Buffalo Chicken Salad

Michael and I love buffalo chicken wings and boneless buffalo wings. I came up with this as a guilt free way to enjoy the same flavour.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Ingredients: (per person)

1 grilled chicken breast

3/4 c. iceberg lettuce

3/4 c. romaine heart

1-2 tbsp. blue cheese or ranch dressing

1-2 tbsp. buffalo sauce (I used "Moore's Buffalo Wing sauce")

Tear the iceberg lettuce into small pieces, remove the thick ribs from the romaine heart and tear the leaves. Toss the lettuce with the salad dressing. Chop the chicken into bite size pieces and toss with the buffalo sauce. Put the chicken on the lettuce and serve immediately.

Whenever I'm barbecuing I like to add a few boneless skinless chicken breasts lightly coated in canola oil. In a zip top bag they will last for a while in the fridge and make for easy meals.

Cilantro Salsa and Cheese dip

I developed this recipe recently because while I love restaurant salsa I've really never enjoyed any that I've bought. I wanted an easy alternative to spending $20 for a meal at a Mexican restaurant and then filling up on the free chips and salsa.

Cilantro Salsa

Ingredients:

1/4 c. minced onion

1-2 small cloves garlic

1 c. chopped lightly packed cilantro

2 c. seeded chopped tomatoes

1/4 c. minced pickled jalapenos

1-2 tbsp. pickled jalapeno juice (to taste)

Finely mince the onion and jalapenos. For a less spicy version you can seed or partially seed the jalapenos first. Crush the garlic into a paste, I like to use a garlic press and put it through twice. Toss everything together and serve with tortilla chips.

To do this in a food processor, pulse the onion and jalapenos separately from the tomatoes and the cilantro. You also need to make sure that the tomatoes are fully seeded or the seeds will be chopped and taste a little bitter.

This will last for a long time in the fridge, I have also frozen it before, it loses some of its color but still tastes great.

Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

1 1/1 c. shredded cheese (I used "fiesta blend")

1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. sour cream

1 tsp. chicken bouillon

hot sauce or minced jalapenos (optional)

Stir together all ingredients but hot sauce or jalapenos. Microwave on high 30 seconds at a time until fully melted. Stir in hot sauce or jalapenos to taste and serve with tortilla chips.

Add a can of refried beans, some ground beef with taco seasoning and a few corn tortillas for an easy supper.

Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage Rolls

This recipe is loosely based on Oma's recipe for stuffed cabbage.

Ingredients:

8-10 cabbage leaves
large pan with boiling salted water

filling:
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground turkey
1/3 c. diced onion
2-3 tbsp. water
1 c. cooked rice
salt and pepper to taste

sauce:
1/4 c. diced onions
1 tbsp. corn or canola oil
1 c. water or broth
1 28 oz can pureed tomatoes
1/2 c. shredded apple
or
1/2 c. chopped raisins
3 tbsp. sugar
salt to taste

To make the filling brown the onion and ground meat until well cooked. Stir in the rice, salt, and pepper. Add just enough water that it will stick together. Set aside to chill.

For the sauce first carmelize the onions then add the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30-45 min.

First remove the outermost 1 or 2 cabbage leaves and use a paring knife to remove the core. place the whole cabbage in the pan of boiling water, this will make it possible to remove the leaves without them ripping. As soon as the leave start to soften and lossen use a pair of tongs to remove them one by one. I would recomend using a larger pan than this because things got kind of crowded.


As you get farther down into the cabbage you may need a paring knife to seperate some of the leaves.

Boil the leaves for 5-8 minutes or until soft.

Once the leaves have cooled enough to handle use a paring knife to remove the hard rib from each leaf.

Put about a 1/3 c. filling on each leaf.
Fold up the bottom and then fold over the sides, then roll upwards and place seam side down.

Place the rolls seam side down in a casserole.

Pour on the sauce and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350.

Halloween

Well it's the week after Halloween so I've been combing the clearance aisles for next year, I always find it amazing what you can get at the end of the season.

Michael and I hosted a small Halloween party this year. I thought I would share some pictures.

Our buffet table

A close up of my Haunted Gingerbread House.

Mark as a cross dressing zombie!

The devil having no luck tempting an angel.

Michael was a serial killer, I was an evil faerie, and Nikki was a pimp, but our camera ran out of batteries. :(

The Menu

Mummy Hand Cheese Log

Boneless Bat Wings

Undead Nachos

Ghost Dinner Rolls

Bubbling Swamp Mud

Drinks

Blood and Body Parts

Graveyard Mud

Watch for some of the recipes under different names. My mom is addicted to my spinach artichoke dip (bubbling swamp mud) and has been begging/threatening me to publish the recipe.

Camping trip to the Smokies

Wow more than a month later and I will finally finish this entry. While I was trying to upload the photos from our trip my computer crashed for a few weeks and I am just now finally getting caught up with email.

Mark and Nikki in the Smokies

This is the view walking into our campsite.



Mark and Nikki by their new tent

Me making breakfast

While we were driving around and exploring we found a little dirt road that wound about 20 or 30 miles down a mountain. We stopped at a little creek for an hour to walk around and let the brakes cool off.

That is Mark (Michael's cousin) almost going over the bridge.

Michael and Mark showing off (and making Nikki and me very nervous) in the creek.

This is Wonderworks "an amusement park for your mind" no the picture is not upside down :

This is me inside a space shuttle at wonderworks

And Michael in a spacesuit.

A big sculpture, also at wonderworks.

All in all it was a great trip. I'm sorry it took so long for me to get the pictures up. Now that my computer is working again I will continue updating recipes etc.

Friday

Well its Friday so that means grocery shopping. Michael and I are going to the Mountains with some friends this weekend so no new recipes for a few days. Unless of course I tell how to make hamburgers on the grill :) open box, put hamburger on grill, eat.
I will post some pictures of our camping trip when we get back.

Manicotti

I often like to multiply my recipes when I make them and then freeze meals for later. I have found that this works very well with pasta.

While I was paging through my cookbooks the other day I saw a recipe for manicotti and it looked so good I decided I would make some. This recipe is my take on this Italian classic, I have added ground turkey to the sauce for some extra protein and adjusted the filling based on my own favourite cheeses. To save time I am using commercial spaghetti sauce, I find that Prego fresh mushroom is the best but almost any kind would work.

Manicotti

Ingredients:

filling:

7.5 oz. (1/2 15 oz. container) ricotta cheese

12 oz. (1/2 24 oz. container) cottage cheese

1 c. shredded mozzarella

1/4c. grated Parmesan

10 oz. (1 block frozen) spinach, defrosted and well drained

1/2 onion

1 tbsp. corn or canola oil

1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

2 eggs lightly beaten

14 manicotti

Sauce:

6 oz. ground turkey

1 tsp. corn or canola oil

1 1/2 c Prego fresh mushroom pasta sauce.

1/3 c. shredded mozzarella

1/4 c. grated Parmesan

To make the filling caramelize the onion in the oil.

Mix the cheeses, spinach, eggs, pepper and caramelized onion in a large bowl.

Put the filling in a one gallon zip top bag.

Boil the manicotti for 5 min. or until just barely soft. Remove to cold water.

Brown the ground turkey in the oil and add the sauce.

Cut a small hole in the corner of the zip top bag. While holding the manicotti noodles in one hand fill directly from the bag and place them in a casserole. I used 2 glass 9x9 casseroles.

Cover in the sauce and sprinkle on the mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake at 375 for 30-40 min. or until golden brown on top and creamy soft inside.

I served this with corn which while not very traditional provided a nice contrast both in flavour and in colour.

My Review:

I was very pleased with how this recipe turned out. I froze one of the casseroles when it was finished except for the cooking. I also doubled the filling and froze it in a zip top bag, it will be perfect for ravioli or any pasta dish. The next time I make this I will try adding one crushed clove of garlic to the onions before I saute them.

I would definitely recommend this manicotti recipe.

Black Pepper London Broil

I was at Bottom Dollar (a local grocery store) the other day and they had a special on London broil. $2.78 a pound! The only catch was the packages all contained at least 5 lbs. So of course I bought two. when I got home I cut them into manageable pieces (1-2 lb roasts, and stewing beef) while I was doing that I also trimmed the fat of and kept that separate for making soup. I individually bagged and labeled each roast and put them in my freezer. This is the first of many meals I will make from them.

Black pepper London Broil

serves 3-4
Ingredients

Brine:
1 c. boiling water
1 c. boiling beef broth
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. salt
1 tbsp. fresh ground black pepper or 2 tbsp. ground black pepper
2 c. ice

3 pieces of lean beef 2" x 2" x 4"

1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 yellow or white onions sliced fine
1 c. beef broth
1 c. water
1 tbsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme

1 apple, any kind

To make the brine dissolve sugar and salt in boiling liquids, add black pepper and ice. Place the meat in a Ziploc bag and add the brine. Let it sit in your fridge overnight. I like to put the whole bag in a plastic bowl so I don't get any spills.

The next day remove the meat and let it drip dry on a rack while you heat most of the oil in a cast iron dutch oven (you can use another pan but this is my favourite). Brown the meat for several minutes on each side.

Place the cored and sectioned apple in the bottom of your crock pot. When the meat is brown put it on top of the apple.

Add the onions and the rest of the oil to the hot oil in the dutch oven. Cook until soft and browned. De glaze with the broth and water, add the pepper and thyme and pour onto the meat. There should be enough liquid to cover the meat, if not add a little more water.

Cook on high until it has boiled for one hour, then turn the crock pot to low and let it simmer for another 3-4 hours.



I served chopped baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese on the side

Chopped baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese.

serves 3-4

ingredients:
3-4 (approximately 2 c.) waxy (Yukon gold, red etc.) potatoes
1 stalk broccoli
1/3 c Velveeta cheese
salt

Wash the broccoli and peel the stem and cut up the florets. Add salt to taste and boil/steam in 1" water.

Scrub the potatoes and cut them into bite size pieces. Put the potatoes in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high stirring every 3 minutes until tender.



To serve put the potatoes on a plate with the broccoli on top, put one or two tbsp. Velveeta on top and microwave until melted, about 30 seconds.

my first blog post

I have been thinking for some time about starting a blog and I have finally decided to go ahead and try. This blog will be about my daily life and the food I create for my husband and myself. For this first post I thought that I would introduce myself and my family. I describe myself as a 21st century housewife. My husband and I live in a house we recently bought and are in the process of remodleing. I will occasionally post pictures of our work in progress. My husband Michael is a carpenter who works managing a construcion warehouse.

The love of my life (the man not the dog :D)

We live on nearly 2 acres in NC with our outdoor border collie Lucy and our spoiled indoor cat Isabelle.

I will be useing this blog to share recipes and my daily life with my friends and family.

To give credit where credit is due I will say that watching Martha Stewart today is what inspired me to give blogging a try. Here is a link to her blog "The Martha Blog" http://www.themarthablog.com

I have to get to the bank before it closes so I guess I better say goodbye for now.