Beef Stew

On May 8th, I made a crock pot meal.  In the weeks since, food has not been my friend and I've been avoiding it at all costs (that's not always a good thing.)  Thomas loved it and I may have loved it at a different time...

1/4 c flour
1 lb stew meat
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 can diced tomatoes in juice (don't drain)
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped onion
celery [didn't use]
1 garlic clove [didn't have, used garlic powder]
1 tsp dried thyme leaves [or Italian Seasoning]
chopped carrots

Combine 1/4 cup flour, salt, pepper in a resealable plastic food storage bag.  Add beef, close bag, and shake bag to coat the beef.  Place floured-covered stew meat in the crock pot. Add remaining ingredients.  Stir and cook on low for 8-12 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.

Before serving, turn slow cooker to high, combine a little flour (about 1 T) and water (about 2 T) and stir until a smooth paste.  Stir into the stew as as a thickener, cover and cook until desired consistency.

Recipe adapted from: Fix It Quick™ Favorite Name Brand™: Slow Cooker. "The Best Beef Stew".  Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, 2004. 112.

Mashed pototates with Greek yogurt

I'm starting to use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  I recently found a link (yes, through Pinterest!) for Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Greek Yogurt and Chives.  It makes a lot and we ate the leftovers all weekend long.  By Sunday, I was used to the Greek Yogurt and could taste the similarities between sour cream and Greek yogurt. 

3-4 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
1 cup warmed milk
2 T butter
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt or light sour cream
4 T chopped fresh chives, divided
black pepper

Wash, (peel), and chop potatoes.  Bring a pot to a boil and cook until tender.  Drain.  Return to pot and mix in warm milk, butter, and season with salt and pepper.  Transfer mashed potatoes into a serving bowl, spooning the yogurt into the top layer.  Sprinkle chives on top with more black pepper.

Source: Natural Health.  "Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Greek Yogurt and Chives."  2012.

April Fool's Day "Chocolate Cream Pie"

Another inspiration from Pinterest.  In honor of April Fool's Day, I decided to make "dessert" for dinner.  I tried out a new (to me) recipe for meatloaf using ground turkey and Panko breadcrumbs.  Then I tried to spread mashed potatoes on top to look like whipped topping.

Turkey Meatloaf
2/3 cups panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
3 pounds lean (7 percent) ground turkey, preferably organic
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl mix Panko with milk and let stand for five minutes.  Add ground turkey, onion, eggs, (1/4 cup) ketchup, parsley, mustard, salt, sage and pepper.  Mix the turkey mixture well.  Place the meat into a loaf pan, brush on top the 2 Tablespoons of ketchup and bake for 90-105 minutes.  Inner temperature should be 165 degrees when done.  While baking, you may need to drain the extra grease.  I halved the recipe, and it was finished in 1 hour.  Next time, I'll just make the recipe as is.  It's a great tasting turkey loaf, flavorful and moist.  Thomas liked the ketchup incorporated inside (he didn't realize the ketchup on the outside because I piled mashed potatoes on top of it.) 

For the mashed potatoes, I washed, peeled, cut and boiled 5 yukon gold.  I added about 1/4 cup milk, 3 Tablespoons melted butter and garlic powder to taste.

Source for meatloaf: "Turkey Meatloaf".  The Martha Stewart Show, February Winter 2008.
Inspiration from: Huntley, Amy.  "April Fool's Day".  The Idea Room. 16. March 2010.

Idaho Sunrise Potatoes

This is a fun idea, to combine twice-baked potatoes and omelets.  When I saw it, I knew it was completely doable to make for dinner and tonight I finally got around to trying it.  I baked the potatoes in the oven, thinly cut the top off lengthwise, scooped out most of the potato, sprinkled in fillings and cracked an egg on top.  We had a filling dinner and now we have leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge for later.  This would also be a great holiday (like Easter!) breakfast, using the mashed potatoes for dinner. 

For baking potatoes:
Russet potatoes
olive oil (or oil of choice)
kosher salt
Scrub potatoes, poke about six holes, rub oil and sprinkle salt around them.  Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

Directions:
After the baked potatoes cool, thinly cut (lengthwise) the top of the potatoes.  Scoop out the potatoes, leaving some potato coating the skins. 

Fill in the potato three-fourths full with cheese, bacon, green onions, olives, etc., and crack one egg on top.  Grind black pepper, salt (if wanted), more grated cheese, herbs, etc.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  The egg white should be firm but the yolk runny. Pretty delicious!

Source:  Wells, Sara.  "An Idaho Sunrise: Egg-Stuffed Baked Potatoes".  15. Feb. 2012.  Our Best Bites.

Baked Potato with Chili

Yesterday we had my parents and sister over for a winter/early Christmas party.  I bought five baker's russet potatoes and wanted to know how to bake them properly.  In a search, the first four links came up with the exact same method of baking potatoes.
1. Scrub potatoes
2. Poke potatoes with 6-12 deep holes
3. Rub them with vegetable oil (or cooking oil of your choice)
4. Sprinkle kosher salt or sea salt
5. Bake in the oven, placing a baking sheet on a rack underneath for about 1 hour at 400 degrees.
After making these and seeing that we needed to clean the oven rack, we thought about baking them directly on the baking sheet next time.

The skin is crisp and flavorful.  The potatoes were gorgeous.  We topped them with chili and everyone was completely full.  Some were good and ate salad (I wasn't among them), but we all had room for some chocolate fondue and fresh fruit!

Potato bar with chili, toppings and sauteed mushrooms

Sparkling Cider, ginger snaps, Spitzbuben, and banana bread

(P.S. sorry the pictures are terrible quality)

Mashed potato casserole

With some leftover ham from Thanksgiving and leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving weekend, I decided to get rid of them all by making a casserole.  The great thing about this idea is that anything that complements potatoes would work well in the casserole.  I started out by layering the mashed potatoes, mozzarella cheese, chopped ham and topping it with more cheese.  I decided to amp up the flavor a bit by mixing garlic powder, onion powder and dried parsley with the potatoes (also stir in some milk if they need moistened.)  After that I decided to mix it all together instead of doing a layer-thing.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then broil on low for 4-5 minutes to brown the top.

Spicy Potato Soup

This is one of the soups from my childhood.  Thomas says it's his favorite soup that I've made.  However, I don't really have a recipe to write down.  It's all an approximation but maybe next time I make it, I'll note more specific measurements.

4 medium (red) potatoes
6- 8 oz. tomato sauce (so not the entire can)
1/2 - 3/4 lb. lean ground turkey
1 zucchini (or green beans; peas)
chili powder
garlic powder
onion powder {alternatives: saute onion to your taste, or dried onion}
black pepper
salt

Wash and dice potatoes, peeling is optional.  In a medium saucepan, cook for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are tender.  Meanwhile, {saute onion}, brown ground turkey, sprinkle chili powder, garlic- and onion powders, and pepper.  Wash and slice zucchini into fourths, add into turkey mixture.  Drain potatoes (when done.)  Combine the potatoes and meat into the medium saucepan.  Add tomato sauce (until it barely covers food), pour in a little water (about 1/2 cup) to thin out the sauce.  Sprinkle in more chili powder, pepper, salt, garlic- and onion powder.  Stir over medium-high heat until the soup comes together, slightly bubbly and thickened.  My mom's original recipe suggested to top with Tabasco.

Skillet Squash Dish

I've made this dish twice in the past two weeks.  I cooked three red potatoes in the microwave.  Meanwhile I sliced yellow squash and began to sautee them in (as little as possible) olive oil.  I sprinkled "Pasta- und Pommessalz", which main ingredient after salt is garlic, on top of them.  When they're cooked (translucent), transfer to paper-towel lined plate.  Dice cooked potatoes and sautee in (as little as possible) oiled skillet. The first time I just seasoned them with black pepper and the second time I seasoned them with smoked paprika.  Thomas seemed to like the latter better.  Add ham, low-fat weiners, sausage with the potatoes.  Combine the squash with the meat and potatoes.  Sprinkle parsley over the dish before serving.  Easy peasy.

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes {au Gratin}

Have I covered all the possible potato dishes in that title?  Scalloped potatoes are good, but I'm a big sucker for cheese, so I had to cheat and add cheese.  This recipe is sort of my own-- a concoction of a couple of different recipes.  Potatoes are versatile, so just imagine the possibilities! 

First thinly cut 1 pound of potatoes.  I used red potatoes this time around.

For the sauce, melt 1-2 Tablespoon butter in a saucepan.  Mix in an onion or dried onions.  To make the roux add 2 T flour, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese (all to taste). Pour 1-1/4 cups milk all at once and whisk well.  At first I kept the heat on medium low until I figured out that turning up the heat to medium high will get the sauce thick and bubbly in no time.  I do like to keep stirring it so the milk doesn't burn on the bottom.

Layer half the sliced potatoes in a greased casserole dish (8x8), cover with half the sauce and repeat.  Cut two slices of (wheat) bread into 1-inch cubes.  Cover the top of the dish with bread cubes and 1/2-1 cup shredded cheese.

Bake for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven or until done.

Inspired by Better Homes and Gardens and Set for Life.

Florentine Egg Nest

This breakfast/brunch is inspired by several ideas.  It's very similar to Salmon Hash (without the salmon, although it would be a good addition to add spinach to the Salmon Hash.)  I learned through my friend, Carlie, that it's typical to serve spinach, potatoes and eggs in Bavaria {Oberfranken} on Easter Thursday.  And finally I saw an idea similar to this on Breakfast Special, a PBS show.  Chopped potatoes (I did hash browns) with garlic salt, spinach, crack an egg in the middle, and cover to poach (I admit that I don't know how to poach an egg.)  They covered the dish with sauteed mushrooms and onions. 

I cooked a potato in the microwave, grated it in a greased (olive oil) skillet.

Sprinkle spinach generously around the skillet.

Cover with a lid, in hopes that the spinach wilts down.

Cook two eggs on another pan.
Place the eggs on top of the potatoes.

A festive brunch!

Biscuit Chicken Pot Pie

I've been wanting to make this for a week now.  Finally, last night it was on the dinner menu. With leftover rotisserie chicken, it was a breeze to make.  This recipe is a cross between two, but the result was just what I expected~ yummy comfort food, indeed.

4-5 small-medium red potatoes, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots (approx)
1 cup frozen peas (approx)
4 cups cooked and cubed chicken (approx)
1 can cream of chicken chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
Biscuit recipe

Wash and dice potatoes and carrots.  Boil them in a medium saucepan.  Once tender, drain and pour into a 9x13 baking dish.  Either mix the soup and milk in the baking dish beforehand or on top of the vegetables.  Add frozen peas and chicken.  Stir gently incorporating the sauce with the vegetable-chicken mixture.  Spoon on biscuit topping.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, until biscuits are baked and golden brown.

"Stir n' Drop Biscuits" (from Set for Life*)
2 cups unbleached white flour [I used 1 cup wheat pastry and 1 cup all-purpose]
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 T oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup 1% or skim milk

Mix flours, baking powder and salt together.  Beat egg in a separate bowl, adding oil and milk.  Combine together just until set.

Can't wait to dig in!

* Inspired by this book: Merrill, Jane P. and Karen M. Sunderland.  Set for Life.  Salt Lake City, UT: Sunrise, 1995. pg 94; and a recipe given to us from Jill Musselman.

Set for Life's Potato Salad

I'm not one to follow a recipe.  This time, I was determined to follow the potato salad's recipe to.the.teaspoon!  I did make a couple of adjustments, but really minor. ;) 

6 large potatoes, boiled or baked in skins[*]
4 large eggs, hard boiled
1 small onion, chopped[*]
2 dill pickles, finely chopped
1 cup salad dressing or mayonnaise, fat free[*]
1 tsp mustard (to taste)
1 tsp honey or sugar
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
2-4 T milk

Peel potatoes, dice, and boil until tender.  Drain and pour into a large mixing bowl.  Dice four hard boiled eggs, two pickles and one onion.  Add these with the potatoes, gently stir together.  For the dressing, mix dressing, mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir and add 2 T of milk for thinner consistency.  Pour dressing over the potato mixture and combine.  Refrigerate at least three hours, or overnight.
*Now for the changes, I peeled and diced raw potatoes then boiled them.  I used one stalk of green onion.  I also used light Miracle Whip.

We'll see how the gang likes it tomorrow.  It's different from what I usually make (without black olives, Salad Supreme, paprika or black pepper), but the combination of honey and apple cider vinegar will be quite refreshing.

(Merrill, Jane P., and Karen M. Sunderland.  Set for Life. "Potato Salad." Salt Lake City, UT: Sunrise Publishers, 1995. 141.)

Salmon Hash

Yesterday's lunch was inspired by Sunday's lunch in Salt Lake at The Copper Onion with Carlie.  I ordered "Trout Hash" and decided to do a similar version with salmon. 

For two people, cook three potatoes (I used red and the restaurant most likely used golden) in the microwave.  In the meantime, open one (6 oz) can of salmon, drain and put in a skillet to cook.  Add 2 tsp. of oil and lots of paprika and garlic powder.  Dice up the cooked potato and add into the skillet with the salmon.  Cover the potatoes in paprika and add black pepper.  In another frying pan, cook two eggs, over easy.  Dish the golden potatoes and salmon on a plate and slide the over-easy egg on top.  At the restaurant, my potatoes were coated red with paprika; the trout with a fillet, slightly broken up; on top were two eggs and lots of hollandaise sauce (on the side, per request).  In Becky's Kitchen, the presentation wasn't as fancy looking, but no doubt just as tasty!

Took the picture after have a few bites!  Really, it's good, trust me-- the picture doesn't give it justice.

 

A Becky "Breakfast" Casserole

Last night for dinner I wanted to use up the 1/2 pound of Jimmy Dean's Natural sausage.  I was reminiscing about a delicious [fattening] egg casserole that my mom would sometimes make with sausage, hash browns, and of course egg.  I was also thinking back to the frittata that I made for my brother and his (at the time) fiancee from the top of my head.  Here is a picture of what I made them:

Frittata, Sunrise drink and orange crescent rolls

Ah-- memory lane!  I can't believe that was almost four years ago.

So I love doing egg casseroles and frittatas! When I started making my dinner creation, I had no idea what the end product would be.  I first browned the sausage in a skillet.  Then I started to think about adding either bread or potatoes.  I remembered how much I love potatoes with egg (as seen as above!), so I put four red potatoes in the microwave.  After the potatoes finished cooking through, I took them out of the microwave.  I was going to grate them, but both my graters aren't with me right now.  So I came to the conclusion of just cubing the potatoes and frying them with the sausage.

Add salt, pepper and Italian Seasoning as you fry the sausage and potatoes. 

Onto the egg mixture.  I used five eggs, but if you're feeding a larger group, you'll need 10 to 12 eggs and a 9x13 baking dish.  I whisked five eggs, splash of milk (at least 1 T), Dijon mustard (2 tsp), parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, pepper and 1/4 bag of frozen vegetables (using  my favorite California blend).  I've turned into a "dash" of this and a "pinch" of that kind-a-cook, so sorry for not having exact measurements.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8x8 pan with nonstick spray.  Transfer the potato-sausage mixture into the baking dish. 

Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and potatoes. 

Sprinkle cheese (mozzarella) on top.  Bake for 45 minutes or until egg is cooked through. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my egg casserole.  It was reminiscent of my favorite egg casserole or frittata without as much work.  Loved it!

Becky "Breakfast" Casserole
8x8 pan
nonstick spray
1/2 pound sausage (like Jimmy Dean)
4 red potatoes
chopped onion, optional
at least 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
Salt, dash
Black Pepper, to taste
5 eggs
1 T milk (at least)
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
Add about:
1 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. salt (at most)
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 bag of frozen vegetables, optional
1/4 cup shredded cheese

Lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish with nonstick spray.  Cook 4 potatoes in the microwave.  In the meantime start browning sausage and onion.  Add chopped potatoes and fry together.  Sprinkle Italian Seasoning, dash of salt and black pepper over mixture until potatoes and sausage have a nice covering of seasonings over them.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mustard (Dijon), paprika, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and frozen vegetables.  Transfer meat and potatoes into the baking dish.  Pour egg mixture over the sausage and potatoes.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake uncovered in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until egg is set.

An original Becky recipe

My First Roast!

Yesterday, I woke up at 7:20 to get my first pot roast started.  I washed off the eye of roast and patted it dry-- (the best recommendation is using chuck eye). I heated up the skillet with olive oil while I rubbed kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder on my roast.  By the time that was finished, the skillet was nice and hot, ready for the meat.  It sizzled.  For about 10 minutes, I seared the meat until it was brown.  It already smelled delicious.  Then I transferred my roast to the crock pot for 10 hours.  I poured a can of French Onion Soup over it.  The crock pot's setting was on low.  Around noon, I turned it over, so I put the setting up to high for a half hour to get the heat going again.  Around 3:30, I chopped up some red potatoes and added them to the pot.  At 6:00 everything was done; the potatoes and roast were moist and tender.  After moving the meat and potatoes to another dish, I poured in some flour (that's right-- I didn't measure!), whisked it, and turned the crock pot to high.  Not the smartest thing to do because the crock pot takes a while to boil.  I placed the meat and potatoes dish in the oven in the meantime.  After the wait, we had some good gravy!  Yum!  That is the story of cooking my first pot roast.  And it was easier than I thought it would be!

The finished product

The presentation

Thomas' plate, he added a lot of gravy to his

My plate

*******************************************************

I made this Pot Roast recipe three times since this post.  I even made it twice in January (2011), the third time adding Italian Seasoning and not much garlic powder at all (Jan 16th), but the fourth time making it on Friday the 28th, I couldn't find French Onion Soup in the pantry or storage.  So I combined a can of beef broth and a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup with Roasted Garlic.  No onion flavor this time.  It was very good!  Not as tender, but it didn't stay in the crock pot nearly as long as usual (about 7-1/2 hours).

Potato Boats

Here is a healthy recipe for twice-baked potatoes.  Although it's simple, it does take time and effort.  These potatoes are nice because you can adjust the flavor accordingly. 

Potato Boats
4 large baked potatoes
1/3-1/2 cup hot skim milk [with three potatoes, I needed more than a half cup of milk for it to become moist.  I just heated up the milk in the microwave (with the small amount 30 seconds was plenty).]
4 green onions, finely minced
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
paprika and parsley flakes
1/2 cup finely grated cheese (optional)

Scrub potatoes and bake them, allow to cool.  Cut potatoes lengthwise and scoop out potato.  Place potato skins on a baking sheet and put them in the oven to crisp.  Mix potato, milk, onion, salt, pepper, paprika, and parsley in a bowl.  Whip for a few minutes until smooth. Take potato skins out of the oven and spoon potato mixture into them.  Top with cheese.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5-7 minutes.

Ingredients/recipe from: Merrill, Jane P. and Karen M. Sunderland.  Set for Life.  "Potato Boats".  Salt Lake City: Sunrise, 1995.  Method altered by Becky.

A Becky Omelet

I like adding spinach to "regular" soups and dishes to make them healthier and more special.  I add spinach to potato soup, lasagna soup, tomato Florentine soup, lasagna, egg casserole, quesadilla, and in this case: omelets! 

Egg, cheese, spinach, potato, and turkey bacon

Now, there's a BIG-Becky omelet!

P.S.  Today is the first anniversary of Good Food!  I look forward to posting more pictures of good food!

Corn Chowder

I had an urge to make corn chowder.  It turned out great!  I love this recipe.  Here is what I did:
        Prep work

• Peel and dice 4 medium potatoes
• Wash and dice about 1 cup of celery 
• Dice about 1 cup's worth of onion (white or red)
• Add potatoes, celery and onion in medium to large pot and cover with water
  
  Cooking
• Boil (I added a bit of salt) until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes
• Drain
• Place vegetables back into pot and add the following:
• 1 can (11 oz) creamed corn
• 1 can (15 oz)  kernel corn
• About 1/4 tsp of garlic salt, Italian Seasoning and Parsley to your liking, chili powder or 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper and black pepper. 
• 1 can (12 fl oz) evaporated milk
  
  
  Simmer for 20 minutes until thickened to desired consistency.  If you so wish (like me), top with cheese!
  
  
  
  Adapted from "Easy Corn Chowder II"

Swedish Meatballs

Meatballs:
1 egg
1 onion, chopped, or 1 T instant minced onions
1 cup mashed potatoes
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 tsp salt

Gravy:
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of mushroom soup, low fat
1 (4 oz) can mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt or buttermilk


3 cups cooked brown rice (1 cup raw) or 6 baked potatoes
Fresh parsley

Line a baking sheet with foil.  For meatballs, mix ingredients and shape into (walnut) sized balls, place meatballs on baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes in a 400 degrees oven.  Meanwhile, warm up soup on stove and blend in yogurt or buttermilk until smooth.  Combine the meatballs and gravy and serve over rice or potatoes.

*This recipe is bland.  It has potential if more seasonings are added to it.  The gravy was pretty good, but of course, I didn't add the extra mushrooms.  Overall it needs some modification to add more flavor.

Recipe found in: Merrill, Jane P. and Karen M. Sunderland.  Set for Life.  Salt Lake City, UT: Sunrise Publishers, 1995.

Becky's Classic Potato Salad

Thomas' favorite potato salad!
***
6 medium (I put in 10 small) potatoes
about 1 cup Miracle Whip
about 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 heaping Tablespoon mustard
paprika and/or Salad Supreme
Salt and Pepper
1 bunch green onions
black olives (I put in 10)
dill pickles (I put in 3)
hard boiled eggs (I didn't put those in this time, but I would use either 2 or 3)

Peel potatoes, dice and put in a medium pot with salted water. After it comes to a boil, cook for 20 minutes, check for doneness (a big piece of potato will be easily cut through with an inserted fork), and drain. Dice washed green onions, pickles, black olives and the hard boiled eggs. Mix together the mayo and Miracle Whip with the mustard, salt & pepper and paprika/Salad Supreme in a separate bowl. Combine the green onions, pickles, black olives and eggs with the mayo/mustard mixture. Chill overnight (at least 4 hours) before serving.

***
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens and Mom