This week I made a baby meal for my sister-in-law. Which, by the way, her baby is so, so adorable! We were waiting for TWO phone calls while we were on vacation. Calls from two sister-in-laws! We were so happy to hear that Addison (and she's a cutie too!!!) and Hunter arrived into the world safe and sound! Both moms are doing well! So many blessings!!!
Crispy Chicken Leg and Thigh was my meat choice for the baby meal. It turned out so moist and yet had a crispy skin. I will be making this recipe again! The 'deviled eggs' and 'roasted veggies' complimented my meal!
Another main dish I made this week is called "Fish Stick Supper". It's easy and delicious. I made some small changes to the original recipe. I cooked potatoes till they were soft and then shredded them. I mixed 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp. dill weed, some seasoned salt and pepper with my potatoes. I added some shredded cheese (about 1/2 cup) and mixed again. Pour into a greased 8x8 dish. Lay lots of fish sticks (or I used hand battered fish pieces which were totally yummy) on top. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until fish is fully cooked. My family really enjoyed this and I will be making this again too!!! I served it with a fresh salad with 'apple chips' on top! If you ever ate at "Salad Works" they have these crispy apple chips you can order to be put on your salad. I found some at the grocery store and now I can add them to my salads too!
Hamburgers is something Matthew orders at a restaurant 'every single time' we go out to eat. Mike picked up another big load of fresh beef for the freezer last Saturday that mom and dad gave us for Christmas! "Thanks so much!!!" I absolutely love having the freezer stocked with great roasts, hamburger and steak. I REALLY love it when I know all the meat came from one of dad's good feed steers!!! This spoils me from not needing to buy red meat at the grocery store too! Anyway, Mike and Matthew were ready for some good hamburgers made from the excellent ground beef that's now in the freezer. I grabbed a bag of the ground beef and thawed it. Then I mixed it with some Zesty Italian Dressing, some bread crumbs and seasoned salt. I formed five burgers and cooked them on the stove. (I know the BEST hamburgers are cooked on the grill ... but our grill needs some attention before my grilling season begins!) I topped each burger with a slice of cheese and my family ate them with delight! A side of green beans was all I needed to make Ashlyn a happy eater too!
We ate more than just meat this week! :) I am into roasting my veggies! It's a way easy way to cook your vegetables and healthy! And delicious! Lay out your vegetables in a dish and splash on some olive oil and what ever seasonings you like. I used some thyme and dill and basil. Grind some sea salt and fresh pepper on top and roast them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. I can't wait to do this with fresh asparagus!!! Maybe then I will then be able to convince my husband that those long veggie spears are really good!!! :)
While we were in Florida, we stopped at a "Trader Joe's". It was fun going up and down the isles looking at their healthy selections. It was more of a fun trip and not really a trip to get lots of food but I did pick up something I remembered being curious about. "Orzo". Orzo is a pasta but looks really similar to rice. It is small pieces of pasta that look almost like grains or sunflower seeds. I bought a small bag but waited to actually make it till we got back home. I melted some butter (1 Tb.) in a pan and then toasted the Orzo (about 1 cup) in it, stirring it constantly for about 3 minutes. Then I poured in 1 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 1 1/4 cup of water. I simmered that for 20 minutes or until most of the liquid was absorbed. Then I sprinkled in some basil, salt and pepper. I stirred in 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and poured in a little bit of heavy cream to give it a nice, creamy texture! Oh, I thought it was so delicious. Probably something people like to call 'comfort food'! It wasn't too creamy or too dry. The Orzo had a little bit of gel or wet bite to it. Nothing dry. I thought of it maybe being something like when you eat tapioca. That gel texture with cream and herbs and warm! Way better than tapioca!!! I am so glad I still have some dry Orzo in my cupboard for another time!!!
Desserts is not something I normally serve after our supper meals. But, because we just came back from Florida and we are tempted to think we now need a sweet bite after our meals, I decided to make some cake. Nothing fancy. Nothing difficult. Normally, I try to 'think outside of the box' when it comes to baking cakes, but this time it was "cake from the box". I'm not sure if it's because of a childhood favorite or if it's because it's so easy to mix up and bake or if it's because the few 'from scratch' chocolate cakes I have made were not so good, but what ever the reason may be ... we love chocolate cake from Duncan Hines! Yep, that's the secret for this cake! It's light and fluffy and with white icing on top ... it's delicious! We gave four pieces away with the baby meal I made but the rest of it we all ate every single crumb! Canned peaches go so well with this chocolate cake!!! :) (Another childhood memory!!!)
With the cake all gone and Hadassah having Courtney and Laurie over tonight, I figured some cupcakes would make for a nice treat. "Yum Yum Cupcakes"! This I did make from scratch and they turned out scrumptious! That cream cheese and chocolate chip filling makes these cupcakes so tasty!
Well, the weekend is just beginning and we already had homemade pizza! I added some 'bread and butter' pickle slices to a small section of the pizza before baking it and those slices had everyone reaching for them!!! I'll remember that for the next time! Ashlyn can say pizza and she knows what it is, but when she saw the pickles on top, that's really what she wanted to eat!!! She's my 'greens' girl! She will try and eat MOST veggies! That makes me smile!
I hope some of these foods will inspire you to get cooking in your kitchen too! There's nothing like 'good home cooking'! And maybe it will even inspire you to try some Orzo or make you want to try a food you never had before?!. Go for it!!! You may find yourself with a new favorite recipe!
Have a great weekend!!!
