Month: October 2013

Turkey Sloppy Joes

~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

Happy Halloween!

Halloween in my house means Sloppy Joes. I don’t know if it really was an annual Halloween supper or not, but my brain connects Halloween with Sloppy Joes.

Halloween Collage

Sloppy Joes make for a great sandwich night. The ingredients are pantry staples and it’s quick to come together. The meat mixture reheats beautifully and your lunchbox the next morning is more appetizing than the typical deli meat and cheese.

Turkey Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Vidalia onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1/4 C ketchup
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

Steps:

  1. In a large sided skillet saute onion in olive oil. When translucent add the garlic and turkey. Break up the turkey as it cooks.
  2. Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire, vinegar, and tomato sauce.
  3. After turkey is cooked through, stir in the tomato paste. After 45-60 seconds add in the sauce. Stir and warm through for 3 minutes.
  4. Spoon Sloppy Joe mixture onto hamburger buns. Eat and trick-or-treat!

*This recipe is modified from Jessica at http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/2012/04/turkey-sloppy-joes/*

Turkey Sloppy Joes

Candy Corn Pizza

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Here is another Pinterest recreation for my final candy corn presentation. When you slice a round pizza into triangles, you will find yourself staring at a delicious slice of candy corn pizza. Assemble the pizza by first rolling out your dough into a circle. Put shredded mozzarella cheese in the center and surround that with shredded cheddar. The yellow bottom of the candy corn is represented by the crust, so brush it with olive oil. If you wanted to you could dye the pizza dough with yellow food coloring.

Below are recipes for homemade pizza dough and homemade pizza sauce, but for a busy Halloween night feel free to take advantage of the grocery store with a jarred sauce and refrigerated dough – I will not judge.

Candy Corn Pizza

Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

  • 1 pkg dry active yeast
  • 1 C warm water
  • 3 1/2 C flour
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • cornmeal

Steps:

  1. Dissolve yeast in the water, 10 minutes.
  2. In a stand mixer combine flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and add half of the yeast. Mix in with your fingers. Add in the olive oil and remaining yeast.
  3. Knead dough with the dough hook of your stand mixer for 7 minutes. (Or by hand on a floured surface for 10 minutes.)
  4. Shape dough into a ball and put in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.
  5. Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 475 degrees F. Divide dough into 4 separate pieces and roll out on a floured surface.
  6. Sprinkle cornmeal onto a pizza paddle (or edgeless cookie sheet). Place pizza dough on the paddle and assemble.
  7. Bake pizzas on pizza stone 20 minutes until pizza crust is crispy and cooked through.

*This pizza crust recipe is adapted from a recipe that came with a friend’s pizza stone*

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 can (28 oz) tomato puree
  • 1 1/2 C water
  • 1/4 C olive oil
  • 1/4 C red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp dried parsley
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp salt

Steps:

  1. Combine all ingredients.

*This pizza sauce recipe is adapted from Lynn at http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2009/01/homemade-pizza-sauce.html*

Candy Corn Popsicles

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

I saw this one floating around on Pinterest. It’s actually what prompted my candy corn theme for the week. You only need 3 ingredients, yogurt, apple juice, orange juice. Or you can follow the Pinterest version using orange juice and pineapple juice.  Because I have Simply Apple apple juice it’s darker than the from-concentrate counterpart.

You can feel comfortable giving these popsicles to your kids before sending them off Trick or Treating for mountains of candy because there is zero added sugar, and depending on the brand of juice and yogurt you buy, you could be tricking them into a sugar-free dessert!

Candy Corn Popsicles

Here’s the How-To for Candy Corn Popsicles:

Using a tiny spoon put some white yogurt (plain, vanilla, Greek or regular) in the bottom of your popsicle mold. Place the mold in the freezer, covered with plastic wrap, until hardened.

Put apple juice on top of the frozen yogurt. Put in the freezer, covered with plastic wrap, to let solidify just enough so that the third layer won’t mix. If you let it harden completely it’ll be near impossible to put the popsicle stick/handle into the mold.

Top off the popsicle with the orange juice. Put the sticks into the mold and freeze.

When you go to remove the popsicles from the mold run it under cold water first. Doing so will loosen them from the sides of the mold. Or you can set the mold in a bowl of cool water.

Candy Corn Popsicles 2

Candy Corn Inspired Fajitas

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Disclaimer: There were no candy corns harmed in the making of these fajitas.

I wanted to bring my candy corn theme to Mexican Monday and I felt the best way to do this was with bell peppers and onion and the best way to showcase the candy corn colors was through fajitas. Using this platform, the white, orange, and yellow aren’t hidden within closed tortillas or underneath melted cheese.

Steak Fajitas

Ingredients:

  • 4 tbsp olive oil, divided use
  • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped
  • 1 tsp adobo sauce (from can of chipotle peppers)
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 1/2 tsp cumin, divided use
  • 2 1/2 tsp chili powder, divided use
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 1/2 lb flank steak, sliced on the bias into strips
  • 1/2 large white onion, sliced
  • 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

Steps:

  1. Make marinade: combine 2 tbsp olive oil, lemon juice, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, onion powder, garlic, Worcestershire, chipotle pepper and adobo sauce.
  2. Season steak with S+P and toss in the marinade for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Toss onions and bell peppers in 1 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp chili powder, S+P. Saute vegetables in 2 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. When tender remove from skillet and keep warm.
  4. In the same skillet, cook the steak to desired doneness.
  5. Serve with sour cream and cheese.

*This recipe is modified from Rachel at http://www.thestayathomechef.com/2013/05/flank-steak-fajitas.html*

Image

Candy Corn Pillow

~ lk529 ~ 5 Comments

So You Think You Can Cook will be taking on the Candy Corn theme leading up to Halloween this Thursday. I have been very excited about this theme and the week is finally here where I can show you what I’ve been up to.

I’m starting off with a sewing post. A pillow. This craft is incredibly simple, you only need 3 different fabrics. (I was able to find everything I needed out of my stash.) And you only need to sew 5 seams!

Candy Corn Pillow

Here’s the How-To for a Candy Corn Pillow:

Note: My pillow form is 14×14″.

Cut fabric. You will need 2 3 1/2 x 15″ rectangles of white fabric, 2 7 1/2 x 15″ rectangles of orange fabric, and 2 5 1/2 x 15″ rectangles of yellow fabric.

IMG_5910

Your finished squares should be 15×15″, sew on a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Attach white to orange and orange to yellow. When you press each square, iron the seams in opposite directions.

IMG_5911

Put right sides together. Pin. Leave a 4″ gap on the yellow edge of the pillow. Sew all around the pillow, keeping that gap, with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

IMG_5913

Pull pillow inside out. Poke out the corners. Iron the unsewn 1/4″ flat on each side of the gap.

IMG_5914 IMG_5915

Stuff your new pillow case with your pillow form.

IMG_5916

Close up the gap with your preferred method: hand sewing, buttons, Velcro, machine sewing, etc.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Pear Syrup

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

This time of year the internet is overrun with pumpkin treats and apple ciders. The pear, although also in season, doesn’t seem to get as much publicity. I don’t know why not! Have a pear, you’ll taste fall.

This plateful of pancakes dressed in pear syrup was a perfect autumn breakfast and no pumpkins were harmed in the process.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 3 C flour
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 3/4 C buttermilk
  • 3/4 C milk
  • 1/3 C butter, melted

Steps:

  1. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs. Add in both milks and the melted butter.
  3. Combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
  4. On a hot buttered griddle drop 1/3 C of batter into pancakes. Flip pancakes when batter starts to set and bubbles form in the center of the pancake.

Pear Syrup

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 C pear nectar
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 1/4 C light corn syrup
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch ground cloves

Steps:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
  2. Boil for 60 seconds. It will foam!
  3. Remove from heat. Skim off the foam.

*The pancake recipe is adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buttermilk-pancakes-ii/ and the syrup from http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/407/Recipe.cfm*

Buttermilk Pancakes & Pear Syrup

T-Shirt Quilt

~ lk529 ~ 9 Comments

I played golf in high school and my coach was kind enough to pick me up after school and drive me to practice and games. I got pretty close to her, and we talked about everything on our commute. One day she told me that she wanted to send off her son’s t-shirts to be made into a quilt. I, being a slightly emotionally nostalgic packrat, fell in love with this idea!

Spirit

Fast forward 4 years and I discover that my now mother-in-law makes quilts, including t-shirt quilts. Because I loved Stuart’s from his high school days, she very kindly created one for me.

Fast forward 4 more years and now I can make my own t-shirt quilt! My friend Kate and I made one out of her shirts from Auburn (her very first quilt, “Spirit”!).

1 year later I completed my first t-shirt quilt. “Aero Force” combines Stuart’s shirts from ROTC and my shirts from Aerospace Engineering. If there was a t-shirt to be bought in any of the organizations I belonged to, I shelled out the 15 bucks for it; Stuart didn’t have enough shirts on his own to make two quilts, so I did one for the both of our Auburn careers.

Aero Force

How to make a Too Cool T-shirt Quilt

*We follow the T-shirt quilt method by Andrea T. Funk.*

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

This taco recipe is probably the most popular taco recipe on foodgawker! After making this dish it’s obvious why – you couldn’t come across a simpler recipe! 3 ingredients, set it and forget it. Except that you can’t forget it because your kitchen will start to smell like a Mexican restaurant. I don’t suggest making this when you’re home all day – it’ll just make you hungry!

Stuart has been raving about last month’s Healthy Chicken Tacos so I served my tacos with the same avocado lime sauce.

The shredded chicken also makes for great nacho meat. For lunch the next day I took Tostido’s Scoops, topped them with chicken and cheese, popped it in the microwave for 25 seconds and dipped in salsa!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

Ingredients:

  • 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 16 oz jarred salsa
  • 1 oz taco seasoning

Steps:

  1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Sprinkle with taco seasoning and cover with salsa. Cook on LOW 6 hours.
  2. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred.
  3. Assemble tacos with desired toppings: sour cream guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese.

*This recipe is adapted from Sarah at http://www.mychocolatetherapy.com/2012/01/crockpot-chicken-tacos.html*

Slow Cooker Tacos Slow Cooker Tacos

CIC: Broccoli & Pumpkin Puree

~ lk529 ~ 11 Comments

CIC-header

As expected, October’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge involved pumpkin. But I never dreamed that broccoli would be the costar! At first reaction I thought – gross. But then I surprised myself with many different ideas:

  • Pumpkin Hummus w/ Broccoli Pesto Swirl
  • Pizza with Pumpkin Cream sauce and Roasted Broccoli and Sausage
  • Broccoli Salad with Pumpkin Dressing and Pumpkin Seeds
  • Pumpkin Mac and Cheese with Roasted Brocolli
  • Pumpkin Broccoli Bread

I decided to make the last option because my in-laws were in town over the long Columbus Day weekend. Having a bread available seemed like the smartest option.

I took a Banana Zucchini Bread recipe and substituted pumpkin puree for the banana and broccoli for the zucchini. I purchased a bag of broccoli slaw from the grocery store so that I wouldn’t have to shred the broccoli myself. (If you can find a bag of just shredded broccoli I’d suggest that instead of having to pick out the red cabbage and carrot.) Zucchini has a higher moisture content than broccoli so I boiled it prior to incorporating it into the batter.

Pumpkin Broccoli Bread

Ingredients:

  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 C sugar
  • 1 C vegetable oil
  • 1 C pumpkin puree
  • 3 C flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 C shredded broccoli
  • 1/2 C slivered almonds

Steps:

  1. In a pot of boiling water, cook broccoli for 4 minutes. Drain and pat dry between paper towels. Set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and add in the sugar and oil. Add pumpkin. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. Fold in broccoli and almonds.
  4. Pour batter into two loaf pans and bake for 50 minutes, until a knife come out cleanly. Note: This will make 24 muffins.

Pumpkin Broccoli Bread 1Pumpkin Broccoli Bread 2

To see other bloggers who participated in this month’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge, click on the link below!

 

recreatedbysrc

Busy Day Chocolate Cake

~ lk529 ~ 4 Comments

Today would have been my grandmother’s 81st birthday. In honor of her I made a cake from her recipe box – Busy Day Chocolate Cake. My brother always requested this cake for his birthday.

Busy Day Chocolate Cake, as the name suggests, is a chocolate cake that can be made on a busy day. It only takes 5 minutes to make the batter and 30 minutes in the oven. The longest process is letting the cake cool before frosting it.

Busia must’ve been helping me recreate her recipe because for the first time ever my cake came out of the pan cleanly and easily.

Busy Day Chocolate Cake

Busy Day Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

  • 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate
  • 1 1/3 C flour
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C vegetable shortening
  • 1 C buttermilk
  • 1 egg

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Melt chocolate: microwave 30 seconds, stir, microwave another 30 seconds or until melted.
  3. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
  4. Cut in vegetable shortening, and mix in buttermilk and egg. (I literally used a knife to mix in the shortening.) Add melted chocolate until combined.
  5. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9″ round cake pan.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes, until a knife/toothpick slides through cleanly.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

  • 4 tbsp salted butter
  • 4 tbsp cream cheese
  • 3 C powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • milk, if needed

Steps:

  1. In a stand mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese.
  2. Add 1 C powdered sugar. Mix until combined. Add in 1/2 tsp vanilla. Mix until combined. Repeat until all ingredients are used.
  3. If needed, add a little bit of milk and/or more sugar.
  4. Frost cake and enjoy!

Busy Day Chocolate Cake