What's For Dinner?

I was channel surfing the other night and caught an episode of

"The Pioneer Woman"

on the food network....I had heard of her but had never seen her show before

and the dish she was cooking caught my attention.

It was part of her "16 Minute Meals" series,

and she was making Beef With Snow Peas.

source

So in my quest to find yum out FAST dinners for week nights,

I printed the recipe and tried it tonight!

I got a thumbs up from all of the kids and it WAS fast and easy to make!

Here is the recipe:

Beef with Snow Peas

1-1/2 pound Flank Steak, trimmed of fat and sliced very thin against the grain

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

3 T cooking sherry

2T brown sugar

2T cornstarch

1 T minced fresh ginger

8 oz fresh snow peas, ends trimmed

5 whole scallions, cut into half-inch pieces on the diagonal

salt as needed

3T peanut oil

crushed red pepper

rice 

In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Pour half the liquid over the sliced meat in a bowl and toss with hands. Reserve the other half of the liquid. Set aside.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet (iron is best) or wok over high heat. Add snow peas and stir for 45 seconds. Remove to a separate plate. Set aside.

Allow pan to get very hot again. With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Add half the scallions. Spread out meat as you add it to pan, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount a time as possible.) Turn meat to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a clean plate.

Repeat with other half of meat, allowing pan to get very hot again first. After turning it, add the first plateful of meat, the rest of the marinade, and the snow peas. Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. 

Check seasonings and add salt only if it needs it. Mixture will thicken as it sits.

Serve immediately over rice. Sprinkle crushed red pepper over the top to give it some spice.

Note....I used ground ginger instead of fresh ginger and I forgot to buy the scallions,

but it turned out fabulously and any time ALL the kids like something I fix for dinner,

it is a WIN!

Please visit the The Pioneer Woman's website to see her wonderful post

of this recipe and for many more pictures and how to instructions!

Family Favorite Recipe

Many of our family's favorite recipes

are recipes that have been in my family for generations.

Today I am going to share a recipe for

King Ranch Chicken,

which is from my paternal grandmother.

Here is a pretty picture of this casserole

source

 

She and my grandfather are originally from Ohio,

but lived in Houston, Texas for most of the time I can remember.

She loved to cook, but was famous for several dishes.

King Ranch Chicken was one of them...

It is a very popular Tex-Mex casserole,

that supposedly originated on King Ranch in South Texas

(although that has not been proven).

There are MANY variations on this recipe,

but most have the same four core ingredients:

chicken, Ro-Tel tomatoes, cream of chicken soup, and cream of mushroom soup.

 

Here is my Grandmother's recipe

King Ranch Chicken
2 cups cubed or shredded chicken, cooked
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp chili powder
dash of Tobasco
dash of Lea & Perrins
2 cups cheddar cheese
12 six inch flour tortillas, torn in small pieces

1. Saute peppers and onions in butter until tender in large skillet.

2. Add chicken, soups, tomatoes, chili powder, Tobasco, and Lea & Perrins,
and cook until hot.

3. Butter bottom of 9x13 pan and cover bottom of pan with tortillas.

4. Add half of chicken mixture.

5. Sprinkle with cheese, and repeat layers.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

I sometimes use crushed Doritos instead of the tortillas.
You can also buy a rotisserie chicken and shred that to save time.
I also garnish with sour cream and black olives.

I debated whether to take some pictures of me making this in my
fabulous 1980's kitchen, but decided it would be too distracting
as everyone would be drooling over my kitchen and not my casserole.
(you can see I went the Doritos route and forgot to buy the green pepper tonight)

 

 

My kids LOVE this casserole.  

 

 

Twins...can they EVER both smile?

 

Sweet D keeping me company while I was cooking...

notice the two computers, ipad, and smart phone...LOL.

Guess who the ham is in this family?

 

  As I mentioned, there are many variations on this recipe...

sometimes I play around with it myself,
but my grandmother's is always the best! 

 

My grandmother passed away many years ago,

but I have her recipe file,

and I love having her recipes written in her own handwriting.
I'll share some more of my family recipes this fall and winter.

 

 

 

Stylish Slow Cookers

I would never have put "stylish" and "slow cooker" in the same sentence,

but check these two out!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Order here

But also LOVE LOVE LOVE this one too!

Order here

 

And here is an AWESOME recipe for pulled pork BBQ in the slow cooker

compliments of my BFF, S...(she found it on skinnytaste.com )

This is YUM OUT!!!

 

So....which one will I pick?

I think I will get the green and white for me

and the blue and white for my Virginia mom!

 

I would love for you to share your favorite slow cooker recipe with me!

 

 

 

 



Summer Salad

My current FAVORITE salad is the Niçoise  Salad.

 

source

 

I have loved this salad for a long time, but recently rediscovered it when grabbing a quick dinner at the Nordstrom café with my daughters.

My super yum out salad from Nordstroms.

I ordered this salad with grilled chicken instead of the salmon.

I also like the salad with grilled tuna, which is what the recipe normally calls for.

 

There are many variations on the Niçoise Salad recipe and I wanted to find one that had the key ingredients that I love: Kalamata olives, capers, and a perfect Balsamic dressing.

Here is a recipe that I like:

Niçoise Salad

 

Vinaigrette Ingredients

 

1/2 cup lemon juice

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium shallot, minced

1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves

2 Tbsp minced fresh basin leaves

2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Salad

• 2 grilled or otherwise cooked tuna steaks* (8 oz each) or 2-3 cans of tuna
• 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and either halved or quartered
• 10 small new red potatoes (each about 2 inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 pounds total), each potato scrubbed and quartered
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 medium heads Boston lettuce or butter lettuce, leaves washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 3 small ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths
• 1 small red onion, sliced very thin
• 8 ounces green beans, stem ends trimmed and each bean halved crosswise
• 1/4 cup niçoise or Kalamata olives
• 2 Tbsp capers, rinsed and/or several anchovies (optional)

*Marinate tuna steaks in a little olive oil for an hour. Heat a large skillet on medium high heat, or place on a hot grill. Cook the steaks 2 to 3 minutes on each side until cooked through.

 

Method

 



1 Whisk lemon juice, oil, shallot, thyme, basil, oregano, and mustard in medium bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

 

2 Bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and cook until potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside.

 

3 While potatoes are cooking, toss lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in large bowl until coated. Arrange bed of lettuce on a serving platter. Cut tuna into 1/2-inch thick slices, coat with vinaigrette. Mound tuna in center of lettuce. Toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste in bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture on the lettuce bed. Arrange reserved potatoes in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.

 

4 Return water to boil; add 1 tablespoon salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain beans, transfer to reserved ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds; dry beans well. Toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste; arrange in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.

 

5 Arrange hard boiled eggs, olives, and anchovies (if using) in mounds on the lettuce bed. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons dressing, sprinkle entire salad with capers, and serve immediately.

recipe source

 

source

 

When I make this myself, I don't use a platter, I make individual salads using soup plates.

I also use grilled chicken or have used the canned albacore tuna.

I am all about saving time so I have also used the bagged Romaine lettuce or the organic field greens that come in a box from Costco...if you have a store bought balsamic vinaigrette that you love, you can use that to save time also.

 

Bon Appetit!

 

 

Family Favorite Grilling Recipe

Good Morning!

I am linking up with Kelly from Kelly's Korner to share my favorite grilling recipe!

 

My husband is the grill master in our home and while I have some great grilling recipes, I am going to share my kids' FAVORITE grilling recipe...

HOBO DINNERS!

Just like the ones we used to have at camp...

In a nutshell, you take a large rectangle of heavy duty aluminum foil, fill it with goodies, and then wrap it up and throw it on the grill. The kids love to help peel and chop vegetables and then they get to put their own dinners together and on the grill.

 

Here is the general recipe I follow for the Hobo Dinner:

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

4 potatoes, sliced or cut in cubes

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 medium onion, sliced

Lawrey's Seasoned Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

 

Directions

 

1. Shape ground beef into four 1/4 pound patties and season with salt and pepper
2. Cut four large (about 18 inches long) strips of aluminum foil and lay flat on counter.
3. Place one ground beef patty in center of each piece of foil.
4. Distribute vegetables evenly to each strip of foil, placing vegetables on top of beef patty.
5. Sprinkle with a little more seasoned salt an pepper and fold aluminum foil up to form

source

 

Just to mix it up a bit, you can add mushrooms, bell peppers, summer squash, or any other vegetable.

In addition, you can make this with steak, seafood, or chicken if you want to "dress it up" a little!  

source

 



Happy Grilling!

 



Good Morning Sweets!

I don't really have a sweet tooth unless we are talking about breakfast.

D makes me the BEST French Toast on the weekends, and I LOVE coffee cakes and muffins.

I also like egg casseroles and omelets, but don't generally cook breakfast during the week.

Sometimes I bake a coffee cake or muffins on Sunday afternoon, and if I'm lucky,

the breakfast sweets will last a few days into the week!

 

I happened upon this blueberry coffee cake on Pintrest and it's to die for (if you like blueberries).

source

This coffee cake is very moist and tastes like fresh blueberries.

 



source

 

Below is the recipe and the only thing I do differently is that I sprinkle about a tablespoon of raw sugar (the big coarse sugar crystals) on the top before baking so that there is a bit of a crunchy top.

Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

(source)

Serves 6-8

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour (set aside 1/4 cup of this to toss with the blueberries)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk***

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top
*** To make homemade buttermilk, place 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill cup with milk until it reaches the 1-cup line. Let stand for five minutes. Use only 1/2 cup of the prepared mixture for the recipe.

 

I love that this recipe calls it "Breakfast Cake" because honestly, it IS cake!

I am contemplating trying this recipe with raspberries...if I do, I will let you know how that works.

 

What is your favorite breakfast food?