Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Reuben Sandwiches


For our St. Patrick's Day dinner, we had the traditional corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots...my most fave dinner of all! This time I bought a few extra corned beefs to enjoy through out the year and one I cooked up in the crock pot just for the leftovers. I ordered a loaf of marble rye bread from a bakery hoping with the dark rye (pumpernickel?) in it, I'd maybe enjoy rye bread more. Well, plain rye bread is plain rye bread...I'm just not a fan, but do like pumpernickel. Anyways, I added some sauerkraut (the kind from the bag), swiss cheese, thousand island dressing and sliced corned beef then toasted/grilled it all together.


They looked sooo good, and since Mr. was home that day he was treated to a nice lunch. He loved them! Even my little boy liked them!! But not Mommy. That rye bread taste...surprisingly I loved the sauerkraut on them, lol. Maybe if I did toasted sour dough instead.

Reuben Sandwiches
slices of rye (I used marble rye)
sliced corned beef
slices of swiss cheese
sauerkraut, drained and squeezed dry
thousand island dressing
butter

Butter outside slices of rye, add a little thousand Island to the inside of the slices, layer on swiss cheese, sauerkraut and corned beef and another slice of swiss. Griddle cook them (I did them open face) like a grilled cheese sandwich. Carefully place together and enjoy!

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Dunkin' Donuts Iced Coffee



Warmer weather is on it's way!
I have been making this for a couple of years now, Mr. loves it. I like to add a flavored creamer, a little milk and lots of chocolate syrup to mine...I have to hide that coffee taste and mochas are more my kind of coffee. It will be strong at first and as the ice cubes melt it will dilute the coffee even better.

Dunkin' Donuts Iced Coffee
Recipe from Dunkin' Donuts
To brew a full-flavored pot of Dunkin' Donuts Iced Coffee, double the amount of coffee grinds you would normally brew for hot coffee.

-Measure 4 level tablespoons ground coffee for every 6 oz. of cold filtered water you plan to brew. (I use 6 oz for 1 serving)
-After the coffee is done brewing, remove it from the burner and let cool.
-Pour the coffee into a temperature safe container, and add ice until the mixture cools and doubles in volume. -Keep in mind that the melting ice dilutes the coffee, which is why Iced Coffee is brewed using twice the amount of grinds at hot coffee.
To keep Iced Coffee cold and fresh, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Iced Coffee should be consumed within eight hours after brewing.

Drink as is, or add milk, cream, chocolate syrup or sugar to sweeten and lighten to taste.
enjoy,

Monday, March 21, 2011

Honey Walnut Shrimp! Oh Yum!!


-sorry for the night time photo-

If you have ever have honey walnut shrimp at a Chinese take out, then you'll love this recipe even better!! We recently discovered it at Panda Express, but I had already found this recipe before going, so I compared theirs to this. Well I love theirs but homemade is SO MUCH BETTER! You just cannot get that light crispy tempura from take out. Oh man! I made this for Mr. and I (actually we had a small 3 course dinner, Carbonara for kids, lobster raviolis & this shrimp for us) and we even had leftovers. My last words before falling asleep was, "That shrimp was so good, but I am so stuffed I don't even want to think about it!". lol. Give this one a try, I think you'll love it  too!

Here is Kai's YouTube video, but I'll add the ingredients below.




Honey Walnut Shrimp

Tempura batter:
1 C. all purpose flour
1 TBL baking powder
1 egg
3/4-1C. water
-Whisk all together, until desired consistency. Add 1 pound of cleaned shrimp (tails off), and set aside.

Honey Walnut Sauce:
1 TBL sweetened condensed milk
1/4 C. mayo
1 TBL honey
squeeze of lemon
-Stir all until combined, set aside.

In a large saute pan or wok, heat about 2" canola oil. Fry shrimp in batches until just golden, drain on paper towel set aside until all batches are cooked. (I kept them in a warm oven)

Walnuts:
1 C. chopped walnuts (can leave whole)
2 TBL granulated sugar
2-3 TBL water
1 tsp honey

In a clean dry hot large saute pan/wok, add sugar and water, stir until sugar dissolves. Add honey, stir then add nuts to coat.
Then add in fried shrimp and sauce then gently toss to coat all.




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enjoy,
Rachelle

Monday, March 14, 2011

Chicken, Bacon and Cream Cheese Mini Taquitos


I made these  Chicken, Bacon and Cream Cheese Mini Taquitos as part of a review and giveaway I have going on (go enter to win!), and had to share them here on my recipe page too. They were a little tedious to make lots of tiny taquitos, but it was worth it. They're nice and tiny and cute too and were great little lunch munchies while Nascar was on. The littlest kids didn't want to try them, but us 3 older ones loved them, and the dip was fantastic too! I used Swanson's Premium Chicken in these, but you certainly can use any leftover cooked chicken instead.

Taste and Tell's Chicken, Bacon and Cream Cheese Mini Taquitos

1/3 of a 16-ounce package bacon (about 6 slices), chopped
1/2 of an 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 cans (12.5 ounces each) Swanson® Premium White Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained (or used leftover cooked chicken)
8 flour tortillas (10-inch)
Vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 medium avocado, pitted, peeled and cut up
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
dash Dried dill weed
dash Garlic powder
dash Ground black pepper

1.Cook the bacon in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain on paper towels.
2.Stir the bacon, cream cheese and chicken in a medium bowl.
3.Cut each tortilla into 3 (3-inch) circles using a round cutter. Spoon about 2 teaspoons chicken mixture in the center of each (one) tortilla round. Roll the tortillas around the filling and secure with toothpicks.
4.Pour the oil into a heavy 4-quart saucepan to a depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil to 350°F.
5.Add the taquitos to the saucepan in batches and cook until well browned on all sides. Remove the taquitos from the saucepan and let drain on paper towels. Let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the toothpicks before serving.
6.Mash the avocado in a medium bowl with a fork. Stir in the mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, vinegar, salt, parsley, onion powder, dill weed, garlic powder and black pepper. Serve with the taquitos for dipping.





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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Pasta e Fagioli


This soup is one hearty meal, it's got it all in there! We loved it. This recipe as is will make a TON of soup so please feel free to cut it in half if you have no need for all that. I went ahead and made the full batch (it took my tallest stock pot!!), but I froze most of it in servings (minus the pasta) and will just cook the pasta once we eat that.

Pasta e Fagioli
slightly adapted from CopyKat Recipes

3 teaspoons canola oil
2 pounds Ground beef
12 ounces Onion; chopped
14 ounces Carrots; diced
14 ounces Celery; diced
48 ounces Tomatoes; canned, diced
2 cups cooked Red Kidney beans
2 cups cooked White kidney beans
88 ounces Beef stock (yes, that much!)
3 teaspoons Oregano
2 1/2 teaspoons Pepper
5 teaspoons Parsley; (fresh chopped)
1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce sauce
48 ounces Marinara Style Spaghetti sauce (I used a non chunky style)
8 ounces tiny dry pasta Shell macaroni; or other small pasta (cooked separately)


Saute beef in oil in large 10-qt. pot until beef starts to brown, drain grease, return to pan. Add onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot. Also add beef stock, oregano, pepper, hot sauce, spaghetti sauce Add chopped parsley. Simmer until celery and carrots are tender, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, cook pasta. When soup is ready add pasta to servings (so it doesn't overcook). Makes 9 qts. of soup!
Yes you may cut this recipe in half for smaller amount.


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Monday, March 7, 2011

Potato Chip Chicken Tenders with a Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce


Remember my review for Simply Suppers (I love that Carbonara recipe!)? This recipe comes from there. Jennifer recently had a few of her recipes featured at a Restaurant and these were one of them. She posted about them on Facebook, and it was decided that I should try them. =)

Potato chip crusted chicken breast tenders with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce, Mmmm! The kids loved these and I served them with a homemade BBQ sauce, Ranch, honey mustard and a sweet chili sauce. We'll be having these again for sure!


Potato Chip Chicken Tenders
From Simply Suppers by Jennifer Chandler

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I use a GF blend)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 bag (11-ounce) regular Lay’s® potato chips, crushed
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips
Vegetable oil, for frying (I used canola)

Read the directions here.

For the honey mustard dip, whisk together equal amounts yellow mustard, whole-grain Dijon mustard, and mayonnaise. Add honey to taste.

fry lightly on both sides, then bake

I do a little regular, whole grain and dijon in mine.


I LOVE this honey mustard sauce recipe!

Enjoy!


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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Shredded Beef Enchiladas


I took 2 recipes and combined them, then added some of my own doings. I thought these came out great, the kids even ate them, but Mr. says they needed something, HUH?! I only used 1 can of enchilada sauce, but after cooking, it clearly needed more (I used more for the leftovers), so use about 2 cans with however much you like. I cooked my roast in the crock-pot, the day before assembling them. I was able to get 20 enchiladas in the pans I used (see photo). See the smaller portions there? Those are for my Father in Law. I froze them, ready to bake and sent them over to him so he can have some good home cooked meals (I also froze some spaghetti sauce and Pasta e Fagioli soup for him).


Shredded Beef Enchiladas
adapted from here and here and myself

2 1/2 lb chuck roast
1-2 TBLchili powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1-2 TBL cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 serrano chili, cut in half
1 jalapeno, cut in half
2 cans beef broth
2 cans chopped green chili peppers, divided
Small white corn tortillas, I used 20 for my pans
2 -28oz cans Red enchilada sauce
4 cups jack cheese, shredded, divided (2C set aside)
3 cups cheddar , shredded, divided
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups sour cream
2 small cans sliced olives

Liberally sprinkle roast with salt, pepper, chili powder,and a little cumin. In a large dutch oven over medium heat, brown roast quickly in 2 tablespoon of oil. Place the roast in a crock pot with the diced onion, garlic, 1 can of the green chilies, serrano and jalapeno peppers. Add 2 cans of beef broth and cover pot and cook on low until very tender and meat shreds easily, about 6 hours, depending on size of roast (I did this the day before). When roast is done, remove meat to a bowl or plate and cool for a few minutes. Skim the onions, garlic, chilie and peppers out of the pot and add to the roast. Taking 2 forks, shred the roast into bite size pieces and if the meat is dry add some of the cooking liquid to the meat. You want the meat to be moist but not sloppy. Add another can of green chilis to the meat mixture and combine.

For a cream sauce to go with the beef, stir flour and sour cream and heat in a saucepan, let cook a couple minutes then add 2 cups of Monterey Jack cheese. Cook on low for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the cheese is all melted and mixed. Set aside and let cool.

For tortillas: In a small skillet over medium heat, add oil to about 1/4 inch depth. When oil is hot, add 1 tortilla at a time to skillet. When tortilla starts to puff, turn over with tongs (it takes about 3 seconds), and then remove tortilla to paper towel lined pan to drain. Continue with rest of tortillas.

To assemble these enchiladas, you'll need 2 9x13 inch baking pans (or 1 9x13 + 2 8x8). Place 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce in each pan to cover the bottom. Taking a tortilla, spread about 2 TBL of white cheese sauce on tortilla, place a couple of spoonfuls of meat mixture along the tortilla, add a good pinch of cheddar and jack cheese and roll up. Place enchilada, seam side down into pan and repeat. I fill the tortillas fairly full, but you must be able to wrap them some to contain the filling. After enchiladas are all rolled, spoon more enchilada sauce over the tops and add the rest of the cheddar and jack cheese, sprinkle with olives. Place pans in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until bubbly (I covered mine with foil then removed it the last few minutes). Remove and let cool 5 minutes or so before serving.

*You can freeze these, use appropriate freezer to oven pans (I got mine from the dollar store), and freeze prepped enchiladas in sauce, but do not bake. When ready to eat, bake 350' for about an hour or until heated through.
my pre line going and freezer stash of misc. foods



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enjoy,