Ok, now I'm ready to dig into the food made in the slow cooker and my Roaster Oven. Hope you all enjoy it and maybe even see something you'd like to try, too.
I made spinach and cheese lasagna roll-ups in the slow cooker and they were good! Better than in the oven because I didn't have to worry about them getting burned or dried out. Perfect and so good with the meat sauce.
And here it is all plated up! See how juicy it is? Of course I topped it with fresh Parmesan cheese, and I made a green salad on the side. Slow cooker cookin' is great!
This is one of the easiest, tastiest, and most comforting dishes you can ever cook in a slow cooker. Not kidding. And it makes your house smell like your favorite Mexican restaurant. What could be better? I took some beef stewing meat, onions, lots of garlic, jalapenos, can of diced tomatoes, salt and pepper, and some beef broth, and stuck it in my smaller crockpot (wished I'd used the bigger one and made more!). I turned it on and let the crockpot do the cooking. Then when it was just about time to eat, I topped it all with some yellow bell peppers because that's the only colored ones I had on hand. Of course there's lots of jack and cheddar cheeses, too. I probably added some Mexican seasonings in the beginning, too, like cumin and oregano--and a squeeze of lime or two.
I haven't posted anything since December. So much fun and festivities and cooking surrounded our Christmas this year... maybe I just needed a rest. Old Man Winter set in and he brought lots of cold weather with a good dose of snow, too. And my oven broke :( so at first I wasn't sure what to do since my oven is my life! Well, maybe not completely, but I do use it probably everyday. I'm still the CEO of Mom's Takeout and without an oven, cooking is quite a challenge. So I dusted off my Roaster Oven (you know, those big metal, porcelain cookers that Grandma used to cook the Thanksgiving turkey), and I decided to become an accomplished Roaster Oven Chef! I'm working on it. Also, I crawled way back in the cupboard and brought the two slow cookers out, cleaned them up, and have attempted to find out everything there is to know about how to cook food in a slow cooker. A challenging season of my life. And a fun one learning new things. I actually have quite a lot to show.
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Well, I couldn't start without adding a pretty picture of my mom on her 89th birthday, which was on December 30. She got lots of presents, attention and ate good food. I love you, Mom!
No need for an oven here! Fried chicken is always welcome in our home (well, except for the one special vegetarian in our family).
This delicious strawberry, spinach and feta salad goes well with just about any meal--and no need for an oven. I dressed it with a citrus vinaigrette that made it even more delicious.
This is a very good Asian Shrimp stir fry I made in my wok! Rinse and dry the shrimp, first, then salt and coat with a little cornstarch. Fry them until they start to turn pink, then remove them from the wok and add a little oil and the vegetables--in this case, snow peas, shredded carrots and green onions. Wok the food and add shrimp back and then the sauce. Lastly, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Mmmm, good. Oh, and no need for an oven! I wonder when the cooking in crockpots and roaster ovens is coming....
Christmas... the most wonderful time of the year! And I'm at it again, baking old favorites like gingerbread men, frosted lemon-sugar cookies; and I'm making some new favorites, like a recent recipe I found for Hermit bars that taste just like the fruit bars I loved eating as a kid that came from our family's favorite bakery, Smith's. Here they are:
These are so good with their chewy texture, just the right amount of spices and raisins.
I bake this lemon-sugar cookie every year, but this time I made them all in miniature size--what fun! They are just right to pop one in your mouth. Bite size! I frosted them with royal icing and added sprinkles. That's all.
Cookies all nestled in their cozy tin waiting to go to neighbors! Sugar cookies with nonpareils, orange-cranberry cookies, Hermits, and lastly, Krumkakes.
This is my old favorite Krumkake iron I used to make my Krumkakes, which are Scandinavian waffle cookies spiced with cardamom and served around the holidays.
They are a delicate, delicious cookie that can be eaten plain, or stuffed with whipped cream, fruit, or custard... or anything else you want. Ice cream would be good, too!
Gingerbread people are a "must" to make every year! They're so fun to make and smell up the house real good. All that cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and molasses. I just love these!
Thanksgiving Day has passed and now we're looking forward to Christmas. So many wonderful memories. So much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to. And I don't know why but I've been snuggling more under my cozy blanket, wanting to watch old movies, and craving lots of old-fashioned comfort food.
Like this hot roast beef sandwich smothered in good brown gravy with sides of homemade whipped mashed potatoes and baby green peas. Mmmmm... wanting this now. Reminds me of my Goggy.
And here was our Thanksgiving meal. It was so satisfying with a deliciously moist turkey, homemade bread stuffing with onions, mushrooms and celery, and lots of mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole, maple-roasted brussels sprouts, and hot rosemary rolls fresh out of the oven! Comfort food.
Oh my! One of my all-time favorites! Fried chicken tenders with mashed potatoes and gravy! Nothing more.
And sometimes I just crave a good old-fashioned meat pie--well, that's what we call it. Ground beef cooked with onions, garlic, tomatoes and seasonings, layered with French cut green beans, fresh cooked sliced carrots, and topped with mashed potatoes with cheese on top! So good.
Well, I couldn't resist more fried chicken! Here I used just legs and thighs, shook them up good in well-seasoned flour and fried them in hot vegetable oil. I've been frying chicken a long time, and this is the best way to do it in my estimation, and David's and Collin's too!
And now on to, hmmm, baking cookies for Christmas! Maybe I will make some mini cakes and cupcakes, too.
Seems I'm either looking for new recipes to cook, dreaming about cooking, thinking about cooking ... or cooking! Lovin' it all.
Mexican food is my go-to food for comfort. Always. Here, I made a black bean, cilantro rice, and chorizo quesadilla with homemade Mexican rice, guacamole, and pico de gallo. So good.
Mexican rice made the Baja way by frying the rice first in a little oil, then adding chopped onion, garlic, tomato, one large jalapeno and chicken broth. Spicy good!
Oh this is such a good sandwich made with grilled eggplant, fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped tomatoes, scallions, chopped artichoke hearts mixed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar. All put together on grilled ciabatta bread. Great idea for vegetarians.
These souffles were fun to make and easy, too. I used crescent rolls for the crust and the filling is made with spinach, artichoke, cream and eggs. Mmmmmm.... These are definitely yummy takeout food.
The difficulty for me with meatless cooking is coming up with meals that are not monotonousness, boring and tasteless, but delicious. Variety seems to always be a problem. I heard a chef on one of the cooking shows say, the other day, that he thought that if you can really cook a great vegetarian dish then that shows that you are a good cook because it is always easier to center a dish around meat. Well, maybe this is true--for me anyway. This is a challenge, an interesting one, but still a challenge. So here I go again! :)
Well, I had to post this since it's that time of year again! With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I need to find some variety this year for our Thanksgiving Day meal. Hmmm, maybe not so much. I will still cook a turkey (I'm such a traditionalist--it's just not Thanksgiving to me without a turkey!), but so many of the sides are actually vegetarian... and good.
I know this isn't ordinary "faire" for Thanksgiving, but garlic sauteed baby kale is so stinkin' good that I may just add this to our meal this year.
Another delicious, meatless goodie is fresh cranberry and orange compote. I just love this stuff and it's so easy to make.
Fresh pears are delicious this time of year. I just cannot resist a sweet, ripe, yellow, juicy pear.
I know... you're probably saying oh my look at all those marshmallows! Yes, but this is so gooey good with the colored sweet potatoes swimming in brown sugar and butter and topped off with those soft yummy mallows! Sorry, but this has been a favorite since childhood so I just cannot leave it off the menu. So many memories...
Well I have to admit that sometimes I don't find the look of vegetarian meals all that appealing and therefore I choose not to cook those. This one I recently cooked, though, not only looked stunning but left heavenly smells wafting through the house. Sniff sniff. Mmmmm...
These are Asian lettuce wraps. Funny how the protein looks like ground chicken or turkey, but is actually crumbled tofu. Ahhh, my love for tofu -- well, not really, but shucks it's so easy to cook with since it sautes well, lends itself to any Asian recipe (of course), and takes on just about any flavor you want it to just by either marinating it or seasoning it with your favorite ingredients.
Another Asian tofu specialty! This is a delicious Phad-Thai meal that I cooked up with tofu, bean sprouts, green onions, shredded carrots, a little napa cabbage, lots of garlic, and heaped onto a mound of sticky white rice. The sauce was to die for!
This is all for now. Hmmm, wonder what I'm going to cook for the kids tonight.
