Hushpuppies, with recipe

This is a recipe that has been floating around in my binder since the July/August 2011 Edition of Food Network Magazine. It's supposed to be a knockoff of Long John Silver's Hushpuppies. This recipe was better on day 2. Not as heavy as LJS pups. There is another recipe on the web I would like to try to see if it is closer in texture. Overall I was excited to make them (and eat them) and would make them again.

The recipe says to fry them in a pot, but I have an awesome deep fryer so we used that. Hubby does the frying. =) 

My little army of pups

Almost-Famous Hushpuppies

Ingredients
1/3 cup minced onion
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk
Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions
Combine the onion, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, sugar and onion powder in a bowl. Whisk the egg and milk in another bowl. Whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture until smooth. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

Heat 2 inches vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees F. Working in batches, carefully drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter into the hot oil. Fry, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes per batch (return the oil to 350 degrees F between batches). Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet using a slotted spoon. Sprinkle with salt. Let rest a few minutes before serving.


Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine

Ground Beef Stew, with recipe

I got this recipe from my favorite cookbook, but you can also find the EXACT recipe HERE. by Taste of Home. Though I recommend the cookbook =)

I would eat it again. My guys didn't try it. 

Maybe I'll add corn next time? Jenn said she would add cheese...Cheryl did add cheese.

Jenn, Arleen and Cheryl would TOTALLY eat it again.

Ground Beef Stew

1 lb Ground Beef
6 Medium Potatoes
16 oz package of Baby Carrots
3 Cups Beef Stock  (original recipe calls for just water)
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
6 oz can of Tomato Paste
10 3/4 oz can of Tomato Soup
Italian Seasoning, Onion & Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper

*Original recipe also calls for Dry Onion Soup Mix, but I passed on that.

You could probably add Onions and Tomatoes if you like that sort of thing.

Brown meat in Skillet over medium/high heat until no longer pink and drain. Combine all ingredients, including the Meat in crock pot. Cover and cook on High for 4-6 hours- until vegetable are cooked to your liking. Enjoy!

Italian Love Cake, with Recipe

Italian Love Cake, Cooks.com

I wanted to make Hubby a Valentine's Day dessert and thought I would try a new recipe.  I used a heart pan and a smaller pan. 

This is what it looked like when Hubby cut it. The other cakes when you Google this recipe look like there was a definition between where the cake ended and the cheese started...I think this looks cooler. 

It was different. The Jury is still out on it. 

But the Laddies of CCF LOVED IT

Italian Love Cake

1 box of Chocolate Cake Mix (Plus the ingredients listed on the box)

2 lbs Ricotta Cheese

3 Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

3/4 cup Sugar

Topping

1 envelope of Dream Whip

1 (4 oz ) box of instant chocolate pudding

1.5 cups of Milk

You will make the Dream Whip topping per box directions under "Dream Cake- Fluffy Frosting"

**The real recipe calls for the pudding, 1 cup of milk and 1 container of whipped topping mixed together

Prepare cake mix as directed on box and pour into greased 9x13 pan. Mix Ricotta Cheese, eggs, vanilla and sugar. Pour on top of the cake batter-Do not mix. (I colored the cheese mix red for Valentine's Day) Bake at 325 for one hour. I had to cook a little longer because it was still raw. Cool and refrigerate overnight. Frost the next day. 

Lasagna Soup, with "recipe"

Best. Recipe. EVARRRR.

So here's the story. I had a Lasagna soup recipe in my "to make" file for years now. I have been trying to actually make the new recipes for the last year and feel I have been pretty successful at incorporating new recipes at our dinner table. You would have to double check with the guys thought on that ;)

A few weeks ago Jenn text me a recipe for Lasagna soup, and that same weekend I saw it in the "To make" pile and thought- "I need to just make this".  I will have to make a batch for when Q comes over becuase I fear it will be GONE by the time we see him again. (Which will probably be in 2 days but yeah its that good). It was also "casually" mentioned that I probably shouldn't share too much of this with my coworkers either hahaha. I did make Jenn and Arleen each a sampling for their tasting pleasure. 

I didn't use one recipe in particular, I mashed about 3 together. Some had peppers and other things I don't eat. So feel free to add stuff or look up other recipes. My recipe will be below. 

We ate around 2

Then again at 9 ! haha

Lasagna Soup

Ingredients

1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage

15-20 oz Tomato Sauce

6 oz Tomato Paste

32 oz Chicken Stock

10 oz Beef Stock **

Minced Garlic

1 Tablespoon of Pesto**

Garlic & Onion Powder, Salt and Pepper

Pasta

Ricotta and Mozzarella Cheese for after plating

**I only used this because I had it left over from another recipe, so feel free to use more chicken stock or water. I just wanted more liquid. 

**Pesto isn't a necessity, I just had some left over. 

1. Brown the meat, on Medium/High heat, in a large Stockpot/Dutch Oven. Drain excess grease.

2. Add Minced Garlic and cook until fragrant- 1-2 minutes. DO NOT BURN THE GARLIC. I usually only brown the garlic for a minute because I am known to burn it. 

3. Add the tomato sauce, paste and seasonings, Mix well. Add the liquid and bring to a boil.

4. Lower the heat to simmer, cover and cook for 30-60 minutes. 

5. Make your pasta. I prefer fun pasta shapes. 

6.. Ladle into bowls, top with a dollop of Ricotta Cheese and sprinkle Mozzarella cheese on top. If you have Oven safe bowls you could add the cheese then melt in the oven on broil.

I need more now....I think this is better than the Skillet Lasagna I make. Plus it is super easy. 

Green Bean and Ham Soup, with recipe

Green Bean and Ham Soup

I am drooling just typing this so you know. The recipe is from my favorite cook book Fix it and Forget it Christmas . I originally made this last year- see post HERE. It wasn't quite the smash hit I hoped for, but I ventured away from the real recipe because I didn't have ham stock/bones. 

That MAKES THIS RECIPE. So I don't recommend making this with out some ham bones. 

I think I only adjusted 2 or three things from the original recipe. A pretty exact recipe from Cooks.com can be found here. I went to the Sausage Shoppe down the street for some ham bones. Super cheap ingredient alert. I also used fresh from the garden green beans that I had blanched & frozen last summer. I want to make more. It was a GRAND SLAM this go around. See recipe below. 

Pancake Muffins, with recipe

Pancake Pops, The Chew

I was watching The Chew and Carla Hall made Pancake Pops-pancakes on sticks. It never would have occurred to me to make pancakes in a muffin tin. I think when I watched he make this I heard Angels singing, but I can't be certain. Now, I didn't really do a thing she did except baking the mix.

So if you want to put these on a stick...click on the above link haha. 

All I did was use pancake mix like I normally would have. I use the word "normal" loosely because pancakes aren't really my thing...well until NOW. I added come chocolate chips, baked at 375 for 12 minutes and BAM!! Pancake muffins. Now I will say the wrappers stuck to the muffins. The recipe called for just spraying the pan, but that's too messy. Next time maybe I would use some silicone muffin cups. I might also consider when they are hot out of the oven to brush some syrup on them so it soaks in. Q cored out the centers of his and poured syrup in...but that didn't end as well as he had hoped. 

Breakfast to go!

Funfetti Gooey Cake Bars, with Recipe

Funfetti Gooey Cake Bars, from Bake with Christina

Jenn found this recipe at the beginning of February for us to try. It seemed easy enough so I made them for my row pals at work. NOTE: One can of Sweetened condensed milk would make 2 of this recipe...so I will probably make another soon because I now have 1/2 a cup of Sweetened Condensed milk just hangin' around in my refrigerator. Maybe I could switch up the ingredients and use Semi Sweet chocolate chips.....

Goulash-Style Stew, with recipe

Goulash-Style Stew, Penzeys

I have about a zillion recipes I want to try so I thought I better get cracking. I resorted them, filed them and picked out a few that I put on the Make this Month list. Today's new recipe is Goulash Stew. 

Cake Mix Brownies, with recipe

Cake Mix Brownies, by Cookies and Cups

I wanted to make the guys something sweet over the weekend. I had a recipe for Cake bars (you will see that soon) that used cake mix and wondered if I could make Brownies from a box of cake mix. I found a BUNCH of recipes! Below is the one I used. Instead of chips, the original blogger used baking melts so I thought I would too since I had them. The Hershey ones are nice and smooth. I didn't use the entire bag...I wanted some for snacking at an undisclosed time and date. 

Taco Bake, with Recipe

I found this recipe in a Fix it and Forget it Cook Book at the library. I don't know what edition it came from though. 

February is Food Month, I guess

Apparently I have been cooking up a storm so far in February. Get ready for at least 6 new recipes coming your way in the next 2 weeks, starting tomorrow!

 

credit

Lake Erie Monsters Hockey Game 2/6/2015

This was Q's last public band performance, that we are aware of. They played 4 songs at the Friday Night LEM Hockey Game! 

This is the band from across the arena. They were warming up. They played just before game time and after the 1st period. 

We sat with the band, these were our seats. Pretty awesome. Section 123, row 28.

This was a shot of both teams warming up. 

Our "Monster" coming out of the water. It's really cool because they have 

smoke and it looks like he is floating in a swamp. 

The Rocket Marching Band on the big screen

There's our boy! See him there??? lol