Sunday, October 30, 2011

Tomato Pork Tenderloin


This was a random creation. It turned out pretty good. I took a pork tenderloin and cut it into slices then placed them in the bottom of a baking dish. I sprinkled basil and oregano over them, and poured diced tomatoes over the top. Cook it in a 400 degree oven for about 20-30 min or until meat thermometer reaches 160. Tastes wonderful on top of noodles.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Chocolate zuchini bread

Mmmm what better way to use up a GIANT zuchini than in bread? It was a fairly quick recipe, I decided to try the new dark chocolate chips instead of the semi-sweet called for. I had both kinds on hand, just thought darker would be better. It turned out perfect. I'll be keeping this recipe on hand for future zuchini invasions.


Apricot...er orange stir fry

Why the strange title for this one? Well the previously mentioned substitution in the german short rib recipe caused a substitution in this recipe because I used all the apricot preserves and that was the apricot in the recipe. So after some looking around I decided to try orange marmalade and hoped for the best.
I also decided against buying a prepackaged stirfry veggie bag as the recipe called for. Simply because I was worried water chestnuts would be involved, and I don't care for those. So I looked at the picture on the recipe and just made my own. I added asperigus, celery, green onions, carrots, and mushrooms.
This turned out wonderfully. I made some coconut jasmine rice to serve it with and you can never go wrong with that!


Original recipe can be found here:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Apricot-Beef-Stir-Fry

Stuffing coated chicken

This dish was delish and so easy to make. I couldn't find cream of chicken soup mix, so I substituted onion soup mix and it turned out just yummy. It also went well with the moms vegetable medley since that uses onion soup mix as seasoning. I keep onion soup mix on hand these days as it seems to be used in many recipes.


find the recipe here:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Stuffing-Coated-Chicken-2

Thursday, October 20, 2011

German short ribs

This was a super yummy dish that cooked up in the crock pot. It called for bone in ribs, which is rather funny because the meat just fell off the bone when they were finished making the bone useless. Rather than a tomato based sauce, this called for red wine.
It also had chutney, which I didn't find where I shop, and never made it to albertsons this week to get some. So I substituted apricot preserves and it worked out great.


find the recipe here:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/German-Style-Short-Ribs

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Cran-orange pork medallions

This recipe was a bit interesting overall. First I couldn't find orange flavored dried cranberries. But really the cranberry just needs to be it's self. So I had no problem subbing regular cranberries. Then I missread the recipe a bit. It called for crushed coriander. All I had was whole coriander. So using a bowl and the meat mallet I proceded to crush the coriander. Now it was quite the pleasent smell when you do that!
All in all it turned out really well.


find the recipe here:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cran-Orange-Pork-Medallions

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Pepperjack chicken

Such a simple recipe. Seriously. Grill chicken, slap a slice of cheese on top. You can add salsa and put it on noodles if you want. Obviously I didn't want. But I did throw a potatoe in the microwave and called it dinner.


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Weekday lasagna and apple crisp

It may say weekday lasagna, but since it does take some time to cook I decided a weekend day would be best for this meal. Using noodles that cook in the sauce rather than having to precook them makes it a snap to put together. It was a delicious dish.
The apple crisp stems from my craving for it every fall. It's a simle recipe. Simply fill a 13x9 dish with apples. Than mix together 2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups oats, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt and cinnamon to taste. Than pour 3/4 cup melted margarine over and mix until crumbly. Pour 1/2 cup water over the apples and pour mixture on top. Than mix it together and cook @ 350 for 35 minutes. Yummy yummy.



The recipe for the lasagna is here:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Weekday-Lasagna

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Getting ready

For next weeks shopping trip. Can't make recipes properly if you don't have all the ingredients.... and since we live at least 30 minutes from any grocery store, the last thing I want to do in the middle of cooking is go to the store.


But for the record I still disagree with my High School home Ec teacher... and agree with the student in the class. The question was "what is the one thing in your house you do not want to not have when you need it" The student answered "toilet paper" and with a glare the teacher said "no. Vanilla."

um. no. vanilla is not a necessity of life. you can always stop mid recipe and run to get some. I know, I've done it, the recipe turned out fine. On the other hand... recall the episode of Daria where they ran out of toilet paper.

Anyway. Getting back to the point, here is a snapshot of my desktop.



Gotta be organized if you are going to cook. Otherwise you have all the spices and sauce but no noodles. And that makes things too interesting. ;-)

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Sunday chicken supper

Don't let the title fool you. This meal comes together very quickly in the crock pot, so it's ideal for a busy weekday. It turned out very well and it's always nice to have dinner finished as soon as you walk in the door!


recipe can be found here:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Sunday-Chicken-Supper-2

Monday, October 10, 2011

Cranberry mustard pork loin

A wonderful crock pot recipe. Have to love meals that are all ready to eat when you get off work! Cranberries go very well with pork, it's an almost delicate taste.


Recipe can be found here:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cranberry-Mustard-Pork-Loin

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Chunky chicken soup

This was a very filling dish. A good way to get your veggies in! I did, as a personal preferance, leave the peas out that were in the recipe. There was one point while making it where I wondered why I had decided to make it. But it turned out very good.


Braised pork chops

This was very good. The recipe led me astray as far as the gravy went. That has happened before. I followed it to the letter and then had to add water to get enough liquid to really have gravy. This recipe also gave me a chance to use my little used margarem spice. I've only used it in one recipe that I can remember before this. I paired it with the moms vegatable dish I made last week for the first time.


Saturday, October 8, 2011

Steak and potato

Sometimes you want something simple and comforting. The perfect meal would be steaks with a baked potato. So yummy. I used cinnamon chipotle rub on the steaks.


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Savory Pork Roast

This was quite the yummy dish. Recipe found in the Comfort Food Diet Cookbook. I did modify it a bit and cook it in the crock pot instead of instructed. But it turned out super tender and wonderful!


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

This was another Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook recipes. It turned out quite well even without the onions I haven't managed to pick up yet. I was also forced to use both cooking sherry and chicken broth as I ran out of the sherry on this recipe. It paired quite well with a salad. All in all a very good dish that was fairly simple to make.


Sunday, October 2, 2011

Beefy Vegetable Stew (10/02/2011)

Found in, surprise surprise, the Taste of Home Comford Food Diet Cookbook. I cooked this in the crock pot rather than on the stove. It was just way too hot to even think about having soup cooking on the stove for an hour. Plus the crock pot gets rid of some prep work. Just throw it all in and done! It was pretty good, but there is a lot left over. Might have to freeze the leftovers. I did feel like it was missing something. I'm thinking it could have used barley. I'll have to add some in next time and see if that fills it out properly.


Lemon Thyme Chicken and Roasted Vegetabled (09/30/2011)

This dish was very good. Which I believe is only natural when combining chicken and lemon I'm almost any form.
The chicken dish was out of the Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet cookbook. I do love that cookbook and will be posting many dishes from it. I have a couple more cookbooks from the comfort diet series heading here so I will soon have many new recipies to try.
Now, the vegetable dish was once again found on the app. That app is quickly turning into one of my favorites. I only downloaded it four days ago! If you love cooking I highly recomend it!


Honey Lemon Schnitzle and Mom's Vegetable Medley (09/29/2011)

This was such a good dish! I'm really surprised at how good it was. The Schnitzle was from the Taste of Home cookbook "Comfort Food Diet Cookbook". I used thin pork chops rather than the medalions it called for. But it worked.
The vegetable dish was found on the Taste of Home app (you'll see a lot of Taste of Home here) I had to substitute green onion for the onion and carrots for the bell pepper because I didn't have those on hand. By far one of my favorite vegetable dishes to date!