Parmesan Orzo

Generally speaking I am not one to create recipes.  I like to find a recipe and adapt it to suit my taste and my family.  On Saturday I was planning to serve pork tenderloin (marinated in the Korean Chicken marinade), some sort of rice and veggies as a side dish.  Suddenly the day was gone and supper needed to be served.  With no time to cook rice (we are brown ricers around here) I pulled some orzo out and boiled it while scanning my head to see what I could add to it to make it taste good...  A few minutes later Parmesan Orzo was born.

I was very impressed with the taste of this dish.  I was even more impressed with Sam and Gabriel's reaction...  They GOBBLED it up!  Score!

Parmesan Orzo

• 1 cup orzo pasta (uncooked)
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• milk or cream or half and half

1.  Boil the pasta as usual.
2.  While draining the pasta melt the butter in the cooking pot.
3.  Add pasta back in and stir to coat with butter.
4.  Sprinkle with parmesan (add more if needed).
5.  Pour in some milk (start with 1/4 cup) and stir.  Keep adding milk until a creamy sauce is made.  Leave on warm burner to heat.
6.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

The recipe is open for play.  I didn't measure as I was cooking, so definitely taste as you are going along.  You could add some parsley for color or go crazy and saute some onions and garlic.  I needed something quick so I just stuck to the basics.

The boys ate this too fast to take a picture of!  I'll re-post with a picture once I make it again.

Enjoy!
-C :)

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (Cupcakes)

These are likely my all time favorite muffin recipe.  They are super moist, super chocolatey and super good.  Lately I have been taking one to work, popping it in the microwave to make it all warm and gooey and enjoying it during my coffee break at work.  That means that in the last 9 days I have eaten 9 muffins, no wonder my scrub pants are getting tight!  (That also means in the last 9 days I have worked 9 shifts in a row.  I kind of think I deserved the muffins!)

This recipe comes from a cookbook created by the church I grew up in.  I love cookbooks like that.  You know everyone who put the recipes in and can pretty much guarantee that the recipes will be good (as long as you make the ones put in by the good cooks)!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

• 2 1/2 cups flour (I use 1 1/2 cups white, 1 cup whole wheat)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 3/4 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups grated zucchini (fresh or frozen)

1.  Combine all the dry ingredients including the chocolate chips and nuts.
2.  Mix wet ingredients together.  Combine with dry ingredients.
3.  Stir in zucchini.
4.  Place in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

I hope that you enjoy these as much as I do.  If there is one recipe that I have made over and over, it would be this one!  Mom always gives me big overgrown zucchini so that I can grate it up and freeze it for the winter.

Enjoy!
- Carla :)

Pumpkin Pancakes

Earlier in the week I made a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins to take to work and giveaway to friends and neighbours.  I only had a big can of pumpkin and didn't use it all in the muffins.  So, what does one do with a cup of pumpkin??  This morning I did a search and found a good looking recipe for pumpkin pancakes.  A few tweaks later, we had a delicious breakfast!

Until this winter, I had only experienced pumpkin in the form of pumpkin pie.  Now I have a recipe for pumpkin soup that I love, a recipe for pumpkin muffins and pancakes.  I can see a pumpkin patch in our yard this summer!

Pumpkin Pancakes
(adapted from LoveBakedIn at food.com)

2 cups flour ( used 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup canned pumpkin

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted

*Mix dry ingredients in one bowl.

*Mix wet ingredients in another.

*Pour wet into dry.  Stir to combine.

*Scoop by the 1/3 cupful into a hot pan.  (I had to turn mine down quite a bit so they didn't burn).

Gabriel and I ate these with maple syrup, Sam and Josie-Grace ate them plain.  Both ways were good!

Enjoy!

-C :)

Mushroom Soup

In the winter we usually eat soup on Saturday and Sunday for lunch.  If you calculate that, it means that I make approximately 40 batches of soup each winter.  One of my favorite recipes is my Mom's mushroom soup.  She also makes many pots of soup each year, so if she has a good recipe, it is sure to join my roster.

Mushroom Soup

• 3 cups fresh mushrooms (1 cup finely chopped, 2 cups sliced)
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 to 1/3 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 3 cups milk
• 3 cups chicken broth
• paprika

1.  Saute onions and mushrooms in butter until mushrooms have lost their liquid and it has reabsorbed.
2.  Add flour, salt and poultry seasoning.
3.  Gradually add in chicken broth, and then milk.
4.  Stir until thickened and bubbling.
5.  Garnish with paprika (or cheddar penguins whatever you prefer!).

Enjoy!

- C :)

Also seen on: Ultimate Recipe Swap @ Life As a Mom

Korean Chicken

I'm not sure if this chicken is Korean or not, but I am sure that it is AWESOME!  I rarely make the same recipe twice, but this recipe has made a few appearances at our supper table.  It is super quick and delicious!  Plus it uses honey, which I prefer over sugar.

Korean Chicken
(adapted from food.com)

1 chicken, cut up or 7-10 chicken pieces

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup minced green onion or dried minced onion or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 

1 tablespoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons honey or sugar

2 teaspoons minced garlic or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

*Place all ingredients together in a ziploc bag.
*Marinate in the fridge overnight.
*Arrange in pan.
*Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

I have made this without sesame oil and it is still good.  Sesame oil pushes it over the edge of amazing though!

Enjoy!

-C :)

Creamy Chicken Lasagna

In our almost 5 years of marriage, there are only 2 meals that Sam has ever requested that we have again, and this is one of them.  Both of the kids love this too!

This dish is relatively simple, but takes a bit of time to get everything together, as most lasagna's do.  Don't be afraid of the spinach.  I do NOT like spinach.  The first time I only put in half and it tasted ok, so I thought I would try it with 2 packages and it was fine!

Creamy Chicken Lasagna
(adapted from HDMac on food.com)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cups mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (slightly heaped)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, for topping

*Boil lasagna noodles until al dente.
*Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat, and saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic until the mushrooms have lost their water and it has evaporated.

*Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly.

*Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

*Stir in 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese.

*Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper.

*Remove from heat and set aside. (The sauce should be fairly thick.)

*Preheat oven to 350.

*Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.

*Cover with 1/3 of the noodles, all the cottage cheese, and all the chicken.

*Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining mozzarella cheese.

*Top with remaining noodles and sauce mixture, and sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

*Bake 45 minutes.

I hope you enjoy this as much as Sam does!

-C :)

Linked to: i have to say... The Recipe Box Swap

Taco Seasoning

In my kitchen, I am always on a quest to get rid of as many processed products as I can.  In our home we eat quite a bit of Mexican food.  Mexican food that calls for a packet of taco seasoning.  I quick search on food.com lead me to a wonderful recipe that provides all the flavor of the bought variety of taco seasoning without the added chemicals and salt plus it doesn't take long to stir up an enormous batch!  Win-win I say!




Photo courtesy of food.com alligirl.

 Taco Seasoning
(adapted from Kittencal's recipe)

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 -3 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 pinch cayenne

2 tablespoons cornstarch

* Combine all ingredients together in a small container.

*To use:  Brown ground beef/chicken.  Add taco seasoning and 3/4 c water.  Simmer until water  evaporates.

When I make this I usually increase the recipe by 5 so that I always have some on hand.  Also, if you are not using the taco seasoning for taco meat but to flavor other dishes, you can omit the cornstarch if you want.

Enjoy!

-C :)