Baked Potato, Cheese, and Bacon Soup

 Tonight I was all alone, Jake is at the Relay 4 Life event. I thought it would be a good night for soup.

 I took 4 large potatoes and baked them until soft. I cut them in half and scooped the insides into a bowl.
Next, I took 12 slices of bacon, cut it into pieces, then placed them into a heavy bottom pot. I cooked the bacon until it was crisp, next with a slotted spoon remove the bacon to a plate leaving the drippings behind. Next add 1/2 cup of flour and cook for about a minute. Then whisk in  6 cups of 1% milk (I used lactose free), let that cook over medium heat until it becomes bubble, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Next, add back in 3/4 of the cooked bacon, next, add in 5 oz or so of shredded, sharp, cheddar, cheese. Stir in the cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Top it with bacon, cheese, green onions (it called for chives, but I couldn't find any in town), and sour cream.

 It was a little thick for me, so next time I would add more milk. I liked this recipe because it called for 1% milk instead of heavy cream.

Two Nights In One

  Here is tonight's dinner first. It's shorter and I know what I did.

  I took some ground beef that was 10% fat, added salt, pepper, Chinese 5 spice, 1 tbls. of chili sauce (made by sriracha), 1/2 chopped onion, and 4 cloves of finely chopped garlic. I then made patties, put them in 375 degree oven and cooked them for about 15 minutes. 5 minutes before pulling them out I topped them with cheddar cheese. In a small skillet, I added olive oil, then added the other 1/2 of red onion sliced thinly, 1 large sliced mushroom, 1 small sliced red and orange sweet pepper. I put it on a cheap small burger bun, with some sweet and spicy ketchup. Oh and 1 sliced dill pickle. That's it!

                                               This was one big messy burger, but delicious!

 Now last night's dinner. Jake took 2 pieces of swai fish, seasoned with a mixture of ancho chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. He seared that in a skillet with olive oil. For the pasta he took the pan he cooked the fish in, added 3 chopped spring onions, or known as scallions or a larger green onion, along with 2 sliced mushrooms, 3 cloves chopped garlic, then added some white wine. He then added chicken broth and let it simmered, while the pasta cooked. He then added the pasta to the sauce and lastly he added some roughly chopped spinach. He served it with grated Parmesan cheese.

 

 

Spicy Soba/Whole Wheat Pasta

 With all the company this weekend, Jake and I didn't do a whole lot of cooking. We also forgot whose turn it was to cook, so I just did it. I have done this recipe a few times because we really like it. Here it goes.

 To prep cut a 1 1/2 pound steak thinly, the recipe called for a petite filet or flat iron steak, but that's not in my budget so I used a discounted round steak and it wasn't 1 1/2 pounds. Chop 4 cloves of garlic, 2 bunches scallions/green onions/spring onions, 1 cup daikon( a Japanese radish) into match stick size, and grate 1-1 inch piece fresh ginger. You will also need 12 oz package of soba noodles or whole wheat spaghetti( I used the whole wheat pasta, 3 tbls oil (I used olive), 1 tbls. ancho chili powder, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1-2 tbls Harissa or chili paste ( I couldn't find either so I used 2 tbls chili sauce I found in the oriental section), 1 tbl. worestershire sauce, 2 tbls. Tamari aka dark soy sauce (I couldn't find this either so I used reg soy sauce), 1 1/2 cups beef stock, and it called for 1 tbls sesame oil and 3 tbls sesame seeds, but Jake's allergic so I used olive oil and omited the seeds. I forgot the 1 cup chopped cilantro.

 Firts, get your pot boiling with water for the pasta. To make it, I sprinkled the sliced beef with the ancho chili powder, then cooked in a deep skillet with 1 tbls olive oil, cook until browned. When done remove from pan and place on a plate. Next, add 2 tbls olive oil to the skillet add, the ginger, garlic, scallions, daikon, I aslo added 1 carrot I cut into match stick size too for color. Cook that until they are a tender crisp, when done, sprinkle with the sugar, add the stock, chili paste, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and this is where you would add the sesame oil if using it. When the pasta is done cooking add it to the sauce mixture. Toss with the beef, sesame seeds(if using), and the cilantro.

This is a very spicy dish and you can change that by not using the chili paste. Chicken would work good in this too!

Steak Taco With a Very Spicy Rice

 Tonight was all Jake. He made steak tacos.

 He took a steak, seasoned it lime juice, ancho chili powder, salt, and pepper. He then, heated the cast iron skillet until hot, then added olive oil, chopped garlic, and a fresh jalapeno. Next he threw the steak in there and cooked about 5 minutes on both sides.

 For the rice he took a box of beef rice a roni, added a chopped jalapeno, and other seasonings I am not aware of. It tasted good but he should have taken out the seeds from the pepper.

 He served it with sliced radishes, red and yellow sweet peppers, cheese, and some of the 50/50 lettuce. It was very yummy.

For his AP English class tomorrow he made cupcakes. He cheated this time by using a strawberry cake mix, and a can of whipped frosting, he added coconut he had dyed by taking the coconut placing it in a ziploc bag, adding 1 teaspoon water, and a few drops of green food coloring, and lastly topping them with jelly beans.

Sausage and Stuffed Peppers

 I was really lazy tonight. I cooked a package of Italian sausages, and stuffed some mini sweet peppers. I used the leftover mix from the other night's chicken and put it inside the peppers. The mix was cooked chopped red onion, chopped garlic, and wilted spinach, mixed with cream cheese and cheddar cheese. I had the peppers and Jake had chips.

Stuffed Chicken Breast, Roasted Potatoes, and Asparagus

 Even though it was Jake's night to cook, I thought I would give him a break and cook tonight myself. It has been a while since we had dinner with my sister, I thought tonight would be good. I had bought a big package of boneless skinless chicken breast and forgot to separate them.

 First I cut the chicken in half,, next I laid them on some waxed paper, covered them with the waxed paper, then I flattened them by hitting them with my rolling pin. I then laid out 2 slices of bacon, then one of the flattened chicken breast, next I placed a large tablespoon of a mixture that consisted of 1 package cream cheese, 1 10 oz package of fresh spinach, that I wilted down with 3 chopped gloves of garlic, and 1/2 red onion chopped, Then I rolled them up and placed them in a baking pan. Next I seared them and placed them in a baking pan and cooked them for about 15 minutes.

 For the potatoes I cubed them, drizzled with olive oil, thyme, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika, then placed them on a cookie sheet and cooked at 425 for 20 minutes.

 For the asparagus, I cooked them in a cast iron skillet with olive oil, thyme, oregano, and garlic. I cooked them just until tender.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

 Today Jake was busy with his friends so for dinner I was on my own. I made a wrap with some provolone, turkey lunch meat, and some broccoli slaw I made.

 Since today is my cheat day, I have decided to do that once a week, and it's working. I was thinking out loud saying carrot cake sounded good. Jake said that would be great! So we decided to make one that was safe for him to eat. I got him started grating carrots, while I started mixing the cake and making the frosting. So, here it the recipe I sort of followed.

 Preheat the oven to 350 degree, I also lined my cupcake pans. Next, in a large bowl mix together 2 cups of sugar, 3/4 cups vegetable oil (I used canola), 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 3/4 cup buttermilk (I used a lactose free milk). Stir in 2 cups carrots, 1 cups coconut, 1 15 oz can crushed pineapple, drained. It said  to mix the next ingredients in a separate bowl, but I didn't. Mix in 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 1/2 tsp salt. Mix it all together, then pour into cupcake pans and bake until a tooth pic inserted comes out clean.

 For the frosting, in a mixing bowl combine 1/2 cup butter, 1 8 oz package cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 4 cups confectioners sugar. Blend until creamy.

The one thing I found strange about this recipe is that it didn't call for any baking powder. That is why they didn't rise. If I did this again I would use probably 3 tsp baking powder. It also called for nuts but of course I couldn't add those because Jake is allergic to them.

Chicken Sandwich and Roasted Potatoes

 Since Jake picked Jack in the Box for dinner last night( we didn't get home til late) it was my night to cook. I wanted something quick and didn't take much thought.

First, I cut 2 potatoes into cubes, drizzled olive iol on them, then seasoned them with salt and Mediterranean seasoning. I placed them in a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes. I then took 1/2 onion, I had sliced, 2 small red bell pepper( 1/2 of a normal size one), and sliced mushrooms, and cooked until tender in some olive oil. Next, I took out 4 of the boneless skinless chicken breast strips, seasoned them with the same seasonings, then coated them with a mixture of flour, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and yes again the Mediterranean seasoning. I cooked them in some canola oil until golden brown and done inside. On my sandwich I put bbq sauce on a bolio roll (I got them today and was very lucky because they had just brought them from the oven), fresh spinach, the onion, red bell pepper, and mushrooms, then topped it with provolone cheese. That's it. They were very yummy. Oh, instead of the bbq sauce, Jake used a honey mustard with bacon dressing, had the spinach, but had rice cheese instead of the provolone.

Lazy Night

 Tonight I thought I would go the lazy route. Something very fast and easy.

 I took a bag of Bertolli ricotta and lobster ravioli with a spinach and sun dried tomato cream sauce. it was $2.99 at Grocery Outlet. It was pretty good for something frozen, however it could have used more spices. I also cooked some boneless skinless chicken breast strip that were seasoned with salt, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes, then seared in a skillet with 1 tbs of olive oil.

 The salad was just the same as last night. It was 1/2 bag of 50/50 mix in a bag, 1/4 cucumber, 2 radishes sliced, 2 carrots sliced, 1 mushroom sliced, 1 stalk of celery chopped, 1 small yellow bell pepper, and a olive oil  sun dried tomato vinaigrette.

Corndogs

 For some reason I had a craving for corn dogs. I thought about just buying some frozen ones but I thought I would give this a try myself. It's actually very easy.

 In a medium bowl mix 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup flour, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper, 1/4 cup sugar, and 4 tsp baking powder. You mix that up then add 1 egg and 1 cup of flour. Mix that all together until well combined.  It said to put wooden skewers into the hot dogs , but I skipped that part, I have them but my deep fryer isn't big enough for that. Dip your favorite hot dogs into the batter, then place them into a hot deep fryer. Let them cook for 2 to 3 minutes and drain on a paper towel. That's it!!

 I had a salad with 1 of them. I also deep fried the left over batter...yummmy!

Repurposed Chicken

 I am all alone tonight so I thought I would clean out the fridge. There a whole cornish game hen from the other night, and some of the baked chicken.

 I shredded the chicken, added some chopped up onion, yellow and red peppers, pickles, and celery. Then I added some low fat mayo, spicy mustard, salt, and pepper. That is it. I then placed it on a bed of spinach.

Cornish Game Hens with a Wild Rice Stuffing

 Tonight was Jake's turn to cook, so last night he decided what he was going to cook. The game hens that were in the freezer.

 First he did his prep for everything. He made a compound butter, which had of course butter, oregano, basil, thyme,  rosemary, and some grated yellow onion. Next he chopped, 1/2 cup onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 stalk celery, and grated 1/2 of carrot for the rice.

 He took the hens and lifted the skin, and rubbed the compound butter under the skin, he then wrapped it in bacon, then more of the butter mixture over that. He then placed them in a a pan lined with foil, then covered them tightly with foil, he then placed them in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes, after the 30 minutes he removed them stuffed them with the cooked rice (I will get to that in a minute) and placed them back in the oven for about 45 minutes more.

 For the rice, he put about 2 tbs of olive oil in a deep skillet, added the onion, celery, garlic, the carrots, and the rice about 3/4 cups, he cooked that for about 5 minutes, then added 1 1/2 cups chicken stock. He reduced the heat, and let it simmer until all the liquid was absorbed.

He also cooked some chicken strips wrapped in bacon for my nephew's who were hanging out with us. He also fixed them some tater tots.