Category Archives: Recipes

Here’s Dessert

28 Friday Nov 2014

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Pies and apple crisp.  Not too much to say.

The apple crisp is in a foil pan because I can get these 3/$1 at Dollar Tree, which let me prepare many apple crisps when I have apples available and freeze them.  Don’t buy small foil pans at the grocery store for freezing.  They’re much more expensive and serve no extra purpose.  Plus they have those tall clear plastic lids that take up space in the freezer and trap lots of air the food doesn’t need.  (The tall lids are good if you’re transporting deserts with icing or the like that you don’t want crushed.

Apple Crisp (from Food Network – The Neelys, cooking method modified)

Filling:
5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped small
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Prep – Filling:

  1. Mix all the ingredients together.

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2. Place into 7-8 ounce ramekins or one cake pan.

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Prep – Topping:

1. Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
2. Blend the butter into the mixture until it forms pea size lumps.
3. Stir in pecans and sprinkle over filling.

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Prep:

1. Add lid to foil bottom, foil side down.
2. Label top with contents and cooking instructions.

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Cook:

  1. Heat oven to 350°.
  2. Move directly from freezer to oven.  Do not thaw.
  3. Cook for 1 hour or until cooked through and bubbly.
  4. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

The freezer step is my modification.  Without it cook 35-45 min.

Halibut Recipe

14 Friday Nov 2014

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I’m a big fan of recipes I can prep when I have time/ingredients and then eat later.  This is a great one for that theme since the pouches go straight from the freezer to the oven, and it’s something my kids will eat.

Unfortunately, I don’t have pre-frozen photos.  But, doesn’t this look yummy, some would even say elegant if cut open properly.

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Halibut with Carrots & Leeks (from Real Simple magazine)

3 small carrots, thinly sliced – could easily be doubled, if desired
2 leeks (white and light green parts), sliced into half moons – optional
4 6-ounce halibut fillets (1 inch thick, skin removed)
Kosher salt and pepper
4 Tbsp olive oil
¼ cup fresh oregano – 4 tsp dried works fine

Prep:

  1. Arrange 4 squares of parchment on a flat surface. Fold to create a diagonal line.
  2. Place the carrots and leeks in the center on one side of the line. Place the halibut on the vegetables.
  3. ** The seasonings in this step are for the total of 4 pouches.** Season with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the oregano.
  4. Fold the parchment over. Starting at one point fold over the edges to seal.  You’ll end up with a half-heart shape.
  5. Place the packets in plastic bags and freeze until ready to cook, for up to 3 months.

Cook:

  1. Heat oven to 375°.
  2. Remove the proper number of packets from the freezer and place in a single layer on a baking sheet.
  3. Cook for 25 minutes.
  4. Cut open the packets before serving. Be careful of the escaping steam.  (On each plate makes the best presentation, but since I’m feeding the kids I transfer the contents to their plates)

I did modify this slightly and my comments as to the ingredients are included.  I am most likely to prep this when I find halibut at the farmer’s market fishmonger.  I’m sure he wonders what I’m doing with all the fish as I usually buy for that night’s dinner also and they rarely are things that would go together.

White Chili Recipe

07 Friday Nov 2014

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This isn’t so much a chili recipe, as much as it’s a Tex-Mex flavored chicken soup.  It’s slightly modified from the recipe in The Big Red Cookbook from Betty Crocker.

I opted out of the beans as mine don’t eat them anyway.  And, I doubled the recipe, which worked fine.  The cooked chicken was half leftover from the roasted chickens a week back (I had planned for all of it to come from this but we ate more chicken initially than I thought, which is fine.) and half from a store-bought rotisserie chicken.  You could also add back in the hot sauce I omitted (1/4 tsp).

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Our sides were scallions, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and corn muffins.

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White chili
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice from two limes (2 Tbsp)
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp dried oregano leaves
¼ tsp salt
1 can (11 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15-16 oz) great northern beans, drained
1 can (15-16 oz) butter beans, drained
2 cups chopped cooked chicken

  1. Heat oil in 4-qt Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic in oil, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.
  2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer uncovered 20 minutes.

Classic Banana Bread

17 Friday Oct 2014

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This is a slightly modified version of Cooking Light’s Classic Banana Bread.  I purchased a batch of #2 bananas for roughly $0.10 / lb.  This gave us a few to eat plus enough for 4 loaves.  I split these into two sets based on ripeness.

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Since I don’t like doing dishes and we can easily eat this, I prefer to make two loaves at a time.  To set up I have two sets of dry ingredients, two mixer bowls, two greased loaf pans, two sets of mashed banana on the counter.

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I put a plate for the reuseable utensils (I forgot the spatula in the picture.) next to the mixer with the wet ingredients.  In this case I’m using yogurt that had been premeasured and frozen, but usually the tub of yogurt is there with a measuring cup.

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I beat one set of butter & sugar.  I add the eggs, banana, yogurt, and vanilla per the recipe.  Then I take that bowl off the mixer and repeat with the second bowl.  This gives me two bowls of wet and two sets of dry ingredients.  I mix in the dry ingredients by hand, pour both in the pans, and place in the oven.  This way one isn’t sitting around combined very long.  It also helps to delay the combination if I get distracted by the kids for any reason.

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Classic Banana Bread (Cooking Light magazine)
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup sugar (CL calls for 1 cup)
¼ cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
3 mashed ripe bananas (CL calls for 1 ½ cups, which is about the same)
⅓ cup plain low-fat yogurt (vanilla works fine too)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cooking spray

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
  3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute).
  4. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended.
  6. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.
  7. Spoon batter into an 8 ½ x 4 ½ – inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
  8. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  9. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

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Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe

03 Friday Oct 2014

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My friend who sent this recipe said she got it from Weight Watchers.  I’ve modified it a bit and don’t have the nutrition info.  But, either way its really good.  Note that the beef and broccoli amounts can be adjusted to your family’s needs without otherwise altering the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 ½ Tbsp Cornstarch (divided)
¾ lbs Lean sirloin beef
2 tsp Canola oil
1 ½ cups chicken broth (divided)
5 cups broccoli florets
1 Tbsp Minced raw ginger root
2 tsp Minced garlic
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
¼ cups soy sauce
½ cup water

  1. Dredge beef in 2 Tbsp cornstarch.
  2. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Cook beef 4 min per side.  Beef will be rare.  Transfer to cutting board.
  3. Add 1 cup broth to the same pan; stir to loosen any bits of food. Add broccoli; cover and cook until broccoli is crisp-tender, about 10 minutes.
  4. While the broccoli is cooking, slice the beef into strips.
  5. In a cup, stir together the soy sauce, remaining ½ cup broth, remaining ½ Tbsp cornstarch, and water.
  6. Remove the broccoli from the pan.
  7. Add ginger, garlic, and cayenne to pan; stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  8. Stir soy sauce mixture and immediately add to pan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 min.
  9. Return beef and accumulated juices to pan; toss to coat. Cook beef to desired doneness.
  10. Serve with rice, noodles, etc.

Some of mine like their food separate so the rice, beef, and broccoli are separate on their plates.  The more standard way would be to put a bed of starch, top with broccoli, top with beef & sauce.

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