Sweet Potato Fries

Easy, healthy, delicious? You know that is me. Enjoy this recipe for a delectable side dish. My three favorite words...sweet-potato-fries.

Sweet Potato Fries

• Sweet potatoes
• Egg white
• Salt and pepper to taste
Cut the sweet potatoes into fry shape slices. Coat in egg white and bake at 350°F until slightly browned. Flip once first side browns.

Green Pepper Steak

Arg! Two month break from blogging, I am ashamed! The recipe book is in its final stages of editing and then it will be off to printing. I swear, this thing is going to happen! Well since I have been a slacker for so long I can't even remember making this dish! Shame, shame as it is a recipe from Rob's grandmother. Judging by the photo, I would say that it washed over my tummy like a cool breeze on a hot summer day...not sure if that makes sense, probably not. I will leave you with this:

You are right where you are suppose to be.

Grandma's Green Pepper Steak

• 1 lb. beef chuck or round – fat trimmed
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup green onion – thinly sliced
• 1 cup red or green or combination peppers, cut in 1 inch squares
• 2 stalks celery – thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 2 tomatoes (optional)
With a very sharp knife, cut beef across into thin strips – 1/8 inch thick. Combine soy sauce and garlic. Add beef. Toss and set aside while preparing vegetables. Heat oil in large frying pan or wok. Add beef and toss over high heat until browned. Taste meat. If it is not tender, cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes over low heat. Turn heat up and add vegetables. Toss until vegetables are tender and crisp – about 10 minutes. Mix cornstarch with water. Add to pan, stir and cook until thickened. Add tomatoes (optional) and heat through. Makes 4 servings. For 8 servings, double the ingredients but reduce the water to 1¾ cups and add another ½ Tbsp. cornstarch.



Peanut Butter and....

I have been thinking about this recipe/project since the very start of the recipe book. I felt it was a great way to blend my three passions: photography, food and peanut butter. Let this be a guide for you on those days when you think, "Wow, I really would like to have a sandwich, make it peanut butter, but I am not sure what I want with it". I am sure this is a pretty pressing question for most people, so I thought I would offer a guide of ideas. Please enjoy!

Peanut butter and raisins, celery, bacon, marshmallow fluff, mayonnaise, apples, chocolate, honey, chips, jelly, agave, banana. Some of those sound REALLY strange...but hey, give it a chance.

Do you have any other peanut butter pairing ideas?

Chicken Wings

Ahh the chicken wing...how I love to hate you. Rose gave me this recipe after she brought it to a party and was asked by numerous people for the recipe. You know it is good when people want your secret. I was about ready to make these up when I got to the "cut-up chicken wings" part. What the heck does that mean?! I decided to wait on the wings and get a little more clarification from Rose. I called her up and she said that you simply cut at the joint to make it easier to eat. GROSS! I got the wings, I got the scissors, I was ready to go....I changed my mind, threw the wings in and neglected the cutting step. I couldn't being myself to do it! This brings me to eating the chicken wing. The flavor was amazing but I am still not so keen on eating off of a bone. It went a little something like this, "Mmmm, yuck, mmmm yuck". Good thing Jeff was there to finish up the rest.

Chicken Wings

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup brown sugar

½ tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of dry mustard

Splash of mustard

Fill 9” x 13” pan with cut-up chicken wings. Heat and stir the above ingredients. Pour over chicken wings. Cook at 350 (or 325 for glass containers) until the sauce caramelizes. (This generally takes over 1½ hrs. Be careful though as, once the sauce does caramelize, it burns easily.)

Apple Butter

Apple Butter - Oh the possibilities! You could put it on:

1. toast

2. crackers

3. cream cheese with crackers

4. a donut

5. a sandwich

6. pork chops

7. cottage cheese

8. oatmeal

7. tortillas

8. pancakes

Do you have any apple butter ideas?

Crock-pot Apple Butter (From my mom)

• Apples

• 4 cups sugar
• 4 tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. cloves
• ¼ tsp salt
Cut and peel apples, fill crock-pot full, over an cook on high for 1 hour. Pour rest of the ingredients and pit on low heat. Heat till dark and thick - stir often so it doesn't burn! Freeze or can.

Fish and Chips

Hello! As you can tell I have lost a little steam on this project. Life got in the way of blogging about life...funny huh? I have been a busy bee getting out there and having fun and have dropped blogging and editing the recipe book by the waist side. I will keep trucking though, thank you for hanging in there!

So I have never been a huge fan of fish. I didn't eat much fish as a kid and everything still has the 'fishy' taste to me. I tried this fish fry recipe from Rob's mom Gayle and changed my mind a bit. It was really good! I suppose I would think anything was good fried :)

How to make sweet potato fries even healthier? Coat them in egg whites instead of oil and bake them in the oven. Tip from Rose.

Beer Batter for Fish

1 C Flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 egg
2/3 cup Beer (or milk if you prefer)
1 T oil

Mix, coat fish and deep fry.

Guest Recipes!

Pesto Mac and Cheese. My sister is a culinary genius. I mean come on, look at the box of Kraft Mac and Cheese with a little pesto powder added in. Amazing!

Breakfast Burritos. I am sure you can figure out this recipe...scrambled eggs, cooked sausage, cooked hashbrowns, bag o' cheese, bag o' tortilla. The recipe book is also an idea book though...and this is a good idea.

My mom's world famous Pumpkin Roll. A favorite of my cousin Jade's. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about this one.

Cheese ball. So I already have a cheese ball picture, but this is pretty classy!

Strawberry Salad. I am pretty sure this is way too soupy...but I didn't have the heart to make it again for a photo. I am not a huge strawberry or marshmallow fan...

My mom's banana bread.

Pesto Mac and Cheese

• Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
• Water
• Pesto
Boil some water in a pot. Add some pesto. Follow directions on Kraft box. When water is drained and cheese has been added, add a little bit more pesto. Stir. Serve and Enjoy!

Latin Soup with many Roots

This recipe is great! It was so different from anything I have tasted and is full of veggies (bonus). There is quite a kick! Jeff and I brought the ingredients over to his parent's house to cook up the soup. The whole house was brimming with intense spice flavor. This recipe looks a little tough and the ingreidents are a little different....but give it a try. Recipe from Katie.

Latin-Style Pork Stew with many Roots
• 2½ lbs. Latin roots and tubers, including at least two of the following: malanga, yuca, boniato and true yam
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 lb. boneless pork loin or butt, trimmed of excess fat and cut into half-inch cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. minced red or green chili pepper of your choice
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• Juice of 1 lime
• Whole cilantro leaves for garnish (optional).
1. Peel roots and tubers (if using yuca or true yams, be sure to peel off the bitter under layer), dice, and set aside in a large bowl with water to cover.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan until hot but not smoking. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper; add to the pan, and brown on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and set aside.
3. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of fat out of the pan, add the onion, and sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, paprika, chilies and cumin, and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute more.
4. Add stock and reserved root vegetables, and just bring to a boil. Reduce heat to very low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes or until pork is tender and roots are easily pierced with a fork. Stir in the lime juice, sprinkle with cilantro if desired, and serve.
Yield: 6 servings.
It looks complicated but it is worth it! You could even make this into a vegetarian meal and not include the pork, or even substitute pork for chicken. I really like the taste of the yuca and the yams, so I add more of them. I recommend looking up pictures of some of the roots so you know what they look like. I have also added some purple potatoes before (not too many). I always make sure that mine has a good kick to it so depending on the temperature of the jalapenos I may add more.

Chocolate Cinnamon Pancakes

Ready for an easy recipe? My little sister has submitted Chocolate Cinnamon Pancakes. The toughest part of this recipe is finding cinnamon chips. Cinnamon chips are similar to chocolate chips in the baking aisle but can only be found in certain stores at certain time and I couldn't tell you any more details. Sorry, don't kick me! Thankfully, my mom had a stash of the cinnamon chips that perhaps she was saving just for this occasion. I had to enlist my professional pancake maker (Jeff) on this one. I have tried and tried but I can't seem to make a decent looking pancake. Burnt, undercooked, lopsided, uneven.....

Jeff is a pro though!

Cinnamon-Chocolate Pancakes

• Pancake Mix (and ingredients to make mix)
• Chocolate Chips
• Cinnamon Chips
Once you make the pancake batter per usual, stir in a mixture of chocolate chips and cinnamon chips. Mix them around. The pancakes taste wonderful with the cinnamon chips.

Berry Smoothie

Ahh the aquarium glasses. If you don't remember HERE is the story of how I obtained the aquarium glasses. I had to make a blood pact (well or maybe just a promise) that the glasses would make an appearance in the recipe book. Here is round 2! Feeling okay about it Jen and Penny?

Now on to the berries. The ingredients for this berry smoothie (recipe compliments of Ali) have made a long journey. Jeff and I originally bought the ingredients at the whole food when we were shopping for the Latin Soup. We then brought them to his parent's house as a dessert. Everyone was too full so we trucked them over to my parents house for a late dessert. No go...too cold of weather for a smoothie. So the ingredients followed me to Denver and days later...the smoothie happened. I happily added all of the ingredients to the blender and pushed 'start'....hmm, nothing. Checked the plug, checked the outlet, checked the blender...buh humbug! Why berry smoothie, WHY! My roommate had a food processor that I thought I could make work, only it was too tiny to fit all of the ingredients. Therefore, I added bit by bit, blended it then put it in a separate bowl to make room for more.

Dish count: Blender, food processor, bowl, spoon, two glasses, straw (6)

Good thing you were so good berry smoothie!

Berry Smoothie

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries

• 1 cup frozen unsweetened raspberries

• 3 Tbsp. sugar

• 1 cup ice cubes

Place the milk, berries and sugar in a blender; cover and process until smooth. Add ice cubes; cover and process until smooth.

I FINISHED COOKING!

So I have been slacking on putting this post up because I have been a busy bee. Or perhaps, it was due to my great sadness in ending the project...not! Although I loved cooking through family recipes and getting to know my way around the kitchen, it was not without negatives. My wallet was shrinking, my pants were growing and tummy was hurting. I am relieved to be done with the project!

My official end date was: January 16, 2011
My first post was: January 25, 2010

Just under a year! How's that for knocking out a goal?!

Since I am way behind on my posting, you will still have posts and recipes from family and friends. Exciting huh? After that I will end with a recap of the recipe book process....so be looking out for that. The book still needs to go through a large amount of editing, but I will post when I am ready for printing!

3 lbs Pork Loin

It was a no brainer that I had to save this recipe for when there would be people around to eat. Three pounds of pork, I mean come on! I would have been eating pork for weeks. I am going to have to give up credit on this one...my mom made the marinade and Rob did the grilling. I just swooped in at the last minute to snap a photo and eat. This recipe is REALLY good and great for special occasions or large groups.

3 lbs. Pork Tenderloin

• ½ cup soy sauce

• 6 Tbsp. honey

• 2 shallots, peel and chop
• 2 garlic cloves, peel and chop
• 2 bay leaves crumbled
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• ½ tsp. (or more) fresh parsley, chopped
Puree all in blender. Marinate 3 lbs. pork tender loin in puree for 4 hours minimum. Overnight is best. If 4 hrs leave out last hour. Cook on grill 20 minutes turning constantly. Do NOT baste with sauce. Boil remaining sauce for 5 minutes minimum.

Salmon Feta Pockets and Baked Noodles

Jeff and I had a nice dinner together of Salmon Feta Pockets and Baked Noodles. We didn't feel like getting the grill going because it was cold, so we baked the salmon in the oven instead. I think it turned out pretty good but I would like to try the recipe with the grill sometime. I have a confession that I must confess or it will eat me up inside....I made my salmon feta pocket with chicken. There! I said it! I am not quite ready to say that I love salmon...so changes had to be made. The baked noodles, from Gail, were great! They tasted like glorified macaroni and cheese. Yum!

Baked Noodles

• 1 small bag egg noodles – as thin as you can get

• 1 – 12oz chunk of extra sharp cheddar cheese (New York white if you can find it)

• Milk
• Butter
• Salt
• Pepper

Cook the noodles. Grate the cheese. Put noodles into a casserole large enough so that noodles fill only half. Add all of the cheese except 1 cup. Save that for the top. Add milk and stir into noodles and cheese. Make sure there is plenty of milk. It should be somewhat soupy. Add some butter and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top. Top with several pats of butter. Bake at 350°F for one hour.

Grilled Salmon, Bacon and Feta Pockets

• 4 – 6 oz 1in thick salmon fillets

• ½ cup ranch

• 3 slices bacon

• ¼ cup feta cheese crumbles

• 2 tomatoes chopped

Preheat grill place salmon skin side down on foil, add 2 tablespoons ranch, 1 tablespoon chopped bacon, 1 tablespoon feta. Fold up sides of foil, leaving the top exposed. Place on grill for 8-10 minutes. Top with tomatoes and serve.

Swiss Cheese Fondue, Potato Casserole, Pork Chops a la Ursula, Caramel Dumplings

Dinner night! Thank you to my friends who came over and helped me eat. Jeff and I dominated in the kitchen for this one! Jeff always jokes about how he is my sous chef. He does all of the boring chopping a prepping, while I get to do the cooking. It worked out though, and we seamlessly cooked through the dishes even with some spare time to sit and have a drink before guests arrived.

Swiss Cheese fondue...yum!

Potato Casserole. Anything that requires Corn Flakes as an ingredient is going to be good. Recipe from my mom.

The pork chops were so incredibly tender and flavorful. This recipe is from Rose.

Caramel Dumplings: we all agreed that they weren't really a dumpling but they tasted great. The warm brown sugar taste went great with the cold ice cream.

The Swiss Cheese recipe can be found here.

Mr. Dell’s Original Potato Casserole recipe can be found here.

Pork Chops a la Ursula

• 4 Pork Chops
• Egg
• Italian breadcrumbs
• Butter
• Several Onion slices
• Low-salt bullion (2 cubed for 4 chops)
Dip pork chops in egg and Italian breadcrumbs. Brown in butter. Add water to cover chops, along with several onion slices and low-salt bullion (2 cubes for 4 chops). Simmer 45 minutes to an hour, adding additional water, if necessary.

Caramel Dumplings
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup hot water
• Butter
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• Pinch salt
• Cut in 2 Tbsp. butter
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ cup milk
Boil brown sugar, hot water and butter for 5 minutes.
Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl with a spoon until mixed and then pour the brown sugar mixture into a 9x13 pan. Drop by the spoonfuls the batter into the brown sugar syrup and then put into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Makes 4 dumplings.
Let cool a little bit and put in a bowl with ice cream or milk - yummy!

Southwestern Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes have always been a favorite of mine. This recipe takes up the taste factor a notch and adds a Southwestern flare. I wish I had some grand hilarious story for you about how I messed this recipe up, had a crisis at the store, forgot to drain the meat, or added the wrong ingredients. It seems that the recipe is idiot proof! This recipe is from a family friend, Janet.

Southwestern Sloppy Joes

• 1 Tbsp. canola oil

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 medium garlic clove, minced

• 1 tsp. chili powder

• ½ tsp dried oregano

• ¾ lb lean ground turkey

• 7 oz canned corn with red and green peppers with Mexican seasoning (also called Mexican), rinsed and drained

• 1 ½ cups salsa

• 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar, packed
• 4 hamburger rolls, split

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl in the oil, then add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the chili powder and oregano, and cook 1 minute more. Add the turkey and corn and cook until the mixture is nearly dry, about 4 minutes. Stir in the salsa and sugar and cook, stirring occasional, until slightly thickened and the turkey is cooked through, 4-5 minutes longer. Spoon over the opened rolls and serve.

Oatmeal

I love oatmeal and I love crock pot cooking! This recipes combines both in a warm breakfast treat. The oatmeal expands a lot in the crock pot so be prepared to eat! This recipe comes from my friend Rose.

Oatmeal

• 2 cups steel cut oats (not instant or rolled oats)

• 6-8 cups water, depending on how long the oatmeal will cook

• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 apples, peeled and diced
• 1 cup raisins

• 1 cup sliced bananas

• ½ cup chopped walnuts

Spray Crock Pot with nonstick cooking spray. If you’re planning to cook the oatmeal 8 hours or longer, use 8 cups of water. If you want to cook it less than 8 hours, use 6 cups of water. Put first seven ingredients (through raisins) in slow cooker and cook on low. Just before serving stir in bananas and walnuts. Sprinkle with additional brown sugar if desired.

Kinipfoli and Pizza Pasta

Both of these recipes are great if you are trying to save a buck or two. Per usual though, things that are not that expensive are pretty hard on my stomach. I guess my tummy has expensive taste!  I knew I would need some reinforcements to chow down on these dishes, so Devon and Luke came over.

Kinipfoli comes from Amanda and her Dad, Kevin. It is a traditional German dish from what I gather. Kevin was well known in his college house for being an excellent Kinipfoli maker and would often make the dish for his roommates. It is a great recipe for college guys...very few ingredients, cheap and filling. Not really full of vegetables, but who needs vegetables when you have butter and saltines? It was so good tasting and really fun making the noodles from scratch.

Kinipfoli

• 2 eggs

• Salt

• 1.5 cups flour

• Milk

• Saltine crackers

• Butter

Beat 2 eggs. Add 1 tsp. salt to the eggs. Pour egg/salt mix into a bowl containing 1.5 cups of flour and mix well, these will be your noodles. Add milk to the noodle mix "as necessary" and divide noodles to make various sizes. Boil noodles in water until they float. In another pan melt some butter, and crush up some crackers, not too crushed, you want to have various sizes of crushed crackers but you don't want them real tiny (usually takes about one to two of those individual packages). Just add butter to the crackers as you see fit, it really just depends on how many crackers you decide to use. Crackers should NOT be soggy, you just want to brown them in the butter. Mix browned crackers and noodles together in a bowl or pan.

*Just a couple side notes from yours truly (Amanda): Make sure you have salt handy on the table while eating, you’re definitely going to want to add some, but it differs from person to person so they can add according to personal taste. Also, may I suggest milk as a beverage to go with this dish. That's how I like it anyway.

Pizza Pasta comes from a cousin of my brother-in-law, Rob. Did you get all that?

Pizza Pasta

• 2 pkgs. Ramen noodles – any flavor

• 2 to 3 cups spaghetti sauce

• 25 pepperoni slices – halved

• ¾ cup chopped bell green pepper

• ½ cup grated cheddar cheese

• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook noodles and drain. In pan put sauce, pepperoni, peppers, and cheddar cheese. Stir till cheese is melted. Lightly grease an 8x8in pan and put in noodles. Put in sauce mixture. Sprinkle mozzarella over it. Bake 15 minutes – till cheese is melted.