Greek Green Beans

Green Beans featured on upper right side!

Here is the link for the Greek Stewed String Beans. We brought these to dinner on Christmas Eve for the Dumper side of the family. I have never had so many complements on a dish!

A long long time ago, or just last week...

You may remember when I posted a bunch of pictures that I was going to update with the recipes? Yeah, that hasn't happened. What has happened is that I have found all of the recipes that are not-so-greatly pictured below from an awesome must-drink-more-prosecco dinner party in Jan 2011:

Here is the link for the Greek Stewed String Beans... if you were lucky enough to have Indian feast leftovers a few weeks back, then the String Beans were included. They will be making an appearance at a potluck this week too!

Also on that plate is the Orzo Salad from Food Network's Giadia DeLaurentiis


And lastly, the Chicken with Salsa Verde, which is more pesto than salsa, but try it yourself. You will want to cover everything in that sauce :-)

Quick Asian Meal

The best thing to make when I don't want to cook? Dumplings! They are quick and simple with little clean up.
We prefer chicken and veggie ones from our International Grocery store.

We make these in a bamboo steamer with cabbage or lettuce leaves spread out under the dumplings. After the water boils in the wok, it takes about 15 min. til dinner is served.

These are topped with green onion and the sauce put on it includes a couple of shakes of: hot dumpling sauce, soy, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. All things that are just hanging out in our pantry!







Paired with a salad...Lettuce, Carrot (cut in sticks), Cucumber (cut in sticks), Green onion, Sesame Seeds, and 2 T of bottled Asian dressing.

And for dessert... 5 Spice Ginger Oranges! Yum! 

The original recipe from 1000 Low Fat Recipes and calls for:

5 seedless oranges, peeled and pith removed sliced across
1/2t Five Spice Powder
1 t Cinnamon
1/2 C honey
2 T Crystallized Ginger, very thinly sliced

Melt honey (in microwave) til runny. Mix in spices. Pour over sliced oranges. Toss. Sprinkle with ginger.

Turkey Day 2010

These are the recipes that I made to bring to grandma's tonight... eat up! Yum!

Crunchy Sweet Potato Casserole
5 med sweet potatoes (peeled and diced)
1 C butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C dk brown sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 C milk
2 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg

Topping: 2 C crushed cornflakes, 1 C chopped walnuts, 1/2 C dk brown sugar, 1/2 C butter, diced

Boil diced sweet potatoes in salted water until tender. Let cool. Smash / process until smooth.
Combine with remaining ingredients. Spread in a greased 9x13 baking dish.
Bake uncovered at 375 for 20 min.

Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over potatoes. Bake 10 min. until topping is lightly browned.

From Taste of Home Thanksgiving 2008

And even though I have already posted these...I made a double batch of  Kick Ass Green Bean Casserole, which seems a little too muchroomy, but we will see! 

The Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna used up the remaining butternut squash from my mom's garden. I used a large container of ricotta cheese,  2 packages of casserole ready (no-boil) lasagna noodles in a 11x14 pan. And I had about 2 C leftover squash cheese mixture and 2 leftover noodles to spare! 
I love the holidays and my family!

ENTBN 2010

I tried a few new recipes at this year's camping event. Here are the ones that turned out well! 

Giant Cinnamon-Pecan Ring

2 1lb loaves frozen bread dough

1/2 c butter, melted

1/2 c sugar                    

1/2 c packed brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon                 

1/2 c chopped pecans

1-1/4 c sifted powdered sugar  

1/2 tsp vanilla

milk (about 4 tsp)

Cinnamon sticks (optional)      

Pecan Halves (Optional)

Lightly grease inside of dutch oven.  On a lightly floured surface, flatten thawed dough slightly.  Cut each loaf into 4 pieces (total of 8). Form each piece into a rope about 18" long.  Brush each rope on all sides with melted butter.  Stir together sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Place mixture on sheet of foil.  Roll rope in sugar mixture to coat evenly. Shape rope into a coil in the center of the dutch oven.  Roll another rope in sugar.  Attach securely to end of first rope and continue coil.  Continue coating ropes and attaching to form a 10-11" circle.  Sprinkle any remaining sugar over coil.  Sprinkle with chopped pecans.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 30-40 min.  Bake at 350 for 30 to 3 min or till done.  Cover with foil last 15 minutes to prevent over browning if necessary.  Cool about 15 min.  Stir together powdered sugar, vanilla, and enough milk to make a thick glaze.  Spoon the glaze over top of cake.  Decorate with cinnamon sticks and pecan halves.  Serves 16. By Ann Audleman, Ft Walton Beach, Fl  From: http://usscouts.org/cooking/cook_05.asp

Pumpkin Delight

Crust                    

yellow cake mix; reserve 1 cup of mix

1 egg; beaten

½ C butter; melted

Filling

30 oz. canned pumpkin

3 eggs; beaten

3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 C milk

3/4 C dark brown sugar

Topping               

1 C cake mix                        

1/4 C sugar                           

1 tsp. cinnamon                                 

3 Tbs. cold butter                              

Prepare Crust: Mix together cake mix, egg, and melted butter. Press into bottom and 1 1/2" up sides of a well greased 12" Dutch oven.

Prepare Filling: In a bowl combine all filling ingredients and mix well. Pour filling into Dutch oven to fill crust.

Prepare Topping: In a small bowl combine cake mix, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir to mix. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs are formed. Sprinkle over top of pumpkin filling.

Bake: Cover Dutch oven and bake using 10-12 briquettes bottom and 14-16 briquettes top for 1 hour.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream as topping.

Serves: 8-10

Hearty Chili

2 lbs ground beef ( I used 93% lean)
2 med onions, diced
1 med green bell pepper, diced
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
30 oz kidney beans, well rinsed and drained
30 oz pinto beans, well rinsed and drained
3 t cumin powder
3 T chili powder
1 t black pepper
1 t white pepper
2 t salt
30 oz diced tomatoes
30 oz pureed tomatoes
30 oz crushed tomatoes
2 C water, if needed

Brown ground beef.
Add onions, pepper, and celery. Cook until softened.
Add beans, stir to combine. 
Add spices, saute for a few minutes.
Add all tomatoes, stir to combine.
Cook stirring every 15 minutes for 2 to 3 hours.
If it is too thick, add additional water.

Adapted from this recipe.

And Liz's favorite...Becky's Israeli Couscous Salad from Trader Joe's

Roast Fail, Meatloaf Win!

I FAILED at making a roast overnight. I woke up this morning to find that the lid of the crock-pot had shattered all over the top of the roast. I didn't pull the crock-pot liner down around the outside of the crock-pot. I think that when it got hot, pressure couldn't release through the lip of the pot because the liner was in the way. Instead I think the roast or pressure must have pushed through the lid, hence GLASS INFUSED cider-braised pork shoulder with caramelized onion and apple confit. Boo. I will have to try it another time. It smelled SO GOOD!

So now I need to make something else that can feed 9 people tonight. I'm going to my standby "best meatloaf in the world" by Alton Brown. I made 1 & 1/2 of the recipe and split it into 2 meatloaves. Served with peas and Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes (also from Alton Brown - Thanks for making them Michelle & Justin!). Candle brought a salad and I also made a no-cream potato soup with a yummy pesto from Oprah - who would have thought! I will make this again for sure! I followed the recipe, just added a little additional salt and pepper before serving. The entire party loved it!
Great night, good company, and congrats to Leah & Shawn ~ wish you both a long, happy & healthy marriage!