Breakfast Casserole

My facebook status this morning was:

after a discussion of what to make for breakfast, Mich tells me, "Don't get me wrong, I love healthy you. But I REALLY LOVE casserole you."
This is why I love her. Bring on the casserole...

And many people have liked that status. It made me laugh a lot, and then I made casserole. Requests for the recipe then followed. This is one I make based on sheer taste. It's comfort food. Don't be looking for low fat or low calorie or lots of nutritional content on this one... I try to do that most days, but this one is not. I just keep telling myself a hot meal made with love has got to be better than a cold bought donut or danish. :) I may be deluding myself though.

Most of the daycare kids do really like this one. My own children won't eat it, but I don't really care. They can have a bowl of cereal and I'm happy to eat their share.

Ingredients:
1 bag crispy crowns (the small round hash browns like chickfila has. Ore-Ida is gluten free. I use regular tater tots when that's all I've got, but I like these better in this one.)
1 box cooked turkey sausage links
1 thing of condensed soup (I use Pacific because it's gluten free but most of you can probably use campbells. I've used chicken and also mushroom and they're both good.)
some sour cream- I had a 16 oz container and I put in two big spoonfuls. Maybe 4-6 oz?
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Chop the sausage in small pieces and mix it with the peppers and onion, soup, and sour cream in the bottom of a casserole dish. If you use 13x9 it comes out pretty thin- I like to use that weird 8x11 one.
Spread that out smooth and cover it with cheese. Pour the whole bag of crowns on top and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Creamy Crockpot Chicken

This stuff is GOOD. It completely satisfies all my comfort food, noodle goodness, cream sauce cravings and I've perfected the gluten free version finally. We used to make this a lot before we were GF and it's taken me a while to figure out how to do it and make it taste the same. I always make double the amount of sauce it calls for and we still end up with big chunks of chicken in the pot while we scrape the last bit of sauce onto our pasta. Also good on rice.

If you're like me and you love the sauce and noodles, I'll post a recipe next about what to do with the leftover chicken. I made it last night and almost wept for joy it was so good. And my daughter? She wept for real and spit it in her plate. Silly rabbit.

anyway...

In the crockpot, put a 3 lb bag of frozen chicken. I like to use the tenders instead of the big pieces for this because I like for more surface area to be covered by spices. Then put a dry packet of Good Seasons Italian dressing over it. Or if you're like me and you never buy that stuff, here's how to make it at home:

1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon Lawry's Garlic Salt
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon celery seeds (which I always leave out because I never have them)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon pepper

So you cook that for 5-6 hours on low. Then add:
chopped onion- however much you like
3 blocks of cream cheese
1 box Pacific gluten free cream of chicken soup (This stuff is new and it is a MIRACLE OF SCIENCE. It has made easy casseroles a reality once again. I don't like it by itself the way I used to eat the Campbells cream soups, but it's awesome in recipes.)

I like to shred the chicken with forks before mixing all the cream sauce into the juices. Then cook it on high for about another hour and serve it with noodles. Super yummy!!

Flawless Sesame Chicken

It has been years since I blogged. Really. Like since January of last year. I actually forgot how to blog! I had to call my sister to remind me and even then it is doing something weird with the colors, spacing and links. So Bare with me!

This recipe was good enough to bring me out of my 18 month blogging hiatus. THAT good.

My husband LOVES sesame chicken. Since we went gluten free 3 years ago we stopped going to Chinese restaurants for fear of death and while I do make Chinese food it is mostly limited to fried rice and stir fry. Until now.



I found the recipe here and changed it a little to fit our family needs.

Ingredients:

Servings: 3-4

• 3 whole boneless chicken breasts

Marinade

• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cooking wine or 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 3 drops sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons flour *I used a mixed GF flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

* this smelled really weird to me while I was making it but that could be the crazy pregnant nose. I also found it odd that it bubbled like a baking soda volcano but it turned out so I guess it is supposed to do that?!

Sauce

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/8-1/4 cup white vinegar (depending on how sweet you want the sauce) or 1/8-1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (depending on how sweet you want the sauce)
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup sugar (we use 1/2 cup sugar but the orginal recipe called for 1 cup) *I used 3/4 a cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon chili paste (or more) *They didn't sell this at the store I went to so I used chili powder and added a few chili flakes on the top of my serving.
• 1 garlic clove (minced)

*I have no idea the differnce between light and dark soy sauce so I just used what I had in the fridge for both

Frying

• peanut oil (3 1/2-4 cups) (I used Canola because it was what I had)

Serving

• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• *I was feeling lazy by this point and didn't toast the sesame seeds. We didn't die.
  

Directions:

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 40 mins

1. 1 Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Mix the marinade ingredients (the first 9 ingredients listed) and marinate the chicken for 20 minutes.
2. 2 To prepare the sauce:.
3. 3 Mix together all of the sauce ingredients. Pour them into a small pot and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Turn the heat down to low and keep warm while you are deep-frying the chicken.
4. 4 To deep-fry the chicken:.
5. 5 Add the marinated chicken pieces a few at a time, and deep-fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and then place chicken in warm oven (130 degrees) while you continue frying. Repeat with the remainder of the chicken. Just before you are finished deep-frying, bring the sauce back up to a boil.
6. 6 Place the chicken on a large platter and pour the sauce over. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve the Sesame Chicken with rice.

This was the most amazing dish EVER!! I served it with a steamer bag of mixed Asian veggies and almost everyone loved it. The 3 year old was not a fan of the sauce so next time I will reserve some of the chicken out before I put the sauce on. We will for sure be doing this again!

Cornbread Skillet Supper

Got this out of one of those homemade office cookbooks where everybody submits their favorite recipes. And of course I adapted it some to fit us. It turned out really well. Everyone loved it and there was none left. I think it would be really easy to create new variations too, with different spices and flavors.

First Set:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. yellow cornmeal
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. biscuit mix (I used bob's red mill wheat-free baking and biscuit mix)
1 tsp salt
1 can cream-style corn
1 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Second Set:
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 c. cheese
2-4 jalapeno peppers (I only put in one because I wanted my kids to eat this- it wasn't hot at ALL and I could have done more I think)
1 can corn

Combine the first set of ingredients in a bowl; mix and set aside.

Brown the ground beef and onion; drain well and set aside. Pour half of the batter in a cast iron skillet (which I don't have- I used a 9x13 pan and it turned out fine). Layer the meat mixture, cheese, and corn on top. Pour remaining cornbread mix over layered ingredients. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Let stand for five minutes before cutting.

This called for a cup of sliced green olives, which I left out because my family hates them. However, I love them so I put a bunch of them over my portion- it was fabulous. If you like olives, they really add some nice flavor to this.

Bolognese Risotto

WOW this stuff is good. I belong to a group on Facebook called Recipes from Around the Globe. A guy named Chris posted this, all in grams and celsius. After I used various conversion charts and figured out how to Americanize it, it's really pretty easy to make and boy is it good. He said it would serve four, but five of us ate and ate and almost half is left. It's so good that my seven year old wants to take the leftovers in her lunchbox tomorrow.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
2 cups risotto rice
2 liters of stock (any is fine, I used mostly chicken, with a can of beef thrown in)
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 tablespoons milk
1 onion, chopped
2 T unsalted butter
2 cans chopped tomatoes (or chop your own!)
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
4 bay leaves
1/2 cup parmesan
4 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup red wine

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 300
2. Separate 2 cups of the stock
3. Add the tomato paste to the milk and mix in well
4. Add the garlic, onion and butter to skillet
5. Add the meat and cook until done
6. Add the marsala, then the tomatoes, then 2 cups of stock and the bay leaves
7. Add the milk mixture, mix the whole lot together
8. Transfer the whole lot into an oven suitable container and place into the oven
9. Rinse out the skillet, then put in the rice
10. Toast the rice lightly, don't allow it to brown
11. Add the stock, about a ladleful first
12. Bring to a simmer and stir, allowing the stock to reduce
13. Before the whole mixture dries out, add another ladleful of stock and repeat step 12
14. Repeat until the rice has cooked (chefs like it to have a slight bite; I don't)
15. Add the cream cheese and mix it in completely
16. Add 1/4 cup of the parmesan (the other is to sprinkle on top at the end)
17. Mix all this together
18. Check the oven, the bolognese should be done by now, if the bolognese is very runny you may want to remove some of the liquid
19. Add the Bolognese into the Risotto and mix together
20. The dish is complete

YUM.. The end.

The Quest for Roast and The Use of Leftovers

I want to make a really good, foolproof crockpot roast. I am not sure why this has been eluding me. "Everybody" says that it's one of the easiest, most basic meals to make. I've followed numerous recipes. I've tried putting the potatoes and carrots under and over the meat. (although now I hear also that some people don't put them in at all and cook them separately. I haven't tried that yet.) I've tried on low and high. I've tried cooking less and more than it calls for. I've tried different kinds of seasonings, different amounts of water/soup/beer, .... I'm tired. My family has eaten a bunch of roast that I'm just not happy with. I want the meat to be able to come apart with forks instead of a hacksaw. I want potatoes that are neither crunchy nor mushy. I want some gravy, but not too much, and I want it to taste good. Not too salty, not too boring.

Is this too much to ask?

The other night I got closer to what I'm looking for, following my friend Jenn's direction. She swore I could not mess it up and I did not believe her, since my track record is so bad. She is of the school who steams the veggies separately, but I didn't want to. So I put them in the bottom and plopped the meat on top. Then she said she always puts a package of Lipton onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom soup on it. I didn't have Lipton so I made some. I'm finding that pretty much every mix like that has a clone on the internet. It's a beautiful thing. Turns out onion soup mix is mostly dried onion and beef bouillon granules. I have those things. And Gluten Free Cafe has come out with a can of mushroom soup that I like enough to use in cooking. There is still a place in my heart for Campbell's, but oh well. Them's the breaks.

Then came the problem of cooking. My crockpot was a wedding present, so it's 14, and I think it doesn't get as hot as the newer ones. I put it in at 11:30 and was going to do it on high. Jenn said no, it would burn, and I should start on low. Hmm. I turned it to high at 3:30 and we didn't eat till 8 pm. But it tasted good!!!! So to recap:

potatoes, carrots, meat, cream of 'shroom soup, and onion soup mix. Mine went 4 hours on low and 4 1/2 hours on high.

Second day: ROAST SOUP. My mom made it with the leftovers the last time my roast went Horribly Wrong, and it was super tasty- WAY better than the original roast. She said her mom used to make it all the time after roast day, so I'm not sure how I made it to age 35 without knowing this trick. Maybe my mom makes good roast and there were never any leftovers? Dunno. Anyway. I made it again last night and I love it.

You cube up the leftover meat and throw it in a big pot with the veggies and any leftover gravy you've got. Then you start adding things from your fridge. :) It's a little different every time. This time I added:

2 mushrooms (who saves TWO mushrooms? I am a freak. But they were in a ziploc, so there you are.)
a 28 0z can of diced tomatoes, with the juice
2 stalks celery
part of a red onion
a can of corn
a baggie of leftover canned mixed veggies from the daycare kids' lunch the other day
the rest of a box of beef broth
about a cup of water

And then I heated it for the time it took to make cornbread, and it was AWESOME. I highly recommend it, even if you screw up your roast on a regular basis. The soup is forgiving. Eat it with cornbread and be happy.

Grandma's Potato Salad

This is one of the first recipes I mentioned wanting to put up here, and since the crickets have been chirping here for months... I figured I would go back and actually do it. I want to get started putting up more regular posts.

Usually I am very careful about Following The Recipe. I don't do well just tossing stuff in a bowl. However, that tends to be how grandmas cook, and since this recipe is hers, I don't have measurements. With something like potato salad though, you can't really mess it up. Just taste it as you go along and make sure it's the way you like it, and you'll be fine.

So. You will need:

• a pot full of potatoes. it depends on how big they are. generally I end up with between 7-9.
• radishes. Yes, I know that's weird. But they're so crunchy and good in this salad! I don't LOVE the flavor, so I only put in around 4 or 5, cut very small.
  
• dill pickle. Pickles are my friend so I chop way more than most people probably would. I like Claussen best.
• red onion. I go by how the colors look in the bowl, depending on how much of the other ingredients I end up with. 1/2 to 1 onion, I'd say.
  
• mayo, mustard, salt, and pepper to taste
• hard boiled eggs if you like them. I HATE THEM so I always leave them out. My mom said she puts around 5 in there.

Peel the potatoes and then boil them whole in a pot of water till they are fork tender. They'll fall apart a little and that's fine, but try to save the pieces. Cool them and slice them very thinly into a big bowl. Salt every layer as you put them in there. Salt them way more than you think you need to, because those puppies suck it up like nobody's business. (and if you ever use a bread machine and want to make potato bread, you can save that starchy potato-y water and use it in place of the regular water and it makes killer bread!!)

Then put in all the other stuff, chopped very small, and stir in the mayo and mustard. I don't put much mustard- just a big shot from the bottle.

It's better if you make it ahead of time so you can chill it and let the flavors meld, but I never do. We love it too much to wait. :)