Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

I had some leftover ground beef from the burgers Mike made a few nights ago, so I decided to make a meat sauce to go with some spaghetti. I started with some plain canned tomato sauce and seasoned it with fresh garlic, oregano, basil, and a little rosemary. Since Mike doesn't eat pasta, when I get the hankerin' for it, I make some good bread to go with it, and Mike just skips the pasta. So I made a french bread, along with a spring mix salad. That's feta cheese on top of my salad. Gosh I love feta!

The verdict
What is it about spaghetti that's so good? It's so simple, but it sure hit the spot. The bread was crusty on the outside and soft on the inside - I read somewhere that you should stick a pan of water in the oven when you're baking the dough, and the steam helps form the crust. I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.

Playing Catch-Up


I have a backlog of food pictures to show you! Nothing incredibly exciting, for two reasons:

1. this was finals week for me
2. we're moving soon, so I'm trying to use up everything from the freezer, including the ready-made crock pots meals I make occasionally.

First up, a meal from the freezer. I made chicken tandoori awhile back and put half in the freezer for later use - like this week! I took it out two days before to defrost, figuring this would be a really busy week for me, the kind where 6:00 rolls around and you say, "What am I going to do for dinner?!?" Or am I the only one who has those days? Anyhoo, we also had brown rice and fruit salad of bananas, apples, kiwi, and strawberries.

Next up, we have last night's dinner, courtesy of Mike, who got major brownie points last night for making dinner while I was finishing two papers. He made burgers on whole-grain buns, baked potatos, corn, and green beans, all made on the grill. There wasn't an inch of space left on the grill! It was all very good, but SO much food! He says next time he thinks he'll skip the potato. It was the first time we tried the buns, and they were just "eh." Does anyone know of a good whole-grain/wheat bun?

Last up, the cake I made for my friend Hollie's baby shower last weekend. I've been trying my hand at cake decorating, but I didn't have time to go online and get some good cake-decorating instructions. Plus the darn thing cracked! It was my usual chocolate cake recipe, which is really good, but I think I'm ready to try something different next time. So if you have a favorite chocolate cake recipe, send it my way!

Be on the lookout for more food pictures as my life returns to a respectable pace...at least until the move!!

Breakfast for Dinner: Whole-Grain Pancakes


I was in the mood for breakfast tonight, so I looked up a recipe for whole-grain pancakes, because I've been trying to incorporate more whole-grains whenever possible, and I found one featuring toasted wheat germ, which I just bought for the first time as part of my incorporation effort. The recipe I decided to try had a blackberry-maple syrup along with it, which I decided to try with some fresh strawberries I had instead of blackberries. We also had a wee bit 'o bacon and some scrambled eggs, and a fruit salad of kiwis, strawberries, and apples.

The verdict
Eh. The pancake batter was thinner than what I'm used to, which made pancakes that were thinner then what we're used to. They tasted okay, but I wasn't overly impressed with the sauce. It smelled good, but it's hard to beat good ol' maple syrup, I guess! I give this meal 2 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 and a half stars for health.

The Ham Files: Hawaiian Pizza

This was a pretty simple meal, but I wanted to show you another use for the huge ham I got last week, most of which is sitting in the freezer right now. I made the best, easiest pizza crust ever, and topped it with Newman's Marinara Sauce, and mixture of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese, and some ham and canned pineapple. On the side we had a green salad. Like I said, not that exciting to look at, but very good nonetheless. I never liked Hawaiian pizza until a few years ago, when I was working in a pet store with a manager who would order us a Hawaiian pizza because it was her favorite, and I would eat it because I was starving. I acquired a taste for it. By the way, did you know that blotting your slice of pizza with a napkin can reduce the saturated fat content by 8-15%? Just a little tidbit for ya :)

The Ham Files: Hawaiian Pizza

This was a pretty simple meal, but I wanted to show you another use for the huge ham I got last week, most of which is sitting in the freezer right now. I made the best, easiest pizza crust ever, and topped it with Newman's Marinara Sauce, and mixture of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese, and some ham and canned pineapple. On the side we had a green salad. Like I said, not that exciting to look at, but very good nonetheless. I never liked Hawaiian pizza until a few years ago, when I was working in a pet store with a manager who would order us a Hawaiian pizza because it was her favorite, and I would eat it because I was starving. I acquired a taste for it. By the way, did you know that blotting your slice of pizza with a napkin can reduce the saturated fat content by 8-15%? Just a little tidbit :)

Ham Buns on Whole Wheat

I got a humongous ham on sale last week (yay for Easter sales!) which really excites Mike. He loooooooooooooves ham and has requested all his favorite dishes, the first being ham buns, an old standy from my mom. Mom and I have been on a mission to make this recipe more healthy since she started making it years ago, because everyone in the family really likes it. First, mom cut the amount of butter from 1/2 c to 1/4 cup with no noticeable effects, then today at the grocery store I hunted around for some whole wheat buns that looked appetizing and wound up with hoagie rolls. On the side we had a green salad with Kraft Free Caesar Italian Dressing (highly recommended), and after I took the picture I got some feta cheese for my salad, because feta really excites me. Cheese in general does that to me.

The verdict
Mike was a happy camper because he got one of his favorite meals! The wheat rolls weren't white, of course, but at least they made the meal a little less guilty, so I was willing to make the trade. And really it's the filling, not the bread, that shines on this sandwich. I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.

Barnyard Cake!

I saw the guide to this cake in Taste of Home and had to try it! We had a lifegroup meeting tonight, and we also celebrated our friend Scott's birthday, so it was the perfect excuse to make it.

The chicks are devil's food cake, white icing tinted yellow with a petal-tip, a candy corn beak and chocolate chip eyes. They were my personal favorite :)


These little piggies were devil's food cake with white icing tinted pink, Good N' Plenty ears, and Smarites for the nose. The nose dots were supposed to be made with black decorating gel, and I *thought* I had some, but apparently I don't, but I had some black icing. Not quite as pretty, but it worked.


Now for the adorable little sun! The rays are candy corn, and the eyes and smile are decorating gel (I had those colors!)


The barn was yellow cake, with white icing tinted red (turned out more pinkish) and blue. The barn was outlined with chocolate chips, and there's supposed to be a spider in the loft, but again, no black decorating gel. I decided not to stress about it. The barn is okay, but I think the animals are SO cute! They took a while, but I needed the release. And I'm quite proud of my first attempt at cake decorating tips!

Sophie's Birthday Cake!

Today we celebrated Sophie's birthday - she's three years old! We think. To celebrate, I made her this super-easy birthday cake. I think she knew it was for her, because she wouldn't get out of the kitchen. Her cake was made with flour (I used whole wheat), peanut butter, and shredded carrots, and for the cake I used neufchatel cheese, some milk, and a little flour. I purchased some cake decorating tips for a cake I'm planning on making later this week (stay tuned!), so I practiced making letters and some flowers with the icing.

Right out of the oven!

The finished product!

Sophie waiting not-so-patiently for us to sing to her. Maybe that was a little over the top...

Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup

Tonight we tried a new recipe from Taste of Home magazine, Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup. I don't think I have ever even tried vegetable soup until I had it at my great aunt's house last year, and I've wanted to try it since then. This morning I chopped up the veggies so Mike could brown the beef and divide the soup between a freezer bag for later and the crock pot (not the method that was called for in the recipe, but hey, it worked). When I got home, all we had to do was make some garlic bread and we were ready to go! Another interesting side note; I left out several veggies, like the green chiles and mushrooms, but I included the turnips the recipe called for, which neither of us had ever eaten.

The verdict

Sometimes when I make a new recipe, I eat it while constantly thinking about how I could improve it. This was one of those recipes. First off, I would halve the amount of turnips. They imparted a sweet-hot taste to the soup that I thought was too strong. Second, I would chop up all the veggies (turnips included) much finer, just to make it easier to eat. I guess I don't like to chew :) In that same vein, I would make the tomato part of the soup less chunky. All these changes are just to tweak the soup to suit our tastes, but I liked the idea of a healthy, veggie soup. I would have made the bread whole wheat to boost the health factor even more, but the white bread was left over from the stuffed French Toast. I give this meal for taste and 2 and a half out of five stars for taste and 3 and a half stars for health. A final note: Mike divided this recipe between a freezer bag for later and tonight's dinner, and it still made a LOT! We have enough for another meal at least.

Breakfast For Dinner (and Three New Recipes - Whoa Buddy!)

I haven't tried any new recipes in a loooong time, so tonight I tried THREE new ones and we had breakfast for dinner. First, Raspberry-Stuffed French Toast, a lighter version of traditional stuffed French Toast from Kraft's Food and Family magazine. It's supposed to have a custard sauce that you drizzle on top, but I didn't realize that I forgot to make it until I was plating the dishes - argh! I decided to forgo it rather than let everything get cold, especially since the Cinnamon Stewed Apples took less time than expected (note: I adjusted the recommended cooking time in the recipe). The third new recipe I tried was our beverage: Herbal Iced Tea from the Barefoot Contessa. It features fruit-flavored herbal tea and apple juice. The last feature of our breakfast-for-dinner was a tad bit of bacon.

The verdict
It was so much fun to try new recipes! I've missed trying new things, and cooking so much made me realize how much I'm looking forward to getting into a house and a kitchen that's bigger than a shoebox. The apples were a nice side to the French Toast, although they tasted more like chunky applesauce, partly because they cooked a long time and also I think they need a little more spice, and maybe a tad of sweetener. Honey, perhaps? The Stuffed French Toast was good even without the custard sauce, but I think I'll try it again with the sauce. I might try different berries, too. The Herbal Iced Tea was refreshing and slightly sweet, and I plan on making it again. I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.

Crescent Calzones with Mozzarella and Chorizo

Tonight I was feeling creative, but didn't want to get very involved in making something complicated. Kind of a weird combination, I know. I decided to throw caution to the wind and try my hand at making calzones with whatever was in the fridge, which happend to be mozzarella cheese, some chorizo sausage, and a can of crescent rolls. I browned the sausage and flattened out the dough, dividing it in half and sealing all the seams. Once I drained the meat, I put it over the cheese, then sprinkled some of Penzey's Pasta Seasoning on top, then rolled the whole thing up like a pinwheel, pinching the ends so the filling wouldn't ooze out in the oven.





The calzones were baked at 350 degrees for about 2o minutes. Here they are ready to go in the oven:


And on the plate, with sauteed green beans and a fruit salad of strawberries, bananas, and plums. There were supposed to be peaches in the salad too, but they tasted like cardboard. I hate when that happens!! Darn you, Publix!


The verdict

These calzones were really good, and so easy! Not exactly health food, but it's a good meal to fall back on when I'm out of ideas. I would have preferred pepperoni, as chorizo is so strong, but they were still very satisfying. I give this meal 4 and a half stars for taste and 2 and a half stars for health. A tasty and creative use for crescent rolls!

Giving a New Cake a Try

I had heard about this trick before, but had never tried it for some reason. Supposedly, it's an old Weight Watchers secret: you take a yellow cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree and mix the two together, then bake it according to package directions. Skip the eggs and oil and whatever other guilt-inducing ingredients are usually called for.



Here's the cake right after it was pulled out of the oven:





I whipped together a frosting out of reduced-fat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a little milk.


I was anxious to try this out, and I must say I was very happy with the results. The cake was really good! The only thing was, the icing needed some work. In fact, I could have done without the icing completely! Which is weird for me, because I'm usually a big icing person. I think next time I do this, I'll make muffins out of these and leave the icing off. I have a recipe that calls for mixing a yellow cake mix with a can of pie filling, which isn't a far stretch. The best thing about this was it was really good, and not very guilt-inducing. Always a good thing! Try it!

Hot N' Spicy Steak Chili

In a flash of brilliance, I came up with a use for the leftover London Broil that was sitting in the fridge. I chopped up the meat, getting about 3/4 of a cup, then threw that in the Crock Pot with a can of pink beans and stewed tomatoes. I wanted it to really taste like chili (because I usually make taco soup and I wanted there to be a difference), so I laid on the chili powder and cayenne, perhaps a little too much. Hence the name. Mike volunteered to make grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the chili, and I totally forgot to make a vegetable until the last minute, so we had some baby carrots and celery.

The verdict
The chili certainly was hot n' spicy! I had to put some sour cream into my bowl to cool it down, but Mike thought it was perfect. Sophie also seemed to approve, and licked our bowls clean (sorry if that grosses you out - I wash them afterwards!!) I think next time I'll leave out some of the spices and let Mike add them afterwards to his liking. I give this meal 3 stars for taste and health. Yaaaaay for trying something new! There's nothing quite so satisfying as finding a new use for leftovers.

A simple dinner to end Spring Break

We got back from visiting my parents today, and Mike offered to make us sandwiches for dinner. He took some kaiser rolls we had from burgers earlier this week and made a hot sandwich out of deli ham and a mexican blend of shredded cheese, then added the Spring Mix lettuce at the end. If it had been me, I would have brushed the bread with a honey-mustard sauce, then heated it, but hey, beggars can't be choosers! Sorry I don't have anything more exciting to show you, meals have been like that around here lately. I seem to go through spurts of creativity, and for now I just have too much on my plate to have much energy left for inventive cooking. I get tired of showing you the same meals over and over, so I've only been posting when I have something new or interesting. I do get inspired sometimes, though, so keep checking back!

Grilled Marinated London Broil

After a long absence, I have a new post and a new recipe for you! Winn-Dixie had London Broils on sale, so I bought two. The fact that I had never cooked (or eaten) London Broil didn't phase me until I got home. So I promptly turned to the recipe board that I visit occasionally, and the lovely ladies obver there gave me some ideas. It was there that I found the recipe for Grilled Marinated London Broil. Yesterday I put the marinade together, and Mike put the meat on the grill today along with some potatoes. Throw in some steamed veggies from the freezer, and we have a meal!

The verdict
I was very pleased with how the meat turned out. We cut it real thin against the grain and boy was it good! I look forward to London Broil going on sale again so I can make it again :) I give this meal 4 and a half stars for taste and 3 and a half stars for health.

A realization...

Whenever we don't finish off a bunch of bananas before they go brown, I stick them in the freezer for making banana bread at a later date. I always use my grandmother's recipe, but I've never actually looked at it. Well, I did last night, and it hit me that this bread is better suited for a dessert than breakfast! It has TWO sticks of butter and THREE eggs! Grandma, I love you, but I've got to find a less guilty recipe! Of course, I'm munching on a slice as I type this, so it hasn't slowed me down too much...

The Crock-Pot Files: Beef Pot Roast

Yesterday was a long day for me, so I asked Mike to pick out one of the meals that I had prepared ahead and stuck in the freezer. He said it was very simple, just stuck it straight from the freezer to the Crock Pot and added some water. He also made white rice and a salad and ladeled the roast over the rice. In case you're dying to know, that's feta cheese on my salad. I love it, he hates it.

The verdict
Although a little watery, this was a great meal. Pretty much any meal I don't have to make is good! I would have preferred brown rice to boost the health rating of this meal, but hey, beggers can't be choosers! I wish I had come up with the idea of freezing half of all the Crock-Pot recipes I make, because it's great for nights like this one! I give this meal 3 stars for taste and health, and 5 stars to my hubby for making dinner. Gooooooo Mike!

Soft Chicken Tacos

I haven't tried this Soft Chicken Tacos recipe since July, but I came across it during a gleaning of the ol' recipe book and decided to make it again. I did something new this time in that instead of cooking a whole chicken at once, I put half in the crockpot and the other half in a freezer bag, then divided the sauce mixture between the two. The freezer bag went into the freezer, obviously. Lately I've been trying this with lots of my traditional recipes, instead of cooking way more than we need in one sitting and letting most of it go to waste. We also had a green salad with carrots, celery, and green onions.

The verdict
This recipe is always good, but we kept finding tiny chicken bones in our tacos. I think next time I'll make this with only the breast or thigh so we don't get as many bones. If I did it with thighs, it would be a cheap dinner. This recipe was a nice change from the usual. I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and health.

Chicken Piccata

I tried a new recipe tonight, Chicken Piccata, which I picked because the recipe is similar to one of our favorites, Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Cream Sauce. The chicken is pounded thin, then browned with white wine and some other ingredients. We also had roasted red potatoes, steamed broccoli and cauliflower with a mixed drink of fresh-squeezed orange juice (thank you, Grandma B!), ginger ale, and citrus vodka.

The verdict
The chicken was very tender, but it needed something more. I suggested that next time I might try making a Dijon Cream Sauce like the tenderloin recipe and Mike was excited about that. I would also recommend serving it under a bed of angel-hair pasta, but since Mr. Picky doesn't like pasta, that option is out for us. This was a nice dinner, especially since we actually cleared off the table and had dinner the right way! I give this meal 3 out of 5 stars for taste and 4 stars for health.

Oreo Truffles

Although the new digital camera came too late to take a picture, I wanted to share with you this incredibly easy Oreo Truffle recipe I made over the weekend. I got rave reviews from everyone, and I definitely plan on making them again. Maybe next time I'll even have a picture to show you. In the meantime, you've GOT to try this recipe!