5-a-Day...Easy!

I know, I know....everyone's already heard of Bountiful Baskets, but if you are still unsure of it's awesomeness, please read further.
You cannot believe the amount of produce you get for such a small amount of money! One of the things I love about it is that you don't know what you're getting. It's just a surprise when you go to pick it up. I realize that may not be a selling point to everyone, but it is one of the features I appreciate. I like trying something I wouldn't have normally thought about. For anyone that is concerned about that, I've gotten about 5 baskets so far and out of all the "normal" items you get, there's maybe one unusual thing.

It's also easy. You order it online on Monday or Tuesday and go pick it up on Saturday (with a laundry basket). There are various local locations (in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and I think more), so you just select the one that's closest to you. Then you have this abundance of produce in your house, so you have to eat it because it's always there. You get 1/2 vegetables and 1/2 fruits. Throw something in with your dinners every night or grab a quick healthy snack, you'll never run out. No, I'm not getting paid for advertising, I just think it's awesome and everyone should know about it. So, for $15, here's one of the baskets I got.
If you can't tell, that included strawberries, grapes, cantelope, bananas, pears, peaches, tomatoes, red peppers, carrots, celery, broccoli and romaine lettuce. What more could you need?! And all for $15!

Here's the link: http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ Thank you. I'm done.

Breakfast Skillet

I'm always trying to come up with new ideas for breakfast because I make breakfasts more often than dinners! I got the idea for this from a food blog, but I can't remember which one. I adjusted it to our liking. My kids loved this. It's one of those methods, not recipes, but those are the best because you can throw in whatever you like!

First, fry some eggs in a skillet (one per person). I prefer mine over-medium (whites fully cooked, yolks warmed through & slightly thickened), but you can make them however you like them. When they're done the way you like them, slide them onto a plate and cover with foil to keep them warm.

For the hashbrowns, you could use frozen hashbrowns or make your own. I made my own this time. It's perfect if you're looking for some uses for your big bag of potatoes in the pantry! Just wash and peel the potatoes and shred them with a food processor. Be sure to soak them in water to release the starches. It makes a huge difference in the texture of the potatoes. After soaking them in water, pat them dry with a paper towel. Then put some butter and olive oil in the skillet you used to cook the eggs and throw the the potatoes in. (Tip: The butter is for the flavor and the oil is so the butter can reach a higher temperature without turning brown). DON'T TOUCH THEM for at least a couple minutes. You want them to be brown and crunchy on the outsides and soft on the inside. The center will steam as the outsides are cooking. Flip them over once to brown the other side. As I cooked them, I seasoned them with salt, pepper and some chives.
Then top with crumbled bacon and cheese. I didn't show the step of cooking the bacon because I used pre-cooked bacon! You could cook the bacon in the skillet before the eggs if you need to cook them, or use the microwave while you're doing everything else. You could also substitute sausage or ham.
After the cheese is melted, slide your eggs back onto the hashbrowns. I then topped them with cherry tomatoes and parsley. Mostly just for color and because I had them in my garden, but it did make them pretty and delicious.
I know some people have an aversion to this, but this is the way I like them! The yolk spills all over the hashbrowns and flavors them up. Yum Yum!
It's easy and something different than the standard pancake breakfast!

Cowboy Cookies

Hailee watched an episode of Dora The Explorer, where they apparently made "cowboy cookies". I didn't see the episode myself, so whether these are anything like what she was referring to, I don't know. However, she asked me for days to make her some "cowboy cookies", so this is what I came up with. Actually, they turned out so good that I'm very glad she asked me to make them! Now I have a new recipe I'm sure to use again and again! I took a standard oatmeal cookie recipe (from America's Test Kitchen) and threw in "cowboyish" things like nuts & sunflower seeds and then topped them with frosting. Oh. My. Gosh. Trust me, these are good. So, here you go.

Cookies
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted Butter, softened
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Large Eggs
3 Cup Oats
1/2 Cup Walnuts
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds, seeded (obviously)
1/2 Cup Raisins (optional-I don't like raisins in my cookies, but if you do, they'd go in here nicely).

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Beat the butter and sugars together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs until combined.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined. Mix in the oats, nuts and seeds until just incorporated.
6. Working with 1/4 cup of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay on two baking sheets spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart.
7. Flatten the cookies slightly using your palm.
8. Bake until the tops of the cookies are lightly golden, but the centers are still soft and puffy, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway through baking.
9. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
2 8-oz. pkgs. Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup butter, softened
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla

1. Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until combined.
2. Frost cookies.

Chile Con Limon

Ok, No this isn't a recipe, nor does it have anything to do with cooking (besides putting the bag in the microwave), but I just had to share this little beauty with everyone. In 2004, Ty and I went to Puerto Vallarta. In their local WalMart, I found this wonderful bag of goodness. I bought a box to try it out and became immediately addicted. When we were leaving to come back home, we made a special trip back to the WalMart so I could get another box. If I had only known how difficult it would be to get my hands on it again, I would've bought out the whole store. Back at home, I googled it, I searched for it, but it was nowhere to be found. I even went so far as to contact the "ACT II" company begging them to ship it to my house or my state or at least my country! Their response? "Sorry, it is only available in Mexico". I would've paid any shipping price, so I didn't understand that at all, but I'd come to an impasse and had to move on with life. I thought about it, I told others about it, but ultimately, I came to accept the fact that I would have to wait until we made it down to Mexico again someday. Imagine my surprise when I opened my birthday present from my little brother and his wife this year (6 years later) and found this inside! They had found this popcorn available on a website (that probably didn't exist when I was looking for it) at My Mexican Pantry. I have been enjoying this delicious popcorn again and loving every bite. Every bite brings me sadness though, knowing that I'm coming closer to the end of my precious box. Yes, it's available on this website, but at $2/bag, I do have to go easy on it. Just wanted to share this joy with all of you. Please do let me know if you taste it!

Sausage Gravy Pasta

When I was in AZ visiting my brother's family recently, my sister-in-law made a really good pasta. She told me what was in it and I realized it had the same ingredients as my sausage gravy I use for biscuits and gravy. I decided to experiment with the leftovers and it really worked out great! I'm not very good at using leftovers, but this is one of the best. Your family will have no idea they're eating the same thing for dinner that they had for breakfast! Here's a link to my Biscuits & Gravy recipe so you can make that for breakfast.

I also decided to try something I haven't tried before. I took pictures throughout the process so you can see how easy it really is. Also, I'm not including a recipe here, just the method...

Start by boiling a pot of water and cooking your pasta according to package direction. I used penne with the lines in it, but you really could use whatever type of pasta you want.
In a soup pot or deep skillet, put in your leftover sausage gravy. It doesn't really matter how much there is, just add all of it. If there isn't very much, the small amount of sausage you have will still flavor all of the sauce. If you have a lot, that just more meat for your pasta!
Sprinkle the gravy with 1-2 tablespoons flour and add about 1 Cup chicken stock or broth.
Stir the liquid into the gravy. It will start out thin and gradually thicken as it's heated. If it gets too thick, you can add more chicken stock or even a little starchy water from the pasta pot.
Once it's thickened and your pasta is done, add the pasta to the sauce pot.
And stir together.
Then add a bunch of dark greens. You could use spinach, kale, arugula...any dark green that holds up to cooking.
Stir it all together until the greens are wilted. Put it on a plate and sprinkle with parmesean cheese.
Ta Da!

Fruity French Toast Casserole

I got a version of this recipe from KSTU-TV, but adapted it for my own family. I cook a hot breakfast at least 4 days a week, so I'm always looking for new things so it's not always the standard "bacon & eggs" or "pancakes". Also, anywhere you can sneak some fruit in is always a bonus. This one is good and just fun for something a little different from the standard breakfast foods. This will serve about 4-6 people.

Casserole

6 Slices Bread, cubed

4 oz (1/2 pkg.) Cream Cheese, cut into small cubes

1 Cup Fresh Fruit (blueberries, strawberries, peaches or whatever you like)

5 Eggs

¼ Cup Milk

¼ Cup Maple Syrup

1) Place ½ of cubed bread in a well greased baking dish (8X8’ish or one like I told you about in this post). Spread around evenly.

2) Sprinkle cubed cream cheese evenly in dish over the bread.

3) Arrange fruit on top of bread & cream cheese.

4) Top with remaining bread cubes.

5) Beat together eggs, milk and syrup and pour over bread mixture so everything is moistened.

6) Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least a couple hours.

7) In the morning, bake at 350 covered with foil for 30 min.

8) Remove foil and bake another 30 min. until lightly browned.

Fruit Topping

½ Cup Water

½ Cup Sugar

1 Tbsp. Cornstarch

1 Tbsp. Butter

1 Cup Fresh Fruit (same as in the bread mixture, or not I guess)

1) While the casserole is baking, combine water, sugar and cornstarch in pan and stir together to dissolve sugar.

2) Heat until thickened and add the fruit. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

3) Remove from heat and add butter. Stir together until butter is melted.

Cut french toast into servings and top with fruit mixture.

My Cute New Cookware

You might be thinking, "how could someone refer to their cookware as cute?" Well, let me just show you what I got for Mother's Day that I am so excited about. In fact, I'm so excited that I haven't stopped cooking ever since and our fridge is getting too full to fit anything else into it. I'm going to have to take a break for awhile until we catch up! Cookware isn't what it used to be...silver, black, straight, boring. There are so many fun options out there, why didn't someone think of "cute" cookware sooner?! Next, I'm going to have to replace my entire pots & pans set! Anyway, here are my two new items that have brought me so much joy.

Rachael Ray's Bubble & Brown Stoneware Set: You can select from a few awesome colors. I chose the orange. You can use these as you would normally use any kind of glass baking dish, except instead of clear, square and boring, you've got a beautiful bright color, shape and even handles! You can use it to make things like lasagna, casseroles, brownies, etc. They are even cute enough to use as serving dishes for other things! I served a fruit dip in the little one last week. Tramontina Gourmet Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven: This one is great because I've always needed a smaller dish for things like soup for my little family. I have this giant soup pan and I seriously think because of it, I rarely make soup for my family. Who wants to lug out this giant thing that's way bigger than what you need and that you have to clean when you're done? This is cast iron so it heats everything evenly and can be used right on the stove and transferred into the oven. You could brown beef in it for spaghetti sauce (or hamburger helper, I'll just admit) because you still have plenty of room for more. It also has cute little handles so you can serve in it as well. Who doesn't love to save cleaning time by using less dishes? And again, it came in a fun color! Love it!

Tea Party Tea Sandwiches

We had a fun little tea party for Mother's Day. I kind of just took a combination of ideas from online, made up some of my own ideas, put them together and man, they turned out so yummy! What a fun activity for the girls, I'd highly recommend it. One of the best things about these sandwiches is I assembled all of them from start to finish in about 15 minutes. That was good since I decided to have this tea party the day before I actually had it. I shopped for the food that morning, so these are really great if you're a procrastinator like I am!

For all tea sandwiches, you first have to cut the crusts of the bread. Also, you are going for small and cute. Don't forget to bring out your best china and make it fancy!

I wanted a combination of both sweet and savory sandwiches, so here are the savory ones.
Tomato & Olive Sandwich
Bread (I used white for these), with crusts removed
A Variety of Marinated Olives (You can get these in the bulk section of the deli area in the grocery store).
Cream Cheese, softened
Tomatoes, sliced
Salt

1) Pit and chop the olives.
2) Mix the olives with the cream cheese.
3) Spread the olive/cheese mixture onto the bread slices.
4) Lay tomatoes over the cheese mixture and sprinkle with salt.
5) Top with another slice of cheese covered bread and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

Cucumber & Chive Sandwich
Bread (I used white for these), with crusts removed
Cucumber, peeled & sliced
Chives, fresh
Cream Cheese, softened
Salt

1) Mix the chives with the cream cheese.
2) Spread the chive/cheese mixture onto the bread slices.
3) Lay cucumbers over the cheese mixture and sprinkle lightly with salt.
4) Top with another slice of cheese covered bread and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

And here are the sweet ones.
Pear, Honey & Walnut Sandwich
Bread (I used wheat for these), with crusts removed
Pear, sliced
Cream Cheese, softened
Honey
Walnuts

1) Mix equal amounts of honey and cream cheese together.
2) Spread mixture onto the bread slices.
3) Lay pears over the honey/cheese mixture on half of the slices of bread.
4) Sprinkle walnuts onto the other half of the slices of bread.
5) Put the bread slices together and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

Strawberry & Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich
Bread (I used wheat for these), with crusts removed
Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread found next to the peanut butter in the grocery store)
Strawberries, sliced

1) Spread the nutella onto the bread slices.
2) Top with strawberries.
3) Put the bread slices together and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

Banana & Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich
Bread (I used wheat for these), with crusts removed
Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread found next to the peanut butter in the grocery store)
Bananas, sliced

1) Spread the nutella onto the bread slices.
2) Top with bananas.
3) Put the bread slices together and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

5 different sandwiches in 15 minutes!

Biscuits & Gravy

This is your basic run of the mill biscuits & gravy recipe, but I wanted to post it because I have a great recipe for leftovers. You can click this link for that recipe: Sausage Gravy Pasta. Even though these are basic and easy, I make them all the time at my house because my kids LOVE them...well, and so do I!

4 Buttermilk Biscuits (we like Pillsbury frozen biscuits best)
1 tube Jimmy Dean Sausage
2 Cups Milk
2-4 Tablespoons Flour

1. Prepare biscuits as instructed on package.
2. Brown sausage in skillet. As soon as sausage is completely brown, turn to medium heat.
3. Add flour by the tablespoon, stirring constantly. Let the flour turn BROWN before adding another tablespoon (if you don't, your gravy will taste like flour).
4. After you have added enough flour to make the gravy as thick as you like, add milk and stir with whisk.

Serve over biscuits.

Spaghetti Pasta Salad

I wanted to post a couple of leftover recipes. I really have a hard time with leftovers and can only eat them if they are completely transformed into something that doesn't resemble what they were originally. This is one of my favorite things to do with leftover spaghetti noodles. In fact, I usually try to make extra pasta just to make sure we have enough left over to make this. It could not be any easier.

Cooked Spaghetti

Tomatoes, chopped

Cucumber, chopped

Can of sliced Olives

Zesty Italian Salad Dressing

Salad Supreme

Combine all ingredients in whatever quantities desired. Serve warm or cold.

Fruit Roll-Ups

I didn't even know this was possible without a food dehydrator, but I found out how to do this in an old book I've been reading called "Today's Tips for Easy Living". It's a great book even though the "today" referred to in the title was in 1988!

All you have to do to make these is puree whatever fruit you want in the blender. Add about 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice per quart of puree to keep the fruit from browning and as a preservative. After blending them, pour onto an inverted cookie sheet covered in saran wrap. Put them in an oven set at 175 degrees and leave the door open a couple inches (I assume so the moisture won't remain in the oven?). You have to leave them in there for several hours, but you can tell when they're done because they don't look "wet" anymore and when you try to peel them they'll be pliable.

For mine, I used strawberries, oranges and bananas. They all tasted great. Also, I dried my strawberry one out so much that it was brittle and I was just cracking pieces off of it. I put it in a ziplock bag with a few drops of water and the next day it was just as soft as the others.

I'm looking forward to trying this with all different kinds of fruit. What a healthy treat! Enjoy!

Eggs 'n Gravy

I recently discovered this breakfast food and I absolutely love it! We all need another way to cook eggs, right? I've never heard of this method before, but it's so simple. The kids love it too.

It's made just like you would make biscuits and gravy (which I just recently learned how to make as well), except with eggs instead of sausage. You'll need some biscuits, so you can either use pre-made biscuits or start cooking your favorite kind while you're preparing the rest.

1. First you hard boil some eggs (I make one per person). Peel them and then separate the whites from the yolks.
2. While the eggs are cooking, heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add butter and cornstarch or flour. Whisk them together. This is a roux.
3. When the butter is melted, add milk while stirring. Make sure it is hot enough that it's bubbling a bit so it will thicken.
4. Add salt & pepper to taste. I also add a little hot sauce here because I always add hot sauce to my eggs, but you can leave that out if you don't like it.
5. Chop up the egg whites and add them to the milk mixture.
6. Split each biscuit in half and spoon some of the egg/milk mixture onto it.
7. Crumble an egg yolk over the top of each biscuit.

Ok, normally I just "eye-ball" it, but in the interest of trying to create a recipe, here are the general amounts per person:
1 Egg, 1/2 Tbsp. Butter, 1/2 Tbsp. Cornstarch/Flour, 3/4 Cup Milk, 1 Biscuit.