Creamy Corn Salad

Ingredients:

10 ears of sweet corn
1 (10 oz) container plain yogurt
1/2c miracle whip or mayo whatever.
3 scallions
2-3 roma/plum tomatoes
3/4c shredded cojack cheese
salt
pepper
paprika
garlic powder
onion powder

Directions:

1. Shuck the corn and break in half. Pretend silk is hair. Put 5-6 ears in a pot to boil. Add a little salt. Bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes or until the kernels are tender.
2. Once the corn is cooked use tongs and get them out of the water and put in a big bowl of ice cold water to stop cooking but also cool the corn so you can cut it up faster without burning off your fingers.
3. Add the rest of the corn to the hot water and once again cook until it's tender.
4. While the other corn is cooking and the other cooling, make the dressing. Mix the yogurt, miracle whip, salt, pepper, paprika (I put in 1 1/2t), the 2 powders just put a couple of shakes in, maybe 1/2t.
5. For the scallion I cut off the very tips at both ends cause we don't use those. I made small slices at the white end maybe half an inch or so. Then on the green end for color I did about an inch and a half. All precise measurements here folks.
6. If you're making this on the day of, you can chop up the tomato now, if not, wait until the day of. Same for the cheese, leave it out until day of or it gets soggy and no one wants that.
7. Ok so the corns are done cooking and you add those to the cold water. Now time to start cuttin corn.
8. In the bowl I'm going to mix it up and serve it in (you can also put the other items in this bowl) I put an upside down bowl that is smaller than the whole container so that I can sit the corn on top and use a knife to cut off the kernels. Video demonstration on youtube if you're confused.
9. Ok now I didn't need all of the sauce right now so I only used about 4T of it and stirred everything together. When it's the day of I may add the rest of it if it got dry sitting in fridge over night. If you're making this the day of, go with what you feel. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life.

For fun you could easily add some bacon right before serving and I have even seen people add corn chips. I think it turned out pretty tasty myself so I hope everyone else likes it. :)

Pork Chops Florentine!

Pork Chops Florentine~

Introduction

Made this stuffing to put over top pork chops that I then baked in the oven tonight at my mom's.  You could do this with chicken breasts too! We all thought it was delicious! Definitely going to make it again!

Ingredients

6 boneless pork chops 

1 (10oz pkg) Spinach, frozen, hawed & excess liquid squeezed out.
Cream of Mushroom Soup, 1 can (10.75 oz)
Mixed Vegetables, canned, 1 can
Cream of Chicken Soup, 1 can (10.75 oz)
Stove Top Cornbread Stuffing Mix, 1 box dry
Garlic powder, 1 tsp
Onions, dehydrated flakes, 1 tbsp
Lawry's Seasoning Salt, .5 tsp
Pepper, black, .5 tsp
Cheese, shredded Cojack, 1.5 cups
milk, 3/4c

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

If you're adding pork chops or even chicken breast you'll start by:
Mix the soups, seasonings, & milk together with a whisk.
Put maybe 1c of the soup mix in the bottom of a sprayed 9x13" pan.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the remaining soup EXCEPT CHEESE and combine.
Lay your chicken or pork down in the pan then spoon the stuffing mixture over the meat.

Bake at 350F for an hour, remove cover and put cheese on top, continue to cook for 20min or until cheese is golden brown.

If you're just making the stuffing to bake *which would be delicious as well*, just combine everything and put it in a casserole dish and cook as you would normally for stuffing.



Serving Size: 2/3c of stuffing

Number of Servings: 8

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 8
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 292.3

• Total Fat: 10.5 g
• Cholesterol: 21.2 mg
• Sodium: 1,168.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 29.3 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3.0 g
• Protein: 10.6 g 

PEACH & APPLE PIE BARS.

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 sugar
• 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

I didn't really worry too much about the dough being "perfect". Just combine all of it until it sticks together. I actually froze this crust because I had made a pie for March 14th (Pi Day) and I had extra so I froze it. I just got it out the night before I made this.

You're going to want to grease the 9x13 cake pan and crumble the crust into bits and press it up the sides half way then press it all down on the bottom.

Filling:
6 ripe georgia peaches, peeled and chunked
5 apples (mine were about the 2-3" around so they were on the small side), peeled & chunked
1/2c brown sugar
1/2c sugar
1/2t nutmeg
1/2t cinnamon
2t vanilla
1c flour, I kind of guessed with it since I wasn't sure how much to put in. I made it so the peach juice thickened up a bit, a little runnier that pancake batter if that helps.

Mix everything together and pour over the crust.

Topping:
1/2 stick butter
1/2c brown sugar
1/2-3/4c oats

Mix all that up in the bowl you made the filling in, should be able to form into a ball  and just sprinkle all around the top, it'll spread a little.

Ok. Oven at 350F, bake for an hour. I checked it at 40min then let it go another 20 cause it was still jiggly.
I also let it sit for quite awhile when it was done so it firmed up and the topping crisped up.

THEY'RE DELICIOUS.

Polenta, Bacon, & A Poached Egg

This is amazing.

First**, Polenta:

2c water
1c cornmeal

1. Boil the water adding a little bit of salt.
2. Whisk in the cornmeal CONSTANTLY. Lumpy polenta SUCKS.
3. Cook for 5 minutes on a really really low heat. I had mine on medium for a few seconds and it was SPITTING and it burns you easily if it lands on you. Whisk the whole time.
4. Remove from heat, season with more salt, pepper, & 1-2T butter.
5. Put in a microwave safe bowl, cover it, and put it in the fridge until you need it.

**I made this in the morning so I wouldn't have to juggle so many pots/pans at supper time, you could also make this the night ahead.

Bacon. I make this when it's supper time if that's when you want to eat this, I made 2lbs because my husband wanted bacon sandwiches for supper.

Fry some up. However much you will want. I crumbled bacon on mine.


Toppings:

1 plum tomato, small dice, pulp removed.
1/4 small diced onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced

1.  I cut up the whole tomato, half will be cooked, half raw.
2. Dice the onion & mince the garlic.
3. I used a little bit bacon grease to caramelize the onion, garlic, & half the tomato.
4. Add a little sprinky dink of salt & pepper.
5. Cook until a nice brown color and set aside until we're ready for it.


Poached Egg:

Firstly, if you've never made a poached egg here is a great video by Alton Brown.

2 eggs.
3c water
1T vinegar

1. Bring the water to a simmer.**
2. Crack one egg into a small container
3. Add the vinegar to the water.
4. Use a spoon to get rid of the bubbles on the bottom. I have a flat surface stove and I had it at a 3, low and it was perfect.
5. Ok, you ready? I'm ready. Slowly place the first egg in the water. Crack the next egg and put it in the pan.
6. Set your timer for 5 minutes for a runny egg yolk.
7. Scoop the egg out and put it on your food. Since I was eating it right away I didn't see the need to dirty a towel or paper towel or make the edges clean, they did that by themselves.

**While the water was starting to simmer, I put the polenta in a bowl, added some butter and reheated it in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Don't be freaked out about the polenta being hard, it does that, it'll smooth out after you reheat it and stir it for a little bit. Now start the eggs so while the eggs cook you can assemble your dish.

I add my toppings to the polenta after it's heated, so the bacon, onion, garlic, and all the tomatoes. Add the eggs on top and walla!

Polenta, Bacon, & A Poached Egg.

I'm sorry for the crappy photos. I broke up everything and stirred it all together, the egg yolk acted like a sauce and it was perfect.

Banana Bars

I got this recipe from work, shh don't tell!

The original recipe is for a half sheet pan. I only have a 9x13 cake pan so I halved the recipe. I will give you my changed recipe and to get the half sheet double it. To get 2 half sheet pans, double that. lol. It's all scientific here, I promise.

Preheat oven to 350F, in the time it takes you to whip these up, your oven will be preheated.

1c sugar
1/2c softened butter
2 eggs (the original recipe had 3 eggs and you can't exactly do 1 1/2 eggs so I did 2)
1/2t vanilla

Cream above together.
Add your b-a-n-a-n-a-s & 1c sour cream. I had 2 in my kitchen so that's what I used. Original says 3.

1/2t baking soda
1 1/2c flour

Add to creamed mixture.
I added a little milk, maybe 3/4c because I didn't have the 1c of sour cream on hand, you could use milk like I did or yogurt or even applesauce!

Grease a 9x13 pan and pour in batter. May have to spread it out and tap the pan to get out the bubbles.
Bake in the 350F oven until it's golden brown, usually when you start to smell them, they're done. Mine were in for around 25min.

My husband doesn't like cream cheese so I just make a simple frosting of powdered sugar, butter, and a little milk. By all means make a cream cheese frosting tho! :D

Sausage & Lentil Stew.

1lb pork sausage
3T scallion, sliced both white and green parts (I had leftover from the asian salad, feel free to use whatever onions you like tho)
4 mini bell peppers, chopped, use your favorite color of a medium bell pepper if you can't find the minis.
1/2t minced garlic
1 can (14oz) diced tomatoes
4oz dried lentils, i didn't do as many because Brad doesn't like them very much but you can use 8oz.
salt
pepper
paprika

1. Cook the sausage and veggies (except tomatoes) until mostly cooked, drain, the put back in the pot. Add the lentils and cook for a few minutes, this is mostly just to get the lentils coated in oil. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the tomatoes and i rinsed out the can twice so, 28oz of water.
3. Let it come to a boil and cook for 40 minutes until the lentils are tender.

That's it! :) Pretty easy and it tastes good!

Asian Couscous Salad for Easter!

Couscous:
3c couscous
6c water
1t salt

Boil the water and add the couscous. Removed from heat and let sit for 5min and fluff with a fork or if leftover water, strain thru a mesh strainer. Let it cool.

Dressing:
1 orange, juiced
1T rice wine vinegar
1T sesame oil
1T honey
2T veg oil
3T (or a little more) water
crushed red pepper flakes
salt
1/4t grated ginger**

**Ginger tip: I discovered that if you have your ginger root frozen (it had been from a previous meal and I put it in the freezer so it wouldn't go bad), it is a million times easier to both peel and use a microplane on!

Anyway, whisk all this stuff together and pour onto the couscous

Veggies:
1lb cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 mini sweet bell peppers, I had orange, red, & yellow. But by all means use a medium size bell pepper of your choice
1t minced garlic
3T sliced scallion, both white and green.

I sauteed the veggies (except the tomatoes) in a little oil for maybe 5 minutes then put them in the bowl that the couscous is in.

Stir to combine everything.

Grandma Anne's & My Lemon Cream Puffs

Cream Puff "Paste":


1qt water
1 stick butter
1cup flour
4 eggs

1/8 tsp salt ONE CUP BOILING WATER---- STIR IN ONE CUP FLOUR all at once and then when it forms ball--add 4 eggs, one at t time!


Directions:


1. Bring liquid and shortening to a rolling boil.
2. Put flour in stand mixer, add hot liquid and mix until dough pulls away from sides.
3. Add eggs a few at a time.
4. Put in pastry bag or use spoon.
5. Line sheet pan with parchment paper (DO NOT SPRAY).
6. Head oven to 425F, cook MAYBE 20-25min. Shut off oven and let dry for half an hour.

Cream Puff Filling:

Combine:
1/2c cold water
7T cornstarch

In a medium sauce pan bring to boil 1 1/2c hot water and 1/2 sugar. Transfer to a double boiler and add the cornstarch mix. Temper 3 egg yolks. zest and juice 3 lemons and add to the filling. Melt in 1 tablespoon of butter.

We had an issue with trying to add splenda and it was horrible. Don't use splenda. It's not worth it. To fix the splenda taste we had to add 3oz of softened cream cheese, 1/2t lemon extract and 3/4 tub of cool whip. Then once the cream puffs were done, we filled them with the filling and put them in the fridge until dessert later that evening!

Vegetarian Zucchini Meatballs & Alfredo Sauce

Small batch of 13.

Meatballs:

1 1/2 zucchini, peeled, and minced or a small dice

3 tablespoons minute rice

Salt

3/4c breadcrumbs

3T grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

2T milk

Salt

Pepper

Onion & garlic powder

1/2t baking powder

1. Boil zucchini & rice in salted water for 8 minutes.
2. Drain and put in a thin cloth or cheesecloth and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
3. Combine the zucchini mixture with the breadcrumbs, cheese, seasonings, eggs, & milk.
4. Form into small balls and place on a greased pan. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake for 30 minutes, turning them at 20 minutes.

 

Alfredo Sauce:

4T butter

4T flour

Salt

Pepper

Nutmeg

Parm Cheese

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1. Melt butter and flour together to make a roux. Season the roux with salt & pepper. I find that the seasonings come thru better if you season early on. Slowly whisk in the cream making sure to not let it get lumpy! Microplane some fresh nutmeg and check your seasonings. Add the cheese once the cream is thickened.
2. You can eat the meatballs with just the sauce or pasta! HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

Note: I had to use up bell peppers, onion, and broccoli so I sauteed that with some butter before making the roux.

By all means serve this over pasta! But they are just as delicious by themselves with the sauce!

Smothered Pork Chops & Roasted Vegetables

4 pork chops
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4c chicken/beef broth or water
lawrey's seasoning salt & pepper

1 bunch of asparagus (I prefer the small stalk as it will be more tender)
4 red skin potatoes
1 handful of fresh green beans

1 box bread stuffing
OR
1 cup of fresh bread cubed
1/2t italian herbs
1/4t onion powder and garlic powder
salt
pepper

1. For the stuffing if you're making it homemade, combine the cubes and seasonings and spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 250F for 15min making sure to shake them around so they don't get burned. Set aside in a bowl.

2. Cut the potatoes into bite sized cubes. The asparagus trimmed until there is only about 3 inches left, the bottom part is too woody. A good measure to cut them at is take one stalk, holding at either end and bend until it snaps. You can use that as your guide to cut the rest of them.  The green beans just cut off the ends and cut in half.

3. In a large bowl, season the veggies with salt, pepper, onion & garlic powder. I should note that the veggies all have different cooking times so if you don't mind the different doneness of them, I'd keep them separate. If not, combine away.

4. Dilute the soup with the water. Season the pork chops with lawrey's salt and pepper. Spray a casserole dish and put the pork chops in the bottom. Cover with the soup and then the stuffing mix. Cover with foil.

5. Bake at 325F for an hour until done. You can cook the veggies at this time too, put the potatoes on first, then green beans 20 minutes later, then the asparagus when you have 20 minutes left on the timer. However, if you don't care about the different doneness, go ahead and put them all in with the pork at the same time.

This was a great meal and filling. Next time I'd try it in the crock pot to see if that would help the slight toughness of the meat. Boneless pork chops seems to be tough no matter what so maybe try bone in if you like. Overall it was delicious and Brad even sorta liked it.

Sweet & Sour Pork

I had been craving Chinese food and so I found this great recipe from  Damn Delicious. I added and subtracted a few things but it was still delicious!

Yields 4 servings

• 1 can (8 oz) pineapple chunks in juice, drained, juice reserved
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2t hoisin sauce 
• 1t sesame oil
• 1T honey
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2t minced garlic
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Vegetable oil
• 1 lb pork tenderloin, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 1/2 white onion, minced
• 1/4 each of green & red bell pepper, minced
• 1c chopped broccoli, I used frozen.
• 1c sugar snap peas
• 2T brown sugar
• White rice, serving

1. I had gotten a large pork loin so I just sliced and cubed it myself. I put the soy sauce, hoisin, sesame oil, & rice vinegar on the pork as well as half the garlic and let it marinate for a little while. It'd be best to marinate it over night or all day but I had to work with it being a frozen brick so that didn't work out. :P

2. Drain the pineapple juice (I put a splash in with the pork), in the juice I also put the honey and brown sugar and stirred it until it was well cincorporated.

3. I minced the veggies except for the broccoli & peas since those are already done. I combined the veggies & pineapple together. I set the broccoli & peas aside until later since those don't need long to cook since the broccoli was in tiny bits.

4. In a large skillet, heat veg oil. Add in the peppers, pineapple, onion, & garlic. Cook until tender. Meanwhile get the rice going. I cook my rice by 1c (minute) rice to 3-4c water, Brad doesn't like sticky rice plus this way it doesn't get stuck to the pan. I put hot water in the pan and add salt until it clouds (to help with the starch) then bring to a boil. Add the rice and boil for 5 min. Remove from heat and let sit for 5-7min, drain.


5. Put the cornstarch on the pork pieces and put in the pan and fully cook. Add the pineapple juice to the pan. If it gets a little too thick, just add a tiny bit of water. Add the broccoli & peas and cook an additional 5 minutes.


Serve over the rice.


This actually really tasted like a restaurant dish! I really liked it. Royce ate a few bites of it and Brad ate the pork stuff just not the rice but that's ok. I recommend this recipe!

John Wayne Casserole/Taco Bake

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef, cooked and drained

1 (1.25-ounce) packet taco seasoning

4 ounces sour cream

4 ounces mayonnaise

8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded and divided

1/2 white onion, minced

1 pizza crust mix

1 tomatoes, sliced

1/4 each of green & red bell pepper, minced

1 (4-ounce) can diced chilis

Directions

Heat oven to 325. Brown ground beef and add peppers & onions, then drain. Add taco seasoning and water, according to packet instructions; set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, 4 ounces of cheddar cheese, tomatoes, & chilis. Once the ground beef has cooked for 5 min in the taco seasoning and water, combine the sour cream mixture and the taco meat.

Stir pizza crust mix and water (directions on box) to form soft dough. Pat dough on the bottom and one-half-inch up the sides of an 9 x 13 in. greased casserole dish.

On top of pizza crust, pour beef mixture on it, and cover with cheese. Bake 30-40min until cheese is golden brown.

Brad said it was ok but bland (I disagree) and that he wouldn't really want it again. I however really like it and will be sharing the recipe with relatives. Oh I topped mine with extra sour cream and avocado slices! Salsa would be good on it too.

CousCous Stuffed Bell Peppers & Simple Syrup

Couscous Stuffed bell peppers:

1/2c tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce
4 bell peppers
1/2lb hamburger
1t garlic
1/2 minced white onion
1/4t garlic & onion powder
salt & pepper
3/4c couscous, dry
2 roma tomatoes
top of bell pepper

Cook the hamburger, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder. Drain and sautee the garlic & onion (you can cook this with the beef if you want) add the sauce & hamburger in a bowl and add in the cooked onions & garlic.

I was testing to see which way the pepper did better and I think cutting off the top of the pepper (the red one) is the best option but you can do it however you like. 

I chop up the top of the pepper & put in the filling. Then clean out the ribs & seeds. One of them had a baby!

So once the filling is mixed up and the peppers are prepped. I put them on a foiled pan, you may need to do some trimming on the bottom of the pepper if it keeps rolling over. Fill the peppers to the top and a little over of the filling. Cook at 375 for 30min.

Then top with breadcrumbs (or cheese or both) and a little butter if you're just using the crumbs and bake for 15 more minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Simple Syrup:

Great use for making blended drinks instead of adding straight sugar (then it gets gritty) and it has a wonderful taste if you add flavorings.

Fresh mint 10 leaves

peel of one lemon

juice of half a lemon

1 chunk of ginger that is cut in half

1 1/2c water

1 1/2c sugar

Boil the water & sugar until it is thickened. Add the flavorings & let it sit for at least half an hour. Strain out the leaves & whatnot. Keep in a jar or air tight container in the fridge. Lasts a few weeks!

Royce is a chicken.

He kept wanting to grab the food off the plate and I hate that we don’t really have the availability of space to eat on the floor together on a mat so he can feed himself/ work on feeding himself.

Of course we’d put him in his high chair & let him self feed but he hates sitting in it. More often then not, he sits on our lap while we eat and he’ll eat off of our plates. He’s been really picky lately, not sure why. Today he is eating ham loaf which he seems to love so that is good.

So about this chicken thing. I put a few chunks of food on the towel for him. He then squatted down and started pecking it like a chicken. lol. He’s never seen a chicken up close but it’s just what it reminded me of. He’s done that with snow, cheerios, and noodles too.

He really loves to feel the texture of all the food. Right now he is poking the patty with his finger, then hitting it with the spoon. I’m all for feeling items & things, that’s how he learns. Sometimes he would rather play with the food than eat it OR he’ll get so distracted by feeling the food he won’t eat it.

We’ve had an issue lately with him eating the food then chewing it for a few minutes then spitting it out onto the floor. I’m not sure if he just doesn’t like the texture of the food even tho he has eaten the food before and liked it or what is going on.

I am worried about how he will be when he is big enough to sit in a chair or when we are finally eat around the table as a family because since we hold him in our lap now or if he wants to get down, we let him and he’ll go do something else for a few minutes then come back. I just hear parents saying “sit there and eat your food or go without” and I don’t like that. I want Royce to eat his food but I don’t want to force him. I just want him to eat and if he wants to take a break in between, who am I to deny him food?

I just don’t know and I hope Brad will understand or agree. And I hope that over time, Royce will learn to just eat his food and not take breaks which really they’re only like 5 minutes in between and he’ll learn to sit in a chair and all that other stuff.

I’m just worried about my son turning into one of those kids that are complete brats in public places and that I will be judged even at like my mom’s house for Royce not wanting to sit in his chair and what not. I think we’ll be ok with the discipline bit so he won’t be a brat but who knows.

Homemade Gyros & Tzaziki Sauce!

*I know it's a horrible picture, I don't have an actual camera at the moment so be gentle in judgement*

First off: This is the best if you let the meat mixture sit for a few hours (so a whole day in the fridge) and the tzaziki sauce as well. I made the sauce and meat mixture at 5am (doesn't have to be that early of course) and it sat in the fridge until 5 tonight and it was great since the flavors were combined!

Gyro:

1lb gr chicken
3/4lb gr beef (we don't have lamb where I am)
1/2t ground oregano
1/2t crushed red pepper flakes
1t garlic powder
1t onion powder
Lawrey's seasoning/salt
Pepper
2T scallions
3 minced garlic

I had some leftover scallions and minced garlic so I put that in the meat too. Combine in a bowl and leave overnight preferably but you can just put it in the crock pot in a loaf form.

Brad & my awesome friend Nathan didn't think it would turn out good in the crock pot so I put it in the oven at 375F. I shaped the meat into basically a disk so it'd cook faster & have shorter slices. It cooked for 40 min at that temp, then turned it up to 400F for 20-30min until fully cooked, then I broiled it for 5min. Let it rest for 5-10min. Thinly slice as needed.



Tzaziki Sauce:
1c plain Greek yogurt **
1 clove of minced garlic
1 medium cucumber (seeds removed), small dice
4 scallions (green & white parts), sliced thinly
lemon juice (to taste)
1 1/2T Fresh mint, minced
salt
pepper

I wasn't able to get Greek yogurt so I drained the yogurt in cheesecloth in a mesh strainer over night. If you have to drain the yogurt you can make the tzaziki right away in the morning and by supper it should taste pretty good!

I had homemade bread to use so I served mine with toasted homemade bread (you can use pita bread), sauce on the bottom, then meat, tomato, & lettuce.

Brad said it tasted weird but he's never had a gyro and he doesn't like meat mixed together. I however thought it was delicious! Highly recommend this if you like gyros or would just like a change of pace!

Valentine's Day Supper

Pan Fried Pork Temple Cutlets with Cream Gravy, Coleslaw, and Greenbeans

1# Pork temple cutlets
4T minced white onion
1/4t minced garlic
butter
salt & pepper
2c milk (I used whole but 1%-2% would work)
1T corn starch
2T corn starch
1 can green beans
1 bag coleslaw
1/3c sugar
celery seed
3/4c miracle whip
lawrey's seasoning salt

1. Make the coleslaw.
1. I like to combine the miracle whip, celery seed, sugar, salt and pepper, and from 1/2- 1c of milk in the bowl and stir it all together. Just eyeball the milk, you'll know what consistency you'd like better than me.
2. Then I stir in a little bit of the coleslaw at a time, seems to work better at combining that way.
2. Season the raw temple cutlets with lawrey's seasoning salt and pepper.
3. Heat 2 pans (one large & one small) with nonstick spray and butter. Mince the garlic and onion. I put most meat in one pan and then like 6 pieces in another small cast iron pan so that I'd get the brown bits from the meat for flavoring the gravy.
4. Once the meat in the small pan is browned, transfer to the large pan, add water, cover & let steam.
5. Sautee the onions and garlic in the small pan with a little more butter. Add 1/2c milk and let it cook.
6. Make the slurry of cornstarch and water & SLOWLY WHILE STIRRING add the cornstarch. I didn't need all the slurry so don't dump it all in!
7. Let the gravy thicken, I had to add more milk to thin it back down so whatever you feel is the consistency you like go, with that.
8. Time for the green beans. We put our's in a microwave safe bowl, drained of course. Add a T of butter and sprinkle of lawrey's seasoning salt and microwave on high for 2min.

By then everything should be done. Put the gravy over the cutlets and enjoy. :)
I would've loved to have some delicious fudgy brownies with ice cream but we have neither so just popsicles is what we get I guess!

I DONE GOOD.

Tacos for supper.

I made that guacamole of course and let it meld for 6 hours or so but make sure to leave the seed in the guacamole to help prevent browning in an air tight container!

Taco Meat:
3/4lb ground beef
3/4lb ground pork
2c of water
2 taco seasoning packets

I cooked the meat together (I don't think Brad even realized I used pork!), then strained it. Then I put the water and taco seasoning in the pan and mixed it up and added the meat back after draining for 5 minutes. Cooked until sauce had thickened. Brad didn't like there being that much sauce so he strained his but I liked it so you may need to adjust your water amounts based on your preferences.

Spanish Rice:
1/2 small white onion, minced
3T diced red bell pepper
1/4t (pinch) of minced garlic
1T butter
1/2c minute rice
1 1/2c of pureed tomatoes & enchilada sauce (equal parts)
2c water
1/2t salt
1T sugar (the canned tomatoes were a little bitter for my taste)
1/4t black pepper
1 shake of crushed red pepper flakes

Sautee the onion, pepper, and garlic in butter until browned.
My tomato mixture was frozen from another time so I had to put that in the pan until it was melted.
Add seasonings.
Add the rice and water and bring to boil. Boil for 5-7min, shut off burner and cover. Let sit covered for 10-15min stirring a few times.

This rice was a little liquidy too but I don't mind it so I enjoyed it. Brad doesn't like sticky rice so we cook our rice like pasta (1c rice to 4c at least of water, then we strain it). With the amounts of liquids I had for this rice there wasn't a lot of excess liquid but I'd rather have it that way than dry!

Optional toppings:
doritos
lettuce
diced tomatos
red bell pepper (add a nice crunch and sweetness!)
sour cream
cheese
taco sauce
guacamole

For my salad I layered it:
crushed doritos
lettuce
tomatoes & peppers
meat
rice
cheese (so it melts better on top of the hot items)
taco sauce
guacamole and sour cream

This was delicious!!!!

Oh and as you can see the guacamole didn't brown over the 6 hours of "meld" time with the pit in it! :)

EASIEST & MOST DELICIOUS GUACAMOLE EVER!

My version:

Probably one of the best guacs I’ve ever made.

For some reason I rarely make it the same twice? IDK.
1 avocado (Brad hates avocado and guacamole so I don’t need a lot) plus I found these different types of avocados, they’re not Haas but some other type so they were pretty huge compared to the usual size.
1/2 roma tomato
1/4 minced garlic (I just sprinkled some in because I buy it in a jar)
1/2t salt (VERY IMPORTANT)
1/4t black pepper
3T sour cream

It’s delicious ok. I usually add lime juice but I forgot to buy one but I like this version without it better personally. Another typical ingredient is cilantro but the store had crappy cilantro, I don’t use a lot of it or often enough to buy it and it tastes like dish soap water to me so I didn’t add either of those.

A nice tip I learned tho is put the avocado pit in the guacamole to help the avocado from turning brown. :)

EDIT: I had to mash all this up with a hamburger masher (it’s like this kind of hard plastic fan pin wheel thing, worked really well actually) then I had to stir it with a baby spoon. I did get the dishes in the dishwasher tho so we will have normal eating utensils at supper time. :)

Carrot Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2c flour

2c sugar

2t baking soda

2t cinnamon

1/2t nutmeg

2t baking powder

1t salt

1 1/2c oil or 1c oil & 1/2c applesauce**

4 eggs

3c carrots (grated)

2 brown bananas

1/2c chopped nuts (I used walnuts cause I had them on hand)

1/2c shredded coconut

Frosting:

1 (8oz) cream cheese block

1/2c butter (softened)

2t vanilla

1c (adjust to your preferences) Powdered sugar

Mix dry ingredietns, stir in oil, eggs, carrots, and bananas. Mix to moisten and pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350F for 45min. Cool completely.  Frost with cream cheese frosting and top with coconut if desired.

A few notes.  It's a denser cake because I didn't have enough oil for the cake so I only got half cup of oil and put in about a cup of applesauce. The banana kind of overpowered the carrot but that's ok cause banana cake is delicious too! So, maybe just use one banana if you don't want as much banana flavor, my mom had them on her counter browning so I used them up! I also used up coconut on the top of the cake because mom had some left over and we don't use coconut very often! Tasted great on the cake! Hope you like it!

The Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make

BEER BREAD.

It has always been my favorite homemade bread I think. It's 3 ingredients ok. 3. THAT'S IT. This recipe is from a neighbor from when my mom was a child. I wish I could hug this woman!

Ok.

3 cups of self-rising flour
2T sugar
1 can of luke warm beer

Stir together until just moistened, don't overmix.
Put in a well-greased bread pan.
Then make an egg wash of 1 egg and 1T water, pour over top of the bread.
Bake at 350F for 1 hour.



This bread is AMAZING toasted! Or fried in a pan. Or even just cut right off the loaf with some butter! I hope you like it, cause I clearly do!

Oh, we let this cool on a wire rack out of the pan until it's completely cooled then store in a ziplock baggy in the fridge cause it can mold just like any other homemade bread.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

I used the recipe from HERE

I'm sorry I didn't take a picture, I was pretty busy freaking out to take a pic because Royce started eating dirt just after I took it out of the oven! lol.

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt, I had to use Oikos, Greek Yogurt
• 1  1/3 cups sugar, divided
• 3 extra-large eggs, I only had small eggs so I used 4
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons), I had 4 small lemons so I zested them all.
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the Glaze

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, I just eyeballed this with the larger amount of juice I had.
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, used all the juice from the lemons, so probably a 1/3c.*******

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour the standardized loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest and vanilla.  
4. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated.  
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes – until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
6. Cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear – set aside.*******

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in.  Cool the cake. I stabbed the cake a few times to make sure the glaze soaked in.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Ok a few notes, I seemed to misread the 6th step and I never did it. I just made the powdered sugar glaze with all the lemon juice. Ehheheh. Whoops. Still nice and lemony! This cake seemed very dense and not very crumby. I don't know if that's because of the thick yogurt or if I over mixed it. I'm not sure. But it did have great flavor!!

 

Royce's & My Cauliflower Cheese Soup

1 head cauliflower, cut up into bits, remove as much stem as possible
4c water (or can just use all chicken or vegetable broth but omit the bouillon cubes)
1 potato, peeled and cut up into a small dice
2 chicken bullion  cubes
A few dashes of:
Salt
Pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
Garlic powder
Onion powder
1/4t minced garlic
1/2 block cream cheese




Directions:
1. Put everything in a pot except for the cream cheese. Boil for 20min or until the cauliflower & potatoes are tender.
2. Once veggies are tender, put them thru a ricer, I just used a spider whisk and did it right over the pot until I got all the pieces  picked up. If you don't have a ricer or just don't want to do it this way, a blender would work great as well, just be sure to allow the steam somewhere to escape or you'll have soup everywhere.
3. Check seasonings.
4. Add in the cream cheese once everything is all riced/blended.
5. Cook for another 10 minutes to heat thru.


Serve.
I topped mine with croutons.


Notes: 
This would be also great with carrots in it too! Just cut those up into small pieces like the potatoes. OOO! 
Add a dollup of sour cream too!
My cream cheese was right out from the fridge and I had issues breaking it down so either get it to room temp or just nook it for a little bit to soften it. 
I also had too much water in the end (I have adjusted the recipe)
 so I made a slurry (broth & corn starch) but if you follow the recipe you should be alright. :)