BBQ glazed pork & Pineapple upside down cake

Really easy and simple.. just pan fry some pork chops, then put some bbq sauce on them until it thickens up into a glaze. :) 

After dinner we enjoyed a pineapple upside down cake with whipped cream.

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Sorry no new posts..

I haven't been feeling that well, and it's been errand days, so I haven't been in the kitchen as much. We had pork chops with pepper rice and corn last night, but I honestly wasn't feeling well enough to take a picture of it. I'm sure I'll make it again (probably a couple more times LOL!) in the year. :)


Hope ya'll had a great week, and there will be more food yumminess to come! :) 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Homemade Lasagna!

I will post the recipe later.. right now, it's family time.. but I wanted to post this so I wouldn't forget! :D

Homemade Shake-N-Bake Pork Chops

I loved shake and bake when I was a kid. But, as an adult I haven't really ever made it because it was so expensive. I'm cheap, what can I say??  But then I got to thinking tonight, it really can't be that hard. So, this is what I tried tonight...

Recipe:
1 box stuffing (I used pork flavor because that's what I was making)
handful of fried onions (the kind used on top of green bean casserole)
couple spoon fulls of flour

Add all ingredients into a food processor and blend until very fine. Put into baggy (yes, I love using baggies!) and add pork. Shake shake shake. Then bake like you normally would. :)
Turned out really good, and I'll be putting this in my recipe book. :D 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Egg Rolls for All!

We love Chinese food. It's probably our family's favorite all time food. Even the boys use chop sticks when we go to Chinese restaurants. :) So anytime we catch the egg roll wrappers on sale at the store, we buy them. 


But, for Christmas I got a pasta machine. This little baby will press the dough really really thin, as I found out with my ravioli, when I made some of them too thin. It got me thinking.. I bet I could make my own egg roll wrappers. It would be so much cheaper (wrappers at the store are over $3 a pack!) and lets face it, homemade usually tastes so much better. (I say usually because, lets be honest, there are some things that are good.. just not that many...)  And in this case.. as RW would say "It's a Keeper!". 


I am going to post the recipe for the wrappers and the filling :) (Gluten Free Wrapper Recipe at the end! ) 

Recipe for Wrappers:
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ice water
Cornstarch


Preparation:
Sift the flour into a large bowl.
Lightly beat the egg with the salt. Stir in 1/4 cup of water. Add the egg and the ice water to the flour. Stir in as much of the remaining 1/4 cup of water as needed to form a sticky batter.
Turn the dough out onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
Cover the dough and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
Knead the dough briefly, then cut in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.Roll each half into a cylinder. Lightly score so that you have 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 3 1/2-inch square.

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I used my kitchen-aid. Put the flour in, then the other ingredients and used my bread hook. After letting it rest, I used my pasta machine and put a little bit of dough at a time. When I got a thin enough sheet (usually setting 3 on the machine) I would then put it on a floured counter and then stretched the dough to make it more wide (as the pasta machine made it thin and long).  I will say this.. FLOUR IS YOUR FRIEND! Use plenty of it when rolling and stretching out the dough. You do NOT want the dough to stick to anything.  I also tripled the recipe, because it freezes well, and it would save time the next time I want to make egg rolls. :) 
                  
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Recipe for inside of egg roll:
Ground chicken or pork (I used left over cooked chicken, that I shredded)
Coleslaw mix 
Soy Sauce
Ground Ginger


Directions:
Cook meat until done. Add in rest of ingredients and cook until soft. Let cool, then wrap up in the egg roll wrappers. 
Fry in oil until done. (I used my deep fryer). 


     ******************************************************
I served it with pork fried rice. :)  

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Gluten Free Recipe!!

Ingredients

1/2 cup cold water + 1/4 cup cold water (added tablespoon by tablespoon)

1 egg (whisked in to 1/2 cup cold water) + 1 egg for sealing egg rolls

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup rice flour

1/3 cup tapioca starch (+ more for dusting)

1/3 cup corn starch

1/3 cup sweet rice flour (+ more to avoid sticky dough)

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon gelatin

Directions:

Put rice flour, salt, tapioca, corn starch, sweet rice flour, xanthan gum, and gelatin in a food processor until evenly combined.

Whisk together egg with ½ cup cold water until well blended.

Turn on food processor and slowly pour egg/water mixture into the dough.

Open the food processor and scrap down the sides. Make sure the dough is evenly processed. At this point, check to see if the dough will easily stick together but is not sticky. If the dough does not come together to form a soft dough, turn the food processor back on and slowly drizzle water in by the tablespoon (maybe up to ¼ cup more of cold water will be needed). If the dough is too sticky, add a tablespoon of sweet rice flour at a time until the dough forms a soft dough.

Divide the dough into 2 Tablespoon/small ice cream scoop balls. While working with one ball at a time, keep the remaining dough in a bowl under a damp (but not wet!) towel.

Press each ball into a small disk.

At this point, you can either use a tortilla press, a pasta roller, or some serious arm muscle and a rolling pin. Roll the disk into a super flat (think lasagna flat) round or square. (If using your pasta roller, roll to the level 3 thickness. (1 being the thickest setting on my Kitchen Aid pasta roller attachment.) Don’t get the wrap too thin or it will rip when you are rolling the egg rolls together with their stuffing.

Continue flattening each ball.

Store the flattened egg roll wrappers on wax paper or parchment paper and cover with a damp (not wet!) towel. Set aside to make your filling. 

Ever wanted to put your face into the pan??

LOL!! No, seriously! Have you ever cooked something that tasted sooo good that you wanted to put your face right into the pan and just chow down?  Am I the only one?? Really??  **trying not to look crazy at this point in the post** 


Ok, well.. *awkward cough* um... I totally wanted to do that when I cooked the buffalo chicken and cheese soup tonight. I know, I know, I know.. you are saying "AGAIN?" and about to click off my blog, and back onto facebook, but hear me out! This soup is just too good, and I am always changing the recipe, so it isn't always the same.

Ingredients

1 small onion; diced 

Broccoli coleslaw mix 

(it's broccoli, carrot and red cabbage cut up like coleslaw.) 

butter / oil 

(I honestly don't measure this)

Flour 

(and again, I don't measure this I just add until it makes a good roux)

Enough Milk to make a big batch of soup

Enough Chicken broth to even out the milk

Cooked Chicken (cut into pieces)

I cooked one of the whole chickens I got at a good price, and used the dark meat. I'm saving the white meat for another dinner

Hot Sauce- to taste

3/4 Block of Velveeta®; (or store brand) cubed

I had some left over, from the mac-n-cheese meal the other night

1 Can Corn

Ranch Dressing - to taste

How to Prepare :

In a huge pot over medium-high heat, saute onions and coleslaw mix in butter until tender. Remove most of the mixture after cooking into a bowl.

-Stir flour into pan; slowly whisk in milk and broth. (roux)

-Stir in remaining ingredients and the veggie mixture and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheese has melted.

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Two For One Blog Day!

Didn't have anything to post yesterday, as it was an errand day.  But, I have plenty to post today! :) Started the day with a late breakfast/early lunch of homemade egg mc..err. hamburger?  LOL! 

These would have looked so much more pretty (and fit better) on english muffins, but all we had were hamburger buns, so they had to work. It's actually quite simple to do..  you grease up cupcake tins, then crack an egg into each one. I made 12, but you can make as many as you need. (they actually freeze really well) Cook at 350* for about 20 minutes. Then pop em outta the pan! :) 

Then, for dinner I wanted to use up the ricotta cheese from the other night and the spaghetti noodles we have in the cupboard (cause I want to start making all fresh, when what we have is gone).  So, I made a Ricotta cheese sauce, put some pork chops under the broiler until cooked, then cut them up and put them in the sauce. Peas on the side and it was dinner time! :) 

Recipe for Ricotta Sauce:

Ricotta Cheese

Milk

Butter

Pepper

Honestly no measurements. Just put the cheese in a bowl and blend milk and butter until creamy. Add pepper for taste.  

Happy Culinary Experiences!

 ~HeatherRenee

Homemade ravioli with homemade pasta sauce

Tonight was another night of firsts! I had gotten a pasta machine for Christmas, and I have been dying to try it out. I usually make my pasta sauce myself, but this was the first time I've tried to make ravioli from scratch. It turned out really really REALLY good. 

Recipe:
3 1/2 cups flour
4 eggs


Filling:
1lb cooked then cooled hamburger
Ricotta cheese


Mound the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the eggs. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well. As you incorporate the eggs, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape (do not worry if it looks messy). The dough will come together in a shaggy mass when about half of the flour is incorporated.


Start kneading the dough with both hands, primarily using the palms of your hands. Add more flour, in 1/2-cup increments, if the dough is too sticky. Once the dough is a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up any left over dry bits. Lightly flour the board and continue kneading for 3 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Continue to knead for another 3 minutes, remembering to dust your board with flour when necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes at room temperature. Roll and form as desired.


Note: Do not skip the kneading or resting portion of this recipe, they are essential for a light pasta

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I used my kitchaid.. first with the mixing attachment, then with the dough hook. After the dough was done resting, I ran pieces through my pasta machine to make the nice long pieces of pasta for shaping the ravioli. Next time, I know that I will triple this recipe.. we liked it a lot, but it wasn't as much as I hoped it would be.
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Cut the ball of dough in half, cover and reserve the dough you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Dust the counter and dough with flour. Form the dough into a rectangle and roll it through the pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at its widest setting. Guide the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. Reduce the setting and crank the dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue until the machine is at its narrowest setting. The dough should be paper-thin, about 1/8-inch thick.

Dust the counter and dough with flour, and lay out the long sheet of pasta. Brush the top surface of dough with egg wash. Drop 1 tablespoon of cooled filling about 2 inches apart on half the sheet of pasta. Fold the unfilled half over the filling. With a  finger, gently press out air pockets around each mound of filling and form a seal. Use your fingers to crimp the edges, then a knife to cut the squares out. Check to make sure the crimped edges are well sealed before cooking. If making ravioli in advance, dust with cornmeal or flour to prevent them from sticking.

Cook the ravioli in plenty of boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes. Ravioli will float to the top when cooked so be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Lift the ravioli from water with a large strainer or slotted spoon. Plate the pasta, top with your favorite pasta sauce and grated cheese before serving.

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

I made some with hamburger, and some with cheese. :) I topped it with my homemade sauce

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Homemade Pasta Sauce:

1 can whole tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

italian seasonings (to taste)

sugar (to taste)

Directions:

Combine tomatoes and paste in food processor. Run until smooth. add italian seasoning and sugar to desired taste. You can then cook on the stove top for 20 minutes on medium low, or freeze. 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

A Breakfast Post! Doughnut Holes

In the past, I had worked for Krispy Kreme. In fact, Hubby worked there as well. He was an assistant manager, and I was a line person. My job was to take the doughnuts off the conveyor belt and put them into boxes, or decorate them. It was actually a fun job. The only down side was that our vehicle, clothes and house all smelled like doughnuts. Some might not think that's so bad, but when you live with that sickeningly sweet smell 24-7, it doesn't become your favorite smell.


Because of this, I have always been hesitant to make doughnuts at home. At the time I was sick of them, and could get them from work, so I didn't even bother. But it's been five years.. and my boys don't remember too much of hubby and I working there, so they are always asking for doughnuts when we go to the store. But have you seen the price of doughnuts?? They've gone up to 60¢ PER doughnut! That's outrageous, when you have three growing boys who could probably eat, like, TEN doughnuts in one sitting.. EACH. Ok, I'm exaggerating. I honestly don't think they could each eat ten, but they could probably put away 3 each. And that adds up! We are living on one income here!


So, I pushed past my thoughts of "Oh No! Not doughnuts again!" and decided to make doughnuts. I found a recipe I knew I had all the ingredients for but there was one problem. I didn't have a doughnut cutter. But I knew that excuse wouldn't fly with my boys.. so I decided instead of doughnuts.. I'd focus on the doughnut holes instead. 

Recipe for Doughnuts:

vegetable oil, for frying
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons shortening
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
Directions:
Heat oil (2 to 3 inches) in deep-fat fryer or heavy kettle to 375 degrees F.

Beat 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the remaining ingredients in large mixer bowl on low speed, scraping bowl constantly, 30 seconds.

Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes. Stir in remaining flour. Turn dough onto well-floured cloth-covered board; roll around lightly to coat with flour. Roll gently 3/8 inch thick.

Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Slide doughnuts into hot oil with wide spatula. Turn doughnuts as they rise to surface.

Fry until golden brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Remove from oil; do not prick doughnuts. Drain on paper towels. Serve plain, sugared or frosted.

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I followed the recipe like it says, but instead of cutting out the doughnuts, I made little balls instead. :) 


Things I would change about the recipe... The flour amount. It was really really sticky using only the 3 1/3 cups of flour. I would add a little more in the end mixing process until it isn't so sticky.  I also recommend cutting (or rolling the balls) all at once. When you put them into the oil, it doesn't take long at all to become golden, and even a shorter time to turn very dark brown (R.I.P first batch of doughnut holes.. I'm sure you would have been delicious) Towards the end, I was actually rolling them right next to the pot and dropping them in so that I could watch ones that were already in there. 


They passed the boys' taste test with flying colors.. I'm sure we'll be making these again.. maybe instead of powdered sugar we'll make chocolate covered, or cinnamon. :) 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

I am going to add the Gluten Free Version for our GF friends and family. :) 

Recipe:
1 egg
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon oil
3/8 cup buttermilk
1 ¾ cup all purpose gluten-free flour
1 ¾ teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Beat egg and add sugar and oil and buttermilk, then mix together and add dry ingredients.

Fry in a skillet at 370-380F: Drop by teaspoons as donut holes, about 6 at a time so as to maintain the temperature. While still warm shake them in a paper bag with sugar/cinnamon.

Tacos with homemade Tortillas

The Latin is coming out of this pale redhead tonight! :)  


For Christmas I got a lovely wooden tortilla press. I finally got to use it. And while it is beautiful to look at, it doesn't press the tortillas flat enough. It makes great bread for flat bread sandwiches though, so I'm pretty sure I'll be using it for that in the near future. If you have any suggestions on what type of presses I should look into, leave a comment below! In the mean time, I pressed the tortillas with the press, then finished them up with a rolling pin to make them a little flatter. :) 

Recipe:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 3/4 to 2 cups WARM milk (I used only about a cup and the dough was perfect) 

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Add the oil and about 3/4 cup of warm milk and mix.

Your dough should be slightly on the sticky side - but only slightly! Add milk if your dough is too dry.

Form your dough into about 12 balls - a little larger than a golf ball - and when rolled out your tortillas will be about 10 inches in diameter.

Let your dough rest - covered - for 20 minutes.

Roll out each ball to about 10 inches. I now use parchment paper lightly floured and a pastry sock on my roller. The less flour you use, the more flexible the tortilla.
I used a griddle. Put the heat on high. When the pan is hot, cook your tortillas about 30 to 45 seconds on each side. If the dough puffs up that is NORMAL, you can pop the bubble with a knife. Place your cooked tortillas in a plate with a kitchen towel over them. When they have cooled, keep your tortillas in an air tight container.

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Repeat with a twist

I wasn't really in the mood to cook *gasp* I know, but it does happen. So I made homemade Mac-N-Cheese again, but I added some summer sausage to it to make it more "dinner". :)  No recipe this time.. because it was the same recipe as before, just add the sausage. 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

A Sunday Type Meal.. On a Saturday

I have been wanting roasted chicken for a couple weeks now. And just got lucky enough to find whole chickens on sale when we went grocery shopping this past week! SCORE! I love getting whole chickens. First off, they are so much cheaper then when you buy pieces. And you can do so much with it! But, for this recipe we're using the whole thing. And we're honestly not doing much to it. Roasting it in the oven with veggies. :) But it is so tasty that you really don't need anything else done with it. 

Recipe:
1 whole chicken
10 potatoes; peeled and cut into fourths
8 whole carrots; peeled and cut into thirds
3 onions; cut into fourths
1 cabbage; cut into eighths

Directions:
Place chicken breast side DOWN in large roasting pan. (I know, I know.. cook books will tell you to roast birds breast side up because it looks better.. but I would rather it taste better then look pretty. And roasting it breast side down makes the juices flow through the breast, making it so that the white meat isn't dried out. Trust me, and try it!) 
Put cut up veggies all around the chicken.. potatoes and carrots first, then onions then cabbage.
Put enough water in pan to cover the bottom of the pan.
Put foil over the top and put into oven at 350* for 1 hour.
Reduce heat to 325* for 2 hours (or until bird is done).

While again, it isn't pretty, it is really really good :) 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

It's A Chili Kinda Night

With it being cooler weather outside nowadays, I decided to make Chili with corn muffins. Of course, the day I plan to do it, it isn't actually that chilly out LOL! It was in the 30's last week.. and today it was in the 60's.. oh well, it was still really really good :D 

Recipe:
2 lbs hamburger
2 packages of kidney beans
3 big cans of crushed or diced tomatoes (I honestly don't remember the sizes.. LOL! )
3 chili seasoning packages
shredded cheddar cheese
diced onions
sour cream

Directions:
Put the beans in a huge pot of water in the morning. Let them boil for at least 5 hours. This, of course, is instead of soaking them over night. :)
Cook up the 2lbs of hamburger and set aside.
 After the beans become soft, drain off most of the water, leaving about 1/4 of the amount of water that you used.
Add in the hamburger, tomatoes (with their juices), chili seasonings to the beans and cook on low heat for at least 2 hours.
Serve up in bowls with the onions, cheese and sour cream. Corn muffins or crackers are great too. :)

Happy Culinary Experiences

~HeatherRenee

Hubby's All Time Favorite Tonight! Swiss Steak!

Tonight I made one of my hubby's favorite dinners. It's a recipe that was passed down to me from my mom. And it's so simple!!! But it's really really tasty. :) 

Recipe:
Cube Steaks (however many your family will eat)
Flour
Seasonings
Potatoes (however many your family will eat)
Onions (however many your family will eat)
Big Can of Tomato Soup
Little bit of water

Instructions:
Peel and cut potatoes into fourths. Cut onions into fourths as well. Place both into baking dish with a little bit of water. Spread a small amount of the tomato soup over it, pop some foil on the top and stick in the oven at 350*

While that is cooking, take your seasonings and add to the flour. Place cube steaks in flour until they are all coated on both sides. Pan fry until both sides are nicely brown. When done, put them over top of the onions and potatoes in the oven. Pour the rest of the tomato soup over the top and recover with foil. Bake until Potatoes are tender.

That's it! It's so simple, but it is soooo good! :D We like to soak up the tomato soup with bread and butter as well :) 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Boring Blog Entry..

No new dinner posts.. Bummer.. 


We went out to eat.  But we'll be shopping tomorrow, so that means foods for new recipes! :D So look for great new recipes in the next couple of days! 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

I caved in.. Mac-N-Cheese Lunch!

So, I was feeling bad that I didn't have a new dinner for ya'll... and my boys (RW, IC & AJ) started saying they were hungry (which is nothing new in this house. To hear them talk, you'd think they were starving, even 10 minutes after just eating). We didn't have enough bread out to make sandwiches, and there were no left overs. So, I set out to make mac-n-cheese. I didn't have any milk, but  remember the cheese from the soup in the very first recipe post? Yup.. I still had that 1/4 of the block left. I also had some sour cream from the tacos we had the day before I started this blog.  So this is what I came up with...

Recipe:
16 oz bag of Macaroni
butter
1/4 block of Velveeta cheese
sour cream

Boil Macaroni in water until tender. Drain and add butter. Add Cheese in cubes and couple spoonfuls of sour cream. Stir all together until melted.

The boys, I'm happy to say, loved it. They are hard critics to please.. as they think that Kraft Mac-N-Cheese is gourmet and that all cheese needs to be neon bright orange. :) 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Re-Runs #1

Yes, already we have a re-run of a meal that was had earlier in the week. Not because I planned it that way, it came as a special request / hint from hubby. So nothing new today folks. *ducks the thrown tomatoes and tries not to hear the hisses & boo's*  I promise to come up with a great meal later on in the week to make up for it!! I'll even dig out the cookbooks (Ha! Right.. like I have to dig for them.. they are sitting in plain sight in the kitchen where I actually do take them out and read them often :D  ) and see about making something I haven't made in awhile. :)  You'll love it 


Until then, just enjoy these cute animations *insert elevator music here* : 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Spent the New Year in the E.R.. but made pork chops anyway!

So, didn't plan to start 2012 by spending most of the evening in the E.R, but that's what happened today. My Husband fell at work, so I drove him there to make sure he was ok (He is). Thankfully I had planned out dinner this morning and had already put the pork chops that were for dinner into the brine so they were good just sitting until ready to cook. :)  I got the recipe from Alton Brown's "Good Eats" episode about pork chops. :) I did change it a little bit though (of course!) 

Original Recipe:
1 cup salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups hot apple cider vinegar
3 tbs whole pepper corns
1 lb ice

Combine salt and sugar. Pour hot vinegar over and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Add pepper and ice. When it has cooled off, add your pork chops, cover and stick in the fridge for a couple hours.
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How I changed it:
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups hot apple cider vinegar
BBQ seasonings
Ice

Same as above really.. LOL!

When I went to cook it, I put the chops into a hot electric frying pan. When they were nicely colored on both sides, I added some of the brine liquid, put the cover on and let it sit for about 10 minutes while I cooked the rice and green beans that we had with them (I cooked the green beans in some of the brine liquid as well :-D )

Happy Culinary Experiences & hope ya'll have a Happy New Year!

~HeatherRenee