Saturday, November 23, 2013

Nacho Scramble



I know this is going to sound completely insane.  But before you judge me, you really need to try this!  So, this wonderful creation has only three ingredients: A Nacho Supreme that you picked up last night on your way home, 3 eggs, and some cheddar cheese!  This is so super simple. To start off give your nachos a little chop chop on a cutting board (I ask for jalapenos on mine).  Next, toss them in a pan with a little oil and fry until they get a touch crispy again and a little bit of color.  

Add your eggs and continue cooking until set.  I add a Taco Bell hot sauce packet at this time too.  

 When the eggs are set, top with cheese, and cover until melted. 

 Waaa Laaa!  Your super yummy, super simple breakfast is complete! 


There's enough her for at least two, so make sure you share!

Enjoy!

Friday, August 30, 2013

Lasagna Rolls

 Had a lovely dinner last night with our friends Marilee and Joe. Such good people!  It was wonderful getting to spend quality time with them in our home!

I decided on making lasagna rolls, a green salad and garlic bread.
And.....  they brought
CHOCOLATE!
 Here is how I make my rolls.  First off, I make my own sauce and I would give the recipe but I know no measurements!  I've tried measuring the ingredients while I make it and it just doesn't taste as good.  It does contain ground beef, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, paste, water, parm cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, sugar, and Italian seasoning.  My meat balls are ground beef, seasoned bread crumbs, parm cheese, garlic and some of the spaghetti sauce.  
Start by boiling the noodles until almost softened. Spoon on a layer of ricotta cheese (mixed with an egg, parm cheese and Italian seasoning).  Add a whole meatball (2 halves) and cheeses (jack and mozzarella). Roll carefully and place in a pan that has a layer of sauce on the bottom.
 After placing the rolls in the pan, top them with additional red sauce.  I like to add a spoonful of white sauce to the top of my rolls too.  It really gives them an amazing rich flavor. (Cook 1 T butter and 1 T flour for a couple minutes,  add I T chicken bouillon, 1 cup half and half and 1 T fresh parsley). Stir constantly until smooth and thickened. Spoon over the rolls (8 total) and top with additional cheese and parsley.
 Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes and enjoy!  

We served with garlic bread and a salad!

Dinner was amazing just like our company!


"Friends are like stars, they come and go, but the ones that stay are the ones that glow"

Friday, August 23, 2013

Beef Bulgogi

My good friends Lynn and Shannon came to dinner last night (I even got flowers :-)

Great food, great wine, great company!  What more can a girl ask for!
 We love this Beef Bulgogi recipe from Allrecipes.  I highly recommend marinading it overnight.  We used skirt steak since apparently it is really hard to find a flank steak where I live. Grill for about 2 minutes on each side on a very hot grill (we are medium rare kinda girls)  So flavorful!
 White Rice - I usually cook my rice in the rice cooker, but since I saw someone do it this way I can't seem to go back.  This works for any amount but I did 2 cups rice, 4 cups chicken broth, 2 T butter and some white pepper.  Bring to a boil on the stove, turn down and simmer until the liquid has evaporated enough that the rice on top is dry and steam holes have formed (I stir it a few times in the beginning)  Cover, turn down as low as you can and let sit for 10 minutes.  It makes a really fluffy flavorful rice.
Lawnmower Salad.  I will definitely be making this again.    The only change I made was adding half a bag of broccoli slaw with half a bag of TriSlaw which had cabbage, carrots, and broccoli slaw in it.  I also only added one bag of ramen instead of the two it called for.  Highly recommend this!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beef-Bulgogi/?prop31=3
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lawn-Mower-Salad/?prop31=3

Monday, July 15, 2013

Cilantro Chili Chicken Skewers

I am a very visual cook and I just love Pinterest when looking for new meals to cook. Even when I used to buy cookbooks, it was a must that they contained pictures of each recipe. It's only if a picture caught my eye that I actually read the recipe.  

I found this recipe for Cilantro Chili Chicken Skewers on Pinterest a while back and it looked amazing! We had a lot of salad left over from last night, so we added that to the meal along with white rice. There is a lot of cilantro in this but the flavor was not overwhelming at all.
As the meat cooks you baste it with the Sweet Chili Sauce (from the Asian section of the grocery store.)  We really really liked this chicken and will most definitely will be making it again.  
Here is the link to the recipe:  http://cookinghawaiianstyle.com/index.php/hawaiian-recipes/recipes/detail/2654/cilantro-chili-chicken-skewers

Flat Iron Steaks by the Pool

We had the girls over tonight for a swim and dinner! There they are over there-->  
Tried a few new recipes and they all turned out wonderful!




Parmesan Crusted Potatoes.  Cut potatoes in half, butter, salt and pepper each half.  Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese onto each potato and lay them on a cookie sheet face down (make sure to spay the pan so they don't stick).  
Grilled Vegetable Salad. This recipe is from Celeste over at allrecipes.com. My friends all went gaga over this salad! I saw second and even third helpings being eaten!
http://allrecipes.com/personalrecipe/62370473/grilled-vegetable-salad-with-fresh-herb-vinaigrette/detail.aspx?prop31=4
 Pioneer Woman's Butter Bread.  Bread and butter that's it!
 Flat Iron Steaks grilled to medium rare.  The marinade from allrecipes.com as well, and was really good!  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Steak-Marinade-in-Existence/?prop31=2
 Kelly brought over her famous chili beans and we tossed in a salad.  I had to get a pic of the other Kelly's plate.  I swear she licked it clean!

Friday, July 5, 2013

Cheesy Spicy Chicken Sandwich

T
Those who know me know I am not much of a breakfast person.  I know it's the most important meal of the day, but my body just does not feel like consuming food the moment I get up in the morning. Usually around 10 o'clock is when I really start to get hungry,  
and one of my favorite things to eat is sandwiches!  I love making them at home and it's usually what I order at restaurants when I go out to breakfast or lunch. 
This sandwich here is one probably up in the top 10 of sandwiches I make.  I found the original recipe a few years ago on Allrecipes.com. At the time I didn't have the right seasoning it called for in the sauce so I had to adapt.  I actually have never tried it the original way because this way is so good!

Here is the list of ingredients:

Sourdough bread
Chicken
Cheddar Cheese
Bacon, diced
Caesar Dressing
Cayenne Pepper
Salt & Pepper
Butter for grilling

Butter one side of each slice of bread.  Top bread with cheese, chicken and bacon bits (shown in picture). Lightly salt and pepper the chicken.  Grill sandwich in skillet or panini maker.  Meanwhile, take about 1 Tbsp Caesar dressing (I like Marie's the best) and add 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, stir.  When sandwich is toasted and cheese melted, open sandwich and add dressing.  Close sandwich and serve. You can adjust the cayenne according to taste.  

I hope you give it a try!

Karen

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Pork Tenderloin in Pan Sauce

I don't remember having pork much as a kid along with other foods that I have grown to love since like Chinese, Greek and Thai.  Last year I made an amazing discovery, PORK TENDERLOIN. It pains me to know that I have been missing out on eating this wonderful cut of meat my whole entire life!  I usually grill my pork tenderloin but was looking for something different when I found this recipe on Pinterest. My friend Suz was coming over to watch Les Miserables with me in the afternoon, and I knew I could talk her into staying for dinner!   
I marinated the pork for about 6 hours then cooked as directed until my thermometer reached 150 degrees (do NOT overcook pork).  While the meat was resting (tented) I whipped up a box (yes a box) of rice pilaf then made the sauce for the tenderloin. Instead of saving the 3 tablespoons of the marinade as the recipe states for the sauce, I just added what was left in the bag the meat marinated in (marinade police be warned).  I simmered it for about 10 minutes with the chicken stock than added the tsp Tbsp of butter. This recipe was amazing, it had great flavor, and was soooo tender it melted in your mouth. It is easy enough to serve on a week night to your family but elegant enough to serve at a dinner party!

Here is the link to the recipe:
http://simpledinners.blogspot.com/2013/04/pork-tenderloin-with-pan-sauce.html

Enjoy,

Karen

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Party Roll-Ups

Roll-ups are one of my favorite things to make for parties and small get-togethers.  You can pretty much roll any kinds of meats and cheeses into a tortilla and it's going to taste great! Squaring the tortilla before starting is a must if you want uniform circles when when you cut them.  I pretty much always use cream cheese as my "glue" to hold them together.   I put my cream cheese in the microwave for a few seconds to thin it out a bit.  I also add a little mayo so it's not so stiff when eating.   Flavoring the cream cheese will also add to your overall flavor of your roll-up.   Be sure to chill them for at least an hour before cutting with a sharp knife.   Here are a few from the past couple years that I have made.

Roast Beef & Horse Radish Roll-Up

Roast Beef

Cheese
Lettuce
Cream Cheese/Mayo mixed with Horse Radish


 Turkey and Cranberry Roll Ups

Turkey

Cheese
lettuce
Cream Cheese/Mayo/Dried Cranberries
Mini Reuben Roll Ups 

Corned Beef

Swiss Cheese
Sauerkraut
Russian Dressing



 Ranch Ham Roll Ups

Ham

Swiss cheese
Lettuce
Cream Cheese/Mayo/Dry Ranch Dressing
Antipasto Roll Ups

Pepperoni

Salami
Prosciutto
Smoked Provolone
Cream Cheese
Olives
Pepperoncini
Drizzle with: Red Wine Vinegar, EVOO, Pepper, Basil, Oregano and Garlic Powder.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Chicken Lazone

Well, no one came to dinner tonight so it was just the two of us, but now we have leftovers for tomorrow which is never a bad thing!  Since this is officially my first day of summer break, and I had A LOT of free time today, I decided on this tasty looking chicken dish I saved on one of my Pinterest boards.  I made the chicken seasoning as the recipe stated, but added half paprika in place of half of the chili powder.  The flavor was different but good. I also sauteed the chicken in half butter and half olive oil instead of all butter.  After the chicken was cooked, I sauteed onions and a bit of garlic in the saucepan before adding the cream and additional butter.  After tasting the sauce I thought the flavor was very bland.  I ended up adding salt, pepper, and a little red pepper flakes.    I think if I ever made it again I would add some sun dried tomatoes as well.   

Here is the link to the original recipe.

http://www.plainchicken.com/2013/05/chicken-lazone.html#more

Enjoy!

Karen

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Panera's Spinach and Bacon Egg Souffle

Let's start out with a copycat recipe for Panera Breads breakfast souffles.  I was down in Southern California a few months ago visiting my best buddy Rae Lynn.  One morning while out shopping, we stopped at Panera for something to drink and eat.  Now,  I had never had anything but a bagel for breakfast from Panera (which was what I had in mind this day) but when I laid my eye on their breakfast souffle's I was a goner.  Rae ordered the spinach and artichoke souffle and I ordered the one with spinach and bacon.  They were both SOOOO good!  A few weeks later, back at home, I was really craving that souffle.  I got on-line and found this copycat recipe and couldn't wait to try it.  The recipe I found is amazing, maybe not the exact same, but just as good in my opinion.  I actually had to go buy little ramekins to make them, but now I am excited I get to find other recipes I can make using them.  Here is the link to the recipe:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/top-secret-recipes-revealed/story?id=4310959#.UdB4qfk3vst

I substituted bacon for the artichoke in the ones I made.  

I am giving this recipe
*****

Keep Calm and Cook On!

Karen

A New Adventure

Welcome to my new blog all about family, friends and what brings us together, FOOD!  My name is Karen and I am just a regular gal who loves to entertain.  I have been told I am a good cook and I love to make people happy by filling their bellies with yummy food.  I have dabbled in catering and my specialties are salads and appetizers.  I haven't done anything huge, baby showers, birthday parties, evening adult parties and a couple of funerals.  Everything has been done through word of mouth from my friends and co-workers. 
Last summer I created my first blog which shows the going-ons in my special ed classroom.  I love posting on that blog but have wished that I had somewhere else to post things that don't have to do with teaching.  This blog will give me the opportunity to share what I love doing when I'm not at work.
Most of my recipes come from ideas I find on the cooking channel, in magazines, and on the internet.  My picture taking is not the best, but I will try to do my best to capture the food that I will be showing.  So, sit back and relax and enjoy the food!

Karen