Cooking Quiz

A fun little questionnaire I got from Connie....
1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family? Does eating Fast Food at home count? We eat 4 or 5 times together... 3 adults, 2 children.... Yeah, pizza & teriyaki totally count!
2. How many cookbooks do you own? I have maybe 6 or 7, people like to give me cookbooks & I like to read them.
3. How often do you refer to cookbooks each week? Maybe once. !!!
4. Do you collect recipes from other sources? If so, what are some of your favorite sources? I am always on the lookout for something simple so Yes... Allrecipes.com is my favorite online source, there's also the Kraft brand recipe newsletter and there's always friends...
5. How do you store those recipes? Allrecipes has a virtual recipe box so hold your favorites or you can print them out (then they get tossed into another cookbook and easily lost). Recipes from friends go on my shopping list pad and then into another cookbook.
6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas? I will follow it the first time if I have all the ingredients but my mom taught me that recipes are just guidelines. :)
7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? If so, what is it? Definitely European - meat & potatoes basics.
8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation? The happy time spent simmering - I know it's all done and now the smell fills the house!
9. What's your least favorite part? Cleaning up....
10. Do you plan menus before you shop? I try....
11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances? Microwave, a good knife, and a good garlic press!
12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object and space not an issue, what would you most like to have? A rotisserie :)
13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next? A stand alone freezer for the garage.
14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage? No but I desperately need one.
15. Grocery shop alone or with others? Do the kids count? Always alone, it is actually stressful for me to shop with others.
16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week? NONE
17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors?My kitchen is French Provencal Butcher! Basil green walls, white cabinets and wood-look counter top - completely copied from a "Trading Spaces" episode. :)
18. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you? Maybe cookies before this, but definitely Spaghetti - I was 12.
19. How did you learn to cook? My mom ...
20. Tag 2 other people to play: Just do it if you want...

Taco-Stuffed Pasta Shells

(from Very Best Baby booklet)
Prep: 20 min (ha!)
Bake: 40 min
Makes 2 8x8 (2 qt.) pans (ha!)
16 jumbo dried pasta shells, prepared according to package; rinsed and drained
1 lb extra-lean ground beef
1 pkg (3 T) taco seasoning mix
1 c. water
1 can (16 oz) refried beans
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese (reserve 3/4 c.)
1 jar (16 oz) salsa (reserve 1/2 c.)
1/4 c. sliced green onions
Sour Cream (optional)

Directions:Cook noodles as directed on package (may take 15 min.) Brown & drain beef in lg skillet. Add taco seasoning mix and water, cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened. Add beans and 3/4 c. cheese. OR add beans and split in half, adding cheese to one. Mix well. Spread 1/4 c. salsa over bottom of both 8x8 baking dishes. Note: perhaps up to 1/3 c.
Fill cooled pasta shells with meat mixture; place 8 shells in each dish filled side up.
Note: I used 24 shells to fill my two 2 qt. shells, and still had meat leftover. Perhaps a larger pasta shell is needed. Spoon remaining salsa over shells. >>>Stop here if freezing<<<<

If baking immediately - Preheat oven to 350. Cover baking dish w/ foil. Bake 40-45 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with green onions and remaining (3 1/4 c.) cheese. Obviously, if you've just stuffed the shells w/ hot meat, this won't take as long.

If freezing - cover baking dish wish plastic wrap, then foil. Label and freeze for up to 2 months.
To bake frozen shells: Thaw dish in refrigerator overnight. Preheat oven to 375. Remove plastic wrap then recover w/ foil. Bake for 45-50 min or until heated through. Sprinkle w/ green onions and cheese.

Nutrition facts per serving: 347 cal, 13 g total fat, 32 g total carb, 5 g fiber, 4 g sugar, 21 g protein.

Some other notes: Supposedly each dish feeds 4 people. That's only 2 shells per person by their calculations which makes me think they must be using much larger shells, although I bought the biggest ones I could find. Since I don't eat dairy but everyone else does, I pointed my non-dairy shells toward the handles and then marked the foil with that note so I would remember. The rest of the shells were filled with the cheese & meat mixture & faced the opposite direction. No one wanted the sour cream topping, so that was easy to avoid. Kind of spicy for me even with mild salsa. But everyone else loved it so it's a keeper!

Chinese Noodle Slaw

Another cabbage recipe... a lot like the other one....
Serves: 4-6
Prep: 10-15 min
Cool: 20 min +

1 head cabbage, chopped
5 green onions
2 pkg uncooked noodles (Ramen noodles best)
1/2 c. butter1 T. sesame seeds
1/2 c. slivered almonds
1/2 c. oil1 t. soy sauce
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. vinegar (white or cider, it doesn't matter)

Directions: chop cabbage and onions, toss together in a large bowl. Saute' noodles in melted butter, add nuts & seeds until lightly browned, drain. Mix dressing ingredients in plastic container, close with lid and shake well to mix. Toss everything together, cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Refrigerate if longer than 20 minutes. Really good the next day!

Main dish: Lemon Pepper Barbecued Chicken
Other side: Rolls, rice, or fruit

Spicy Chicken Gumbo

Tried it again recently, see notes at bottom...
From More-With-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre
Serves: 8
Plan 1 hour for cooking, maybe more for prep

Saute' in large, heavy kettle:
1/4 c. oil2 onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced

Blend in:
2 T. flourCook and stir over low heat until vegetables are tender.
Add:
2 1/2 c. cooked tomatoes
2 c. cooked okra (optional!)
2/3 c. tomato paste
3 c. broth or stock
1 1/2 T. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. chili powderpinch dried basil
1 whole bay leaf
Simmer 1 hour.

Start cooking rice.
1/3 c. fresh parsley, chop & set aside

Add to gumbo:
2-3 c. cooked chicken, diced
Simmer briefly.
To serve, combine hot cooked rice with chopped parsley and mound rice in center of soup bowls using ice-cream scoop. Pour hot gumbo all around.

My notes:So after trying this again after a couple years it turned out really good. Good enough that David said we could have this all the time - and that's quite a complement! I used 2 huge chicken breasts and cooked them in the morning, cut up & put in the fridge. I was trying for a half recipe but made enough chicken for a whole. Used one diced tomato instead of cooked tomatoes, 1 can of tom. paste (was too much), 1 can of chicken broth and had to add water later. Did NOT have ground cloves or fresh parsley or whole bay leaf. Chopped dry bay leaf seemed to be ok. Oh yeah, and I didn't measure most of the seasonings beside Worc. sauce. :)

Enchiladas

Don't lose or forget this recipe!
from can of La Victoria's Enchilada Sauce:

4 corn tortillas
3 oz shredded mild cheddar cheese
3 oz shredded Montery Jack cheese
1/4 c. chopped yellow onion
1 T. oil (for frying - might be less)
1 can (10 oz) La Victoria Enchilada Sauce
Preheat oven to 350*.
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Fry each tortilla 3 seconds per side. Drain on paper towels. Mix the two shredded cheeses together and set aside 2 oz cheese. Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce in a shallow pan. Coat both sides of the torilla in the enchilada sauce. Fill each tortilla with 1 oz of cheese, 1 T. onion and 1 T. sauce. Roll tortillas and place seam side down in casserole dish. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
Bake at 350* for 15 min. Remove from oven and cool for 5 min before serving.
Serves 2-3

My notes: I used 6 tortillas (easier to split for 3 adults). Added cooked chicken to all tortillas, no cheese on two (for me!) My onion wasn't chopped small enough to some bites were more onion than chicken - ewwwww. Otherwise a very good and simple recipe. I had two enchiladas left over but were quickly eaten the next day. :)BUT Nina got fussy two days after eating this. It may have been too spicy for her, or it was the pepperoni pizza we had the day before she became fussy. Hmmmm. Probably won't try this one again until we find the root of the fussiness.

Taco Pasta

Make a great recipe the other day. It was based on Taco-Filled Pasta Shells but I used elbow macaroni instead. It was very good and AMAZINGLY it not only filled 3 adults, but actually seemed to make about 6-8 servings. (Two of my adult diners are big eaters.) See Taco-Filled Pasta Shells for the actual ingredients. The process is what I changed...

Brown ground beef, add Taco seasoning & water as usual.
Add 1 can of refried beans and 1 c. salsa to cooked meat, mix together and heat through.
Cook 1 lb. elbow macaroni in 4 qt. pot.
Drain pasta, return to pot and stir in 1 c. salsa.
Add meat mixture to pasta, stir together.
Serve from pot, garnish with shredded cheddar or sour cream.

This gave me the complete control of WHO had dairy in their dinner. I suppose it would have been very good to mix the cheese in with the meat & all the rest, but then I would've had to eat it too. Adding it at the end was fine and everyone liked it.
Goal: stretch 1 lb of ground beef through 2 meals for 4 adults. Result: Large quantity of leftovers, seemed to be roughly 6-8 servings all together, everyone was both full and happy. Mission accomplished!

Chicken and Dumplings (low fat?)

I had to add the question mark to the end because I don't know if it's a low fat recipe or not, it just seemed that way. I wanted to make chicken pot pie or chicken & dumplings but couldn't find a recipe that didn't ask for something weird so here is my mixed up version. Oh yeah, as usual, all measurements are approximate. :)

3 Large chicken breasts
4 c. water
1 med. onion sliced into quarters (reserve half)
5 baby carrots

Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to boil. Simmer until chicken looks ready to fall apart (about 1 hour). Strain chicken out of broth into a 2.5-3 quart casserole dish with a tight fitting lid. If necessary, tear apart chicken as you go! :)
Add to casserole dish:
2 c. frozen vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, beans, whatever)
1/2 medium onion (diced)
3 c. broth - or enough to cover ingredients
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. celery salt (whoops, a little too much)
1 t. rosemary
1 t. thyme
Place in 350 degree oven until heated through & bubbling, about 30 min.

Add to dish:1 pkg. Refrigerator Biscuits (Pillsbury Grands or whatever)Spoon out as many biscuits as needed to completely cover chicken mixture and replace lid tightly. Follow package directions for baking time - approximately 10-15 minutes.

The broth certainly seemed to be lower in fat than what my other recipes had called for (butter, stewing an entire chicken, etc) so other than the biscuit dough, there wasn't much fat in there at all. Ended up with good flavor but needed more salt & pepper. Also didn't have enough room for all the biscuits in my dish so they were baked alongside and turned out to be a good "sweet" next to the "savory." So that was my fun for the day!