Ok, last one for tonight

Just had to share the deviled eggs I made for Easter. Have you ever seen such beautiful eggs? I had no idea this was possible, but it was on a blog so I gave it a try. Cool, huh? The colors did seem to make it a little more difficult to entice people to eat them, but they were fun.

November

Homemade mozzarella sticks are harder to make than you would think. This was my best attempt. They weren't as tasty as I was hoping either. Maybe next time.

Blueberries

In September we were introduced to the Blueberry Park in Tacoma. Acres of blueberry bushes taken care of by volunteers. We took several trips and enjoyed making blueberry muffins, pancakes, smoothies, the kuchen pictured, and just eating lots of fresh blueberries. We are looking forward to going back next year.

Banh Mi

This sandwich is one of my new favorites. I had these for lunch 3 days in a row while I had the ingredients. I didn't make the meat shown here. Perhaps I will do that the next time around. It is just such a delicious blend of flavors. I highly encourage you to find one of these to try. Just watch out, they can be a little on the spicy side if you aren't careful.



The recipe for the pickled carrots and daikon can be found here.

For the rest of the ingredients I used the following:

A hoagie bun (not crusty enough)
Teriyaki chicken (not homemade)
English cucumber
Cilantro
Serrano chile (no seeds or membranes)
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha hot sauce (teensy bit)

Chicken Noodle Soup

I saw this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's blog and decided to give it a try. There were some bumpy patches, but once I tasted it I had no regrets. So good. You can find the recipe here.

Macaroni Casserole

Ok, almost done for tonight and I haven't even gotten to my chair redo. I am posting an Allan family classic. I don't eat the celery, but I couldn't make it without it. It would seem wrong.



Ingredients: I don't think I used a recipe so I will give the approximates

16 oz. cooked, drained and cooled macaroni noodles
1 can tuna
3-4 celery stalks
8 oz. grated cheddar

The sauce is made by mixing equal parts mayo and mustard. It should be heavier on the mustard flavor so add more mustard as needed. It should also be on the dry side. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Delicious salad to accompany any BBQ.

Crepes!

Seriously, how many food posts in a row do I have to do before I get to a craft I worked on? I guess it's good I have my appetite back. I think we made these on Christmas, but Chris has no idea and I don't feel like researching any further. They turned out really well, the first ones we made were a little on the thin side so we had to experiment to get them just the right thickness for our tastes. We ate them with leftover huckleberries from summertime in Wyoming. I don't remember what else we found....bananas, chocolate, strawberry jam, etc. Just check out the rim of the plate to see.

Tortilla Soup

This soup turned out to be a very large recipe. My large pot was almost overflowing. The nice thing was we didn't have to feel bad about loading up our bowls with lots of the bulk of the soup rather than lots of broth. Mmmm....all of these food posts are making me hungry.

3 Tbsps olive oil
4-6 corn tortillas, diced
1 Tbsp of cumin
2 Tbsps of chili powder
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
1 large onion
a large handful of cilantro leaves
2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp of cumin
2 Tbsps of chili powder
8 cups chicken broth or stock

OPTIONAL ADD INS:
2 cups frozen corn
1 (14 ounce) can black, pinto, or
Kidney beans
leftover shredded chicken

In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add tortillas and saute until beginning to brown. Add cumin and chili powder and saute for one minute. Meanwhile, combine in the blender the garlic, onion, cilantro, and tomatoes. Puree until smooth. Add tomato mixture and chicken broth to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes and up to one hour. Add any optional add ins for last few minutes of simmering. Serve soup with tortilla chips, cheese, avocado, cilantro, sour cream and lime wedges.

Inari Sushi

While on a visit to my family in WA I went to a local Asian Market to pick up some seasoning for my sister. I also took advantage of the opportunity to look for Inari Sushi wraps, sushi rice, and sweet rice. I found the Inari wraps in the refrigerated section of the store. They even had some seasoning to add to the rice. I discovered Inari while I was in Hawaii 6 years ago and whenever I see sushi for sale I look for it. It is very difficult to come by. Now you can look for it when you are out. It turned out great! I was also happy to find some Chinese BBQ Pork to make it a full meal. So good, and another item I can hardly ever find. What's up Texas?! So as you can see, they are orange pouches made from soy. You stuff them with rice and sometimes they have sesame seeds. The soy pouches are wet and sticky, but oh so yummy! The sushi is best dipped in soy sauce and wasabi with a little pickled ginger on top. The BBQ Pork can be dipped in hot chinese mustard, ketchup and sesame seeds. I know, probably not so authentic, but good.

Indian Fry Bread

Watch out! There may be quite a few updates coming. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's been a while since I posted anything here.



Indian Fry Bread:
3 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 1/3 cup warm water
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the water and knead the dough until soft. Roll the dough into ¼ inch thick, then cut the rounds 4 inches in diameter. Fry the bread in 2-3 inches of hot oil until puffed and browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels. (Can put powdered sugar in a paper bag and add hot fry bread to be coated.)

Guacamole

After years of eating restaurant/store/packet prepared guacamole I finally discovered that my favorite guacamole is homemade by me. It's perfect! You add what you like and leave out what you don't like. I leave out onions for me and tomatoes for Chris. The ingredients for my guacamole are as follows:

2-3 avocados
1 serrano chile pepper, (chopped, remove seeds and ribs)
1 clove garlic (pressed or chopped)
1/2 lime (juice)
a pinch of kosher salt
cilantro (chopped)

Spaghetti Squash Tossed with Olive Oil, Avocado and Parmesan

Ok, just a couple more posts for today to catch up. I found this recipe here. It was very delicious. Not terribly filling, but so so good.

Yummy sandwich

I wanted to post this sandwich so we don't forget about it. It was pretty delicious. Being inspired by a recipe here I was shopping and found salami on sale so I picked some up, got a nice loaf of bread, some provolone, baby spinach, and kalamata olive spread. When I got home, we put the ingredients (minus the spinach) on both sides and broiled them until the cheese browned. The leftovers were great cold as well.

Fruit Salad

6 cups sliced fruit
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix yogurt, honey and cinnamon. Pour over fruit. Serve immediately, the fruit doesn't look good after refrigeration.

Pulled pork

A recipe from a blog I just found written by a former ward member. She makes some really yummy sounding food. You can find the recipe here. We had it with leftover "Kate's Pasta Salad" and Ghiradelli's Triple Chocolate brownies for dessert. Of course for the BBQ sauce I had to make my special sauce with mustard and brown sugar and it was super delicious.

The New PB&J

Corn tortillas fried for 10 seconds in oil and blotted dry on paper towels.
Avocado
Tomato
Black Beans
Cheddar
Sour Cream and Salsa for dipping.
This makes a great quick and pretty healthy lunch.

Aunt Wendy's Dilled Green Beans

I canned by myself for the first time today. It was quite an adventure and I learned a lot about what to do differently the next time.
WENDY’S DILLED GREEN BEANS
Ingredients
4 # fresh whole green beans
El Toro Dehydrated Chile Japones (Red Peppers-crushed)
Whole mustard seed
Fresh dill plant
Garlic cloves
5 C cider vinegar (1 ¼ qt.)
5 C. water (1 ¼ qt.)
½ C. salt
7 pint jars
Instructions
Wash beans thoroughly, drain and cut into lengths to fill pint jars
Combine vinegar, water, & salt – heat to boiling
Pack beans into clean, hot jars
Add to each jar:
¼ tsp. hot red crushed peppers
½ tsp. whole mustard seed
2 sprigs fresh dill
1 clove garlic
Pour boiling liquid over beans filling to ½ “ from top of jar
Adjust jar lids
Process in boiling water for 5 minutes starting from the time water in canner is boiling
Remove jars and complete seals if necessary.
Set jars upright 2” apart.
Let cool on wire rack
Store for 5 – 6 months in pantry
Beans canned in August or September make a nice Christmas gift

Pizza Dough

This is the pizza dough recipe I use currently:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
Pour warm water into bowl. Add honey and salt. Mix until well blended. Add yeast and mix. Let sit 5 minutes. Add 1 cup flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour and mix well.
Knead dough, cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, dry area 45 minutes. Punch dough down. Cover and let rise another hour to an hour and a half. Roll out dough onto pizza pans.

Minestrone Soup A La Madeline

This is first soup I have ever made and boy was it a good first try. My friend Erin gave me the recipe as well as some of her leftover ingredients and said it was definitely worth trying. It was so so so good! I chopped the vegetables in the food processor so it was actually really easy to make. Very hearty when the sauce boils down and you just end up with a really thick bowl of soup. I wish it wasn't all gone.

2 brown onions (I used one yellow)
1/2 bunch fresh basil
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley
6 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 cubes vegetable stock (I lost the ones I bought so I put in some chicken top ramen flavoring)
13 oz. canned tomatoes
1/2 cup brown lentils
1/2 cup pearl barley
4 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery, finely chopped (I didn't have)
2 carrots, finely chopped
1/2 parsnip, finely chopped
1 small turnip, finely chopped
1 can red kidney beans, washed thoroughly
ground pepper
Place the onions, basil, cilantro and parsley in a food processor and blend until finely chopped. In a large soup pot, place vegetable stock, soy sauce, one cup of hot water and stock cubes mixed with one cup of warm water. Stir and add onion and herb mix from the food processor. Place the tomatoes in the food processor and blend; add to soup pot. Add lentils, pearl barley and bay leaves. Cover and cook on low heat. Pass the garlic through a garlic press and add to the pot. Add the celery, carrots, parsnip and turnip to the pot. Cover and cook slowly for 80 minutes stirring occasionally. Season with black pepper. Add the kidney beans and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

Oatmeal Muffins

This is a recipe I got from a ward in college. They handed out recipe books ("Recipes Yo Mama wants you to know...") with recipes from all the girls in Relief Society. This is a recipe from Cara Ricks.
1 cup oats
1 cup milk
1/3 cup honey
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 well beaten egg
1/4 cup oil
Combine oats, milk and honey. Let stand 15 minutes. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Combine egg and oil and then add to oatmeal mixture. Add all at once to the dry ingredients, stirring just to moisten. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 425 for 20-25 min.
For mine, I didn't sift anything I just whisked the dry ingredients. They finished cooking around 15 minutes and were even a little darker than I would have preferred. I think our oven tries to sabotage my cooking.