My husbands favorite meatloaf dinner

My husbands favorite birthday dinner is meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn, creamed spinach and peach cobbler for dessert. He asks for this every year. With the leftover meatloaf we like to make meatloaf gyros with tzatziki sauce. Myhusband is known throughout the family for his mashed potatoes. We are asked to bring them to every get together. I buy a can of creamed corn and frozen creamed spinach. I can make it from scratch but most of the time don't because the meatloaf and mashed potatoes takes so long to make.  Here is the linnk for the original recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/dads-meatloaf-with-tomato-relish-recipe.html

MEATLOAF

• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 red peppers, finely diced
• 2 tomatoes seeded, fd
• ¼ c parsley
• 12 oz ketchup
• 1 T worsestershire sauce
• Evoo
• 1 lb ground beef and turkey
• 3 eggs
• Thyme, sea salt, pepper
• 3 slices white bread, torn
• ½ c whole milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Sauté onion, garlic, and bay leaves.
3. Throw in red pepper and cook for 2 min. 
4. Add tomatoes. 
5. Stir in parsely, ketchup, worcetershire; season with salt & pepper. 
6. Simmer for 10 min. Remove from  heat.. 
7. Soak the bread pieces in whole milk. Combine meats in large bowl.
8.  Squeeze out milk from bread and add to bowl. 
9. Add eggs, I c relish, thyme, salt and pepper. 
10. Mix. Place in loaf pan & top with more relish.
11.  Bake for 1 ½ hour

ERNIES MASHED POTATOES

Ingredients

•  5 lb bag of potatoes
•  salt
• ·pepper
•  ½ tsp garlic powder
•  8 oz sour cream
•  8 oz cream cheese
•  1 stick butter
• ·finely chopped onion (1/2 small)
•  1 pt milk
•  1 pt potato water
•  1 can of durkees

Appliances

• · Hand mixer
• · Hand masher
• · 4 qt pot
• · Casserole dish
• · Tin Foil

Preparation

1. Scrub, wash and peel potatoes
2. Chop potatoes into cubes
3. Fill 4 qt pot 2/3 with water. Add 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil
4. Place potatoes in boiling water. Boil for 20 minutes or until tender
5. Drain potatoes saving 1 pint of potato water
6. Mash potatoes with masher
7. Begin to add 8oz sour cream, 8oz of softened cream cheese, 1 stick of butter, the finely chopped onion,        mixing (hand held mixer) and mashing each ingredient at a time.
8. Add ½ tsp garlic powder and ½ tsp pepper
9. Heat 1pt of milk in microwave till warm
10. Begin to add equal amounts of potato water and warm milk. Mix with mixer. You may not use all the             milk or potato water, but add till the consistency is a bit soupy.
11. Add additional salt and pepper to taste
12. Put mashed potatoes in casserole dish and place durkee fried onions on top.
13. Cover with tin foil and place in oven for 45 min @ 350 degrees

French Onion Soup with Rueban sandwiches

              
        A long time favorite of mine is French onion soup. I started making it when my brother and Dad would come over every day for lunch and dinner after my mom died in 2010. I would make a huge crockpot of it and it would sit for a couple of days. The longer it sat the more it carmelized. I'm pretty finicky about my soup bowls and spoons. All of my soup bowls have double handles so they can be picked up with both hands and not burn yourself. I also prefer a rounded soup spoon..not so easy to find. I use my grandmothers real silver spoons for my soup spoons. I know, I'm picky.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 T oil
• 1 1/2  lbs onions, peeled, halved and sliced thin (you'll be crying soon)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
• 1/4  t sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 6 cups beef stock
• 3 T flour
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 ovenproof soup bowls
• slices of French baguettes, 1/2 inch thick
• Swiss cheese, grated
• Parmesan cheese, grated

1. In a large saucepan with low heat melt the butter and oil together.

2. Add the onions and cover. Saute for 15 minutes

3. Remove lid and increase temperature to medium. Sprinkle sugar and salt over onions. Saute for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally until caramelized and turns a deep golden brown.

4. Add the flour and mix into onions for 3 minutes continually whisking. The flour will stick to the onions and absorb up any grease or liquid still remaining.

5. Slowly add the wine mixing well into the onions. Slowly add the beef broth. Cook on medium for an hour. I cook it for about 10 minutes on the stove and then I transfer it to a crockpot on low for several hours.

6. About 20 minutes before eating put your oven on broil. Place the soup in oven proof bowls, cover with a slice of bread and top with the swiss cheese. A faster way is to toast the bread in the toaster. Place it on top of the soup and add the cheese. Place in microwave for 30 seconds for the cheese to melt. This is absolutely delicious on a cold winter night.


Reuben Sandwich

• Pumpernickel or rye bread
• spreadable butter
• thousand island dressing
• sauerkraut or (cultured veggies)
• thin sliced or shaved corned beef
• Swiss cheese
• sour cream (optional)

Mix a little sour cream with sauerkraut and warm up in microwave for 20 seconds. Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Place two slices down in a pan if they will fit over medium heat. Spread thousand Island dressing carefully on top of the bread. Layer corned beef, swiss cheese, and sauerkraut or cultured veggies. Spread a little more thousand island on top of the saurekraut and top with another slice of bread. Cook in pan for 4-5 minutes until cheese is melted. Flip over carefully and cook for another minute. Plate immediately. Serve with chips, or homemade fries and or french onion soup.

Pineapple black bean salsa

                  I wanted to try a different kind of salsa. I had a can of black beans on hand and did a search on Pinterest. I found this recipe. Once I made the salsa, I cooked up a lb of ground beef, drained the grease and then added taco seasoning with a little bit of water. I let that simmer for a little while. I plated some chopped up romaine.I added a cup of the salsa and 3 T of the ground beef and topped it with shredded sharp cheese. I drizzled vidalia onion salad dressing over it. I was quite surprised how great it tasted. After I devoured the first plate I went back for more and crumbled some tortilla chips over the top..Even better.

• 1 can black beans,drained and rinsed
• 1 pineapple, cored, peeled and diced
• 1 T fresh basil, 1 ts lemon balm, 1 ts mint finely chopped
• 1/4 red onion finely chopped
• 1 banana pepper finely chopped
• 1/4 jalepeno, seeded and finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 limes juiced
• salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to eat


Here is the link I used and tailored the recipe to my liking and size.

http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2011/08/pineapple-black-bean-salsa/

Black bean taco soup

             
                This is very easy to make if you have all the canned ingredients on hand. I had some leftover quessadilla burgers I had made earlier in the week. I threw them in the cuisinart to grind and used it to make the soup. Normally, I would use fresh ground beef, but because i had this on hand and I already knew it was seasoned with a Mexican flavor, I knew this would be perfect with this soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey tastes so good in this recipe too!)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 package mild taco seasoning mix
• 1 16 oz can corn (undrained)
• 1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (you could use kidney beans or pinto beans)
• 1 14 oz can stewed tomatoes
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 4 oz can diced green chilis
•  tortilla chips
•  Other taco toppings you like (cheese, sour cream, avocado, etc)

Directions:

1. Brown meat and onion, drain
2. Stir in taco seasoning, corn, black beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and green chilis.
3.  Simmer on low heat for 20 to 30 minutes. 
4. Place tortilla chips on bottom of bowl and then pour soup over top. 
5. You can add shredded cheese on top, chopped up scallions, or sour cream.. whatever you like. The first thing my husband reaches for in any meal is the hot sauce. It always has to be hotter.

Linking to:

http://www.tipjunkie.com

Homemade Vanilla Icecream

      I love ice cream but it doesn't like me. I really get bloated after eating it. I believe I am dairy sensitive. Since  making my own yogurt and cultured veggies for over a year now, my gut has been doing better. I bought an ice cream maker about 2 years ago at Goodwill and never used it. Well, I finally got it out but had no idea how ice cream is made. I went online looking for videos on how to use it. I couldn't find any for this particular sunbeam model, so I followed the directions in the book. I  used the old fashioned recipe for ice cream and I was quite surprised at how well it turned out.
Here is the recipe I used for a Sunbeam Electric Ice cream maker model GC8101

 1/2 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 cup whole milk
1 egg beaten
1 cup  whipping cream
2 t pure vanilla extract

Wrap the canister part of the ice cream maker in a plastic bag and place upright in the back of your freezer overnight, where the temperature is the coldest. There is liquid in between the canister walls, so shake the canister to check to make sure you do not hear liquid moving within the walls after freezing.

Combine sugar, salt and milk in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture almost boils. Reduced heat to low.
Gradually stir about 1/2 cup of hot milk into the beaten eggs. Add eggs to remaining hot mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Combine whipping cream, vanilla and chilled mixture, stirring with a wire whisk to combine.

Remove canister from freezer and attach it to the motor and paddle part. Turn motor on to check to see if paddle is moving clockwise.
Pour the ice cream mixture through the mixing feeder in the canister.  Leave it on for 20-40 minutes as it churns. Turn switch off when you reach your desired consistency.

Tiara baby shower cake

Meridiths Baby Shower and Tiara Cake

   
             My friend Claudia's daughter, Meredith, is having a baby shower this weekend. Claudia has asked me to decorate the cake. We work well as a tag team.. She does really well with baking the cakes, and I do well with icing and decorating. This will be the second time we work together on a cake. She helped me in January with my sons wedding cakes. We made 4 cakes. 2 of them were coconut cakes and the grooms cake was a lemon raspberry and the brides cake was a lemon blueberry cake.. They did not even  touch the two lemon cakes. I wrapped them tight and froze them for 5 months and brought the cakes to them by car from Florida to Atlanta.

Josh and Anne Wedding cakes      

             Meridith wants a Tiffany box cake with a tiara on top. I made 3 tiaras and a bow out of fondant ahead of time to make sure it would hold up. I got an oatmeal container and printed out a diagram of a tiara from here. I taped it to the oatmeal container. I stabilizer the container with gripper paper so it would not move. I then taped  wax paper on top of the  diagram. I smeared a little of crisco over the wax paper so the fondant would have something to stick to. I got out my fondant, rolled it out. When i tried to hand roll it, it didn't work for me. It kept tearing and breaking when i would put it on top of the design especially when i tried to make the curls. So i gave up on trying to do it by hand. I then tried the clay extruder. I couldn't believe how hard it was to push the fondant out. The smaller the die hole i used the harder it was to push it out. This was the only one I could find around here. Please do not get this one if you do not have strong hands. The  ropes that come out of the extruder were very symmetrical. I liked that. It still wasn't very flexible especially when curling it. I finally finished. I repeated it 2 more times on different size cans and different size diagrams. I waited 3 days for it to dry.

1. diagram of tiara 2. fondant 3. white chocolate 4. split cake 

             After 3 days I cut the wax paper from both ends and gently removed the tiara. It crumbled to pieces. Well, that didn't work. I went back to youtube and watched so more videos on tiara making. I somehow missed the part that it was suppose to made of gum paste. After purchasing gum paste I repeated the same process all over again. The clay extruder wasn't any easier, but the gum paste was a little easier to curl.
            I also tried to make the tiaras out of white chocolate. I melted down the chocolate in a double boiler with a little coconut oil. That was my mistake. I put the chocolate in a piping bag with a small tip and traced out the design. My hands are too shaky to do this. I again repeated it 2 more times in different sizes. It is suppose to harden withing a couple of hours. After 3 days it still would not harden. I removed them from the can. Replaced the wax paper and melted the chocolate this time in the microwave by itself. Put it in the piping bag with a small tip and traced it  out again. It seemed to be getting harder faster. The next day, I removed the wax paper and it crumbled. I gave up on the white chocolate. After 5 days the last batch of gumpaste tiaras were removed from the cans. I was so surprise to see that it held together. I was so excited and relieved. My strong suggestion to anyone who is doing this for the first time and doesn't have a whole lot of experiece with fondant or gumpaste is to start 2 weeks in advance just to get the hang of it. I started a week ahead of time and got lucky that one of the 9 tiaras i made held together.

            2 days before the shower I made the frosting and tinted it light pink. Very pretty. My friend Claudia baked the cakes and Friday I frosted and decorate the cake. I had great difficulty frosting this cake...It was a white box cake mix and for whatever reason it was too moist. She used  2 inch square cake pans, but it did not rise up to 2 inches. After leveling them each layer was only one inch thick...The cake split in  half when i tried to put the top layer on. I used frosting to fuse it back together. then I tried frosting it...The frosting kept picking up the cake and making it break off. I thought surely this will not work. After much diligence and praying I finally got the frosting to stick in the right places. It no longer would pass for a tiffany box as uneven as it was. So we winged it. We added the black and white polka dotted ribbon at the bottom  with the fondant bow and put the tiara on top. We used  pearl candies to try and hide some of the imperfections of the frosting.

              Below is the card I made for Meridith for the baby shower. 2nd picture is the inside of the card.

Peanut butter chocolate banana bon bons

3 large bananas, peeled and cut into 1/3" round slices
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
2 T coconut oil

popsicle sticks
I icing bag with coupler, small star tip,and  coupler ring

double boiler

water

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper of wax paper.
2. Peel bananas and cut into 1/3" round slices
3. Prepare icing bag for peanut butter ( I like to use this method because it keeps my icing bags clean and when I'm done I just pull out the insert of icing.

• Put icing  coupler in small icing bag.
• pull a long sheet of cling wrap (about 12 inches and place on counter.
• Plop peanut butter in center of cling wrap. Fold over cling wrap until peanut butter is covered. Pick up both ends of the cling wrap and twist and flip until the ends have twisted shut.
• Carefully slide one end of the insert( peanut butter wrap) into the bag and through the coupler. If the end will not come out, use tweezers to grab and pull through. Cut end that you just pulled through.
• insert icing tip and seal with coupler ring
• Twist bag shut over peanut butter, pushing down gently toward coupler to move the peanut butter down. If you push too hard peanut butter will start to come out. Secure with rubber band.

4.Pipe peanut butter onto one slice of banana.Gently cover  with another banana slice. Repeat for all banana slices. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

5. Carefully slide Popsicle stick halfway through the banana sandwich.

6. Place in freezer for 30 minutes.

7.While they are freezing, bring 2 inches of water to simmer in the bottom of a  double boiler. Place chocolate chips and coconut oil in top part of double boiler and stir until melted.

8, Transfer chocolate to tumbler or cup.

8. Remove banana sandwiches from freeer.

9. Carefully dip banana sandwiches into chocolate until completely covered. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat procedure until all slices are done.

10.  Transfer to freezer for at least 2 hours

Enjoy

Here is link for original recipe

http://joythebaker.com/2014/07/peanut-butter-banana-bonbons/?crlt.pid=camp.xU1PSaBo360L

4th of July blueberry, strawberry trifle

Ingredients:

·         1  angel food cake boxed mix, 

·         1 quart strawberries, sliced

·         1 pint blueberries

For the cream filling:

·         6 tbsp fat-free sweetened condensed milk

·         1 1/2 cups cold water

·         1 package sugar-free white chocolate instant pudding mix

·         12 oz fat-free frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Follow directions on cake box mix to make angel food cake. I used my Kitchen stand up mixer and forgot to put my whisk on when doing the egg white package first. I couldn't figure out why it was sloshing everywhere while it was mixing..Finally it dawned on me to change from the paddle blade to the whisk blade..so much neater. I liked the idea on the back of the box to cool the cake on a bottle upside down. Once its cooled cut into inch cube size. Wait until the cake is cut and ready to go before starting  next step. 

      2.  Whisk the condensed milk and water in a bowl. 

• Whisk in the pudding mix for 2 minutes. 
• Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set;
• fold in the whipped  topping.

        Arrange half of the cake in the bottom of a 14-cup trifle dish. 

• Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. 
• Spread half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread (I piped it using a plastic bag and cut the corner off). 
• Top with a layer of strawberries.
• Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries, then add more blueberries and top with the remaining cream mixture. Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries

Original recipe found here at this link

http://www.startsampling.com/helpfulhint.iphtml?helpid=46822&catid=8&i=Y

                 We are so blessed to live in the USA and I am proud to be an American.Our freedom would not be possible without our brave soldiers laying down their lives  every single day for us.Thank you to all of our soldiers past and present who have unselfishly given their lives and served our country for us.
             As a family we have shared many great gatherings at our house with plenty to eat, boating, skiing, tubing, and lots of laughter and fun. My husbands side of the family is quite large, so when they come to our house there is alot of people. It's always been wicked hot, and sometimes rain was inevitable. Sometimes it would quench the plans for fireworks. And other times there would be a rain, but then it would stop and rainbows would appear and the fireworks fun would begin on our beach. We could watch them go off not only all around our lake. Sometimes the mosquitoes would get viscous. I can just see the glee in the childrens eyes as they got to light a firecracker. Many years ago when we had our dog, Lady, she would chase the firecrackers. What a crazy dog.
                   I also thank the greatest soldier of them all, Jesus/Yeshua. He fought an unbelievable battle for us and went willingly to the cross and paid the death penalty for us and our sins so that the sting of death would no longer hold us in the grave and eternity is now available to those that who choose to accept his gift of salvation.
                    Below are 2 songs I recorded at home. I recite part of the preamble of the American Declaration of Independance before the Star Spangled Banner. I have sang many versions of this song but like this one the best.


 

Potato pancakes: What to do with leftover mashed potatoes!

My friend Claudia shared with me another idea how to use leftover mashed potatoes.Potato pancakes! I tried them a couple of weeks ago and loved them with my fried eggs. This time I wanted to try them with prepackaged ready to serve mashed potatoes. I followed the same recipe but found the potatoes a little too wet from the package. I  had to use more flour than suggested just to get them from sticking to my hands. At first I tried all purpose flour, then I tried whole wheat which I had just ground.

3 cups mashed potatoes
1/4 cup cheddar cheese shredded
1 egg lightly beaten
1 T finely chopped onion or green onion
6 T of flour divided
1 T fresh chopped basil
3 T Olive oil

1. Mix together potatoes, cheese, egg, onion, basil and flour.

2.  In a mixing bowl combine potatoes, cheese, egg, 3 tbsp of flour, onion and parsley. In a separate bowl put in 3 T of flour for dredging. Use an ice cream scoop to get one scoop of potatoes and plop it in the flour. mix and shape the potatoes into balls or  pancakes whichever comes together first. I had to add more flour because on the second time making the pancakes my mashed potatoes  were store bought and very wet.  When I finallly got the right consistency and it stopped sticking to my hands they were ready for the pan.

3. Heat oil on medium heat. Oil is ready when you can sprinkle water  on it and it sizzles.  Drop the pancakes in one by one. Saute for for 3-5 minutes on each side. Carefully flip them over. 

4. Carefully remove from pan and set on paper towel lined dish to absorb oil. 

Here is the link for the recipe i started with and tweaked to my preferences.

http://natashaskitchen.com/2012/03/23/easy-mashed-potato-pancakes/