Beef Stroganoff

Originally published on September 17, 2014

This is another one of my kids’ favorite  meals.  It’s very easy, only takes one pot and is so creamy n good.  It was delicious to eat on this slightly chilly evening!

Beef Stroganoff 

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. cubed beef (stew meat)
• little bit of olive oil
• 3 shallots, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. parsley flakes
• 1 c. water
• Family size can cream of mushroom soup + 1 can water
• 1/4 stick butter
• 16 oz. bag extra wide egg noodles
• 2-3 Tbsp. sour cream

In large pan heat olive oil and add shallots.  Brown for a few minutes then add garlic.  Add stew meat. When browned, add water and seasonings.  Cover and simmer on low for about 45 minutes (meat will get really tender!).  Add butter and cream of mushroom soup + water and stir thoroughly.  Add egg noodles and stir again.  Cover once again and cook noodles (about 7-10 minutes).  Stir in sour cream just before serving.
TIP: You can also serve the egg noodles separate.  Just add a half soup can of water to beef instead of a whole can.  Cook noodles separately according to package.  It looks prettier served separately but I was in a hurry.  It tastes superb no matter how you serve it!

Gooooood eatin’!

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

This is a fantastic way to start the day off.  Nothing like fluffy, steaming pancakes fresh off the griddle with some melted butter, warm syrup and fresh, ripe blueberries.  I’m getting hungry thinking about them!  Sometimes we even have these for dinner.  They go great paired with a cold glass of milk.

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

 

Ingredients:

• 1  c. all-purpose flour
• 1  Tbsp. sugar
• 2  tsp. baking powder
• 1/2  tsp. salt
• 1  egg
• 3/4  c. milk
• 1/4  c. oil
• 1 pint fresh blueberries, divided in half

In a small bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine the egg, milk, oil and half of the blueberries; stir into dry ingredients.  Pour batter by 1/4 cupful onto a greased hot griddle.  Turn when bubbles form on top of pancakes; cook until the second side is golden brown.  Serve with fresh blueberries on top.  Makes 8 pancakes.

More Than Seven Layer Salad

Very simple salad that is one of my most favorite things to eat, especially in the summertime.  I could eat a bucketload of this salad, forreals.

More Than Seven Layer Salad

Ingredients:

• chopped romaine lettuce
• thawed frozen peas
• chopped fresh tomato
• chopped red onion
• diced cucumber
• chopped hard boiled egg
• 1 c. mayo
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1 tsp. sugar
• salt & pepper to taste
• shredded colby jack cheese
• real bacon bits/pieces

In an 8 x 8 square pan arrange a layer of lettuce, then peas, tomato, onion, cucumber and egg.  In separate bowl, mix mayo, sour cream & sugar well.  Spread mayo mixture over top of salad.   Sprinkle salt & pepper over mayo.  Top with bacon pieces and shredded cheese.  Chill before serving.

This tastes SO good.  You can pretty much add any veggie you want.  Celery and radishes would be really tasty.  Like always, get creative! Don’t be afraid to add your own special touches. That is what cooking is all about.


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P.S.  My pic isn’t very good.  This tastes so much better than the photo suggests.  I’ll have to make this again and have a decent photo shoot!

My Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

My kids adore my spaghetti sauce.   It does my heart proud when they request my sauce over any store brand.  The fresher the tomatoes, the better it tastes!  But you can also do canned tomatoes in a pinch.

My Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

• 6-8  large tomatoes, crushed or diced (or one  28oz. can crushed tomatoes)
• 3-4  cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced finely
• 2 Tbsp. dried Italian seasoning (you can also substitute fresh oregano & basil; the flavors will be much more intense)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• dash of thyme
• dash or 2 of garlic powder

Put olive oil into medium sauce pan on medium heat.  Brown onion, then add garlic.  Saute another minute or so, then add tomatoes and spices.  Simmer on low for about 45 minutes (the longer it cooks the better it tastes).  Adjust salt & pepper to taste before serving.
Pour sauce over pasta of your choice.  You can always add browned ground beef to your sauce.  It makes wonderful lasagna as well.  Parmesan on top is yummy.  Get crazy and experiment!

Originally published on September 15, 2014



I’ve been wanting to try some homemade au gratin potatoes.  The boxed crud was just not cutting it.  I knew there could be a lot more flavor to this dish so I cooked up my own little idea!

Au Gratin Potatoes

(above photo before baking)


Ingredients:

• 5  medium Idaho potatoes, washed and sliced thinly
• 3/4  c. milk
• 1/2  stick butter
• 12  deluxe American cheese slices
• 1/2 c.  shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp.  parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp.  dried minced onion
• 1/4 tsp.  garlic powder
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 c.  shredded colby jack cheese
• parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Wash potatoes & pat dry; slice very thinly.  Grease a square, glass baking dish (8 x 8 x 4) with a cold stick of butter.   Arrange sliced potatoes in dish; set aside.

In medium sauce pan, add milk, butter, cheese slices and seasonings. Melt everything over low heat until slightly bubbly.  Be careful not to scorch milk! Pour cheesy mixture over potatoes.  Stir potatoes until fully coated with cheesy mixture.  Top casserole with the colby jack cheese, then sprinkle a little bit of parmesan on top of that.  Bake potatoes for one hour at 350.  Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
**TIP: Once again, use the deluxe American cheese slices that are not individually wrapped.  They are SO GOOD.

All baked…creamy, cheesy and just plain YUM.  You have to try these for yourself!  I paired these with some leftover ribs from yesterday.  

 Cheesy goodness!

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P.S. Thank G for proofreading! xo 

Oven Baked Pork Spare Ribs

Originally published on September 14, 2014


Sundays are always a good rib day.  I almost tried these ribs in the crock pot but they were way too big.  Also I had no propane for the grill.  Soooo, baked ribs it is!

**Note: For this recipe I used a 7 lb. rack of pork spare ribs.  They were 99 cents a pound – I got a super buy on them!  I also split them down the middle with a cleaver so they would bake nice and evenly.  Huge, disposable roasting pans are invaluable for easy cleanup! You can find them for a dollar at the dollar store.


Oven Baked Pork Spare Ribs

Ingredients for dinner:

• 7 lb.  pork spare ribs + Rib Rub
• 4-5 baking potatoes
• 2 heads of garlic
• garlic salt
• sea salt
• olive oil

Rib Rub Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. minced onion
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp. regular chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. chipotle chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. dried Rosemary
• a couple dashes cayenne (more if you like it hot!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.  Rub liberally over both halves of ribs, getting both sides. Don’t forget the edges, too!  Place in large roasting pan and bake at 375 for an hour. Reduce oven to 300 degrees and bake for 2  1/2 to 3 more hours.  During the last 20 minutes of baking, place your favorite BBQ sauce over ribs if desired.

TIP – A few times during baking, take the rib tray out and use a brush to baste the ribs with it’s own juices.  It really makes a wonderful difference!

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I also like to throw in baked potatoes and garlic heads while the ribs are cooking.  I used large potatoes and let them bake for an hour & a half.  Wash and pierce holes in the taters.  Place them on a half sheet of aluminum foil. Add about 1/2 tsp. olive oil and a little garlic salt over the potato, then wrap tightly in the foil.  Bake on top shelf.

Take 2 large heads of garlic and slice the very tops off.  Add 1/2 tsp. olive oil and a dash of salt on top of garlic.  Wrap 2 bulbs in fold and bake in the same rack as the potatoes.  When garlic is done the cloves will pop right out of the skin and they are so creamy! You can spread the garlic on your baked potato or on your meat.  It’s SO delicious and a really nice touch to your dinner!

Plain ribs are on the left; BBQ on the right.



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Here’s the whole dinner:

Dinner was so dang good I think I’m gonna marry myself.


The only downside to these ribs?  The smell of them baking will drive you absolutely insane!  

Panko Chicken Thighs + Southern Fixins

Tonight I had a ton of chicken thighs, 3 HOWNGRAY kids and a hankerin’ for some southern cooking.  This is what I came up with!


Panko Chicken Thighs + Southern Fixins

Chicken Ingredients:

• 8 chicken thighs, bone & skin on
• olive oil
• 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 c. regular bread crumbs
• 1 Tbsp.  cajun seasoning (I like Tony’s)
• 1 tsp. dried parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put all dry ingredients into gallon sized ziploc bag.  Place 2 thighs in bag and shake until fully coated.  Repeat with remaining pieces of chicken.  Place coated chicken pieces into a baking dish; drizzle olive oil very lightly over chicken.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.




While your chicken is baking you can make your southern veggie fixins. I like to think of this as a mini corn boil, lol

Fixins Ingredients:

• 6 mini corn cobs
• 4 large red potatoes, cut into large chunks
• 1/2 tsp. dried minced onions
• 1/4 tsp. dried minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp. dried parsley
• salt & pepper to taste
• water
• 1 can large biscuits or dinner rolls

Place veggies and spices into large sauce pot.  Cover all veggies with water.  Heat on high until a rolling boil starts, then turn down to medium-low heat for about 20-25 minutes.  While this is cooking you can pop some premade biscuits into the oven.  Easy peasy!

I like to put butter on my corn & taters before serving.

So this is it…the crispy chicken thighs, corn, taters & biscuits, and we topped it off with some iced sweet tea.  We.Are.STUFFED.