmering scampi

Simmer until the shrimp is pink and the tomatoes are soft.

Put olive oil in pan and saute garlic three minutes.

Add wine, lemon juice and butter and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes

Add shrimp and tomatoes and saute until shrimp is pink and tomatoes are soft.

Pour over rice or pasta (we use pasta.)

Resolutions and Recipes: Rice Pudding

10 Jan

Yesterday I posted the recipe for Flounder with Lemon and Dill -sort of. If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll see what I mean. Anyway…the recipe is served on a bed of white rice, which we often have left over. If we have at least 1 1/2 cups of it left over, that’s enough to make Rice Pudding, which is one of my favorite wintertime desserts.

Rice Pudding with Whipped Cream

I happen to love Rice Pudding!

Rice Pudding, like tapioca, bread pudding, grape nut pudding and the like, are the type of dessert that you either love them or hate them. I happen to love puddings of all types, including this one.

The recipe is simple and like most puddings, the hardest thing is standing there stirring the pudding until it thickens. I read a book while I stir. We’ve had this recipe a while, but I’m not sure where we got it from. I have it written on a little piece of notebook paper, so I apologize in advance for not giving credit to someone, somewhere.

Stir the pudding until it's thick and creamy.

Stir the pudding until it's thick and creamy.

RICE PUDDING

Combine 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice with 1 1/2 cups of milk, 1/3 cup white sugar and 1/4 tsp. salt.

Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, about 15-20 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 cup of milk, one beaten egg and 2/3 cup of raisins.

Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in one tablespoon butter and 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

Serve warm with whipped cream.

I don’t like whipped cream so I eat it without, but the rest of my family enjoys it with whipped cream on top.

  You can serve it in bowls, mugs, or we often use these ice cream sundae glasses, with tall iced-tea spoons, which is fun.

The next time you make white rice for a side dish, throw in enough for extras so that you can try out this yummy recipe! It warms your soul on a cold night!

ENJOY!

Resolutions and Recipes: Flounder with Lemon and Dill–or not

9 Jan
Flounder with Lemon and Dill (Tilapia)

We are lucky, all our kids like fish.

The title of this post is a bit misleading, and I’ll tell you why. The recipe that I wanted to feature is one I grew up loving: Flounder with Lemon and Dill. It was one of our regular Friday night dinners. The only thing is I didn’t have Flounder this time, I had Tilapia, so you have to change the name to Tilapia with Lemon and Dill. Except we were out of Dill, so the green is parsley flakes instead. So now the new name of this recipe could actually be Tilapia with Lemon and Parsley, but I’m going to share the real recipe with you anyway because it’s basically the same method as we used to make tonight’s dinner.

This is an easy recipe and for us it’s inexpensive because we buy our Tilapia or Flounder flash frozen and individually packed in a family pack at Aldi’s for about $4.99 a pack, and keep it on hand until we need it. The white rice we buy in bulk and the broccoli is either fresh or frozen (tonight was frozen) depending what we have on hand. Altogether the meal that doesn’t cost more than $6 or $7, which is great for a seafood dish. I am thankful that our kids all like fish. This is one of three different ways we typically make it (poached like this, pan fried or baked-stuffed,) and no matter which of the three ways we choose, the bag of fish works well.

Flounder with Lemon and Dill

Whether flounder or tilapia, this is a delcious dish.

FLOUNDER WITH LEMON AND DILL

INGREDIENTS

3 Tablespoons Margarine or Butter

3/4 tsp. Dill

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pound flounder

DIRECTIONS

In a frying pan over medium low heat combine butter, dill, lemon juice, wine and salt until butter is melted.

Add flounder last and simmer until fish is cooked through.

Serve on a bed of white rice.

Resolutions and Recipes: Overnight French Toast

8 Jan
Overnight French Toast

This is the version o overnight french toast that we make most often.

Those of you who know me, know that French Toast is one of my all-time favorite breakfasts. I like thick, thin, cinnamon, stuffed…..you name it, if it’s french toasted, I generally love it.

A few years back on Mother’s Day, my cousin Kim brought an Overnight French Toast to the brunch that was just amazing. I had to have the recipe. Ever since then we have used it almost any time we have a brunch here. Most recently we had it last Monday as our “last hurrah” breakfast before going back to school.

The recipe is quick and easy, and inexpensive to make which are my top qualifiers for a good recipe. We often host a birthday brunch for our family birthday parties since it’s a less expensive option than dinner, and this is a recipe that we use each time.

In the future I’ll also be sharing a couple of other Overnight French Toast recipes that I’ve had and are delicious as well. Today’s recipe I have shared on Facebook before, but the other two I have not shared before, so be on the lookout!

OVERNIGHT FRENCH TOAST

Mix and put on bottom of 9×13 pan:
1 1/2 sticks melted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Layered and ready to go into the fridge overnight.

Layer Pepperidge Farm Big Bread or Texas style French Toast Bread 2 layers deep and fill in the spaces. (I get my Texas style bread either at PriceRite or Walmart. The one at Walmart is made by Wonder.)

Mix 6 eggs and 2 cups milk and pour on top.

Into the fridge it goes.

Leave overnight in fridge.

Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes.

Top with maple syrup (generously) and broil for about 10 minutes until lightly browned and slightly crispy.

When we serve ours we usually cut the pieces in half since each half is two slices high.

Enjoy!

Resolutions and Recipes: Chicken Marsala

5 Jan
chicken marsala

Tonight's dinner!

Chicken Marsala is one of my favorite meals. Don makes a great one. Each time I had a baby, the night before we went to the hospital (or in Alex’s case the night before the first of four times we thought we were going to the hospital) he asked me what I’d like for my “last meal” and it was Chicken Marsala every time.

Chicken Marsala is also one of those cheap meals that we keep in our rotation of meals. We don’t make it every pay period by any means, but maybe once every month or two. Did I mention it’s one of my favorite meals?

Here’s what we spent on tonight’s meal at PriceRite and Aldi’s:

Mushrooms: $1.99

Whole wheat spaghetti at Aldi’s: $1.09

Bag of frozen chicken tenders at Aldi’s: $5.99 but we only used six of the tenders, not the whole bag, which is usually about 18 tenders, so we used about $1.99 worth of tenders.

TOTAL: $5.00 plus we had a salad so add another dollar or so.

For our Marsala wine, we use Holland House Cooking Wine that I keep on hand all the time (I keep both Marsala and Sherry cooking wines on hand.) We used about 1/4 cup tonight.

Here’s the thing about Don though: he’d make a great video blogger chef or a great webinar blogger chef because he cooks without a recipe. He’s a fantastic cook but it’s almost always out of his head.

So tonight, we did our best to get his recipe out of his head and onto a piece of paper (rather, onto a paper napkin) so that I could pass it along.

Here it is:

Step one: cook the chicken.

Take 6 chicken tenders (or however many you think you need) thawed and cubed, and cook them. You can bake them, fry them or saute them. He fried them tonight, which in my opinion is the best, but not the healthiest way (shocker.) Tonight before frying them, he rolled them in flour first and added a little salt and pepper too.

Technically they don’t even need to be cooked all the way through because they’re going to go back into the pan in a little while.

Take them out and set them aside. He puts them in a dish that has paper toweling on it, to catch the grease.

In the same frying pan, saute the mushrooms in either butter or olive oil. We buy fresh, whole mushrooms and either slice them as we did tonight, or cube them, depending on what we’re cooking.

Put the chicken back in and saute together.

Next, de-glaze the pan by adding in the 1/4 cup of Marsala and 1 cup of chicken stock.

While the pasta is cooking, add the Marsala Wine and the Chicken Stock.

You can be cooking your pasta at the same time.

Cook chicken, mushrooms, marsala and chicken stock together until it boils.

Cook the chicken, mushrooms, Marsala and chicken stock together for a minute or so until it comes to a boil.

Season with salt, pepper, garlic and basil.

At this point Don likes to thicken up the sauce to just how he likes it. In his words, “I take pats of butter and roll them in flour and add in enough pats of butter and flour until it’s the way I like it.”

He said you can also make a rue of butter and flour if you would like, or you can just add the flour to thicken.

Once the pasta is done, we toss it all into a serving bowl with the chicken and Marsala on top. He sprinkles parsley on top for looks.

We used to always make a bed of rice for under the chicken, and sometimes we still do, but when we lived in New Jersey, one of our favorite Italian restaurants served it over pasta, and ever since then, that’s an option for us as well. That’s the way the kids like it best. Using the wheat pasta makes it a bit healthier too.

Enjoy!