Salisbury Steak Recipe!

So even though we've primarily cut red meat from our diet, I do still make the occasional steak or ground beef meal.

This recipe is so ridiculously simple, I swear you will be amazed.

Salisbury Steak

1 Lb Ground Beef
1 1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
1 tsp Pepper
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 Egg
1/4-1/2 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1 Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
1 packet of McCormick Au Jus mix.
3 and 1/4 C Water
1 TBS Cornstarch


Combine your first 7 ingredients. Start by using only 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs and if the meat is still to moist, gradually add more. I had two types of ground beef, 80/20 and 90/20, it took more breadcrumbs for the 80/20 than it did the 90/10. So if you use something with a higher fat content you may need more.

Knead the meat with your hands, do not overly mix or it will fall apart. Form your meat into 6-8 small oval shaped patties. Heat 2 Tbs oil in your pan (I use EVOO for everything) and add your patties. Brown both sides and then remove them from the pan.

Slice your onion and mince your garlic. Add your onions to the pan and sautee over medium heat until they start to become transparent. Add your garlic and saute for another minute, just until the garlic is fragrant.

Add 3 cups of water to the pan and whisk in the Au Jus mix. Place the patties back into your pan and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes until the patties are cooked through. Mix 1 Tbs cornstarch into 1/4 C COLD water and stir it into the gravy. Allow the gravy to thicken and then remove your steaks from the heat.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

Delicious!

Potato Soup!

This is my first Autumn in Indiana. I love Autumn, the cool weather, the beautiful colors, sweatshirts, bonfires, etc...

It's also my favorite cooking season. When I think of Autumn and food, I'm reminded of pumpkin, hazelnut, cinnamon. I think of hearty soups, warm cups of tea, coffee, cocoa, and (my personal favorite) cider. No more quick meals to keep the kitchen from getting to hot, no more grilling (I love, love, LOVE grilled food, but I can only do it in spurts. Grill prep and clean up is such a pain.), no more cold foods. It's time for two seasons of delicious comfort food.

When Autumn comes in Indiana, it certainly isn't a subtle change. I went to bed with my air conditioner blowing and I woke up freezing with a dire need to light the pilot light on the boiler to get the heat going. It's been in the 50's and 60's for a week now. I love it!

So last week, for my first act of fall cooking, I decided I was making potato soup. It was simply amazing. Of course it was to delicious to not have to share it with all of you, so without further jabbering, I give you Potato Soup.

Ingredients

3 Lbs Red Potatoes
1/2 Lg Onion
4 cloves garlic
5 Chicken Bouillon cubes
1 Ham bone (some leftover ham attached is a plus)
About 24 oz ham (if it's not already attached to the bone)
1 C shredded cheddar
Water
Salt & Pepper to taste
Your favorite toppings (we did bacon and more cheddar)

Directions

Very simple instructions. Cube the potatoes, slice the 1/2 onion, and mince the garlic. Put the ham bone in the crock pot, toss the potatoes, onion, and garlic (and ham if it's not attached to the bone) over top. Season with salt and pepper. Fill with water and add the bouillon. Cook on low for 8 hours. Around your 6 hour mark, pull out your ham bone and shred your ham if its attached and add it back to the pot. Ladle out half the soup and puree it in your blender. Mix in 2 Tbs flour with 1/2 C COLD water and when there are no lumps pour it into your puree. Toss it back into the pot, stir, and finish cooking.

Here is why I think it tastes different. I used a leftover ham bone from a 10lb Sugardale ham I made a few weeks ago and then froze the bone. There was ham, fat, and skin attached. When I shredded the ham I took the skin and the fat and pureed it with the rest of the soup. It added a ton of flavor. The garlic was also a nice hint, I don't see many potato soups with garlic. Most potato soups have a white color speckled with pepper. I didn't overload it with pepper and the potato skins and ham puree made it a nice cream color.

Be careful with adding salt, especially if you puree cooked ham skin and fat. It can make it pretty salty.


Top with your favorite ingredients and enjoy!

Spinach & Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken

I've been working to lose the baby weight with no avail since a week after baby duck and I came home from the hospital. When I stepped on the scale the other week, my eyes all but rolled out of my head. I gained weight...how in the world did I gain weight?

Ok so I'm not consistent with working out, where do I have the time? Between cooking, cleaning, mommy duties, wife duties, school, house, errands, etc....not to mention baby duck is still not sleeping through the night....yeah, I know, excuses.

And of course, some nights are better than others with baby duck sleeping. B could sleep through world war three so he isn't much help unless I force him up and by that point I'm just asking myself what the point in that would be since I could have already had it done. Those bad days usually end up in take out....needless to say, my diet hasn't been fantastic either.

Anyway, last week I made a commitment to change all of that. Starting with our diet. We are big red meat and potato eaters, which unfortunately isn't very health conscious in a diet. So for the next two weeks we chose to cut out red meat and starchy foods every night. Instead we are sticking with chicken and turkey and only adding starches once or twice a week. We're also keeping our calorie count between 1200 and 1400. To try and keep food from being the same boring thing every night, I've been playing with different spices and flavors to add some diversity.

Last night I made a Spinach and Mozzarella stuffed chicken breast with a single serve caprese tomato and a side salad. Delicious!

So on to our recipe.

(Serves 2)

INGREDIENTS

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs fresh minced Garlic
2 Tbs EVOO
2 Tbs butter
Thick sliced fresh mozzarella
10oz frozen spinach, thawed
1/4 C Dry white wine
1 tsp thyme (fresh)
1 tsp chives (fresh)
2 tsp italian dressing mix (just the mix, not the dressing)
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS

1) The first thing you will want to do is butterfly your chicken breast and flatten them so they are 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick and as even as possible

2) In a small saute pan, melt your butter and add your EVOO. Heat the minced garlic for about a minute. Just enough to warm it but do not brown it. Remove the pan from the heat. Mince the Thyme and Chives and add them to the pan with the white wine. Place back on the heat for another minute, just to heat the mixture. When warm, add 2-3 liberal spoonfulls (I used a kitchen tablespoon) to the inside of the chicken and spread evenly.

3) Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach. Spread half the spinach on each breast. Top with sliced fresh mozzarella. Then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4) Roll the chicken jelly roll style then tie closed with kitchen twine. Coat the outside of the chicken with more salt and pepper and the Italian Seasoning.

5) **OPTIONAL (I didn't do this)** If you would like a darker, crispier outside, you can sear the chicken in a hot pan before placing it in the oven.

6)  Pour the rest of your marinade mixture into the bottom of your baking dish. Place the chicken in the dish and put it in a 400 degree (204 degrees for those who use Celsius) oven.

Continue cooking until your chicken reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees (74 C). Make sure you are temping the chicken and not the filling or else you could end up with very undercooked chicken. I didn't even temp mine until it had a good 30 minutes to cook.

Enjoy with your favorite sides!

If you want the single serve caprese recipe, you can find that here. I found it as a pin on pinterest.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee

Yes another coffee post. I decided to type this out real fast while typing out a few more posts. My grocery post is coming today as well as another that I have in the works.

So first I must tell you, do not confuse this with the Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe that I will be sharing in a few days. This is much different, that is much better (in my opinion, but I'm a pumpkin lover). Really there is only one difference, but it is a significant flavor difference.

If you do not like real pumpkin, this recipe is for you. The Pumpkin Spice Latte uses real pumpkin or pumpkin oil in order to add the pumpkin flavor. This recipe is simply spices.

It's cold today. I woke up to the thermometer reading 43 degrees. Considering we were still in the 90s last week, my little toes are numb!

But even though I'm freezing, I have to admit this is my favorite kind of weather. It's not cold and icy, but I'm not sweating half my body weight away either.

Since I was chilly I decided coffee was a must today! And what better way to welcome fall with fall flavors right?

Pumpkin Pie Spice it is! Now if Starbucks will just get on the ball and give me my favorite latte so I don't have to make it, all will be right with the world.

Anyway, the recipe.

(This is for a 5 cup coffee pot, adjust as you see fit)

To your filter:
4 heaping teaspoons of your favorite coffee
1 Teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon The Pampered Chef Sweet Caramel Sprinkle
1/2 Teaspoon The Pampered Chef Sweet Vanilla Honey spinkle
   ***My brother-in-law and sister-in-law got these for us when we were married last year. They taste awesome but I don't make many things that I can use them with. However they are fantastic coffee flavoring items and I definitely plan on buying more***

To your Water:
5 Cups water
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract


Creamer:
Equal parts condensed milk and 2% milk (it doesn't matter how much of this you use as long as its equal)
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon


So put your coffee items together and start brewing your coffee. While that is going on combine the ingredients for your creamer in a bowl. You can heat on the stove, or cheat like I did and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. When its warm, whisk until frothy.

Add your coffee to your mug and top with your creamer. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Baked Apple Coffee!

Do you ever have that craving for those delicious autumn baked apples yet you're just too busy/tired/hot to make them?

Well today I decided to turn this

Into this:

So my coffee cup looks a little lame compared to the first picture, but trust me, it's delicious.


I will admit, I am addicted to coffee. I cannot function properly without it lol. Ok that part is probably an over exaggeration but I still have it every morning.

I like to experiment with my coffee. Adding different spices and extracts. Today I was craving baked apples for some reason, but when I opened my refrigerator I had no apples to make said treat. So I decided to take all of my spices as well as some apple juice, and add it to my coffee.

AH-MA-ZING!

So coffee is pretty strong (well mine is anyway) and I had to add at least a teaspoon of each spice (except the clove, I only added two whole cloves) to my tiny 5 cup in order to get the real flavor of it.

So here is what I did. I filled my pot 2/3 of the way full with water and then filled the final 1/3 with apple juice. Then I added a tsp of vanilla. (The juice does give it a bit of a tang, next time Im going to try cider instead).

I added my coffee to the filter then added about 1.5 tsp cinnamon, .5 tsp nutmeg and ginger, and 2 whole cloves. Then I just stirred it up and let it brew. Add some sugar and cream and delicious!

Next time I'll be adding some whipped cream and cinnamon on top!

6 Ways to Stretch Ground Beef

I'll admit, B and I are still learning how to budget. There was a time not long ago that we were stupid college kids who lived well beyond our means. And when the end of the month came and we were just too broke to afford groceries, we learned really fast how to make what we had last or else we were eating PB&J until the next paycheck. Thankfully we no longer live beyond our means and have actually started saving money (imagine that!), but there was once that time.

Ground beef can be pretty cheap. Cheaper than most things anyway. We stock up on ground beef, in fact I have 8 Lbs of it in my freezer right now.

When you're short on money though, 1 Lb of ground beef may need to last more than a day. So I've made a list of the top 10 ways we stretched our ground beef.

1) Chili. Chili is simple and cheap to make. A pound of ground beef, a can of tomato sauce, a can of diced tomatoes, 4 cups of water, 2 beef boullion cubes, 2 cans of kidney beans, and a can of tomato paste.

There are multiple things you can do with chili. You can eat it over rice or noodles. You can put it on hot dogs. You can put it over nachos with cheese. Mix it in with mac and cheese and you have chili mac. Put it over burgers. There are many things you can do with chili to give yourself something different and still make it last 2 or 3 days.

2) Tacos. Like chili, tacos are quick, cheap, and easy. A lb of beef and a packet of taco sauce.

You can take taco meat and mix it with refried beans, now you can stretch it further. Eat it as a taco, put it in a burrito, make quesadillas , make enchiladas. Put it on nachos, burgers, hotdogs, etc.. Taco meat is very simple to last a few days.

3) Pasta Sauce. Tomato sauce, dried Italian seasoning, some diced tomatoes, ground beef and if you have sausage you can add that too.

Pasta Sauce can obviously be used over noodles, you can turn it into lasagna, you can turn it into Chili later on, then you have all the things you can do with chili.

4) Shepherds pie. Ground beef, frozen mixed vegetables, and mashed potatoes. Shepherd pie is filling so you're sure to have leftovers.

5) Meatballs. Take your ground beef and mix it with a cup of cooked rice and you can get twice as many meatballs. Meatballs can be turned into subs, added to pasta, put over buttered noodles, made into sweedish meatballs, or even put over rice with gravy.

6) Vegetable soup. Add ground beef to vegetable soup. Soup will typically last 3-4 days in my family.

If we ever need to make something stretch (or I just feel like I'm getting sick and won't want to cook for a few days) these are our go-to meals when we have ground beef on hand. Tonight or tomorrow I'll have a post for pork and one for chicken.

Recipe Set: Southern Fried Chicken, MacNCheese, and Buttered Soy Green Beans

This set is one of my favorite recipe sets to post today. Not only is fried chicken one of my favorite meals, but on this day I had the chance to spend my time in the kitchen with my husband.

Brandon is a fantastic cook, but because of his work schedule, he usually doesn't have the chance to help me with dinner. Before we got married, kitchen time was a date night every week. Ladies and Gents, if you have a significant other that enjoys being in the kitchen, this is a fun and inexpensive way to have a great date night. On occasion B and I would even get a babysitter for tiny tot, just to come home and cook and enjoy a meal together. It's been months since we have had a chance to be in the kitchen together.

Anyway I decided to make this meal on a Saturday, which meant he could spend some time in the kitchen helping me out. It brought back many great memories.

So this recipe was my date night recipe, it's pretty simple to make on your own, and fun to make as a couple or a family. It has three parts to it, the main part is the fried chicken of course, I also made homemade mac'n'cheese and buttered soy green beans.

SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

This recipe is made for 6-8 chicken pieces. You can use any type of chicken you want, just remember cooking times will vary based on size and bone-in/bone-out.

INGREDIENTS

• 6-8 Chicken Legs
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 1/2 TBS Seasoned Salt
• 1 1/2 TBS Pepper
• 2 Tsp Paprika
• 1 TBS Garlic Powder
• 1 Brown Paper Bag
• 3/4 C Salt
• 3 Quarts Cold Water
• 6 Egg Yolks
• 2 Cups Crisco

(ignore my special K, that is not one of the ingredients lol)

DIRECTIONS

Brine chicken for 2 hours in 3 quarts of water mixed with 3/4 cup salt. Leaving it in for longer than 2 hours can result in salty chicken. (You can also set chicken in buttermilk overnight, both will result in juicy chicken!) Remove the chicken from the brine, dry with paper towels, let sit covered under a paper towel for 30 minutes until completely dry and at room temperature. (I added 2 TBS of minced garlic to my brine as well because my family loves garlic chicken, you can add this if you would like)

In a brown paper bag combine Flour, Seasoned Salt, Pepper, Paprika, and Garlic powder until well mixed. Roll chicken in the flour mixture, shake off any excess flour, then dip in the egg yolk. Place chicken back in the bag and shake the bag until chicken pieces are evenly coated. Depending on the size of the bag you may have to mix 2-3 at a time, or you can add them all at once.

In a cast iron skillet **cast iron is the best skillet to use for fried chicken, it keeps the chicken juicy and prevents it from sticking** add 2 cups of Crisco and heat skillet until it is melted but not smoking.

Shake the excess flour from the chicken and put the pieces in the pan. Do not overfill your pan, 4 legs at a time should be plenty for a 10" cast iron skillet.

Fry the pieces on med-high heat until lightly browned on both sides. Cover and cook on med-low for 20-25 minutes. Uncover and turn the heat back up to med-high. Do not be concerned if it starts bubbling, it's normal. Cook until golden brown on all sides.

Using a meat thermometer, insert as close to the center as possible without touching the bone. Internal temperature should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

TRIPLE CHEDDAR MAC'N'CHEESE

I love this recipe. It is one of my absolute favorite foods to make. And it's so unbelievably simple.

INGREDIENTS

• 1LB Elbow Macaroni
• 2 TBS Butter
• 3 TBS Flour
• 1 TBS Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 Cups Milk
• 3 Cups Shredded Triple Cheddar Blend (Sharp, Mild, and White)
• 1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
• Salt

DIRECTIONS

Cook the noodles until Al Dente. Then strain and set aside.

In a deep skillet, add melt 2 TBS Butter with 1 TBS Olive Oil.

Combine flour and gently whisk with butter until smooth and flour has cooked. About 3 minutes. Slowly add milk while continuing to whisk, gently bringing milk to a bubble.

Add 2 cups of cheese a handful at a time and whisk until melted. Season with Nutmeg and Cayenne. Taste sauce and add salt to your liking.

Add cooked pasta to the sauce and toss until completely coated.

Transfer the noodles to a baking dish and top with the last cup of cheese (you can add extra if you like, I do)

Place the baking dish in the oven at 475 Degrees Farenheit or under a broiler and brown the cheese on top.

BUTTERED SOY GREEN BEANS

• 1/2 LB Fresh Green Beans, washed with ends removed.
• 3 TBS Butter
• 1 Clove Chopped Garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• Splash of soy sauce
• 1 Tbs cornstarch
• 1/4 C water

DIRECTIONS

Melt the butter in a pan and saute garlic until golden and releasing an aroma. Add green beans, splash of soy sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss and coat green beans, and cook covered on low for about five minutes. Beans should still be crisp. Mix cornstarch into 1/4 C cold water and add to beans to thicken sauce.

Dinner was fantastic that night and it was even more wonderful to be able to prepare it with my husband and I hope that you enjoy your meal as much as I did mine!