Jen's Oriental BBQ Pork

Jen's Oriental BBQ Pork

2 T brown sugar
2 T soy sauce
1 lb boneless pork cut into thin strips

Mix together above ingredients and marinate for 30 minutes.

6 oz spaghetti noodles
1 C fresh pea pods (whole or cut in half)
1 C matchstick carrots (or julienned)
1/4 C green onion sliced
1 T sesame seeds

Cook noodles, in last minute, throw pea pods and carrots in to cook. Pour into strainer and rinse cold. Put in a large bowl and add green onions.  Cook pork about 5 minutes until no longer pink. Add to noodles.  Toss with dressing and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Refrigerate 2-3 hours.  Serve cold or reheat.

Dressing:
2T  vegetable oil
3 T soy sauce
2 T sugar
1 t ginger root

*My friend Jen Guiver gave me this recipe back when Chloe was a baby.  It is a family favorite.  I love it cold, but it rarely is made that far in advance and kids love it way more warm.  But the flavor does get better with some time.

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

• 10 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 large lemon, zested
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup israeli (pearl) couscous
• 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 2 ounces crumbled feta
• 1/3 cup chopped chive
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 
  
• Place the olive oil in a large 6-8 quart sauce pot over medium-low heat. Peel the onion. Then quarter it and slice into thin strips. Once the oil is hot, saute the onion and minced garlic for 3-4 minutes to soften.  Add the chicken stock, chicken breasts, lemon zest, and crushed red pepper to the pot. Raise the heat to high, cover, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium, then simmer for 5 minutes.  Stir in the couscous, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste. Simmer another 5 minutes. Then turn the heat off.  Using tongs, remove the two chicken breasts from the pot. Use a fork and the tongs to shred the chicken. Then place it back in the pot. Stir in the crumbled feta cheese and chopped chive. Taste and salt and pepper as needed. Just before serving add fresh lemon juice. 1 T to 1/4 C depending on your taste....start small. (Or less...and possibly even more.)  Garnish with a little more feta. 
• 
  
• **Recipe adapted from aspicyperspective.com
• **I followed this recipe exactly and when I tasted it, I couldn't really taste lemon. So I added the fresh squeezed lemon juice to the ingredient list. It made all the difference.  The family loved it! Served with warm pita bread!

Beef Braise

Traditional Beef Braise

3-4 lbs beef roast, large cubes (2 inch)
coarse salt
black pepper
2 T canola oil
1 onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, thick sliced
6 carrots, thick sliced
1-2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
4 fresh thyme sprigs
3/4 C balsamic vinegar
3/4 C red wine vinegar
6 C chicken stock or broth
1/4 C fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

Season beef with salt and pepper.  Place oil in a large dutch oven or pot over med-high heat and brown pieces of meat in a single layer. Brown all sides, turning with tongs and doing it in batches. When done, transfer beef to side bowl and continue until all pieces are done.

Turn the heat down and add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and thyme. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up al the crusty bits int he pan. Cook for 6-8 mins, until they just start to get some color.  Pour in the vinegars.  Turn the heat up to high and reduce the liquid by half, about 10 mins.

Stir in the broth and parsley and bring to a boil.  Return the beef to the pot, along with accumulated juices.  The stock mixture should almost cover the beef.  Cover and reduce the heat to low.  Braise until the meat is very tender, about 3 1/2 hours.

Remove the lid and pierce the beef with a paring knife, it will fall apart.  If you use a well marbled roast, the cooking time seems to be less that if you use a lower fat roast.  Both end up tender, you may just need to cook the lower fat beef longer.

We love to serve it over Roasted Potatoes.

*Recipe adapted from The Lemonade Cookbook
*Very similar flavor to Beef Bourguignon but a lot simpler.

Southwestern Chicken...for days!

Southwestern Chicken...for days!

2 T chili powder

1 T ground cumin

1 t coriander

2 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

6 lbs chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)

2 large onions, finely chopped 

6 cloves minced garlic

1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes

116 oz pkg frozen sweet corn

In a large bowl, combine the spices.  Add the chicken and toss as best you can to coat.  Layer the onion, garlic and peppers on the bottom of the crock pot and top with the chicken.  Add the tomatoes with their juice and the corn.  Cook on high until chicken is tender, 4 hours.  Shred chicken and add some of the liquid to keep the chicken moist, but reserve most of the liquid, because it is the base to an awesome soup recipe...see below!

**The best part of this recipe is we use it for 3 different meals!  The first night, we either eat the shredded chicken over rice or quinoa, or we make burritos (add rice, avocado, cheese and salsa).  The second day can be burritos or tacos, just mix up the flavor with different toppings (a chipotle salsa or a salsa verde totally change the flavor).  The 3rd day if there is any chicken left, we add it to the soup recipe below, but if the chicken is all gone, the soup is awesome without too!

 Black Bean and Corn Tortilla Soup

4-5 C of the sauce/liquid and vegetables from the southwestern chicken recipe
1 or 2, 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
3 C low sodium chicken broth
8 corn tortillas, cut into small 1 inch squares
Any left over shredded chicken from the southwestern chicken recipe (it's ok if there isn't any)

Optional toppings: corn chips, cilantro, salsa and cheese

Combine the sauce-vegetable mixture, beans and broth in a soup pot.  Bring to a simmer.  Add corn tortilla pieces and chicken,   bring to a boil for 5 minutes.  Corn tortillas begin to break down and thicken the soup.  If it gets thicker than you like, just add more broth.  Serve with any of the toppings you like.

*This picture does not do this soup justice!  I'll get a better one.  The flavor from the crockpot sauce is amazing, and adding the corn tortillas gives it that extra earthy, Mexican feel!  I love it!

* recipes adapted from Ellie Krieger
*These recipes helped us survive basketball season.  It's a lot of chicken, feel free to half it, but Gray eats a ton of it for left overs and 3 real meals during the school week is really all we get these days!

Green Chile Pork

Green Chile Pork

4 lbs pork cut into small cubes
2 C chopped green chiles (either canned or fresh roasted new mexico hatch chiles)
1/2 C water (and more if needed)
1/2 t salt
1/8 C sugar

Place all ingredients into a large pot and cook over medium low to low heat for 4 hours.  Stirring often to make sure there is always liquid, adding small amounts when necessary.  Done when pork is tender, but still maintains shape.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

**Shout out to Mizti for this great family fave! You are always a source of delicious and beautiful food!
**Great for burritos or enchiladas.  Absolutely amazing in a burrito with cheese, and this Tomatillo Sauce over top.
**I'd be interested to see how much the taste would change if I added a lot more sugar...hmm.
**My sisters in law that have lived in New Mexico have always brought me bags of green chilies in late August that have been roasted and steamed.  And I spend a few hours peeling and taking the seeds out and bagging them up for the freezer.  That way in the middle of the winter we can have awesome mexican food with amazing flavors.  But now (August 24th)  Harmon's in Orem is roasting hatch green chilies! Wahoo, or you can just use canned and be perfectly happy!

Zucchini Soup & Zucchini Sauce

Zucchini Soup 

Disclaimer:
This recipe was given to be by my mom and never written down.  I just watched her and did what she did.  Then I added one more step to make it a sauce.

8 C zucchini sliced (if it's over grown and a bit big, just remove the seeds because they can be a bit woody)
2 T butter
1/2 t salt
1/4 C to 1 C milk, half and half or cream

Place zucchini in a large pot and fill half full with hot water.  Put on lid and cook until water has boiled for 5 minutes.  Place zucchini in a strainer and press out extra water.  Put directly into a blender. Add butter and salt and blend.  Add your choice of liquid a little at a time and mix until desired soup consistency. Adjust salt seasoning. Serve while hot!

**So amazing with sweet cherry tomatoes on top.  Grayson could drink a gallon of this soup.

 Zucchini Sauce

To the above recipe, throw in 1 C of fresh basil leaves and blend until smooth.  It turns it into a healthy pesto pasta sauce.

**Truly, I've never measured, so just taste and adjust!  It is so worth it and so good!  And so perfect in August when your zucchini plant is going crazy!

Ricotta Cheese & Magic Sauce

Ricotta Cheese

4 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add ingredients to a 4-quart pot.  Attach a thermometer to the side of the pot (making sure that it doesn't touch the bottom of the pan).  Bring to a very gentle boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula to prevent scorching.  (Do not stir once the temperature reaches 170, it will become grainy.)  

Meanwhile, line a sieve or fine mesh strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a deep bowl or pot.

Once curds begin to separate from the whey (liquid temperature will be between 175 and 200 degrees), remove from heat.  Gently spoon or ladle the curds into the cheesecloth-lined strainer.  You may need to gently gather the cheesecloth at the top to help the curds drain.   

Let curds sit in cheesecloth to drain liquid 15 to 30 minutes.  Keep in mind the ricotta will thicken in the fridge, so don't drain it too much, or it will end up dry. 

Magic Sauce

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 medium cloves of garlic, smashed into a paste
1 well-crumbles bay leaf
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon + fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Gently warm the olive oil over medium-low heat in a skillet or pan, until it is just hot.  When hot remove from heat.

While the oil is heating, lightly pound the rosemary, thyme, and oregano in a mortar and pestle.  Stir the paprika, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, and salt into the oil.  Then add the bruised herbs and lemon juice.

You can use this now, but know the oil just gets better as it ages over a few days.  Keep it in a refrigerator for up to a week/ten days-ish.  It thickens up when cold, so if you need it in a liquid state, place it in the sun or a warm place for a few minutes.

**Both recipes and the idea for the sandwich, once again, come from Breanna. Both the ricotta and the magic sauce can be used in so many different ways, but here, toasted french bread was topped with ricotta, roasted asparagus, a fried egg and magic sauce.  So delish!

Magleby Feijoada

Magleby Feijoada

1 smoked ham hock
2 bay leaves
3 C dried black beans
1 T olive oil
1 large minced white onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 bunch of parsely finely chopped
1-2 lbs of ham, cubed
2-3 t salt
1 t pepper

Soak beans over night.  Discard water after soaking. If you are short on time, place beans in a pot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil, turn off heat and let sit for an hour. Discard water.  Combine beans, ham hock, bay leaves and 2 t salt in pressure cooker pot. Add enough water to cover beans 3 inches. Cook for about 45 minutes in pressure cooker. Turn off heat and let pressure return to normal just by cooling down, or if in a hurry, release steam.  While beans are cooking, saute onion, garlic, parsley in a pan on a low flame. Cook until onions are translucent. Add ham and turn off heat.  When beans are done, remove ham hock and discard, add the onion and ham mixture to the beans.  Cook 20-30 more minutes or until you have your desired consistency.  Add pepper and more salt if desired.  If you add the salt before it is cooked down, the salt flavor intensifies and it might end up too salty.  Serve over rice or quinoa.

**Hans served his mission in Brasil and often craves Feijoada (Brasilian black bean stew).  Knowing what my kids like, I have kind of come up with my own combo.....it may not be Brasilian, but it tastes so good and everyone loves it!
**I truly hesitated putting this picture up, I know it looks so gross, but it really is delish and perfectly satisfying on a cold night!

Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
flour, for dredging
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
16 ounces mushrooms, sliced thickly
1 cup Marsala wine
1 cup chicken stock
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Slice chicken breast in half to make them a thinner breast. Put the chicken breasts on plastic wrap and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them; pound with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly.

Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Slip the cutlets into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once – do this in batches if the pieces don't fit comfortably in the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter  in a single layer in 200 degree oven to keep warm.

Lower the heat to medium and add the prosciutto to the drippings in the pan, saute for 1 minute to render out some of the fat. Now, add the mushrooms and saute until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Pour the Marsala in the pan and boil down for a minute or so. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for 1 minute to heat the chicken through. Return chicken to the warm serving dish.  Taste sauce and season with salt and pepper to liking. Pour sauce over chicken. Garnish with chopped parsley before serving. Yummy served with parmesan spinach potatoes.

** Grayson picked this for his 17th birthday dinner and I couldn't believe that it wasn't already on the blog, it has been a family favorite for years! Even though some of the kids hate mushrooms, they all love this and they just quietly take off the mushrooms....then I eat them!
**I often make the sauce first, to save on last minute timing and then add it to the chicken in the pan for the "second" cooking.

Rosemary Parmesan Polenta

Rosemary Parmesan Polenta

7 1/2 C water
1 1/2 t salt
pinch baking soda
1 t fresh rosemary finely chopped 
1 1/2 C coarse-ground cornmeal (aka polenta)

2 T unsalted butter
2 C grated Parmesan cheese
black pepper to taste

Bring water to a boil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat.  Stir in salt, baking soda and rosemary.   Slowly pour cornmeal into water in a steady stream, while stirring constantly.  Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, about 1 minute.  Reduce heat to lowest possible setting and cover.  After 5 minutes, whisk polenta to smooth out any lumps.  cover and continue to cook without stirring, until grains of polenta are tender by slightly al dente, about 25 minutes longer. (Polenta will be loose and barely hold its shape but will continue to thicken as it cools.) Remove from heat, stir in butter and parmesan and season to taste with pepper.

**Adapted from Creamy Polenta - America's Test Kitchen
**I love polenta, so does Chloe! It's basically fancy for Grits.  It was a great compliment to these roasted root vegetables, but is also good with dishes like Grilled Pork Tenderloin!

Pepper & Onion Cream Cheese Wrap

Pepper & Onion Cream Cheese Wrap

1/2 a jar Harry & David Pepper Onion Relish
8oz cream cheese
tortillas - Costco's uncooked are my fave
grilled chicken (great marinated in Lowry's mesquite)
mango salsa
avocado
spinach

Mix the pepper onion relish with the cream cheese. Easiest with an electric mixer, but don't beat excessively.  Spread a tablespoon or two of the cream cheese mixture all over the tortilla. Place chicken, spinach, mango salsa and avocado on tortilla and roll up using the cream cheese mixture to glue the wrap shut.

Mango Salsa

2 mangoes peeled, and finely diced
1/4 C red onion finely diced
1/2 C cilantro minced
juice of 1 lime

Mix all together and let sit for at least 1/2 hour. I usually make it a day ahead and keep it in the fridge.

**My sister in law taught me this years ago and I have used it for several parties and showers.  This is my combination, but you could use almost anything as long as you use the cream cheese and relish mixture!
**You can order the relish online, or the park city outlets have a Harry & David store. Stock up. Just pouring the relish over a block of cream cheese for a dip is divine!

Southwestern Frittata

Southwestern Frittata

1/2 T olive oil
1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
1/2 large sweet onion, diced
1/4 t cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
4 roma tomatoes, diced
5 eggs, lightly beaten
salt (about 1/2 t)
pepper (about 1/4 t)
1/2 C cheddar cheese (or pepper jack for some spice!)
avocado, salsa, cilantro, sour cream

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium, oven safe, nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the pepper, onion and cumin, cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.  Add the beans and tomatoes, stir until evenly distributed.  Pour the eggs over the vegetable mixture, making sure it distributes through all the vegetables, stirring a little if necessary.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for 1-2 minutes until the edges begin to set.  Place in the oven for 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through and mixture is slightly puffy. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with cheese.  Return to oven just until cheese is melted.  Serve with avocado, salsa, sour cream and cilantro.

**I have made a southwestern frittata a few times and was craving it the other day, and proceeded to waste an HOUR looking for the recipe and never found it.  So I recreated my own.... I might be making adjustments when I make it again.  Also, I had 8 asparagus spears in my fridge, so I chopped them up and added them in with the peppers and onions.
** I served it with a warm tortilla on the side and Tru put his in it and made a little breakfast burrito.

Yam Nachos

 Yam Nachos

6 large yams, cut into 8 wedges
3 T olive oil
1 egg white
1/2 t chili powder
1/4 t paprika
3/4 t kosher salt
1 t lime juice

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups shredded Colby jack cheese

3 green onions, thinly sliced and ends trimmed

Sweet peppers, diced

guacamole

sour cream

salsa

Combine the olive oil, egg white, chili powder, paprika, salt and lime juice in a small mixing bowl and whisk until completely combined.  Toss with the potatoes, ensure to evenly coat them, and spread the potatoes out in a single layer on a well-oiled baking sheet.  Bake at 400 for 45 minutes, or until golden brown with a crispy exterior.

Remove from oven and cover with cheese, black beans and green onions.  Place the pan back in the oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese has thoroughly melted.

Garnish nachos with sour cream, guacamole and salsa...or whatever else you want.

**Thank you Breanna for introducing us to this recipe... Chile Lime Potato Nachos.  I just made it with yams for fun and loved it! The kids still liked the potatoes, but I'll stick with the yams.

**I thought they were yummy on their own, but after topping them with all the goods, they were dynamite! I loved them with Ranchero Sauce! Next time I might even add sweet white corn with the black beans!

**Served 7 people generous portions with some potato/yam wedges left over!

**Grayson:"That was a great dinner!"  Truman:"I love the potatoes!" Me:"Oh my."

Dinner When No One Is Home

 

Dinner When No One Is Home

Often in our house, no one is home at dinner time,  it's sad really, but we're doing our best.  I use to leave a pot of soup on the stove, or something in the fridge, but it never got eaten!  If it isn't in front of their faces, they don't realize it's there!  So these are meals that I make earlier in the day and then I set them on a tray out on the counter and the kids warm them up at their convenience.  It's usually when I'm running a carpool or at a bball game and some kids have to stay behind for homework or dance class.  It has turned out to be a beautiful thing.

Paninis

Ciabatta Rolls

Turkey

Bacon

Avacado

Cheese

Spinach

(Or any combination of fun sandwich fixings)

Assemble sandwich so there is cheese on both sides of bread and some in the middle to keep it together. Grill in a panini press.

Bagel Breakfast Sandwiches
Bagels
Eggs
Cheese
Bacon
(Or any combination of breakfast foods)
Break egg in a bowl, about the size of the bagel, lightly scramble and cook a few seconds at a time in the microwave.  Assemble sandwiches as desired.

Grilled Burritos

Tortillas

Shredded Chicken (Don't tell the kids, but I have totally used canned chicken out of the food storage and NO ONE has noticed, even my food snobs! It seriously gives me great delight! I mix it with the salsa to get rid of the canned flavor.)

Beans

Salsa

Cheese

(Or any combination of fun burrito foods)

Place in tortilla and grill in pan until crispy and will stay closed!

Pea Pot Pie

Pea Pot Pie

Monette's Pie Crust
            and
1 C diced, sauteed onions
1 C diced, cooked carrots
1 C frozen peas, thawed
1 C frozen corn (petite, white), thawed
2 C diced, cooked potatoes
3 C cooked, diced chicken
2 T butter
2 T flour
2 t chicken bouillon granules
2 C milk

Prepare vegetables and place in a large bowl or pot.  Melt butter in saucepan and whisk in flour.  Cook for 1 minutes.  Add bouillon granules and milk (or half and half if you like it really creamy), cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Pour over vegetables and stir to mix sauce in.  Place in a 9 x 13 pan or other casserole dish that can fit all the vegetables.  Roll out pie crust recipe and top pan. Cutting vents for steam.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until crust is golden.

**My kids love this, and it's called Pea Pot Pie because that is what Grayson called it when he was 2 and it stuck.  They always wish there was more crust, but I'm trying to keep it a bit healthy and the crust is the unhealthy part.  You can take out or add any vegetables you like, keeping the quantity around 8-9 C before the sauce goes in.
**I have only made it when the filling is warm, so there isn't much cooking or warming up of the inside, just the crust.  So if you prepare it before hand, take that into consideration when calculating your bake time.
**When I cook the vegetables, I use one pot.  I saute the onions and take them out.  Fill it with hot water and add the potatoes and carrots (that are cut to similar size), when they are close to done, I throw in the peas and corn.  After a minute I pour the whole pot into a strainer, then return the vegetables to the pot and add the chicken.
**I've never decorate it the same, I used a heart cookie cutter around valentines and layered the hearts, I've cut out an "M" for Magleby and a lot of other fun things.  Be creative for your family!

Marinara #2

Marinara #2

2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes packed in juice
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, minced (about 1 cup)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced (or 2 t chopped)
1/2 t dried oregano
1/3 C red wine
salt and ground black pepper
1-2 t sugar
3 T chopped fresh basil
1 T extra-virgin olive oil

Pour tomatoes and juice into strainer set over large bowl. Crush tomatoes with hands and remove and discard fibrous cores; let tomatoes drain excess liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup tomatoes from strainer and set aside. Reserve 2 1/2 cups tomato juice and discard remainder.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden around edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add tomatoes from strainer and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring every minute, until liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to stick to bottom of pan and brown fond forms around pan edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Add wine and cook until thick and syrupy, about 1 minute. Add reserved tomato juice and bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally and loosening browned bits, until sauce is thick, 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer sauce to food processor (or transfer to saucepan and insert immersion blender; see the related article "Do You Really Need a Hand Blender?") and add reserved tomatoes; process until slightly chunky, about eight 2-second pulses. Return sauce to skillet and add basil and extra-virgin olive oil and salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.



**It is, of course, FALL! And in the fall, I always (ok for at least 9 years now) make marinara from my garden tomatoes, which I freeze and we enjoy all year long! I usually make Giada's Marinara, but I still have a bunch in my freezer, and have been dying to try some of these recipes from Cook's Illustrated All Time Best Recipes.  So I adapted this recipe from "America's Test Kitchen," to use my tomatoes.  Which I am convinced made this marinara so yummy!  I wash my tomatoes, make a small X in the skin and drop them in boiling water until the skin starts to split.  I remove them and let them cool.  I peel them and try to remove most the seeds without getting rid of all the liquid.  I put them in my large pyrex measuring bowl and measured about 7 cups before I started crushing the tomatoes, then I followed the recipe exactly.

**Had it tonight for dinner and there wasn't a whole wheat noodle left, yes you read right, whole wheat noodle....the sauce is that good! ;)

Butternut Chicken Curry

Butternut Chicken Curry

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
1 (14 oz) can unsweetened coconut milk, lite or regular
1 heaping T mild Indian curry paste (such as Patak's)
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 T brown sugar
1 T Thai fish sauce

Place squash in a microwave-safe dish and add enough water to just cover bottom of dish.  Cover and microwave for several minutes until squash is very tender.  Drain water.  Mash squash slightly and set aside.

Bring 1/2 C of coconut milk and curry paste to a simmer in a large skillet over medium heat, whisking constantly. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes.  Stir in remaining coconut milk, sugar and fish sauce.  Then add chicken and squash.  Simmer until chicken is cooked through, stirring often, 6-8 minutes.  Serve over rice, couscous or pilaf.

**I used quinoa, my grain of choice.  I absolutely love this meal.  A meal all in one bowl makes me happy, it feels like fall!
**From Keeping Up Cookbook
**PS. Rock was thrilled that his dinner was the one photographed...cute guy.

Brown Butter Sauce

Brown Butter Sauce

8 T Butter
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t chopped fresh sage, rosemary or basil (I used Sage)
4 T heavy cream
1/2 C grated parmigiano-reggiano

In a small saucepan, melt 8 T butter and 1/2 t salt over med-low heat.  Add 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage and cook, stirring often, unitl the butter begins to brown, about 5 minutes or less.  Stir in 4 T heavy cream and bring to a boil for  20 seconds or so to combine cream with butter.  Remove from heat.  Add 1/2 C grated parmigiano-reggiano when tossing with pasta.

**It is September, so the garden is abundant.  Spaghetti squash, yellow squash, zucchini, sage and tomatoes all from our garden.  This is garden heaven!
**This sauce is quite thin, flavorful and salty, so a little goes a long way.  I haven't ever tossed it into a pasta, I have always added the cheese to the sauce and then drizzled it over the plated pasta, or spaghetti squash.
**This great recipe came from my fantastic neice Stephanie who lives in Hawaii and taught a class on browned butter.  She is a master foodie! Thanks Steph!

Heather's Pioneer Mac & Cheese

Heather's Pioneer Mac & Cheese

6 C hot drained boiled macaroni (approx. 12 oz uncooked)
3 T butter
1 1/2 t slat
1/2 t pepper
3/4 lb shredded sharp cheddar (white Cabot is our favorite!)
3 eggs, beaten
4 C milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter a 9x13 baking dish.  Mix butter, salt and pepper in with noodles and place in pan.  Top with cheese.  Mix eggs and milk well.  Pour over cheese and noodles.  Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes until golden.

**Original recipe uses Colby Jack instead of cheddar. Both are great....my kids like the cheddar.
**Such a fun mac and cheese, felt a little quiche-like and not near as greasy as others.  Everyone devoured it! And if it happens to be August and your garden is full of tomatoes, there couldn't be a better combo than tomatoes with mac and cheese. Serious, try it!  Thanks Heather!

Truman's Quick Chili

Truman's Quick Chili

1 onion, diced
1 lb ground beef
2 cans Nalley's Chili
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can black bean drained
1 can great northern beans drained
1/2 C ketchup
2 T brown sugar (or more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground beef in large pot.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Add chili, tomatoes and beans.  Mix well and bring to a simmer. Add ketchup and sugar.  Simmer for a few minutes and then taste.  Add salt and pepper.  Serve with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

**Truman requests chili for almost every dinner, so I told him I was going to name it after him.

**I'm pretty sure there is a way better chili recipe out there, but I love that I can throw this one together in about 20 minutes or less and there are never left overs.  And I usually bake some corn muffins too, it's a kid favorite!