AllModern.com

Instead of writing about a recipe today, I will write about a site and some product that I own. http://www.allmodern.com/ has many nice products ranging from kitchenware to furniture. I love the designs that they have on pillows, sheets, etc. I own the Berghoff Nova 7 piece kitchen & bar set. I found it on the website by going to kitchen and clicking on the link for peelers, slicers....
I didn't know what to expect from this set because I have some of these items all over the kitchen & garage. I like this one because they will always stay together & easy to find! What amazed me the most about the kitchen set is the quality. I doubt that any of the pieces could ever break from a fall and they will last a very long time. I used the garlic press last night & it worked better than any garlic press that I have ever owned. The set is available for purchase at

http://www.allmodern.com/BergHOFF-International-1107738-BGI1000.html

I also own the CAKE Profile Votive Candle. It costs 25 dollars and is well worth the price. The quality of the votive is superior to other similar products I own by competitors. Just like the Berghoff kitchen and bar set this ware is made to last forever. All Modern says about the votive candle "Known for his innovative approach to exhibit design and project management, Scot Spratford has created unique pieces for CAKE, which truly showcase his tremendous talent. The unique silhouette of the Profile Votive Candle makes for a dramatic focal point. With a uniquely shaped base and opaque glass top, this votive will be quite the conversation starter. Stick a tea light candle into the center of this votive and watch as the warm glow illuminates the room."

The candle is available for purchase at http://www.allmodern.com/CAKE-pv003-CKE1007.html

Cooking blog & spinach

Sometimes I can't believe that I write a cooking blog. I'm definitely no Rachel Ray! I'm not even a person that enjoys cooking very much. I guess that is why I like it to be simple & easy because I do enjoy eating! It's not so natural for me, so when I actually make something that I love, I just want to tell everyone. When I was younger, everyone gave me their recipes for chicken & dumplings. Seemed easy enough, but I would ruin them everytime. I'm not even sure why now really because they taste decent when I make them now. Not good enough for me to write a blog about, but edible anyway. I've never liked spinach at all. I always thought it was suppose to be boiled & never understood why anyone liked it. I have had it where it wilted into pasta dishes & thought that was pretty good or in salads. My husband has a cousin that loves food as much as I do & I asked her what her favorite food to eat was & she said spinach!!! I was in shock. She told me how she makes it & I tried it-- I wouldn't say it is my favorite but it sure did make eating spinach much better for me. I don't know why I never thought of it before & the rest of the world probably has, but just in case someone like me stumbles onto this blog- it was very simple. Sautee lots of onions & fresh garlic in olive oil in a pot & slowly add the spinach with some salt. That was all. No water involved & the amount of garlic & onion would depend on taste & how much spinach but for me, I love garlic- so there is never too much.

Baguette with tomato.

I love fresh basil, so I make this often. When I don't have the bread- I will put everything on sliced tomatoes & just bake them. I think that tomatoes are good even if you just slice them in half, salt & pepper really well with fresh parmesan on top & bake. They are very versatile.
Back to the baguettes...
Cut the bread in half & slice each side down the center. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet & drizzle the bread with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle italian seasoning over the olive oil. Layer each piece of bread with thin slices of tomato. (One small tomato should be good for four pieces of bread) salt & pepper the tomatoes. Top with chopped sauteed garlic. I love garlic, so I use 3 cloves. Sprinkle italian cheese blend or any italian cheese on top. I bake this at 350 for about 5 minutes, take it out of the oven & add fresh basil & goats cheese on top. I put it back in the oven for a few minutes & serve.
Olives, capers, peppers can be added as well.

I love cream cheese!

I do love cream cheese & my thighs know it. I have already posted my favorite cream cheese & chicken meal- which I try to only make once every few months. I eat it plain on bagels or crackers. My husband had this huge king mackeral that he made dip out of that was really good. I use it to make fruit pizza, many dips... I really try to take it easy with the cream cheese! My friend Beth told me that she was just playing around in the kitchen & made a dip that the children over at her house wouldn't stop eating. That one is very simple, so I will put that on here. I made it & thought that it was pretty good to be sooo simple.

Take a block of cream cheese & mix in one small devilled chicken from the can.
That's all.
I told her that I could get more chicken from the chicken of the sea can, but she said that it needed to be the one that is devilled, where the can is wrapped in the paper. I just can't remember the name of it now. They are small cans.

I mentioned the fruit pizza above, I will write the recipe for that as well because it is very easy. I went to my mothers once & my brother brought one over. It was so pretty. I have heard others say that they make them different & I am not sure that I even make mine like he (or his wife) does but this is how I do it.

Pillsbury sugar cookie dough in the can. I spread it on a pizza pan & flatten it like pizza dough. I mix a block of cream cheese with sugar. I can't really say how much sugar. I think it is 1/2 cup but that is according to taste. Spread on the cooled cookie dough after it has baked until golden (follow pkg. directions on the cookie dough) Slice whatever fruit that you like & arrange it on top of the cream cheese/sugar mixture. I usually slice kiwi, strawberry & sprinkle blueberries on top. I sprinkle more sugar on top of the fruit. Refridgerate until ready to eat. Slice it like you would slice a pizza.

Mushroom & Chive sauce

This one is very simple & quick. My family loves this & I make it quite often. I almost didn't want to put this on here because I have had 2 people come over that wouldn't eat it- not even taste it. I guess just from the way it looked, they thought it was too fancy & they both said that they like their food more simple. These were 2 different people on 2 different occasions. The thing is that this meal is really simple & as far as mushroom sauces- there are other methods that require harder work. I consider this to be basic, but really good.

I cook boneless skinless chicken breast (4) in a covered griddle or pot with butter. I remove the chicken, leaving the drippings in the pan. I do season the chicken with a chicken seasoning slightly. I pour in a container of mushrooms & stirfry those around for a minute, adding more butter if needed. Pour in one container of heavy cream, add salt, pepper& chives according to taste & bring to a boil. Put the chicken back in, turn to low & stir. Serve over pasta.

Egg casserole

The last 3 recipes that I posted are somewhat healthy. This one has a lot of fat but it is good. i don't make it very often, but no one that I have ever served it for hasn't liked it. Not even my very picky son.
The night before:
6 eggs- scramble until moist in butter.
6 slices bacon- crumble
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese grated
salt, pepper & onions if you want.
Mix everything together & sprinkle the bacon on top. Put in a casserole dish & let sit overnight in the fridge. The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 & bake for about 20 min. I leave it covered until the last 5 minutes.

Basil Pesto

This may not be the best recipe in the world for basil pesto & maybe they are all pretty similar- anyway... I'm going to post it, because the title for my recipes are "simple and easy"- this one definitely fits the description.
I will say that for whatever reason- I haven't cooked with fresh herbs much in the past. That is going to change. I picked up 2 bundles of fresh basil at the farmers market & my kitchen smelled sooooo good. When I tore the leaves off, my fingers smelled great. For that alone, I want to keep it in the house at all times. I was in a hurry to make the pesto & called a friend. She told me what she remembered & maybe I changed some things. I'm sure the amount of garlic- because I love it!
I tore the leaves & put them in the blender with 1/2 cup of pine nuts, about 4 chopped garlic cloves- a little more than 1/2 cup of parmesean cheese, some salt & pepper & pulsed it. I slowly added olive oil. I'm not sure how much, but added it until it looked like a pesto sauce. I put it on my noodles & that was it. I'm not even completely sure that I did everything "right" but it was right for me, because I will be eating it every Saturday that I am home after the farmers market.
People out there who love to cook could probably give me tips, but I did like this, even though I had never been a big pesto person. I hear that basil is very easy to grow, so I will try that as well.

Portabello Mushrooms

Usually when I make mushrooms, they are sauteed in butter with garlic. A few years ago, I started stuffing them with a breading mixture but my friend Nichole gave me this recipe & I make it often. She actually watched Rachel Ray but she didn't write things down & gave me the wrong recipe. She later found Rachel's recipe on the internet & it called for Ricotta cheese instead of gargonzola. I like the gargonzola with it but never tried ricotta.

I take 4 large portabellos & place the stems in a bowl. I scrape out the gills & throw them away. Brush the mushrooms off to clean them, dip them in olive oil & place on the grill for a few minutes.
In the bowl with the stems, I add a drained can of artichokes, as much chopped fresh garlic as I feel like chopping or to taste, 1/4 cup of gargonzola- this is also according to taste. It's strong to me, so I don't use so much. I get frozen spinach & squeeze all of the water out until dry-a small handful & add it to the bowl. salt, pepper- mix. Add mixture to the mushrooms, top with parmesean cheese. Put back on the grill until the cheese on top has melted.

Jenifer & Daves noodle salad

I once had a friend named Jenifer that made me mad. That's another story, but she did make this noodle salad that I don't really care for so much to be honest. The reason that I am putting it on here is because it seems that everyone else loves it. She has 4 children & they ate it alot. She gave me the recipe & I took it to a potluck dinner once & everyone was complimenting it. Since then, I have taken it to many potlucks. This recipe makes alot. I have 2 sons that both love it as well. My youngest will eat the entire pot if I let him. Which I usually do. lol

2 or 3 chicken breast
1/2 cup radishes- diced
1 onion
1 1/2 cup sliced celery
2 small bags elbow noodles cooked & chilled
1 small can of peas

sauce
3 cups salad dressing (Miracle Whip)
2-3 tbls. mustard
4-5 tbls. dill pickle juice
salt and pepper to taste
seasonall.

Cook the noodles and chicken- let cool.
Dice the vegetables & add to chicken & noodles.
Make the sauce, add it to the salad and mix well.

pot roast

Turn heat high to brown the meat on all sides with a little salt & pepper in tbls oil. Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 packet lipton onion soup mix, stir it in with meat & cook on med. low until meat is tender. Add potatoes or carrots an hr. or so before the meat is ready. Add water as needed.
This recipe is simple but really good. Vegetables or salt and pepper added according to taste. If the roast is really big & you want more gravy, add 2 cans & 2 packets. Sometimes I make this in the crockpot instead of on the stove. They are both good.

Samosas

This is Indian & I love trying samosas in the restaurants. I found a recipe in a womans day magazine that was pretty close. My taste in the sauce is a little different, so I am not sure if other people would like it or not but I will put it on here. In the magazine article, they put to just buy chutney and there are different kinds that most people like more than the mint. I like the mint because I developed a taste for it but changed it around from the way restaurants make it.
Sauce:
3 tbls. mint chutney
2 tbls. coriander chutney
6 tbls. plain yogurt
1 tsp. sugar
stir together

Samosas
Dice up a potato & 1/2 cup onion. Saute together until almost tender. Add to potato & onion mixture 8 oz cooked ground beef.
Stir into mixture: a tbls garlic, 1 tbls, ginger, 2 tbls. curry powder. salt & pepper to taste. Cook for about a minute then stir in a small can of english peas drained & 1/2 cup chicken broth. Cook 2 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Use pie crust that you cut into triangles, add the mixture on top and roll up into triangles. Put on baking sheet, brush lightly with beaten egg and bake 20 min. until golden.

The samosa mixture is really good and some might prefer the pie crust. I liked it, but thought it was pretty thick. Depending on taste, egg roll wrappers could be used for lighter crust.

Hamburger Casserole

This is one that I have made for a very long time. It is like a Shepards pie but a little different. Some people would still call it a Shepards pie. It was the only way my boys when they were younger, would eat green beans. I am not much of a left over person, but I love this the next day & get in moods where I crave it. I like mine with lots of potatoes & cheese.

2 lbs hamburger
1 onion
1 can of tomato soup
cheddar cheese (1 bag grated)
italian seasoning
6 lg. potatoes

Stirfry the hamburger with chopped onion until done. drain. Add as much italian seasoning as you want. ( I add 2 or 3 tbls)add the tomato soup & mix well.
Put mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish with mashed potatoes on top. Make the mashed potatoes the way that you normally would & definitely salt & pepper them.
Spoon the potatoes on top of the hamburger mixture & smooth down. Add the cheese on top. Cover, bake 20 min. with lid on at 350.

crockpot chicken

I have been cooking this one since I first got married. It's fattening, but good.
Season chicken with some salt and pepper.
Cook chicken in the crockpot, debone & put back in. (I usually remove some of the fat & leave about 1/2 cup. Take a block of cream cheese, chop up & stir in, add a can of cream of mushroom soup. 1 packet of italian dressing mix. Add 1/2 cup water if needed so that it isn't too thick. Sometimes I add 3 tablespoons of chopped onions but not always. Cook covered on low for 30 min. Serve over rice or noodles.

squash casserole

Many squash casseroles are similar. I found this one on the internet,changed a few things to make it faster, added a few ingredients & I love this one.

9-10 squash (yellow)
1-2 chopped onions
1-2 tbls butter
Stirfry those together until the squash is soft. Add some salt and pepper according to your taste.

While that is cooking, mix together
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (sharp)
2 lg. eggs (beaten slightly)
1/2 cup mayo
2 lg. tbls sugar

Remove squash to casserole dish and mix everything together.
Take 30 rushed ritz crackers and mix with 2 tbls melted butter. Stir together & add as a topping on the casserole. Bake in oven 35 min. at 350.

Random favorites

I get in the moods where I love to cook. That isn't always the case but over the years I have found some staple recipes that I keep ingredients in the house for at all times. Every few days I will post a different recipe & explain how it came to be.