Friday, January 26, 2007

Favorite Ingredients Friday- Super Bowl Sunday Edition!



I keep forgetting to participate in this weekly feature, and it's frustrating to me cause there's always such great recipes being shared. I had a post drafted and ready to go, but I didn't realize it was a Super Bowl Sunday Edition, so I'm quickly redoing it LOL Here we go....

Cheese Steak Sandwiches

  • 2 pounds boneless trimmed rib eye, very thinly sliced (partially freeze to make slicing much easier)
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons Canola oil
  • salt and pepper
  • Cheez Whiz®, melted American cheese, or similar process cheese
  • 6 hoagie or sub rolls, about 6" lengths


Heat Canola oil in non-stick skillet over medium heat. Sauté onions in the hot skillet until just tender; remove onions and set aside. Add sliced beef; sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté quickly to desired doneness, turning several times.

Meanwhile, melt cheese or heat Cheez Whiz in top of double boiler over simmering water. Hint: At a party, keep cheese in a slow cooker with ladle and let people help themselves. Split sub rolls; place onions and sliced beef on each roll. Spoon melted cheese or Cheez Whiz over the beef. Or, set platters out and let people build their own sandwiches.

Serve with your choice of condiments and plenty of napkins!

Serves 6.

If you want to join in, just run on over to Overwhelmed with Joy for a TON of other great Super Bowl recipes, believe me, your hubbies will thank you :)

Monday, January 22, 2007

PADRE ISLAND SHELLS

I love crab and I love pasta, so when I found this recipe in my Taste of Home Cookbook Fall 2006, I knew it had to be tried. I'm making it for dinner tonight, so hopefully it's good :)

PADRE ISLAND SHELLS

1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion

4 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1 large tomato, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1-1/4 cups shredded pepper Jack or Monterey Jack cheese, divided

3-1/2 cups medium shell pasta, cooked and drained

3 cans (6 ounces each) crabmeat, drained, flaked and cartilate removed or 1 pound imitation crabmeat, flaked

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs




In a large saucepan, saute green pepper and onion in 2 tablespoons butter until tender.
Stir in flour and salt until blended.
Gradually stir in milk.

Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in tomato and parsley.

Remove from the heat; stir in 1 cup of cheese until melted.

Stir in pasta and crab.
Transfer to a greased shallow 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350º for 20 minutes.

Melt the remaining butter; toss with bread crumbs. Sprinkle over casserole.
Top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Menu Plan Monday!

Hey Ladies, come on into my kitchen and see what I'm cooking this week....I have some old family favorites and some new ones too. The favorites usually have recipes up already so I'll link, and if not, then I will have the recipes up on the day that I make them, so if you're interested in a specific recipe just come back OR let me know and I'll go ahead and get the recipes up for you:)

If you're interested in playing along or just checking out what everyone is cooking, run on over to "I'm an Organizing Junkie".

I'm sharing my menu plus two extra days, since payday is halfway through the next week and that is when I go get my groceries and write up my new menus.


MENU PLAN MONDAY


MENU PLAN JANUARY 15th - 21st



Monday 22nd
Breakfast:
French Toast
Lunch:
Tuna Sandwich
Dinner:
Padre Island Shells


Tuesday 23rd

Breakfast: Oatmeal, Chocolate Milk
Lunch: Soup & Sandwiches
Dinner: Steaks with Mushroom Cream Sauce
served with homemade fries


Wednesday 24th
Breakfast: Cinnamon Toast
Lunch: Chicken Nuggets, Mac and Cheese
Dinner: Club Sandwiches, Potato Salad, Iced Tea


Thursday 25th
Breakfast: Cereal, milk
Lunch: Pigs in a blanket
Dinner: Ham and Swiss Chicken Roll Ups


Friday 26th
Breakfast: Banana Pancakes, Juice
Lunch: Cheese Quesadillas
Dinner: Diner Theme (Grilled Cheese & Ham, Steak Fries
and Coke Floats)


Saturday 27th
Breakfast: Bacon, Eggs, Toast
Lunch: Chili Dogs
Dinner: Cheesy Kielbasa Bake


Sunday 28th
Breakfast: Curt's Omeletes
Lunch: Pizza
Dinner: Baked Potato Soup


Monday 29th
Breakfast: Strawberry stuffed french toast
Lunch: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Dinner: Melt in your Mouth Sausages


Tuesday 30th
Breakfast: Pancakes, OJ
Lunch: Tuna Salad
Dinner: Slow Cooker Beef Stew


Wednesday 31st
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Dinner: Homemade Mexican Pizza


Friday, January 19, 2007

PORK CHOPS AND POTATOES


So the other day I was saying that I was going to make Pork Chops with potatoes, the portuguese way. Portuguese food is all about the garlic and olive oil and all that yummy stuff......so when it comes to preparing some pork chops or steaks, it's no different. Here is how I make this meal:

PORK CHOPS


4 Pork Chops 1 garlic clove, sliced
olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

paprika
1 bay leaf

1/4 cup white wine (
use wine that you would drink, the cooking wine is usually really salty and NOT very tasty IMO)

In a bowl combine pork chops, garlic, salt and pepper, paprika, bay leaf and white wine. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.

If I forget to do it the night before, I marinate it in the morning and let it sit until dinner time.


Drizzle the bottom of the skillet with olive oil. Add the pork chops and fry for about 6 minutes on each side or until done and golden brown.

Remove chops from the skillet, add a little butter or water and using a spatula scrape the bottom and sides of pan to get the drippings. Let it cook for a minute or two until you have a rich brown gravy.........now it's ready for the potatoes to be added.


POTATOES


Potatoes boiled and cubed (I usually do one for each person or two if they're smaller)

Drop potatoes into the skillet where you cooked the pork chops, stir and let them simmer for a few minutes to absorb all the rich gravy you just made.

Serve with the Pork Chops.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Menu Plan Monday!

So it's monday and that means we get to share our menu plans for this week, I just love that Laura hosts this feature every monday, it's great seeing what everyone is cooking and let me tell you, I've gotten great ideas and sometimes switched my meals around to try the ones that the other ladies are sharing, so if you're interested in playing along or just checking out what everyone is cooking, run on over to "I'm an Organizing Junkie".


MENU PLAN MONDAY



MENU PLAN JANUARY 15th - 21st


MONDAY 15th
Chicken a la king

TUESDAY 16th
Onion and Potato Soup
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

WEDNESDAY 17th
Pork Chops, homemade fries
Salad

THURSDAY 18th
Spaghetti w/ Garlic cheese bread

FRIDAY 19th
Homemade Pizza

SATURDAY 20th
Feijoada (Portuguese Chili)

SUNDAY 21st
Old Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie


Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Galinha no Forno com Arroz (Portuguese Chicken & Rice)

Many of you requested the recipe, so I'm sharing it today. Like I said before, this is one of my younger brother's favorite chicken dish, it does take a bit of time to make, or rather, there's a few steps involved, but the result is worth it. 

 

 

PORTUGUESE CHICKEN AND RICE 
 
1 whole chicken, cut up  
1 medium onion, cut into chunks  
5 slices of bacon  
3 cups of water  
1 1/2 cups of rice  
1 chicken Bouillon cube  
1 bay leaf 
salt and pepper to taste 
 
  For the mixture that is going to be rubbed on the chicken: 
olive oil  
margarine  
paprika  
salt and pepper  
crushed garlic 
 
 
In a large pot add the water, chicken, onion, bouillon cubes, bay leaf and bacon. Cook for about 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken, onion and bacon, add the rice to the broth and cook for 20 minutes or until rice is done. Spray a 13 x 9 inc. baking dish with nonstick spray. 
 
Spoon the rice into the dish. In a separate bowl, combine the olive oil, margarine, paprika, salt and pepper and crushed garlic. (I don't measure, I just eyeball it to create a paste).....
 
Rub the cooked chicken with the paste making sure to cover all of it....arrange the chicken over the rice, arrange the bacon and onion around the chicken. 
 
Place in oven at 375º for about 20 minutes or until everything is heated through and the chicken is looking golden brown. 
 
ENJOY!!! As always, if you try one of the recipes, let me know how it went I would love to know if you enjoyed it or NOT and if there is something you don't understand or doesn't make sense, just let me know ok??? 
 
PS....I will post a pic of the chicken when I make it tonight.

Monday, January 08, 2007

ALL DAY MEATBALLS!!

This is what I fixed for dinner and the family seemed to enjoy them, I actually used a mixture of ground beef and ground pork and they turned out pretty good. Enjoy!!!



ALL DAY MEATBALLS






1 cup milk

1/4 cup quick cooking oats
3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar

In a bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Crumble beef over the mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls. Place in a 5-qt. slow cooker.

In another bowl, combine the ketchup, water, vinegar and sugar; mix well. Pour over the meatballs. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the meat in no longer pink.

Yield: 6 servings

Menu Plan Monday!

I'm actually getting back to normal schedule and I'm SO glad that I didn't forget about this wonderful weekly feature, hosted by the sweet Laura at "I'm an Organizing Junkie".

If you want to play along or just want to get some ideas for your own menus, run on over and check out what's cooking in blogland.

MENU PLAN MONDAY


MENU PLAN JANUARY 8th - 14th


MONDAY 8th
All Day Meatballs - Slow Cooker

TUESDAY 9th
Dad's Favorite Chicken

WEDNESDAY 10th
Onion Beef Au Jus

THURSDAY 11th
Portuguese Roast Chicken and Rice

FRIDAY 12th
Homemade Pizza

SATURDAY 13th
Beef and Onions

SUNDAY 14th
Beef Tacos


Monday, January 01, 2007

Menu Plan Monday!!!

I haven't had a chance to go and check if Laura is hosting the "Menu Plan Monday" today, but I will see later and if she is I will add my name to Mr Linky.

Here is my Menu for this week, you know it feels great to have the holidays behind me and back to normal everyday cooking. A lot of the meals I'm making already have recipes up, so you do a quick search for them on my blog, for those that are not up yet, I will post them as I go.

MENU PLAN JANUARY 1ST - 8TH


MONDAY 1ST
Pork Roast with Mashed Potatoes

TUESDAY 2ND
Turkey Cutlets with fries and Salad

WEDNESDAY 3RD
Hay and Straw

THURSDAY 4TH
Sausage Bean Soup - Slow Cooker

FRIDAY 5TH
Empadao (Shepherds Pie)

SATURDAY 6TH
Portuguese Piri Piri Chicken

SUNDAY 7TH
Stuffed Hamburgers