Category: MISC

VALENTINE’S DAY ~ WEEKEND OF ROMANCE FOODS

Valentine’s Day is a truly subjective menu.  Not everyone wants or dreams of the same foods.  So awhile back when we were just sitting around I quizzed hubby in a round about way and was able to come up with his favorite romantic menu to create a romantic meal. At that time I obviously planned on doing the cooking, but unfortunately since I’m still not allowed to cook, he’ll be the one preparing the recipes, but all is good and we’ll make it work.  I did borrow a few photos for this post from google images since hubby has yet to make the meal, the rest are from my archives, but the recipes are all ours.
STRAWBERRY MARGARITAS  
2 cups crushed ice 
2/3 cup fresh strawberry puree
1 cup tequila 
2 limes, juiced 
Splash Triple Sec 
Splash simple syrup (equal amounts sugar and water heated until sugar dissolves completely and then cooled)
  • Combine in a blender, ice, strawberry water, tequila, lime juice, Triple Sec and simple syrup. 
  • Puree until smooth. 
  • Pour into rocks glasses, garnish and serve.

CAJUN SHRIMP COCKTAIL
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup chili sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely minced onion
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
Juice of 1 lemon (save your rind to make the cute serving dish)
2 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Frank’s red pepper hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
salt to taste

plenty of fresh medium-large shrimp, cleaned and chilled
  • I use my mini food processor to mix it all in until well blended.
  • Chill for a day or so before needed to allow flavors to meld together.
CAESAR SALAD DRESSING
6 cloves garlic, mashed and minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Champagne Vinegar
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/3 cup canola oil
Sea Salt
White Pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Minced anchovy fillets (optional – I usually leave them out)
  • Combine garlic, mustard, vinegar and two pinches of salt in a blender and mix thoroughly. 
  • Add mayonnaise and blend together to form a thick base. 
  • In a slow stream add oil. 
  • Scrape dressing with spatula into a bowl and season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice. 
  • Optional – Add anchovies to dressing to create a deeper, saltier taste. 
PARMESAN CHEESE CROUTONS
6 slices thick sourdough bread
butter, melted, enough to coat bread
½ cup Fontina Cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  • Place bread slices on oven rack and bake until dry and golden. 
  • Melt butter in flat bowl. 
  • Combine cheeses in flat bowl. 
  • Dip first in butter and the cheese mixture. 
  • Bake on cookie sheet 8-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and melted. 
  • Cut to desired size*
*If I’m in a hurry I will sometimes cut these ahead of time and toss with the butter and cheese which coats all the sides better.
GARLIC STEAK
Steak of choice (hubby choose T-bones)
2 cloves of garlic per steak, minced fine
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar per steak
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
sea salt
white pepper
  • Pierce each steak with a marinater.
  • Whisk together the garlic, oil, salt and pepper to taste.
  • Place steak side by side of a large plate.
  • Pour marinade over top.
  • Turn steak and make sure each is well coated.
  • Cover and marinate overnight.
  • Take steak out of refrigerator an hour before grilling, turn several times making sure still well coated in marinade.
  • Firmly press garlic pieces into the steak.
  • Grilled to desired doneness – mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, medium rare….
TWICE BAKED POTATOES 
4 large baking potatoes
8 slices bacon
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions (tops and all), sliced and divided 
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour or until done through. 
  • Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. 
  • When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; saving skins. 
  • To the potato pieces add the sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon. 
  • Bake for another 15 minutes. 

SOUR CREAM DUTCH APPLE PIE
PIE
3+ cups apples, cored, peeled and chopped
lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1 small egg, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream (not light)
9 inch pastry shell, pre-baked and cooled
TOPPING
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, sliced extremely thin

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Chop the apples and combine with just enough lemon juice to coat and prevent browning in large bowl.
  • In a small bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt.
  • Fold in the sour cream, egg, vanilla and maple extract until well blended.
  • Fold the sour cream mixture into the apples until well coated.
  • Carefully pour into the pie shell, mounding towards the center.
  • Toss together the topping ingredients until well blended.
  • Sprinkle topping evenly over the apple mound.
  • Lay the pieces of butter all over the top.
  • Bake 30 minutes or until apples are tender.
  • Best served with ice cream or fresh whipped cream. If you want to be really decadent try it with Caramel Sauce.

HOMEMADE VANILLA ICE CREAM
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 jumbo eggs
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

  • Warm the milk in a small pan. 
  • Whisk the eggs with the sugar in a separate bowl. 
  • Slowly add the warm milk to the egg mixture while continuously whisking the mixture. 
  • Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and heat slowly, stirring continuously until mixture thickens to loose pudding texture. DO NOT BOIL! Let it cool to room temperature. 
  • Whisk in the cream and vanilla. 
  • Follow your ice cream maker directions for freezing.

Chicken Noodle Soup


2-4 packages of Ramen Soup mix
Boneless chicken
Bag of frozen vegetables
Water or Chicken Broth

I use this recipe to clean out the fridge…
Using leftover chicken, vegetables, rice, whatever looks good to add…


Simmer on stove…


Happy Eating…

Fire Day Friday: Grilled Steak Fajitas

I had a friend in college that met her husband in a fajita line.  Silly as it may sound, it’s true.  We went to this “Around the World” party at one of the fraternities and they had this fajita line.  That’s right…a line that forms and when you reached the end (or the beginning, however you want to look at it) you were handed a fairly well prepared fajita and a shot of tequila.  While my friend stood in line, patiently awaiting her turn to receive her fajitas (and shots), the guy standing behind her asked if she knew what time it was.  That was it.  Seriously, they started talking, found out that they were both psych majors…next thing I know it’s a year later and I’m at their wedding reception talking to them about …go on, you know I’m gonna say it…FAJITAS!!

Ok, ok…so that might not have been the greatest story ever told, but it felt like the appropriate time to tell it since we’re talking fajitas today!  I love fajitas, and used to make them all the time…isn’t it funny how you can have a favorite dish that you make over and over and over and than one day something else takes it place and that one goes away for awhile and than one day you’re thinking about something simple and fast to throw together after a long day at work and all of a sudden it hits you:  FAJITAS!!  I LOVE it when that happens!

So the other day, it hit me… why not throw together some simple, yet flavorful fajitas…a perfect post for Fire Day Friday!!  I’m sure everyone has a good fajita recipe, and there is nothing unusually different about this one, but it’s simple, it’s delicious, and it’s a perfect meal to throw together during crazy week nights!  You could use chicken in place of the steak…though I would marinate the chicken in something like lime and tequila…but that can be totally up to you!

Grilled Steak Fajitas
Ingredients:
1/4 cup beer (I used Bud Light)
3 Tablespoons Country Bob’s Honey Habanero Sauce
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 lb. flank or skirt steak
1 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed
1 yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed
1/2 sweet onion, sliced into rounds
flour tortillas

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix together the beer, honey chipotle sauce, Worcestershire, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Place the steak in a resealable plastic bag and pour the marinade over it.  Let the meat marinate for 4-6 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat grill to 400 degrees.  Place the steak directly over the fire and grill for 4-5 minutes per side.  Remove from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes, then slice into thin strips.

While the steak is resting, put the peppers and onion on the grill for 5 minutes or just until the veggies start to soften.  Remove from grill and slice into thin strips.  Place thin stips of beef and veggies on the flour tortillas; top with salsa, guacamole, or sour cream if desired.  Enjoy!

  

SPICED SHREDDED PORK TACOS ~ CLASSIC GOOD EATS

CLASSIC GOOD EATS ~ SPICED SHREDDED PORK TACOS
4 pound pork shoulder roast
1 KNORR cilantro cube
1 KNORR onion cube
1 MAGGI pollo cube
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large onion, sliced thin and separated into rings
1 cup white wine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 cup apple juice

  • Rinse and pat dry pork roast.
  • In a small food processor add: cilantro, onion and chicken cubes.  Pulse until granulated.
  • Add cumin, chili powder and oregano.  Pulse until well blended.
  • Add brown sugar, olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the wine. Pulse until well blended into a paste.
  • Rub paste into all surfaces and crevices of your roast.
  • Layer onion rings on bottom of roaster.
  • Place roast over onion rings.
  • Combine remaining wine and apple juice. Carefully pour around the roast.
  • Cover tightly and roast at 300 degrees for several hours, turning ever now and then.
  • When it’s fork tender, remove the lid, turn up the temperature to 400 degrees and roast another 20 minutes or so.
  • Remove from oven and let pork roast rest for 15 minutes.
  • Shred the roast and return the meat to the juices.
  • Serve with fresh warm tortillas, lime wedges, fresh cilantro, sour cream, guacamole and all other toppings of choice.

A New Beginning… and Lucky

I’ve been struggling with a way to get back into the swing of things here in blogland. You see just 2 months ago today I was struck with those words that we all fear hearing from our doctor. You know,  any phrase that includes the words cancer, chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. For me it was the worst Christmas present imaginable so I persevered and didn’t really let on to most of the family in the beginning – no sense ruining anyone else’s holidays since no further testing could be scheduled until after Christmas.
You truly do go through the 5 stages of grief augmented with periods of disbelief and a lack of comprehension.  It doesn’t matter how well schooled you are or how intelligent you are, those words hit you like a ton of bricks.
Last year when I began my food blog, Always Eat On The Good China, I developed the name after reading a letter that Erma Bombeck wrote when she knew she was dying from cancer.  I even put a quote from her on my side bar that I found extremely poignant.
It was around that same time that I had an appendicitis attack – I still had my appendix and it had been chronic since I was 9 years old.  Or at least I thought I was having an appendicitis attack.  We now know that I was having pain from my ovary that was growing into what was being described as a cantalouped size mass.
Fortunately for me at my well woman exam the nurse practitioner noticed what she thought was an enlarged uterus and she ordered an ultrasound because she feared uterine cancer.
The ultrasound was on the Tuesday after Christmas. The words changed, but stayed the same, cancer was still in the phrase, but now it was ovarian cancer.  To it they added terms like tumor and oncologist.
My brand new doctor (I’d never met him prior to the ultrasound tech calling him into the exam) in a brand new town thought I was in shock because I didn’t cry and react hysterically. He just didn’t know  me well enough to know I was really okay.  But, I’m a fixer, so my next phrase is always, what next?  What next turned out to be a referral to MD Anderson Cancer Center and an oncologist, whom I adore by the way!.  She and her team made it possible for me to stay both positive and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Their Motto is “making cancer history” which struck me as the right positive note for me.
The next 2 weeks and 5 days were a whirlwind of blood draws, X-rays, CT scans, MRI’s, chemical stress tests, consultations, clearances and…
I underwent surgery on the 1st knowing full well all the fine print, legal jargon and potential pitfalls of this diagnosis.  I also knew that because of the size, I would awake to only a possible pathology.  I awoke to hear things like “self-contained”, “non-invasive cancer” and “surveillance” as well as that the cantaloupe was actually a volleyball with a balloon twist.  While we are still awaiting final pathology I am now at home after a week in the hospital and catering to the whims of a 10 inch zipper through multiple layers of muscle and the needs to get my energy back and regenerate the tissue.
With that, for now, I’ll leave you with this email story that crossed my desk.  True or not, it’s heart warming and endearing and worth the read.  I choose to believe in the bright and positive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named ‘Lucky.’

Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.

Mary or Jim would go to Lucky’s toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky’s other favorite toys Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease….in fact; she was just sure it was fatal.

She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her…what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary’s dog through and through. If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won’t understand that I didn’t want to leave him! The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.

Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn’t even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap.

Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn’t come to her when she called. It made Mary sad, but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Mary woke for a second she couldn’t understand what was wrong. She couldn’t move her head and her body  felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life.
He had covered her with his love.
Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It’s been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free.
Lucky… He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
Remember….live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget….the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most Credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care for us.
 
If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! 
Live simply. 
Love seriously. 
Care deeply. 
Speak kindly. 
Leave the rest to God.
A small request
Dear God, I pray for the cure of cancer.
Amen

ZUCCHINI, PEPPERS & POTATO BAKE

This is a great side dish that I make often. What’s great about it is that you can adapt it to your own tastes. In the mood for spicy?  Add some cayenne.  Or do what I often do and add more garlic! 

This is healthy and delicious and goes with just about everything!
Zucchini, Peppers & Potato Bake 
3 potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs), cut into bite size pieces
1 zucchini (about 1 lb), quartered and cut into bite sized chunks
1 onion (I didn’t use this but I usually do), chopped in large chunks
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1/3 cup bread crumbs (I used garlic and herb)
2 tbsp. olive oil1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste

Toss together veggies in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and toss with bread crumbs. Season with paprika, salt and pepper. Put on a baking sheet covered with cooking spray and cook in a 400 degree oven for about 1 hour or 1 1/4 hours. Stirring occasionally until potatoes are tender and lightly brown. You may need to adjust cooking time depending how done you want your veggies.

Total calories = 1170
6 servings = 195 calories

1 Orange Chipotle Rib + Zucchini, Peppers & Potato Bake = 595 calorie dinner

HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI SAUCE

Spaghetti Sauce.  A food that everyone seems to have their versions of.  This is the best spaghetti sauce that I have ever tasted.  It is my nana’s recipe and I have never tasted another remotely like it.  Everyone that has tasted it has enjoyed it and gone back for seconds.  I make a double batch and freeze the leftovers for busy weeknights.  Serve with a salad and big,crusty bread and you have a complete meal.  Nana’s recipe calls for ground beef but you can certainly lighten it up with ground turkey.  And please don’t leave out the Heinz 57 sauce.  It is crucial to the outcome.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Nana’s Spaghetti Sauce
3 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Heinz 57 steak sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • Brown onion and green pepper in a large skillet in a small amount of oil.
  • Add ground beef to the onion and green peppers; cook until brown.
  • Carefully drain the hamburger mixture and return to the skillet.
  • Add the tomato sauce, onion salt, salt, garlic salt, oregano, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Heinz 57 and Italian seasoning.
  • Stir well and simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours.
  • Serve over your favorite pasta with garlic bread and a salad.