Saturday, December 15, 2007

Rolls

OK ladies these rolls are so good, and they are pretty easy to make. I usually double or triple the batch cause they are so yummy we eat them for a week after.

dissolve 1 Tbs of yeast, 1 Tbs sugar, 1/2 cup of warm water and set aside.
Mix together:
1 cube of butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs beaten (at room temp)
1 tsp salt
1 cup scaled milk cooled (milk that almost boils)
-I usually scaled the milk then add everything but the eggs until the butter melts then add the eggs and mix everything together
- add the yeast mix to the mix above, mix together then add in 4 cups of flour mix with a wire whisk. the dough will be sticky.
-let rise until it has doubled about 2 hours ( stir it down a couple of times)
-after it has risen put a portion of dough in a ball on a floured surface then add four on top of the dough so it wont be sticky, (do not need the dough) then roll out the dough flat.
-brush melted butter on rolled out dough cut into triangles and roll up.
- put rolls onto a greased cookie sheet and let rise until doubled about 1/2 hour.
- bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes
( you can freeze when you have rolled out and cut the rolls before they rise again. then just take out thaw let rise about 30 minutes and cook)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Pico De Gallo!

This is one our family favorites! It's super easy and you can make it in less than 15 min. My mom used to make it every summer with fresh stuff from our garden. I do a batch pretty much every week and use it in everything from quesadillas to omelets :)

Pico de Gallo:

1 pint grape tomatoes
1 small onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsalmic vinegar
cilantro (1 handful if chopped fresh, 1/3 palmful if dried)
salt and pepper

dice tomatoes and onions up small. add olive oil, vinegar, cilantro, and salt and pepper. mix it all up and enjoy!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

mom's lasagna

(disclaimer: i've never actually made it look as good as this lovely internet picture!)

Sauce:
1 lb. hamburger
1 16 oz. can tomato sauce
1 12 oz. can tomato paste
1 can tomato soup
1/2 - 1 c. water
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
garlic salt to taste
pepper to taste

Brown hamburger with sprinkle of garlic salt. Drain and add remaining ingredients. Simmer 20 minutes covered.
Boil 6 lasagna noodles and drain. Set aside.

Layers:
1/3 sauce
3 noodles
1/3 sauce
1 pint large curd cottage cheese
1 c. parmesan "shaker" cheese
1 lb. mozerella cheese (leave about 1 cup for topping)
3 noodles
1/3 sauce

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 min. Sprinkle on remaining mozerella cheese! YUM!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Sloppy Joe Casserole

We are not having this for dinner tonight but is a favorite in my house.

Ingredients
1 Pkg shell macaroni (8oz)
1 can of sloppy Joe mix ( you can use the packaged kind and follow the directions on that)
1/2 pound hamburger ( I use turkey burger to be healthier and know one even knows)
1 16oz carton low fat cottage cheese
1-2 cups Cheddar cheese

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook macaroni and drain. Meanwhile prepare meat and add the sloppy Joe mix. Add cottage cheese to the meat and sloppy Joe mix. In a casserole pan add half macaroni then half the meat mix on top. repeat. top with the cheese. bake uncovered for about 30-40 minutes or until bubbling and cheese is melted.

- this is usually a lot of food so i cut it in half or just eyeball it so i only have about 3-4 servings. It makes great leftovers.

dinner tonight

first of all, thanks to kristen for finally starting this! who knows, maybe we'll be the only ones who use it kri, but i'm ok with that!

i am posting this recipe and think we should start posting a "what we're having for dinner tonight" so that if any of us need a good idea one day we can look on here and find it easily! what do you think?


so, here's what we're having for dinner tonight. one of our new favorites:


Baked Cavatelli


7 ounces dried cavatelli or wagon wheel macaroni

12 ounces uncooked Italian sausage links, sliced 1/2 inch thick

3/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloved garlic, minced

1 26 0z jar pasta sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 tsp black pepper


1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain, set aside. 2. In large skillet cook the sausage, onion, and garlic until sausage is brown; remove from skillet. Drain. 3. In a large bowl stir together pasta sauce, 3/4 cup cheese, and the pepper. Add the pasta and sausage mixture. Spoon mixture into 2-quart casserole dish. 4. Bake, uncovered in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 mins. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for another 5 mins. 5. eat and enjoy!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

a little inspiration

for some peppermint bark! i guess i will get things rolling on here. so excited it's december- what a perfect month to start recipe sharing! and since we have all been talking about the peppermint bark i thought i would post the official recipe...

Peppermint Bark

1 bag of white chocolate chips (or milk chocolate as shown in picture)

About 20 pieces of "starlight peppermints" (or candy canes)

yep that's it!



Directions:

1. Unwrap all the mints and put them in a ziploc bag. Smash them with a hammer! Leaving some chunkier pieces to sprinkle on the top.

2. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave (at 1/2 power) for 2 1/2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to stir them.

3. Once chocolate is nice and runny mix in about half of the mints.

4. Pour on wax paper-lined jelly roll pan and spread thin with a spatula.

5. Sprinkle remaining mints on top, lightly pressing them into the chocolate with the palm of your hand.

6. Place in fridge until hard (about 10 minutes) and break into bitesize pieces.

7. Enjoy!


can't wait to enjoy all your yummy recipes and see your beautiful "food art!"