Parmesan Scalloped Spaghetti Squash

A friend of mine made my first spaghetti squash back in the fall. She brought a cheesy kale dish made with it and I loved it. Coach wasn't a fan but he thought it was the sauce.

So normally when I make our favorite ultra-crispy pork chops, I make Parmesan scalloped potatoes to go with it. This time I decided to change things up and use a spaghetti squash dish instead.

I basically made a sauce like from the potato dish and stirred it in with the squash and all the cheeses. Then I baked the whole thing to hot and bubbly.

Once again, phone pictures because that's all I have around when I think about pictures!

I sliced the squash in half and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and loose gunk (pumpkin style). I placed the halves cut-side down in a baking dish with about an inch of water. Then I baked it at 350 for 45 minutes until the skin was blistering. Take it out of the oven and let it cool just enough to handle. Use a fork to scrape out the insides into spaghetti like strands. I placed the strands in a buttered glass baking dish.

 I'll be honest- I could stop here and just eat it with salt and pepper. I love this stuff. But I stuck with the plan and started a Parmesan sauce.

I stirred up a roux with equal parts butter and flour and about 2 cloves of minced garlic. I added milk and cream and whisked until the roux was all dissolved. I sprinkled in a liberal amount of thyme, Parmesan, a cracked black pepper. Picture of the roux was all I got for you (I was in a rush folks, dinner had to be ready by the time Coach came home!).

 I poured the sauce over the squash and stirred in more mozzarella and Parmesan. Then I sprinkled even more cheese on top and popped it back in the oven at 350. The squash holds on to the yellow color pretty strongly so it's not the white cheesiness that the potatoes have. Plus, you know, camera phone.

All in all, it was good. I took all the leftovers and just ate them for lunch. :) Coach tolerated it and ate a big helping but he still wasn't the hugest fan. It was improved, but still not ranking high up his list.

Let me know if you make it any better!!

Restaurant Week 2015

For those of you unaware- Coach and I like to eat. It's kind of our thing. So Restaurant Week is one of our highlights. As a culinary arts teacher (part of my FCS job donchaknow!), I'm automatically a member of the Missouri Restaurant Association which means I get the dates for Restaurant Week MONTHS ahead of time. And you better bet I put it on the calendar.

So for some it seems pretty easy- pick a restaurant from the list, go, enjoy. For foodies like us it takes planning and strategy. The week runs Friday to the next Sunday. So you have a full week and 2 full weekends to enjoy. This year I ruined half our fun by leaving town the second week. So we really had to make ours last.

Step 1: Pick your restaurant. We usually take this as our opportunity to try someplace new. We chose '37 Steak- the new steakhouse at our favorite casino- and Michael Forbes Grill. If we'd had the 2 weekends, we would have added EBT and/or Jess & Jim's. Maybe next year!

Step 2: Make your reservations. I like to book as early as possible. It's easier to adjust a reservation later than it is to get in on a crowded night.

Step 3: Put on your stretchy pants. The menus are never small and it's almost always delicious.

This year's winner was for sure '37. While Michael Forbes was good, it wasn't the best steak (or in Coach's case- catfish) that I've ever had. '37 had a unique menu with the classics and everything was perfectly cooked. The service was phenomenal (we had a complementary dessert served to us simply because we raved about the bacon in my husband's cocktail. Yes he had a drink with bacon in it, and yes we had bacon for dessert).

Now since one of our restaurants was at the casino, we went ahead and booked a room to make a night of it. It was the perfect start to our 3 day weekend and a great time with our friends. The best part is that even the basic room at the hotel has great big huge soaking tubs. I love to soak in a hot bath but we don't have a good tub at our house. So I spent a good 45 minutes avoiding drowning and loving every minute of it.

Now for the food details!

At '37 I ordered the chicken and crab wellington off the restaurant week menu. Chicken breast, prosciutto, spinach, crab, and a creamy sauce inside a flaky pastry. Coach had the filet and both entrees were cooked to perfection. The sides are family style so our table split The Hashbrown (yes, it's so good it earns the "the"), sweet corn, and asparagus. We all had salads (my Caesar was yummy), and we all split my chocolate tower cake dessert that came as part of the restaurant week deal. The specialty drink that night was an old-fashioned with a jalapeno and brown-sugar peppered bacon. We raved, they brought us a cup of bacon, we had meat for dessert (and that's not the first time).

Michael Forbes is a much larger menu. Here's my thing- when a menu serves steak, lasagna, burgers, and tacos, you kind of wonder what they're good at it. My experience is that it's never all of them. Since I didn't have steak at '37 I went ahead and ordered the filet. It was edible and cooked right but just not as good as the nicer steakhouses. My side was the potatoes au gratin which was really diced roasted potatoes with cheddar melted on top. Good, but nothing I can't (and do) make at home. Coach ordered the fried catfish which is deboned table side so that was fun. And they bring you home style rolls right out of the pan and they were delightful. All in all though I found the menu very similar to chain menus (especially 54th Street) and I didn't find the food significantly higher in quality. It was still yummy though and it's always nice to try someplace new. Since they are on our Passport Dining list we'll probably be back.

So that was our go at Restaurant Week 2015, Week by previous year's but 2 in one weekend isn't bad :). If I wasn't leaving Wednesday then we'd sneak in a mid-week one too at one of the more casual places. If you're ever going to visit Kansas City, Restaurant Week is a good time to be in town!

Easy Pizza Crust

I've mentioned several times making home-made pizza. If we don't order from Papa John's, it's because I'm cooking that night. This dough is super easy and really delicious. No picture this time (not that they're any good anyway).

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450
Combine the dry ingredients, combine the wet ingredients, then stir together.
You might need to add more water or need in more flour depending on dough consistency.
Roll out dough to desired shape and size. Dough will double in thickness when baked so be careful not to make too thick.
Place dough on desired baking sheet, dock with fork (that means poke holes all over that thing so you don't get giant air bubbles).
Bake for 5 to 10 minutes to set the dough, the crust should be hard but not brown.
Remove from oven and add desired toppings.
Return to over and bake until crust is golden brown and toppings are cooked as desired.

Easy right?! I double the batch and make a large thick-crust pizza on our pizza stone. I just roll the dough out right on the stone too. We load up ours with cheese, red and green peppers, onion, hamburger, and mushrooms. I'll tell you now, the secret to a loaded pizza is to put a layer of cheese over the sauce, then all the other toppings, then another light sprinkling of cheese.

Also-if you want a stuff crust pizza, just roll out the dough past the edges of the baking sheet. Then sprinkle your cheese liberally on the edge and roll in the dough to encase it. Do this prior to the first baking obviously.

Enjoy!

Cold Weather Shrimp Boil

Shrimp Boil, Low-Country Boil, Frogmore Stew, whatever you call it- it's one of our favorite. He likes shrimp, I like sausage, we split the veggies.

It seems to me though that shrimp boil is more of a warm weather dish. I'll make it basically any time between April and October but never in the winter. I was thinking about sausage though.....that happens when your husband comes home smelling like hot dogs (literally, he worked the concession stand at school last night). So I decided to raid my pantry and see what I could come up with.

I had a recipe for a sausage hash from Pinterest that was really good. I have some hearty vegetables on hand (mushrooms, potatoes, bell peppers, onion). I have half a pack of kielbasa and some fancy spicy sausage from our Hermann trip. I also have crab legs. I had to fill up the tank anyway so it wasn't a big deal for me to swing in the grocery store and grab a red pepper and yellow squash to add to the pile.

So my winter shrimp boil is going to be sauteed. I'll slice and dice it all, crisp the potatoes in one pan, soften the veggies to just tender in the other. I'll add it all then throw in the meat and some garlic with pinches of salt and pepper. The crab legs I could break apart and saute up as well but I'll just warm them in the oven per usual and throw on top of the platter before serving.

It sounds yummy- it should taste yummy. And it will be a nice warm reminder of summertime on this bitterly cold day. 7 degrees everyone, it is 7 degrees outside. And feels like -15. I realize Minnesota has it worse but come on, it's Minnesota. They're used to the cold. We're not. And this only-lived-in-Northern-Missouri-5-years-yet definitely isn't used to it!!!

B&Gs

This might shock some of you, but I never ate biscuits and gravy till high school. I was one of the managers for our wrestling team and there was a St Louis tournament we went to every year (Marquette for you St Louisians). They served biscuits and gravy at their concession stand and one year that was all they had left. Even the pizza was sold out. I was STARVING. So I could eat the hot biscuits and gravy or a cold sandwich and an apple out of our wrestling team's food stock. I went for the B&G.

Fast forward 8 years and I can still count on two hands how many times I'd had the dish. Here was the thing, most restaurants had gravy that was too watery or too pasty. And most people I know made the stuff from a bag. So I decided to go ahead and have my students (aka me) learn to make it from scratch. The result? The most delightfully easy and taste B&G recipe around. I keep a tube of sausage on hand at all times just in case we need a meal in a pinch. All the other ingredients are standard stuff you'll always have in the pantry- well at least I have it in mine.

First make the biscuits:

• Mix 1 cup of flour with 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.
• Then cut in a small teaspoon of butter (you can make this a tablespoon).
• Stir it up with 1/2 cup milk. Voila- a mushy gooey drop biscuit batter.
• Plop it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and pop into an oven at 450 degrees (I make as many blobs as people, so usually 2-4).
• Bake for 10-12 minutes till the bottoms are golden brown.

While the biscuits are baking, you make the gravy:

• Cook your sausage on medium heat (6) in a deep skillet. Don't get your sausage too brown, just cooked through. If you brown it, you've really burnt some fat and your gravy will be brown instead of creamy white.
• Add another tablespoon butter and melt with the sausage (don't drain that meat fat, that's the flavor for your gravy!).
• Stir in 3 tablespoons flour till everything's all absorbed. You've essentially made a roux with sausage in it now.
• Gently pour in 1 3/4 cups milk and 1/2 tsp pepper. Add a pinch of salt. Keep that stove on 6!!
• Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure nothings scorching. Eventually it will come to a simmer.
• Keep stirring and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes till it thickens up to where you like it. Remember it will thicken some more upon standing.

By this time you're biscuits should be coming out of the oven, your gravy should be ready, and you've got nothing to do but eat your hot biscuits and gravy! All in all it takes me about 15 minutes to make is hands down one of my favorite recipes. You'll never use gravy from a mix again! (Though I want judge if you use refrigerated biscuits for a large crowd).

Feeding the Coaches

In case you all didn't know, my sweet hubby is the head football coach for the school at which we both work. It's a lot of fun, a lot exhausting, and completely rewarding. Some of the things football season brings I would be happy to do without. And with the regular season finished up (we're 5-4 heading into districts!), I'm most looking forward to simply having time with my husband again.

BUT there is one thing I think I might miss, and that's the Friday night dinners. Every Friday, after every game, win or lose, home or away, the coaches come back to our house to have dinner and recap the game. This was a tradition started by the former coach and it was one Coach and I chose to continue. Typically I feed anywhere from 8 to 12 hungry men every Friday. For this FCS teacher it was still a challenge. I didn't want every meal to be a casserole or crockpot dish- those get old fast in my opinion. And in honest truth, I only have about 3 casserole recipes. So I focused on dishes I could prep before and would cook in about an hour. That way I could race home after the games and have hot food ready by the time the coaches arrived. I also try to have an appetizer out so the first arrivals have something to snack on  till the whole group's ready to eat.

So what did I make? Well here's the list:

1. Baked ham, hashbrown casserole, green beans, dinner rolls, and birthday cupcakes (since the first game was also on my birthday!)
2. Frogmore stew, biscuits, and brownies (also called low-country or shrimp boil depending on from where you hail)
3. Home-made supreme pizza, ranch salad, mozzarella sticks, blonde brownies
4. Taco bar (beef, shredded chicken, chips, tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, sour cream), queso and guacamole dips, assorted cookies
5. Spaghetti and meatballs, Italian salad, garlic bread, mozzarella sticks, assorted cookies
6. Breakfast casserole, biscuits, cinnamon rolls
7. BBQ beef chili, hotdogs, cheese sauce, biscuits, chips, and crackers, cheesecake
8. Sloppy joes, French fries, tater tots, green beans, cinnamon crisps
9. Kettle beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, stuffed mushrooms, brownies

Delicious right?! It's been a lot of work but since I love to cook it's not so bad. It's actually pretty rewarding to have the chance to make food that's well appreciated. I also get to use all my fun new appliances and serving ware that we got for our wedding. Eventually I get all these recipes posted so you can make them yourself but in the meantime you can probably find something good on Pinterest!

Parmesan Crusted Potatoes Au Gratin

There is nothing wrong with the title of this post just like there was nothing wrong with the recipe. Naturally I didn't follow it. In fact I don't even have the original link. It was so simple I just did it.

Slice your potatoes (I left skins on) thinly, of equal thickness. If you have a mandolin- use it. I didn't and mine turned out just fine.

Heat a cup or so of heavy whipping cream on low heat in a saucepan. Stir in some fresh or dried rosemary, some fresh or dried thyme, and little nutmeg. Add those seasoning to your preference. I did equal rosemary and thyme (maybe a teaspoon of the dried stuff?) then just a pinch of nutmeg. Simmer so the flavors mix.

Butter a pan they make a layer of potatoes. I made mine overlap each other. Pour some of the cream mix over the potatoes. Liberally sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over the top with a bit of salt and pepper. The idea is that the cream dampens the potatoes so the cheese sticks.

Do another layer the same way, then another, and another till you're out of potatoes. Pour the remaining cream mixture all over the top. I also added a bit of shredded mozzarella to every other layer just to increase the cheesiness.

Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove the foil, put a fresh layer of Parmesan on top and return to over. Let the thing bake till the cheese on top is melted and lightly browned.

I served mine with some ham and steamed green beans. Delightful!

One-Pot Baked Ziti

Mmmmmm yum. I love pasta, and I also love the 5 cheese baked ziti at Olive Garden (classy, I know). So when I saw this recipe, I was really excited to try it out. The original came from Pinterest of course :). You can get the original link here. Me being me, I had to change some things, though not many.

Source

One-Pot Baked Ziti

¾ lb sweet Italian sausage

4 tsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or more or less to your taste)

sea salt and black pepper

1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes

4 tsp basil leaves (dried)

3 cups water

12 oz penne noodles

1/2 cup whipping cream

1  cup Parmesan cheese + ¼ c for topping

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat your oven to 475
2. In your dutch oven (or other oven safe pot that can comfortable hold ~5 quarts), brown the sausage. Add the garlic and red pepper and give it all a good stir for a minute or so. *Note, use less/more of all these seasonings according to your preference
3. Add the tomatoes and use them to deglaze the pan. Stir in the basil with a dash of salt and pepper and let it simmer gently for about 10 minutes. It should reduce down just a smidge (just enough to really meld and bolden the flavors).
4. Stir in the water and pasta and increase your stove temp so the liquid comes to a near boil. Let the pasta cook 10-15 minutes, you want it to still have a bit of crunch because it will continue cooking in the oven.
5. Remove from heat, stir in the whipping cream and parmesan. Taste your sauce and adjust the seasonings as needed. Get it all good and blended then sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan on top.
6. Pop it in the oven for another 15 minutes and let the cheese get good and melty (I like mine browned a bit). Serve and enjoy!

*You'll notice I call the dish ziti and actually have penne in the ingredients. A noodle's a noodle, use what you want. I didn't have the ziti I wanted so I used penne which is way easier for me to get anyway.

Some things I do to try to healthen it up some- I use whole grain or omega-3 pasta noodles. I'm also going to sneak attack Coach and season up some ground turkey instead of the sausage. I don't care too much for sausage anyway (ha-ha, get your laughs out now) so I'm anxious to try a different meat (and more laughs).

  

Chili Champion!

In my early years at my job, I thought it would be fun if the school had a chili contest. So I organized one, naturally. At that time though I didn't eat much chili (it was a new acceptance for my palate) and I had never made it before. Maybe shocking for a FCS teacher organizing a chili contest but whatever.

3 years later and I have claimed the crown for my own! I have tried numerous chili recipes over the time but ultimately the BBQ beef chili (entered in the contest as "Thick and Meaty") was the one to bring me the crown. Literally, a crown.

The original recipe comes from here and is as follows. I of course made changes because I am the worst at just following a recipe. So I made my notes on the bottom about what I did different. Hopefully it makes sense, otherwise good luck, it'll probably taste good no matter what!

BBQ Beef Chili

Ingredients

For the Pulled Beef:

• 1 2.5-3 pound beef chuck roast
• 3 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoons cayenne pepper

For the Chili:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
• 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 2-2.5 pounds ground beef
• 3 tablespoons chile powder
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne  (plus more, if desired)
• 3 cups pureed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 cup beef stock or water (plus more, if a thinner chili is desired)
• 2 cans kidney beans, drained

Directions

Prepare the pulled beef barbecue. (This step can be done a day ahead, if desired.) Preheat oven to 325 degree. Massage the chuck roast with mustard, brown sugar, salt, and cayenne. Place the roast in a covered, oven-safe pan. Cook for 2.5 – 3 hours, until it pulls apart easily with a fork. Remove from the oven to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, use a fork or your fingers to “pull” the meat into shredded pieces. Discard any excess fat. Set aside or refrigerate for chili.

***

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and peppers. Cook for 3-5 minutes, until slightly tender. Add the garlic. Cook for a few minutes more. Add the ground beef and cook until completely brown, using a spoon to break it up as it cooks. Once the ground beef is fully cooked, add the chili powder, cayenne and salt. Stir to combine. Cook for a minute or two. Add the pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar, worcestershire sauce, and mustard. Stir to combine. Add the pulled beef. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, until all ingredients are heated through and the flavors have mingled. Add the kidney beans and beef stock. Add more stock if a thinner/brothier chili is desired. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and cayenne, as desired.

***

Top with chopped green onions and cheddar cheese and serve with a side of cornbread.

 

 

What I Did Different:

 

·        I did not make a roast- I just used the Hormel beef Roast Au Jus stuff. It’s in the deli section usually and you microwave it. Tastes great and super fast.

·        I did not use the same meat quantities. I used one pack of the beef roast and 2 to 2 ½ lb of ground hamburger.

·        I doubled the amount of beans and used a combo of light red and dark red for color change up.

·        I added lots of black pepper, at least ½ tsp, some salt, and maybe another ½ tsp of red pepper. I thought it needed more “kick.” You might try more chili powder or cumin too but totally to your preferences.

·        I didn’t use beef broth, just water and beef bouillon cubes. It adds some saltiness that way. All in all I had to dilute this A LOT, the original is very very thick. Thin it out as much as you want. Just remember to add another bouillon cube for every 1-2 cups of water you add.

·        To also thin it out more, I used 3 cans  of crushed tomatoes (oh ps, I bought cans of crushed tomatoes and didn’t puree my own, 2 cans is about the 3 cups the recipe calls for).

·        The tomato paste amount is equivalent to 1 small can.

·        Next time I will do 2 green peppers, I like lots of color in my chili and I thought the pepper got lost, but that’s a personal preference thing. Another jalapeno would also help with color and add more of that "kick" I think chili needs to have.

 

Italian Meatballs

I made up this recipe based on several different ones found online when searching for a way to add meet to the pasta alla vodka meal.

The one that sounded most appealing was made with ground turkey. I replaced the turkey with a combo of ground beef and Italian sausage. I also doubled the recipe simple because I didn't want to store the leftover beef and sausage. Instead, I froze the unused meatballs and will use them later in life. :)

Here's the root recipe:
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb Italian sausage
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

From the get go I had to make some substitutions simply from lack of ingredients. I didn't have enough plain bread crumbs so I used the rest of the Italian bread crumbs I had on hand. That with the Italian sausage led me to leave the Italian seasoning amount at 1 Tbsp (instead of doubling it to 2). PS- I used my home-made Italian seasoning.

Cast of characters.

After dumping it all into the bowl, I quickly realized only hand mixing would do!

I rolled them out into 1 1/2 inch balls- this was completely random. I just made them about the sized I picture meatballs as being. I baked them in the oven on parchment paper at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes, turning them halfway through.

The remainder went onto another lined baking sheet to sit in the freezer just long enough to set up firm. Once I knew they wouldn't mash all together I dumped them into a freezer bag and sealed them up right.

The freezer tray was not nearly as neat and tidy as the baking tray.

 

 

I will admit that my first meatballs could have baked about less 5 minutes less than they did. With the sauce and pasta though, they were delightful! I can't wait to use my frozen ones for some meatball subs. Yum!

PS- this made about 36 meatballs.

Pasta alla Vodka

This post is going to have to happen in pieces.

The root of my desire was some pasta alla vodka that I always order at a local Italian restaurant. They serve their's with cheese tortellini and I decided to try my hand at making my own. I think it needed to have something good and meaty to go with it. The final result was Italian meatballs with cheese tortellini in vodka sauce. Yum!

The sauce recipe I found was from the Pioneer Woman. She's pretty handy in the kitchen so I figured I could trust her. Here's the root recipe:

1 medium diced onion

3 clove garlic, finely diced

3/4 cup vodka

1 can tomato puree

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp salt

pinch red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp butter

pinch black pepper

I sauteed my onion and garlic before adding the vodka to simmer and reduce.

First error here- I'm a teacher and I cook on a shoestring budget. I used cheap vodka. Cheap vodka has stronger flavor and therefore needs to simmer and reduce longer to remove the vodka-ness of the taste. In the future I will honestly just use less vodka. I'm too cheap to shell out money for better stock although that would be the ideal solution.

Next I added the tomato and cream and did the summer and reduce thing some more.

This is much more "red" than the sauce was in reality- my bad flourescent kitchen lighting is not kind to photographs. And no, there isn't a window in my kitchen from which to utilize natural light.

Finally, because Pioneer Woman said so, I added the butter and adjusted the seasonings. A little longer on the simmer and reduce routine finished off the sauce.

I had made my meatballs beforehand and cooked my noodles while making the sauce. I used the pre-made fresh noodles you find packaged in the refrigerator unit at the store. I wasn't a huge fan sadly. I will probably try a couple of different varieties before giving up on convenience tortellini but I have kind of already decided to just use cheese ravioli next time. The sauce though was delicious.

Despite the changes I will make in future editions the meal was still delicious. And pretty!

Gringo Dip

For a long time I've been wanting to try my hand at making my own Gringo Dip (normally found at a favorite restaurant, 54th Street). After perusing various recipes, I finally chose the route I would take and made my own attempts. Since I was thinking like a blogger, I actually wrote down amounts as I added them!

First let me say that I didn't use a double boiler. I don't own one. I simply melted my cheese dip with a low temp and lots of patience on the stove. As long as you stir frequently and keep those temps low (my dial was on 4), then you should be OK.

 

Recipe:

4 oz pepper jack cheese, cubed

4 oz monterey jack cheese, cubed

4 oz Velveeta, cubed

1 cup half and half

3/4 cup pico de gallo

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated

2 1/2 oz frozen chopped spinach

I put everything in the pot but the spinach and stirred until it was all smoothly melted. Then I added in the spinach and cooked until the spinach was all thawed and mixed in. It makes about 4 cups of cheese dip. We ate half the pot and I filled a 2-cup tupperware with leftovers.

How this compares to other recipes:
I used plain old yellow Velveeta so my cheese is more yellow than the original. You could buy the white Velveeta, but I just used what I had on hand. Also, I used way less spinach than other recipes call for. I don't care for spinach and simple tolerate it in recipes like this. Even still, Sig agreed that any more would have made for a spinach dip instead of a queso dip. This recipe is also much smaller in size than the other copy-cats I've seen.

What I will do different next time:
Sig likes his dips more spicy so I will probably add more pepper jack and take away some monty jack. You can always add more cayenne too (which is the type of heat I prefer). I initially thought I should use less half and half but my teacher brain kicked in to remind me that cheese sauces thicken upon standing. The consistency turned out perfect!

How much it cost:
Like me, you probably have the Velveeta, cayenne, and parmesan on hand. I bought fresh pico from the deli section for $3, monty jack and pepper jack cost me another $4, half and half was $2 and the spinach $1.50. The remaining pico will be used in recipes later this week, the remaining cheese will keep, and I'll make sure to use the half and half before it expires. I measured my spinach still frozen, so that remaining will keep in the freezer too. All in all it probably comes about $6 worth of ingredients.

And because we're piglets, the only photo I have to share is the one of the leftovers. This will probably be my very unhealthy lunch tomorrow!

*Please ignore my dirty stone- we had stuffed peppers for dinner with the dip. I promise it was cleaned appropriately!

Homemade Spice Mixes

I found this idea on Pinterest of course. I made my own taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, onion soup mix and Italian dressing mix. The first three came from Jamie over at Self-Reliance. The last came from a combination of places (I adjusted it to suit my own needs).

Taco seasoning is used for tacos of course (beef or chicken). The ranch seasoning can be used for ranch dressing, but I mostly use it to make ranch dip. The onion soup mix I use for dips and to flavor my pot roasts. The Italian dressing I use exclusively for seasoning buttered bread on any night we have pasta. This is the only time I use the seasoning but it happens at least once a week. Italian dressing is something I only use for marinade so I prefer the zesty version- not made with this seasoning mix.

I added up the amounts I needed and double-checked the quantities I had on hand in my spice cabinet. I ended up spending about $30 on spices, but I bought the large quantity size so I'm ready to make more mixes when I need it. I filled 2 pint jars each and used the little round canning sticker labels you can buy in the store (about $9 spent on the jars and labels). If I were gifting these then I would have made cuter labels with my Cricut. But for my own pantry, a handwritten sticker will do.

Ranch:

5 tablespoons dried minced onions

7 teaspoons parsley flakes

4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

 

Dry Onion Soup Mix:

2/3 cup dried, minced onion

3 teaspoons parsley flakes

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

 

Taco Seasoning:

1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon sea salt

 

Italian Dressing Mix:

I'll tell you when I find the paper I wrote it down on....
3/4 tsp garlic powder
2 1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp onion powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp gound oregano
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1 tbsp parsley
1/4 tsp celery salt
 

And ta-da! Healthy and convenient mixes I can simply spoon out at my pleasure. I keep a jar of each in my spice cabinet with the spare jars in the pantry. I'm about half-way through my first jar of the Italian already, and a third way through my taco. The ranch I've used minimally, but I have some potato recipes I'm going to play around with. The onion soup will get used the most heavily this fall when I'm making roasts again. It's simply too hot this summer for such a heavy meal!
Enjoy!

Better Poppyseed Dressing

So with all this madness with the new house, me moving to a new apartment, working like crazy, and being lazy, I don't work out much. I figure when I'm settled in the new town I'll figure out some fitness plan. In the meantime, I eat a lot of rabbit food and try to keep my diet in check. (Except that it's summer so that means I have a lot ice cream right now.) Not to mention, a cool salad on a hot day is my idea of perfect.

Now as far as salads go, I adore Panera. They rock my world, especially now that I get free stuff every time thanks to the myPanera card. But I can't afford to buy every rabbit meal I eat, therefore I cook. Since it's summer, Panera has their strawberry poppyseed salad available. As much as I love most of their salads (the Cobb, Caesar, and Asian are favorites of mine), this one doesn't do it for me. Because I've found a recipe one better. ;-)
First make this dressing, it should make enough for a few salads a week for lunch:

¾ cup sugar (or Splenda if you're like that)
1/3 cup cider vinegar (or you can use an apple balsamic)

1 tsp. salt
½ cup oil

1 tsp. dry mustard
½ tsp poppyseeds

Mix it all together and store in a covered container. If you get fancy you can actually buy salad dressing containers to keep your home-made dressings in. I want one (or three) but haven't actually found any I like yet. I'd love suggestions!

Then when lunch time comes, all you need to do is tear open a bag of romaine lettuce or spinach (use a dark colored leaf for maximum flavor and vitamins), slice up an apple and strawberries, toss in some walnuts, celery, and green onion, bada bing, bada boom, you've got a yummy summer salad.

I chop the strawberry, celery and green onions ahead of time and keep in another container ready to go. The apple I slice daily because I'll end up eating the whole apple.

It's a great meal because it tastes like summer (we all know how obsessed I am) but it has ingredients easily available during the winter. Not to mention you get two servings of vegetables and one serving of fruit in one meal. Fabulous!

*PS- this salad is super cute for Fourth of July, add some blueberries to make a red, white, and blue color splash.

*PPS- this is also good with chicken if you're looking for the protein. If I add chicken, I usually use some leftover rotisserie chicken because it's more salty (to balance with the sweet dressing).

Disclaimer- this isn't an "original" recipe. I have seen versions of it ALL over the place. I have no idea who the original creator is, they are a genius though.

Pot Roast Nachos

So I went to M&S Grill for my girl's night out. We had pot roast nachos and they were amazing. Such a simple concept right?! Pot roast on nachos instead of chicken. Easy peasy. And seeing as how I'm a foods teacher, I decided to conquer this piece of heavenly delight.

Originally I figured I would just wing it. I would by some big tortilla chips, spread them with pot roast, a little fresh pico (easily purchased in your grocery's deli department), sprinkle with cheese, and broil till melted and toasty. Easy right? Well I decided to investigate the web anyway just in case there was a copy-cat recipe out there.....and there was! It was a little more intense than I was figuring on so I hesitated, but I had the time, money, and inclination to take it on. Boy am I glad I did!

The secret is the aioli. I have never made one before so I was a little nervous. Fortunately this is kind of a cheater aioli and is pretty much just flavored mayo. I did, however, remember again why you should wear gloves when chopping peppers because that Serrano juice has been dangerously close to my eye more than once this evening. I also tried my hand at making my own chips, and while tasty they weren't as crispy as I desired. If I used store-bought chips I think the saltiness of the dish might be too high (I don't like salty). I discovered my problem was the tortillas I fried. I use flour and should have used corn.

My aioli tasted good but I had twice as much as I needed, it's very spicy so a little goes a long way, and mine was a little runny. Luckily it refrigerates and should keep for a while. In the future I'll use less lemon juice to make it a bit thicker (I didn't use any of the canola btw). I also sprinkled mine with a Mexican blend of cheese- I liked having the white and orange mixture but the seasonings weren't needed. The future versions will probably just have straight up cheddar. I also sauteed my vegetables like a good little FACS teacher, but it was stupidly time consuming so next time I'm just going to use the pre-made pico. It'll work. Now the pot roast- ideally you would use your left over roast. I don't have left over roast. When I make pot roast, we eat the whole thing. But I like "leftover" roast recipes so I've come across a cheater roast that's really good. It's the Hormel brand Beef Roast Au Jus and is super convenient. Not to mention pretty cheap. Here's the final product:

In case you can't tell- I couldn't wait to try a bite before taking the picture.

And here's the recipe, as found here:

Delicious Pot Roast Nachos

• Time 20 minutes
• Serves 4

Ingredients

---

• 4 each 8 inch tortillas cut into quarters and fried
• 2 cups leftover pot roast (rough chopped)
• 1 cup chili aioli (see below)
• 1 cup peppers, sliced and sautéed
• 1 cup yellow onion, sliced and sautéed
• 3 cups shredded cheddar or mixed cheese
• For the Chili Aioli:
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
• 1 Serrano chili, diced
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola oil
• Sugar, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste

How to make it

---

• Lay tortillas flat on a baking sheet
• spoon 1 tablespoon of chili aioli on each chip
• divide the peppers and onions on all the chips
• divide the pot roast on all the chips
• divide the cheese on all the chips
• broil until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes)
• top with salsa and green onions and serve
• For the Chili Aioli:
• • In a food processor, combine the jalapeño, Serrano chili, red pepper flakes, and garlic until finely minced. Add the lemon juice and mayonnaise.
• • Gradually add the canola oil until the mixture is slightly thinner than mayonnaise. Season with the sugar, salt, and pepper.
• • Refrigerate until ready to use.

Tools of the Trade- Kitchen Addition

These are my kitchen tools that get used just about all the time. I have lots of gizmos and gadgets, but I don’t use every specific tool each time I cook. A lot of times I just make do with my favorite ones.

 

1) KitchenAid Professional Lift-Stand mixer

What’s not to love?! I adore my mixer, especially now that I have the flat-head beater with spatula edges, no more scraping the bowl! I don’t have many attachments, only the ice cream maker now, but I’ve got my eye on the pasta roller or meat grinder next. My only complaint with the lift-stand mixers is that you only have a stainless steel bowl option, the tilt-head versions have a glass bowl you can purchase as an accessory.

 

2) Silicone flex mixing bowl

This was a gift one year for Christmas and I was skeptical. I’ve never been a fan of silicone bakeware but I decided to give this bowl a try. The reason why I love it is because you can flex the sides to pour out of it easily. My stainless steel mixing bowls (with rubber grip bottoms) don’t have a pour spout so pouring out of them can be tricky. I really like using this one for pour batter recipes like pancakes because I can mix and pour out of the same bowl. Plus it’s dishwasher safe!

 

3) Mini spatulas

Mine are from Williams and Sonoma, but you can find these just about anywhere. They are the best for scraping out of small containers. A good rubber spatula (especially the scoop kind) is a must-have kitchen basic, but I find myself using the smaller varieties even more.

 

4) Pampered Chef large round stone with handles

This one had to do battle with my Pampered Chef stone bar-pan to earn this spot. But, the bar pan does actually get put away, the round stone (affectionately called the pizza stone in my household) doesn’t ever leave the stove or counter top. I prefer to bake on stoneware when I can, and we use this stone for everything- baking, reheating, pizzas, big piles of nachos, you name it. One trick I’ve learned with your stones is using them to help bread dough rise. They work because they hold heat so well and stay warm so long. I’ll heat mine in the oven then place the hot stone either near or under my bowl of rising dough and it creates a nice warm environment to get that yeast working.

 

5) Kitchen Shears

I cut my pizza with kitchen shears, aka scissors. It’s weird but true. I also “chop” my green onion by snipping them with my shears. Ditto with chicken. I know how to use a knife, but I’m much savvier with scissors. So anything that is in a strip-like shape and needs to be chopped or diced, I forgo my kitchen knives and use my shears. I also use them for opening various food packages. My favorite pair actually comes apart like salad tongs and is dishwasher safe (easy to clean!)

 

Some other tools that earned honorable mention:

·         My stone bar-pan

·         Garlic press

·         Pampered Chef Mix-n-Chop tool (for ground meats)

·         Glass prep bowls