Category: OKK MEMES & PRIOR CONTRIBUTORS

TAILGATING TIME 2.0

IT’S OFFICIAL – FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE!
We have decided to make a change this year in the way Tailgating Time will work. Instead of a new linky for each week we will be using the same linky to keep all the great recipes in one place. This will provide easy access to the recipes and create one big awesome recipe index collection. There is no limit to how many you add – of course we hope you will add a new recipe each and every week! Tailgating Time will generally be posted each week on Sundays at noon.

It doesn’t matter if you are a football fan or not, great party food is always a good thing. Bring over your grilled goods, chips and dips, appetizers, chili and chowders, cocktails, or any recipes that would be great for the football party buffet!

If any of you would like to host along with us you can click –> get the InLinkz code to add the linky to your blog too. You can post it once in awhile or every week during football season, that’s up to you. The only thing we ask is that you leave a comment here to let us know you are co-hosting, and that you visit and comment on as many of the participants as you can. 
 
 We can’t wait to see what you will bring to the party. Let the games begin. Whoo-hoo!

SLOPPY PIZZA JOES

Sloppy Pizza Joes adapted from Simple & Delicious
1lb ground beef (90% lean)
1 jar (14oz) pizza sauce
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 hamburger buns, split
4 slices part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:  Cook beef over medium heat in a large skillet until no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the pizza sauce and seasonings.  cook and stir until heated through.  Serve on buns with cheese.

Here’s what you’ll need:
I put the ground beef on to brown.  As it was cooking, I got to thinking that this might be the perfect opportunity to add some veggies and have “veggie pizza sloppy joes” so I grabbed a can of mushrooms, can of black olives, and a red pepper.  I drained the mushrooms and olives and then diced up everything.

Once the beef was cooked, I drained it and then threw in the mushrooms, olives, and red bell pepper.
Added the pizza sauce and herbs.

Let it simmer.
Sprinkled mozzarella cheese all over it.
Here’s what you’ll end up with:
Our Thoughts:
This was a very simple and delicious meal.  I am so happy that I thought to add the extra veggies to the mix.  Not only did the olives, mushrooms, and red bell pepper add to the flavor but also acted as a healthy filler.  For a family of 5, I only used 1pound ground beef.

I was thinking more about this and really anything that you would put on a pizza, you can add to this dish-pepperoni, sausage, onions, pineapple, Canadian bacon, etc.  The possibilities are endless.

Stromboli Bento

Bento lunches are a great way to get your kids to eat their lunches that they bring to school, and the best part is you can fill them with many things and leftovers work any time. In this bento I used some leftover stromboli that I made along with granola, corn cob, sliced plum and carrot curls. You could add a salad or any fruit. Of course bentos are a great way for you to want to bring your lunch to work too! This is sorta like a cultural connection…

Now for how to make the stromboli…
You can use a pizza dough from your favorite pizza place or supermarket, or make it like I did from the bread machine dough cycle. Two recipes that would work well for stromboli…one from my garlic knots recipe on The Tiny Skillet or a simple pizza dough here:
7-8 oz water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon yeast
Put ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed and set it on dough cycle. When the cycle in finished place the dough on a well floured surface.
Roll it out into a rectangle. Sometimes you have to walk away and let it rest, then come back to it. Make it the size you want. I throw a little Parmesan cheese down to keep it from sticking. Layer your stuffing…now here is where you can get creative, and the best part of making your own is you can make it the way you like it. Just don’t let the stuffing get too full to where it spills over and won’t seal, but then I don’t mind if it oozes out a little.

I used fresh (you can use frozen) spinach, cheese, Italian seasoning, mozzarella cheese and shredded chicken. My daughter doesn’t add the veggies at this point. She would rather eat them at a later time.


You can really add anything you like just make sure it’s not too juicy.

Oooo, bad photo of my shredded chicken, spinach and mozzarella cheese, but I think you get the idea.
Then you roll it like you would if you were making cinnamon rolls. Make sure you squeeze out all the air and pinch the seam closed. Lay the seam side down on the baking pan. I like to use use a stoneware bar pan, and dust it with Parmesan cheese or corn meal or flour first.

Then I brush it with good olive oil, and sprinkle it with garlic salt and Parmesan cheese, and slice a few slits (not all the way through) in the top.

Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.


Mmm…right out of the oven nice and golden and smells wonderful!

Serve with a marinara sauce, and enjoy.

Then you can use the leftovers for your lunch, and you can see how well it worked in a bento box lunch.
What will you put in your stromboli?

NOT YOUR MOM’S TUNA CASSEROLE

BUT SERIOUS COMFORT FOOD NONE THE LESS.

NOT YOUR MOM’S TUNA CASSEROLE

1/2 rotiserrie chicken, cut into small pieces or 2 large cans albacore white tuna
1 can cream of mushroom soup or substitute FOR NO PRESERVATIVES
1 can chopped green chiles, drained
1/2 cup milk
1 large can French’s French fried onion rings
1 bunch green onions, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cups wide egg noodles

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Bring a large sauce pan of water to a roiling boil.  Add noodles and simmer 5 minutes.
  • Whisk together soup or soup substitute and milk.
  • Add onions, celery, chiles and chicken pieces blending well.
  • Add in 1/2 can French’s onion rings, blending well again.
  • Add in drained noodles and cheeses, blending again until well mixed.
  • Pour into a greased casserole dish and top with remaining Frnech’s onion rings.
  • Bake 30 minutes.
  • Enjoy.

BLISSFULLY DECADENT LEMON CHOCOLATE LUSH CUPS

One of the things I did while being forced to do nothing physical was to go through all the stacks of magazines and recycle!  Since I had to sit still it only seemed logical – except I grew a stack of pages torn from magazines for recipes I must try!
I was going through a 1993 Country Living, yep 1993, and found a recipe for Lemon Cookie Cups.  The title sounded awesome and they called it a variation of classic lemon bars.  I decided to do an internet search and after much thought I am altering the original recipe from Country living and picking favorite ingredients from the dozens of other recipes I found on the internet to brew up a new recipe and am introducing:

BLISSFULLY DECADENT LEMON CHOCOLATE LUSH CUPS ~ makes 24 cups

CRUST
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
  • Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add flour and beat until well blended. If dough is soft add an additional tablespoon of flour.
  • Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
  • Either line your muffin tin with liners or spray extremely well with PURE.
  • Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
  • Divide dough evenly, about 1 tablespoon, into the 24 cups.
  • Using your lightly floured fingertips gently press dough into the bottom and up the sides of each cup.
  • Bake 15 minutes.

FILLING
1/2  cup granulated sugar
2  teaspoons finely  grated lemon rind
1  tablespoon  lemon juice
1  large egg
1  (8-ounce) cream cheese, cubed & softened

  • In a small food processor process all ingredients until smooth, scraping sides of processor bowl occasionally. 
  • Spoon 1 tablespoon filling into each prepared muffin cup. 
  • Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until edges are brown and filling is set. 
  • Remove cups from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack. 

TOPPING
8 ounces good-quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream

  • Put chocolate into a heatproof bowl. 
  • Bring cream to a simmer in a saucepan. 
  • Pour over chocolate. Let stand for 10 minutes, then whisk until smooth. 
  • Let cool, whisking occasionally. For piping, immediately transfer to pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain round tip.
  • Use immediately.

Now pretend that I have a camera this week, but since I don’t I went in search of pictures on google images that came close to making you feel like you were eating and seeing this decadent dessert.

or these
or even these
Now combine all 3 pictures, inhale deeply and smell the rich smooth lemony cream and luscious chocolate as they touch your tongue and your taste buds to combine and begin to explode and you are beginning to taste what we are eating.  
 
I haven’t made them again, but I promise a real picture soon! 
 

TAILGATING TIME 2.0

IT’S OFFICIAL – FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE!  Game #1 was great.  The Packers are off to a rip roaring start and look like they are still in Superbowl form.  Go Packers. Now for the food part.
We have decided to make a change this year in the way Tailgating Time will work. Instead of a new linky for each week we will be using the same linky to keep all the great recipes in one place. This will provide easy access to the recipes and create one big awesome recipe index collection. There is no limit to how many you add – of course we hope you will add a new recipe each and every week! Tailgating Time will generally be posted each week on Sundays at noon.

It doesn’t matter if you are a football fan or not, great party food is always a good thing. Bring over your grilled goods, chips and dips, appetizers, chili and chowders, cocktails, or any recipes that would be great for the football party buffet!

If any of you would like to host along with us you can click –> get the InLinkz code to add the linky to your blog too. You can post it once in awhile or every week during football season, that’s up to you. The only thing we ask is that you leave a comment here to let us know you are co-hosting, and that you visit and comment on as many of the participants as you can. 

We are opening the linky today to get things rolling. I can’t wait to see what you will bring to the party. Let the games begin. Whoo-hoo!

COMFORT STEW

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1 1/2 pounds select stew meat
2 (10 ounce) cans French onion soup
1 (10 ounce) can cream of onion soup
1 (10 ounce) can cream of celery soup
1 (16 ounce) package frozen stew vegetables, thawed
  • Place stew meat in sprayed slow cooker.
  • Add soups as listed and spread evenly over meat.
  • DO NOT STIR. Turn slow cooker to HIGH and cook just long enough for ingredients to get hot.
  • Change heat setting to LOW, cover and cook for 7 to 8 hours.
  • Serves 4 to 6.
Happy Eating…


Fire Day Friday: Grilled Thai Style Green Beans

I love preparing green beans on the grill.  Honestly, it’s my favorite way to enjoy them.  But, I don’t usually get too creative with them when preparing them….So when I saw Mary at One Perfect Bite post her recipe for Thai Style Green Beans, I knew I was going to have to work on jazzing my grilled green beans up.

This is a simple little dish that can be made in the oven or on the stove, but really…. you just gotta try them on the grill.  You may never want them another way again.  Serve these along side my Vietnamese Spiced Pork Chops and Sweet Chili Sauce and you have got yourself a fantastic summer meal!
Grilled Thai Style Green Beans
Adapted from One Perfect Bite

Printable Recipe 
Ingredients:
1/4-1/2 pound green beans
1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon hoisin
1 teaspoon creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat grill to 375 degrees F.  Place the green beans in a large bowl.  Mix together all remaining ingredients until well combined.  Pour over green beans and toss to coat.

Fold a 36×18-inch piece of heavy foil in half to make an 18-inch square.  Spray square with non-stick cooking spray.  Place green beans in the middle of the foil and bring together two opposite edges of foil; seal with a double fold.  Fold remaining edges together and enclose beans, leaving space for steam to build up.  Place packet on preheated grill and grill for 15-20 minutes, flipping packet over once.  Carefully remove from grill and foil packet.  Enjoy!

BANANA BLUEBERRY CRUNCH

I usually make everything from scratch, but this recipe is too good to mess with much. I have reduced the fat a bit and altered the ingredients to meet my family’s likes, but other than that this recipe is fantastic as is. The key is to remember to layer exactly as listed! It is great in a pinch since most ingredients are always in the cupboard or freezer. The original recipe called for the butter before the nuts and coconut, but I changed that. By putting it last, the nuts and coconut toast up fantastically.

BANANA BLUEBERRY CRUNCH
1 large can crushed pineapple, undrained
2-3 cups frozen blueberries
1-3 ripe banana(s), sliced thin
1 cup sugar
1 box yellow cake mix, dry
1/2-1 cup minced walnuts
1/2-1 cup flaked coconut
1 1/2 -2 sticks butter, melted

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Layer exactly as listed in even layers
  • Bake 45-60 minutes until it tests done


IT’S TAILGATING TIME AGAIN!

This week on Thursday, September 8th, NFL football season officially begins. You know what that means don’t you? Yes, it’s time for the second annual season of Tailgating Time!
It doesn’t matter if you are a football fan or not, great party food is always a good thing. Bring over your grilled goods, chips and dips, appetizers, chili and chowders, cocktails, or any recipes that would be great for the football party buffet!
We have decided to make a change this year in the way Tailgating Time will work. Instead of a new linky for each week we will be using the same linky to keep all the great recipes in one place. This will provide easy access to the recipes and create one big awesome recipe index collection. There is no limit to how many you add – of course we hope you will add a new recipe each and every week! Tailgating Time will generally be posted each week on Sundays at noon.

If any of you would like to host along with us you can click –> get the InLinkz code to add the linky to your blog too. You can post it once in awhile or every week during football season, that’s up to you. The only thing we ask is that you leave a comment here to let us know you are co-hosting, and that you visit and comment on as many of the participants as you can. 

We are opening the linky today to get things rolling. I can’t wait to see what you will bring to the party. Let the games begin. Whoo-hoo!

CHICKEN “FRIED RICE”

Chicken “Fried Rice”
1-1/2 pounds chicken breast, diced
Stir fry vegetables
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cups bulgur wheat
4 cups water
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (to taste)
Here’s what you’ll need:
 
Disregard the soy sauce, sesame seed oil, rice wine vinegar.  I was going to use it to make a sauce but I could never get it to taste right so I just went with teriyaki.

Cook bulgur wheat according to directions.  It is a 2:1 ratio so I used 4 cups of water and 2 cups of bulgur.  I minced 3-4 cloves of garlic and sliced up 1/2 of an onion.

Dice up the chicken into bite-sized cubes.
Put the bulgur on to boil and let it boil for 10-15 minutes.
Saute the onions and garlic in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in either a wok or a hot skillet.
Add the chicken.
Once most of the water has cooked out of the wheat, pour it over into the pan with chicken, onions, and garlic.  Move all of it over to one side and crack the egg.  Scramble it up and mix it in with the rest of the mixture.
Add the vegetables.  If you use canned, make sure to drain.  I used frozen.  After letting the veggies cook for a couple of minutes, I poured about 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce and mix it together.

I really wanted to have the wheat crisp up like a fried rice so I pushed it all down into the skillet and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.  I then scooped it all around and pressed it all down again and let it cook for another 3-4 minutes.  This really gave the wheat some crispiness.

This is what you’ll end up with:
This dish was so good and so healthy.  If you dont’ know anything about bulgur wheat and you are trying to eat more healthfully, I encourage you to do some research on it.  I love it.

I am really glad that I pushed the wheat down into the skillet to really let it crisp up.  It gave it the crispiness of Chinese fried rice and even Kanin really liked it.  He ate 3 helpings!!

BTW, the broccoli was great with the earthiness of the wheat.  I should have just added a whole bag of broccoli but I also added peas, carrots, and corn.
This pan was full if it gives you any indication of how much everyone liked it. 
Hope you enjoy!
April

Fire Day Friday: Slow Smoked Spare Ribs

Normally I try to keep my Fire Day Friday posts to short grilling recipes but since it is Labor Day Weekend, I want to post how I like to smoke pork spare ribs. The process is written for 1 rack of ribs, multiply as needed. 
Slow Smoked Spare Ribs
1 rack pork spare ribs trimmed St. Louis style and membrane removed from back
1 Tablespoon peanut oil
2 teaspoon black pepper, coarse ground
¼ cup BBQ dry rub
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 “long squirt” Squeeze Parkay (See instructions)
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
2 Tablespoons honey
1.5 teaspoons BBQ dry rub
Rub rib on both sides with the oil. Sprinkle both sides with black pepper. Sprinkle both sides evenly with BBQ rub. [Rub note: There are a lot of good BBQ dry rubs available on the market now. If you can’t find one or want to make your own, try the dry rub from this recipe from Chris Lilly on Grilling.com.]
The St Louis style trim gives you even portions and quicker cooking.
Build an indirect fire in your grill at 250f. If you are using a charcoal smoker or grill, mix several fist sized chunks of wood in with the coal. If you are using a gas grill here are some options for you from Grill Master, John Dawson of Patio Daddio.
I like hickory wood for flavor and cherry wood for coloring the meat.
Smoke the ribs bone side down in a covered grill for 3 hours, replenishing coals and wood as needed to maintain the temperature. 
Remove the ribs from the smoker/grill. Fold a 3 foot piece of foil in half. Place half the brown sugar and Tiger Sauce on the foil. Squirt one “rib length” squirt of the Parkay on top. Place the rib meat side down on top. 
 
Place the rest of the brown sugar, Tiger Sauce, and another squirt of the Parkay on top. Parkay sounds weird I know. But a LOT of the pros on the competition BBQ circuit use this trick.
Wrap the foil tightly around the rib rack and seal tightly. Place back on the grill/smoker for another hour.
Remove the ribs from the grill. CAREFULLY open the foil with tongs and oven mitts. Take the ribs out of the foil but keep the juice.
Whisk together the BBQ sauce, honey, and BBQ rub. Add 2 Tablespoons of the juice from the foil pack and whisk into the glaze.
Glaze both sides of the rack of ribs and return to the grill for another hour. The ribs are done when they bend easily like this but don’t fall apart.
If you want “fall off the bone” ribs (which are technically overdone), leave them in the foil for an extra 30 minutes during the foiled portion.
Slice and serve with the leftover BBQ glaze. 
I hope you all fire up your grills and enjoy this holiday weekend!