Chicken, Seafood, Vegetable

Spring Roll Party

Leave a comment


Spread:
creamy peanut butter
hoisen sauce

warm water

Dipping sauce:
soy sauce
lime juice
sriracha sauce
ginger
garlic
honey
serano pepper grated
rice wine vinegar

rice wrapper

Stuffing Extras:
udon noodle
cucumber
radishes
lettuce
cabbage
pea sprouts
avocado
mung bean
mint
basil
lime slices
prawns
chicken

All the sauces are suggested ingredients and to measure them out to your own personal taste. Layout your spring roll stuffing on the table, pass around the sauces, roll and enjoy!

Ref: Marion!

Marion came to visit and hosted an awesome spring roll party! She covered the table with Freezer Paper (so the spring roll wrappers won’t stick) and created a beautiful display of options to make your own spring rolls. Such a fun party idea! Beautiful evening with friends, spring rolls and mojitos!

Beef, Pasta

Beefy Baked Ziti

Leave a comment
photo.JPG by jamileslie

Ingredients

* 1 pound dry ziti pasta
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 pound lean ground beef or ground sirloin
* 52 ounces Classico® Tomato and Basil Sauce
* 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
* 1 1/2 cups sour cream
* 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add pasta sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Ref: AllRecipes.com


Cheesy and delicious. This was so simple I kept thinking I was going to need to add more spices, but no, this recipe was fantastic. The sour cream confused me, but I went with it and was not disappointed. haha. I did make two minor modifications. While sauteing the onion I added some crushed garlic and When I was layering the casserole dish I sprinkled fresh chopped basil to a layer. Oh and I used Dreamfields Low Carb pasta, but that’s a personal preference. :) It called for “Classico” sauce…. I don’t know if that’s just product placement or what but I’m pretty happy with my Safeway Select brand. haha This was so easy I can see using this recipe for a potluck!

Beef

Gridiron Cheddar & Garlic Steak Fajitas

Leave a comment


Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 large red, orange or yellow peppers, cut into 2-inch-long strips (about 4 cups)
1 large onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 skirt or boneless beef sirloin steak, 3/4 inches thick (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into very thin strips
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 tbsp. lime juice
6 flour tortillas (8-inch), warmed
1 jar (16 ounces) Pace® Chunky Salsa
Toppings: Shredded Cheddar cheese, chopped avocado, hot pepper sauce, sour cream and shredded lettuce
lime wedge

Directions:
Heat the oil in a deep 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and onion and cook until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook and stir for 30 seconds. Remove the vegetable mixture from the skillet.

Add the beef and cook until well browned, stirring often. Remove the beef from the skillet.

Stir the soup and lime juice in the skillet and heat to a boil. Return the vegetables and beef to the skillet and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling.

Spoon about 1/4 cup beef mixture down the center of each tortilla. Top with the salsa and toppings, if desired. Wrap the tortillas around the filling. Serve with the lime wedges, if desired.

Ref: Campbell Kitchen

Delicious and easy. You really can’t beat that. And as Amy would say, “Cheese?!! OK!!” haha.

Dessert

Brookies

Leave a comment


Brownie Cookies – “Brookies”

1 package brownie mix

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Make brownies according to package and let cool. Cut about ten 1 inch squares. Enjoy the remaining brownies. (I used a pan about 8 X 8)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an 1in x1in brownie square. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of the brownie square. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until brownie square is enclosed with dough. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.

Ref: Bakerella & Picky Palate

So this isn’t the cookie dough recipe it was originally listed with. I tried it, I didn’t like it. Dough spread out too thin and while they were still AMAZING tasting cookies, I just wasn’t a fan of a cookie the size of my head with a small square lump in the middle. Looked like weird cookie tumor. haha But if you want to make amazing chocolate chip cookies, click on Bakerella. So I used the cookie recipe from Picky Palate for her Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. (The cookie recipe listed above is the one I used from Picky Palate) Which you can find my attempt at that little slice of heaven previously. 😀 Worked like a charm, just what I was looking for. Also side note, I think I baked the brownies a tad longer than I should have which is why it was a harder lump in the middle and didn’t ooze into the middle of the cookie like it should. Still good though, works well with Picky Palate’s stiffer cookie batter. :) Oh I also didn’t use a cookie scoop. I didn’t have one, nor felt the need to own one. Just as easy to use a tablespoon and shape it accordingly. :)

Dessert

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Leave a comment

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

1 Cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla

3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

10 oz bag chocolate chips

1 bag Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff :)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies :)

Ref: http://picky-palate.com/2011/01/06/oreo-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Dessert

Scuba Diver Cake

Leave a comment



Ace of Cakes!! (sort of, lol)

My boyfriend and I are not only are both scuba divers but we also share the same birthday! Mike likes to joke that he’s dating me because he’ll never get in trouble and forget my birthday… funny boy. Anyways, regardless of the fact we share a birthday, I wanted to make him a fun cake……

This is all about the decor, because with this much effort, not gonna lie, I boxed it. 😀 Cream cheese frosting is delish and I spread it on wildly leaving the peaks as you can see in the pic. Then I found icing color you SPRAY on, (that’s right SPRAY from a can) to create the cool wave effects. 😀 I found the icing spray color at Michael’s. Freaking awesome. I also found at Michael’s fun candy molds in sea creatures! And candy pens to make the candy decorating super easy! The diver legs are two thick pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate and I drew the fins with the yellow chocolate pen on wax paper. When they dried, I attached them to the pretzel legs using more chocolate as “glue”. 😀 And Mike’s dive fins ARE yellow. The color sharks are attracted to. Yup.

The candy pens were kinda expensive, I think they were like $9.95 or something. BUT all you smart phone users need to download the Michaels app because they can scan coupons straight off your phone! Go green! And yay for people like me who consistently leave their paper coupons at home….. hehe.

The last cake was for a going away/back to school thing for a friend. For those of you that don’t know, it’s a dive flag. 😀 Freaking water people, I know. 😀


Thanksgiving, Turkey

Roasted Herb Turkey

Leave a comment

Roasted Herb Turkey
Originally uploaded by jamileslie

Ingredients

1 16- to 18-pound turkey, neck and giblets reserved for gravy
Fresh rosemary sprigs (optional)
Fresh sage sprigs (optional)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
4 teaspoons salt

Make turkey:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Rinse turkey inside and out; pat dry. Place on rack in roasting pan. Sprinkle cavities with salt and pepper. If not stuffing turkey, place rosemary and sage sprigs in main cavity. If stuffing turkey, spoon stuffing loosely into main cavity.

Melt butter in saucepan. Mix in chopped rosemary, sage, orange peel, pepper and salt. Brush herb butter over turkey. Tuck wing tips under turkey; tie legs together to hold shape. Roast turkey 1 hour. Baste with pan juices. Continue roasting turkey until thermometer inserted into thigh registers 180°F, basting every 20 minutes, about 2 3/4 hours longer if unstuffed or about 3 1/4 hours longer if stuffed.

Ref: Epicurious

Third year running using this recipe. Great flavor, meat was moist and tender (although I personally really hate both those words, they do describe this accurately) I don’t use stuffing in my turkey, I thinking it soaks out all the flavor. And while you’ll getting awesome stuffing that way, why take away from the main course? :) So I stuff the cavity with sprigs of rosemary and sage and a tad of the butter herb mixture. Side note, when basting a turkey, don’t leave the baster tip too long on the bottom of the hot pan trying to suck up the turkey drippings… or it might melt together and close off the tip of the baster… lol, Not that I would know from personal experience or anything………… 😀

Thanksgiving

Carmelized Onion Balsalmic Rosemary Gravy

Leave a comment

Ingredients

5 1/2 cups (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth
1 onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
2 large onions, halved, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions

Combine turkey neck and giblets, 5 1/2 cups broth, quartered onion and bay leaf in saucepan. Simmer until reduced to 3 cups liquid, skimming occasionally, about 1 hour.
Strain turkey stock.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced onions; sauté 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon rosemary and 1 tablespoon sage and sauté until onions are golden, about 10 minutes. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in turkey stock. Boil until gravy thickens, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon each rosemary and
sage.

Transfer turkey to platter. Tent with foil. Pour juices from pan into large glass measuring cup; spoon off fat. Add juices to gravy. Add vinegar to roasting pan. Bring vinegar to simmer over medium heat, scraping up browned bits. Pour mixture into heavy small saucepan. Boil until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes; add to gravy. Rewarm gravy;
thin with more chicken broth, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.

Ref: Epicurious

Try it. Nuff said. 😀

Sides, Vegetable

Candied Yams

Leave a comment

Ingredients

Yams or sweet potatoes
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel, cube and boil yams to slightly soften. Place yams in a medium baking dish. Distribute butter pieces evenly over the yams. Sprinkle with brown sugar, dash of vanilla & Cinnamon. Layer yams with miniature marshmallows. Cover and bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, or until yams are tender and marshmallows have melted. Then cover the top with additional
marshmallows and place back in the oven till they are lightly toasted and brown.

Ref: AllRecipes

So I suck and was WAY too excited to eat and didn’t take separate pictures of the yams and potatoes, but you get the gist. They came out perfect, golden, sweet, and delicious. I just kept telling myself it’s a vegetable to make myself feel better about indulging. 😀 Recipe said you can use canned yams/sweet potatoes (drained of course), but it doesn’t take much effort to use fresh ones and I’ll bet its a better flavor!

Sides, Vegetable

Scalloped Potatoes

Leave a comment

Awlow
Originally uploaded by jamileslie

Scalloped Potatoes

potatoes
sharp cheddar cheese
Parmesan cheese
red onion
flour
salt
pepper
paprika
garlic powder
parsley (dried or dice fresh)
butter/margarine
small container… 1-cup of heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
5 – good size potatoes (usually 1 potato per person)
wash and peel…slice about 1/2 inch thick or a little thinner….not thicker!
Peel red onion and slice as thin as you can

Layer in casserole pan
dot butter first…melt in microwave
layer potatoes
dot with more butter
sprinkle flour (this keeps the butter from being too oily and thickens the cream)
garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, parsley
spread red onion, sparsely
sprinkle cheddar cheese and parmesean cheese
dot again with butter and make second layer, same as the first. Should of used up the potatoes, if not…then just continue to layer….Dot top of layer with more butter

Before putting in the oven pour the heavy cream over the top and bake for about 45 mins.
check with a fork for tenderness. Should be golden brown from the cream and cheeses

Ref: My mom :)

Mom’s famous scalloped potatoes! World class awesomeness, and I still screwed it up. LOL Well not entirely, but there was just obviously A LOT going on in the kitchen and I forgot to add the heavy cream before popping it in the oven. Which turned out to not be a HUGE deal, which shows you can omit it if you want, but if you do, use less flour. LOL I think only one bite I had might of had a smidge of a floury taste. The cream does make it richer…thus the awesomeness, but they were still yummy. :) Thanks mom!

And no, my potatoes don’t look like a cat, but I forgot to take separate photos in the excitement of eating, so you can see them in the background of the candied yams post. Awlow was just cracking me up laying sprawled on her back like that on my lap. She was full from turkey too thanks to her dad. hahaha