Dinner in 20: Hashbrown Pizza

Anything called 'pizza' seems to go over better at dinner time. So I'll milk it for all I can. Tonight that meant getting creative for a crust. If your family isn't big on the green stuff, you can leave that out or substitute some other veggie that goes over better. Next time I might try (steamed)broccoli or shredded cabbage or even some thinly sliced zucchini.

Hashbrown Pizza with Spinach and Ham

2 or 3 boxes of hashbrowns (the ones with the dried potatoes)
Leaf spinach (optional)
Diced ham or turkey
Shredded cheese

Prepare the hasbrowns according to the directions on the box. After you turn them to brown the second side, top with spinach, meat, then cheese. Cover and reduce heat to medium or medium low and cook until greens are wilted and cheese is melted.

My kids really liked this tonight, your mileage may vary ;0)!

Another reason I haven't been blogging...

My eldest turned 16 this year and decided that he'd outgown the spaceships in his room. I had to agree. So at the every endof the summer, we repainted his room. This time it was done truly according to his tastes. Ok, well, he wanted to paint the walls black, but I nixed that and we agreed on a very deep gray. The ceiling is a metalic brushed silver, the accent wall and stripes are a deep wine color. It is very dramatic, but he loves it.

End of summer tip

When you are storing away your ice chests and water coolers for the season there is an easy way to keep them from picking up that stale/musty/off smell that they get when they sit around closed for a while.

Simply take a sheet or two of newspaper, crumple it loosely and put it inside the ice chest or cooler before you close it up. The newspaper absorbs any remaining moisture and smell from the cooler so when you open it the next time it is nice and fresh.

Sounds too simple, but it really really works.

Why I'm behind on blogging...

Not the worlds' greatest picture, but this is my laundry room. My newly cleaned and painted laundry room.

I've been on a deep cleaning spree throughout the house. I finally made it downstairs and the laundry room was the first target. It took two and a hlaf hours, with the kids help to get the room unloaded. Then they helped me paint it.

The colors came from left over paint in the garage. The hand prints were intentional. The kids thought that was the best part.

Dinner in 20: Smoked Turkey and Spinach Pizza

My kids absolutely LOVE this one. It is a tasty change from standard tomato sauce pizza.

Smoked Turkey and Spinach Pizza

2 pre-baked pizza shells
Pam spray
Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper
1/2 bag (5 oz) fresh spinach leaves
8 oz sliced smoked turkey
8 oz sliced provolone cheese

Spray pizza shells with non-stick spray or brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.

Layer 1/2 spinach leaves on each shell. Top with sliced turkey then provalone slices.

Bake 450F, 10 minutes.

Dinner is 20: Pasta Toss

This is a stand-by recipe for us. It's easy to throw together and filling enough for the boys. Only a little more effort that Spaghetti and Sauce, but really worth it.

Pasta Toss
1 lb spaghetti, linguini or fettuccini

1 lb ground beef
1 pt sliced mushrooms-can use canned
4-5 roma tomatoes
shrededd paresean cheese
garlic to taste
salt and pepper


Start water for pasta boiling. While waiting for the water to boil, brown the meat and msuhrooms in a skillet. Add garlic to taste and simmer to reduce liquid.

By now the water should be boiling. Add pasta. Dice tomatoes and set aside.

When pasta is cooked, drain. Top with meat, tomatoes and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss well and serve.

Little Leagues: Aqua Fresca de Fruta

My kids have been having a ball with this recipe this week. I found it the other night and we've done it three times in the last four days. This is a Mexican fruit cooler-type drink often served in Taquerias but not in typical Mexican resturants.

Aqua Fresca

2 cups diced fruit
2 cups water
1 cup ice
1/4 cup sugar or to taste
a couple of tablespoons lemon or lime juice, as needed

Put in blender and blend until well mixed. Pour through strainer before serving.

Fruit suggestions:

seedless grapes, cantelope, honeydew, watermelon, strawberry, mango (use only 1 cup fruit).

We're experimenting with other flavors, though. Enjoy!

Happy happy happy!

Many eons and two children ago we had a macintosh computer. And back in those days I got it into my craw to put ALL my recipies into the computer. I did it an dprinted out pretty recipe cards and laminated them.

Then the computer died. And the makers of the recipe program I used flaked and there was NO way to port the recipies to ANY other program, much less a PC.

I was not a happy camper.

My husband, our resident alpha geek managed to get the dying computer/program to print all the recipes to a text file. Then the computer was toast.

Well,I just found the text file! Somewhere along the line, my husband managed to convert the text file into something our PC could read. AND MasterCook, where I keep all my recipes now will let me import text into the files! It will take a little fiddling, but now I don't have to retype all my recipe cards into the computer! And I can quit worrying about whether I can find another copy of some of those recipes if the card gets lost!

I never expected to be able to recover all that work so I'm just tickled!

Dinner in 20: Salmon Ranch Wraps

With the summer heat already on us, I like to have a few no-heat summer recipes on hand. I came up with this on the fly one day while I was making it up as I went. It turned out well enough that the kids asked for it again.

Salmon Ranch Spread

2 8 oz packages of cream cheese (I use 1 fat free and 1 reduced fat)
1 can salmon, drained
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

Blend everything together using mixer or food processor.

To assemble wraps, spread flat bread or tortilla with spread, top with some fresh spinach leaves and roll.

Have some chips and black bean salsa on the side and it is a pretty filling dinner.

Snack Attack: Black Bean Salsa

We had my best friend and her family over for dinner before things got too crazy in May. To take the edge off the appetites while the food grilled, I had a big bowl of Black Bean Salsa and (fat-free Tostito) tortill chips on hand.

This is quick and easy and easy to control the heat level according to your tastes.

Black Bean Salsa

1 Can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can Rotel tomatoes (diced, seasoned tomatoes, choose the level of heat you like)
1/2 cup Italian Salad dressing

Mix everything together and chill until serving time.

If you like it really hot you can add jalapenos, ect to your taste. I tend to like it pretty tame myself and stick to the mild rotels.

Ironically, this stuff is really really healthy too!

Ice Cream

Back in my husband's home town there is an ice cream place that serves the best and the BIGGEST ice cream cones you've ever seen. Believe it or not, in the pictures below, we all have SMALL cones!

It is probably a good thing we don't have one of these in the part of the country where we live!.

Back from Vacation!

Boy, May was a whirlwind, to say the least. It was like we neer had a change to breath the entire month. It seemed like the kids has osmething happening for the end of the year nearly every day. Then at the end of the month, we left the day after school for a family reunion and vacation.

We just got back and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. But I've got a bunch of stuff to post, including a few pics of our vacation.

Glad to be back! Happy summer!

Gadget du jour: Rice cooker

My mother loved gadgets in the kitchen. Touble was, it didn't take long to run out of storage place and the gadgets became more trouble than they were worth. So, I am not big on gadgets in the kitchen.

There are however, some gadgets that really are worth the cabinet space they take. This is one. It was a Christmas present from my mother-in-law, a Black and Decker rice cooker.

Basically it is like a crock pot, you put the rice and water it in and turn it on. It takes over from there and cooks the rice with no attention or fuss from you. It's great, the rice is never burned, never crunchy and I get the space on the stove freed up for other purposes. What more can you ask?

This one is definitely worth the space it takes in the cabinet.

Little League: Grilled Peanutbutter-wiches

This is a fun change from grilled cheese sandwiches.

I can't claim the recipe is original though. I first had it at my mother-in-law's house when my husband and I were still dating. It was a family favorite in his family and now it is in ours as well.

Peanutbutter-wiches

For each sandwich, spread two slices of bread with butter/margarine. Stack the bread with the buttered sides facing. Spread peanutbutter on the top slice of bread. Finish with a squeeze of honey or a spread of honey-whip and place butter-side down on a skillet heated on medium heat. Top with the other slice of bread, butter-side up.

Grill as you would for grilled cheese sandwiches.

Yumm!

Pantry Picks: Corn Bread Chili Casserole

If you are making this with access to refridgeration, you can add shredded cheese and cooked ground beef instead of sticking with the cheese spread and beans.

Corn Bread Chili Casserole.

In a 9x13 pan mix: 1 can corn, drained, 1 can beans, drained and rinsed, 2 cans chili.

Spread a small jar or processed cheses spread/dip over the top of the chili and veggies.

Mix up 2 envelopes of corn bread mix (get the one that doesn't require eggs). Spread over cheese.

Bake according to corn bread directions.

Dinner in 20: Couscous with spinach and tomatoes

Couscous are a very tiny pasta that only needs soaking in hot water to cook. It is a great basis for a quick meal.

Couscous with spinach and tomatoes

Fix 1 box of couscous with beef broth, according to package directions.[basically, bring the broth to a boil, add couscous, cover and remove from heat]

Brown 1 lb ground beef. Add 8 oz frozen spinach, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can of mushrooms, garlic to taste. Stir until the spinach is thawed.

Add in the couscous. Mix well.

Serve with parmeasean cheese.

Tip of the Day: Grocery lists

It drives me nuts when my family wanders by and tells me we need this and such from the gorcery store and I have no grocery list in my hand! Usually that stuff gets forgotten and requires another trip to the store.

We solve the problem with a $5 white board from Walmart. I have an 8x11 white board on magnets on the fridge. Who ever notices we need something simply writes it on the board and I check it before I go to the store.

It has worked for us, and anything that makes life a little easier is worth sharing.

Dinner in 20: Bratwurst with corn and onions

Made this for dinner tonight. It has been a tough couple of weeks and I just needed to get dinner on the table quick. So I rooted around the freezer and came up with this:

Bratwurst with corn and onions

Cut up 5 bratwurst sausages (or remove them from their skins if you like, other sausages can be substituted if you want.)

Add sausages and a cup or so of chopped onions (frozen ones are fine) and brown over medium high heat.

When it is all browned up, add about 8 ounces of frozen corn kernels and heat through.

Good served with your favorite frozen potatoes (pop them in the oven just before you start the sausage), apple sauce and/or cole slaw.

The brats go really well with the slight sweetness of the corn and onions. The kids really liked it.

Tip of the Day: Onions

Every now and again you find a little tip that is just worth sharing.

I love onions, but chopping them is such a royal pain! One way to get around this is to do the chopping in bulk.

Get out the food processor and either a very coarse chredding blade or the regular chopping blade. Peel your onions and cut them in quarters. Put them in the food processor to coarsely chop them.

Then toss them in a freezer wieght zip lock and toss them in the freezer.

Add them to recipes like you would regular chopped onions. I wouldn't use these for onion rings, but anything else works just fine.

Sidelines: Parlseyed Potatoes

My husband and kids love these. They are easy to make and are great comfort food.

Parsleyed Potatoes

2 1/2 Lbs red potatoes
Butter
Parsley
Salt
Onion Powder, optional

Cut the potatoes into fourths. Put in pot and cover with water. Boil about 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Drain.

Add butter, lots of parsley, salt, pepper, and onion powder (if desired) to taste.

Stir well.

Finger foods

When ever I make these up for the freezer they are the first things we run out of. There is just something about finger foods that make them easy to pull out and serve. They have the added bonus that go on the road well if needed.

Use a variety of dipping sauces, BBQ, sweet-n-sour, ketchup, ranch, buffalo, salsa, cheese sauce, ect to add to the fun.


Chicken Fingers, Beef Fingers, Pork Fingers

This is kind of an assembly line process. Cut the meat, chicken breasts, tenderized round steak and pork chips trimmed of fat, into finger-strips.

Take some mayo, dijonaise, or miracle whip and place into a bowl. Don’t over do it as you have to throw away anything that is left over. Do not put what is left in the bowl back in the jar, that can add up to food poisoning!

Brush the fingers with mayo and toss with bread crumbs. Line fingers on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350F, about 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of meat. Do not over or under cook.

Cool and store in zip lock bags.

Reheat in microwave (1 minute if thawed, adding time if needed) or oven, 350F 10-15 minutes.


Oven Fried Chicken Legs

Brush chicken legs with Ranch salad dressing (one of the flavored Ranch Dressings like the Three Cheese variety is good too). Toss to coat in a mixture of 1/2bread crumbs, 1/2parmasean cheese.

Line on a baking sheet, bake 350F, 20 minutes or so.

Cool, store in zip lock bags.

Reheat in microwave (1 1/2minute if thawed, adding time if needed) or oven, 350F 10-15 minutes.


Meat Balls on a stick

Take your favorite ground meat, about 1 lb. Add 1/2C crumbs, 1 egg, a generous squirt of ranch salad dressing and 1/4C parmesan cheese. Mix well.

Make ping pong ball sized meat balls. Thread two or three meat balls on a bamboo skewer (look in the grilling department or Asian food section). Line skewers on a baking dish (with a lip to catch any juices). Bake 350F 15-20 minutes, until cooked through.

Cool, store in zip lock bags.

Reheat in microwave (1 1/2minute if thawed, adding time if needed) or oven, 350F 10-15 minutes

Little Leagues: Strawberry Banna Pie

Once again I was left with a few extra, too-brown bananas in the fruit bowl. So, here's what we came up with, it's easy, it's different, it tastes good and the kiddos can help too!

My guys loved helping me make it and fought over the one left over piece!



Banana Strawberry Pie

3 very ripe bananas
1 1/2C sugar
1/4C lemon juice
1/4 C hot water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin

Graham cracker crust

Strawberries

Mash the bananas with sugar and lemon juice. Heat water, add gelatin and mix until it is completely dissolved. Add to bananas.

Pour it all into the crust and chill until it is set, a couple of hours.

Slice the strawberries, toss with some sugar. Refridgerate.

When pie is set, top with berries and whipped topping to serve.