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  1. Wednesday, January 31, 2007

    Corn Cake Toppers for Chili

    Corn Cake Toppers
     
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    Author:
    Ingredients
    • 1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
    • 1 egg
    • 3 tablespoons melted butter
    • ¾ cup milk
    • chopped green onion (optional)
    • couple dabs sour cream (optional)
    • shredded cheese (optional)
    Instructions
    1. Mix together the cornbread mix, egg, melted butter and milk. Cook on the stovetop in a buttered skillet, like regular pancakes. Feel free to add some chopped green onion, a few dabs of sour cream or shredded cheese to the batter before cooking the corncakes. Top your chili with the cornckaes and enjoy!
    2. If you add cheese to the batter, the corncakes will be a little messier in the pan. You can always put shredded cheese right on top of the chili and then the cheese-less corncake on top of that!

     

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 10:22 pm   No Comments
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  2. Orange Bowknot Rolls

    orange bowknots web

    Orange Bowknot Rolls
     
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    Abstract painted and pieced hearts art project
    Author:
    Recipe type: Bread
    Ingredients
    • 5¼ to 5¾ C Flour
    • 1 pkg dry yeast
    • 1¼ C milk
    • ½ C butter
    • ⅓ C sugar
    • ½ t. salt
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 T finely shredded orange peel
    • ¼ C orange juice
    Instructions
    1. In a large mixing bowl combine 2 C flour and yeast. Set aside. In a medium saucepan heat and stir the milk, butter, sugar and salt just till warm (120-130 degrees) and butter almost melts. Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Beat with an elextric mixer on low to medium speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the orange peel, orange juice and as much of remaining flour as you can.
    2. Turn dough onto floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 mins total). Shape dough into a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turn once. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour)
    3. Punch dough down. Turn onto lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
    4. Roll each portion of the dough into a 12X7 inch rectangle. Cut each rectangle into 12 7-inch-long strips. Tie each strip loosely in a knot. Arrange knots 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place till nearly double in size (about 30 minutes).
    5. Bake in a 400 degree oven about 12 minutes or till golden. Immediately remove rolls from the baking sheets. Cool on wire racks. Drizzle with Orange Icing (see next). Makes 24 rolls.
    Notes
    ORANGE ICING:
    In a small mixing bowl combine 1 C sifted powsdered sugar and 1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel. Stir in enough orange juice (1-2 T) to make icing easy to drizzle.

    JANE’S NOTES:
    Next time I make these I’m going to make the dough strips skinnier so that the rolls aren’t so bulky. Also, I’m definitely using more Orange Icing!

     

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 10:22 pm   13 Comments
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  3. Pork Chops

    Pork Chops
     
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    Author:
    Recipe type: Main Dish, Pork
    Notes
    Lately I’ve been buying these thin pork chops at, you guessed it, Trader Joe’s – I marinate them all day in soy sauce, olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, minced onion, cumin, basil, oregano (I think that’s it), then we grill them on the BBQ. They cook fast, are moist and SO flavorful.

     

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 10:22 pm   1 Comment
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  4. Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

    Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
     
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    These are delectable!
    Author:
    Recipe type: Main Dish, Chicken
    Cuisine: Mexican
    Ingredients
    • 2 cups chicken, cooked & shredded
    • 2 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 clove garlic crushed
    • 8 oz tomato sauce
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • 3 cup heavy cream
    • 5 bouillon cubes – chicken
    • ⅓ cup olive oil
    • 12-18 tortillas (I usually end up making 8 enchiladas in a 9×13 dish – I believe the medium sized tortillas, about 8-9”³ in diameter)
    • 1½ cups monterey jack grated cheese
    • 1 large onion
    • ¼ teaspoon sugar
    Instructions
    1. Sautee onion in 2 T oil until translucent. Stir in garlic, tomato sauce, salt, sugar and chicken. Cover and simmer 5 mins. In a large saucepan heat cream. Dissolve bouillon in cream – don’t heat too hot. Set aside. In a small skillet heat ~1/3 C of oil and dip each tortilla in oil turning once for a few seconds to soften – drain on paper towl. Dip tortilla in cream mixture – place on flat surface – put 3 T chicken mixture and roll up. Place rolled tortilla seam side down in 9X13 baking dish. Pour any remaining sauce over enchiladas. Cover with grated cheese. Bake 350 25-30 mins.

    creamy chicken enchiladas web

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 10:22 pm   17 Comments
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  5. Rolo Cookies

    rolo cookies web

    Rolo Cookies
     
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    From Mindy Nielson (who got the recipe from someone else”¦)
    Author:
    Ingredients
    • 1 box Devils’ Food cake mix
    • 2 eggs
    • ⅓ cup oil
    • ½ package Rolo candies
    Instructions
    1. Mix the first three ingredients together (I used my hand mixer) and then roll into little balls with 1 Rolo inside each ball (Mindy tries to make them as small as possible to maximize the Rolo to dough ratio, which is smart). Bake at 350 for 9 minutes. Makes about 30.
    2. Jane sidenote: when I made them, I ended up with 22 cookies”¦and Mindy is right about the ratio thing, next time I’ll try to make them a little smaller.

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 10:22 pm   2 Comments
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  6. Introducing… This Week for Dinner!

    “What’s for dinner?” How many times have I asked myself that question with absolutely no idea what the answer is? (Case in point… it is 4:10 pm right now and I still don’t know what we’re having tonight.) I don’t hate cooking, I hate thinking up what to cook! Solution: meal planning. When I DO actually plan a weekly menu, I cook a lot more, spend less money and am generally a happier person. This blog is an effort to keep myself planning and to get ideas from friends on their weekly menus!

    So, here’s the plan. I will post my dinner menu weekly, shooting for Sunday nights. I’ll try to post a few recipes as well, although this isn’t really a recipe site, more of a place to get ideas. Then, hopefully, friends who visit will post comments with THEIR menu for the week (and recipes if they want), providing ME (and everyone else) with some fresh ideas!

    Check the archive for my list of meals that I use when planning each week, as well as 3 old menus I put together years ago.

    DISCLAIMER: I’m not promising that my menus will be fancy. I like to cook nice dinners, but I also go for classics like sloppy joe and hot dogs from time to time, much to nate’s, and maybe even my own, dismay 🙂

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 7:03 pm   4 Comments
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  7. Week 1 Menu

    Okay, so I got a little bit of a late start this week… but here’s the rest of the week’s menu:

    WEDNESDAY:
    – Chicken Marsala
    – Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
    – Green Beans
    – Baguette & Boursin Cheese

    THURSDAY:
    – Lentil Soup
    – Baguette

    FRIDAY:
    – Hawaiian Pizza
    – Spinach Salad

    SATURDAY:
    – Leftover Night!

    SUNDAY:
    – Pork Chops
    – Long grain rice
    – Asparagus
    – Rolls

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 7:01 pm   1 Comment
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  8. Old Menu #1

    MONDAY: Lentil Soup (with bread and fruit)

    TUESDAY: Pizza

    WEDNESDAY: Hot dogs

    THURSDAY: Casserole

    FRIDAY/SATURDAY: Leftovers

    GROCERY LIST:
    Pillsbury rolls or breadsticks
    Fruit
    Onion
    Bell pepper
    Carrots (2-3)
    Mozzarella cheese
    Ham (for soup and pizza)
    Small pkg mushrooms
    Tomato
    Lettuce
    Parmesan cheese
    Hot dogs
    Hot dog buns
    Cheddar cheese
    Lentils
    Canned tomatoes (petite diced)
    Can green beans
    Can cream of chicken soup

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 6:56 pm   No Comments
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  9. Old Menu #2

    MONDAY: Sloppy Joes (with potato chips, raw carrots and dip)

    TUESDAY: Orange Chicken (with rice & cooked carrots)

    WEDNESDAY: Broccoli Cheese Soup (with good bread and fruit)

    THURSDAY: Chicken Caesar Salad (with homemade croutons and smoothies)

    FRIDAY/SATURDAY: Leftovers

    GROCERY LIST:
    Hamburger buns
    French bread
    Lettuce (2 romaine)
    Bell pepper
    Mini carrots
    Fruit (incl. bananas and oranges, frozen fruit)
    Chicken
    1 lb ground beef
    Frozen orange juice
    Frozen broccoli
    Cheddar cheese
    Half & Half
    Butter
    Parmesan cheese
    Manwich sauce
    Caesar dressing
    Madarin oranges

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 6:51 pm   No Comments
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  10. Old Menu #3

    Here is the first of those weekly menus that I created YEARS ago… the idea behind this one is that the tomato sauce you don’t use up in one recipe you can use in another, etc…

    TOMATO WEEK:

    MONDAY: Chicken Parmesan and Pasta (with Garlic Bread & Salad)

    TUESDAY: Enchiladas (with 7-Layer Dip or Guacamole)

    WEDNESDAY: Chili (with Corncake Toppers)

    THURSDAY: Chicken Cacciatore (with Pasta & Salad)

    FRIDAY/SATURDAY: Leftovers

    GROCERY LIST:
    Cheese (cheddar/jack)
    1 lb ground beef
    Salsa
    French bread/rolls
    Avocados
    Green onions
    tomatoes
    Fruit
    Lettuce
    Onion
    Bell Peppers
    Small pkg mushrooms
    Milk
    Eggs
    Bread
    Sour Cream
    Pasta/Spaghetti
    Olives (if doing 7-layer dip)
    Refried beans
    Corn chips
    Tortillas
    Enchilada Sauce
    Kidney beans

    Posted by Jane Wallin at 6:05 pm   No Comments
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