A New Dish.

My parents and brother came over for dinner tonight and I really wanted to try something new.  I decided to make halibut and hasselback potatoes.  I know that halibut is nothing new but I have never, ever cooked fish in my life.  I'm happy to say that it turned out tasting very yummy!  Aside from a minor issue with the fish sticking a little to the grill, I would say that my first attempt was a success.

As for the potato, it was a recipe that I found on Pinterest. Here is the link, so you can try them too.  They were also very yummy!  The name alone might not get you to make this fantastic potato recipe, so here is a picture, courtesy of seasaltwithfood.com

Happy cooking to all of you.

Lindsay

It's a St. Louis thing!

Have you ever heard of Gooey Butter Cake?  I have never heard of it until I stumbled upon this blog, Extreme Personal Measures.  I've been saving the link for the time when I needed to bake a cake.  Well that time was this weekend for my little brother's birthday.  Let me say that those St. Louis people sure know how to make a great cake!  It's so gooey, sweet, buttery and just plain YUMMY!  Make it as soon as you can!

Photo taken from Extreme Personal Measures

Click HERE for baking instructions.

Lindsay

Key Lime Pie!

KLP is hands down my favorite dessert.  I could eat it every day.  Being on Weight Watchers though, doesn't really allow for that.  But, then I came across this recipe and it is wonderful and only 4 point per slice.  I have made it several times and everyone has loved it.  It's light and refreshing and very easy to make. 

I hope you enjoy it!

Lindsay

Stuffed Shells

I love making this and my husband loves them too.  It's perfect because it will feed us for 2 nights and then I have some leftover to freeze.  Here's how I make mine:

1 box of pasta shells  (I only use 20 for this recipe)
1 20oz pkg 99% ground turkey
1 15oz container of ricotta cheese (I use part skim)
1 12oz of shredded mozzarella ( I use reduced fat)
1/2 c grated Parmesan plus more to sprinkle on top
1 26oz jar of pasta sauce
garlic powder
Italian seasoning (McCormick Perfect Pinch)
salt
pepper

Cook the large pasta shells per the instructions on the package.  In a non stick pan, crumble and brown ground turkey.  Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning to taste.  Set aside to cool.  In a large bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 of the mozzarella, Parmesan cheese and a little more salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Mix the cooked ground turkey into the cheese mixture.  Fill the shells with the mixture.  Pour 1/2 of the jar of pasta sauce into a baking pan or Pyrex (my pan is a Lecreuset and is an odd shape 8 1/2 x12).  Arrange the shells in the pan so they are in rows touching.  Pour the remainder of the pasta sauce over the shells.  Top with the rest of the shredded mozzarella and sprinkle with a little more Parmesan cheese.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Serve with garlic bread or a salad.  Enjoy!

In the pan before the sauce goes on:

After shells are topped with sauce and cheese:



After baking in the oven:

No pictures yet because I will be baking them for dinner tonight.  I will post a picture after they are done!  OOPS!  I forgot to set the timer and the shells were in a little too long.  The cheese on top was just past the golden brown stage.  They still tasted yummy but I'm not going to post a picture.  Just imagine them hot and bubbly and gooey!

Note:  You can freeze them.  If you don't want the ground turkey, then you can omit it or sub it with ground beef.  You can sneek veggies into the mixture, like wilted spinach. 

Lindsay



Don't waste your money!

Tonight for dinner, I thought I would try something different.  I purchased Philadelphia Cooking Cream because I had a high value coupon and because it looked pretty good on the commercial.  Do not be fooled!  In a word. it was GROSS.  Inedible would be another good way to describe it.  Here's what I did (following the package instructions).  I cooked 2 cups of pasta.  Then, I sauteed a red pepper and 2 cubed chicken breasts with a little Pam.  After the pasta was cooked, I drained it and transferred it to the saute pan.  Lastly, I scooped out the Italian Herb and Cheese Cooking Cream and mixed it in until everything was covered.  The three of us sat down to eat and after a few bites my husband and I decided to not eat any more and threw out the rest of what was in the pan.  Liam ate a few bites too, and then threw his fork at me!

I want to try to describe why it was so bad, but it's hard.  My husband said how can you blog about it if you can't describe it, so I will try.  The flavor was so strong and overpowering.  There was too much of the sauce, but it was still dry.  I did not add any salt to the meal and it was much too salty. 

There are alot of high value coupons out there for this product, but trust me, save your money!  Do not buy Philadelphia Cooking Cream.

Lindsay

The BEST Banana Bread EVER!

This is my mom's recipe and it's my favorite banana bread.  It's pretty basic and a great way to use those over-ripe bananas.

1 3/4 cup of All Purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup of margarine (I have used butter and it turns out the same)
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
3-4 ripe bananas (smashed)
(You can add nuts, if you want to ruin it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt) in a bowl and set aside.  Mash bananas and then add the margarine, sugar and eggs.  Mix to combine.  Gradually, add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix thoroughly before the next addition.  Grease a standard sized loaf pan and pour in batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes (when a toothpick inserted, in the middle, comes out clean).  In my oven, it takes about 58 minutes.

It's really hard not to cut into it as soon as it come out of the oven and slather it with butter and jam it into my mouth, but I wouldn't do that. ;)

Lindsay

A Few Yummy Recipes!

We have a St. Patty's party to go to tonight so I offered to bring a few things.  I wanted to bring green food so I made green Rice Krispie treats with rainbow sprinkles and cucumber pitas.  I won't bore you with the details on making the Krispie treats, because I think we all know how to do that.  I did, however,  add a few drops of green food coloring into the melted marshmallows to make them a little more festive and added rainbow sprinkles. 

The cucumber pitas are one of my favorite appetizers.  They are very easy to make and require only 5 ingredients.  One package of pitas (white of whole wheat), one cucumber, a package of cream cheese ( I used light), an envelope of Italian dressing powdered mix and dry dill.

Soften the cream cheese and mix in the dressing powder. 

Spread the cream cheese on each pita (there are usually 5 in a package).  Now peel the cucumber and slice it into 1/4 inch disks. 

Place the cucumber slices all over the cream cheese topped pita. 

Next, sprinkle with the dried dill. 

Lastly, cut the pitas into 6 wedges.  Serve on a beautiful cut crystal serving tray (Kidding!  It's plastic from the $ store!).

Yummy!

Lindsay