Watcha Cookin’–Shepard's pie

Shepard's Pie is not a pretty dish LOL but it’s yummy and easy for when you need a quick meal during the holidays!

For the ground meat I brown and drain it.

Then I use the gravy portion from Rachel Ray’s recipe.

Gravy:

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 cup beef stock or broth

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.

Over medium heat cook butter & flour together for 2 minutes. Whisk in broth & Worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy for one minute.

Then I add the gravy to the meat and mix in a can of corn (drain the juice).

Spread that mixture in the bottom of rectangular casserole dish.

I then make a family packet of the Idahoan garlic potatoes and spread that over top and then cover with cheese.

Pop it in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is melted and serve.

Watcha Cookin’??

Watcha Cookin’ - Meatball Subs W/homemade bread

I made these a while back and forgot to post the recipe.

For the meatballs I use Rachel Ray’s recipe well I tweak it a bit per usual :

1 lb of meat (chicken, turkey, ground sirloin whatever you like)

1 egg

3/4 cup of bread crumbs (I actually had not so I smashed up some garden vegetable ritz crackers)

3/4 tbsp onion powder

3/4 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp parsley

1/4 grated parmesean

salt & pepper

Mix all the ingredients together. Form into balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet and put in a 450 degree oven for 12 minutes.

For the rolls I used a recipe from The Kitchen Whisperer:

4 cups bread flour (I just used all purpose cause I didn’t have bread flour)

1 3/8 cup warm water (3/8 cup = 6 tbsp)

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp cold butter cubed

Add 3/8 c warm water, yeast & sugar to stand mixing bowl. Whisk together and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

In the same stand mixing bowl attach the dough hook. Add in remaining water and flour and mix on low to start and then turn it up a bit for 4 minutes.

Add in salt and mix for 5-6 more minutes until the dough is slack. Your mixer should be on medium speed.

Add in butter and mix for another 1-3 minutes.

Remove dough from mixer and place in greased bowl. Cover with a towel and let it double in size for about an hour.

Divide dough and shape into rolls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and cover again with towel and let it rise for 30-45 minutes.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 16-23 minutes or until golden brown.

I just use jar sauce from Classico or Bertolli and heat it up in a sauce pan.

Then make your subs!!

The bread was so good and I think it would be perfect for smaller rolls at Christmas dinner too!!

Watcha Cookin’??

Watcha Cookin’–Lasagna Soup

I got this recipe from Carl’s Bad Cravings:

1 lb lean ground beef

1 yellow onion diced

4-5 cloves of garlic minced (I used 2-3 tbsp garlic powder)

1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 jar Classico sauce (whatever kind you like)

8-10 cups low sodium chicken stock

1 (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1 tbsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried oregano

1 whole bay leaf

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

10 uncooked lasagna noodles

1/2 cup heavy cream (This is optional & I did not use it)

Cheese Garnish:

Mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta whatever you like

In a pan brown meat and onions (you can do this in the big pot you will be using for the soup but I find it hard to drain off fat that way) . Add in garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 30 seconds. Drain off any fat.

Place meat in big pot (dutch oven). Pour 6 cups stock in pot along with the rest of the ingredients except the heavy cream. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer until the noodles are tender, stirring occasionally (took about 20 minutes).

Discard bay leaf and add in heavy cream if you like. Also add in any remaining chicken stock until you reach the desired consistency you want. Serve and garnish with cheese of choice.

I serve this with garlic buttered french bread.

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Watcha Cookin’ - Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos

I can not for the life of me figure out where I got this recipe. I printed it up a while back and no where does it say where it’s from.

Anywho it’s awesome and it you like Bonefish’s bang bang shrimp you will love this.

You need:

For the Spice Mayo

1/2 cup of Mayo

1/4 cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (Or just chili sauce)

2-4 tsp sriracha hot sauce

1 tsp peanut butter

In a small bowl whisk together all the ingredients.

For the shrimp

1 lb raw shrimp, pealed & deveined, tailed removed. (you can also get the cooked ones cause they are literally in the pan for such a short amount of time)

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 cup corn starch

2 eggs

6 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

In large bowl toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper & garlic powder.

Place corn starch in shallow dish and lightly whisk two eggs together in another shallow dish to create a egg wash. Dip each shrimp in corn starch to coat, then dip in egg wash and set aside. (I do this all while the oil is hot in a kind of assembly line)

Heat oil in a large skillet on high heat. When the oil is hot carefully add the shrimp. Cook 30 second to 1 minute per side until crispy (C shape means they are done). You may need to cook these in a couple batches. Don’t over crowd the pan.

Remove shrimp onto a paper towel lined plate.

At this point you can add the shrimp to the spicy mayo or you can have the spicy mayo on the side. I like to let everyone add how much they want to their tacos.

Then add whatever you like to a flour tortilla. I like lettuce or coleslaw you get in the bags and cheese on mine.

So Watcha Cookin’??

Watcha Cookin’ Chicken Taco Casserole

Six Sisters’ Stuff Chicken Taco Casserole

1 (10 oz) bag tortilla chips

2 (10.75 oz) cans cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes & green chilis (Ro-tel)

1 can black beans, rinsed & drained

1 (1 oz) packet taco seasoning (I make my own with this recipe → Taco Seasoning)

3 cups, chicken, cooked & shredded (I cheated and bought a rotisserie from the grocery!)

2 cups cheddar cheese.

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9 x 13 dish.

In a large bowl combine chicken soup, sour cream, Ro-tel, black beans, taco seasoning and chicken. Set aside.

Crush chips (I did as they did and just crushed as I went) and spread half of the bag on the bottom of the pan. Spread half of the chicken mixture over the chips. Top with 1 cup of cheese. Repeat layers.

Bake for 3o minutes.

 

It tastes like a burrito to me and I loved it!!

So Watcha Cookin’??

Watcha Cookin’ Mississippi Roast

I got this recipe for Mississippi Roast from Berge Central’s blog who got the recipe from Laurie’s Life’s blog.

It could be the easiest thing I have ever made and it tasted so good and went so fast that I only got pics of the left overs. You have too make this!!

Place one tender chuck roast in crock pot.

Cover with Hidden Valley Ranch Packet or homemade. (I use the dry portion of this recipe Ranch Seasoning.)

Cover with Packet of McCormick Aus Jus mix packet or brown gravy mix packet.

Place a stick of butter on top of all of that. (I slice mine into pieces and lay it on top)

Place 4-5 Pepperoncini peppers on top.

Let Cook on low for 8 hours.

We shredded it up and ate in with Garlie Naan bread. It was sooo good!!!

I have also made this with a pork butt it just needs to cook like 9 hours or until the meat is 190 degrees so you can make pulled pork sandwiches.

Watcha Cookin’?

Watcha Cookin’

I know I did a chicken n dumplings recipe last week but my son wanted me to make it again but this time the creamy version he wanted the basic cracker barrel copycat version.

I found this on Food.com

I changed a couple things like I always do.

Instead of 2 quarts of water I used 1 qt water & 1 qt chicken stock.

Since I used some chicken stock I only added in 1 tsp salt and then just tasted it at the end to see if more was needed.

I also just used 4 chicken breasts instead of a frying chicken cause that is what I had on hand.

I used really cold butter that I cut up and put in the freezer in place of the shortening.

Again my son ate on it the next day til it was gone.

That boy loves him some chicken n dumplin’s!!

Watcha Cookin’

Creamy Chicken N Dumplings by 3 boys unprocessed

The couple things I did different from the original recipe was I omitted the carrots & celery cause ya’ll know my situation with picky eaters in my house. I added in a little celery seed so I would still have that flavor though. I also replaced the whole milk with 2% because I can not tolerate whole milk and neither can my son.

It turned out perfect and my son literally ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day.

Watcha Cookin’

Pumpkin Muffins

Not quite sure where this recipe originated and I thought I already had it on my blog but I could not find it. My sis-n-law shared it with me years ago and I have been making them ever since. They are sooo delicious and perfect for Fall baking. This makes 24 muffins so prepare to share them or eat them all I will not judge.

What are you cookin’?

Watcha Cookin’

Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole by Damn Delicious

As always I tweaked the above recipe link a bit.

4 slices bacon chopped

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces ( When I make this again I will use 3 chicken breasts.)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp homemade ranch seasoning ( I used this → recipe)

8 ounces penne pasta (if I make this again I will stick to the rotini the recipe called for penne was a little to dense a pasta for this recipe I think.)

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese

 

Alfredo Sauce

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup heavy cream ( I had none so I improvised with this → recipe)

1/4 cup grated parmesan

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly spray at 9x9 pan.

To make Alfredo sauce I had to make up my homemade heavy cream recipe first and then set aside. Them heat up the butter over medium heat in a saucepan then add garlic and stir constantly til fragrant. Whisk in heavy cream until incorporated (about 1 to 2 minutes). Stir in parmesan until slightly thickened. If mixture is too thick add more heavy cream. Salt and pepper to taste and then set aside.

Heat skillet over medium heat and cook bacon until crisp. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the fat from the bacon in the pan before you set aside the bacon on a paper towel lined plate. 

In a gallon ziploc bag add chicken, olive oil and ranch seasoning to bag. Then toss around till all chicken is coated. Add chicken to skillet with the 1 tbsp reserved bacon fat and cook through flipping once.

While the chicken is cooking put pasta on to cook per packaging and then drain.

Now its just assembly. Add pasta to pan, pour alfredo over top, then add bacon and chicken and top with cheeses. (I am going to mix them all together next time along with a little bit of the cheese then put the rest of the cheese on top so its more incorporated while cooking.)

Pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes until heated through and bubbly.

It was really good but I will change those few things I mentioned next time cause I think it will make it that much better.

So what are you cookin’?

Storm Bread

Guys everywhere was completely sold out of bread last week with our impending storm so I improvised just in case we needed more then the loaf in the freezer and all the canned biscuits and croissants I had already made..

I know panic much!!

Anyway I found this bread recipe and although it looks like a flying saucer it was very tasty and required nothing but flour, baking powder, salt, water or rice milk and a liquid fat of any kind so olive oil, melted butter, etc etc.

Yeast Free Bread

Definitely try it if your in a pinch.

Watcha Cookin’

Or Watcha Eatin’ in my case. My friend made a big batch of this soup and brought me some. OMG it is soo good.

Panera Copycat Broccoli Cheddar Soup

My friend doubled the recipe and added a block of cream cheese and some milk.

1 tbsp butter

1/2 medium onion chopped

2 bunches broccoli cut into small florets

2 carrots julienned (1 cup)

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 cup of butter

2 cups half n half

2 cups chicken stock

8 oz sharp cheddar shredded

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Salt & Pepper to taste

Sautee onions in 1 tbsp of butter until transparent. In a separate pot make a roux with 1/4 c butter & flour cooking approximately 5 minutes over medium heat. Slowly add in half n half and continue stirring. Add in chicken stock and stir and let simmer for 20 minutes. Then add in broccoli, carrots and sautéed onions and let cook 25 minutes over low heat. Stir in cheese until melted (I guess this is where my friend added a block of cream cheese to the doubled recipe so 1/2 a block if you don’t double it). Then add nutmeg and salt & pepper to taste. (Not sure when she added extra milk??)

So what are you cookin’?

Watcha Cookin'

Jamie Deen's Chili from Apple A Day

 

I have been using this recipe forever and it is delicious. I tweak mine just a bit from the above recipe cause I did not need a ginormous batch even though this still make a lot and I have picky eaters.

 

1 lb  ground turkey meat

1 medium onion diced very fine (I use my handy dandy Vidalia Chop Wizard)

3 cloves garlic peeled and diced

2 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce

2 tbsp cumin

1/4 c chili powder

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 (14.5 oz) can pinto beans (drained & rinsed)

1 (14.5 oz) can black beans (drained & rinsed)

1 (14.5 oz) can kidney beans (drained & rinsed)

salt & pepper to taste

 

Brown ground turkey in a skillet, drain and set aside. In a large pot sauté onions and garlic over medium heat. Then add canned tomatoes to the pot along with all of your spices. Let that cook for about 8 minutes then add your meat and beans. Partially cover and simmer for 4 hours. Salt & Pepper to taste.

 

 

Cornbread Muffins from Once Upon A Chef

The only thing I did differently from the original recipe was a total accident. I thought I had yellow cornmeal but I did not I had Martha White yellow cornbread mix so I added the cornmeal mix along with all the other ingredients except the salt. Turned out delicious and way better and way more moist hate that word then jiffy mix sweet corn muffins.

 

3/4 cup Martha White Yellow Cornbread Mix

1 1/4 c all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder (not even sure this was necessary because of the cornbread mix but it worked)

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tbsp honey

3/4 cup milk

1 stick unsalted butter melted and cooled

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line or spray muffin tin.

In large bowl whisk together dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl whisk eggs, honey and milk. 

Add milk mixture and melted butter to dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Do not over mix.

Pour in muffin tin and bake for 17-20 minutes. (mine only took 17)

 

 

Simple Apply Cobbler from A Cowboy's Wife

This recipe was so stinkin’ easy and delicious!!

 

1 butter pecan cake mix

2 can apple pie filling (or caramel apple pie filling ← I have only ever found this at hellmart.)

2 stick of butter melted (or you can use sprite the recipe says…I did not cause that just sounded weird.)

 

Spray 8x11 pan with nonstick spray and preheat oven at 350 degrees. Pour both cans of apple pie filling in pan then cover with cake mix. Pour melted butter over top to cover cake mix and bake for 45-60 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve with ice cream (I used butter pecan and you should too LOL!!)

 

 

So what are you cookin’ this week?