Soy Glazed Salmon

I haven't been a big fan of fish as of late but I try to make it once a week for the rest of the family.  My son loves salmon (which is interesting since he's only four and the pickiest eater in the world!) so that was my choice this week.  I've made this once before and tasted it last night as I pulled it out of the oven and I must say, it was tasty!

Soy Glazed Salmon

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 lb filet salmon

450 degrees.  Line bottom of roasting pan with foil.  Coat rack with oil.  (I just used a baking dish, sprayed with cooking spray and rubbed the bottom with oil.)  Combine soy sauce, syrup, ginger and garlic in saucepan.  Boil over moderate heat until reduced to 1/3 cup.  Brush salmon with sauce; let stand 5 minutes.  Brush with more sauce.  Roast salmon for 10 minutes.  Add remaining glaze.  Broil 3 to 5 minutes 4 to 5 inches from heat.

This post is linked to:
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar & Gluten Free
What's Cooking Wednesday at Turning Back the Clock
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Chili

Basic Chili:

2 lbs ground beef
1 to 2 onions, depending on how big they are
2 cans chili beans
1 can white bean (I usually use Great Northern)
1 can red bean (dark red, light red, whatever you like)
1 packet chili seasoning (I used Williams brand, nothing else!)
Large can (I think it was something like 47 oz) tomato juice
Secret ingredient my grandpa used:  sugar, a few tablespoons, or as much to your liking.  I'm learning that a little sugar on meat make a huge difference in taste.  When I did those Double Decker Tacos it called for brown sugar, which I thought was a little strange, but it was the best tasting taco meat I've ever had.

Cook beef until almost done, drain if needed.  Add onion and 3/4 of the chili seasoning and cook until slightly soft.  Meanwhile, in crockpot add beans, NOT DRAINED, rest of seasoning, sugar and tomato juice.  Once meat is done add to crockpot.  My crockpot gets really, really hot so I do 2 to 3 hours on high or 4 or 5 hours on low.

Menu Plan

So I don't really do my menu on Mondays necessarily so I'll just call it Menu Plan and post whenever my new week starts, which for us is today!

We're headed out of town tonight so I'll be eating out with my sisters while the hubby and kids go to the in-laws.  Tomorrow we're headed home so depending on what time it is we'll be eating out again or eating leftovers or something quick.

The rest of the week looks like this:

~Chili, fruit
~Spaghetti & Meatballs, biscuits, calico beans
~Soy Glazed Salmon, garlic noodles, fruit
~French Toast Casserole, sausages, fruit (didn't get to last week)
~Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry, green beans (didn't get to last week)
~Eat Out next Friday since we have a birthday party until 6pm

PB Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 We have about 9 inches of snow on the ground and didn't go anywhere today so I decided to bake cookies with the kids (as well as vacuuming, dusting, picking up, couple loads of laundry, and oatmeal fruit bars...all before noon!).  Found this one at Brown Eyed Baker and they turned out really good.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp (I used margarine)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

On medium speed, cream together butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla, about 3 minutes.  Add the egg and beat to combine.  On low speed, gradually add flour until just combined.  Stir in oats, then chocolate chips.

Use a large cookie scoop and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Bake 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden.  They won't look done but they'll continue cooking on the pan a bit.  Cool completely on baking sheet and then store in airtight container at room temp.

This post is linked to:
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
Your Recipe, My Kitchen at Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory
Homemaker Monday at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Delicious Dishes at It's a Blog Party
Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
Made By You Monday at Skip to my Lou

Fajitas

 I know these aren't hard to make but I'm making a log of all my recipes as I make new ones so I might as well put them all on here.

Cook some chicken until done.  Add fajita seasoning and mix.

Saute a green pepper and an onion.  Then build your fajita:  I used a whole wheat tortilla, sour cream, chicken, veggies, cheese, and salsa.  Roll up and eat!

Shepherd's Pie

I'm better about posting so far this year but I'm worse about taking pictures!  I forget until after we've eaten but then my pretty picture is messed up so I skip it.

Shepherd's Pie

1 lb ground beef
2 cup hot mashed potatoes
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
1 cup shredded cheddar
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup beef gravy

375 degrees.  Brown meat in skillet.  Drain.

Mix potatoes, cream cheese, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar, and garlic until well blended.

Stir vegetables and gravy into meat.  Spoon in 9 inch baking dish.  Cover with potato mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.

6 servings

**I of course don't follow this exactly. We aren't fans of frozen vegetables so I used a can of green beans, a can of peas, a can of carrots, and some frozen lima beans (I was out of corn or we would have used that too.)

I think it would be better with homemade gravy but I have hardly ever made gravy so I wouldn't know where to begin.  Something I guess I should experiment with huh?

I also doubled the meat and veggie mixture and froze that.  When ready, thaw and add fresh mashed potatoes and cheese.

Menu Monday

Even though it's Sunday...

~Fajitas, Corn
~Shepherd's Pie (NEW), biscuits, fruit
~Tortellini Soup, fruit
~French Toast Casserole (NEW), sausage
~Ham & Cheese puff pastry, green beans (Redoing this recipe with puff pastry instead of phyllo)
~Shrimp Scampi, garlic bread, broccoli w/ cheese sauce
~Pizza Night and/or Leftovers

Homemade Vanilla and Oreo Ice Cream

I've been experimenting with ice cream but it's always eaten so fast I don't get a picture!

I started with this base for a Homemade Oreo recipe I found.  The first time I made it I thought maybe I got too much vanilla in it because something just didn't taste right.  The second time I put hardly any vanilla in and still didn't think it tasted right.  After the second batch sat in the freezer overnight however it was pretty darn good.

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream

3 cups half and half
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
12-15 double stuffed oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Heat the half and half in sauce pan, over medium heat, until bubbles form around edges.  Do not boil!  Just until you see tiny bubbles start to gather around the edge of the pan.  Beat the egg yolks and sugar, on medium high speed, until combined and forms yellow ribbons.  Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add half and half to egg mixture until well combined.  It is important to pour slowly to prevent the eggs from curdling.

Pour the combined liquid back into the sauce pan and cook over medium low heat.  Stir constantly for about 5-8 minutes until thickened and coats the back of the spoon.  Pour the liquid through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl.  Add the vanilla and chill in the refrigerator until completely cooled.

Pour the cream into the ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.  In the last 15 minutes of the churning process, add the chopped Oreos.  Spoon into a lidded container and freeze until completely hardened.  The freezing should take about 2 hours.  Makes about 1 quart.

As you can see this recipe required a lot of work and took a lot of time before it was ready.  I decided to look for a different recipe, preferably an egg-free one.  This is what I found, which I adjusted to 8 servings:

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups half and half
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup plus 2 Tb white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 pinch salt

Combine half and half, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt in freezer container of ice cream maker.  Freeze according to directions.

Some Notes on this one:  Do not mix in the freezer container!  Mix in a seperate bowl and then pour into the container of the ice cream maker.  I put the sugar in a little dish and mixed with some water.  Then I microwaved it until all the sugar was dissolved so that it wouldn't be grainy.  I set that mixture in the fridge for a little while to cool before adding to the cream mixture.  Mix it up and then put in the ice cream maker.

We liked this second recipe MUCH better!  I think I've found my vanilla base.  We've done Oreo and tonight we're doing caramel pecan.  My next ones to try are peanut butter cup and cookie dough.

This post is linked to:
Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory
A Southern Fairytale
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Show Me How at It's a Blog Party
Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar & Gluten Free
What's Cooking Wednesday at Turning the Clock Back
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam
Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story
Tip Day Thursday at Around My Family Table

Deli Style Pasta Salad

I don't follow the recipe exactly so here's the recipe I adapted:

1 pkg (16 oz) tricolor pasta
2 medium plum tomatoes, seeded and julienned
8 oz sliced salami, julienned
8 oz provolone cheese, julienned
1 small red onion, thinly sliced and seperated
1 small jar olives, drained
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 bottle (8 oz) Italian dressing

Cook pasta; drain and rinse with cold water.  In large bowl combine pasta, tomatoes, salami, cheese, onion, olives, and parmesan.  Add dressing and toss to coat.  Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Serves 12


I just used plain pasta, left out the tomatoes, used some cubed mozzarella and swiss cheeses, left out the olives, and only put enough dressing to taste.  I also added in some frozen peas.  This is one of those recipes you just adapt to your liking but I follow this one as a base and adjust from there.

BBQ Chicken Wraps

Thought these sounded good so I gave them a try.  All I did was bake some chicken in the oven with some garlic powder, chili powder, a bit of cumin, salt and pepper.  Then I diced it up and tossed with bbq sauce.  Roll in a whole wheat tortilla with some red onion, swiss cheese, lettuce and ranch dressing.  Yum!