Tag Archives: onion

Smitten Kitchen Night!

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A few weeks ago while surfing Pioneer Woman Cooks and Smitten Kitchen Nik and I decided there were so many beautiful recipes that we should get together and try them out. Last night was our first of hopefully many more get together dinner nights. Everything that was made was FANTASTIC!! Try them yourselves! As an awesome bonus, since Nikki’s mom was in town and could watch Halle, we went out to catch a late night show of Iron Man.  

On the menu, Alex’s Chicken and Mushroom Marsala

Alex's Chicken Marsala

Nikki’s salad (spring mix, strawberries, parmesean cheese, pecans and a honey mustard balsamic dressing)

Nikki's Salad

Justin’s wild rice (which I forgot to get a picture of). 

And Icebox Cake. 

Icebox Cake

Icebox Cake

Icebox Cake

My family has been making a variation of this cake forever, its in the shape of a log, but this was so much more fun! And so easy too! All the details are on the Smitten Kitchen site, but here’s a shot of the chocolate wafter box so you can find them. Publix stocks them with the ice cream cones. 

Icebox Cake

 

 

My First Make-Ahead Meal

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I’ve recently discovered something about myself .. I really enjoy eating home cooked meals. On top of that I love to find recipes and try them out. However, I dont like to cook every night, more like once a week, I really enjoy cooking once in awhile. But because I don’t like to cook regularly I find myself heating up ‘bag meals’ and zapping microwaved box meals too often. So I started to wonder if I could start making my own frozen dinners. I found in my last Real Simple magazine that they had a ‘make-ahead’ recipe for steak fajitas. I then spent the rest of my Sunday afternoon reading everything I could about freezing meals and once a month cooking (OAMC). Monday I packaged up my first make-ahead meal, those steak fajitas, and this afternoon I reheated a bag for the first time.

Here’s straight from the freezer

Make-Ahead Steak Fajitas

After 10 min of defrosting

Make-Ahead Steak Fajitas

After draining extra water & turning heat up to cook the meat :)

Make-Ahead Steak Fajitas

Here is my fajita ready to eat (yes, I know I rolled it into a burrito, that’s just how I do it). Perfect meal for after my wii workout :)

Make-Ahead Steak Fajitas

The Recipe (from Real Simple Magazine, June ’08)

freeze it

  • 1lb flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 red bell peppers (I used 1 red, 1 green)
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded (if desired) and thinly sliced (I diced mine)
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder (I ran out so I used a little chili powder, some cumin, & some cayenne pepper too)
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce (forgot this)
  • Kosher salt
  • 4 1-quart re-sealable plastic freezer bags (I used 1 gallon because I put 2 servings in each bag)
In a large bowl, combine the steak, onion, bell peppers, jalapeno, chili powder, hot sauce, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Divide evenly between 4 bags. Freeze until ready to cook, up to 3 months.

cook it (per serving – my bags have 2 servings each, so this was doubled) 

  • 1 bag frozen fajita mixture
  • 1 teaspoons olive oil
  • 2 8-in flour tortillas, warmed
  • salsa (optional)
  • sour cream (optional)

In a large skillet, over medium heat, heat the oil (use 1 teaspoon per serving). Empty the frozen contents of the bags into the skillet. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Raise heat to medium high and cook, uncovered, until steak is cooked through, 2 to 6 minutes. Serve with the tortillas & salsa and sour cream if desired. 

My changes – I doubled the recipe, ending up with 8 servings, or 4 bags of 2 servings. 

I’ve been inspired, I picked up a few cookbooks and I can’t wait to start stocking my fridge with yummy meals that I made! And I really can’t wait until Nikki can cook again and we can start exchanging make-ahead meals!

 

Valentine’s Day Tortilla Soup

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Since Sean was 12 hours late coming home .. I decided to try this soup recipe I found online (rather then the fancy filet mignon dinner I had planned). I LOVED IT .. very good stuff, and I still have a container of it in the freezer. It was super quick to make, and held up the extra 4 hours it took Sean to find his way home :)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

  • 1 onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes
  • 1.5 – 2 boxes of chicken broth
  • 1 bag (16oz I think) of frozen corn (thawed)
  • 1 (4oz) can of chopped green chile peppers
  • 1 (15oz) can of black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 Mojo rotisserie chicken from Publix, shredded (or 2 cooked chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces or shredded)
  • Crushed tortilla chips
  • Shredded mexican cheese blend

1. In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, cumin, tomatoes and at least 1 box of chicken broth. Add in more broth to make sure everything is covered. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Stir in corn, chiles, beans and chicken. This is a chunky soup, but you can add in more broth if you want some more liquid. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips and cheese. (Avocado slices, chopped green onion and cilantro would also make good toppers, if you like those sort of things)

Enjoy!

Dad’s Chili

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  • 2 1-lb can pinto beans
  • 1-2 large onion chopped
  • 1 green pepper chopped
  • 1 lb ground beef (turkey)
  • 2 lb can toms (chop your self and reserve liquid)
  • 1 8 oz can tom sauce
  • 1 1/2 Tbs chili powder (I use 3)
  • 1 1/2 tps salt (I use less or none if toms & sauce have salt in them)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • A pinch of cumin seeds (optional, I like it)

Brown onion, pepper and beef add the rest (including reserved liquid) except for beans simmer 1 hour, add beans simmer 1/2 hour more.

Mom’s Beef Stew

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  • 6 Tbs shortening (I use 3 Tbs pnut oil)
  • 3 lb beef chuck, round, or rump, cut in 1.5 inch cubes (I use 1.5 to 2 lbs)
  • 2 med onions coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 2 bouillon cubes (sometimes I use canned beef broth or even consommé)
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped (we put 2)
  • 2 Tbs finely chopped parsley (1 tbs dried)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/8 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 1/2 Tbs salt (I use less)
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 6 med potatoes (3)
  • 6 med carrots (3)
  • 10 small white onions (whatever we can find, usually yellow, 3)
  • 3 stalks celery
  • 2 med peppers (1 usually and sometimes a combo of red & yellow too)
  • 2 med toms; or 1 can 8 oz. Toms undrained
  1. Over medium heat, slowly heat shortening in Dutch oven. In it brown meat cubes well, turning on al sides. Remove, and set aside.
  2. In Dutch oven sautée onions until tender.
  3. Return meat to pan; add 4 cups water, the wine, bouillon cubes, garlic, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper, Cover; simmer 1.5 hours or until just tender.
  4. Meanwhile, prepare veggies: Peel potatoes and carrots; halve. Peel onions. Cut celery in 3-inch sections. Remove seeds and ribs from peppers; cut in chunks. Quarter fresh toms.
  5. When meat has cooked 1.5 hours, add potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery. Cook 1 hour. Or until meat and veggies are tender.
  6. Twenty minutes before end of cooking time add peppers and tomatoes.
  7. This is where I add the dumplings after the stew returns to a boil after adding peppers and toms. The recipe is on the Bisquick box.