Creamy Taco Mac

I saw this recipe for Creamy Taco Mac over at Annie's Eats and knew it would be a hit at our house.


It was delicious and, like Annie said, a great way to make a Hamburger Helper-esque meal using fresh ingredients.

Creamy Taco Mac
Annie's Eats

1¼ lbs. ground turkey
8 oz. dry pasta shapes
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
4 tbsp. taco seasoning
3 oz. cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
Salt and pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground turkey over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the turkey is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the turkey is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. Remove from the heat and top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

Breakfast for Dinner

Breakfast for dinner is always a nice change of pace.


I made scrambled eggs, potatoes with onion, breakfast sausage and toast. Delicious.

Hashbrown Casserole

I'm not sure where I got this recipe. If any of my readers know, please leave me a comment.


The casserole combines breakfast sausage, frozen hashbrowns, eggs and cheese. It was delicious and made enough for me to freeze half of it for a night we don't feel like cooking.

Beef and Broccoli

I've never been very successful recreating certain ethnic foods at home. Indian, Chinese, Thai - they never taste as good at home as they do in a restaurant. This recipe for Beef and Broccoli was good, but it was missing something I can't quite put my finger on.


I made a few modifications (see below). I think it has potential, assuming I can figure out what was missing.

Beef & Broccoli
Modified from Original Joelen Recipe

Marinade:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce (regular or low sodium)
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs sirloin steak, cut into thin strips

2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 broccoli crowns, cut into florets
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with cold water

In a large plastic bag combine the sugar, soy sauce, water, garlic powder, and beef. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

When ready to prepare, warm up a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil to heat up. Once hot, saute the garlic and onion until softened. Add the marinated beef and marinade to the skillet. Saute the beef about 2-3 minutes (it will not be completely cooked). Add the water, oyster sauce and broccoli florets. Let it come to a boil and allow the liquid to reduce and the broccoli to cook from the steam.

When the broccoli is tender, add the cornstarch and water and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and serve over steamed rice or noodles.

Caesar Salad...maybe?

I'm so sorry everyone. I promise to be better about remembering what I made and/or blogging more frequently so this doesn't keep happening. Here's a salad...


... with stuff in it. I see grape tomatoes, chicken, lettuce (of course), bacon, and what is probably homemade Caesar dressing. Yes, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Pasta...of some sort

Another casualty of delayed blogging. This bowl of pasta looks delicious, doesn't it?


Too bad I have no clue what it is. Anyone want to play Guess the Ingredients? I think there's chicken, spinach, maybe some scallions. I can't tell if that's an onion or a piece of artichoke. This is why I need to be better about blogging frequently.

Pork Chops and Potato Salad

Another recipe from the May 2010 issue of Food Network Magazine, this time for Pork with Potato-Bean Salad. I used pork chops instead of the tenderloin:


... and we thought they were a little bland. I tried the recipe again, this time baking the pork chops, but with the same disappointing result. The potato salad, however, has become a staple in my kitchen:


I like the green beans in it, but lately I've been leaving them out and just making the potato salad. It's incredibly flavorful and I always have the ingredients on hand. I still love my other version of potato salad, but this one is a great weeknight throw-together.

Easy Potato Salad
Modified from Food Network Magazine

1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Juice of 1 lemon, plus 1 teaspoon grated zest
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander, run under cold water and pat dry.

Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, parsley, lemon juice and zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste in a bowl. Add the potatoes and onion; season with salt and pepper, and toss.

Ham and Taleggio Grilled Cheese

This recipe for Ham and Taleggio Grilled Cheese was on the cover of the May 2010 Food Network Magazine.


It was a decent sandwich, but nothing we'd make again. We couldn't really taste the taleggio and let me tell you, that's not a cheap cheese.

Breaded Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

I'm looking at this picture and I honestly have no idea what I did to make this meal. This is the problem with waiting months between taking the pictures and blogging about the meal.


I'm pretty sure the meat is chicken and that I pounded it out, breaded and shallow-fried it. But I'm drawing a complete blank on the sauce. It looks like it could be cheesy, especially since I put it on the broccoli as well as the chicken. Sorry, folks!

Sushi, sushi and more sushi!

My father came for a visit in late April. SP had just gotten a new job so we decided to celebrate with a boatload of sushi. I'm not kidding - look at this massive platter of sushi:


And yes, we were gluttons and ate all of it between the three of us. Yum! I'm not sure what all the different rolls are but I'll tell you the ones I do know.

This is one of our favorites, the Godzilla Roll:


At our sushi place that means a roll filled with tuna, avocado and probably a few other things and then DEEP FRIED. Heaven. We got two of those.

This is the spicy tuna roll, a generous roll not only filled with spicy tuna but topped with a mountain of tuna:


A simple, yet delicious, tuna and avocado roll:


I think this is called the Rainbow Roll:


Just looking at this post is making me crave sushi in the worst way!

Easter Dinner

I know there are a few of you out there who love my holiday dinner posts. I'm sorry this one is so late, but here is Easter in all its glory!

Can't have an Easter dinner without colorfully dyed hardboiled eggs:


... or deviled eggs:


My mom's delicious potato salad:


... roasted asparagus:


... horseradish and mustard:


... rye bread:


The delicious platter of meat:


... which included ham and kielbasa. My plate, with a little of everything:


Cheesecake for dessert:


... with raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries on top:


Another fantastic meal courtesy of my wonderful parents.

Grilling

On one of many gorgeous days we had in April we decided to grill some steaks. My supermarket was having a deal on fresh mozzarella so I bought a few tomatoes, some basil and the mozzarella for caprese salad:


SP cooked the steaks perfectly, nice and charred on the outside and rare in the middle:


I don't eat a ton of red meat but there is something so satisfying about cutting into a well-cooked steak and eating that first juicy bite.

Bridal Shower

One of my dearest friends from college got married earlier this month, but way back in March I went down to Baltimore for her bridal shower/bachelorette party weekend. It was a ton of fun and I'm so happy for M & S.

M's bridesmaids really outdid themselves with the food. Here's the spread looking quite inviting:


It wouldn't be a party in Baltimore without crab dip:


A party favorite, spinach dip with pumpernickel bread:


A delicious pasta salad:


Yummy sandwiches and wraps:


Fresh fruit (I couldn't get enough of the pineapple):


Bean dip that was out of this world amazing, made by the mom of one of the bridesmaids:


Cookies in the shape of some of M's favorite Balitmore things:


The only food I managed to photograph from the bachelorette party was the crab pretzel at our first stop. This was so amazing I want to go back to Baltimore just to have another one all to myself. It's a huge soft pretzel topped with luscious, creamy crab dip and cheese, then broiled:


Wow, that it good!

Meatloaf Muffins

Meatloaf muffins are one of my favorite ways to cook meatloaf. Everything is already portioned out and it only takes 30 minutes to cook.


For these I added salsa and breadcrumbs to the meatloaf mix, then topped each muffin with ketchup. Mashed potatoes and corn rounded out the meal.

Return to Blogging

Man...where did the time go? My last post was April 2? I'm sorry about that. What can I say except work has been crazy, things with Baby Girl have been crazy and life just keeps getting in the way. I even (gasp) stopped taking photos of meals because I didn't know when I'd get around to blogging about them.

The good news is I have a ton of pictures and Blogger has this nifty feature where I can write all my posts at once and have one publish each day. So stay tuned...

Herb and Lemon-Marinated Pork Tenderloin, Au Gratin Potatoes and Green Beans

I love pork tenderloins. They're so easy to cook and stay juicy and flavorful. I used the same marinade I used last time and it was delicious.


I need to get my act together to actually marinate these overnight, although if I do I'll cut down on the lemon since SP said it overwhelmed the thyme after just three hours. I served the pork with au gratin potatoes (boxed), green beans and leftover biscuits.

Breakfast for Dinner

On a recent Saturday night we hadn't thought about dinner by the time we put Baby Girl to bed. I figured I could whip up a quick breakfast for dinner:


I scrambled eggs, cooked breakfast sausage and fried up some potatoes and onion. SP asked for biscuits so he quickly threw those together using Bisquick while the eggs finished cooking.

An Attempt at Sicilian Pizza

I had a feeling this was doomed from the beginning, but I thought I'd see if I could make Sicilian pizza at home. Unfortunately the answer is no, at least with the dough I buy.


The pizza was good, but it didn't have that spongey Sicilian texture. In fact it was more like a pan pizza. I'm sure I need to make a special kind of dough to get that perfect consistency, but I don't work with yeast so yeah...guess I'll be buying my Sicilian pizzas from my local pizza parlor.

Chicken in Coconut Milk

I'm sure this recipe for Garlic Shrimp in Coconut Milk, Tomatoes and Cilantro would have been better with shrimp but we haven't been splurging on shrimp lately so I subbed in chicken:


I love the smell of coconut milk...mmmmm. This was a good recipe but it felt like it needed something. Maybe the shrimp would have been the right pairing, or maybe it needed some curry flavor (as was suggested by someone before I made it).

Chicken Spaghetti - Updated

The last time I made this recipe for Chicken Spaghetti SP wasn't a fan. I made a few modifications and I think we're almost there.


This recipe made a ton of food so I froze half of it for a night when we need a quick dinner. Here's the recipe below with the modifications I've made and what I'll do differently next time (mainly add a 1/2 cup of wine for some kick).

Chicken Spaghetti
Modified from Pioneer Woman

4 chicken breasts, poached and shredded
1 lb spaghetti
2 cans Cream Of Mushroom soup
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 small green pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
12 ounces mushrooms, cut into chunks
1/2 cup white wine
1 jar pimentos, drained and diced
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt And Pepper, to taste
1 cup additional grated cheddar cheese
4-5 pieces of white bread, torn
butter

Cook chicken breasts and pick out the meat to make two cups. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook. While spaghetti cooks, saute green pepper, onion and mushrooms in a little butter or oil until soft. Deglaze pan with white wine, then add chicken to heat through. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.

Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Pulse torn bread and butter in a food processor until you have coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly and the breadcrumbs are toasted.