It has been a while since I have posted any recipes. Life has been busy, we moved, got a dog, I got a new job. And in the whole hula-baloo, my cooking passed to the wayside. But it is back and hopefully with a vengance.



I had never worked with beets before, but the recipe sounded good and easy enough, so I gave it a shot. Husband loved it. He said he would eat it 4 out of 5 days. Just be careful, this soup stains, so I wouldn’t feed it to children.

Ingredients

5 beets, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 onion, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups unsweetened apple juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ginger

Combine the first four ingredients in a large pot. Boil for 15 minutes. Puree the mixture. Add in the salt, pepper, and ginger. Serve.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp margarine
4-cups Ore Ida Potatoes O’Brien
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tsp flour
2-cups chicken, cooked, cubed, and seasoned with chili powder
½-cup milk
½ tsp black pepper
1-cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Melt margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes and pepper and cook for 8 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and cook 1 minute. Add chicken, milk, and black pepper and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with cheese and allow the cheese to melt. Makes 4 servings.

I love Manwich Sloppy Joes. I don’t know what it is that makes them so delicious, but I could eat them everyday. That being said, I decided to make my own, at home sloppy joe mix, convinced that it couldn’t be as good as Manwich. The end result, the at home sloppy joe mix was pretty good, but still hard to beat the yumminess of Manwich that comes out of a can.

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1 ½-cup tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
4 buns

Add oil to a skillet and cook beef over medium high heat until fully cooked. Combine sugar, allspice, and cayenne pepper and sprinkle over the cooked beef. Reduce the heat to medium and add in vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and garlic, cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste. Stir to combine. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve. Makes 4 servings.

I got the base for this recipe from Real Simple magazine. I however, felt that their recipe was lacking some flavor, so I changed it to fit my and husbands tastes. Husband gave this dish a 5 out of 5 days. I’m not sure if it was because the meal was so delicious or just because he looked particularly ravenous and he would have even given Bake Cow Tongue a 5 out of 5.

Ingredients
2 4-oz boneless, skinless, chicken breast
1 Tbsp Montreal Seasoning
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1/3-cup chicken stock
1-cup rice, uncooked
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning (dried basil and oregano)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the chicken with the Montreal Seasoning. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken in the skillet and cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until almost cooked the whole way through. Remove the chicken to a plate. Put the mushrooms in the skillet and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, and chicken stock to the skillet. Cook 2 minutes. Put the chicken back in the skillet and place the skillet in the oven. Roast until the chicken is cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package directions. Once cooked add the Worcestershire sauce and Italian Seasoning to the rice. Serve rice with chicken, mushrooms, and tomatoes on top. Makes 2 servings.

This soup would make an excellent addition to any Thanksgiving dinner. It can even be enjoyed all winter long, as it is a hearty, warming soup. It is probably also one of the easiest soups I have ever made.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp margarine
½-cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ tsp curry powder
¼ tsp ginger
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 ½-cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 12 oz can evaporated milk

In a large pan over medium heat melt the margarine. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the curry, ginger, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat the onion with the spices. Stir in the broth and pumpkin and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Add in the evaporated milk, stir to combine and puree the mixture. Makes 4-5 servings.

This stroganoff is a lot thicker than the stroganoff I am used to. But it was really good and the thickness caused it to stick to the noodles and mushrooms instead of running off. I used button mushrooms in the recipes, but portabella would be good too.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp margarine
½ onion, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
¾-cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 ½ Tbsp white wine vinegar
¾-cup sour cream
1 ½ Tbsp flour
4 oz egg noodles, cooked according to package
ground peppercorns

Melt the margarine over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until soft about 5 minutes, do not brown. Raise to medium heat and add in the mushrooms and garlic, cook until the mushrooms have softened and turned brown. Remove the mushroom mixture to a bowl and set aside. In the same skillet, stir in the broth and vinegar, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil till reduced by 1/3. Reduce to low and add in the mushroom mixture. Stir together the flour and sour cream. Add the sour cream to the skillet and blend into the mushrooms. Cook until sauce thickens. Once thickened, stir in the noodles. Season with several turns of freshly ground peppercorns. Serves 2.

Macaroni and Cheese is one of those feel good meals that everyone likes. When I was a child I couldn’t have been happier if I got to eat Mac n Cheese out of the blue box everyday. As a grownup I feel the need for a healthier more sophisticated Mac n Cheese. Thus, Mac n Cheese with Peas, which takes me back to my childhood, I could eat this stuff every day.

Ingredients
4 oz uncooked elbow macaroni
4 oz low-fat sour cream
1 ½ Tbsp margarine
½-cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp black pepper
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp prated Parmesan cheese

Cook the macaroni according to directions. Drain. Meanwhile, melt the margarine in a saucepan. Transfer ½ tsp of the margarine to a separate bowl. Mix in the Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs with a fork until the mixture crumbs, set aside. In the saucepan add the Cheddar cheese, Dijon mustard, garlic, and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously. Once the cheese melts, add the sour cream and stir until combined. Add the macaroni and peas and cook until heated through. Transfer to individual plates and top with breadcrumb mixture. Serves 2.

Ingredients
½ tsp sugar
1½ tsp ginger
4 tsp flour
1-cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/8-cup soy sauce
1/8-cup plum sauce
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
4 carrots, sliced into discs
1 small head of broccoli, florets cut off
1 green pepper, cut into large chunks
2 cups prepared rice

In a hot skillet or wok oiled with 2 Tbsp olive oil place the mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, and pepper, fry for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Whisk together the sugar, ginger, flour, chicken broth, soy sauce, and plum sauce. Pour over the vegetable and cook until the sauce thickens and coats the vegetables. Serve over rice. Makes 2 servings.

In hopes of surprising my husband with a nice Valentine’s Day dinner, I purchased tuna steaks, one of husband’s favorites that he doesn’t get often. Unfortunately, we got snowed in, neither one of us went to work, and close to dinner time husband wanted to make dinner, what he thought was supposed to be tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. So I had to leak the surprise dinner before he cracked open the soup. Oh well, he was still happy to be getting tuna. I based this recipe of a one of Tyler Florence’s recipes.

Ingredients
1 jalapeno, sliced
2 tsp ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 limes, juiced
¼-cup soy sauce
1/8- cup olive oil
1/8 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
2 tuna steaks

Mix together the jalapeno, ginger, garlic, lime, soy sauce, sugar, and olive oil in a bowl. Season the tuna steaks with salt and pepper. Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to a hot skillet. Place the steaks in the skillet and cooked 1 minute on each side for rare, up the cooking time if you prefer you tuna more well done. Pour the soy mixture over the tuna, turn off the heat and allow to sit for two minutes. Serve with the soy mixture. Makes 2 servings.

It’s not often that husband gives me a concerned look when he finds out what we are having for dinner. But Avocado Pineapple Black Bean Soup did it for him. I have to admit, I was a little curious too, but the soup turned out to be quite tasty. It is also very adaptable. If you don’t like spicy food I recommend leaving out the chipotle cream sauce. The black beans aren’t necessary either, but I added them in for some extra protein and fiber. And depending on the consistency that you like your soups to have, just omit or add chicken stock.

Ingredients
Soup:
1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
¾ cup pineapple
1 ½-cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 Tbsp lime juice
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp garlic
½-cup black beans

Chipotle Cream Sauce:
¼ cup heavy cream
½ tsp chipotle sauce

In a food processor or with a hand blender, blend together the soup ingredients except for the chicken stock and black beans. Once the mixture is smooth place in to a pot over medium heat and add the chicken stock and black beans, mix to combine, heat through and place into individual bowls. Stir together the cream and chipotle. Drizzle over the soup and serve. Makes 2 servings.