I am pretty sure that my Valentine’s Day looks different that many women’s and that is fine with me! NerdDad and I tend to exchange rather, well, nerdy gifts. So I was stoked when NerdDad got me a new Microsoft Wireless Mouse
Don’t these chocolate hamantaschen look great? Chocolate dough with peanut butter chips as the filling. They were a big hit! I found the recipe over at Aish.com. It served as a great lesson. Sometimes you can find great holiday recipes somewhere other than recipe sites. Look around on religious websites. Sometimes they have great twists on the classic dishes!
As the new year is about to start I , like everyone else, am looking at changes I want to make. Believe it or not it isn’t to eat healthy. My change I want to make is to do more “once a month”, freezer style cooking. So that leads me to my question for this backwards Works for Me Wednesday.
Do you have any recipes that are good in the freezer or any once a month cooking tips?
Ruby orbs of juicy goodness. Yes, I am talking about pomegranate seeds. At Trader Joe’s they charge about $3.99 for pomegranate seeds. They look like they are about 1 pomegranate’s worth, maybe less than 1. Now on the other side. Here are 3 pomegranates that I bought for 50 cents a pound at a farmer’s market. But then there is the business of seeding them. It is super easy if you just plan ahead a little.
Ahh, the elusive home made chicken stock. But I don’t want to collect bones in my freezer or watch the pot for hours upon hours. So is there an easier way? Definitely! Now it may not be quite as good as one made with chicken feet and simmered for days but then again, neither are the cans. I use dark meat on bones to make my stock and then I use the meat for chicken pot pies and other meals.
Who doesn’t want a yummy way to get veggies into your diet? I need to get more serving myself not to mention teaching my kids to eat and like them. I saw a recipe for these in a magazine and tweaked it a little bit.
I am Irish! I love Corned Beef and Cabbage. But early in my marriage I realized that my husband doesn’t like cabbage or mustard. Both things that are essential to a good corned beef and cabbage meal. So I tweaked. I now have a great corned beef recipe that everyone will love, even those who hate corned beef. The first thing I did was toss the mustard seeds and the cabbage. You can make it in a crockpot or the oven. The key is seasoning it like a tri tip roast. Make sure that you put a little water in the pan, even if you are cooking it in the oven. Our favorite way is putting red potatoes and the corned beef into a baking dish. Then I just bake it at 350 degrees until it is done. This depend on size and temperature, ours is usually an hour to 1 1/2 hours. You could also put it in the crockpot for 3-4 hours on high and 6-8 hours on low. That is it! Corned Beef every one will love.
So we collect all these great recipes but never make them because it takes for ever to cook them. Well the best invest I have made in my kitchen (short of my stand mixer) are 3/4 sheet pans with coordinating nonstick liners. Now that is the size that will just fit into my ovens. Full sheet pans were just about 1/2 inch to big.
Getting the biggest pans for your ovens is a blessing. I can cook a whole batch of chocolate cookies (30+) in 12 minutes. I also can make large batches of chocolate almond popcorn around the holidays. This just makes a better use of my time.
Then getting the matching liners saves even more time. Of course they are great because nothing sticks but it also cuts down on the washing. When I make cookies I don’t have to wash the sheet pans just the liners.
I will warn you that I couldn’t find these in a kitchen store (like LinensNThings, William Sonoma, etc) so I just went to a Restaurant Supply store. They aren’t fancy, just the rolled aluminum. Before you fret about them not being the AirBake, stoneware, etc remember this is what the professionals use.
So that is my tip for this week. Go cook and enjoy!
So when I haven’t been a good wifey and have a menu set up and it is around dinner time, this is what we throw on the table. If you pull out a bag of made ahead chicken, this will take thawing plus about 10 minutes.
Ingredients:
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups water
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
2 cups Broccoli (I use frozen, straight out of the freezer)
2 cups Instant Rice
Process:
In a large skillet, make sure that you chicken is warm and put aside in a bowl. Then mix water and soup together and bring to a boil (now is when you add any seasonings). Turn down and mix in all ingredients remaining. Cover and cook on medium/low for 5 minutes. If you are using frozen broccoli it will take up to another 5 minutes.
That is it!
So I tried something new this year when it came to mashed potatoes. First off I used Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 1/2lbs) and then I just peeled and boiled them like normal. Then I dumped them in the colander to drain them and then I let them just sit there for a few minutes while the excess water worked its way out. Then I dumped them into my KitchenAid Mixer
Now I have had the mashed potatoes with all the sour cream, creamed cheese and whole milk and these were better. While brie seems a bit decadent just remember that you are just adding a little bit versus recipes that call for both cream cheese and sour cream. I have also found that brie isn’t that expensive. Today I saw it for less that $5 a pound.
All said, they were delectable. Even my nephew who doesn’t really like cheese loved these potatoes!