Creamed Chicken

I have spent a great portion of the day reading through my blog, sort of a trip down memory lane. It's been fun to reminisce, and to see how my blog has progressed and gone through its many phases and stages. For a while, I was posting so frequently that I felt guilty if I went a whole week without posting. Wow, that is not how I do it lately! Anymore, I only post once or twice a month, if that. I really want to get back into the habit of posting more frequently. So here I am, posting our simple, inexpensive, yet delicious meal that we enjoyed tonight.

I enjoy using chicken leg quarters. They're one of the cheapest sources of meat, at under a dollar a pound. We use them as is, or separated to have the thighs for one meal and the drumsticks for another. My favorite way to use them in recipes is to start by stewing them in water until they are tender. Just cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium or medium-high, and simmer until completely done. The longer they cook, the more tender they get. Remove the chicken from the broth, reserving the broth of course. Once the chicken has cooled down, you can pull all the chicken from the bones and use the chicken in whatever recipe you want.

I recently learned a great tip for taking chicken dishes from good to amazing. Adding thyme and a small amount of turmeric gives an incredible flavor, as well as a pretty color, to everything from chicken soup to chicken pie. Tonight I used this seasoning trick in our creamed chicken, with great results. We served the chicken over pasta, but it was so good I was eating the chicken gravy by itself by the end of the meal!

Creamed Chicken
2 chicken thighs, boiled in water until tender, then removed from bones and shredded (see above)
Broth from boiling the chicken
1 cup frozen peas, run under hot water until thawed
1 cup frozen sliced carrots, microwaved with a little water until thawed and softened
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup flour
1 or 2 dashes turmeric
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
8 oz. macaroni noodles, cooked and drained

Melt margarine in large saucepan. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk in 2 1/2 cups chicken broth. Cook and stir over medium heat until smooth and thickened. Stir in turmeric, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Add peas, carrots, and chicken. Serve over noodles. This would also be good over rice, mashed potatoes, or like I said, all by itself!

Linking to tatertots & jello

My Kitchen My World - Poland

January's country for My Kitchen My World was Poland. I enjoy cooking foods from European countries, they're almost familiar but different enough to make it fun.

Halushki is a Polish dish made of noodles, cabbage, and pork. This recipe makes a LOT - we were eating leftovers for quite a while. No complaints though, it tasted really good. But until our family has added a couple kids (not for a while!), I'll probably make this recipe in a smaller batch next time.

Halushki
(from allrecipes.com)
1 1/2 lb. pork chops
garlic powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 large head cabbage, cut into squares
1 lb. large egg noodles
1 tbsp. butter

Sprinkle pork chops with garlic powder, salt and pepper and place in a large greased sauce pan or deep skillet with chopped onion and fry until very brown and well cooked. It is ok if they stick a little, as the drippings are essential in this dish. When done, remove chops and set aside.

Add a little water to the saucepan or skillet and mix up the drippings a bit. Place cabbage into the pot, and allow to cook down completely.

In a separate large saucepan, boil the egg noodles in water until cooked. Drain noodles and mix in butter.

Cut up the pork chops to bite size pieces and set aside. When the cabbage has cooked down, add pork and cooked noodles and mix completely.

My Kitchen My World - Dessert

December's assignment on My Kitchen My World was a little different than usual. Normally we make a dish from a specific country each month. This month though, we could choose any holiday dessert from any country.

I chose to make a Jewish dish that is common in many European countries, called Noodle Kugel. It is a traditional dish for Sabbath and for festive holidays. This particular version is from Russia, I found it under the title of Russian Noodle Pudding.

Kugel isn't as sweet as I usually prefer for desserts. That's understandable considering that it's commonly used as a side dish as well as a dessert. It has a tartness from the cottage cheese and sour cream that melds nicely with the small amount of sugar and vanilla. My kids would definitely have enjoyed this more if it were topped with some maple syrup and whipped cream, but I actually liked it as is.

Noodle Kugel
16 oz. pasta, cooked and drained
24 oz. cottage cheese
2 cups sour cream
2 eggs
7 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 graham cracker sheets
2 tbsp. brown sugar
dash cinnamon
dash nutmeg
3 tbsp. butter

Heat oven to 350, butter a large baking dish.

Combine cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in pasta. Spread into buttered baking dish.

Crush graham crackers, add brown sugar and spices. Sprinkle over pasta mixture. Dot with butter.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

I do wish I hadn't made such a large pan of this. It's yummy, but since the kids aren't huge fans I'm worried we might not eat it all fast enough. I wonder if it freezes well?

And here's an update on the kitchen. The last time I posted, it was an absolute mess of renovation horror. Well, here is what it looks like now. Much better! We're putting the renovation on hold for the winter, and will eventually put in the final touches like back splash, base boards, and the remaining cabinet doors in a few months. In the meantime, it's so nice to have it functioning and looking decent!

Linking:
Project Inspire{d} at Dukes and Duchesses
Think Tank Thursday at Joyful Homemaking
Wowza Weekend Link Party at My Love 2 Create
Link Party Palooza at tatertots & jello 
Strut Your Stuff Saturday Link Party at Six Sisters' Stuff

Lemon Linguine

You know, I've never actually made this dish with linguine. We always just buy the cheapest pasta, so I make this with spaghetti. It still tastes great, but I don't feel like I can change the name of the dish just because I use a different kind of noodle - Lemon Linguine sounds so much catchier than Lemon Spaghetti to me.

I got this recipe from my sister. We love it - it has a delicate lemon flavor that accents the whole thing but isn't overpowering. I'd talk more about how yummy this is, but I've got a migraine and am not feeling very wordy. So just make it and find out for yourself. :-)


Lemon Linguine
8 ounces uncooked linguine (or spaghetti noodles)
3 tbsp. butter or stick margarine
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp dried basil (I've used Italian seasoning too)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, cook linguine in boiling water for 8-10 minuets or until tender. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, combine butter, lemon juice, basil, garlic powder and lemon pepper, cook and stir until butter is melted. Drain linguine, add to butter mixture and toss to coat. Add Parmesan cheese and toss. Serve.

Creamy Alfredo - the Cheap Way

My husband and I love Alfredo sauce, but it can be a bit more pricey than we prefer. Making it calls for things like heavy cream and fresh Parmesan, which we never buy. And I just can't get myself to buy jars of pre-made pasta sauce when I know I can make it at home.

We've made do by making a mock Alfredo sauce, by adding Parmesan and garlic powder to a basic white sauce. But this always had a slightly gritty/chalky feel to it. Today I altered our mock Alfredo recipe by substituting corn starch for the flour in the white sauce, and that made it super creamy. I also used fresh garlic instead of powdered (we have a super cheap source of fresh garlic), which gave it a wonderful flavor. I'm thrilled with how it turned out, and this is how we'll be making it from now on.


Creamy Mock Alfredo Sauce
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced (or you can use 1-2 tsp. bottled minced garlic)
1 tbsp. corn starch
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup Parmesan (the cheap powdery stuff, of course)
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for a couple minutes. In a separate container, combine corn starch and milk and mix thoroughly - I used a container with a tight-fitting lid and just shook it up real good. Pour into the saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sauce thickens. Add Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Heat through and serve with pasta.

We stirred in some small shell pasta (shells are so fun!) and topped with additional Parmesan. Yum!

Spaghetti Pie

This is a great dish to use up leftover spaghetti and sauce. Or you can make spaghetti and sauce specifically for this pie, because it's yummy enough to not wait until you have the leftovers!

Wo is me for I had to take these pictures in the awful evening lighting again!

Spaghetti Pie
About 8 oz. spaghetti, cooked
1 or 2 eggs (recipe calls for 2, I got away with using 1)
2/3 cup shredded cheese
Some thick and chunky spaghetti sauce (I used 1/4 lb. ground beef cooked with celery and carrot, then added tomato paste, diced tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and some brown sugar)
More shredded cheese (mozzarella) for topping

Combine drained spaghetti with egg and shredded cheese. Press into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Spoon spaghetti sauce over spaghetti crust. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and top with shredded mozzarella. Bake for an additional 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted. Slice and serve!



Don't forget to enter my giveaway for delicious homemade chocolate truffles here! It's open until Friday evening. :-)

Valentine's Dinner - Lasagna and More!

This is the big meal that Jeff and I have been planning all week. Rather than going out to eat on Valentine's Day, Jeff and I prefer to stay home and have a delicious, home cooked meal that's just a bit more fancy than we do for everyday meals. Tonight our menu included shrimp appetizer, garlic bread, salad, lasagna, and flourless cake for dessert.

Shrimp Appetizer
This is a dish I have made for Valentine's Day ever since Jeff and I were dating. Our first Valentine's Day, I wanted to impress him with my wonderful cooking skills so I made a big spaghetti dinner with fancy salad, and included this special little appetizer. I received the recipe at a Laurel's activity as a teenager and had never yet found an opportunity to try it. Jeff and I both enjoyed it so much that we've had it every year since. And it's simple and quick. It's a little more expensive than I usually do, but I made some changes this year to make it more budget-friendly.


1 8-oz. package cream cheese
1 bottle cocktail sauce (this year I made my own; recipe to follow)
1 can tiny shrimp, drained (we found a package of small frozen shrimp for half the price and used that instead)
Buttery snack crackers (like Ritz, or the store brand)

Place cream cheese on serving platter. Pour cocktail sauce on top, and dump the shrimp on top of the sauce. Serve with crackers. Easy peasy!

Homemade Cocktail Sauce (from this recipe)
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon red wine or other vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 to 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish (substituted mustard for the tang, and hot sauce for the kick)
1 teaspoon lemon zest (omitted)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine ketchup, vinegar, and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until butter melts. Add horseradish, to taste. Add lemon zest and juice; chill.

I didn't look at the recipe before we did our weekly shopping on Monday, and so didn't know that it required horseradish. Apparently, horseradish is an important part of cocktail sauce - I didn't see a single recipe that didn't call for it. My version with mustard and hot sauce definitely tastes different, but Jeff and I agree that it tastes good nonetheless! And with the cream cheese, shrimp, and crackers, the taste difference became almost negligible.

Garlic Bread


I sliced the loaf of bread I made yesterday into nice thick slices. Then I buttered each and sprinkled with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan. I reassembled the pieces back into a loaf, and wrapped it with foil, then toasted it in the oven for the final 15 minutes of baking time with the lasagna. I should have heated it a bit longer, because it wasn't fully warm (the butter didn't even melt all the way), but we were really hungry so we dug in anyway, and it tasted fine.

Salad


This was just a simple lettuce and lentil salad with vinaigrette. Nothing special by itself, but in the context of the meal, it just rounded it out a bit.

Lasagna
I used this recipe from allrecipes.com, making a few changes here and there to make it cheaper and easier. I rarely make lasagna with noodles, usually choosing to use rice instead because it's more inexpensive. For this special occasion, however, we chose to fork out for Wal-Mart brand lasagna noodles (I know, gasp, that's so expensive!) and I'm glad we did. This was a really yummy lasagna.


8 ounces lasagna noodles
1 pound ground beef (used 1/4 pound beef and 1 cup cooked cracked wheat)
1/4 cup minced onions
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (made my own with canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and seasonings)
1 (16 ounce) package large curd cottage cheese (used small curd, and added an egg to make it hold its shape better)
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded (got away with slightly less)

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain (Several reviewers said you can just soak the noodles in hot tap water for 20 minutes instead of cooking them, saving energy and therefore money. They finish cooking in the oven).

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute ground beef, onions, salt and garlic salt until meat is brown. Drain excess fat, add spaghetti sauce (and cracked wheat) to beef mixture, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Line bottom of pan with three lasagna noodles. Spread 1/3 of sauce mixture over noodles. Layer 1/3 of the cottage cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella over the cottage cheese. Repeat this layering process until all ingredients are used up.

Bake in the preheated oven for one hour (Cover with foil for the first 45 minutes, then remove foil for the final 15 minutes). Let stand for 10 minutes before serving (to let it solidify so it slices easily. We chose to eat our appetizer, bread, and salad while the lasagna set, so we weren't just sitting around waiting).

Flourless Chocolate Cake
I've been planning this cake almost all month. I found it on allrecipes.com and thought it looked so decadent and rich that I had to try it! Perhaps, considering how much food we ate for dinner, it might have been better to have a light dessert, but I was insistent. It was this cake or nothing at all!

My favorite picture of the meal - this is the only picture I got in natural light, and it shows!

4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped (used chocolate chips)
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch round cake pan (I used my springform pan, it's the only 8-inch round pan I have), and dust with cocoa powder.

In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt chocolate and butter (or use the microwave). Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely (I think mine was a bit undercooked, it wouldn't come off the bottom of the pan. It turned out very fudgy and delicious, so undercooked isn't necessarily a bad thing). Slices can also be reheated for 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave before serving.


Just a note - this cake is supposed to fall. It rises a bit in the oven, gets kind of puffy, but then it falls and gets dense. Don't worry, that's supposed to happen. It's dense and fudgy and light and melts in your mouth and has got to be the most decadent dessert I've ever made!

And there you have it - our entire day of Valentine's foods! (In case you missed them, here's the links to our breakfast and lunch). I love holidays!

Tomato and Squash "Alfredo"

This recipe comes from my sister Michelle's blog, Fabulous Food! She came up with this not-exactly-alfredo dish by doing something I do frequently - throwing things together and hoping it turns out tasty. In this case, it definitely did!

I altered her original recipe. She used chicken breast, but we don't have any on hand. I did pick a couple nice-sized yellow squash from our garden last night, so I added those instead. Also, she put cream in her recipe. I chose instead to add some powdered milk to regular milk, to thicken it up. It worked great, and saved a lot of fat calories.

She calls this "Alfredo" because of the Parmesan. It really isn't an alfredo at all, but like Michelle said in her post, "It's that parmesan flavor, I'm telling you!"

Tomato and Squash "Alfredo"
2 medium yellow squash, cut into bite-size chunks
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
1 tsp each parsley, thyme, and oregano
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups macaroni
1/3 cup milk + 1/3 cup powdered milk
1/4 cup Parmenan

Heat oil and butter in a saucepan. Add squash, seasoned with salt and pepper, to the oil and saute until tender-crisp. Add the garlic and herbs, cook a minute or so more. Pour the broth in, and add the can of tomatoes, do not drain the juice out. Let that simmer on low to reduce the liquid by half while the pasta cooks.

Bring salted water to a boil, add macaroni (or pasta of choice). Cook for about 10 minutes, until done. By this time, the liquid in the veggies should have reduced nicely. Drain the pasta and add to the squash and tomatoes.

Whisk together the milk and powdered milk (or use 1/2 cup cream); add to the squash and pasta mixture along with Parmesan. Here I tasted it and realized I needed to add a lot more flavor (I kinda scrimped on the salt and herbs). I added more salt, some Italian seasoning, some garlic powder, and some more Parmesan. That fixed it.

I served this with some steamed green beans and wax beans, also from our garden. I really like having a garden, even if half the things we planted didn't grow. The beans and squash are all doing so well!

Frugal Fridays - a day early...

I'm early for this week's installment of Frugal Fridays, because we're leaving tomorrow afternoon to spend the weekend at a family reunion. Yippee!


I made this Garden Saute with Pasta last night for dinner, using a zucchini and a yellow squash from Mom's garden. I absolutely loved how simple, delicious, and easy it was. But I had accidentally left my camera at Mom's house (again!) and wasn't able to take pictures. I was all set and ready to give up on this recipe, which I made up on my own as I was cooking it last night.

But then I went to do laundry at Mom's house today, and there were some more zucchini and squash in the fridge. After some quick thinking, I decided that I had enjoyed this enough to make it again, and this time I had my camera! So here it is: my delicious, simple, and totally cheap recipe of Garden Saute with Pasta.


Garden Saute with Pasta
1 to 2 medium zucchini
1 to 2 medium yellow summer squash
2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
8 oz. cooked spaghetti or angel hair pasta

Chop zucchini and squash into bite-sized chunks. Heat about a teaspoon or so of oil in a large skillet. Saute veggie chunks and garlic until veggies are tender-crisp. Partially drain can of tomatoes and add to squash, along with Italian seasoning, and s&p to taste. Simmer until liquid from tomatoes reduces down. Serve over pasta.

That's how I made it last night. When I made this again today, Mom didn't have any canned tomatoes. So instead we added 3 chopped fresh tomatoes with the squash. When the squash were tender, we added about 1/2 cup tomato juice and the seasonings. Again, simmer until liquid reduces. It was delicious either way.

Price of ingredients:
8 oz. spaghetti - $0.80
Can of tomatoes - $1.39

Everything else was either spice cupboard basics or free garden produce.

Total Price: $2.19

Serve with a green salad for a healthy, delicious, inexpensive side dish.

I didn't calculate how many calories this is, but if you stick with a moderate amount of pasta, I'm sure this definitely qualifies as a low-calorie dish.

The New Man in my Life

Honey, don't get mad. I hope you'll understand. I never wanted to hurt you. But there's a new man in my life.

I invited him over for lunch today. I couldn't help it - he's so good-looking! He was a perfect gentleman in every way. He smiled the whole time, and flirted outrageously. He showed a great sense of style in his white pants and yellow buttons. The red shoes were a great accent to complete the outfit. By the way, he's blond.


Zaylee and I were totally smitten. We absolutely adored him and his irresistible smile. I think we'll invite him over more often.


Zaylee had a little friend over too.


Hot Dog Men
Enough hot dogs to feed your family
Macaroni and cheese

Make a slit down the middle of one end of each hot dog; this will be the legs. At the other end, make a small slit each side; these will be the arms. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, and add the hot dogs. Boil for about 5 minutes until the slits open up.

Serve mac and cheese on plates; top each plate with a hot dog man. Use ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise for face, clothes, buttons, hair.

And smile! These are too cute not to!

Kitchen Klutzes of America, Unite!

Today being National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day, I decided to do something simple. Yet special. So for each meal of the day, I prepared something that's simple enough for a klutz to prepare, but special enough for a holiday.

Breakfast:
Crepes

Crepes are one of those kinda fancy things that look fun, taste great, and are fairly simple to make. The only drawback is that you cook them one at a time, so they are a bit time-consuming. But totally worth it!

Crepes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
2 tbsp. melted butter or margarine
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Lightly butter a 6- to 8-inch skillet and heat over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter into skillet and immediately rotate skillet until the batter is a thin, even film over the bottom. Cook until the batter is no longer shiny and the bottom is lightly browned. Do not flip. Remove the crepe with a spatula or by inverting the pan over a plate. Repeat with remaining batter. This recipe makes about 15-18 crepes, depending on the amount of batter you use for each crepe. Serve with pudding, fruit, powdered sugar, pie filling, and/or jam. I chose pistachio pudding and bananas. Crepes can also be used as a main dish with meat and/or vegetable fillings.

Prepare filling before making the crepes. That way you can serve and eat them as they come off the pan. They're better fresh.

Note: This recipe is not entirely klutz proof - you need to keep an eye on it. I forgot about the last crepe and left it on for too long:

Lunch:
Rotini Bolognese

I chose this for the fancy name. Now, this is definitely not a traditional bolognese sauce. I looked up bolognese sauce just before writing up this post, and it is an Italian meat-based, slightly tomato-y sauce usually served over spaghetti. This recipe, originally titled "Bolognese on a Budget" has no meat. It features lentils, canned tomatoes, and onions. That being said, I still liked this sauce. I've never had real bolognese sauce anyway, so I don't think it really matters either way.

Rotini Bolognese
1 cup lentils
1 3/4 cups water
2 (14.4 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
2 cubes bouillon (I used 1 chicken and 1 beef)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooked rotini (or pasta of your choice)

Rinse lentils under cold running water and drain. Place the water and lentils in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until lentils just begin to soften, about 20 minutes. Stir the tomatoes and onions into the lentils; bring to a gentle simmer. Crumble the bouillon cubes into the lentil mixture and stir until it's dissolved. Simmer for about 15 minutes more, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta.

Dinner:
Cheese Fondue

This was my favorite meal today. I've never made fondue, but hey, there's a first time for everything. I had fun with this meal - it was really easy, and tasted fantastic!

Cheddar-Swiss Fondue
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup beef or chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. ground dry mustard
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
Extra flour
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

In a medium saucepan over low heat, mix together milk, broth, Worcestershire sauce, ground dry mustard, garlic and flour. Heat until almost boiling. Toss extra flour with cheese, just enough to coat the cheese (only about 1-2 tbsp, add it slowly. This wasn't in the original recipe, but helps to improve the texture of the fondue). Gradually stir cheese into milk/broth mixture. Continue heating until all the cheese has melted. Transfer to fondue dish (or crock pot) to keep fondue warm and cheese melted. Serve with stuff like vegetables, bread cubes, or meat.


I thought that this fondue would be fantastic with bread cubes. The only problem was that we had no bread in the house. We don't buy bread anymore, and I just didn't have any made. Well, I searched online for a quick bread recipe that was fast, simple, and not sweet or crumbly. After looking over several recipes, I found one for yeastless focaccia, and decided I had a winner. I skipped all the herbs on top because it was to be used for dipping. When I made it, I fell absolutely in love - this was the easiest, quickest bread recipe I've ever made! (though it wasn't exactly the prettiest...)


Yeastless Focaccia
1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

Stir together water, flour, baking powder, and salt until it forms a ball of dough.

Plop dough into greased baking pan. Using oiled fingers, spread dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Dough will be sticky and elastic. It does not have to be perfectly even, but make sure there are no holes. Rub the top and sides of dough with olive oil.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until just golden.

Let cool slightly, the cut into cubes to serve with the fondue.


To make this into a more traditional focaccia loaf, sprinkle with cayenne pepper, garlic salt and basil before baking. After it's baked for 20 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan, then return to oven for final 5 minutes.

All in all, we've had a great day, eating great foods that were easy and fun to make. Happy Kitchen Klutzes of America Day!

Honey Chicken Soup

Jeff boiled up the carcass from the Honey Baked Chicken a couple days ago. It made a really good meaty broth with a great flavor. Tonight we realized at 6:00 that we hadn't come up with anything for dinner, so decided to make a soup with the broth because it would be fast.
So to the broth we added: a couple handfuls of egg noodles, a diced baked potato, some frozen carrot slices, a sliced celery stalk, and a sprinkle of parsley. We ended up with a delicious chicken noodle soup. The honey seasoning from the chicken gave the soup a really great flavor, a bit different from your average chicken soup - mildly sweet, and very flavorful. We really liked it.

Ramen Goulash

Goulash is a favorite in my family. It's made with pasta (usually something simple like macaroni) and tomatoes. Often we include add-ins such as ground beef, corn, and/or olives. Today for lunch I was in the mood for some tomatoey goodness, but didn't want to do the normal goulash. So instead of reaching for the elbow mac, I chose instead to grab a couple packages of ramen noodles, and a new version of goulash was born.
Ramen Goulash
2 packages ramen noodles (I used 1 chicken flavored, and 1 beef flavored)
1 can diced tomatoes, no salt added, undrained
Several slices of lunch meat, sliced long and thin (or whatever other add-ins you want; this is what was in the fridge at the moment)

Break up noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain. Add tomatoes to pan, and the spice packets from the ramen. Stir, then add the lunch meat and the drained noodles. Heat through and serve.
Servings: 4
Calories per serving: 230

Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli (or Pasta, Cheese, Chicken, n' Trees!)

Yesterday I took over lunch-making duty at Mom's house, and began preparing random ingredients with no clear idea of how they were going to come together. I was boiling macaroni, pulling frozen vegetables from the freezer and then changing my mind and putting them back, thawing and sauteeing chicken with garlic and Italian seasoning, grating cheese. Finally I just threw it all together and voila! A culinary success!

My younger siblings, ages 7 and 9, can be a tough audience when it comes to eating foods that they haven't tried before. I suppose I was like that at that age too. Luckily, this dish gained their quick approval. My 22-year-old sister, however, was less convinced, since she has this thing against broccoli. I liked it so much I made it again for dinner tonight. Since it was a throw-together dish, using my mom's ingredients the first time and my ingredients the second, it was different each time. I like foods like that!How I did it:

Boil some water, and dump in some elbow macaroni. If I were to approximate, I'd say I used about 12 oz. when I made it for the whole family yesterday, and only 6 oz. today for my little family. Boil until the macaroni is close to being done.

At this point, add some frozen broccoli. You can also add frozen peas like I did tonight. I used about a cup of broccoli and a half cup of peas. Cook until the pasta is done and the vegetables are tender, but not mushy. Drain.

Chop up one partially-thawed boneless skinless chicken breast. Place in heated pan sprayed with cooking spray. As chicken cooks, sprinkle it with garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Or you could use fresh or jarred minced garlic for a great flavor burst! Sadly, I didn't think to do that until I was eating my pasta tonight, so I missed out. Maybe next time...

When the chicken is done cooking, add 2 tbsp. butter or margarine to the pan with the chicken and let it melt. then stir in 2 tbsp. flour. Then stir in 1 cup milk. You've just made white sauce with chicken in it! Heat the sauce until it becomes bubbly. Then add it to the drained pasta and veggies. Or add the pasta and veggies to the sauce, depending on the pan you cooked it in. Whatever floats your boat. If the pasta seems a bit dry, add some more milk. I added about 1/3 cup milk yesterday when I used lots of pasta, but didn't need to add any today.

Grate up about 1 to 1 1/2 cups cheese. Yesterday I used aged white cheddar and it was amazing! Tonight I used Monterey Jack, and it was great too. So use whatever you've got. Add that to the pasta and let it melt for a bit. Make sure the whole thing is heated through, and serve!

Pepperoni Lasagna Roll-ups

I subscribe to the Taste of Home magazine, and eagerly look through the pages of each issue for the hide-and-seek item. Each issue has a specific item (it used to be a toothpick, now they vary from issue to issue) that is hidden somewhere on one of the pages. A fun game I like to play is that I decide to prepare a recipe from the page on which I find the item. I was a bit unlucky at one point, because for two issues in a row the hidden item was on the page where they feature a remodeled kitchen. How am I supposed to cook that?

But with this issue I hit the jackpot. Sorry if this is a spoiler for anyone, but I found the little taco on a page that included two delicious-looking recipes. One is a Feta Asparagus Frittata, but I chose not to make that since I rarely buy asparagus and never buy feta. The Pepperoni Lasagna Roll-Ups, however, looked fantastic, so I decided to make them. And make them I did!


The recipe is downsized to feed only three people, but we had more lasagna noodles than that, so I doubled it, thinking I would want to eat two roll-ups. Well, we'll have leftovers, because one was so large and filling it was totally enough.

Here's the recipe the way I prepared it:

Pepperoni Lasagna Roll-Ups
6 lasagna noodles
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 tsp. chives
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
48 slices pepperoni
1 oz. Swiss cheese, in 6 pieces
2 oz. mozzarella cheese, in 12 pieces (the recipe originally called for all Swiss. We didn't have enough, and besides, using all Swiss would have given the roll-ups a VERY strong Swiss flavor, disagreeable to some)
1 cup meatless spaghetti sauce (I didn't double the spaghetti sauce, though I doubled everything else - it would have been too much sauce)
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Combine ricotta cheese, chives, oregano, and basil; spread 1/4 cup over each noodle to within 1/2 in. of edges. Top with pepperoni and cheese (1 slice Swiss, 2 slices mozzarella per noodle); carefully roll up.


Place seam side down in a greased shallow baking dish; top with spaghetti sauce. Cover (I forgot to cover mine; they turned out great, but the edges would be softer if the pan were covered) and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

Uncover; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.


Serving size: 1 roll-up, though hearty appetites might be able to squeeze in two.

Tuna Chili Mac

I made this up tonight for dinner. I started with a basic tuna noodle, then added tomatoes and seasonings. It turned out really yummy.

8 oz. elbow macaroni
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tuna, undrained
1 can diced tomatoes, partially drained (leave some of the juice with the tomatoes)
1/2 cup cooked lentils (or canned corn, drained)
1 tsp. each chili powder, cumin
1/2 tsp. each garlic powder, onion powder
1/4 cup french fried onions
2-3 oz. shredded cheese

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain, then return to pan. Add soup, tuna, tomatoes, lentils, and seasonings. Heat through. Sprinkle with french fried onions and shredded cheese. Cover and heat until cheese melts. Great served with tortilla chips (or crackers).