Why Can't Life Be Easy Salsa???

I had no idea how crazy I would feel before we leave for 3 weeks of wedding and honeymoon bliss. I am surprisingly calm about the wedding. Believe it or not, at this point, the wedding is calming to me. Preparing to leave my commission- only sales job for 3 weeks....NOT calming. How am I supposed to teach another rep about my entire business in one email?? UGH.

I fell asleep last night in my work clothes (after I worked until 1am) with a half eaten hot pocket in my hand. Tired and anxiety are words I have given a whole new respect to.

I don't want to sound like I am complaining, because even through all this work crap, I am the happiest I have ever been! But it did get me thinking about what I wanted to put on the blog next and all that came to mind was "something easy".


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 1
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 1 shortest

World's Easiest Salsa
1 Can of stewed or diced tomatoes
2-3 Tbl fresh cilantro (just eye ball a small handful, no need to chop or measure)
1 slice of white, red, or sweet onion
4-6 slices of jarred jalapenos
2 tsp pickled jalapeno juice from jar
Salt and Pepper to taste
2-3 Tbl whole corn kernels (optional)

Just throw all the ingredients (except corn, if using) into a blender, use the pulse setting, and blend until have desired consistency. Taste with a spoon and adjust taste if necessary. If using corn, just stir into salsa with spoon.

I, personally, add lots of cilantro and onion and salt and pepper, because that's the way I like salsa to taste. But you will figure your own out. I love it so much that one time, I finished a whole bowl in one setting. I put it on egg white omelettes too! Tastes delicious.

Sakai's Salad Dressing

My new cousins, Clint and Loretta, traveled from Molokai, Hawaii, to sunny California this week, en route to the midwest, and finally, to Charlevoix, Michigan for our wedding! They recently had a baby, Sakai, who is now almost 3 months old, and is the sweetest thing you have ever seen! They stayed with us last night, and although I love her dearly, Lo is allergic to cheese!!!! I KNOW! The torture! I can't even imagine.

So, I go to make a salad last night and realize, of course, all of my salad dressings, somehow, have cheese in them. Shocking! Then I decide to make my own!!! I mean, how hard can it be??? Meanwhile, Sakai is coo-ing away in his chair. Talking to us, looking around at this foreign place, and I can barely concentrate on dinner I am so in love with him.

I found this recipe in one of my Emeril cookbooks, and I kid you not, it is FANTASTIC. I was embarrassed because when we were washing the dishes, I was purposely hoarding the left-over dressing, and dipping a spoon (ok, it was my finger) into it over and over and over. I literally had to cut myself off, or I would have drank it.

And get this......there's no cheese in it?!?! I am recently discovering that any concoction with oil, lemon, and salt is A-Okay by me!


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): I don't even want to say it
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): Sakai could have done this himself
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): you chop, you whisk. Done.

Sakai's Salad Dressing (Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette)
2 Tbl chopped fresh herbs (I used Oregano and Cilantro)
1 Tbl minced shallots
1 tsp minced garlic
3 Tbl fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbl Balsamic vinegar

Combine herbs, shallots, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl, and whisk to blend. Then slowly add olive oil in this steady stream, whisking until vinaigrette thickens. (If using vinegar, whisk in after oil.)

As I am sure you read in the last post, I love vinegar. But for whatever reason, I didn't use vinegar last night. We used the dressing as is, and then I proceeding to basically drink the dressing that was leftover. I couldn't stop myself.

Oh, and by the way, 1 tsp minced garlic??? Seriously? What am I supposed to do with that. I added at least 2-3 times that amount of garlic. It's like an addiction. I can't stop once I start. It stings.

And if you are too lazy to go to the store and get fresh herbs, use 1 tsp dry herbs for every 1 Tbl fresh herbs that recipe calls for. But know you are missing out. And that you are lazy. And that you have no real excuse by now to not have fresh herbs laying around.


T-minus 8 days until the wedding. Maybe my quest to gain a gadonka-donk can be expedited if I continually drink salad dressing. Or I might die trying.

Jerked Flank Steak Tacos with Cantaloupe Salsa and a Side of Florida Slaw

I had 3 people ask me last week if I have lost weight. This is NOT acceptable to me. I do not have weight to lose, and definitely not before my wedding. If anything, a little more junk in the trunk could be a good thing for this skin-tight wedding dress I have. The comments caught me a little off guard.

So if you are a recent bride who had to starve yourself to fit into your wedding dress, don't hate me, but I have the best wedding diet ever! I eat anything and everything possible. I had spaghetti for breakfast this morning. And I am seriously contemplating making a milkshake to chase it down. I will try and add some of my hearty recipes to my diet (and my blog) this week before leaving, but then you are going to have to come up with your own recipes for 3 weeks until I am back. But I promise to bring back some French, Italian, and Greek yumminess for you!



One of my favorite things to do recently is take recipes from cookbooks and change them up and tweek them to make 'em my own. This meal is a combination of like 15 difference recipes.

Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1blah
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 5
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 6

Jerked Flank Steak
Flank Steak
Lawry's Caribbean Jerk Marinade 
Small corn or flour tortillas 
Sour cream (optional) 

This is the easiest part: marinate flank steak in casserole dish with Jerk Marinade for as long as you have time for...the longer the better. Grill over medium heat until inside temperature is around 140. Let meat rest for at least 5 minute after taking off grill. Slice thinly, against the grain, with a long serrated knife. Serve with tortillas, cantaloupe salsa, and sour cream for tacos.



Cantaloupe Salsa

Half of a Cantaloupe, diced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
2-3 slices of red onion, diced
1 Tbl fresh cilantro, chopped finely
1 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl white distilled vinegar 
Salt

In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix. Season heavily with salt. Correct ingredients to taste.
* Note: this is NOT one of those situations where you should substitute whatever vinegar you have for the listed vinegar in the recipe. I learned this the hard way. I didn't think the vinegar was strong enough, so I added some cider vinegar. GROSS. All I could taste was cider vinegar after that. Don't do it, trust me.


Florida Slaw
Pickling:
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup water
1 Tbl salt
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)


Dressing:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 Tbl sour cream
1/4 cup Orange Syrup or Orange juice concentrate
2 Tbl rice wine vinegar
2 Tbl lime juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

1/2 green cabbage, cored and thinly shredded (or 2 bags of pre-shredded cabbage)
2 carrots, peeled and shredded (I just used a peeler to "shred" them)
2 Jalapenos, cored, de-seeded, and finely minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices of red onion, minced

1 ripe mango, diced (optional)

Whisk together vinegar, water, salt, and sugar until sugar dissolved. In shallow baking dish, mix together cabbage, carrots, jalapenos, garlic, and onion. Pour vinegar mixture over it and toss to coat. Put in refrigerator and let pickle for at least 2 hours, up to overnight, continually tossing in vinegar.

Once cabbage is done pickling, drain out all liquid. Prepare the dressing by whisking mayo and sour cream in large mixing bowl until smooth. Then whisk in orange syrup, vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper. Correct seasonings, adding lime juice or salt to taste.

Mix cabbage mixture with dressing and toss until completely coated, and then decorate with mango (or stir mango in, whichever you prefer.)


Soooo....what the h*ll is orange syrup??? I have no idea, so I just used good, fresh OJ, and it worked fine.

The one thing I will say about this entire meal is that it is pretty vinegar-y. Mind you, I added almost double the amount of vinegar to the salsa AND the coleslaw the first time I made this. But I have since learned that, as much as I love vinegar, I really didn't want an entire meal that tasted like it.

Oh, and also, if you like your food a little on the spicier side, I suggest rubbing the flank steak in some sort of jerk rub before marinating also. I like the Lawry's Caribbean Jerk marinade because it's sweet, and it's already made. But there are tons of amazing jerk marinade recipes to choose from if you want to make your own.

Garlic and Rosemary Potato Packets

Do NOT eat these if someone in your group is not eating them also. And don't even think about eating them if your spouse or partner is not eating them. They are not for the faint of heart. But if you like garlic, you are going to LOVE these.


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1- but it has lots of garlic, so I accept it
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 1- a child could make these
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4


Rosemary and Garlic Potato Packets
1-2 small redskin potatoes per person
Pearl onions
Red bell pepper
Green bell pepper
Garlic bulb
Salt/pepper
Fresh Rosemary, chopped
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 400 deg. Chop red bell pepper and green pepper (about a 1/4 of the pepper per two people). Cube potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Make a little "boat" with tin foil, large enough to fit all potatoes (or 2 boats, with half amount). In a large mixing bowl, put potatoes, peppers, pearl onions, and individual cloves of garlic, in the skin. Season with salt, pepper, rosemary, and drizzle plenty of olive oil. Toss to coat everything, maybe season with a little more salt and pepper. Put mixture into the boat. Seal it up the tinfoil packet and put into oven for 45 min- 1 hour (just open packet slightly and check to see if potatoes are done with a fork).


The best part about these are the cloves of garlic, which when cooked, become soft and mushy and delicious and you can squeeze them onto the potatoes (or eat by themselves!). But now you understand why you can't eat them alone.....because then you will remain alone.

Also, if you don't have fresh rosemary, these are good without it too. They better with the rosemary, but definitely still tasty without it.

Turkey Burgers: NOT a Substitute For Red Meat

I'm a little nervous about taking a 3 week vacation. Don't get that bitter look on your face and ask me why, like I'm crazy for complaining, which I am not btw. I shouldn't be nervous. But I haven't taken a 3 week vacation since I was 10 and had the summers off of school. Anyway, I will probably be adding lots of recipes, hopefully, over the next 2 weeks before I leave as a nice distraction from working, and planning, and packing, and preparing.....AHHHHHH!!! It's almost here!!!!

That was random, sorry. I just needed to vent a little. Now back to the food!


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 5
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 3
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 3

Havarti Turkey Burgers
1 lb ground turkey
Green pepper
Shallots or sweet onion
2-3 white mushrooms
Havarti cheese with Dill (or Jalapeno)
Worcestershire sauce
Salt/Pepper
Sliced tomato, lettuce, hamburger buns
A1 Sauce or Dijon mustard

Mince 1/2 of a shallot (or equal amount of sweet onion), and mince about a 1/4 cup of green pepper also, set aside. Finely chop mushrooms, set aside with shallots and pepper. Dice 1/2 cup or so of Havarti with dill cheese (more if you like cheesiness). In a large mixing bowl, add turkey burger and season heavily with salt and pepper. Add 1-2 Tbl of Worcestershire sauce, shallots, green pepper, mushrooms, and cheese. Mix well with hands, and form into 4 burgers. Grill or cook burgers in pan. Serve with lettuce, tomato, and A1 sauce or Dijon mustard.

A couple of key notes here:
A) Don't be afraid to add too much salt and pepper. Turkey burger is hard to cook accurately because most people are afraid to under-cook it, therefore, drying out the turkey. If heavily seasoned, harder to notice dryness. Treating the symptoms here, not the cause.
B) You can always add more cheese. When you make the burgers, just take a look at how much cheese you can see in patty. If you love cheese as I do, you might want to melt an extra slice on top, or add more to the middle!
* One time, on "Man vs. Food", he went to this burger place where they placed a big chunk of cheese in the middle of the burger so it oozed out when you took a bite. I have yet to try this but am extremely intrigued by it.
C) The quantities of green pepper, shallots, and mushrooms are not a science. Just eyeball it based on what your burgers look like when you shape them. If you can't see a lot of the goodies, add more.D) I haven't done this yet, but try it with bacon on top too! Everything is better with bacon!

Don't you love when people tell you to use turkey burger because "you can't taste the difference and it's so much healthier"?? Any meat-lover knows all too well that there is no substitute for red meat. Ever. And if I want a burger, I'm not really worried about the health factor. However, the taste difference is an easier pill to swallow in things like tacos, spaghetti sauce, etc. and I often do use them, but because I actually like the taste of turkey burger. And once in a great while, I do actually worry about eating healthy.

So yes, I like turkey burgers. But not as a substitute to a real burger, just in addition to. A different type of burger. And I have searched far and wide to find the ultimate turkey burger at a restaurant (Islands is my front runner at the moment), but started toying around with my own, and this is my favorite way to cook them so far.

This recipe is a combination of a couple different ones I have tried, but if you want a good source for turkey burger recipes that are easy and yummy, check out Rachel Ray's. She has a ton of them!

$10, 10 people, 10 ingredients

I don't know if this is actually only 10 ingredients, but it's close, and it rolled off my tongue better than "10-13 or so ingredients". But 10 people came over for dinner, and I cooked, and it cost $10 a person in groceries (and a bottle of wine for me!).

Cooking for a large group can be intimidating, but don't let it be. A couple of tricks to remember: A) have lots of booze, and snacks so no one is noticing when you freak out in the kitchen, B) when people ask you if they can help, say yes, and give them something to do, and C) don't worry when it's not perfect- most people are super happy to not be cooking for themselves and happy to be hanging out with their friends.

I still say spaghetti is the easiest way to cook for a large group. But here is another option:


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1 (Except the appetizer of cheese, which can be omitted)
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): a decent 5 just because it's a lot of food
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 5


Teriyaki Salmon and Chicken, Sauteed Shrimp, Wild Rice, Buttered Corn, and Pea Pods and Mushrooms for 10
2 lbs of fresh uncooked shrimp
2-2.5 lbs salmon
3 chicken breasts
Jar of Island Teriyaki or Very Tery Island Teriyaki sauce
Butter
Olive Oil
1 lemon
4 boxes of Near East or Rice-a-Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice
5 ears of corn
2 lbs of sugar snap peas
1 package of brown or white mushrooms
Lemon Pepper seasoning

Cheese and Baguette Appetizer
Brick of brie cheese
Brick of havarti with dill cheese
1 loaf of french bread

First thing to do is get the chicken and salmon marinating in the Teriyaki sauce. Season the salmon and chicken with Lemon Pepper seasoning (on the heavy side). Cut the salmon into 6-8 oz serving sizes, and put into ziploc bag(s) with marinade. Cut chicken breasts in half and put in ziploc bag with marinade. Next, get the 4 boxes of rice cooking. Shuck the corn, cut each ear in half, and put in water, boil.

Next, get your appetizer ready. Slice the bread into 1/2 thick pieces, but on a baking sheet, and put in oven to warm/toast slightly. Put bricks of cheese onto a cutting board with little cheese knives. Once bread is warm and toasty, take out of oven and put into a bowl lined with a cloth napkin or towel or something. Voila. Instant appetizer that people can serve themselves.

Now, while the corn and rice are cooking, do some prep work: clean and slice all of the mushrooms. Put about 2 tbl of butter into one large frying pan, and about 4 tbl of olive oil into another large frying pan (don't need to turn on burners yet, just get them ready for cooking). Start the grill.

Start cooking the chicken and salmon on the grill. (This is a great task to give to someone else, by the way, if they offer.) While grilling, start sauteing the mushrooms in the olive oil and shrimp in the butter (season both shrimp and mushrooms with salt and pepper). Squeeze a decent amount of lemon juice over the shrimp also.

While those are sauteing, and the salmon and chicken grilling, check your rice, as it should be about done. Just turn it off and leave the lid on, it will stay warm. Corn should be done too. Take corn out of water, and put into serving dish, along with about 2 tbl of butter, and toss with salt and pepper.

Put the pea pods into hot water that corn was in, and cook for about a minute (by the way, if you haven't figured it out yet, you are making the Pea Pods and Mushrooms recipe that I posted a while back). When pea pods are done, take out, put into frying pan with mushrooms, toss with heavy salt and a little more olive oil and those are now done.

Your grilled stuff should be done, your shrimp done, rice done, corn done, pea pods done. DONE.


The end gets a little hairy, but you will be able to handle it. Especially with people sitting around the kitchen talking and eating bread and cheese and drinking wine, there will be plenty of help. Give them tasks to help out while they chat (grilling, toss the corn, set out plates and napkins, get drinks out and refilled, find serving dishes for you to put things in, etc.). Then just do it up buffet style, which is also great, because then you actually get to eat with your guests, instead of still doing crap in the kitchen.

You are now an official entertainer. Congratulations! You will become an addict to hosting dinner parties once you realize how easy it is to multiply your favorite recipes or try new ones for large groups. Just make sure to actually collect money from people that offer for groceries and tell people it's BYOB and you are good to go!

Improvising: Let's Put a Little Shrimp on the Barbie

Dumb and Dumber is a great movie. I am not sure why, but I still crack up, out loud, whenever I say "Well, g'day mate. Let's put a little shrimp on the barbie". Ha. Apparently, I giggle even when I type it. (I'm easily amused)

This recipe is a combination of a shrimp grill marinade I found online, and a veggie grill marinade from a Giada de Laurentiis cookbook. I used them both separately, and then decided I liked them better combined.

Now I am going to share with you a little lesson I like to call, "how to improvise". This recipe calls for red wine vinegar. Now, I have been adding to my pantry for years, and I don't have any red wine vinegar laying around. I have rice vinegar, white vinegar, cider vinegar, distilled vinegar, and balsamic vinegar. No red wine vinegar. In fact, I have not personally come across another recipe that calls for red wine vinegar (or at least a recipe I would use on a regular basis).

Instead of freaking out, I just decided that red wine vinegar, in my head, tastes like a combination of balsamic and white vinegar. Who knows if this is actually true. But I tried it, the marinade works, and I guess I don't really know the difference. Some day, I will have to actually try red wine vinegar and see if I'm right.

The point is: although I mostly cook things from the ingredients I already have laying around, sometimes I want to get outside of my comfort zone and try something new. Sometimes, this means not having one of the ingredients, but you find a way to make it work. You don't have crushed pineapple? Use honey. You don't have honey? Use sugar. Once you realize you just need to make something sweet, not actually to taste like pineapple, you become better at the improv.


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): Zilch
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 3
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 1

Grill Marinade
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 Tbl red wine vinegar
2 Tbl chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp dried basil)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
* I recommend this with shrimp, zucchini, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and red onions

Mix everything up in a bowl with a whisk. Pour 1/2 into ziploc bag with shrimp, other half into a ziploc bag with veggies. Marinate in fridge for as long as you have time for. Then skewer shrimp, skewer veggies, and grill away. Use the left-over marinade that was in veggie bag as a baste while grilling also.

Veggie Meatloaf???

I just had the best idea ever. Well, it could possibly be the best idea ever. Or the worst idea ever. But someone, other than me (the ultimate carnivore), should be the tester.

So, when I make my spaghetti sauce, I like to use Italian turkey sausage. I buy that Jennie-O Italian sausage (hot/spicy flavor because mild is pointless). And I take it out of the casing and brown it up like hamburger meat.

Tonight I came up with a similar idea with meatloaf, for my vegetarian friends, that I am dying to hear the results of. So someone (YOU), sack up and try it.

Buy some of those Boca Burgers that smell funny (in my opinion) or your veggie burgers of choice, and ground them up as small as you can (put them in a bowl and use a fork or your hands or whatever- and don't try it while they are frozen, dummy, they have to be thawed). Once you have yourself something that slightly resembles ground beef, try my meatloaf recipe with it!!!

The only thing I am not sure of with this is whether or not the cooking time of the meatloaf in the oven would be the same. My guess is it probably takes less time to cook a veggie meatloaf so maybe try it at 375 deg for 45 minutes and then check it every 15 min until you have the desired consistency.

Do it! Do it! I would try it myself, but a veggie meatloaf goes against everything I stand for. Ha!

Impress Me Spaghetti

Anyone who cooks can tell you that a solid home-cooked meal is a surefire way to seal the deal with a date. If you have a date coming up, and you want to impress them, invite them over for some dinner, a bottle of wine, and thank me later. Even if you don't cook often, or don't think you are a good cook, you can do this. I'll hold your hand along the way.

I cooked this spaghetti for James on one of our first dates, and now we are getting married. I like to believe he fell in love with my witty intellect, superior personality, and stellar good looks. However, I think it was my cooking.

This is a modified version of the way my dad taught me to make my own spaghetti sauce. I love this dish for so many reasons other than dates too. Group dinners, meals with the in-laws, holidays, you name it. This dish is easy to modify for large groups and everyone will be very impressed by your cooking skills.



Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1 (other than some sprinkled parmesan, which you can omit)
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 4
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4

Spaghetti
1 Tbl olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large can (30 oz I think?) of crushed tomatoes, drained
1 small can of mushrooms, drained
2 Tbl crushed pineapple
1 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbl fresh basil, chopped)
1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 1/2 Tbl fresh oregano)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Italian sausage, cooked, drained (optional)0 I like to use turkey italian sausage and cook out of casing
Spaghetti noodles, cooked in boiling water, drained.

Cook spaghetti noodles as directed. In a large pan, add 1 Tbl olive oil to pan over medium-low heat. Add onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft and onions translucent. Add crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, pineapple, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix together and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve sauce over noodles. (If making meat sauce, add ground, cooked italian sausage at the end, simmer for another 5 minutes, then serve.)

(Note: make sure to continually taste the sauce while it is simmering. If you like it sweeter, add more crushed pineapple. If you want stronger herb flavors, add more basil and oregano. If you like a little bit of spice, add more pepper, or even some crushed red pepper. ) And beware of splattering while simmering. You can use a lid on the pan or a screen if you have one.

This is really easy and it's actually fun and rewarding to make your own spaghetti sauce. You can freeze the leftover sauce too and use later. Serve with some garlic bread and a caesar salad and you are all set.

Party Pinwheels

My nana and papa have a Christmas Eve party for my dad's side of the family every year. And every year, my nana makes these things she calls "pinwheels" and they are, basically, little wraps full of cream cheese and diced veggies. They may not sound that exciting, but they are. Trust me.

I probably should have posted this recipe before the 4th of July, in case some of you needed an idea for an appetizer or dish-to-pass for your 4th of July BBQs and parties. Oops. But I would definitely take them to your next party or barbeque and I promise all guests will be thanking you.

Although, you should know that you guests will also hate you because it is impossible to stop eating them. And since they are mostly cream cheese, you're bound to be angry at yourself after you finish the batch.


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 9
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 4
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4

Party Pinwheels
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
2 green onions
4 12" flour tortillas
1/2 cup diced red peppers
1/2 cup diced celery
1 small can black olives, drained and diced

Mix all ingredients, spread on tortilla, roll and wrap tightly. Repeat with other 3 tortillas. Put on plate in fridge and chill. Right before serving, slice into 1/2 inch pieces.


So good. So so good.

Cheesy-Potatoes. Fat-free, Calorie-free, Meatless.

I just can't help myself but share this wonderfulness with the world: Cheesy Potatoes! We are going to have these at our wedding, even, they are that good. They are so delicious and so easy. And soooo NOT good for you. But if you tell yourself over and over that they are fat-free and calorie-free, you will soon believe it.


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 7
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 1
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 6


Cheesy Potatoes
1 bag frozen hash brown potatoes (country-style)
1 stick of butter (sliced into 1/2 or 1 in pieces)
1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese (2 cups)
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 16 oz container of sour cream
Casserole dish

Preheat oven to 375 deg. Mix all ingredients together in casserole dish. Cook in oven for 1-1.5 hours (at least an hour, but also until top has a little golden brown to it).

Finger, fork, bowl-licking good. And once again, good for breakfast with side of scrambled eggs.

Variations:
- Vegetarian: So, I make these for my vegetarian friends, and I don't tell them that one of the ingredients is Cream of Chicken soup, and they never know the difference. So, sorry, herbivores, but there is, in fact, a meat-flavored product in this. But you haven't noticed by now, so don't worry about it. If you now feel the need to make a change, I have to say you are being ridiculous, but if you must, use Cream of Mushroom soup instead of Cream of Chicken soup. Weirdo.
- Lower Fat: I can't exactly call this version "low-fat", so we will call it "lower, fat". Instead of butter, use margarine. Instead of Cream of Chicken soup, use the fat-free Cream of Chicken Soup. Instead of sour cream, use light or fat-free sour cream. But whatever you do, don't skimp out on the cheese. Leave the cheese be.

4th of July and Hot-Dog Meatloaf

The 4th of July in HB was amazing! We had a great BBQ at our house, complete with the red rocket (our red beer bong). Then a bike ride to our friend Javier's to watch the fireworks over the HB pier. It was so amazing. However, I am not feeling so great today, thanks to the red rocket, and thus, will probably be posting lots of recipes until I feel better.

I love meatloaf. My mom and dad's meatloaf (I actually can't remember whether my mom or my dad made this, so I will give them both credit). It's pretty easy to make and it is absolutely delicious, but don't be scared when you see it because it looks strange when you take it out of the oven, that's just how it is. I always serve it with brown gravy and smashed redskins. Oh, and there is no ketchup in this meatloaf. And if you try to put ketchup on it or in it, I will kill you.


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 0 Blah!
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 4
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 5

Mom and Dad's Meatloaf
1 lb lean ground beef (ground round?)
1 cup onions, minced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 eggs
1/2 cup milk
4 slices of bread
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbl A-1 sauce
Small loaf pan or tinfoil
1 can or jar of beef gravy with mushrooms (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, onions, garlic, 1 egg, milk, Worcestershire sauce, and A-1 sauce. Tear bread slices into little crumbs into bowl with other ingredients. Mix together with hands (if consistency is too dry, add a little more milk, if it's too runny, add more bread, if not sticking together, add egg), and mold into loaf shape. Put meat mixture into loaf pan (or use tinfoil to make your own loaf pan). Put into oven for 1 hour. After an hour, just check the center of the loaf to see consistency (if loaf looks like it could be sliced, take out of oven, if still pink color at all, or crumbly, put back into oven for 20 minutes). Serves 4 normal people. Or 2 really really hungry people.


This actually sounds way more difficult than it is. I happen to like my meatloaf a little on the "fall-apart" side because is it super super moist. Keep in mind that the more fat in the meat, the more grease you will have in your loaf pan while cooking, and you may want to drain off the top of the loaf here and there while cooking. I prefer to use ground round, as it is a little more lean. You could try turkey burger too for a "turkeyloaf". Oh, and you can buy a loaf pan super cheap, or even better, disposable loaf pans for like $2 for a 3-pack.

This isn't the prettiest meatloaf by any means, but trust me when I say it's delicious, even though it looks strange. Just cover it up in yummy gravy. Oh, and do yourself a favor, don't try to make your own gravy. Just buy a can or a jar of it, they are super good and it saves you a lot of work.



Cheesy Factory (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 2
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4

Smashed Red-Skin Potatoes
2 red-skin potatoes per person
Sour Cream
Milk
Parmesan Cheese

Boil red skins until soft. Drain water from pot, put potatoes back in pot. Add a spoon-full of sour cream for each potato. Add a dash of milk, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Using a masher (or fork if not using a non-stick pan), smash the mixture together (add more milk for smoother consistency). Serve hot.


If you don't have a masher tool, get one. You can buy one at the grocery store for like $5. They are awesome. Pampered Chef has something called a "mixer" tool I think, and it works great for this too.


Random note: Filipino Meatloaf
My fiance is Filipino. And for whatever reason, Filipinos put hot-dogs in everything, including meatloaf. My soon-to-be father-in-law make a meatloaf, that I'm not even sure is meat to begin with, but it has peas, hard-boiled eggs, hot-dogs, etc. It's more like a left-overs loaf where you put whatever you have laying around into a "meatloaf".

So what can you take away from this?? If you want to master your own meatloaf, put whatever ingredients you want into it. The basis for any meatloaf is meat, bread (or breadcrumbs), milk and eggs. Everything else is up to you! And from the Left-Overs Queen, here's an idea: if you have leftover hot-dogs from the 4th of July, put 'em in your meatloaf! Ha!