Beef Hash

Sometimes the leftovers are so much better than the original meal aren't they? That was the case with this expensive beef roast I purchased for our Christmas Eve dinner. It was good...but the whole meal to me was just "ok"

So with lots of leftovers I looked online for ideas for using leftover beef roasts. I found a recipe for beef hash, made a few changes/additions & below is what I came up with for dinner tonight. Yum !!!

Beef Hash

4 C leftover beef roast coarsely chopped

2 large carrots chopped

4 med unpeeled redskin potatoes chopped (med = about the size of a tennis ball each)

1 onion chopped

1 med green pepper chopped

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp regular salt)

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix all together and place in 1 large or 2 med well greased shallow baking pans ( I use cooking spray)

In separate bowl or large measuring cup whisk together 2 C water with 4T of brown gravy mix. Pour over casserole, cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes till carrots & potatoes are tender. Uncover & brown briefly under broiler. Enjoy.

2 new recipes

I just tried to post 2 new recipes on here for Poor Man's Turtles & Buttery Chocolate Bark but I mistakenly posted them on my other blog. If you want to check them out they can be found here.

Carrot Souffle

I got this recipe from a Vermont country inn about 8 years ago and it has been a family favorite ever since. The original recipe called for 3 cups of sugar....I cut it back to 2 cups & it is still very sweet...but oh so delicious. This is such a nice recipe to go with Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. When I make it for just my children & I then I do half the recipe. Enjoy...and if you do make it I'd love to know how you liked it.

Carrot Souffle


3 lbs carrots - sliced & cooked till tender
1 & 1/2 C butter softened
6 eggs
1/2 C flour
2 C sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon


Beat or blend all ingredients together till smooth. Spoon into 2 lightly greased souffle dishes. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour till set and lightly browned. Serve immediately.


Note: If you don't have souffle dishes a glass or corningware casserole dish (3-4 inches deep) works fine also. Enjoy !!!

Caprese Salad

I saw this recipe on TV recently & it looked so delicious I made it for dinner that same night. The only problem I had was that it called for fresh basil & I could not find a single store that had it in stock. So I used a bit of dried instead. It was still delicious but but there is just nothing like fresh. Recipe below...enjoy.

Caprese Salad

6 ripe roma (plum) tomatoes - cut in half lengthwise & seeds removed
12 oz fresh mozzarella cheese sliced
2 cloves fresh garlic minced
fresh basil
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Place tomatoes on a cookie sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil & vinegar. Sprinkle minced garlic over tomatoes and season with a little salt & pepper & roast in a 250 degree oven for 2- 2 1/2 hours.

Remove from oven drizzle with a little more olive oil, salt & pepper & let cool slightly. Then layer tomatoes alternating with the mozarella slices over a bed of mixed field greens or other lettuce of choice. Sprinkle snipped fresh basil over and serve.

Jakes favorite blueberry muffins

I found this recipe online a few years back & it is now the only blueberry muffin we make in this house. I try not to make them too often though because they are not the healthiest food...plus Jake loves them & eats them too fast. So for us they are just an occasional treat. It may seem like there is too much of the topping but use it all...it cooks down into a delicious crispy streusel topping. Sorry for the blurry photo.

Recipe is below. Enjoy.

Blueberry Muffins

1 & 1/2 C flour
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 C milk
1 C fresh blueberries

Topping

1/2 C sugar
1/3 C flour
1/4 C butter cubed
1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Mix all topping ingredients together with a fork or pastry cutter. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Place the oil into a 1 cup measuring cup. Add the egg & enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this into the flour mixture. Fold in the blueberries. Fill muffin cups almost to the top and then sprinkle with topping mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes till topping is golden brown. Makes 8-10 muffins.

Soft Snickerdoodles

These yummy cookies should be arriving in Iraq right about now. Both of my kids love these cookies. I lost my usual recipe but found this one and they are the best Snickerdoodles we have ever had. Recipe below..... enjoy.

SNICKERDOODLES

1 C butter

1 and 1/2 C sugar

2 eggs

2 and 3/4 C flour

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Coating = 3T sugar, 3tsp cinnamon

Beat butter, sugar & eggs together till smooth. Mix dry ingredients together and then gradually mix into egg mixture. Chill dough for 30 minutes then roll into 1 inch balls, roll in coating mixture and then bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes on ungreased cookie sheets. Remove to wire rack to cool.

No recipe required...

I don't really have a recipe I follow for this meal....but it is one that we like to have for dinner occasionally. (yes...we do sometimes have breakfast for dinner)

Homefries made with fresh green pepper, onion, garlic & cubed potatoes...then scrambled eggs & crumbled cooked bacon stirred in just before serving. An easy delicious "one dish" meal.

Refrigerator Pickles

I planted 2 cucumber plants in my garden this year never knowing that they would yeild more than 50 cucumbers. I don't eat them and Jake can only eat so many on his own. I have given many away but decided to make pickles with some of them. I found the following recipe online & added a few more ingredients to make them a bit more to my liking. They are so easy to make & so delicious. The recipe is as follows.

Refrigerator Pickles

1 C distilled white vinegar

1 T kosher salt

2 C white sugar

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp mustard seed

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp dried dill

6 C sliced cucumbers

1 C sliced vidalia onion

1 C sliced red pepper

1-2 finely minced fresh hot chili peppers (seeds removed)

In a saucepan heat vinegar, salt & sugar to a boil & boil for a few minutes till sugar is disolved. Remove from heat & add celery seed, mustard seed, garlic powder & dill.

Place the remaining ingredients in a large bowl & pour the vinegar/spice mixture over. Mix together & let stand for 30 minutes.

Transfer to sterile containers and store in refrigerator.

Enjoy !!!

Welcome to my kitchen

Since I have shared so many recipe favorites on my other blog I thought it would be fun to start a new blog where I could share my love of cooking with other like minded people.

Beware though....some (or maybe even most) of the recipes I share won't be for anyone looking to lose weight. But hopefully if you try them you'll enjoy them as much as I have.

Stay tuned...