Hon, what's for dinner?

Black bean brownies with avocado frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:59:49 PDT

Mmmmm... Try it they really are good!

1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
15-20 drops stevia
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup oil ( I used coconut)

Place everything in a food processor until mixed. Put in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes at 350. Cool before frosting and store in fridge.

Frosting
1 avocado
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Squeeze of lemon juice
More sweetener if desired (10-15 drops stevia)

Mix all ingredients in food processor until blended and spread on brownies.

Meatza

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:57:30 PST

I am doing the South beach diet once again. Me and diets, seriously.

I wanted pizza so I made Meatza, a pizza made with a meat crust. It was good, not as good as real pizza (wouldn't that be great!)

Crust:
1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1tbsp italian seasoning

Sauce:
1 small can tomato paste
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp brown sugar (I used truvia to sweeten)
1tbsp italian seasoning

Toppings:
Cheese
any veggies you can find and saute them
Mushrooms
spinach
green onions
red peppers
olives

Mix the meat with egg and seasonings, spread onto a baking pan, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Put another pan underneath to catch the grease. Drain the grease half way thru.

Remove from oven, spread tomato sauce, cover in cheese, and sauteed toppings.

Put back in oven til cheese melts.

Stucco style wedding cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:55:59 PST

This was a really fun and simple cake. I love the way it turned out!

Home made tomato soup

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 19:27:16 PST

I Made home made tomato soup for lunch today. It was really good. It didn't taste like Campbell's which I really love, but that is why I made it.... Because I wanted it to be clean of processed garbage. It was really easy and went well with my grilled cheese!

Tomato soup
1 can organic tomato paste
3 1/2cups water
Salt pepper to taste
1/2 tbsp basil, onion powder, garlic powder
Splash of unsweetened coconut milk
1 tbsp brown sugar

Whisk all ingredients, bring to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes.

Crock Pot Corned Beef

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:13:45 PDT

Oh yeah... have I mentioned I am Irish? ☺

I had a bunch of friends over on Saturday... I was going to BBQ, but it SNOWED!!! So, plans changed and I decided to make corned beef. My husband and I love it and figured everyone else does too! Not one of our friends had ever even tasted it before! I was amazed. They really liked it and I am glad I could bring a bit of my family traditions into their lives.

So... if you are one of these people who has never had corned beef... make it for your family for St. Patties! You won't be sorry it is great.

Also, here is a tip to get a really great deal on corned beef from my previous post. Price matching.

Crock Pot Corned Beef

1 corned beef brisket (about 1/2 lb per person)
1 cup water
1 cup beer (you can leave it out if you don't like to use beer for cooking)
Salt and pepper
4 red or gold potatoes, quartered
1 white onion quartered
1 tbsp garlic minced
4 carrots cut into large pieces
1 head white cabbage

Corned beef is already seasoned so you don't need to add much to it.
Take corned beef out of package and pat dry, put it in the crock pot with the cup of water and the seasoning packet that comes with it.
Add the onion and a bit of salt and pepper as well as the beer that add a great flavor to the juices.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.
When there is an hour and a half left on low or an hour on high, add potatoes and carrots.
When Corned beef is done, take it out and let it rest for 20 minutes.
During the 20 minutes add the cabbage cut into large chunks and let it wilt in the juice with the veggies. You want it soft but not soggy.
Slice corned beef against the grain and serve with veggies and broth over the top.

Thai Style Chicken Noodle Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:40:39 PST

This is a creamy Thai chicken noodle soup. It didn't look very great until I added all the garnishments, but it tasted divine.

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

2 breast chicken cooked and thinly sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp ginger
1 can coconut milk
2 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 package rice noodles
1 red bell pepper diced
1 cup bean sprouts

Garnishments:

1 jalepeno sliced
limes
cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

ON stovetop add milk, broth garlic, ginger, chicken, soy sauce and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Add Chicken, rice noodles and sprouts, simmer for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper again. Serve with garnishments.

Lasagna soup

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:51:37 PST

I love lasagna and I love soup so I knew I would love this! Saw it on pinterest and made my own easier version.

Lasagna Soup

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 package rotini noodles
1 onion diced
1 tbsp garlic minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
pinch oregano
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

cheese mixture:
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella shredded
1/4 cup parmesan shredded

Cook ground turkey.
Add onion and cook until soft.
Add garlic.
Add everything else but the pasta.
Bring to a boil then simmer for about 30 min.
Add pasta and cook for about 7 minutes.
Mix the cheese mixture together and garnish with a heaping spoonful :).

( I made this in the crockpot, cooked the meat first, added the rest of the ingredients and cooked for 4 hours on low. I added cooked pasta right at the end.)

barbie cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:53:43 PST

Barbie cakes are so easy to make. Make a round cake and then pour about 3/4 cake mix in a pyrex glass mixing bowl and stack the two to make the dress. Then decorate :).

Peppermint Bark

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:57:56 PST

If you make any Christmas candy this year... this should be it! It is so easy and it captures the essence of the holiday, IMO.

Peppermint Bark
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 cup crushed candy canes
2 tsp canola oil or vegetable

In a glass bowl mix together the dark chocolate chips with 1 tsp of the oil. Place in the microwave for 30 second incraments, stirring between each one... until the chips are melted.

Grease a sheet pan, line with parchment or wax paper. Pour the melted chocolate on the paper and spread until thinned out on pan with a spatula. Place the pan in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Do the same thing with the white chocolate chips, but add the peppermint extract to this batch. Take out the cooled chocolate and spread the white chocolate on top. Add the crushed canes and place in fridge until cooled completely. Break apart bark with hands and enjoy!

mini meatball soup

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:24:40 PST

I made this soup recipe out of my Rachael Ray Cookbook. It was pretty good! You were supposed to use ditalini noodles, but I used macaroni...

Cook Time: 27 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 4 big servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef, pork and veal combined
1 egg, beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, a couple of handfuls
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs, a couple of handfuls
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
6 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups dried pasta, rings, broken fettuccini or ditalini

Directions

In a deep pot over medium heat add oil, chopped carrots, celery and onions and bay leaves. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook veggies 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the veggies cook, combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper.

Roll into small balls and either bake them at 375 for 12 minutes in the oven on a baking pan or fry them in a pan on the stovetop.

Uncover your soup pot and add broth and water to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Add pasta to the soup and stir. Cover and simmer soup 10 minutes. Add the meatballs and adjust your seasonings.

By Request: pf changs mongolian beef

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:54:08 PST

After I made the lettuce wraps from PF Changs... I had a few requests for this mongolian beef recipe. Honestly, I have never ordered this before, because I always order lettuce wraps and orange chicken. So, I thought I would give it a go. It was awesome... one of my new favorite recipes, AND, I had everything the recipe called for... SCORE!

On a side note, I get my flank steak from Winco. It is a great price and really good quality meat. I used to get it from Costco, which is a little more expensive, but not much.

PF Changs Mongolian Beef

2 tbsp Vegetable oil
1 tsp Ginger, minced
2 tbsp Garlic, chopped
1/2 cup Soy sauce
1 cup Dark brown sugar
1 cup Vegetable oil
1 lb Flank steak
1/4 cup Cornstarch
3 Green onions sliced

Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add ginger and garlic and let sizzle for 30 seconds, then quickly add soy sauce. Gradually add the brown sugar and let it dissolve while frequently stirring. Let the sauce come to a boil, then simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cut the flank steak into bite sized pieces against the grain of the meat. Place meat and corn starch in a bag and coat the meat. Let meat sit for 10 minutes, so the cornstarch sticks to the meat.

While meat is sitting, put the cup of vegetable oil in a wok/ skillet and heat on medium-high until hot, but not smoking. Add the meat to the wok, mix around the meat and let it brown for about 2 minutes (It will have more time to cook later). Promptly remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.

Clean the pan out and return meat to pan and cook on high for about 2 more minutes. Add the sauce to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Add the green onions and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove from heat and serve on top of rice.

Nothing Bundt Cake Copy Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:56:42 PST

This bunt cake recipe is to die for... It was too good and I forgot to get a picture of it before it was gone!

The recipe is for chocolate cake, I made red velvet and it was awesome.

Check it out over at Favorite Family Recipes.

Her beautiful picture too :)

baby food

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:06:27 PST

I always have the best of intentions. There were so many things I wanted to do with my first child: cloth diapers, home made baby food, and so on. I was working part time when she was an infant, so those things did not happen. It's funny because now that I am a SAHM, I feel like I have less time than when I was working. Maybe it is because I have 2 kids now :). But, I have succeeded in the cloth diapering department and I am loving it. So, now that my little nugget is ready to eat solids, I set aside an afternoon to make some baby food. I CANNOT believe I didn't do this before.

1. It was SO easy.
2. I know exactly what is in my babies food.
3. It was CHEAP.

I bought 2 organic sweet potatoes and 1 butternut squash. Total: $3.75. It made at least 40 small jars of baby food. Now that I know how easy it is I can never go back.

HOW TO BABY FOOD

1.Pick your produce.
2. Cook in oven or steam on stove. (squash is cut in half, placed cut side down in pan with a 1/2 cup water and cooked for 1 hour at 375)
3. Peel and cut into chunks.
4. Put in blender with 1/4 cup water.
5. Puree until smooth, adding more water as needed.
6. Pour into ice cube trays and allow to freeze.
7. Pop out and place in labeled freezer bags.

The great thing about putting them in ice cube trays is: you can mix and match, maybe one squash cube with an apple cube?

Apple pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:59:31 PST

I saw someone make these on TV the other day. It looked so simple and yummy I had to make some. I was right, they were awesome. I was worried the apple wouldn't be cooked enough, but it was perfect.

Apple Pancakes

1 apple
Pancake mix

Mix up some pancake batter, Slice the apple so the core is in the middle, punch out the core. Place the slice of apple in the pancake mix, coat on both sides. Put on the griddle, cook like a regular pancake.

Cake Pops?

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:28:27 PDT

So, the first time I had heard of cake pops was from my sister in law. She made them for her son's 3rd birthday and I was very impressed. They were adorable!! See look I swear they are too cute!

This got me curious... you know how much I love making cakes. I went to Starbucks the other day and they had CAKE POPS on the menu board. I got one for my three year old, tried it and I was hooked. It was such a delight in my mouth. Still I had no desire to try to make them (they looked too hard). Then, I was reading a magazine and what was the cover a picture of??? CAKE POPS! Inside this magazine they had a four page spread about how easy it was to make cake pops and I thought, I can do this! (plus the instructions include mixing together crumbled cake and frosting!! yum) Darn that magazine... it took a day of my life and filled it with frustration. And so, begins my journey.

Warning: CAKE POPS are not as easy as they appear to be. (But, you can do it)

Cake Pop Recipe
1 cake baked and crumbled into tiny pieces
1 tub frosting
14 oz candy coating chips (i used wilton)
about 30 sucker sticks

Mix the crumbled cake with the frosting, you may not need to use all the frosting, you don't want it too heavy. Place the mixture in the fridge and let cool for at least 30 minutes.

Take a scoop of the dough and roll it into balls (don't make them too big or they will fall off the stick) Place the balls on parchment paper on a baking sheet and place in the fridge or freezer.

Melt some of the candy melts, dip the sucker stick in the candy melt, then insert it into the ball. Repeat until all balls have a stick :). Put them back in the fridge/ freezer. Allow to set for about an hour in the fridge.

Melt the remaining melts in 15 second increments in the microwave. Now, here's the tricky part. And I promise they will not all work, and it may take you a few to get a hang of it....

Take the pop and dip it into the candy melts, pull it out gently and lightly tap the pop on the side of the bowl while turning it to remove excess. Place it in a Styrofoam board to dry. Decorate any way you like. I made them look like jack-o-lanterns. I used a tic tac for the stem and brown candy melts for the faces. So if you have some time to waste and a lot of patience, make some cake pops... they are delicious :).

grandma's soup

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:31:17 PDT

This is my grandma's famous soup:

1 lb hamburger or turkey burger (she would never use turkey burger, but I did)
1 head cabbage
2 small potatoes diced
1 small white onion
1tbsp minced garlic
3 stalks celery chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1 cup water
1 can tomato sauce (4 oz.)
1 tsp garlic powder

Brown the burger until cooked throughout. Add the the onion, garlic, potatoes and celery and cook for about 10 minutes.Add the chopped cabbage and allow to wilt for about 10 more minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 30 minutes. Salt and pepper generously.

Pirate cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:56:14 PST

Pirate themed cake for a 1 year old's birthday :)

Fall Chowder

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:52:07 PDT

Fall chowder
1 onion chopped
2 potatoes diced
2 carrots diced
1 small butternut/ acorn squash diced
1 cup chicken cooked and diced
1/4 stick butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cans chicken broth
1 cup milk
1tsp ginger
1tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Cook onion, potato, carrots, squash and butter in a soup pan for about 10 minutes on medium. Add flour and mix, cook for 2 more minutes. Add broth, ginger, cinnamon and salt/pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes or until veggies are soft. Add chicken, cook for 5 minutes. Add milk and simmer for 5 more minutes until thickened to desired consistency. Add more flour if you like a thicker soup.

Classic wedding cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:22:26 PDT

I made this cake for a friends wedding... getting better every time. Now if I could just figure out how to get a fondant wrinkle out, I would be golden :). Suggestions are welcome.

English Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:27:52 PDT

I follow a blog called Utah Deal Diva and she always makes English muffins. I have always been way to intimidated to try it. Until I got a bread maker. Everything is easy with a bread maker. I made the dough, cut them out with the top of a cup and pan fried them. Really? Who'd a thunk!

Here is the recipe on King Arthur Flour's website.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:39:19 PDT

I have been experimenting with my sisters bread maker. It is awesome. I guess I will invest in one. I made pizza dough with the bread maker and it was a world of difference from the last one and it was EASY. Here is a good recipe for dough. The best part was the bbq chicken... yum.

BBQ Chicken Pizza
1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup bbq sauce
sliced red onion
1 cup grated white cheese
chopped cilantro

Mix the bbq sauce with the chicken, spread onto the pizza. Next add the cheese generously on top of the chicken, sprinkle red onions on top. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes at about 400. Remove from oven and garnish with cilantro.

Chicken Stir Fry Tin Foil Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:46:34 PDT

Holy Moly, that is a long post title. My husband is a picky little freak and he was a baby about the fact that I didn't make the "norm" when we went camping this weekend. I was ready for a change. I saw someone had a different version of a tin foil dinner and I thought... "What a genius". So, I made my own version and it was yummy! The husband acted like it wasn't good, but I KNOW he liked it.

Chicken Stir Fry Tin Foil Dinner
Chicken cooked and cut into small pieces
Sliced pepper
Veggie of choice (I used zucchini)
Onion sliced
Cooked rice

Assemble the Tinfoil dinner with all ingredients, rice on bottom. Top with 1 tbsp soy sauce mixed with 1/2 tbsp sugar. Put a little butter in there for taste as well as salt and pepper. The trick to a tin foil dinner cooking without burning is a layer of newspaper in between the foil.

Pesto Chicken Wrap

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:43:38 PDT

Pesto Chicken Wrap

6 multi grain tortilla wraps
2 cups cooked chopped chicken
2 sliced tomatoes
2 cucumbers sliced the long way
2 cups lettuce chopped
2 tbsp pesto
Ranch dressing

Cook the chicken in a skillet briefly on medium with the pesto to combine. Assemble wrap to you liking.

Could it be any easier?

Pork Chow Mein

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:07:39 PDT

I had leftover pork spare ribs... they were delicious, but they are very hard to reheat and eat as ribs. I started searching the web for ideas for leftover pork spare ribs, not much was there. I searched for leftover pork chops, pork loin, shredded pork. I found there are not a lot of great recipes out there for leftover pork. Here is a great one, so I made one up. Make sure you don't add any extra salt, because the pork is already seasoned if it is leftovers :).

Pork Chow Mein
1 package spaghetti noodles (or chow mein noodles)
1 lb leftover pork meat
3 stalk celery sliced
1 small white onion sliced
1 can mushrooms
1 package chow mein seasoning
(There are recipes online to make your own, it is easy, but the chow mein seasoning was only 59cents)
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water

Mix together soy sauce, water and seasonings and let sit. ( I added less soy than it called for because my meat was already so salty). Cook Spaghetti noodles until desired firmness. (Chow mein noodles are 3.99 a package and they taste and look just like cooked spaghetti, so I would use spaghetti noodles) Place celery and onions in warm pan with a bit of oil, saute for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften, add mushrooms and diced pork leftovers. Mix and cook for another 3 minutes on medium heat. Add seasoning mixture, cook for 1 minute longer. Mix together meat and noodles. Top with crunchy chow mein noodles. ( If you have some)

Thai Beef Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Sienna) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:43:59 PDT

Thai Beef Salad

1 lb steak (your choice) cooked to preference

1 cucumber sliced

1 red onion sliced

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 limes juiced

1 tbsp white sugar

Slice beef add to sliced cucumbers and onions, mix. Add the rest of the ingredients and allow to marinate for about 10 minutes minimum. Serve over white rice.