adventures in the kitchen
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 Hearty Sausage Sandwich

Hey ladies! As I was preparing dinner today, I realized that this was a recipe that needed to be shared to ANYONE who is looking for a creative sandwich that is easy and filling! It took me about 15 minutes to prepare and another 5 minutes to put together....very simple and do-able for those on the go!

Ingredients:
1 lb Italian Sausage (ground)
1 chopped medium onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 8oz package of cream cheese (regular or fat-free...it won't change the flavor)
1/4 c. chopped fresh mushrooms
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c. water
1/4 tsp of oregano (my family prefers spicy, so I substituted crushed red pepper for the oregano)
1 Loaf of Italian Bread
1.5 c shredded mozzarela cheese

Directions:
**Cook sausage, onion, garlic and drain.
**Add cream cheese, water and oregano.
**Cook till cheese melts. Set aside.
**Cut bread in half...I cut the length in half and then cut both pieces down the center....you should now have 4 short pieces. Hollow out each piece (not completely, but enough so that the meat and cheese will have a place to sit.)
**Place the bottom piece of the bread on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese...top with Sausage mixture and then top THAT with the rest of the mozzarella cheese.
**Place the top half of your bread top of the sausage mixture...wrap each sandwich loaf with aluminum foil.
**Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

FYI, this is a great meal to cook and then freeze...all you'll need to do is thaw a few minutes and re-heat! Enjoy!!
Posted by Lindsey Eason :: 2:03 PM :: 2 comments

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Monday, June 16, 2008 Father's Day Lunch



Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day at our home with a lot of our family (there were 12 of us). It was wonderful to get to spend quality time with so many of our loved ones!
The following is our lunch menu. The only recipes that weren't already on this blog are the twice baked potatoes and mom's banana pudding. I've listed that recipe at the bottom of the post.

Father's Day Lunch Menu:
1. Green Salad (no recipe...just mixed lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, carrots and cheese in a pretty bowl and topped with dressing).
2. Grape Salad
3. Green Bean Bundles
4. Yeast rolls, Hawaiian rolls and corn muffins (rolls were purchased, muffins were made from a mix in a bag)
5. Twice Baked Potatoes (recipe below)
6. Meatloaf
7. Red Velvet Balls
8. Mom's Banana Pudding
9. Chocolate Fountain with fresh fruit and rice krispie treats

Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes (recipe taken from allrecipies.com)
(This recipe serves 8. For Father's Day lunch, I doubled the recipe)

Ingredients


  • 4 large baking potatoes

  • 8 slices bacon

  • 1 cup sour cream

  • 1/2 cup milk

  • 4 tablespoons butter

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

  • 8 green onions, sliced, divided

  • ***I added mayonnaise (about 1/2 cup), to make it extra creamy
Directions


  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

  2. Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.

  3. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

  4. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, (mayonnaise if you choose to include it), salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.

  5. Bake for another 15 minutes.

My mom's banana pudding
(I copied and pasted the recipe e-mail she sent me 2 years ago)

Ingredients:
1 box of vanilla wafers
1 box of cook and serve vanilla pudding
1/2 cup of sugar
3 egg yolks and whites separated
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup half and half
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4-6 bananas

Directions:
Pre heat oven to 350F for later. Get out wafers and all other ingredients. Get out pyrex dish, and boiler.

In medium to large boiler, mix 1 box of cook and serve vanilla pudding mix with 3 beaten egg yolks, 2 cups of whipping cream and 1 cup of half and half, 1/4 cup of sugar. Stir well and often while cooking on MEDIUM heat. Stir until it thickens--this will take several minutes (15 or so). After the pudding thickens add 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 1 stick of butter. Stir.

Cut up bananas Now.

Layer a pyrex dish with vanilla wafers. Pour pudding on top of vanilla wafers in pyrex dish. Add cut bananas to make a thin layer on top of pudding. Continue layering with vanilla wafers and pudding. Pudding on top.

In a separate clean bowl (Be sure your bowl is really clean-use glass if possible) beat 3 egg whites at high speed until they are fluffy. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and continue beating until it peaks. Pour on top of pudding and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

Take out and cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Posted by kristy :: 6:01 PM :: 1 comments

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Monday, June 9, 2008 If you have some extra blueberries in the fridge...

why not try these two yummy recipes. I made each of them for the first time this past week and they definitely get my seal of approval.

BLUEBERRY BALSAMIC BARBECUE SAUCE



Our good friend, Hilarie, introduced me to this recipe which was taken from a Cooking Light cookbook. It is especially good with chicken; Payton and I like it on grilled chicken while Will LOVES dipping his chicken nuggets in it.

2 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. ketchup
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Let cool. Use a blender or food processor; process until smooth.


"TO DIE FOR BLUEBERRY MUFFINS"



I got this recipe off the allrecipes.com website. I don't know that there's any food I'd actually "die for," but I will confirm that these muffins are extremely good--quite possible the best blueberry muffins I've ever had!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries (I used 1 1/2 cups)

Topping:
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. butter (softened)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil in a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with the flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Pour batter into 12 regular sized muffin cups or 6 jumbo sized cups. Sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

3. To make crumb topping: Mix together 2/3 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and 2 tbsp. softened butter. Mix well with a fork until the mixture is a crumbly consistency; sprinkle over muffins before baking.

4. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes for regular sized muffins or 20-25 minutes for jumbo sized muffins. Recipe yields 12 regular size muffins or 6 jumbo muffins.

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Posted by kristy :: 1:40 PM :: 1 comments

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Saturday, June 7, 2008 Banana Pancakes (Esperanto Cafe Style)


So, this seems like the perfect post for a Saturday morning. I've made banana pancakes before, but they always involved mashing up the bananas & I could never really taste the banana part once they were done. This recipe is more along the lines of pancakes banana fosters style - the bananas sort of caramelize inside the pancake & it's fabulous! Here goes:

1) Mix up Regular Pancake Recipe (I use the Bisquick one with the variation at the bottom, I think it's called supreme - pretty much it's the normal recipe + vanilla, sugar & baking soda)

2) Slice up a couple of bananas pretty thinly. Cover the banana slices with sugar & cinnamon (not too much cinnamon, I think it's best used sparingly).

3) Pour pancake mixture into a buttered skillet (like you normally would). HERE COMES THE IMPORTANT PART - while the top side is still liquidy, place the banana slices into the top, mushing them down a little bit so that they're embedded in the pancake. Don't push them down too hard, or it will mess up the bottom cooking side of the pancake. Flip the pancakes when they're ready so that the banana side is now down.

If you've done this correctly (make sure you keep the skillet greased), the bananas should be nice and caramelized - YUM - and the pancake golden delicious!

Serve warm, banana side up with your favorite syrup.

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Posted by Katy :: 9:29 AM :: 0 comments

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