Happy New Year!

Wow!  It's been a year since I started this blog.  And the last few months I have been a serious slacker on posting!  Wanna hear my excuses?  No?  Okay, but here's one really good one.... I have a full time job now.  I've always worked --part time since having my kiddos but this is the first time I've worked full time since Noah was born (he's 9).  I'm grateful to have a good job in a bad economy-- but let me tell you-- I'm T.I.R.E.D.  I'm a teacher.  And I had forgotten how much energy being in the classroom all day takes out of you.  And now, when I go home I have my 3 little lovies to attend to.  There, that's my excuse for not posting in a very long time.  It's the very last day of my school vacation and I feel pretty refreshed and ready to take on the next 6 weeks before the next vacation.

I've really enjoyed being home again and having the time to cook meals that are more than throw together meals.  I recently made a beef stew.  Here's my recipe:

veggies of your choice but I like:
1 medium onion chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 carrots peeled and sliced
1 whole sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 cup butternut squash cubed (I often use frozen)
1/4 cup green beans

oh and the meat (beef) of course--  I grabbed what was on sale (can't remember the cut...but sometimes I get the precut stew meat to save time)

2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon basil
salt & pepper to taste
2 dry bay leaves

3 tablespoons flour & 1/2 cup water mixed to thicken at the end

1 big box of beef stock (you know, not the can)--which ever has the lowest sodium count I can find....salt and I aren't always friends.

In a large sauce pan, heat a little olive oil.  Season cubed meat with salt & pepper.  Add meat to the pan to sear and brown on all sides--but not to cook through.  Once the meat is seared remove from pan.  Add onion, garlic and celery.  You might need to add a little beef stock to deglaze the pan at this point.  Let the onions and celery simmer for a few minutes.  Then add veggies one at a time, adding a pinch of salt and pepper at each layer and letting each new veggie get acquainted with the pan and all become friends.  Add spices. Once all the veggies & spices are added and simmering for about 5 minutes add the stock to the pot and possibly some water to create the broth.  Bring to boil.  Add beef and bay leaves.  Bring back to boil.  Let it all boil for a few minutes then reduce heat to a simmer.  I usually let mine simmer for about an hour or so stirring occasionally.  If I need to add more liquid I pour water into the emptied beef broth box and shake to add some of the flavor that's left in there.

Add flour and water mixture to thicken.

You could also throw all the above ingredients into the crock pot and set it on low for 8 hours.  :-)

Enjoy.






~ Pam

I feel like chicken tonight!

Do you cook a lot of chicken?  Sometimes I feel like that is all we eat: chicken wings, thighs and don't forget the breast... chicken nuggets, chicken oven roasters... it goes on and on... do you ever get "chickened out?"

Sometimes I dream of being a vegetarian, but truth be told, I don't like enough vegetables to survive and I do like a good juicy steak once in a while... and of course, chicken!  HA!  We actually had been eating burgers and dogs lately so tonight's meal is going to be .... come on... can't you guess?  CHICKEN!  We are having thighs and breast today, because that is what I had on hand.

When I have to work at night (which is Mon-Thurs) I usually put meals in my crock pot so I can just forget about it... don't have to worry about heating up the kitchen.  But today it's raining and cool and raw-- nice June weather in New England (can you feel the sarcasm oozing out here?)-- so I decided to just bake it.  I used some left over Newman's marinade (about half a bottle) and didn't actually marinade it because I'm not that organized.

Here is my "recipe"

ingredients:
1 package of chicken thighs
2 chicken breast
1/2 bottle of Newmans Sesame Ginger marinade

directions:
preheat oven to 350
place the thighs and breast in a baking dish
pour marinade over the chicken, cover and bake for about 45 minutes or so

I will have hubby serve with brown rice (from the pouch)

My computer is not behaving nicely or I would add a couple of pictures here of the marinade and the ingredients.


~ Pam

Ode to my crock pot

There she is... isn't she a beauty?!  We got her as a shower gift-- going on 11 years.  Her knob came off last year, but I think it adds character to her look.  I think I should name her -- since she and I have such a trusting relationship!  Any thoughts on what her name should be?

This past week I made at least 2 crock pot meals-- that I can remember, since the days are kind of a blur lately.

I know I made this first one because I took pictures to prove it!
Ever get those pre-marinaded pork loins?  YUM!  Usually I make them in the oven, but this week I decided to throw it in the crock pot instead.
Here is the one I bought...

I put it in the crock pot with about 1/4 cup of water.  I put my crock pot on "auto" (which is the same as a low setting on other crock pots) for about 6 hours.  Took it out and made some brown rice to go with it.  I'd like to say there was a delicious and healthy vegetable too, but my kids don't like most veggies and sometimes it's easier to not fight at the table.  ;-/    Anyway-- another easy dinner for mid-week craziness! 

The 2nd crock pot meal was chicken drumsticks with Lawyers Balsamic marinade.  I threw them in and let them cook on high for about 4.5 hours.  They were also coupled with brown rice.  :-)

See, the convenience of my crock pot (Shelby, for her name keeps popping in my head) has made me post 2 meals in 1 post!  :-)

Enjoy!

~ Pam

Meatballs & Spaghetti (I know I wrote it backwards)

Okay, so this may not be the most helpful post-- mostly because I don't measure often when I cook so for those of you who need to measure everything exactly, I apologize up front.  BUT...here's what I hope you can take away from this post-- you CAN use applesauce to replace an egg in meatballs (and meatloaf for that matter).  Before cooking for FA, I used to boil my meatballs and then bake for a bit in sauce.  I'm preetttty sure if I boiled meatballs that didn't have the egg to bind, they would fall apart.  Here's what I have done with meatballs so far:

• I bake them in marinara sauce --lately I like Prego Smart Health Veggie (because it's the only way to get my kids to eat veggies)
• I use a little bbq sauce for some spice :-)
• Quite often I THINK I have breadcrumbs and I when I go for them, they aren't there. Does anyone else have this problem?  For some odd reason I do usually have stuffing mix (Stove Top & Pepperage Farm) and use this instead--another reason to love stuffing!! 

Sometimes when I have time, I like to grate onion and mince fresh garlic, but lately that isn't happening--on Sunday I didn't have time, and made them with out fresh onion and garlic and you know what?  They tasted just fine! :-)   I will "guess-ta-mate" my measurements here:

1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoons of ketchup
1-2 tablespoons of mustard
1-2 tablespoons of (your favorite bbq sauce)

2 teaspoon onion powder (or 2 tablespoons of grated onion)
1 teaspoon of garlic powder (1 minced garlic clove )

about 1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup applesauce (to replace 1 egg)

about 1 lb of ground meat of your choice (this time I used 1/2 ground turkey 1/2 beef)

Directions:
Heat oven 350
In a large bowl mix all ingredients except meat & breadcrumbs until well combined
Mix in the meat and breadcrumbs but
 don't over-mix (because Rachel Ray told me not to)
Roll your meatballs and place in a baking dish
Pour your favorite marinara sauce over the meatballs.  Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes.  Uncover to bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly and serve with spaghetti or your favorite pasta of choice.

~ Pam

What's for dinner tonight? Monday Jan. 9th

A quick and easy dairy free meal that everyone will enjoy...

I threw (almost literally) a package of chicken thighs in the crockpot with about 1/4 cup of Lawry's balsamic herb marinade (I didn't marinade first at all).

That will cook for about 5 hours and then will make some Uncle Ben's microwave brown rice and a quick veggie for the sides.

Voila --quick, dairy free dinner is d.o.n.e.

:-)

~ Pam