Shortcut Spanish Rice

This is a really simple recipe that adds flavor to Tex-Mex style dishes. I used it in enchiladas and as the base for burrito bowls. Feel free to double, triple, or cut the recipe in half.

For burrito bowls I serve with a can of refried beans and any other toppings I have on hand. We like cheese, salsa, sour cream, tomatoes, and avocados but anything goes.


2 cup dry white rice
3 1/2 cups water
4 chicken bouillons or enough for  4 cups of water
1 c. bottled salsa

Place all in a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cover. Let cook until the rice is tender throughout. 

Check to make sure the bottom isn't sticking and burning towards the end of cooking.

Fruit Cup aka Sploosh

It's fun this time of year to look back and remember holidays past. I think that is part of the excitement of the season, remembering not only the new things planned but also the family and friends you have enjoyed previous holidays with.

In my case one particularly fond memory is of my grandmother. She always welcomed us in to her kitchen. She taught me how to microwave eggs with velveeta in her little pyrex dishes. I now see those same dishes in antique stores and they make me smile.  She also had us kids devein and peel the shrimp for the shrimp cocktail she served on holidays.  A few of the things I remember most though besides the shrimp cocktail were glazed carrots, key lime pie, and fruit cup.

Fruit cup sounds like it should be a simple thing and it some ways it is. And yet it's wonderful alongside all the rich treats we typically indulge in on Christmas. One thing that makes it special is the way it is prepared. The oranges and grapefruit are peels are sliced off around the fruit to separate the segments and then the fruit peeled out from between them.

Using a serrated knife, slice around the peel. Don't make the swatches too large. It's faster but you lose more of the fruit that way.

Slide the knife down the side of the segment all the way to the center trying not to cut through the center.

Once you have the knife in the center use it to pry the fruit out of the segment.

Like most of my recipes, specifics aren't important. Which is good, because I don't have them. The strawberries in this are the frozen kind that come in sugar syrup. You can buy two size, small or large. Whichever one you get depends on if you are making a lot or a little.

5 lb bag of oranges, more or less
1 - 2 grapefruit
1 small tub of frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed

Segment the oranges and grapefruit according to the description above. Add the strawberries. Let sit for 30 minutes for the flavors to meld a little bit and enjoy. Or let sit overnight, because advanced prep is something I love this time of year.

Pork Paprika Skillet Dinner

This is sort of funny how this dinner came about. They say necessity is the mother of all invention. Well I really did not want to make dinner tonight, but, it is necessary. So I went out the the freezer, actually hoping for some bacon to eat with pancakes since that seemed really easy. And I found a tiny package of thinly sliced pork I had bought to make a Korean dish with, then forgot about, and bought more pork for that Korean dish. It was delicious though. So that brings me to this. And not wanting to cook dinner. My dad used to make a dish that we loved that was rice, some seasonings, and chicken all baked in the oven until the rice and the chicken were cooked. So I decided to try something like that here. I seared the pork, added the rice and seasonings and baked until done. While that was cooking I cooked some frozen green beans and opened a bottle of sweet and sour red cabbage. And we have a nice Sunday dinner with such minimal work. 

6 fairly thin pork chops

Season salt

2 tsp. Paprika

2 - 3 Tbsp. oil

1 onion

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 pork bouillon cube (enough for 2 cups)

3 c. water

1 1/4 c. rice

Pre-heat the oven to 450.

Heat the oil until sizzling. Season the chops on one side lightly with the season salt and put in the pan, seasoned side down. Lightly season the other side and sprinkle lightly with paprika. Once the pork is lightly browned in spots flip over and add the onion. 

Once the second side is lightly browned add the water, bouillon cube, and black pepper. Bring to a simmer, when the bouillon cube is dissolved add the rice stirring to combine. Bring to a boil again, cover, and place in the oven. Stir after 10 minutes, replace the lid and bake until the rice is cooked. About 10 more minutes.  

Remove from the oven and let stand still covered for 10 minutes.

Harry Potter Party

Any true fan knows how you get to Hogwarts. Flying car is NOT advisable. 

This idea for the magical barrier looked cool and would be really fun.

So we started off with by welcoming everyone to Hogwarts. I split everyone into houses to play the games so they got a crest. Or if you don't want to print and cut them all out rings work too (Also a safety pin so they wouldn't lose it and some tape to attach it to the pin so neither showed)

I also had a caldron full of pens to take the test with but I forgot a picture of that part and had to make do with setting it up again at home. Another fun idea I had but didn't do was to pull the center out of the pen, the thin part that contains the ink and push it into a feather for quills.

Since this is me, and I like to eat, we started out with the food. 

Our Start of term feast included

Butter beer

Cauldron cakes

Pumpkin Pasties

Steak Pie

For the butter beer I used caramel Italian soda syrup, half-an-half, and either club soda or in my case water and dry ice. I reccomend the Da Vinci brand syrup, you can usually find it at Sams Club. 

After eating we all took our O.W.L. (Ordinary Wizarding Level) 

Since this was a baby shower we matched the baby from the book with it's description. We had Harry Potter, Dudley Dursley, the mandrake, Aragog, and Norbert. 

Instead of prizes for winning the game you got points in your house cup. You got 1 point if you got three or more right and 2 points if you got all five.

Then we went over to Honeydukes with shopping bags (6 in a pack at the dollar store!)

Here is my previous post on making your own candy shop.

But that trip had a catch. There is a get to know you game where you pass around a bag of candy and for however many you took you had to tell something about yourself. We did a variation of that. For however many packages you got from the candy shop you had to describe a scene from one of the books or movie. Whoever guessed which book or movie it was got a point in their house cup. 

And we had a photo booth off to the side.

We had some very informative wall decorations

And last but not least, Nagini was on the table for presents. 

Other things I did not a picture of include one very nice movie grade time turner, Beltrix Lestrange, Nymphadora Tonks, and a Death Eater complete with Dark mark.

And of course what really made the night was having fun with some great friends and fellow Harry Potter fans. So thank you to everyone who came and had a great time.


And Gryffindor won the house cup. 

Harry Potter Party Preview

Ok, so I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan. And I'm hosting a Harry Potter themes baby shower for a friend who is also a huge Harry Potter fan. 

I'll post more of the details later, but to start with we have the invitations and then 

the candy for the Honeydukes station.

 The letter in color and wording was styled to look like Harrys acceptance letter to Hogwarts.

And for the candy I got mini favor bags from the wedding section at Wal-mart and printed out my own labels. I filled the bags, folded the label over the top and stapled it shut. 

The candy is

Acid Drops - Warhead sours

Basilisk Babies - Green Apple Twizlers

Golden Snitch - Caramel Lindt Balls

 Cockroach Clusters - Crushed Pretzel Crisps and chocolate

Potion Powder - Colored sugar in apothecary bottles. They came like the in the Halloween section of Wal-mart. They were too cute to pass up

Dragons Eggs - Chocolate covered cashews set in a round candy mold

White Enchiladas

Household6 cooking clubs January theme is 

"Prepare a dish that you have never made before but always wanted to try.  

Tell us why you have taken quite some time to make this dish"

So this brings me to white chicken enchiladas. Which I have been meaning to make forever! I've even bought the Monterrey cheese a time or two and then ended up using it in something else and never made my enchiladas. This was due in large part to the fact that I hadn't found a recipe that I like. They always call for canned cream soup, and while I'm ok with making things with that stuff in the crock pot where it really cooks down and makes a gravy, I don't care for the taste in something where you can, well, taste it. But then I saw the Pioneer Womens recipe. And I put it on my menu. And then passed it up (that was in early summer) But then I got the HH6 theme and decided it was finally time. I'm really sorry I waited. 

I personally would have liked them with more heat and missed the jalapeno, my kids sadly, don't do hot. I was a little worried they wouldn't like the chilies but when my 3 year old, who eats like a bird, asked for seconds I knew this was a keeper. 

You can check out the original recipe or check below for my changes. This was a great use of the leftover turkey I had in the fridge but chicken works too. Instead of shredding a whole chicken for stuff like this I usually throw a couple boneless, skinless, chicken breasts in the crock pot the day before, shred and refrigerate until I'm ready to use.

3 c. leftover cooked shredded chicken or turkey

2 Tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

2 can diced green chilis

1/2 c. chicken broth

1/2 c. heavy cream

1/2 tsp. paprika

16 oz Monterrey cheese, grated

12 flour tortillas

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

1 c. sour cream

1/2 tsp. paprika

1 can green chilies

Saute the the onion is the butter until tender. Add the chilies, turkey, broth, and paprika. Stir all together and let simmer. Add the cream and keep over low heat while making the sauce.

For the sauce: melt the butter and flour together. Add the broth, paprika, chilies, and sour cream, with an immersion blender process until smooth. Keep heating until thick. Add about 1/3 of the cheese and stir until melted. 

In the tortillas add some of the turkey mixture, top with the remaining shredded cheese, and place in the a 9x13 baking dish seam side down. When all the tortillas are filled top with the sauce and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Chicken Cabbage Salad

1 medium head of cabbage, chopped

3/4 c. sunflower seeds

1/2 c. sliced almonds

2 pkg oriental ramen

2 cans mandarin oranges, drained (optional)

3 large chicken breasts

Dressing:

1 c. oil

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Ramen noodle seasoning packet

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and set aside. 

Toss all the salad ingredients together and then toss with the dressing. 

This can be served immediately but is better after it has sat for a few hours.

English Toffee

This candy is not hard to make, just make sure you set all the ingredients out first and it goes smoother. A problem we have had is altitude, right at sea level we cook it until 285, higher up on the western side of Virginia we cooked it until 288, in Utah we couldn't make it at all without the butter separating, you can fix that with corn syrup but then that's what it tastes like and flavor wise it ruins the candy. 

1 lb salted butter, room temperature

2 c. white sugar

1 c. slivered almonds

1 c. chocolate chips

1 - 2 c. pecan meal

1 heavy, flat bottom pot

1 rubber spoon, that can withstand 500*

1 candy thermometer

1 large metal cookie sheet

In the large flat bottom pot, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sugar and stir to mix. Keep stirring over medium heat, making sure to scrape the bottom well. The mixture will bubble a lot but you don't want it to be a heavy boil. Keep boiling and stirring until the mixture reaches 285 on your candy thermometer. Dump in the nuts and remove from heat. Stir in the nuts and immediately pour onto your cookie sheet. Spread the candy to your desired thickness. When the candy is set a little bit but still hot, sprinkle with the chocolate chips and let sit a few minutes until they melt; when the chocolate is melted spread it on top to cover and sprinkle with the pecan meal. Let sit until the chocolate is set. Sprinkle off the extra pecans, break into pieces and enjoy.

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

So I made this in two parts. First on the stove and then in the crock pot because I didn't have time to let the rice cook in the crock pot. I couldn't leave it simmering on the stove while I was at church either but I wanted it done when it was time to eat. Feel free to add as much shredded turkey as you wish, or leave it out in favor of cooked lentils or white beans.

If you threw the veggies in the pot to cook with the wild rice you wouldn't have to saute them later, I just didn't think of it until after the rice was already in the crock pot.

1 1/4 c. wild rice

6 c. chicken broth

oil

1 onion

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 large carrot, diced small

1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1/2 - 3/4 c. milk, half-an-half, or cream or any combination of them

2+ c. cooked shredded turkey (or chicken, lentils, or white beans)

Simmer the wild rice and the chicken broth until the rice is just cooked enough to eat. 

Add to the crock pot and stir in the mushroom soup, dairy, and cooked turkey. In the pot you cooked the rice in heat the oil. Saute the onion, celery, and carrots until cooked, but not tender. Add to the crock pot. Cook on high for 1 - 2 hours. Taste and adjust salt or pepper (I used Mortons nature seasons)

Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

I like making my own dressings because then I know what is in them. I got this recipe from my little sister, it's quite tasty, great on summer salads

The onion says grated, which is pretty unusual but exactly what it sounds like. Chopping wont give it the same affect, grating releases the juices better.

3/4 tbsp. poppy seeds
1/3 c. apple cider vinegar
3/4 c. good quality olive oil
1 tbsp. grated onion
1/4 c. white sugar
2 Tbsp. Honey
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. prepared mustard

Whisk all together until sugar is dissolved.

Seven Links

I love blogging games! This one looks like fun so I thought I would play. Essentially there are seven questions and you answer them by linking previous posts.



1. Most Beautiful Post
The Strawboreo, hands down.

2. Most Popular Post
This was by far my French Onion Pasta, I was looking at my stats and it gets the most views.

3. Most Controversial Post
Chickenless Chicken Stew. Chicken stew without the chicken?!?!?!?




4. The Most Helpful Post
Tostadas. A tasty interesting dinner that takes 5 minutes to prepare and is full of vegetables and is a possible way to use up leftovers.

5. Post that was surprisingly successful

Rosie Chicken, I wasn't sure that topping chicken with spinach and cheese and then expecting a thin slice of prosciutto to hold it together would work. Or that the chicken would cook all the way through before the breading burned.





6. Post that did not get the attention it deserved
My Gumbo, I love gumbo a ton, it was one of the first posts I wrote that I really plated the food and made it look nice, and it tasted great.





7. Post you are most proud of
Pumpkin Cream Pasta, One of my favorite dishes ever and the first thing I submitted to Presto Pasta Nights. I'm actually really proud of quite a few of mine, I just wanted to highlight this one :)

Sunflowers

My best friend likes sunflowers, so here's for you, you know who you are.

Strawberry Rhubarb Slush

Johns favorite thing in the world is strawberry rhubarb pie.
He thinks its the greatest food ever. Until I met him I had never even tried it.
Now I agree with him.

1 (16 oz) package frozen rhubarb
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. frozen strawberries
1/2 box of strawberry jello powder

Club Soda

Boil the rhubarb, strawberries, water and sugar together until the rhubarb is mush. Stir in the gelatin and stir until dissolved.

Blend until smooth and chill.

When chilled fill a glass with ice, pour equal amounts of rhubarb mix and club soda into a glass and enjoy!!

Miriams Room

We finally got Miriams room finished. I still haven't quite gotten the hang of my camera yet so the pictures are a little blurry. The spots on the wall are fish stickers

Such a sweet sleeper

Head Adornment

Weekend in Charleston, no kids, great food, lots of fun and touristy stuff.

John got me my first hat.

The tree is actually shiny silver thread

He got himself a derby hat.

Squiddy

Those of you who have gotten to hear me complain about "squiddy" on facebook can now see what I was talking about. And you can see what I made for a friends homecoming.

That black streak?? It doesn't go away and you cant see whatever is behind it.

Who doesn't love White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake?

HH6 Cooking Club Pizza

I came up with the challenge this month, I chose Pizza, but you couldnt use tomato sauce. So I used my favorite eggplant sauce in place of the tomato sauce.

Then I wanted to highlight my other favorite pizza that uses a spinach sauce and mention some other things I have done with pizza.

First off my eggplant sauce recipe. Just use in place of the tomato sauce, top with cheese, and bake! Sorry about no pictures, my computer is being worked on and this dinosaur doesnt have bluetooth.

Eggplant Sauce
2 egg plants, quartered lengthwise
4 roma tomatoes, quartered
3 cloves garlic
1 onion, quartered
olive oil
Salt

Brush vegetables with oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast at 400 for 40 minutes.
Then combine
4 c. chicken broth
2 tsp. marjoram
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Scrape eggplant from purple skin. Add eggplant, onion, tomatoes, and garlic to broth. Simmer 30 - 40 minutes until vegetables are tender. Puree. Let sit 15 minutes.

Stir in 1/4 c. cream

So thats the eggplant sauce, I highly recommend it.




Now for the Spinach Pizza.

Some other pizza's I have either made or had are

Breakfast
Don't worry about a sauce, top crust with cheese, green onions, cooked bacon and a whole raw egg and bake until the crust and the egg are cooked

Hot Wing
Use wing sauce instead of marinara, sprinkle with a powdered ranch, top with cheese and some chopped up boneless hot wings.

BBQ Chicken
BBQ sauce, gouda cheese, sliced red onions, chicken cooked in bbq sauce, and fresh chopped cilantro

Pesto
Pesto for the sauce, top with cheese and bake

Alfredo
Only use a little alfredo sauce, top with a lot of cheese and then top with cooked chicken tossed with a little sauce, and sliced garlic.

Make the alfredo primavera, and top with lots of spring veggies.

What do you put on your pizza?