Cooking Extravaganza!

Yes, you read it right! After I came home and deep cleaned my kitchen, I proceeded to destroy it again! :-) Since I am leaving the dear muffinman to fend for himself this weekend, I wanted to make a few things for him to have to eat. In addition, I wanted to make something for a co-workers birthday tomorrow and something to bring to my parents.

For the birthday, I opted for one of my favorites....and something very easy. Chocolate Chip Blonde Brownies, you can find the recipe I use here. For my parents, delicious bread (I really wanted to try out the soft pretzel recipe, but I didn't have the right dough made! Stay tuned, that will definately be in the near future). My husband was so enthralled with the loaf of bread I made, I had to quickly mix up another batch of dough so he could have a loaf for this weekend!!

So, my list of items cooked tonight.....macaroni and cheese, au gratin potatoes, chocolate chip blonde brownies, mexican chicken casserole (made with leftover bbq chicken, so Im sure it tastes more like bbq chicken casserole), 2 loaves of white bread, and prepped the ingredients for a crokpot venison stew (Thanks April for the excellent recipe!!). In addition, I made dinner. That consisted of baked chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, and asparagus with goat cheese and walnuts.

If you even like asparagus in the slightest amount, you will have to try this super simple recipe. It looks pretty and sounds elaborate, so it's a great one to serve at dinner parties or holidays!

Roasted Asparagus with Goat Cheese and Walnuts
(print my recipe @ TastyKitchen.com)

Ingredients
10 spears Asparagus

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Walnuts, Chopped
about 1 ounce  Goat Cheese, Chopped
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Rinse and trim the asparagus.
3. Add olive oil to a small rimmed baking sheet.
4. Add asparagus to the oil and shake to coat.
5. Sprinkle with walnuts.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes (until tender).
7. Remove from the pan, place on a serving dish, and sprinkle with goat cheese, adding more if desired.

Ole!

Look at me, 2 posts in one day!!! While I continue to bask in my success, I have a favor to ask of all you reading (ok, maybe it really is just the 4 followers, but I'm hoping theres others!) I'm wanting to really try to make this blog take off, so if you would, PLEASE add yourself as a follower so I can judge how many people actually read! I have a goal of 50 by the end of April, we will re-evaluate then and hopefully up the goal! In addition, please feel free to pass this blog along to anyone who you may think have an interest!

Made a great casserole with the leftover shredded pork from the carnitas last week. It's super easy (especially if you already have the meat cooked and shredded!). If so, just skip to step 5 and when it calls for cooking liquid, add the 1 cup of chicken broth.


In addition, I used a smidge of olive oil instead of cooking spray in the pan (I keep forgetting to print my list off smart shopper when I go to the store!). While we are on the subject....the smart shopper is another great gift I received this year. While it might seem hokey, its a cooks best friend...really! I no longer have to remember in my head when I use the last of something while cooking. I can just step to the fridge, hit record, and speak what I need (note: be sure you don't have a husband yelling random items in the background, it hasn't perfected distractions yet).

Mexican Chicken Casserole (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

1 cup ff, less sodium chicken broth

2 (4.5 oz) cans chopped green chiles (I omitted these)

1 3/4 lbs skinned boned chicken breasts

1 cup chopped onion

1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup milk

1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (I used mexican blend)
1/4 cup (2 oz) light cream cheese

1 10oz can enchilada sauce

12 (6 inche tortillas)

Cooking spray

1/2 cup shredded reduced fast extra sharp cheddar cheese (used mexican blend)

1 oz tortilla chips

Directions

1. Combine broth and 1 can of chiles in a large skillet; bring to a boil.

2. Add chicken; reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken is done, turning chicken once.

3. Remove chicken from cooking liquid, reserving cooking liquid; cool chicken.

4. Shred meat with two forks, and set aside.

5. Preheat oven to 350°.

6. In a large skillet, add 1 can chiles, onion, and garlic

7.Sauté 3 minutes or until soft.

8. Add reserved cooking liquid, milk, Monterey Jack, cream cheese, and enchilada sauce; stir well.

9. Stir in shredded chicken; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

10. Place 4 tortillas in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray.

11. Spoon 2 cups chicken mixture over tortillas.

12. Repeat layers twice, ending with chicken mixture.

13. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and chips.

14. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

15. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*As I mentioned, I had about a cup and a half of shredded pork leftover, so I halved this recipe. It made 6 servings, which is perfect to leftovers for lunch!

So Long, Farewell!!!

Yes folks, crockpot week is over, and I, for one, am elated.Crockpots are cool and all, but most food tastes better cooked other ways (in my opinion).

Friday I opted not to cook, and we, instead, went out for the husbands birthday. We always enjoy The Keg, and this visit was no different. A great dinner accompanied by some good wine and conversation with excellent bartenders made our evening complete (thanks Chris and Ryan!).  Here you can see Chris pouring me (yet another) glass of Jaboulet Cotes du Rhone "Parallele 45."

Saturday, I recovered! We decided to grill because the day was just too gorgeous to be stuck inside! I found a neighborhood Walmart Market nearby that I never knew existed....and love it! We bought a whole organic chicken and some ribs to grill. As you can see below, husbands are excellent at splitting chickens! :-) Its that Texas A&M degree....

Accompanying the great meat were grilled vegetables, and excellent roasted potatoes.  It was a great way to round of the closing of a weekend! Stay tuned this week for some leftover casserole recipes!

Happy Birthday Muffinman!!!

Yes, its the love of my lifes birthday....but I was under the impression he would not be home tonight, so I was ill prepared!! For one, I planned tonight as the crock pot dinner he would not eat....ooops. For 2, I was planning on making his cake tomorrow! So, I was in high speed when I came home!

While this was excellent to get things done, it resulted spilling a full glass of water on the floor, bonking my head on a cabinet while taking out the trash, dripping salsa on my computer (the hazards of using a computer for my recipes), and my smoke alarm going off for a good 10 minutes. After cleaning up my messes and consoling myself and muffindog (i was saying "my poor head" while he was in the far corner of the yard trying to get away from the smoke detector), I literally had about 30 minutes to finish up.

Alls well in the muffin household now. Muffinman is home. Muffindog in sleeping. And this muffinwoman is having a glass of wine before pie! I'd say the husband summed up the meal best... "The peppers are good. Num Num. The bread is like the ultimate bread ever. Num, Num, Num. Can I have some more bread?"

Tonights crockpot meal is truly a no-fuss option! A lot of crockpot meals require a significant amount of prep time (still worth a cooked meal when you come home, but it takes up time in the morning). This one took me about 10 minutes last night, and maybe 5 this morning. (only because I dumped one of the peppers over when filling it with sauce and had to re-assemble!!) Even if you aren’t a fan of bell peppers, you can eat the filling and steer clear of the pepper!

Once I realized I needed to make muffinmans birthday “cake” tonight, I repeated the carrot and parsnip side dish for dinner as well….and of course, I had to bake some bread!! This time, I added a little butter and rosemary to the top of my loaf!

I halved the recipe below, making enough filling for 3 peppers, but only filled 2. Stored the rest of the filling in the fridge and plan on making a pepper for lunch sometime in the next few days.

Crockpot Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

6 tall green bell peppers

1 lb ground beef, extra lean

1 cup rice, uncooked (I used brown)

1 large onion, chopped

1 large carrot, shredded

1 tsp beef bouillon

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 can condensed tomato soup

1 can water

Directions

1. Cut the top off of the peppers, and remove the inner seeds. Rinse inside and out

2. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, rice, onion, carrot, bouillon, salt, and pepper.

3. Fill each pepper with the beef mixture about 2/3 way full (rice will expand)

* you can stop here, wrap the peppers in saran wrap, and refrigerate over night

4. Place the peppers in your crockpot.

5. Mix the soup and water with a whisk

6. Pour the soup mixture over the peppers.

7. Cook on low for 8 hours

Snickers Pie

Ingredients

14 oz semisweet baking chocolate

4 tbs butter

1 (9inch) baked pastry shell

25 caramels

1 cup, 1/3 cup, and 5 tsp heavy cream

1 ½ cup salted peanuts

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 snickers bar, cut into small pieces.

Directions

1. In a sauce pan, melt the chocolate and 3 tbs of butter

2. Using ¼ cup of the chocolate, spread all over the sides and bottom of the crust.

3. Place crust in the refrigerator to harden, set the remaining chocolate aside

4. In a separate sauce pan, melt 20 caramels, and 1/3 cup cream, stirring frequently

5. Remove from heat and stir in the peanuts

6. Spread the peanut layer over the chocolate layer and return to the fridge.

7. Beat 1 cup of the cream with the vanilla until soft peaks form

8. Fold 1/3 of the cream into the reserved chocolate (be sure its cooled down before adding the cream)

9. Fold the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate mixture

10. Spread the chocolate cream into the pie crust.

11. Refrigerate until set

12. In the same saucepan you used for the caramels, melt 5 caramels, 5 tsp heavy cream, and 1 tbs butter.

13. Sprinkle the chopped snickers over the pie, then drizzle with the caramel sauce.

14. Keep covered and refrigerated until served.

A Delicious Surprise!

Bigger news than my crockpot meal for the night is the 3 packages I arrived home to on my front porch! A couple weeks ago I started a conversation with my Uncle about bread....and lo and behold, supplies started arriving at my door!!

In addition to the pizza stone and peel (look at me learning the terms so quickly!), I received SAF Red Instant Yeast (something I've eyed on other blogs!), 2 bread books, some sourdough starter, large containers to store dough in, and a yeast canister and measure! I am fully stocked and ready to begin a new journey through breads!!!

I started by making the basic dough recipe from the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day."  Ive been waiting and waiting for it to rise so I can enjoy it with my dinner tonight!!

So, on to the dinner! Tonights crockpot dinner was Ravioli Casserole from MomsWhoThink.com. While I made several substitutions in the recipe, I immediately knew that I could make something much fresher tasting than what this recipe amounted to. So, the recipe that follows is the same concept (pasta sauce, pasta, meat, ricotta, spinach), but how I will make it in the future....and I WILL make it in the future!!

Crockpot Ravioli Casserole

Ingredients

6 containers grape tomatoes, rinsed

2 heads garlic, seperated and peeled

10 basil leaves, coarsly chopped

4 tbs olive oil

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 lb ground turkey (you can use chicken or beef as well), browned

1 15oz container ricotta cheese

1 10oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of all moisture

4 handfuls dry pasta (any shape)

Directions

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a slow cooker

2. Cook on low for 6 hours, or until tomatoes start to burst and garlic becomes soft

3. Using a blender or imersion blender, puree the sauce. Return to Crockpot

4. Boil the pasta to al dente

5. Add the pasta, meat, spinach and ricotta to the sauce. Stir

6. Simmer another 20 minutes on low in the crockpot.

This is some of the best bread I've ever had, and can't wait to make variations of the basic dough!! The kit that I received came with some vietnamese cinnamon that smells better than any holiday I've experienced. I want to try cinnamon sugar pretzels sometime in the next week!

Against the Slaw!

(Yes, Im being cute in the title. I really dont like coleslaw, but had to try this recipe!)

As I entered a delicious smelling house this afternoon, I found myself wondering “Is it cruel to my dog to make him smell awesome meat slowly cooking all day?” I hope not, besides, I will let him try some!

I had a little grocery trouble today. Went to 2 stores and couldn’t find instant polenta or thyme at either!!! I ended up using the premade polenta and grilled the slices in an grill pan with some olive oil, garlic salt, and dried minced onion. SO -tonight’s meal is Pork Carnitas (courtesy crockpot365.blogspot.com), gorgonzola coleslaw, crispy polenta, and roasted vegetables. I wanted to get away from traditional rice and beans with a tortilla dish, so this is the result of my creativity.

Served in a tortilla with the pork, the coleslaw was an incredible combination! The roasted vegetables were a great hit! My Mother in Law made something similar for Thanksgiving 2009, and I loved them.

Pork Carnitas (Adapted from crockpot 365.blogspot.com)
5 pts (not including tortilla, based on 6 servings)
Ingredients
2 pounds pork shoulder (I used a1.7 lb center cut pork loin)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 large orange)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 large lime…I used 2 small)
7 cloves garlic (whole intact)
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1 cup beef broth
flour or corn tortillas
Directions
1. Remove the skin from the garlic cloves. Set aside
2. Using a hand juicer, juice the lime and the orange. Set aside
3. Open and measure your beef broth, set aside
4. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to your slow cooker and swirl to cover the bottom.
5. In a small bowl, combine the salt and cumin. Rub mixture all over the pork, then add to the slow cooker.
6. Add whole garlic cloves.
7. Pour the citrus over the pork
8. Pour about ½ cup of the beef broth over the pork, and the rest around it evenly.
9. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the pork shreds quite easily with a fork
10. Shred meat fully and mash in the garlic cloves.
11. Serve on warmed tortillas with desired toppings.
*I moved her directions around a bit so there was so pork slime on my hands, knife, fruit, etc!*

Gorgonzola Coleslaw (adapted from http://www.kalamazoogourmet.com/recipe06-2.php?recipe=108)
2 pts (makes 10, 1/2cup servings)
Ingredients
½ red onion, sliced thin
1 bag shredded cabbage (for coleslaw)
1 cup shredded carrots
1/8 cup golden balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup turbinado sugar
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoons whole grain prepared mustard
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
Directions
1. Using a grill pan over medium heat, grill the onion slices in a little olive oil until caramelized and softened
3. Combine the onions, cabbage, and carrots in a large glass bowl.
4. Combine the vinegar, sugar and salt, and stir until dissolved.
5. Stir the vinegar mixture into the cabbage mixture.
6. Cover and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes..
7. Stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard and cheese.
8. Mix into the slaw.
9. Cover and refrigerate for 45 minutes to 4 hours before serving.
*Just before I served the coleslaw, I dumped it in a strained because it was really runny, which I didn’t like seeing! It still tasted great!

Roasted Vegetables (foodnetwork.com)

2 pts (based on 8 servings)

Ingredients

1 pound carrots

1 pound parsnips

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper 6 sprigs fresh thyme (I used tarragon)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.Peel the carrots and parsnips and cut them in half lengthwise, larger ones can be quartered. Place them on a large rimmed baking sheet.

3. Drizzle the carrots and parsnips with the olive oil and honey.
4. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.

5. Scatter the thyme sprigs on top.

6. Place them in the preheated oven.

7. After 10 minutes, give the veggies a toss and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft and slightly caramelized.

8. Serve warm.

*I only did half of this recipe and it still ended up being enough to feed 4!

Crispy Polenta Stars (adapted from several recipes on the internet!)

1 pt a piece (based on 12 “stars”)

Ingredients

1 chicken bullion cube

½ cup water

1 tbs butter

1 clove garlic, minced

2 handfuls polenta

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

pinch of salt

Directions

1. Dissolve chicken stock in the water over medium heat

2. Add the butter and garlic and bring to a boil

3. Once it begins to boil, sprinkle the polenta into the stock, stirring constantly

4. Continue stirring until it thickens

5. Add in parmesan cheese and salt

6. Line a small pan with saran wrap (you can use any size to change up the thickness)

7. Pour the polenta into the pan and refrigerate until firm (I just left it in the fridge until I was ready to ‘fry’ it)

8. Remove the polenta and cut shapes of your choice out

9. Heat a little olive oil in a pan and ‘fry’ the polenta until golden and crispy.

This just in....

And I thought I should share.

I recently purchased Jello Mousse Temptations in the Creme Caramel flavor. Definately worth trying. I've had the Dark Chocolate and its just as awesome! I'll be trying out some desserts/parfaits with these for sure!

A little crockpot comfort . . .

I sped home today because I didn't have all the ingredients I needed to make my "Rio Grande" Meatloaf. After a quick stop at the store, I was well prepared and ready to quickly get it in the crockpot to cook for a couple of hours on high. It's now smelling awesome, and I tried a new trick that I got the idea from a fellow blogger @ crockpot365.blogspot.com. She layers meat and veggies seperated by foil for a full dinner in the crockpot!!!

I haven't tried it before, so I thought this would be a great night! First I assembled all the ingredients for the meatloaf and pressed it into the bottom of my greased crockpot. Then, i put a layer of foil. Next I took some baby red potatoes, olive oil, and 5 whole garlic cloves and wrapped them in a foil packet, placed it on top of the meatloaf. After those cooked on high for 2.5 hours, I added a foil packet of fresh green beans (mixed with olive oil, garlic salt, and crushed almonds) for 1 hour on low.

All in all it turned out well!! Served the meatloaf with some salsa and sour cream (turned out a little dry), mashed the potatoes and garlic with a couple laughing cow cheese wedges and a splash of unsweetened almond milk, and served the green beans as they were (foil packet steamed them).

Rio Grande Meatloaf
½ 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped green pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
pinch of salt
2 tsp cumin
pinch of pepper
2 handfuls tortilla chips, crushed fine
2 large egg whites
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs lean ground beef
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well (using your hands if needed)
2. Grease your crockpot
3. Using one long strp of foil, cut it in half lengthwise, and fold each strip into a 1-2 inch wide long strip
4. Cross the strips in the bottom of the crockpot and let hang off the sides (will use as handles to remove the meatloaf)
5. Shape the meatloaf in your crockpot and cover
6. Cook on high 2.5 hours, low 1 hour (could probably do 4-5 hours on low)
7. Serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, etc.

*Just a note, you don't have to measure out all the veggies, about a small handful of the onion, green pepper, and cilantro will work. Also, the original recipe called for a full can of black beans, but I thought it was too much (the meatloaf tasted more like black beans.)