Something besides a recipe….

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I am just waiting for Winter to be over this year.  Normally I don’t mind the change of season’s and the cooler temperatures that come with them.  This year, there has just been too many health issues and sickness.

It just seems like we get well for two days and then back to being sick again.  Last week my daughter and husband were sick to their stomachs on Monday and this week my son has the chicken pox.  My oldest son woke up today not feeling well and then sick to his stomach, I am hoping his bought with the chicken pox will not take too long to come to fruition.  The one son, who was the first victim, is having a hard time with the itching today but we are managing with Calamine and liquid Benadryl.

This week is our Missions Conference at church and I hate to miss it.  I missed our Baptist History week a few months back due to sickness and now we are sick again.  Thankfully, we can watch on the internet and still here the Word of God, it is just not the same as being there in person.  I am to bring several of the side dishes for the Lunch meal on Sunday, but I think we will end up having to stay home from service that day and just I will bring the food up.

School is taking a back page these last few days, I just feel like we are having a hard time this Winter period with trying to stay on schedule. I finally felt the timing was right to share with my daughter about Women’s health, she is 10 and will be 11 in April.  We have been using three resources so far.  The main curriculum I have used has been from Blessing God’s Way called Maidens by His Design.  I have really enjoyed the fact that it celebrates what God has created in us as Women. The curriculum gives us scriptures to focus on and shows us how to focus on the Lord each day of the month, how to not have a spirit of fear.  It basically takes a biblical approach and turns you to the Lord as opposed to a worldly view which would tend to point one towards thinking it is a curse and something to be negative about.

One of the other resources I have used briefly has been a book by Dannah Gresh Six Ways to Keep the Little in Your Girl there are some good points in there about modesty and there are some ideas presented about how to keep an open dialog with your girls so that they feel comfortable asking you questions.

I have used both of these in conjunction with a great resource from Queens Homeschool The Standard of Purity.  I had started this study in 2010 and with the study on health opted to finish it up and it has lead to some wonderful conversations about what God’s standards are for Purity and Beauty as compared to the worlds standards.  We have been able to talk about whether or not we need to wear make-up.  How much make up to wear if needed.   We have been able to talk more importantly about our inner beauty and how that radiates out from within.

If anyone is looking for some great resources for either boys or girls on how to navigate through these conversations Queens Homeschool has some wonderful biblical resources that can help any one out.

I am getting ready to post our Monthly menu for February in the next day or so as well! I pray you all have a blessed week, make it through the cold and any storms coming across your path.

Toasty Cheese Bake recipe card #6 Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library

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Have you ever had one of those recipes you just loved growing up as a child and still like to eat as an adult?  For me, the Toasty Cheese Bake was the one.  This recipe came from the fabulous 70’s and is due with great thanks to Betty Crocker.

You see in the 70’s BC came up with this great marketing plan to reach house wives by selling these ultra attractive boxes with recipe card collections…yes I am being slightly facetious here.  I have read comments on the internet about the slightly unappealing green color of some…we lucked out and ended up with the Harvest Gold Box.  You could subscribe to the recipe cards and each month you would get one new set in the mail.

The above card pictured is one the recipes that was fantastic…about 10 years ago, pregnant with my second child, I was visiting my parents in ID and I mentioned I wanted to write down the recipe.  Yes, my mom STILL has her box!!!   We dug the box out, I sat there reminiscing over old recipes and found the one I wanted….did I mention I was pregnant at the time….so we get talking about recipes, things get moved around on the table, cook books are out, etc….and the RECIPE DISAPPEARED!!! 

I kid you not, we looked high and low and have NEVER been able to find the recipe….anyone else have things like this happen when they were pregnant?????  We have thought many times about trying to find the recipe and to no avail.

Well recently about a month ago, I came across a blog post somewhere that got me thinking about those recipe cards once again and the lost recipe.  I started doing a search to find some Forums that might be able to help those who lost cards and would they be able to post the recipe, etc.  The same night I came across a blog that only had pictures of the cards and her running commentary about each one and how cruddy she thought the food was and would never serve to her children, blah, blah, blah……I spent over an hour going through pages of her blog and was ready to give up.  I pushed the refresh button one more time and I gasped out loud…it was like seeing a golden egg or something….so much time searching and there was the picture of what I had been missing all these years.  I sent a text to my mom asking her if the name of the recipe was Toasty Cheese Bake and she said she would check the index and sure enough it was!!!

The problem was it was just the picture!! And now for the silly part, why had I not tried to Google the NAME of the recipe years ago!!!!  I know, as savvy as I am at times with the computer, sometimes my mind just doesn’t think straight…I know, it is Peri-Menopause all over the place!!!

So I did a Google search and FOUND the recipe card and the picture!!!!!  I was so ecstatic.  So here I present to you a simple, humble recipe for ground beef.  It is just another economical recipe that uses ground beef and doesn’t end up as taco’s on your plate, or shepherds pie, etc.

With the size of our family I have modified it from the original.  I use 12 slices of bread and would triple the egg and milk mixture.  The first time I made it after finding the recipe I followed the directions and thought it a little on the dry side but still good. So to make it a little moister I increased the milk and egg.

I also needed to add extra amounts of cheese…for this to be cheeeeezy, you really need to have lots and lots of cheese, covering the meat mixture sometimes looks adequate but you need to load it on top to get that stringy cheese look when you pull it out of the pan.  The other possible change I might make the next time I make it would be to add in Velveeta cheese, maybe on the bottom layer? I am not sure as of yet but it is something I want to check out and see.

Enjoy~~

Honey Apricot Sesame Chicken

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We eat our fair share of chicken here at our house.  I am always on the prowl for new chicken recipes to give us a variety of flavors and cultures.

This was a nice recipe to try because it gave me the option of having Chinese food but without having the proper cooking wok to make it all come together.  A simple stove top skillet will work just fine and you too will have mastered this recipe in no time.

Honey-Apricot Sesame Chicken adapted from Hungry Girl Porvida

Serves 4
2 tablespoons honey
3 tbsp apricot jam
1/8 tsp grated ginger
2 tablespoons sesame seeds…(I just used 1/2T. a little goes a long way)
5 tbsp tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed with a garlic press
½-1 tsp red pepper flake
¼ of a small onion, diced
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch chunks ( for us we use 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts)
Coarse salt
vegetable oil
In a small bowl, combine honey, jam, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and ginger; set aside.

Season chicken with salt and dredge in cornstarch. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add half the chicken; cook, turning occasionally, until golden and opaque throughout, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate paper towel lined plate; repeat, adding more oil if needed.

Add more oil to the pan if needed and add red pepper flake, heat for about thirty seconds. Cook onions, garlic, and thinly sliced zucchini in the pan with the red pepper, when zucchini is tender add sauce mixture and bring to a boil.

 

Return all the chicken to skillet and toss with sauce to coat and cook until chicken is heated through, cook longer if a thicker sauce is desired. Serve with steamed white or brown rice.

Enjoy and if you make it come back and let me know!

Homemade Pizza

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Years ago, like back in the dark ages in the 80’s I used to work at Williams~Sonoma.  One of the nice perks of working there was access to the hundreds and hundreds of recipe cards. I only wish now, I had taken one of everything, knowing that I was going to come to love cooking so much.

One of the cards I did happen to bring home was their recipe for Pizza dough.  It is recipe card number 19364 in case I need to mention that.

I have used this recipe with great success and find that it will make either two thin crust pizza’s that are about 16” diameter or one really nice thick crust. 

The flavor is great and I like it the way it is made.  I have also started adding the addition of honey to the recipe which I found on another site.  Unfortunately, back in 2008 when I started really saving recipes from the internet, I did not think to save the link from where I found the recipe as is the case with the honey recipe.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (1 Tbs.) active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm (110 degrees) water

4 cups of flour

2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup olive oil.

(optional 3 T. honey)

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of the warm water.  Combine flour, salt, yeast mixture, rest of water and olive oil.  Knead for 10 minutes, until dough is soft and silky but not sticky, adding more flour if necessary.  Cover and let rise until double, approx. 45 minutes.  Flatten out dough to fit baking stone or divide and flatten to desired sizes, cover and let rise 20 minutes.  cover with tomato sauce, etc., and bake at 40 degrees for 10-20 minutes (depending on size) until golden brown.

As far as the toppings go…. we use a homemade pizza sauce which I have currently run out of and frustrated to no end that I did not get more made this year since we were trying to sell the house.

I like to take two fairly large onions, sweet onions if you have them and then caramelize them on the stove.  We then like sautéed mushrooms, as well as mild sausage.  Let’s not forget loads of Mozzarella cheese as well.

Enjoy!!!

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

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I found this recipe back in 2010 and have been making it faithfully for the last two years. This has been a favorite of ours and there never seems to be enough even when there are left overs. 

I really enjoy the fact that this is a forgiving recipe, in that you don’t have to be exact.  I have used both Jack cheese and Mozzarella cheese and “eye-balled” the spices when I was in a pinch for time and they turned out great. The recipe also works if you have left over turkey during the holiday season and are not sure what to do with turkey left overs!!

I think the first time I fixed these I tried the corn tortilla’s but we like the flour tortilla’s the best.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos adapted from Our Best Bites

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder (I did 1/2tsp.)
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepper jack cheese (could probably use more like 2.5 cups I just used regular jack)

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. for 15-20 minutes Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

I usually take boneless skinless frozen chicken breasts, defrost in the microwave, slice them in half lengthwise and then cook them up in the frying pan.  Once cooked, I toss them in the food processor and let it shred them.  I used to cut it all up by hand before I was blessed with my kitchen servant and it works out great either way.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.
You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. roll them up, place on your baking sheet.  When you have used up all your filling, coat your tortilla’s lightly with cooking spray and give a very light sprinkle of salt over all.  Pop in the oven and then serve with sour cream.

If you prefer to use corn tortilla’s the original recipe has steps for handling them as well as some other sauce recipes for dipping.

I usually get in excess of 20 taquitos with this recipe.  I made a batch yesterday and only had one pack of 20 and I had enough filling left over for probably another 6.  These are great to take for camping and they freeze well, if you need that option.  I would freeze them after baking first and then reheat in a toaster oven for small servings if needed.

Enjoy and if you make them come back and let me know!!