Oatmeal Awesomeness!

Sometime ago I cooked up some baked oatmeal as featured in the Amish cookbook called Amish Heritage Cookbook by Beverly Lewis (due to copyright, I cannot post the recipe, but you can buy the book or see if your library has it). The oatmeal was very simple to make -- it basically consisted of rolled oats, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, and butter. I baked it and then served it up with some dried fruit and milk. This was so good!

I plan to make it again. I think next time I will try it with strawberries and bananas. I also liked this recipe because it freezes well and keeps well in the fridge. All you have to do is re-heat it and add it to some milk and you are good to go.

Because it has been so long since I made this, I don't really have anymore to say about this. But if you are looking for a new oatmeal recipe - this one is it! It doesn't take much longer to prepare than your standard instant oatmeal and it tastes way better!

Baked Oatmeal:

Ole! Squashamole!

I haven't blogged in forever, I know. What a busy summer it has been! Last night, though, I was finally able to do some cooking. Last night I made a dip called Squashamole. It is like guacamole but made with squash and zucchini instead of avocado.

This dip has very unique taste. The veggies are cooked before they are pureed so there is a little bit of sweetness but the garlic and salt and pepper even that out. The recipe said it makes five cups, but I would surmise there may be a little bit more than that.

This dip is awesome with tortilla chips, but as I was eating it last night I was thinking it would be really good with a quesadilla or taco. There is also walnuts and parmesan cheese in the dip, and those alone would make an awesome coating to some fish, chicken, or pork. But the walnuts and cheese do get pureed with the veggies, so except for the taste, there is no noticeable texture from the nuts.  So if you have a nut allergy, the best thing to do would be to omit the nuts. I definitely think the dip can stand on its own without the nuts.

If I make this again, next time I will cut the veggies up a little bit more after they are cooked as it took a very long time to puree everything in the food processor. This dish is vegan friendly as there are no animal products in this, so this dish is crowd pleaser for all! Happy dipping!

Squashamole:

I have not gone away!

Summers tend to be very busy for me and this summer has been no exception!

Just to recap what I have done so far: I have worked on my favorite TV show ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"), met a favorite author (James Rollins), gone to many parties, got a clean bill of health from the foot doc, and have done a lot of swimming and general playing.

So, as you can see, this has left very little time for cooking. But I plan to be cooking up a storm very soon. I am going to be incorporating a new element into my cooking, but that will be something for another day.

Fall Apart Chicken

Today at work we had a potluck and in honor of Cinco De Mayo we had "Mexican" food. I signed up to bring meat and so I decided to bring shredded chicken. Everyone loved the chicken and wanted the recipe, so I decided to post it here. This recipe is painfully easy and the results are fall apart, tender chicken breast. This recipe can easily be modified for any types of marinades, seasonings, or anything else you would like in the chicken. I like this shredded chicken recipe for a variety of dishes. Everything from casseroles to nachos! I think you will like this recipe too.

Shredded Chicken With Taco Seasoning

Boneless Chicken Breasts (today I used about 3.5 lbs. of chicken, but you can use more or less depending on how many people you are feeding and if you want leftovers)

Taco Seasoning of choice – 1 packet per pound, plus one extra

Water

Put the chicken in the crock pot, dump the taco seasoning on top (reserve the extra packet), add enough water until the chicken is covered.

Cook on low for 8-12 hours, until chicken is cooked through. Strain the liquid off into a bowl or another pot as you will need it.

Stab a fork in the chicken and shred it until desired consistency. The chicken will be so tender, it will take about two minutes to shred the chicken.

Add the extra taco seasoning and add some of the taco liquid back into the chicken until the chicken is well covered and is to a desired look and taste.

Serve as desired – refrigerate leftovers, if any.

Tips: If you want a little sweeter chicken flavor (like they have at Bajio or Café Rio), add a few teaspoons of honey to the crock pot before cooking. If you want it a little spicier, add some chili powder, cayenne pepper, or hot sauce before cooking as well. This chicken also refrigerates well for up to two weeks. I use it in everything – tacos, burritos, salads, quesadillas, and nachos and anything else that sounds good.

You can also omit the taco seasoning and just cook the chicken and water in the crock pot for shredded chicken for other recipes, but if you do leave out the taco seasoning, make sure you salt and pepper the chicken so the flavor of the chicken is enhanced.  

 

Little Heavenly Bites Of Goodness!

Sometimes I must say I impress myself. Yeah, I know I said I would be making some Amish recipes and all, but you know there are some days when you crave certain foods. Tonight I was craving spaghetti and meatballs. Spaghetti is by far one of my favorite things to eat, but I don't usually make it because I usually make too much. But I really had to have meatballs. I have a recipe for meatballs that I have developed over the years. I can still remember when I got the basic recipe and what I was doing. When I was in college, a friend and I were really craving some home cooking and so we decided we wanted spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. We knew how to cook spaghetti, but neither one of us were too sure on the meatballs. So I called my mom from my cell phone and asked her how to make them. She gave me a very basic recipe which was basically ground beef, saltine crackers, parsley, salt, and pepper. They turned out alright, but I wanted more. Since then I have played around with this recipe over the years and have come up with a recipe that I truly love. I have decided to share my recipe with the world, if you will, today! There are a lot of ingredients but they truly make a delicious meatball. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can make a lot of them and use what you want and freeze the rest for a quick and easy meal later. I have included a picture of how to prep them for the freezer. The measurements in this recipe are approximate; I never measure when I make these, you may need to adjust to your own taste. Happy meatball eating!


Heavenly Bites of Goodness
1 lb. of ground beef or turkey (tonight I used about 1/2 lb. of each cause it is what I had left)
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. tarragon
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. rosemary
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1 Tb. parsley
1 Tb. fennel seed
1 Tb. Parmesan cheese
1 egg
4-6 Saltine Crackers
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil

In a mixing bowl combine all of ingredients except for egg and crackers. Add the egg and then add the crackers until the meat mixture is moist but not super runny or sticky. The best way to combine the ingredients is to put the meat in the bowl and make a pocket in the meat -- add the ingredients and then use your hands to mix the meat up. Once the meat mixture is complete, turn a skillet on low with a little olive oil in the bottom of the pan. Add the meatballs until nicely seared on the outside and cooked fully in the middle. Serve with pasta, on a sandwich, or just eat right out of the pan.



Meatball texture up close:



Many meatballs:



Spaghetti and meatballs:



Meatball prep for freezer:

I am back and ready to cook!

Hello, everyone! I am back and better than ever! After two months of recovery from foot surgery, I am ready and itching to cook again! The last few days I have been thinking about what to cook and I have settled on a few things. First up will be some recipes that are common among the Amish from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I am a huge admirer of the Amish and love how they cook and use everything and never waste! I recently purchased a book of Amish recipes compiled by Beverly Lewis, an author who writes fictional stories about the Amish. Needless to say, I am slightly addicted to her novels! I have read just about everything she has written.

These recipes come from her grandmother who was raised in an Old Order Mennonite home and the author herself grew up in Amish country, so she knows what she is talking about.

So, watch the blog over the course of the next week as I start cooking. The only difference between me and the Amish is I will be using modern kitchen tools. Happy cooking, everyone!

A Brief Hiatus

Hello, everyone! I want to let you all know I will be taking a brief hiatus from my blog. I just had foot surgery and as a result I have to hobble around in a pink cast for the next month or so. This cast makes it very difficult to cook, so until my cast is removed towards the end of March, I will not be blogging on new recipes. I will return, though, at the end of March with lots of new recipes and wonderful new ideas and tips! Have a great February, everyone!