Rigatoni in Creamy Tomato Sauce

I added some frozen mixed vegetable medley to this at the end and warmed it through. Just to add a little more veggie into the meal. This is excellent with shrimp too! Find it here.

Beef and Brown Gravy Pasta

Depending on how much you need for your family, you can freeze half of this recipe, or even break it up into 3 meals.

1 1/2 ground beef
olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 package brown gravy, prepared (which I had a homemade version of this)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
1 tsp oregano
1/2 rosemary
1 lb cooked penne pasta
Mozzarella or swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350
Brown beef and garlic in oil, don't drain
Add prepared gravy
Add rest of ingredients and mix
Transfer to casserole dish
Top with cheese
Bake until cheese is melted
Top with

Pesto Recipe

Pesto Recipe

2 cups loosely packed basil leaves

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/3 cup pine nuts (found in the baking section or in produce with salad toppings)

2 cloves garlic

1/2 olive oil

salt and pepper

 

1. Combine basil, cheese, pine nuts and peeled/crushed garlic in a food processor and process into a rough paste.

2. With the machine running, slowly add olive oil to desired consistancy. It should be a thick paste.

3. Season with salt and pepper.

 

Can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for up to 3 months (but I've frozen for much longer in the deep freeze). 

 

Our family LOVES pesto! It can be pretty expensive though. So I made sure to plant lots of basil in the garden this year. I started them in newspaper starters, here. They germinated well and flourished in the garden. Basil loves hot weather, so we were very lucky!

 

I had 4 plants that resembled bushes!



I used scissors to clip the leaves off all 4 plants. My colander runneth over!

I prepare the recipe and freeze them in baggies, about 1/2 cup per bag (that's how much our family consumes in one meal, but you can bag as much or as little as you want!). I pull a bag out the day before I want to use it and homemade pesto is what's for dinner!

 

I have lots of freezer recipes and tips here.



Spider-Man Cake and Birthday

Ethan is 4! And he picked Spider-Man theme about 3 months ago :) I made a double layaer white cake with strawberry filling (his favorite fruit!) and strawberry ice cream. I made the quick icing and added food coloring for icing and piping. I got the figurine from the Dollar Tree!



Made a banner (of course!)

 

3 handsome masked boys!

 

Happy Birthday Spider-Ethan

 

Double Layer John Deere Cake

Double layer cake in John Deere colors! Right before I poured the batter into the layer pans, I separated them into 2 bowls and added green to one bowl and yellow to the other. Filled with chocolate icing. It had been at room temp. for a while, and the green icing had a little too much butter... so the cake looks like it's melting! Oops! But it still tasted yummy and was so festive. Loved it!

You can see the top of the cake here.

John Deere Birthday Cake

Euan had a John Deere themed birthday for his 2nd birthday. I bought a cake topper set off eBay for $9. It's an actual John Deere tractor rolling toy, which was a bonus! Except, I later bought Euan a couple of John Deere sets and probably could have used those for the cake. Oh well.... the trees and fence added something to the cake!

I made the 4 Yolk Gold double layer cake recipe from the Joy of Cooking cookbook. Before I filled the layer pans, I divided the batter into 2 bowls and colored one with green dye and the other with yellow dye. You can see what the inside looks like here.

I was going to filled with the whipped ganache recipe, but didn't realize that it needed to be refrigerated for several hours, and the party was later that night! So I used store bought whipped chocolate icing for the filling and the "dirt".  The rest of the cake is iced with the Quick Icing recipe, dyed green for the grass and border, and yellow of the font piping. I used a little bit too much butter in the green icing. The result was a more runny icing... BOO! It still tasted delicious!

Happy Birthay to Matthan!

In the spirit of being frugal and healthy, my husband requested a carrot cake for his birthday (hence the orange piping). Cake recipe from Joy for Cooking cookbook (my cooking sidekick), quick frosting recipe, and I finally broke down and spent $3 on a piping bag and tips. A friend of mine said ziploc bags work too. Just snip the corner. (I do this when I make devilled eggs).

I halfed the recipe given below, was still about to make 2 thinnger layer and had tons of leftovers after feeding the 4 of us! It turned out great. A little lopsided, not so perfect piping... but it was DELICIOUS! And I was so proud of it.

Carrot Cake
Two 9 inch round layers, two 8 inch square layers, or one 9x13 cake

Have ingredients at room temperature. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your pans.

Whisk together thoroughly in large bowl:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon grated/ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground all spice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk together well in small bowl, then, using rubber spatula, stir into flour mixture until just combined:
2/3 vegetable/canola oil
3 large eggs..

Stir in:
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts
(1 cup golden raisins)
(1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple, lightly drained)

Scrape batter into the pans and spread evenly. Bake until fork comes out clean, 25-30 minutes in small pans, 30-35 minutes in large pan. Let cool on a rack.


Quick White Icing
Makes about 2 cups

Combine in a medium bowl and beat together on medium speed:
4 cups (1 pound) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Add and beat until smooth:
4-6 tablespoons milk or coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Icing should be spreadable, but firm enough to hold it's shape when piped. Add sugar/liquid to achieve correct consistancy. Keeps 3 days at room tempertaure, 3 weeks in fridge, 6 months in freezer. Spoon a little bit into a bowl and add some food coloring for piping.

All Purpose Cleaner

I got this recipe from a Green Convention. I got a big Home Depot spray bottle with this recipe. It broke before the solution was used up. Get bottles at WalMart for a buck! Half the recipe if you have a smaller spray bottle.

30 oz. water
4 Tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons borax
(10 drops fragrance)

I haven't used this recipe in a long time, because I never had borax around. I just mixed equal parts water and vinegar, it works great! Vinegar has some disinfecting properties and also kills nasty smells. I use vinegar for lots of household needs. I just made a batch of laundry detergent, so I am going to start making this recipe again since I have borax on hand. But if you don't have it, vinegar and water is fine. It costs just pennies to make. I used to buy 409 all purpose cleaner, haven't bought a bottle in 3 years.

Homemade Bar Soap

I was given a bar of homemade soap once. It was pumpkin scented and smelled delicious! It had coffee grounds mixed in as an exfoliant, and it felt great! I was shocked when I found out that it was homemade. Buying all the start up ingredients wasn't easy or cheap. The sodium hydroxide (used to make lye, which is used for saponification and makes the soap, soap) had to be ordered online and some of the ingredients weren't carried in the same store, so I had to make multiple stops. But once I had everything, the process was pretty easy. (And once I found a recipe I liked, like the grocery store soap, I could find most everything easily and in the same store.)

The cold process method is what I use. I found the link below to be very useful. It's a great tutorial. It also has a grocery store recipe (which I've used many times), so you can find all the ingredients you need in one place! With the exception of the sodium hydroxide of course. I buy that from http://www.brambleberry.com/default.aspx along with any essential oils. Occasionally I will make a batch of specialty soap. But I dread having to buy extra ingredients and fragrances. I make soap for our everyday use and typically make a simple recipe with coffee grounds and call it good. One batch usually lasts many months.

I did the math and a simple bar of soap is about .50 cents per bar. A specialty bar is over $1 per bar. We usually bought Lever 2000 from Sams (because it was the best price). It's about .42 cents per bar. Just a tiny bit cheaper than homemade, and a lot less work. Store bought soap bars are a little bigger too. But ick! It makes my skin super dried out. And to buy something like Dove or Dial is almost $1 per bar, even from Sams.

I get so freaked out when I hear about the crazy ingredients in everyday things that end up being bad for your health. I know all the ingredients that I put in this soap.

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soaprecipes/a/grocerysoap.htm

A great resource is a book called The Soapmakers Companion. It's on my list of things to buy! It has everything you need to know about soapmaking and recipes.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I was getting low on All Free & Clear liquid detergent. I was dreading a trip to Sam's. Not only do my Sam's trips turn expensive really quick, but it was the end of January, which meant the end of our monthly budget. I just wanted to hold off until February. We made a trip to WalMart and my husband said "Why don't you just buy a small jug of detergent to get you through until February and it won't cost very much." A valid idea. But I of course think of value when I buy. Groceries are shopped for by the unit price, not the listed price. And something like laundry detergent is bought by price per load. I think All was about 11 cents per load.

I use Country Save for my cloth diapers. It's a detergent free of dyes and perfumes, it's a detergent for clothes, but safe for diapers as well. I did the math on how many loads I do, how many boxes I had left, and if I would need to buy more by the time I was done with diapers. I figured I would, in fact, need to buy more detergent, so I could always use that for my regular laundry too. When I did the math, Country Save was 10 cents per load. Hmm...

I remembered that I had made my own detergent once. I wasn't impressed by it. It didn't clean my clothes any better than other detergents and I found it to be a hassle. Stirring and dunking a scooper in a huge bucket with every load. And now with 2 kids, I do a lot of laundry. I need laundry time to be easy and quick. I hate how the liquid detergents (like All) always leak and create a soapy mess on my shelf. So I contemplated homemaking a powdered detergent. My math came out to 5 cents a load. Wow! I did the math on homemade liquid detergent... 1 cent per load. Yikes! That sold me right then and there. But only if I could find a way to easily mix and dispense. I remembered a watching the Duggar's on TLC. I googled the Duggar recipe and it suggested filling an old liquid detergent container and giving it a shake before you dispense. Here is the recipe:

http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value

Ingredients; cheap and all found at WalMart. Process; quick and easy. I bought a 5 gallon bucket with a lid at Lowe's to store my gelled detergent. Every time my dispenser runs out, I just fill it half with water and half with detergent. Shakey shake and done. And for a tenth of the price! Oh, and it does clean our clothes very well! Even my husband's work clothes come out smelling fresh and clean.

Alfredo Sauce

I love Olive Garden. The alfredo recipe from my Joy of Cooking cookbook is awesome! I add a few things for my favorite flavors.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated parmesan (4 oz)
salt, pepper and fresh ground nutmeg to taste

1. Melt butter and cracked garlic in sauce pan over medium heat. Smack garlic cloves so their cracked open, releasing their flavor. You want to be able to fish them out when the sauce is done.
2. Add cream and cheese and stir until melted. Turn heat to low. Add seasoning to your taste.

Toss with 1 pound of fettucine, use whole wheat if you can! It still tastes yummy. Maybe all the cheese and cream counts out the healthy part, but oh well! It's a treat!

I also love Pizza Hut's alfredo pasta. Diced chicken breast and season with salt and pepper. Cook in a skillet with olive oil and toss with short pasta and alfredo sauce. Top with mozzarella and a little parmesan and bake until melted.

Mondu (Gyoza, Potstickers)

Whether it's a Korean dumpling, Chinese, Japanese... it's all the same idea. I tried my best to steal this recipe from my mom. She makes so much good food (what mom doesn't?). But being Korean, she makes things by what looks and tastes right. I need measurements! So I watched her like an eagle, pen and paper in hand... here's what I got!

Ingredients

1/2 lb. ground pork (sub. for tofu if you want vegetarian)

1 egg

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

3 scallions, chopped

Canola oil (or veg or peanut)

salt and pepper for taste (optional)

1 pack of gyoza wraps

1. Put a layer of canola oil in a skillet and heat to med/low. Fill another pot with water and bring to slight boil. You will need 2 plates (or I use 2 lasagna pans). Line one with a couple paper towels (this one will catch the oil from the cooked mondu), and the other with dampened paper towels. Also have a couple kitchen towels handy. I know this seems like a lot of prep, but I've done this MANY times and learned a system that works for me.

2. Mix pork, egg, onions, carrots, scallions, and seasoning in a medium bowl. By hand is best!

3. Wet the edge of one wrap with water (this will make it stick together when you fold it). You can put a paper towel or wash cloth underneath the wrap if it sticks to your counter or cutting board. 

4. Spoon a small amount of filling into the wrap. It will be about a tablespoon full. Leave a half inch border for sealing the wrap. Fold the wrap in half, it will looks like a semi-circle. Be careful not stretch the wrap, the skin can tear if it's too full. Put 3 crimps along the edge to seal it shut. If filling oozes out the sides, it's too full! Place filled mondu aside, not touching each other or they will stick. You can place them on a towel on the counter if they stick.

5. Drop about 7 or 8 mondu into the slightly boiling water. Let cook for 5 minutes. Fish out with a slotted spoon or strainer basket and place single layered on dampened paper towels. If the towels are dry, the skins will stick and tear. Trust me! The filling should be cooked through and safe to eat now.

6. Drop by hand a single layer of mondu into the skillet with oil. Fry for just a couple minutes on each side until lightly browned and crunchy.

*If you want, you can skip the boiling water and just fry the mondu. Make sure you cook long enough to cook the inside of the mondu. This will make for a VERY crunchy mondu!

Dip: mix 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil, a few shakes of tabasco and a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes. You can throw in a few chopped scallions too. Makes about 30-40 mondu.

Homemade Bread

I have a copy of this recipe out of a book. I got it from a friend, so I don't know the name of the cookbook. I thought it was a Willams-Sonoma book, but the bottom says The Amish Cook...so your guess is as good as mine I guess! I LOVE this bread. It usually only lasts one day!

Ingredients

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)

1/2 cup plus 2 cups warm water or milk

1 heaping tablespoon lard or shortening

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

7-8 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. In a large bowl (or your stand mixer) combine lard, sugar salt, and the remaining 2 cups of water.

2. Stir in the dissolved yeast and enough flour to make a soft, elastic dough that doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. Cover with a loose piece of cheesecloth or plastic wrap and let rise till double (about 1 1/4 hours) in a warm, draft free place.

3. Punch the dough down, and divide it into 2 balls. Form 2 loaves in greased loaf pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise again until double (45-60 minutes).

4. Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 45 minutes. The bread will sound hollow when it's done. After removing the bread from the oven, brush the top with butter. This will make for a softer crust.