Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year I offered to make the mashed potatoes,- an annual for me- the yams and an eggnog cake. Everything turned out yummy so I thought I'd share my recipe's here.

Mashed Potatoes

Peel 4 to 6 medium to large potatoes. Then cut into four sections. Place them in a pot and cover with water. Add salt.

Take a head of cauliflower and cut it into for sections. Place it in a pot and cover with water. Add salt

For both potatoes and cauliflower:

Bring the water to a boil then reduce heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes pierce with a fork to see if they are tender. If so strain water and place potatoes and cauliflower together in a bowl.

Add 1/2 cup of butter and mash. Then add milk and chicken broth- or water or all milk- until it reaches desired consistency.

*Instead of milk I used heavy whipping cream. It was a special occasion after all.

Yams

This year I didn't use the canned yams. I was a little nervous but they ended up being really good.

Peel 4 to 8 medium to large yams. Cut too desired size. Place in a pot and cover with water. Add salt and a tablespoon of sugar or sweetener. Bring to a boil then turn heat to medium and let cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes pierce with a fork to see if they are tender. If so strain water and place yams in a casserole dish.

Sprinkle brown sugar on top and add some pats of butter. Bake at 350 degrees until butter is melted. Top with marshmallows and place back in the oven, uncovered, until tops of marshmallows are brown.

Eggnog Cake

Take a yellow cake mix and follow the mixing directions on the box, except replace the water with eggnog. Add some nutmeg and cinnamon to taste. Bake as box directs.

Frosting

1/2 cup of cream cheese

1/2 cup of eggnog

1/2 cup of butter

1 tablespoon of vanilla

2 and 3/4 cups of powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients together. If frosting is not thick enough add more powdered sugar.

*I made a layered circle cake, but I think I'll try it again and bake it as a sheet cake and serve the frosting on the side.

The Best Basic Brownie Recipe!

Melt together:

1 cup of butter

1 cup of cocoa

In a separate bowl combine:

4 eggs

2 cups of sugar

1 and 1/2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Optional:

1 cup of nuts

Combine all ingredients and then pour into a well greased pan- I believe the size I use is 11X7. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Mock Cafe Rio Salad

Inspired by one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe Rio, this idea originally came from my friend Jenni. I don't think my recipe is even close to hers anymore, and hers probably tastes better, but this is all I've got. Hope you enjoy!

To make this salad I pull some pork out of my freezer,- about 1/2 lb to a lb- thaw it out a little and put it in a pan. I put in about 1/4 inch of water and start cooking it over medium heat. I add in sugar- you could use any sweetener, or even apricot jam- and garlic salt to taste. I really couldn't tell you how much I use, and it seems to change every time.

I then serve it in a tortilla shell with lettuce, my favorite mexican toppings and, of course, some ranch dressing.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

1 package buttermilk ranch dressing

1 cup of buttermilk

1 cup of mayo

2 tomatillos (husk and quarter)

1 clove garlic chopped

1/3 cilantro chopped

1/2 lime juiced

1 jalapeno seeded and chopped

Puree all ingredients in a blender.

Beef (Actually Pork) and Broccoli (Actually Stir Fry)

Today I pulled some pork out of my freezer- I like to keep it on hand see recipe here- and I decided I would make up some sort of asian inspired dish. It was then that I remembered a packet of beef and broccoli seasoning I had in the pantry. I thought it would be fun to pull it out and experiment a little. I used a brand called Sunbird, and for the first part I mixed together some of the ingredients they had listed.

Which were:

3/4 Cup of water

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of oil

I mixed those with the season packet and put it in a casserole dish with the pork- I used about 1/2 lb to 1 lb of pork.

Then I took 1/2 an onion and sauted it in some oil until it was golden brown. I put that in with the pork and sauce.

I decided the sauce didn't taste sweet enough so I mixed in about a tablespoon of Dark Karo Syrup and a tablespoon of cornstarch. I then set it in the fridge.

When dinner time neared I took it out of the fridge and baked it at 350 for 20 minutes. I then took our stir fry veggies out of the freezer and cooked them in the wok with some oil. When the veggies were good and cooked I poured in the meat- I had a lot of meat, so don't be afraid to use a lot of veggies. I then added some soy sauce to taste. Last but not least, I cooked some rice to serve it over.

I'd recommend not using shredded pork like I did. But other than that I really enjoyed my meal.

Pork Roast

Whenever I find pork on sale I like to buy a roast, take it home and cook it in the crock pot. I just cook it in a water and salt mixture for a day or two, shred it and the put it in the freezer. It's nice to have on hand for several different recipes. My favorite being my Mock Cafe Rio Salad.

It's all About the Cream of Chicken

Tonight I once again pulled out my friend cream of chicken soup and I mixed in about a 1/2 a cup of vinegar and a 1/2 a cup of water. Then I put in about a 1/4 cup of sour cream and about 3/4 cup (maybe a little less) of milk. I chopped up some green onions, threw those in as well and mixed it all together. I threw in about 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar in the end just for fun.

Mind you this is another "to taste" recipe so you may want to add ingredients a little at a time and taste as you go.

I then got about 3 chicken breasts and placed them in a casserole dish. I poured some stuffing mix on top along with a few pats of butter. I poured about a 1/4 cup of water over the chicken and the stuffing and then I poured the sauce, see above, on top.

There was a lot of sauce so you really could include more chicken if you like. I'm going to throw it in the oven tonight and cook it at 350 for about 20-30 min.

OK in actuality I haven't tasted this so I don't know how good it will be, but I did taste here and there as I was making it and it did agree with me so I'm sure it will be a delicious dish. My plan is to serve it over rice, but if I had potatoes I think I would serve it over those instead.

Birthday Dinner!

Alfredo Sauce

I got this off the internet and I love it. I use skim milk in mine and it tastes great. I've even heard of someone using low fat cream cheese it still tastes good.

Melt 1/2 cup of butter in medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add 8 oz of cream cheese and 2 teaspoons of garlic powder. Sir with whisk until smooth. Add 2 cups of milk a little at a time, whisking to smooth out the lumps. Stir in 6 oz (about 3/4 cups) of grated Parmesan Cheese. Add pepper to taste.

Mandarin Chicken Salad

A favorite recipe that I got from a friend a while back. Very delicious and, with some planning, it can be very simple to throw together.

2 to 4 chicken breast boiled

1 bunch red lettuce

1 bunch green lettuce

4 or so Green onions

1/2 a head of cabbage

Slice, dice, rip, tear and then put it in a bowl. Then add:

Sunflower seeds

Sesame seeds

Almonds (chopped however you please)

To taste.

Wait There's more.

1 can of mandarin oranges

2 packets of Chicken Ramen Noodles crunched up (save flavor packets for dressing)

Mix salad ingredients all together. Now it's time to make the dressing.

Dressing

1/4 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of salt

1/2 cup of rice vinegar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 season packets from the Chicken Ramen

Pour dressing over salad, shortly before serving, and toss it all together.

Chicken, Peas and Soup

Like a majority of my recipes this was just something that I threw together. I really don't use measurements a lot. I mostly just add stuff to taste. Last night this is what we had for dinner.

I took a can of peas, a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of chicken. I mixed them all together. then I added about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of mayo and about 4 oz of cream cheese. I cooked some rice, mixed it all together and threw it in the microwave for 5 min.

I found it delicious!