Breakfast Casserole

There is so much cooking to do before Thanksgiving. I usually plan it out the week before what I'm going to make. Then I make a couple of lists including  a cooking prep list, a decorating list, a grocery list, a menu list with all the recipes together and a timer list of what goes in the oven and at what time. I know it sounds like a lot, but it helps me stay on track, because I can get distracted with my husband and kids if they are here. This year we will have my daughter Joy, her husband Tim and new baby James. My dad and his girlfriend and my brother will also join us. My 3 other kids along with there spouses will not be present this year. Boo hoo.
Because there is so much cooking to do, I decided to prepare a breakfast casserole the night before and bake it in the morning and voila breakfast is served without all the fuss of making it. Our daughter in law Anne brought this last year for Christmas morning and I fell in love with  it. So here is the recipe.

The original recipe uses a 9 by 13 baking dish and feeds about 10 people.. I cut the recipe in  half since it is only my husband and I and still have leftovers.

8 oz sausage ( I used beef sausage since I don't eat pork)
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups cubed bread
1 to 2  cups sharp shredded cheese
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup green onion thinly sliced
1/2 tomato seeded and diced
2 cups frozen hash browns

butter a casserole dish on all sides and bottom
Brown sausage over medium high heat until no longer pink. Set aside
Mix eggs, milk, mustard and salt and pepper together
Place hash browns on bottom of dish
Cover with a layer of cheese
Layer half of the sausage on top of the cheese.
Next layer half of the cubed bread
Layer on top the mushrooms, onions,  and tomato
Cover with more cheese.
Repeat all layers except hash browns.
Pour the milk egg mixture over all layers and let seep in.

If you are not cooking right away, cover with tin foil and place in the fridge. When ready to cook pull the casserole out of the fridge for an hour to bring the temp down. Preheat oven to 375 and bake for  an hour. If the top browns too fast cover loosely with tin foil.
This is a filling dish. Here is a picture of the casserole. I forgot to take a picture of it before we ate it.

Chicken and rice soup

I have a bunch of leftover rice. What to do with it...aha! lets make chicken and rice soup.


1 T olive oil
4 chicken thighs
1 onion
3 carrots diced small
3 celery sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves minced
2 cups  of cooked rice
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 T fresh basil chopped finely
1 T parsley chopped finely
 7 cups of chicken broth

• Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium heat.  
• Add the chicken thighs. Sear the thighs for 3 minutes on each side. 
• Add enough water to cover the thighs. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low for an hour. 
• After an hour remove the thighs and set aside. Cool thighs before dicing or shredding. 
• Also reserve the chicken water in another container. 
• Add a little more olive oil and onion. Saute for 5 minutes. 
• Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. 
• Add the celery and carrots and saute for 5 more minutes. 
• Re add the  chicken water, rice, salt and pepper, basil, parsley, chicken thighs. 
• Also, add more chicken broth to make 7 cups. 
• So I ended up with 3 cups of chicken water so I added 4 more cups of boxed chicken broth.  Bring to a boil and then back down to low for an hour. This soup is delicous. Enjoy.

Cottage Pie and popovers

For our shabbat dinner a month ago my husband wanted shepherd pie or cottage pie. Here is my recipe for cottage pie. I like to make them individual size. Nothing is better on a cold winter or rainy night. 

Meat filling

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb ground beef

1 onion diced small

3 garlic cloves minced

1 carrot diced small

4 oz frozen peas

A1 sauce

8 oz mushrooms

3 T brown sugar

1/4 cup red wine

salt and pepper to taste

1 T basil

Warm olive oil  in large skillet .Brown beef when olive oil sizzles. Drain fat if necessary and set beef aside.

Put carrots in skillet and saute until soft. Add onions and saute  until soft. Add mushrooms and saute till soft.  Place ground beef back in pan with veggies. Add peas and garlic. Saute for a couple more minutes. In a small bowl mix together A1 sauce and brown sugar. Add to skillet and mix thouroughly. Add red wine and seasonings. Bring to a bowl and then cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

While meat filling is cooking, prepare mashed potatoes

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

MASHED POTATOES

Ingredients

6 medium sized potatoes
salt
·pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
4 oz sour cream
2 oz cream cheese
1 stick butter
finely chopped onion (1/2 small)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup potato water

Preparation

1. Scrub, wash and peel potatoes
2. Chop potatoes into cubes
3. Fill 2 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. In large measuring cup or microwave safe bowl mix sour cream,  cream cheese, butter, milk, garlic powder and  pepper. Microwave for 1 minutes until butter and cream cheese has softened. Mix well.
10. add a small amount of potato water to potatoes and mix with mixer breaking up chunks of potato.

11. Add the sour cream mixture from above to the potatoes and mix again.

12. Taste at this point to see what needs to be added. Add additional salt and pepper or butter.

Putting it all together.

Use 2-4 small casserole dishes depending on size. Place meat mixture on bottom of lightly greased dishes. Top with mashed potatoes. . Place in oven at 350 for 30 minutes until piping hot. 

For extra taste roll out thawed out phyllo dough and cut circles large enough to overlap top edges of dish. Place the dough on top of the potatoes and sealing the edges like you would a pie

 

 Popovers

Makes 6 large or 12 small popovers

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan

2 large eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat the oven to 450°F, and thoroughly grease the pan.

Melt the tablespoon of butter and set it aside to cool slightly.

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk gently. Then stir in the flour, salt, milk and melted butter until just barely blended; a few lumps are fine.

Fill the cups 2/3 to 3/4 full, and bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 and bake an additional 20 minutes. (No peeking! Opening the oven door in the first 20 minutes can cause them to collapse.)

When they are brown and crusty, remove them from the oven, and make a small slit in their sides with a sharp knife. Serve immediately, or return to turned-off oven. Makes 6 to 10 popovers.

Beef Tips Marsala

What to do with unused beef chuck? 
Last weekend I made beef grillers which were delicious.Here is the link for chicken grillers. Beef grillers made the same except with beef.
                http://diyrita.blogspot.com/2014/06/cracker-barrel-campfire-chicken-copycat.html

 I had some beef left over that had not been cooked, so I went in search for a recipe. I kind of had a hankering for chicken marsala...so this kind of turned out like beef marsala.

garlic powder, salt and pepper
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces chuck beef, cut into large dice
1  onion, diced
2 tablespoons butter
4 large mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup wine ( i used marsala wine)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
mashed potatoes, for serving ( my husbands recipe for mashed potatoes found on page for meatloaf)
                  http://diyrita.blogspot.com/2014/07/my-husbands-favorite-meatloaf-dinner.html

Combine salt, pepper and garlic powder with flour. Turn pan on medium heat...check for readiness by sprinking water droplets on pan. If droplets sizzle pan is ready....Add oil and do the same test again, looking for sizzling.
Place flour mixture in shallow bowl and dredge the beef  
Saute the meat until it is medium-rare\ turning occasional.
 Add the onions and cook until it is softened. 
Add the butter to the pan and then add the mushrooms
Cook until the mushrooms begin to color, then remove the meat, onions, and mushrooms to a platter and keep warm.
Deglaze the skillet with the wine, making sure to loosen any browned bits, and let it reduce a little.
Add the beef broth and bring to a boil, then return the reserved meat and vegetables back to the pan and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour, or until the meat is tender.

Mix the cornstarch with a little of the cooking liquid to make a paste and add it to the simmering broth
Wait for it to thicken before serving. 
I plated mashed potatoes, then place the beef tips on top and then poured the gravy on top...Yum yum.

adapted from 
http://texasroadhouseathome.blogspot.com/2013/02/sirloin-beef-tips.html

Golden tea and carpal tunnel

Recently i  have been having problems with my thumb, wrist and arm. I have done a lot of internet study on carpal tunnel, thoracic outlet syndrome, remedies and exercises. I have also done quite a bit of research on the herb tumeric that is used for inflamation. I came across the recipe and decided to give it a try. I was quite suprized at how well it tasted. I am not a big fan of tumeric, but in this drink I feel like I am drinking a blonde hot chocolate...kinda ....I have been drinking it once every day for 3 days straight. I look forward to drinking it, but can't really say it is working yet. 

In order to make this tea you first make the tumeric paste which after it is cooled it will be stored in the fridge until ready to  make tea. 

Tumeric paste

1. Take 1/4 cup turmeric powder, mix with 1/2 cup pure water and simmer over medium-high heat for at least 7 minutes, stirring constantly. You will notice a thick paste form.
2.  If it get's too dry while cooking you can add additional water. 
3. Once cooled, put into a glass jar and put in fridge. This is good for up to one month. 

Golden Milk:

Add 1 tsp. to 1 cup. hot milk (cow, goat, soy, rice, almond, or any combination), 

maple syrup or honey to taste and 1/2 tsp. of almond or sesame oil. 

Gently heat and stir. 

My family loves this just before going to bed.

here is the link for the recipe and the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYCQb2YNGt4&list=PLX2rwNJnvyQHFQ4_p7ECs0fz3XxLj9rY2&index=9

  I found this recipe I liked better to use with the tumeric paste.

• 8 ounces (1 cup) almond or coconut milk ( i used almond milk)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2-inch wide round slice of ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon honey or other sweetener
• Optional additions: a small pat of butter, cinnamon, cardamom

1. Gently warm the almond or coconut milk on the stove.
2. In a mug, combine the remaining ingredients.
3. Drizzle a teaspoon of the warmed milk into the mug and mix until the liquid is smooth with no lumps. Add the rest of the milk and mix well. You can leave the pieces of ginger in the tea, or strain it out before drinking.

:http://www.mintconditiondaily.com/2013/10/24/creamy-tumeric-tea/#sthash.X9UkLdtG.dpuf

Southwestern salad

Southwestern salad

• I love salads and eat them every day. I saw this salad on pinterest and thought this would be good to try. I love all the ingredients. I do not normally use Catalina dressing, but thought it would be good with this salad. It is super easy to make. i didn't have a whole bag of corn chips...I just had a little one....so four cups would be a lot and would have probably filled it to the top. I got to use my trifle dish to display the salad. I am currently waiting for my  husband to come home from playing tennis. This should hit the spot for him after a sweaty                             game of tennis. 
• I remembered to take pictures of the food this time. Usually, I am so excited about what i just made, we devour it before i can photograph it. Well this time, I did photograph it and when i brought it back to the kitchen to set on the countertop before lifting it into the refrigerator, my right arm slipped and the whole thing tilted and out came the corn chips and some of the salad out onto the countertop. Luckily i got it all back in and looking halfway decent. I have been having problems with my right arm and hand and am wearing a hand and wrist brace.I will serve this with some leftover naan bread that i made earlier in the week. Thanks Jessica for suggesting I try making it. 
here is the link from taste of home


http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/southwestern-salad#.T9frLvPO0_g.pinterest


1 can (15 oz) pinto beans rinsed and drained
1 bunch green onions with tops, sliced
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and chopped
1 bottle (8 ounces) Catalina salad dressing, divided
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 medium head lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
4 cups corn chips


• Directions

  1. In a large salad bowl, toss together the beans, green onions, tomato, avocado and half of the Catalina dressing. Top with cheese and then lettuce. Refrigerate. Just before serving, add corn chips to salad and toss. Serve with remaining dressing.Yield: 8-10 servings.