Thursday, March 31, 2011

Thai Goldmine

I love Mexican food.  I can eat several times a week.  But Asian food is becoming a close second.  I don't much about Thai food, but what I have had is really good.  I just checked out the website on my Coconut Milk can and found a wealth of recipes. 
So, here I am-breaking my own rules because I haven't tried them yet, but they look really good and doable.

Check it out here!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Alton Brown's Stove Top Mac N Cheese

We tried this mac n cheese recipe last night.  This is my favorite homemade mac n cheese recipe I have ever tried and it was the easiest because you usually have to cook your noodles then bake,  because this is all on the stove.  I have usually found my homemade versions a bit bland too, but the hot sauce (don't worry- you can't tell it's in there), the dry mustard, and the Kosher salt really help boost up the flavor.  This was so easy and good that it will definetly be a keeper.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Creamy Black Bean Salsa Chicken

One of my friends gave me this crock pot cook book for Christmas. I love crock pot meals because I always seem to have more energy and motivation to make dinner earlier in the day. I especially liked this meal because you just stick the chicken in frozen. No thawing! I love it. http://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/2010/09/revisiting-creamy-black-bean-salsa.html I used chicken breasts instead of thighs because that is usually what I have on hand. It worked just fine. We ate it as a soup. Delish! We all really liked this meal!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Spice it Up

We love this recipe. The majority of my kids like it, even though it is quite spicy (you can adjust the heat if you want). We eat it with the raita over rice or on a pita/tortilla.

Note to family: This is not the meal to cook if you are having my parents over for dinner.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Almost Famous Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I got this from Food Network Magazine.  They were trying to knock-off a soup from a restaurant called Panera Bread.  It is the best broccoli cheddar soup I have tried.  And the loads of broccoli more than make up for the half and half right? The soup is pureed so the kids aren't whining about big pieces of veggie.  Served in a bread bowl or with some yummy rolls or fresh bread.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

6 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth (I made up three chicken bouilion cubes)
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cups broccoli florets (fresh, or frozen-slightly thawed)
1 large carrot, diced
2 1/2 cups grated cheese (any combo of white or yellow)

1. Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in the flour and cook until golden, 3-4 minutes, then gradually whisk in the half-and-half until smooth.  Add the chicken broth, bay leaves and nutmeg, then season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 minutes.
2.  Add the  broccoli and carrot the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves,  Puree the soup in batches until smooth; you'll still have flecks of carrot and broccoli.  Return to the pot.
3. Add the cheese to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted.  Add up to 3/4 cup water if the soup is too thick.  Ladle into bread bowls and garnish with cheese.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Crockpot Tomato Chicken

Made up Crockpot Recipe I really really liked.

A couple cans of Diced Tomatoes (Italian or regular)
Tomato Sauce
Mushrooms
Green Peppers
Chicken
Italian Seasonings (oregano, basil, or Italian Seasoning grinder)
Any other veggies you want

I made this to go over brown rice, but I also ate a huge bowl of it just plain too. Tasted really delicious and very healthy....mostly veggies which is awesome and an easy meal to go over rice or potatoes.

Stacked Enchilada's

This recipe is super easy and delicious! It's a must try! My husband and kids gobbled it up! I got the recipe from my old collage roommates bakery blog designerbakery.blogspot.com ! 5 stars in my book!

Stacked Enchilada's

This sauce is very watery, its a thin sauce. That's a good thing because the sauce runs all over your plate, so good. I usually double the recipe if I'm making it for five or more people. You don't want to run out of the sauce.

For sauce, in a pot:
Saute 1 yellow onion
Add:
2-8 oz cans tomato sauce
2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbs chili powder
3 cups water

Fry up 1 lb hamburger with onion flakes. Warm up corn or flour tortilla's (whatever kind you like the best) the actually recipe calls for corn but I like flour best! Then onto assembly!

To Assemble:

Put a little sauce on plate, then tortilla, top with hamburger, lettuce, cheese, and sauce. Place another tortilla on top and repeat as many times as you can handle. Usually a 3 stacker is good. Then top with lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, avocado. These are really filling once they are all stacked up, so be prepared! P.S. I only put the lettuce on top just a personal preference! Enjoy!!!

Brazilian Lemonade

Last night for FHE, I tried the Brazilian Lemonade.  I don't know why it is called lemonade because it is made with limes, but you could call in garbage and it would still be good. I followed the recipe exactly and it was so good.  Tristan thought it would be too sour, but it wasn't at all.  I will definitely make this again.

Welcome

It's that time of year when Julie hasn't had enough adult conversation and does crazy things.  And you get to be a part of it!  If you got invited to this blog, I thought you might be interested in sharing recipes.  I know there is a million recipe sites out there, but the purpose of this one is to share amongst friends new recipes we have tried and for you to review how you liked it.
There aren't many rules.  Feel free to participate as much or as little as you want to.  It's not a private blog, but the purpose isn't to gain readership from strangers, but more to share recipes amongst friends.
I will give all authors admin priveleges so feel free to invite other people who you think would enjoy this exchange.
I was thinking that mostly we would post new recipes we have tried, and not so much a huge list of family favorites from years ago.  But if you do, the recipes police won't come.  I guess it is just the "one" in me and that just want the new and exciting recipes.
In the labels if you could label four things:
1) Your Name
2) Recipe Category (desserts, bread, etc)
3)Your rating: 1-5 Stars
4) Difficulty level: easy, moderate, easy-but time consuming, difficult etc.

Also, please only include recipes that you have tried, not ones that you want to try.  Please list the source you got the recipe as much as possible. If you got the recipe online you can just include the link and not the recipe.

Thanks! I hope this is fun and helpful.