Denise asked for this recipe. It will also be helpful for me to have it here, for when I lose the original! This can be made in the crock pot or oven.
Taco Meatloaf
2 pounds ground beef
1/3 cup taco sauce
2 Tablespoons Taco Seasoning Mix
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup crushed taco chips
1 cup shredded mexican or cheddar cheese
Mix together and cook in crock pot on low for 8-10 hours.
For oven, shape into a loaf and brush with additional taco sauce. I can't remember what temperature I cooked it at, I just looked up other meatloaf recipes to get an idea of oven temperature. I cooked it for an hour and a half, just to make sure the beef was well cooked, which made it really crispy around the edges. It was delicious, but if you don't like it crispy, cook for less time. I also made three at once, so the oven was more crowded and they needed more time than one batch would probably need.
I served these with additional taco sauce, shredded cheese and crushed Doritos. I would have served chopped tomatoes, if I had them and maybe some shredded lettuce, as well.
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Friday, November 14, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
My family ate too much
I have just been asked by more than one person to blog about how they ate too much because dinner was so delicious. I like to hear that, well not the eating too much part, the delicious part. Since most comments about my dinners involve smoke alarms and fire extinquishers, delicious is nice! I made taco meatloaf, rice and applesauce. I had lost my taco meatloaf recipe and recently found it. I've always made it in the crock pot (but not for at least 12-15 years). I made it in the oven today and it was even better than I remembered. Yum!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Yet another kitchen appliance bites the dust!
What the heck is going on here? Do we have a poltergeist in our kitchen? Actually this appliance has been on it's way out since it was only two months old. Last Christmas, Drew bought me an electric skillet. I use my electric skillet a lot, so I usually need to replace it every 3 or 4 years. He bought me one of the newer designs, were the top comes off the heating element, so you can immerse the whole thing to wash. I really liked it, but I noticed that not even two months after I got it, the non-stick stuff started wearing out. Not wearing off, just not working. I was really disappointed, but I was hoping to make it last as long as possible.
The last few weeks, it has been getting worse and worse. Of course, I've also been using it more and more since my cook top died. Last night I decided to make a version of hash or "padaydas" as my Uncle John used to call it. It took me forever to peel 10 pounds of potatoes, cut them and then boil them in two batches in the skillet because they wouldn't all fit in one batch. Then I had to cut them even smaller after cooking them for a little bit. I also had to cook a pound of bacon in the oven and chop that. I was glad I had already chopped the roast beef a few days ago. I was also really wishing Steven was home to do the chopping for me, since he is WAY faster.
So I got everything prepared and in the skillet, which I greased with a little of the bacon grease, sprayed with non-stick spray and added a stick of margarine, so it wouldn't stick. I started cooking the hash, hoping it would get all nice and brown and crispy. Well, it sure did get brown and crispy, but all the brown and crispy parts stuck right to the pan! I have never seen anything stick like that. It was like trying to chip a two inch thick layer of ice off the driveway in Chicago!
The hash was actually really good, but I was disappointed because I like it crispy. Everyone loved it, though, so it wasn't a total loss.
So, Jack and I headed off to Kmart today, to get another skillet, since all but one of the meals on my menu this week, require the skillet. I had to go there, anyway, since they had double coupons and I had coupons for a bunch of stuff that was on sale. We got a skillet, which looks like it will last longer than the last one, but was about the same price. We got the last one and the box was open, but it looked fine. I got it home, washed it out and realized that someone had put the wrong cord in the box. Ugh. Luckily Jack remembered that they had two on display and the cords for both of those were inside one of them, so he is going to take it back tomorrow and ask them to switch the cords. I hope that works out because I made the only non-skillet dinner tonight!
The last few weeks, it has been getting worse and worse. Of course, I've also been using it more and more since my cook top died. Last night I decided to make a version of hash or "padaydas" as my Uncle John used to call it. It took me forever to peel 10 pounds of potatoes, cut them and then boil them in two batches in the skillet because they wouldn't all fit in one batch. Then I had to cut them even smaller after cooking them for a little bit. I also had to cook a pound of bacon in the oven and chop that. I was glad I had already chopped the roast beef a few days ago. I was also really wishing Steven was home to do the chopping for me, since he is WAY faster.
So I got everything prepared and in the skillet, which I greased with a little of the bacon grease, sprayed with non-stick spray and added a stick of margarine, so it wouldn't stick. I started cooking the hash, hoping it would get all nice and brown and crispy. Well, it sure did get brown and crispy, but all the brown and crispy parts stuck right to the pan! I have never seen anything stick like that. It was like trying to chip a two inch thick layer of ice off the driveway in Chicago!
The hash was actually really good, but I was disappointed because I like it crispy. Everyone loved it, though, so it wasn't a total loss.
So, Jack and I headed off to Kmart today, to get another skillet, since all but one of the meals on my menu this week, require the skillet. I had to go there, anyway, since they had double coupons and I had coupons for a bunch of stuff that was on sale. We got a skillet, which looks like it will last longer than the last one, but was about the same price. We got the last one and the box was open, but it looked fine. I got it home, washed it out and realized that someone had put the wrong cord in the box. Ugh. Luckily Jack remembered that they had two on display and the cords for both of those were inside one of them, so he is going to take it back tomorrow and ask them to switch the cords. I hope that works out because I made the only non-skillet dinner tonight!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Cooking and Insomnia
I could not sleep at all last night. I was still wide awake at 6:04 am. It sucked. I got up at 5:00 am and made some popcorn. That is because my stomach was growling after spending several hours doing research on frugal recipes on Mike's laptop. I found out that you can make popcorn in the microwave in regular lunch bags. I was so excited because my kids love it and I know it has lots of bad stuff in it and it is so expensive. Since our cook top bit the dust, I don't have the option of cooking it on the stove. I really hate to do that anyway because it is such a pain and it just adds a big pot to my already large stack of dirty dishes waiting to be washed.
The recipe search was a success. I found a lot of really cheap recipes to make for the family, since I never have enough money to cover the weekly grocery bill anymore. Even with the cheap recipes and coupons, I don't have quite what I really need, but at least I am getting closer. Tonight I made a pasta recipe that was easy and delicious and only cost me $12 for the whole family. All of the kids liked it and there was enough left for Mike to take to work for a dinner during the week.
I also made a dish called Jiffy Oatmeal Crunch. I added some chocolate chips instead of raisins, since I want the kids to actually eat it! It was so good that we ate the whole 9 x 13 pan today and I had to make another for them to have tomorrow for either breakfast, lunch or snack. I'm going to try it with cinnamon and maybe some dried apples next time. Hannah and I hate oatmeal and we even liked it. I would have made more tonight, but I ran out of oatmeal.
I made my menu for the week today and I am pretty happy that we aren't going to starve to death, even on our very limited budget!
Oh, and our microwave broke yesterday. Just stopped working, great. This is the second microwave we've had in the past 8 years. I figured we just had to add that to the list of things that we would have to learn to do without, but then Jack brought his out of the attic. Then, even better than that, our microwave started working just fine today. Apparently it was just overheated. Mike thinks it may have had something to do with the fact that it really, really needed to be cleaned out.
The recipe search was a success. I found a lot of really cheap recipes to make for the family, since I never have enough money to cover the weekly grocery bill anymore. Even with the cheap recipes and coupons, I don't have quite what I really need, but at least I am getting closer. Tonight I made a pasta recipe that was easy and delicious and only cost me $12 for the whole family. All of the kids liked it and there was enough left for Mike to take to work for a dinner during the week.
I also made a dish called Jiffy Oatmeal Crunch. I added some chocolate chips instead of raisins, since I want the kids to actually eat it! It was so good that we ate the whole 9 x 13 pan today and I had to make another for them to have tomorrow for either breakfast, lunch or snack. I'm going to try it with cinnamon and maybe some dried apples next time. Hannah and I hate oatmeal and we even liked it. I would have made more tonight, but I ran out of oatmeal.
I made my menu for the week today and I am pretty happy that we aren't going to starve to death, even on our very limited budget!
Oh, and our microwave broke yesterday. Just stopped working, great. This is the second microwave we've had in the past 8 years. I figured we just had to add that to the list of things that we would have to learn to do without, but then Jack brought his out of the attic. Then, even better than that, our microwave started working just fine today. Apparently it was just overheated. Mike thinks it may have had something to do with the fact that it really, really needed to be cleaned out.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Cooking
They had a 1/2 price sale at Bloom, on roast beef, ground beef and boneless pork loin. We haven't had BBQ (Pulled Pork) in a long time because I haven't seen a good sale on the pork in forever. So we bought 4 pork loins which is enough for at least two meals. I set my alarm for 3:00 am to put the pork in the oven. I took it out of the oven at 1:00 pm and shredded it, cooked the sauce and put it back in the oven for 3 more hours. It was delicious and everyone (except Luke who hates BBQ) loved it. I figured out that two pork loins is enough for one full dinner, one dinner for Mike during the week and one lunch for the "at home" group. There will probably even be enough left for an after school snack for the three youngest kids. I froze the second batch to have at a later date.
Apples were also on sale, so last night we had sauteed apples on homemade cream cheese biscuits. It was delicious, but it took me three hours to peel, cut and cook 9 pounds of apples, plus make the biscuits. Between that and the time-consuming pulled pork today, I feel like I cooked most of the weekend.
After dinner tonight, the girls wanted to make cakes. Hannah made a devils food and Shauna made a yellow cake. I will make the frosting, cream cheese for the chocolate cake and French Silk frosting for the yellow cake before I go to bed.
I also FINALLY got to make iced coffee today. Bloom also had coffee on an almost 50% off sale, so we were able to get some of that also.
Apples were also on sale, so last night we had sauteed apples on homemade cream cheese biscuits. It was delicious, but it took me three hours to peel, cut and cook 9 pounds of apples, plus make the biscuits. Between that and the time-consuming pulled pork today, I feel like I cooked most of the weekend.
After dinner tonight, the girls wanted to make cakes. Hannah made a devils food and Shauna made a yellow cake. I will make the frosting, cream cheese for the chocolate cake and French Silk frosting for the yellow cake before I go to bed.
I also FINALLY got to make iced coffee today. Bloom also had coffee on an almost 50% off sale, so we were able to get some of that also.
Friday, September 19, 2008
I cooked something all by myself!
Except for asking Stephen B. to get me the cans of tomato out of the can cabinet, I cooked an entire meal all by myself! This is something I haven't done since mid-July! I made meatballs with orzo and zucchini and it was yummy. Ahhh, progress.
Well, the Oreos for the ice cream were not where I thought they were and I couldn't find them anywhere else. A few years from now, you will probably read a post entitled, "I was cleaning my room and I found a package of Double Stuff Oreos, I wonder how they got in here!".
Well, the Oreos for the ice cream were not where I thought they were and I couldn't find them anywhere else. A few years from now, you will probably read a post entitled, "I was cleaning my room and I found a package of Double Stuff Oreos, I wonder how they got in here!".
Cooking
I'm really happy that I've been able to do a little cooking the past couple of weeks. The kids have really gotten tired of making themselves soup for dinner every night. I still need a lot of help from the kids because if I walk too much, my leg gets really painful. I made fried chicken breasts the other day with Alex as my assistant. I only make them about twice a year since fried food is a no no, but Shauna had a craving and Mike and Jack had purchased a bunch of chicken breast on a very good sale. They were yummy!
Jack made everyone flavored noodles last night. They are packaged and not healthy, but they are really cheap and I only had about half the amount of grocery money I actually need for a week, so they had to do. The kids love them and that is the only thing that Jack knows how to cook without using the microwave! I've offered to teach him to cook, but his reply is always "That's a woman's job." I can't wait until he gets married and his wife beats the crap out of him for saying that!
After most of the kids were in bed, I made the batter for chocolate ice cream. It had to cool in the fridge after cooking, so we are going to freeze it later, after adding some crushed double stuff oreos to it. I have been hiding a package of oreos in my dresser drawer for this recipe. I just hope no one discovered the stash and ate them! It is getting harder and harder to find good hiding places around here. Then when I do think of a new hiding place, I always forget where it is! Hopefully the ice cream will be good. This is my first attempt at making chocolate ice cream and my first time using an ice cream recipe that involves cooking some of the ingredients.
Jack made everyone flavored noodles last night. They are packaged and not healthy, but they are really cheap and I only had about half the amount of grocery money I actually need for a week, so they had to do. The kids love them and that is the only thing that Jack knows how to cook without using the microwave! I've offered to teach him to cook, but his reply is always "That's a woman's job." I can't wait until he gets married and his wife beats the crap out of him for saying that!
After most of the kids were in bed, I made the batter for chocolate ice cream. It had to cool in the fridge after cooking, so we are going to freeze it later, after adding some crushed double stuff oreos to it. I have been hiding a package of oreos in my dresser drawer for this recipe. I just hope no one discovered the stash and ate them! It is getting harder and harder to find good hiding places around here. Then when I do think of a new hiding place, I always forget where it is! Hopefully the ice cream will be good. This is my first attempt at making chocolate ice cream and my first time using an ice cream recipe that involves cooking some of the ingredients.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Hamstring progress
My leg now barely hurts as long as I stay off it. As soon as I start walking around too much, the pain is back. The good part is that the pain goes away again as soon as I stop walking. I even managed to make two homemade pizzas tonight, before the pain was so intense, even after pain meds, that I had to sit down. Of course, I had a ton of help from Alex and a little from Shauna or I never would have been able to do that. I had to have Jack get the pizzas out of the oven and cut them because I was in too much pain.
The other good news is that the PT noticed, as did I, that the hamstring muscles aren't tightening up anywhere nearly as badly as they were, even last Friday. That is good progress. My doctor ordered a wheelchair for me, which is getting delivered tomorrow, so I can go to the kid's open houses this week. I am going to be embarrassed using the wheelchair, but apparently Alex and Hannah are going to be even more embarrassed. Both are threatening not to go to open house if they have to be seen with me. They think they are so smart, wait until they realize that not only am I going to be in a wheelchair, but I am going to wear my highly dreaded fannie pack as well!!!!
The other good news is that the PT noticed, as did I, that the hamstring muscles aren't tightening up anywhere nearly as badly as they were, even last Friday. That is good progress. My doctor ordered a wheelchair for me, which is getting delivered tomorrow, so I can go to the kid's open houses this week. I am going to be embarrassed using the wheelchair, but apparently Alex and Hannah are going to be even more embarrassed. Both are threatening not to go to open house if they have to be seen with me. They think they are so smart, wait until they realize that not only am I going to be in a wheelchair, but I am going to wear my highly dreaded fannie pack as well!!!!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Cul-de-sac party
We are having a cul-de-sac party today. It is something some of us have talked about doing since we moved in 8 years ago. I think we decided not to because we had some jerky people in our cul-de-sac at first, but they all moved out and really nice people moved in, so now is a really good time. The newest arrival, Kim, who has lived here about a year and a half now, organized it. I hope I am able to go. I'm a little worried because it is still really painful to sit and I can't stand for more than a few minutes because I am so shaky and weak.
I also have to prepare dishes to share, but the kids and Mike will help with that. Steven is going to make a corn salad, a recipe I found on some one's blog (can't remember which blog). I'm also going to make my broccoli casserole that my kids love. The girls and Alex are going to make a pan of brownies and Steven just told me that he is going to make a chocolate snack cake that his friend's mom makes. I'm so glad he is working at a restaurant and is now interested in cooking.
Typical conversation with Steven before the restaurant job:
Steven: "Mom, can I have some soup/tuna/spaghetti o's, etc."
Mom: "Sure."
Steven: "Will you make it for me?"
Mom: "No, you can make it yourself."
Steven: "Never mind, if I have to open a can, I just won't eat."
Conversation with Steven after taking the restaurant job:
Steven: "If you give me the recipe, I will make the whole thing." (I had asked him last night to just slice the tomatoes and cucumbers that I need for the corn salad, not actually make it)
Mom: "Oh, thanks, that would be great."
Steven: "I'm also going to make the chocolate snack cake that Jeff's mom makes, if Dad bought all the ingredients."
Mom: No reply, she is too shocked to talk!
I also have to prepare dishes to share, but the kids and Mike will help with that. Steven is going to make a corn salad, a recipe I found on some one's blog (can't remember which blog). I'm also going to make my broccoli casserole that my kids love. The girls and Alex are going to make a pan of brownies and Steven just told me that he is going to make a chocolate snack cake that his friend's mom makes. I'm so glad he is working at a restaurant and is now interested in cooking.
Typical conversation with Steven before the restaurant job:
Steven: "Mom, can I have some soup/tuna/spaghetti o's, etc."
Mom: "Sure."
Steven: "Will you make it for me?"
Mom: "No, you can make it yourself."
Steven: "Never mind, if I have to open a can, I just won't eat."
Conversation with Steven after taking the restaurant job:
Steven: "If you give me the recipe, I will make the whole thing." (I had asked him last night to just slice the tomatoes and cucumbers that I need for the corn salad, not actually make it)
Mom: "Oh, thanks, that would be great."
Steven: "I'm also going to make the chocolate snack cake that Jeff's mom makes, if Dad bought all the ingredients."
Mom: No reply, she is too shocked to talk!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Lime Ice Cream
We made a batch of lime ice cream last night. It was delicious. I guess it was really sherbert, but I am going to call it ice cream because after almost 26 years of marriage and dating for almost two years before that, Mike and I still have the sherbet/sherbert debate! According to the dictionary and Wikipedia, they are both acceptable, but I still like sherbert better, since that is the way it has always been said in my family. The ice cream was delicious and even though the recipe said it makes two quarts, it made closer to three.
Lime Ice Cream
3 ounce Lime Jello
1 cup boiling water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 6 ounce frozen limeade (thawed)
1 dash salt
1 quart of milk (I used skim)
1 pint half and half
8 drops green food coloring
In large bowl, dissolve jello in boiling water.
Add sugar, thawed limeade and salt. Mix until sugar is all dissolved.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Make according to directions on your ice cream maker.
1 cup boiling water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 6 ounce frozen limeade (thawed)
1 dash salt
1 quart of milk (I used skim)
1 pint half and half
8 drops green food coloring
In large bowl, dissolve jello in boiling water.
Add sugar, thawed limeade and salt. Mix until sugar is all dissolved.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Make according to directions on your ice cream maker.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Homemade Ice Cream, what was I thinking????
My leg felt so much better after physical therapy today. Since I hadn't had to take a pain pill since 1:30 this afternoon and I could walk around, almost pain free, I decided to make some homemade ice cream with the kids. We got an electric ice cream maker from freecyle at the same time that my leg got really bad, so I haven't been able to try it out yet. Anyway, this was a very bad idea! By the time I had mixed the ice cream ingredients together, my leg was killing me. I managed to get it all into the ice cream maker and turn it on before I had to crash on the bed.
I took a pain pill right away so, hopefully, I will feel well enough in a little while to get the ice cream out when it is done churning. This is my first ever attempt at homemade ice cream and I don't have an instruction booklet, so I hope it works. I was going to make some homemade fudge sauce to go with the vanilla ice cream, but I guess I will have to see how well this pain pill works, before I attempt that!
3 of the older boys are off to hockey, one is working overtime and the 3 little ones are making brownies. Sorry, Mikey, I'm sure they will all be gone before you get home this weekend!
I took a pain pill right away so, hopefully, I will feel well enough in a little while to get the ice cream out when it is done churning. This is my first ever attempt at homemade ice cream and I don't have an instruction booklet, so I hope it works. I was going to make some homemade fudge sauce to go with the vanilla ice cream, but I guess I will have to see how well this pain pill works, before I attempt that!
3 of the older boys are off to hockey, one is working overtime and the 3 little ones are making brownies. Sorry, Mikey, I'm sure they will all be gone before you get home this weekend!
Vanilla Ice Cream
Makes 3 quarts
6 large eggs (I use eggbeaters)
2 1/4 cups sugar
6 cups heavy cream
3 cups milk (I use skim)
6 tsp vanilla extract
Whisk eggs until light and fluffy.
Whisk in sugar, a little at a time.
Add cream, milk and vanilla and mix very well.
Make according to your ice cream maker.
6 large eggs (I use eggbeaters)
2 1/4 cups sugar
6 cups heavy cream
3 cups milk (I use skim)
6 tsp vanilla extract
Whisk eggs until light and fluffy.
Whisk in sugar, a little at a time.
Add cream, milk and vanilla and mix very well.
Make according to your ice cream maker.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Steven's Job
Well, he has been working at a local restaurant for a little over 3 weeks now, full time. He still loves it, which is great! The first day he washed dishes and since then they have had him cutting food, preparing salads, peeling potatoes, etc. He has been coming home and giving me advice on how to cut and cook!
Yesterday, he came home from work and told me that he really loves working in the restaurant and is thinking that if he continues to like it, he might go to community college to get his Associates degree and then go to culinary school. WOW! What a change from the kid, who three weeks ago, was only interesting in getting high or drunk as much as possible.
I know, from lots and lots of experience, not to get my hopes up too high. This could all change in a heartbeat and he will quit the job and go back to his usual ways. I know that, but I can't help but hope that this will be the time he truly changes. It would be so wonderful for him to find something he truly loves and have him follow through with it. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed and praying that this works out well for him.
When I am feeling better and can start cooking again, I'm going to see if he would like to help me out a little, maybe even teach me a few things!
Oh, I forgot about this, Chef let him cook burgers for himself and one of the other workers and
Steven said when he flipped the burger, it broke and Chef told him not to worry that he would learn with practice. That seemed to help raise Steven's confidence.
He also, very sweetly, brought me home a bacon cheeseburger a couple of days ago! He isn't usually thoughtful, so this was really special!
Yesterday, he came home from work and told me that he really loves working in the restaurant and is thinking that if he continues to like it, he might go to community college to get his Associates degree and then go to culinary school. WOW! What a change from the kid, who three weeks ago, was only interesting in getting high or drunk as much as possible.
I know, from lots and lots of experience, not to get my hopes up too high. This could all change in a heartbeat and he will quit the job and go back to his usual ways. I know that, but I can't help but hope that this will be the time he truly changes. It would be so wonderful for him to find something he truly loves and have him follow through with it. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed and praying that this works out well for him.
When I am feeling better and can start cooking again, I'm going to see if he would like to help me out a little, maybe even teach me a few things!
Oh, I forgot about this, Chef let him cook burgers for himself and one of the other workers and
Steven said when he flipped the burger, it broke and Chef told him not to worry that he would learn with practice. That seemed to help raise Steven's confidence.
He also, very sweetly, brought me home a bacon cheeseburger a couple of days ago! He isn't usually thoughtful, so this was really special!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Today was a delicious day
Homemade banana bread
The rest of Shauna's homemade chocolate chip cookies
Taco Salad and watermelon for dinner
YUM!
P.S. Jack, if you ever read this, I can blog about whatever I want to, including pizza! Nananana Boo-Boo!
The rest of Shauna's homemade chocolate chip cookies
Taco Salad and watermelon for dinner
YUM!
P.S. Jack, if you ever read this, I can blog about whatever I want to, including pizza! Nananana Boo-Boo!
Chicago Style Thin Crust Pizza
I made this last Wednesday, but just got the pics on the computer today. One of the main things we miss about Chicago is the pizza. They make the most delicious pizza in the world there. (If anyone from New York reads this, I don't want to hear about it!) We really miss Little Joe's, Palermo's and Giordano's, just to name a few.
Over the last couple of years, I have been working hard on perfecting not only the stuffed Giordano style pizza I discussed in another post, but also a delicious thin crust with a sweet sauce. The recipe I have come up with is really good, at least my family loves it. I have realized, though, that there is no way to exactly duplicate a restaurant pizza. They use a different type of stove. In some ways, mine is not as good as their's and in some ways it is better, so I am happy. If you are interesting in making your own pizza, I learned a ton from the wonderful forums at www.pizzamaking.com
The kids all enjoy making their own pizzas, each rolling their dough to the thickness they prefer. They all know that I have one really strict rule about my pizza, though, it MUST be cut in squares, aka party cut, not triangles! The rule goes on to state that if you cut your Chicago style thin crust pizza in triangles, you are never allowed to eat it again. Stuffed is cut into triangles.
Over the last couple of years, I have been working hard on perfecting not only the stuffed Giordano style pizza I discussed in another post, but also a delicious thin crust with a sweet sauce. The recipe I have come up with is really good, at least my family loves it. I have realized, though, that there is no way to exactly duplicate a restaurant pizza. They use a different type of stove. In some ways, mine is not as good as their's and in some ways it is better, so I am happy. If you are interesting in making your own pizza, I learned a ton from the wonderful forums at www.pizzamaking.com
The kids all enjoy making their own pizzas, each rolling their dough to the thickness they prefer. They all know that I have one really strict rule about my pizza, though, it MUST be cut in squares, aka party cut, not triangles! The rule goes on to state that if you cut your Chicago style thin crust pizza in triangles, you are never allowed to eat it again. Stuffed is cut into triangles.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Chili
I am also making chili tonight. I make a double batch and then I can freeze it so Mike can take it to work. I'm going to start putting all my recipes on here. That will make them easy to find when I need them! I have them all on my computer, but I need a new hard drive, so I don't have access to them at the moment.
Mom's Chili Recipe-Double batch
2 Large Puree
2 Large Diced Tomatoes
2 Large Crushed Tomatoes
8-15 ounce Mild Chili Beans
6 packets chili seasoning
Cooked ground beef & turkey mixture (I don't know how much, I think I put in about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds.)
Add all ingredients, except chili beans and cook over low heat in a large pot, until hot. Add chili beans and cook for a few minutes longer, until beans are heated through.
Mom's Chili Recipe-Double batch
2 Large Puree
2 Large Diced Tomatoes
2 Large Crushed Tomatoes
8-15 ounce Mild Chili Beans
6 packets chili seasoning
Cooked ground beef & turkey mixture (I don't know how much, I think I put in about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds.)
Add all ingredients, except chili beans and cook over low heat in a large pot, until hot. Add chili beans and cook for a few minutes longer, until beans are heated through.
Alton Brown's Macaroni and Cheese
I made the stove top macaroni and cheese that Alton Brown made on Good Eats. It was yummy! Of course, I skipped the hot sauce and dry mustard because I had no dry mustard and I don't like hot sauce. Next time I will omit the salt because even though I cut it in half, it was still a bit salty tasting. I will also only use 4 1/2 cups of cheese because I used 6 and although it was delicious, I don't think less cheese will make a noticeable difference, but it will cut the fat by quite a bit. I also used Barilla Plus macaroni, which I love because it tastes great and is super nutritious! I would definitely make this again, as it is much healthier than the Kraft boxed stuff. It is also a lot more expensive, though! This is still a relatively cheap meal and would be great on swim meet nights, when the kids need lots of extra protein and carbs.
Here is the recipe I will use next time:
1 pound macaroni (14.5 ounce Barilla Plus Elbows)
6 T butter
4 eggs
12 ounces milk
pepper to taste
4 1/2 cups cheese (I used Fiesta Blend from Walmart)
A tablespoon or two of cornstarch, dissolved in a little cold water (I didn't use any this time and the cheese sauce was just slightly thinner than we like it.)
Boil elbow macaroni and drain. Pour it back into the pot and add the butter, mix to melt.
Whisk together eggs, milk, and pepper. Stir mixture into the pasta and add the cheese. Continue stirring over low heat to melt the cheese. This only takes about 3 or 4 minutes. I used fancy cut cheese, which is thinner and it melted very quickly and easily.
Here is the recipe I will use next time:
1 pound macaroni (14.5 ounce Barilla Plus Elbows)
6 T butter
4 eggs
12 ounces milk
pepper to taste
4 1/2 cups cheese (I used Fiesta Blend from Walmart)
A tablespoon or two of cornstarch, dissolved in a little cold water (I didn't use any this time and the cheese sauce was just slightly thinner than we like it.)
Boil elbow macaroni and drain. Pour it back into the pot and add the butter, mix to melt.
Whisk together eggs, milk, and pepper. Stir mixture into the pasta and add the cheese. Continue stirring over low heat to melt the cheese. This only takes about 3 or 4 minutes. I used fancy cut cheese, which is thinner and it melted very quickly and easily.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Pizza Night
Monday is always pizza night, so I better get rolling! This week is Chicago style thin crust, which I make in my new (to me) Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. I had been wanting one forever when my mom asked me if I had any use for hers, since she never even used it. Are you kidding me???? I had totally forgotten that she even had one. She must have gotten it around the time I got married (1982), but it still works perfectly. I use it several times a week.
I love to make pizza, it is fun and relaxing, but it takes quite awhile to make it for my large family. Especially because I par bake all the crusts to make sure they are extra crispy. I will make some cheese, pepperoni, and a BBQ chicken pizza this week. YUM!
I love to make pizza, it is fun and relaxing, but it takes quite awhile to make it for my large family. Especially because I par bake all the crusts to make sure they are extra crispy. I will make some cheese, pepperoni, and a BBQ chicken pizza this week. YUM!
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