Italian Dinner Gift Basket

I was blown away by the gift my niece gave me for my birthday. She went to a lot of work to make it, and it was right up my alley with a theme to it. She made me an Italian dinner gift basket. Here is what she did....

She made home made tomato sauce in the crock pot. Then she put it in a nice jar with the hand written recipe on how to make it. 

My niece also made  Italian seasoning. She put it in an adorable jar, again with the recipe written out. 

Included in the gift basket was some gourmet pasta, four Italian style place mats, and some adorable Italian flags that my niece made. The dinner was very yummy. All I had to add was some hamburger and parmesan and I was set!

Here are some pictures of my creative, gourmet chef niece putting the gift together. I feel like the luckiest Auntie in the world!

Thank you so much kiddo - your gift was awesome!!!

Breakfast Pizza Recipe

This is what I made for Father's Day brunch this year - breakfast pizza. A totally new concept for me, (putting eggs on a pizza) but it was really good and my hubby LOVED it.  Here is how I made it....

I whipped up a batch of my Quick Rising Flax Pizza Dough.


I rolled this out to a thin crust, and baked it in the oven for 5 minutes before putting on the toppings. Poke the crust in numerous places with a fork before baking to prevent air pockets. With the dough I was able to make two large pizza crusts and one 8x8 pan pizza crust, but I only made one breakfast pizza (the other two I did cream cheese and chicken topping - I will post that recipe another time - so yummy).

On the one pizza crust I put the following toppings....

-Prepared hollandaise sauce from a Knorr classic sauce packet (I didn't quite put all of it on).
- Johnsonville mild sausage, cooked and drained
- 6 eggs, scrambled and cooked
- onions (I used red onion but you can use whatever one you have on hand)
- red pepper
- Tex Mex cheese to sparingly cover

Cook the pizza at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until crust is slightly browned, and toppings are cooked to your liking.

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Barbecued Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

I discovered this recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook and it has been a family favorite since. It is very easy and very yummy. A great recipe for summer!

1 tbsp brown sugar 

2 tsp. butter 1 tsp honey

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 tbsp. soy sauce 

1 tbsp dijon mustard 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper 

1 salmon filet (2 1/2 lb)

In a small saucepan over med. heat, cook and stir brown sugar, butter and honey until melted. Remove from heat; whisk in the oil, mustard, soy sauce, salt and pepper. cool 5 min. Place salmon on a large foil sheet; brush with brown sugar glaze. Grill uncovered 10-15 minutes or bake placing fish and foil on a cookie sheet uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes  or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

I like to serve this with stir fried veggies and wild rice Sidekicks . 

Here's the recipe card...

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Fiesta Panini Recipe

I borrowed a Panini cookbook from the library that had over 200 panini recipes in it. This was the first recipe I tried from that book because I had all the ingredients - and boy is it good. I made this again yesterday - mmmmm. I doubled the recipe and was able to cook up three large tortillas and three small ones. You should give it a try....
Here's the recipe:

Fiesta Panini

1/4 cup drained rinsed canned beans

1/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

1/4 cup sliced green bell pepper

1/4 cup cream cheese softened

1 tbsp salsa

2 - 6 inch flour tortillas

1 tbsp butter

4 slices bacon, diced and cooked crisp

1/2 c Montery Jack Cheese

In a bowl combine beans, corn and green pepper. Set aside. In another bowl, combine cream cheese and salsa. 

Brush one side of each tortilla with butter. Place on a work surface, butter side down, and spread with cream cheese mixture. Evenly layer with bean mixture, bacon and cheese on one half of the tortilla, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Fold tortillas over filling. Place sandwiches in a grill (panini grill, George Foreman, etc.) and cook until golden brown approx. 3-4 minutes. Let cool a couple minutes before eating.

Here's the recipe card....

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Whipperberry
Foodie Friday

Leftover Turkey Idea - Turkey Burgers

Is ground turkey ridiculously priced where you live? I have never purchased ground turkey - but I did look into buying it when I saw some turkey burgers on the Martha Stewart website that looked absolutely delicious. I was not willing to pay almost $7.00 a pound - but I got creative and decided to try it with leftover turkey. I was not expecting much from these burgers to tell you the truth - but I was so excited with how well they turned out. They were definitely yummy! Here is how I did it....

Basically, I made these burgers like you would with hamburger.

I crushed some crackers in my food processor. I use crackers instead of bread crumbs because I never have bread crumbs.

Then I took some turkey and put it in the food processor. This is a picture of turkey legs that I froze. I wanted to use brown turkey meat because it is moist. I haven't tried these burgers with white meat.

After it is well ground make it like you would with beef burgers. Add an egg, salt and pepper. You can add chopped onions and whatever ingredients you desire. I also added 1 tsp. of chili powder and a little bit of mayo so they mixture was moist.

Shape into patties and cook in a frying pan. I have not tried these on a barbecue. Pretty much the size you make these when you shape them...

...will be the size they are when fully cooked. I cooked them until golden brown on each side.

These are fabulous with melted cheese, oh yeah, and cranberry jalepeno jelly. If you have monterey jack cheese use that, but I have used cheddar and that is good too.

For more leftover turkey recipes, CLICK HERE!

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Whassup Wednesday

Hawaiian Haystacks with Quinoa

I didn't know what Hawaiian Haystacks were a few years ago. When I first heard about it I was a little skeptical because I thought the ingredients together sounded weird. My family loves this meal. This meal is also good for larger gatherings. I made this for a Church luncheon and I also served this for a Mother's Day meal for a gathering of quite a few people. The quinoa is a new addition suggested by a friend and it is good - but I do not replace the rice, I portion out half rice and half quinoa to what used to be straight white rice. I am all for healthier options but not willing to totally get rid of my old not so healthy habits. I am new to quinoa, and in case you are too, here is some info:

 - Quinoa is simple to cook, very much like rice.
 - substitute quinoa for couscous or rice in almost any meal. 
 - With the most complete proteins of any grain, and a great source of vitamins and minerals - iron, magnesium, Vit E, potassium, amino acids, and fiber - quinoa is an ideal food for vegetarian or vegan diets - or any kind of diet!

This information is from the Savvy Vegetarian website, and you can go there to find more info, or you can Google quinoa. I cooked the quinoa as follows: 1 1/2 cups salted water. Bring to a boil. Add 1 cup quinoa. Cook on low, with lid on, for 15 minutes. 

Here is white rice on the left, and quinoa on the right. I cooked both to go with my most recent Hawaain Haystacks and I will prepare them like this from now on.

So now on to what is in my spin of a Hawaiian Haystack...

The ingredients I use are 

1. Rice (and now rice and quinoa *this is an old pic so the quinoa is missing )

2. Cooked chicken, chopped

3. tomatoes, chopped

4. celery, chopped

5. green onion, chopped

6. pineapple chunks

7. sunflower seeds

8. grated cheddar cheese

9. chicken gravy

So basically, you start with rice/quinoa as your base (one serving spoon size is plenty - you can always go back for more), then add chicken, tomatoes, celery, green onions, etc., etc.,  topping it off with cheese and dousing it with gravy. I was given weird looks at my Mother's Day luncheon last year because people had their doubts about tomatoes and gravy, but it is surprisingly yummy. My daughter leaves out the celery and pineapple, and that is the cool thing about this meal - you can pick and choose what you want! I use gravy from one of those packages. My friend likes to buy Kentucky Fried Chicken Gravy - yum! The amount of each ingredient depends on how many are eating - I put a tablespoon or two of each topping on, but I use a little more of the chicken than a couple tablespoons (I like my meat!)

So go ahead and give it a try and

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Chicken in a Hurry - Crock Pot Dinner

I have been looking for good crock pot / slow cooker recipes and this is one that will be one of my regulars because it is very easy and very tasty. Cook up some rice on the side and you have - Chicken  in a hurry - well, sort of because it is cooked slow.

*TIP* you probably already know this but JUST in case you don't - chicken skins are super easy to take off when you use paper towel to grab them.

Here is the recipe....

Chicken in a Hurry
2 1/2 - 3 lbs skinless chicken drumsticks

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup water

1.25 oz envelope dry onion soup mix

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1. Arrange chicken in slow cooker.   

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. Pour over chicken.

3. Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or cook on high 1 hour and then low 5-6 hours.

Here is the recipe card...

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Grandma's Pinto Beans From Scratch Recipe

I made this as part of our St.Patrick's Day meal this year. I called it the "pot of gold". This was my husband's favorite meal growing up. I had to ask his mom how to make it - and it is simple.

You will need:

2 cups dried pinto bean - rinsed
Bacon or ham
Water
Salt

Soak 2 cups of washed/rinsed dried pinto beans over night with enough water to cover them. If you forget to soak them over night you can boil them for three minutes. Rinse the beans after the soak or boil.
Put in a large pot. Cover with plenty of water. I make sure the water is an inch or so over the beans - but you need to watch to make sure the beans have plenty of water while they cook. Add desired amount of ham or bacon. I put in four slices of back bacon. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 3-4 hours. Add salt to taste during the last hour of cooking. Stir occasionally, and make sure the beans have enough water.  The last time I cooked this added about 1/4 cup of molasses when I added the salt. Cook up some rice, make some coleslaw and buns and you have a tasty and inexpensive meal.

Leftover Turkey Recipes - Collection #2

Find the tutorial to make the recipe book here.

Leftover Turkey Recipes #2

Left over Turkey Recipe Collection #1

Here are four recipes I put in my leftover turkey recipes album. You can go to the album and tutorial how to make it by clicking here.

Leftover Turkey Recipes #1

Stuffed Tex Mex Squash

Someone brought some of their excess harvest to church. Squash is not a typical menu item in my house, but I thought I would take one home and try to make something with it. I had no idea what I was going to make. I receive daily emails from Martha Stewart's cooking ideas website, and received this recipe. It was more time consuming than I thought it would be, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.
I will definitely make this again, when I am not in a rush to make dinner.

Chicken Salad Recipe

The "try"al recipe of the week was one my daughter made. I was not allowed to make dinner all week because my daughter wanted to. Too bad for me hey? She did a fabulous job! Although I am posting the recipe that was in the "Slim and Scrumptious" cookbook by Joy Bauer, my daughter did some tweaking to get rid of the ingredients she did not want. I couldn't tell you how Pistachio Chicken Salad tastes, but what we had was delicious. My daughter served the chicken salad the way it was pictured in the book, on a toasted bun, with greens and a slice of tomato. Enjoy!

Slam Dunkin' Chicken Strips Recipe

My "try"al recipe this week was a recipe that I found in a honey book. Since it is summer, I tryed cooking them on the barbecue instead of the oven. They turned out really good. My leftovers were soggy so I suggest you eat them the day you make them.

SEAFOOD SALAD PITA RECIPE

My new recipe this week was this delicious pita. My husband does not particularly like shrimp, but he did like it in this pita. The recipe is from "Taste of Home 2010 Annual Recipes". I did not put in the seafood seasoning, I cut fresh herbs from my herb garden instead. For now, I am going to post all recipes so that they can be copied, resized to a recipe card size on a personal computer, and printed out for all of you who would like to add to your recipe collection. I love recipes with pictures so I will always attempt to put it all in one file. This recipe is a good one! Enjoy!