Just in time for all the barbeques that I am sure will be happening this weekend I figured I would post one of my favorite foods to eat at a barbeque (well besides my mommy's amazing potato salad which I don't have the patience to make). My mommy's amazing baked beans!! The only catch is, I think I may have mentioned it before, I don't have measurements on this one. I will give you the ingredients and the steps, but you kind of have to figure out how much to your own taste and to the size batch you are making. Sorry.
Baked Beans
Van de Kamps Pork and Beans
Brown Sugar (The sweeter the better to me so I use a lot)
Ketchup (a pretty good amount)
Bacon, sliced into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slivers
Onion, chopped
mustard (just a touch)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a frying pan, start cooking the bacon. When it is just starting to brown, add the onion. When the bacon is brown, but not crispy, drain on a paper towel.
Choose a baking dish that is appropriate for the amount of beans you are making. In that dish, combine Pork and Beans, brown sugar, ketchup, bacon and onions, and mix together. Add a little mustard (maybe a Tablespoon per large can of pork and beans) and mix thoroughly. Bake for about an hour.
Enjoy!!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
My how time flies....
This last semester in school was insane. Boy did I bite off more than I could chew. I barely had time to cook, let alone post any recipes. So sorry I neglected my loyal fans...all 4 of you LOL. I was just looking back at my previous posts and I could have sworn I posted more than 3 recipes, but I guess not. I have a whole list of recipes I'm going to try to post over the next couple of weeks. School starts again in just over a week but the first week is usually not too stressful. I can't believe how fast my break flew by.
So here's the first one...Cajun Chicken Pasta. We had this for dinner tonight. So yummy!
12 ounces angel hair pasta (or whatever kind you like - linguine, fettucini)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
3 Tablespoons cajun seasoning
3 Tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 stick butter
3 - 4 large cloves fresh garlic, crushed or finely minced (optional)
1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
4 or 5 green onions, chopped (about 1/2 inch thick)
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 - 1 teaspoon lemon juice
parmesan cheese (I prefer fresh grated but use whatever you prefer)
1. Cook and drain pasta
2. Place the flour, cajun seasoning, 3 Tablespoons of garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bag and shake up to mix. Add cut up chicken and shake until well coated.
3. Melt butter in a large, deep frying pan or a 4 - 5 quart sauce pan. Add crushed garlic, if using, and saute for a minute or so, until just starting to brown. Add chicken and cook until just about done. Maybe 8 - 10 minutes
4. Add all vegetables and saute until vegetables are done to your liking. (I like mine pretty done, I don't like them crunchy in a pasta sauce) You can add more butter if needed. Another 4 - 5 minutes or so.
5. Stir in cream. Add basil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and lemon juice and stir well. Let simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until cream is heated through and just starting to thicken.
6. Stir in pasta.
7. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.
Hope you enjoy this one as much as we do.
So here's the first one...Cajun Chicken Pasta. We had this for dinner tonight. So yummy!
12 ounces angel hair pasta (or whatever kind you like - linguine, fettucini)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
3 Tablespoons cajun seasoning
3 Tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 stick butter
3 - 4 large cloves fresh garlic, crushed or finely minced (optional)
1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
4 or 5 green onions, chopped (about 1/2 inch thick)
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 - 1 teaspoon lemon juice
parmesan cheese (I prefer fresh grated but use whatever you prefer)
1. Cook and drain pasta
2. Place the flour, cajun seasoning, 3 Tablespoons of garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bag and shake up to mix. Add cut up chicken and shake until well coated.
3. Melt butter in a large, deep frying pan or a 4 - 5 quart sauce pan. Add crushed garlic, if using, and saute for a minute or so, until just starting to brown. Add chicken and cook until just about done. Maybe 8 - 10 minutes
4. Add all vegetables and saute until vegetables are done to your liking. (I like mine pretty done, I don't like them crunchy in a pasta sauce) You can add more butter if needed. Another 4 - 5 minutes or so.
5. Stir in cream. Add basil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and lemon juice and stir well. Let simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until cream is heated through and just starting to thicken.
6. Stir in pasta.
7. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.
Hope you enjoy this one as much as we do.
Friday, February 26, 2010
School is driving me crazy...
So sorry I haven't posted in a while. I will try to get back to it soon. I am just putting up a quick post to let you all know that I haven't quit already, I have just been crazy busy with school and haven't had the time to devote to this. Not to mention, Eric left for 6 weeks so I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking. I will try to get a couple new recipes up toward the end of next week.
Hope all is well out there in the "real world." Take care and you'll be hearing from me again soon.
Sarah
Hope all is well out there in the "real world." Take care and you'll be hearing from me again soon.
Sarah
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Quickie Peach Cobbler
A.K.A. a dump cake
This isn't one I have made recently but it is Eric's favorite dessert and one of my good friends just asked for it AGAIN. :-) So I thought I would put it up on here.
Ingredients:
2 large cans or 4 small cans of sliced peaches (juice drained from half and kept from half)
1 yellow cake mix
2 sticks of butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Dump Peaches (including half the juice) in the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan. Spread cake mix evenly over peaches. Cut butter into small cubes and spread out over top of cake mix. Bake for 1 hr. to 1 hr. 15 minutes, until top is almost completely golden brown and bubbly.
This isn't one I have made recently but it is Eric's favorite dessert and one of my good friends just asked for it AGAIN. :-) So I thought I would put it up on here.
Ingredients:
2 large cans or 4 small cans of sliced peaches (juice drained from half and kept from half)
1 yellow cake mix
2 sticks of butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Dump Peaches (including half the juice) in the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan. Spread cake mix evenly over peaches. Cut butter into small cubes and spread out over top of cake mix. Bake for 1 hr. to 1 hr. 15 minutes, until top is almost completely golden brown and bubbly.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Caramel Apple Pork Chops
Sorry it has been a while since I put a new recipe up. See what I mean about not keeping up. School has kind of been stressing me out the last week. These short semesters are going to kick my butt.
So we tried these Sunday night and they were really yummy!! Not quite what I was expecting or hoping for but still definitely worth making again. Let me know if you have any suggestions on how to change them.
Ingredients:
4 - 6 pork chops (I used about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick boneless chops)
vegetable oil (or canola or whatever you use)
salt & pepper to taste
minced or crushed garlic to taste
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 apples, peeled, cored & sliced (original recipe called for tart but I used galas and it turned out fine)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Pour a little oil in the pan and heat it up. Add garlic and saute just a touch to bring out the flavor. Add the pork chops. ( I seasoned mine first with my usual seasonings I put on almost everything - garlic powder, fresh ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper.) Brown on both sides until almost done or just done. Transfer to 9 X 13 baking dish. Add butter to same pan. When just melted, add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt & pepper, and apples. Cook until apples are just tender. Pour apples and sauce over pork chops in 9 X 13 pan. Put in the oven to bake for 20 -30 minutes.
My original intention had been to serve over rice, but there wasn't enough sauce to serve with 3 - 4 servings of rice, so I made mashed potatoes. I contemplated adding some apple juice to stretch the sauce, but I didn't have any on hand so I haven't tried that yet. Again, if anybody comes up with a way to improve this one, let me know.
So we tried these Sunday night and they were really yummy!! Not quite what I was expecting or hoping for but still definitely worth making again. Let me know if you have any suggestions on how to change them.
Ingredients:
4 - 6 pork chops (I used about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick boneless chops)
vegetable oil (or canola or whatever you use)
salt & pepper to taste
minced or crushed garlic to taste
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 apples, peeled, cored & sliced (original recipe called for tart but I used galas and it turned out fine)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Pour a little oil in the pan and heat it up. Add garlic and saute just a touch to bring out the flavor. Add the pork chops. ( I seasoned mine first with my usual seasonings I put on almost everything - garlic powder, fresh ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper.) Brown on both sides until almost done or just done. Transfer to 9 X 13 baking dish. Add butter to same pan. When just melted, add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt & pepper, and apples. Cook until apples are just tender. Pour apples and sauce over pork chops in 9 X 13 pan. Put in the oven to bake for 20 -30 minutes.
My original intention had been to serve over rice, but there wasn't enough sauce to serve with 3 - 4 servings of rice, so I made mashed potatoes. I contemplated adding some apple juice to stretch the sauce, but I didn't have any on hand so I haven't tried that yet. Again, if anybody comes up with a way to improve this one, let me know.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Burgers
My lack of measuring really comes into play in this recipe.
Ingredients:
Burgers:
Mix together all filling ingredients. Put some in the well of each patty. Take flat patties and put over filling making sure to seal the sides well. Cook as desired.
Mom and I have talked about this filling and think that it could be used in a whole variety of ways. Our thoughts were as a cheese ball of sorts served cold with crackers, served hot and gooey with tortilla chips, mixed with chopped or shredded chicken (possibly without the bacon bits) as an enchilada filling with green sauce, or with boneless/skinless chicken breasts pounded flat then wrapped around the filling and rolled up then dipped in bread crumbs or panko crumbs and pan fried. Let me know if you can think of any other ways it might be good.
Ingredients:
Burgers:
- Ground Beef
- Whatever you use to season your hamburgers ( I use ketchup, worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and dried onions)
- You are going to want to find good buns for these cuz they should be pretty good sized burgers...like a good onion roll or something, not the cheapy hamburger buns
- Cream Cheese (helps if it has been softened)
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- green onions, sliced
- real bacon bits
- chopped jalapeno, to heat preference ( fresh or jar, I used jar)
- For a pound of ground beef I used 4 oz. cream cheese, around a 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, about 2 or 3 green onions sliced including green part, about 4 slices of bacon chopped up and cooked, and probably 1/8 cup of chopped jalapenos. It had a slight kick but nothing too crazy. I did have about enough for 1 more burger left.
Mix together all filling ingredients. Put some in the well of each patty. Take flat patties and put over filling making sure to seal the sides well. Cook as desired.
Mom and I have talked about this filling and think that it could be used in a whole variety of ways. Our thoughts were as a cheese ball of sorts served cold with crackers, served hot and gooey with tortilla chips, mixed with chopped or shredded chicken (possibly without the bacon bits) as an enchilada filling with green sauce, or with boneless/skinless chicken breasts pounded flat then wrapped around the filling and rolled up then dipped in bread crumbs or panko crumbs and pan fried. Let me know if you can think of any other ways it might be good.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Just the beginning....
Well I am not the best at sticking with things so we'll see if I am able to keep this up.
For all of you that know me, you know that I love to cook and hopefully most of you would agree that I am pretty good at it. Unfortunately, meals lately have been feeling a little boring. I get stuck in a rut....whether in cooking or eating out....and once I find something I like, I stick with it. Sooooo....I make the same dishes over and over. They are still good, just getting a bit tired of them. Thus, I have decided to start trying out some new recipes so as to expand my repertoire. So far, I think I have happened across some pretty good successes that will be added to the regular line-up. And as my friends, I have decided to share with you all. Please let me know if you try anything, and if you find a way to improve on it. Heck, if you find anything you think I might like, throw it up there for me.
A couple of disclaimers (warnings):
We LOVE garlic, so everything I cook, except sweets, has tons of garlic in it. Feel free to cut back on it if you are not so enamored with this wonderful spice, herb, whatever it is. I can't promise the outcome of that, of course.
I don't always measure, so when I can, I will at least provide approximates, otherwise just go with what you think looks good. (or tastes good)
I am not looking to change the world, or make people think here. Just looking to provide my friends and family with some new ideas for the kitchen.
I may throw other things in here from time to time if I get comfortable with blogging. As the title says, this is just the beginning so we will see where we go from here.
I cannot promise how often I will post, because as most of you are aware, I have recently started back to school and that is taking up a whole lot of time.
I hope you enjoy.
For all of you that know me, you know that I love to cook and hopefully most of you would agree that I am pretty good at it. Unfortunately, meals lately have been feeling a little boring. I get stuck in a rut....whether in cooking or eating out....and once I find something I like, I stick with it. Sooooo....I make the same dishes over and over. They are still good, just getting a bit tired of them. Thus, I have decided to start trying out some new recipes so as to expand my repertoire. So far, I think I have happened across some pretty good successes that will be added to the regular line-up. And as my friends, I have decided to share with you all. Please let me know if you try anything, and if you find a way to improve on it. Heck, if you find anything you think I might like, throw it up there for me.
A couple of disclaimers (warnings):
We LOVE garlic, so everything I cook, except sweets, has tons of garlic in it. Feel free to cut back on it if you are not so enamored with this wonderful spice, herb, whatever it is. I can't promise the outcome of that, of course.
I don't always measure, so when I can, I will at least provide approximates, otherwise just go with what you think looks good. (or tastes good)
I am not looking to change the world, or make people think here. Just looking to provide my friends and family with some new ideas for the kitchen.
I may throw other things in here from time to time if I get comfortable with blogging. As the title says, this is just the beginning so we will see where we go from here.
I cannot promise how often I will post, because as most of you are aware, I have recently started back to school and that is taking up a whole lot of time.
I hope you enjoy.
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