Sweet & Sour Sauce

Ingredients

1 tbspn oil

3 stalks celery

1 green bell pepper

I onion

1 cup water

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar or sweetener to taste

1/4 cup ketchup

1 can pineapple juice

2 tbspn cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Directions.

1 : sauté vegetables & set aside

2: bring to a boil all other ingredients except the cornstarch and 1/4 cup water

3: mix cornstarch and water to make a slurry

4: stir in sauté vegetables

Tortilla Shells

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

3 tbspmelted butter

3/4 cups water

1). Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add water. Slowly add water until dough forms. Make a smooth ball-should be elasticity.

2) Cut into eight roll out pieces onto a prepared surface roll to about 1/4″ thick.

3) Pan fry or griddle until slightly golden on edges. Enjoy!

Coming Soon….

Wow!!!    It has been awhile since I blogged and so much has changed!!  I’m excited that the dust has begun to settle and I can get back to photography- with my newest model- trying new home cooked meals and exploring Alaska with my family 🙂  YAY!!!  Stay tuned, life is pretty damn good 🙂

Ringing in the New Year

Today is the first day of my 365 Photo Challenge.  I found this challenge through a friend.  I plan to take a photograph every day, incorporating the theme of the week.

Seeing as last night was New Year’s Eve I decided to start my challenges off on a fun note.  Here are some of my better fireworks shots.  I set my camera up on a very slow shutter speed and used the smallest fstop that I could.  There was quite a good amout of wind, which gave me these beautiful shots!

Cake Mix Cookies

1 box cake mix of choice
1 egg
1/2 cup oil

Mix altogether
Roll into balls and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350F

Best. Pizza. Ever.

BBQ Chicken, sauted onions and sweet peppers make this a delicious and very filling pizza

Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups hot water
• 2 1/4 tsp active yeast
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 6 cups flour
• 1 tbsp garlic salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Mix yeast with hot water and sugar.  Let sit for 1o minutes- yeast will get foamy and thick.
2. In a large bowl slowly add yeast mixture to flour, 2 cups of flour at a time.
3. Add oil
4. Cover and let rise for an hour.
5. Knock down, cover and let rise
6. Repeat until ready to use- the more it rises the better.

Topping- Shredded BBQ Chicken

• 2 frozen chicken breasts
• 1 onion
• 5 small peppers
• oil for cooking

Directions:

1. Boil chicken until a fork goes all the through it but chicken is not completely cooked.
2. Use two forks to shred chicken
3. Saute Chicken in hot oil
4. Add thinly sliced onions
5. Add finely chopped peppers
6. When chicken starts to brown and onions are clear with a little carmelization remove from heat.
7. In a large bowl mix shredded chicken with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce.

Build Pizza

1. Roll out dough until its thin
2. Roll edges up of pizza to make crust
3. thin layer of pizza sauce
4. thin layer of mozzarella cheese
5. pineapples or mushrooms
6. shredded chicken
7. thin layer of cheese
8. spray crust with PAM cooking spray
9. bake at 350F on stoneware for 30 minutes.
10. serve warm with ranch dressing

Delicious Shredded Chicken Pizza Topping

Ok, this is delicious by itself, or on a sandwich with a bit of pepperjack cheese.  It is best on pizza though, and surprisingly easy!  I’m sorry that there are no pictures, this recipe was not expected to turn out very well.  Surprise, Surprise!!  It was delicious and I didn’t think to take any photos until it was devoured.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts frozen
• 1 medium onion sliced into thin strips
• 4 small peppers or 1 large pepper- sliced and diced
• oil for cooking
• BBQ sauce to taste (aka LOTS!)

Directions

1. Put frozen chicken breasts into a large pot of water and bring to a roiling boil.  Cook until chicken is tender but not thoroughly cooked.
2. Drain chicken.  With two forks begin to shred chicken apart
3. MEANWHILE  in a large pan have oil heating up.  Add shredded chicken to pan.
4. Add finely chopped onion to pan, make sure that there is plenty of oil.  Stir well
5. Add peppers
6. saute on medium high heat until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the onions have carmalized.
7. Pour into a large bowl and add BBQ sauce.
8. Top a pizza with it or turn it into a sandwich with some pepperjack cheese and whole wheat bread.  DELICIOUS!

 

Easy Hash Browns

Nothing says Saturday morning like a big home-made breakfast and cartoons.  I have indulged in these super easy hash browns the past two mornings.  The secret is to rinse all the start out of the potatoes and then to dry the potatoes as best you can.  The original recipe called for the hash browns to be fried, but I opted for baking them on my stone ware.  It freed up my hands for other chores, and playing with my daughter, while they cooked.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 fresh potatoes
• 1 tbsp onion flakes
• dash of cayenne
• dash of paprika
• Pam

Directions:

1. Use a cheese grader to shred the potatoes into a large bowl.
2. Fill bowl with cold water, stir up the potato shreds.
3. drain, rinse, and repeat.
4. drain rinse and repeat…again.
5. Use a strainer to get as much water out of the potatoes, then pat dry with a cloth.
6. In a dry bowl add onions and seasonings to potatoes.  Get creative and have fun with additional seasonings.  I added bacon bits and they were delicious!
7. Spray the bottom of your pan with Pam, make sure it is a good coating.  Then spread potatoes out so they cover the entire pan thinly.  Coat top of potatoes with Pam.
8. Set oven to broil, or 500F, and cook for about 7 minutes.  When they tops begin to brown pull them out and flip.  Make sure that you spray Pam over them again.  Bake for another 10 minutes.
9. Serve with ketchup and enjoy!

Halloween Carrot Cake

Halloween Carrot Cake

This year I have been trying to make healthier choices, so for this Halloween I decided to incorporate carrots.  The vegetable is a beautiful bright orange, and I had a huge bag of fresh carrots from my grandma’s garden.   Fresh grown carrots are better than candy any day of the week.  I found a fun carrot cake recipe and whipped this up in the kitchen this evening.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrot

 

Directions

1. In a large mixer beat the eggs.
2. Add the vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla extract
3. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
4. Add the grated carrots.
5. Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes
6. Let cake cool and frost with cream cheese frosting.  Garnish with peeled carrots.

 

Halloween Cake Inspiration

It is almost time for October’s cake.  I do not have a solid idea of what I want to do yet.  I know that this cake should be a carrot cake, mainly because I have a bunch of fresh carrots that need to be eaten ASAP.  I can use a cream cheese frosting and some food coloring to make it orange.  I am thinking that the decorations should be either witches, cats, or pumpkins.  Here are some ideas….

 

I think these carrot broom sticks would be very cute on a cake, and easy to do!

  I love this idea for a witch’s hat!

If only i could make this chocolate cat!!

 

  This cookie cutter would help a lot.

So…..I am decided!!  This Sunday I will make a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  I will tint the cream cheese frosting to a nice orange color with food coloring.  I will make a witch’s hat from a Hershey kiss and cookie.  I will also have a pretzel and carrot broomstick on the cake.  I will have to go to the local bakery shop and try to find a cat cookie cutter as well.  I can fill the cutter with melted chocolate and then freeze it.   Then all I have to do is place everything very neatly on the cake.  I am getting excited!!