ah... the kids have gone to school

one of my favorite times of the day... the kids have left for school, the hubster has gone to work... I have a cup of chai tea latte... life is good!

What has happened in the 12 days since I last posted....the son had his 12th birthday! Seven boys came over, ran around, had a firepit in the driveway, made smores and did "boy stuff"... spent the night... apparently they did not go to bed until 5 a.m.! Yikes!

Since we made smores... we did not have a birthday cake.... so in the goodie bags, I included Cake Balls. Cake balls are truly a little piece of heaven.... ohhh yummm... and a gazillion trillion calories!



I think I made mine a little too big... they were falling off of the lollipop sticks... which you do not have to use... I just thought they would be a little easier to dip in the white chocolate...I will definitely include the recipe - you have to try making them at least once!

We spent Thanksgiving up in Minnesota with my husband's family - and had a great time, of course! Now we are back trying to play catch-up and get ready for Christmas! I really wish there was more time between Thanksgiving and Christmas... I don't feel that I really get to take the time and appreciate each holiday... rush rush rush....

Speaking of rush, rush, rush.... off to clean house I go!

Cake Balls

Will need to refridgerate a couple of times throughout the process so it takes a little time. Not a last minute recipe.

Cake Mix
Frosting
Almond Bark

Make your favorite cake according to the recipe or the box...I made a confetti cake in a 9X13 pan. Let cool about 45 minutes... won't be 100% cool but will be cool enough to not melt the frosting. Break up the cake into a bowl and add a can of frosting... (I used the confetti frosting). Mix all up well. Put in the fridge for about an hour. Scoop into balls onto wax paper. Can stick lollipop sticks in if desired. Put in the freezer for about 2 hours. Melt the almond bark - can use either vanilla or chocolate (can use those colored chips you can get at Amish stores or in the cake area of Michael's or JoAnn's). Dip the balls... can add sprinkles or such... let the almond bark harden and enjoy!

turkey day!

Ginger is still fighting some virus with her throat (actually went to the ENT and she is getting her tonsils out over Christmas vacation...) and then we will be leaving for Minnesota for Thanksgiving so this will probably be the only blog I get written before we get back.

A week from today, we will all be cranking up our ovens...fixing turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc.

I have a confession to make. We don't LOVE turkey. I have a recipe for dry brining a turkey which number one is easy and number two is very good! That is probably the only way we like turkey...the recipe is at the bottom.

We like to have a Thanksgiving day dinner that actually is probably a little more what the pilgrims had.... this year we are having: turkey and stuffing, lobster, oysters, crab legs, sausage stuffed butternut squash (see October 8th posting for recipe), and other goodies....I am looking forward to this feast! Driving up to Minnesota with a husband, two kids, a dog, a ton of luggage and a partridge in a pear tree - now that is another story...

and so I can tell PMan that I wrote about him in the blog.... he turned 12 on Tuesday. Saturday, we are having 96 boys over to have pizza, play flashlight tag, hang out by the fire pit and spend the night.....okay 96 might be a slight exaggeration... (8 total but I am sure it is going to feel like 96). This will probably be his last "birthday party" so I relented and am letting him have more people than usual.... now I am trying to come up with fun (cheap) party favors....
off to Target I go....

I will leave you with the recipe for the Dry Brine Turkey!

1 (12-14lb) turkey - either fresh or completely thawed
1/4 cup kosher salt mixed with lemon pepper and herbs such as sage, rosemary and thyme
2 medium onions unpeeled and cut into eighths
2 medium carrots unpeeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 medium celery ribs cut into 1 inch chunks
1 1/2 cups water (or more if needed)

The night before: remove the giblets from the turkey, cut off the tail if attached, and reserve for making turkey broth if wanted. Rinse turkey thoroughly. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Sprinkle the salt all over it, starting on the back side, and then the cavity and finally the breast. Put the turkey on a wire rack set over a rimmed pan or platter and refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.

One hour before roasting: remove the turkey from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature. (will not be "pretty") If any juices or salt have fallen into the pan - rinse the bottom of the pan if using that pan for roasting. 15-20 minutes before roasting, position a rack in the lowest part of the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Put half the onions, carrots and celery in the turkey cavity. Tuck the wings behind the neck and under the turkey and place bird in a large flameproof heavy-duty roasting pan (if not already). Scatter the remaining onions, carrots and celry around the turkey.

Roast for 30 minutes. Pour 1 cup of water into the roasting pan and roast for another 30 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup water to the roasting pan and continue to roast until the little thing pops or an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh away from the bone, registeres 170 degrees and the juices run clear when you remove the thermometer, about another hour for a 12 pounder. Vegetables should be kept dry enough to brown but moist enough to keep from burning - may need to add more water.

Because of all of the salt - may not want to use the vegetables.... will just need to test for taste. Also do not put stuffing in the turkey because of the salt!

If anyone tries this - please please comment and let me know what you think of it! I thought it was absolutely the moistest turkey I have ever had!

where oh where has melissa gone

I haven't run away.... although it has been rather tempting...just busy. Not a good busy, not a bad busy... just busy....needless to say, I haven't cooked much (not good for the waist line...)

The daughter has been fighting strep throat, a virus, and has a cheerleading competition coming up. The son has had yearbook club and a birthday coming up. The hubbie... has been enjoying our beautiful fall weather - which means that people want to play golf. So he has been working...

I started volunteering at our church office two mornings a week which has turned into 3 days a week. I think I finally have things figured out and can get serious about keeping it to two mornings a week...

That's it in a nutshell.... just busy... but I do need to start thinking about Thanksgiving... which I have a wonderful dry brine recipe for turkey....I will post that soon!

For now, just know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

almost Halloween!

It was an absolutely perfect fall day on Saturday here in Kansas City.... so I dragged the kiddos out and took some pictures...they whined and complained initially but they got into it after a bit...

I have a very very long to-do list (including making Chinese costumes for the hubbie and myself - ugh - why did I say I would do that?) so I am going to make this pretty short...

I have 2 recipes - both were good! The first is cheese-stuffed manicotti from the WW cookbook...

cheese-stuffed manicotti

1 tsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves minced
1 (14 1/2 oz) cans tomato puree
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups part-skim (light) ricotta
1 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella
3/4 c parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup fresh parsley
12 manicotti shells - cooked

1. Cook manicotti shells.
2. In large skillet, heat oil, saute garlic about 2 minutes. Add tomato puree, oregano, basil and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes. (If it seems too thick - add a little water.)
3. Preheat oven to 350 - spray a 9x13 with pam.
4. In a bowl - combine ritcotta, mozzarella, parmesan, egg and parsley. Fill the manicotti shells with the cheese mixture, place in baking dish. Pour sauce over shells. Bake until bubbly - about 30-40 minutes.
368 calories for 2 stuffed shells
Variations: can add cooked italian sauce to the cheese mixture or can use the imitation crab to add to the cheese mixture (will increase calorie count)

**Pasta has always been a low-fat favorite, but the sauce on pasta can be a high-fat trap.**

So - you might remember me talking about the Land O Lakes cookbook.... I found it... good ole Amazon! It was a used one - but in perfect condition....so I will have to make my chicken pot pie from there soon! But the other evening I tried a sauce that I put over baked chicken breasts.... this was delicious!!! I would easily serve this one to company!!

I just baked my boneless skinless chicken breasts with a little season salt on them... when they were done... I poured this over them...

sour cream white wine sauce

3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp minced garlic (I didn't use this much)
2 tbsp flour
1/4 c chopped parsley
1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c white wine
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
1 cup sour cream

In 2 quart pot - melt butter, stir in garlic. Cook about a minute, stir in flour, continue cooking until bubbly (1 min). Reduce heat. Stir in remaining ingredients except sour cream. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Stir in sour cream. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally, until heated through. Pour over chicken.

Don't know if I will get the chance to post again before Halloween - if not, have a great Spooky Day!

favorite season - fall

Oh I do love fall! I love the crisp feeling but not so cold that you have to bundle up with a full length parka, gloves, scarves, hats, boots, etc.... The colors of fall are my favorite also. Those trees that turn that beautiful shade of salmony red.... just amazing! We are feeling a little cheated here in Kansas City.... we went from warm and sunny to downright COLD! I sure would like to start a petition to bring back fall...







Our little 6 pound maltipoo was sitting on my lap shivering.... so I put a blanket on her... my son thought it made a funny picture so he pulled out the camera!



To make a long story short.... we went out with friends on Saturday evening... before we went to dinner, we had appetizers... a cheese ball here at our house. This cheese ball is easy and good!

I also made a dessert for us - it was Pumpkin Praline Dessert... I am not sure if I have made this before or not... but pretty yummy! Again, another nice easy recipe. A good one for fall.








And since I have been slacking on using recipes from the cookbooks - I made a point to try one from the Fix It and Forget It Lightly - delicious chicken and vegetables . Delicious might be stretching it a bit. It was good. It would have been better if the chicken wasn't so dry. But that might be my own fault. My chicken breasts were frozen so I cooked it for about 7 hours on low when the recipe calls for 4-5 hours on high. I served it with some noodles... the mushrooms in it were really good! (190 calories)



Fun Info: Americans are on the low end of mushroom consumption at only 4 pounds a person a year... Japanese come in at 29 pounds a year per person!!







Finally, last night I made the kielbasa soup that I talked about a few days ago... the daughter doesn't like the kielbasa but she eats all of the potatoes out of it.... the son only likes the kielbasa. Wouldn't you know! We served it with some mozzarella toast.... love soup in the fall!













Cheese Ball

1 package 3 cups shredded mild cheddar
4-5 green onions chopped tops and all
1 cup slivered almonds
6-8 strips crisp bacon - crumbled
1-2 cups mayonnaise

Mix all together and pack into small mixing bowl. Refridgerate about 3 hours - invert bowl so the cheese comes out in a dome shape. Serve with crackers.





Delicious Chicken and Vegetables

1 cup fresh mushrooms sliced
2 carrots sliced
1 onion sliced
2 celery ribes sliced
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 tsp slat
1/2 tsp pepper
dash of red pepper flakes
1 cup water
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried parsley

Combine vegetables in slow cooker (I added some potatoes). Put chicken on top. Mix together salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, water and wine... pour over. Sprinkle with basil and parsley.
Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours.





Kielbasa Soup

1 package kielbasa sausage (the low cal or turkey works fine!)
1/2 onion
celery (optional)
2 cup carrots
1 cup cabbage
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
2 Tbl vinegar
1 tsp salt
2 potatoes chopped
carton of vegetable broth
3 cups water with 2 chicken bullion cubes

Brown the sausage, onion and celery if you use it. Add all other ingredients. Simmer for at least 2 hours. If longer - add potatoes the last hour.





Praline Pumpkin Dessert

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 package Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake mix
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butter melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan. Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar and pumpkin pie spice until smooth. Pour into pan.

Sprinkle the cake mix (dry) over mixture. Sprinkle with pecans. Pour butter over. Bake until lightly browned on top.

internet?

A million years ago, when I was hanging out with the dinosaurs... and living in Beatrice, Nebraska...I had a friend that had this cookbook put out by Land O Lakes... the people that make butter. It had absolutely one of the yummiest chicken pot pie recipes. Unfortunately, in the three moves since Beatrice - I have somehow lost the recipe....

and we are having chilly rainy weather here in KC, so it is perfect for chicken pot pie! So I went to the internet to see if I could find the recipe.... alas, could not. But found another that I tried.

It was pretty good. I still like the other better and would like to find that recipe. But this one was pretty easy and had cheese in it so my family liked that.

I know I cited three cookbooks I was going to be using and this week I must confess, I have fallen away from all three. I mainly used the internet. Please forgive me...

The following evening - I made one of those "tried and true" recipes... one that I don't have written down anywhere but was all gone before I could even take a picture! This is super easy and always gets compliments.... it's bbq in a crockpot. I get (at Aldi's) a package of the country style no bone ribs and put them in a pamed crock pot. Sprinkle a little seasoned salt, maybe some celery salt and then smother with bbq sauce (our favorite is the original KC Masterpiece). Let them cook on low all day... shred up before you serve (may want to add more sauce)... serve on hamburger buns... YUM YUM YUM! Easy and tasty! Everyone in the family eats these! Including picky Pman!

Finally, last night we had dover sole, roasted fingerling potatoes and peas. I tried a sole recipe that I found on the internet... it was okay. It was easy which was nice... but wasn't fabulous. If anyone has a good fish recipe for sole... I would love to have it... (recipe at end ) While I was out with my mother, we stopped by Whole Food so I could get the fish... we had been to see the Andy Warhol exhibit at Union Station (pretty good! $12 to get in.... maybe a little pricy - it wasn't a huge exhibit but had a good sampling of his work!) and the Wyeth exhibit at Kemper Museum. (I am not a huge Wyeth fan... but it was free and I love lunch at the Kemper!) Back to my dinner.... Whole Foods had the packages of fingerling potatoes on sale for $1.99 (regularly $4.99 - huge bargain!) so I bought two. Now, I have never cooked with fingerling potatoes before but was anxious to try. Once again, I got on the internet and found several recipes for roasting the potatoes in the oven. Most were pretty similar... just used different herbs but I will include the recipe that I used because we really enjoyed the potatoes! I thought they were a very nice change to your basic baked potato.

Andrew Wyeth Andy Warhol

This evening I think I may make my Klebasa soup...

Time for recipes....

Chicken Pot Pie

Package of frozen mixed veggies

2 cups cooked cubed chicken

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp thyme

pepper

packaged pie crust

Mix together all items except pie crust. Put pie crust in pan put mixture in and top with pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees. 30-40 minutes.

Note: Typical Melissa, I made my pie in the morning.... I like to have dinner taken care of as early as possible. So I did not use a bottom crust (it would get tooo mushy sitting in the fridge all day.) I just put a top crust on.

Dover Sole

Dover Sole fillets

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper

Lemon Juice

White Wine

Parmesan Cheese

Paprika

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Lay out your fish fillets. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

Bake 5 min.

Pull out - drizzle a little white wine and lemon juice on top. Top with parmesan cheese and sprinkle paprika on top.

Bake until flaky but not overdone (about 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets.)

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Lightly oil 9x13 pan with olive oil. Cut fingerlings into 1/2 inch slices. In bowl, with the fingerlings add some olive oil, salt (kosher is nice), pepper, thyme, oregano and chives. Mix until coated, lay in the pan so only one layer. Bake at 425 degrees about 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are done.

how time flies....

my oh my - how time flies.... my goal was to blog twice a week.... and lately that has been a tough goal to obtain....and unfortunately, for no good reason. Just a lot of little things going on in our lives.

But let's get to the real reason we are here....FOOD! Saturday morning, I made the taco chicken soup recipe from the Fix It and Forget It Lightly (FIFIL) cookbook. It is a crock pot recipe.

I was a little hesitant when I was putting it together because it looked so thick and not at all soupy... I even pulled out my chicken broth and had it setting beside the crockpot in case I decided to add it....

and just what you love about a crock pot - I walked off and left...

took the son and a friend to see a play at the Coterie Theatre and had lunch at Fritz's at Crown Center. This is the two of them... they got sour candy at one of the stores.... eww was it sour!

when we got home - it smelled delicious!!! And once I stirred it - I realized - no chicken broth was needed! We served it with some grated cheese, lite sour cream and a few fritos on top. Without our extras it comes in at 210 calories a serving... so even with our goodies on top... it is a nice low cal dinner. And everyone LOVED it! Probably one of our favorites... I will most definitely be making this one again! (Recipe at end)

If you have been reading my blog, then you know I was looking for a recipe to use a butternut squash. I finally ended up pulling one from my Joy of Cooking book. It is the baked butternut squash stuffed with sausage and apples recipe. When I first read through the recipe it was appearing a little time consuming... but I went ahead and took the plunge. It had sausage in it and the hubbie loves himself some italian sausage... and on that note - it didn't specify as to what type of sausage...I bought some mild bulk italian sausage and a package of the sweet italian sausage link things from Johnsonville. I used about 1/2 pound of the bulk and two links of the sweet sausage that I squeezed out of the casings. (Froze the rest.) That turned out to be a good combo... most yummy!

I don't know if you have heard - but there is a pumpkin shortage this year.... canned pumpkin is hard to get in the stores. Well, I was at my local WalMart and found 5 cans so I snagged them all. And as long as we were having a squashy meal, I made some pumpkin bread. I have an old recipe from my grandmother - but I don't LOVE it. It uses oil and has that oily taste to it. Since I had the Joy of Cooking book out - I tried the one they had. This might be my new pumpkin bread recipe.... very good and uses a lot of spices - which I like!

Have the daughter home today with strep throat... so I guess I will start looking through the books and try to find something yummy for tonight...

I am not including the butternut squash recipe or the pumpkin bread since most people have Joy of Cooking - but if you don't - feel free to e-mail me or send a comment on here and I will be happy to send to you!

TACO CHICKEN SOUP

1 envelope taco seasoning

32 oz can low-sodium V8 juice

16 oz jar salsa

15 oz can black beans (drained)

1 cup corn (canned or frozen)

1 cup frozen peas

2 whole chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

Combine all ingredients except peas (might hold out chicken if you are cooking for longer than 4 hours.) Cover cook on low 4-6 hours. Add peas and chicken if held out. (The chicken can actually dry out and get mushy if cooked too long.)