3 Meals - Ham/Au gratin Potatoes, Goulash, Mushroom Frittata

Au gratin Potatoes

8 oz Muenster Cheese

1/4 butter
1/4 flour
2 cups milk
onion powder
1 teaspoon creamy horseradish sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
6 medium potatoes, sliced
3 round ham slices cut in quarters

1. Arrange sliced potatoes in baking dish
2. Make roux with butter, flour, and milk
3. Add grated cheese, horseradish, and seasonings. Cook until smooth.
4. Pour cheese sauce over potatoes
5. Arrange ham on top.
6. Bake at 350-375 for around 45 minutes


Goulash

1 lb ground beef
1 Tablespoon paprika
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1/4 cup dehydrated cabbage or 1 cup fresh chopped cabbage
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 cups dry macaroni
2 t. salt

1. Cook macaroni to desired tenderness
2. In deep skillet, cook beef, add tomatoes, cabbage, and seasonings
3. Mix the macaroni in with the sauce


Mushroom Frittata

3 cups diced frozen potatoes
Salt/Pepper/Basil/Onion Powder/ Garlic Powder
2 Tablespoons chopped chives
1/4 cup half and half
6 eggs with salt/pepper
1 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms
4 oz white sharp cheddar

1. In a deep skillet, add olive oil to the bottom and put on medium heat
2. Dump in 3 cups of potatoes spread in pan
3. Add seasonings and chives
4. Mix eggs and half and half in separate bowl, put heat to low
5. Pour egg mixture over potatoes, top with mushrooms and then the cheddar
6. Take off of heat and put in oven at 400 until cooked through

Keeping it Personal - Keeping it Practical

After living in several rental/borrowed properties, there are two essentials that I would like to pass on to others who may be in the same situation. Keep your home personal, and keep it practical.

Many of us have spent hours looking at ideas in home magazines or Pinterest. This can be very helpful even for the most creative homemaker. Something to remember though as you look at these articles and pictures is your own personal life. It should be integrated in to your home. Your favorite color, family heirlooms and even photos can be beautiful additions without being tacky.

The license plate from where we met with a photo on canvas of us

Family photo as a mounted photo

Deer my husband shot

a little box that I gave my husband before we were officially dating

Practicality is another essential when you are renting a home. You often only have a certain amount of space for dishes and kitchen items, so you may need to get creative with food storage. Under bed boxes, linen closets, peg boards, and open shelving are options that you can use and be creative with storage.

Kitchen organization

adding some cuteness

hanging veggie fruit basket/cookbook storage/general food storage

Father's Day Dessert - Mixed Fruit Rustic Tart

Mixed Fruit Rustic Tart

2 refrigerator pie crusts uncooked or homemade dough
1 pear chopped
2 cups rhubarb chopped
2 large Macintosh apples chopped
1 2/3 cups white sugar
1/3 cup flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs


Mix ingredients together, scoop half into the middle of each crust lying flat on cookie sheet or in a pie pan. Fold edges in to create a rustic, scalloped look. make sure to get equal amounts of the liquid in each. Too much liquid an make the crust break and leak. If you use a pie pan, you will probably need to serve as a pie out of the pan rather than like a tart on a platter.

Topping:
2 pats of butter per tart
about 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup brown sugar sprinkled on top of tarts under the butter.
1 egg white - brush each crust and sprinkle with some white sugar

Bake at 350-375 for about an hour. You can adjust temperature as it browns.

This is a versatile recipe for rhubarb pie from my mother-in-law that I adjusted to what I had on hand. For the normal pie, you need 4 cups of fruit. This is a tasty combination with the tart of the apples and rhubarb and the sweetness of the pear.

Asparagus Three Ways

I was thankful to be given a gift of asparagus today. I love asparagus. It is a favorite when it comes to vegetables. Because I had so much, and I had company, I decided to make it three ways. I admit I did get ideas on Pinterest.

The bacon-wrapped asparagus is exactly what it sounds like - a bunch of asparagus wrapped with bacon. I baked it in the oven on 400 or more until it was as crisp as possible. It took 30-40 minutes

For the asparagus fries, take just the ends without the floret, and dip in egg, then a flour and panko mixture. I did put salt and pepper in the mixture. I put them in the shallow pan, and drop pats of butter all over on top of them. You could use canola oil. It ends up taking about 1/4 cup of butter. You could also deep fry these to get them more crisp.

For the macaroni and cheese, you can use whatever mac and cheese recipe you prefer and mix in precooked asparagus bits. 

Here is asparagus two ways

Bacon-wrapped asparagus and oven fried asparagus
Both of these were a hit with my husband and in-laws.

White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese with asparagus bits

It's a fun, creative activity to try to use one ingredient in several ways. Asparagus is a versatile vegetable to enjoy.

Beef Enchiladas with Sour Cream Chili-Cheese Sauce

This is a great option if you have leftover roast beef or if you just have a medium sized roast. This meal serves 4-6 people. It's great the way it is, but an addition of corn or beans is also a good option.


1 medium roast, cooked/cooled, and chopped
1/4 cup chili powder combined with about two cups water
1 medium onion
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1-2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup sour cream
salt/pepper
10 oz combination of cheddar/colby jack cheeses
6 burrito size tortillas

1. add chili powder and water to a pan, whisk
2. add chopped onion, cumin, and garlic, cook down, and add a little more water, cook down a little
    more.
3. open tortillas in 9x13 pan, fill abundantly with chopped roast beef, top with a couple of tablespoons       of sauce and about 1/4 cup of cheese in each tortilla, roll like a burrito and leave in pan.
4. take leftover chili sauce, add a little more water, 1 cup sour cream, and about 1 cup of shredded          cheese - cook down to sauce consistency.
5. pour new sauce over folded burritos, and make sure the burritos are fully wet with sauce.
6. bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.
6. serve with your favorite mexican dish toppings.

From Sloppy Joes to Noodle Bake

I do know how to make homemade sloppy joes, but sometimes I buy a jar of sauce and use that. I've used chili sauce and doctored it, Manwich, or other brands. This time, I used Manwich, and added about 1/2 cup dehydrated spinach to the mix along with some dry mustard and crushed red pepper. It was a pretty flavorful sloppy joe, and no one could tell there was spinach in it.

The leftovers from the sloppy joes equaled about 1-2 cups of meat and sauce, so today for Sunday dinner, I boiled up some egg noodles, added the leftover sloppy joes, about a cup of sour cream, a little more salt, and poured it all in a medium oven-friendly dish. I topped it with sharp cheddar cheese and browned it for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. It was a great way to use leftover sloppy joes if you don't feel like having it on bread, and it is definitely reminiscent of traditional Sour Cream Noodle Bake.

Using leftover can be a way to build your creative cooking skills. What can you invent today?

The Whole Pot

I've talked about my roasted chicken, the gravy, the dumplings, so now I'm putting it all together. Tonight we're having chicken and dumplings.

Two nights ago we had chicken dinner with some of the chicken breasts from my roasted chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, and a veggie.

Tonight I used the dark meat, the left over gravy, some extra chicken broth, the leftover mashed potatoes, and 1/2 a bag of Birds Eye mixed veggies to make the soup to which I added my dumplings mentioned in another post.

The recipe for the gravy is in the Chicken #1 blog post, but I'll add it here, so you don't have to flip back:

For my gravy, I have made some recent changes, that I really enjoy. I take whatever drippings come off the the chicken, put them in a small sauce pan, and turn up the temperature. Add 1/2 a stick of salted butter, let the juices come to a boil but not too hard. Take about 1/4 cup flour, and mix in about a cup of lukewarm water. Whisk this thoroughly in a mug or bowl, and add quickly to boiling chicken broth/butter. Continue whisking until smooth, and turn temperature down to low. This can be used as a cream of chicken soup or as a gravy. If you want it to be more of a cream of chicken soup, you may want to use milk rather than water with the flour.

The mashed potatoes are really tricky. I buy the Bob Evans already made potatoes in the refrigerator section. Yes, it is a splurge, but it is worth it. The taste is the best.

My reason for using Birds Eye mixed veggies is because they include all of the best veggies and leave out the ones that might not add the flavors you would like. They are the only brand I have found to work for things like this and shepherd's pie.

So tonight I took a large pot, dropped in the torn-up dark meat, added in the cold gravy, started it cooking, and added about 1-2 cups of chicken broth. To that I added the leftover mashed potatoes (about 1 cup). The gravy, broth, and potatoes blended to a perfect consistency. Adding a little more salt and pepper might be a necessity to bring out the rich flavors you desire. Once all of this comes to a boil, it's time to do the dumplings.

Tonight my dumplings included the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box for dumplings with some basil, thyme, sage, and dill weed mixed in. More other dumpling recipe had other flavors, but you can change it up to suit your tastes for the day. Make your dumplings into balls and carefully put them in the top of your pot. Cover the pot and let them cook to the consistency that you like. I like them to be soft yet slightly biscuit-like inside.

Enjoy

Roasted Chicken #1 - Thyme, Sage, Dill Weed, Salt/Pepper

A few months ago, I decided to make some changes in what I purchased for groceries. Whole chickens became a part of our grocery list. I had always steered clear of them. I really do not like touching chicken. I always feel contaminated after treating the raw chicken. I especially felt this way about rinsing the chicken. A recent study though about either chicken or turkey said it's better not to rinse them, so that was a plus for me. This month, I plan on making 3 whole chickens, and I plan on getting 2-3 meals out of each.

I've used a variety of spices for seasoning them, but I haven't really kept track until now. For tonight's chicken I used olive oil for the fat on top of the bird, and then I put a good amount of salt and pepper on it. I chose 3 main seasonings - Sage, Thyme, and Dill Weed. It turned out to be an amazing combination!

For my gravy, I have made some recent changes, that I really enjoy. I take whatever drippings come off the the chicken, put them in a small sauce pan, and turn up the temperature. Add 1/2 a stick of salted butter, let the juices come to a boil but not too hard. Take about 1/4 cup flour, and mix in about a cup of lukewarm water. Whisk this thoroughly in a mug or bowl, and add quickly to boiling chicken broth/butter. Continue whisking until smooth, and turn temperature down to low. This can be used as a cream of chicken soup or as a gravy. If you want it to be more of a cream of chicken soup, you may want to use milk rather than water with the flour.

Surrounded by Boxes - Musing

Moving is something that although I've done many times now, it is never easy. When I went off to college for the first time, I remember I had my 12 inches or so of space where I sat for the next 9 hours or so. It was a fun ride. That was just the beginning of my struggle to fit as much as possible into small spaces. I was fortunate not to live in any other houses while growing up, so I was broken in by going away to college, going away to camp, going even further away to finish my degrees, and then with each of our rental homes since we've been married.

As I sit here surrounded by boxes of stuff, I have a mixture of feelings. I'm tired. I am ready to just get it done, but I know it will, so here I am taking some time to relax and write.

I've already begun to develop the style of this home. It's going to be different from the rest even though I do not really have much that is new. I think the style of this home is going to be a practical style. I plan on using storage to decorate. I've done quite a bit of looking at decorating small spaces, and I'm excited about this home.

We threw out so much with this move, but there is probably more that could go. Throwing away is a process. With this move, I realized that they are just things. Yes, I like things. It's in my human nature to want lots of them, but some things can go. It's okay to throw things away. If you have been saying for three and a half years that you might use that for such-and-such project, then it is likely time to toss it. I'll admit that I have a few things like this, but I truly am hoping to start up my art corner again here in this house. I have the perfect spot, and it is begging to be used. Many of these "might use" items will be in that area.

If you are facing a major move or just one a few hours away, take heart! The things you have are just things. Some may be irreplaceable, but they are still just things. It's fun to make a home out of a simple house, and it does not take much to do this. Try not to compare yourself to what others have now who are the same age or who have had a home for years. All of us have different lives. It's hard not to do think this way at times, but once again, all we see are the things, and they are just that. They are not lasting.

If you do not think you are creative enough to make much out of little, think again. You are who you are, and your house can look like you. It doesn't have to look like anyone else's. You can get ideas from others, but make it comfortable for you. Elegance in your home comes I believe from using what you have and adding the new when you can. Humble beginnings will make you all the better at what you do with your home, and it will make you all the more thankful for every little thing.

If you are sitting today, like me, surrounded by boxes, first thank the Lord for all of the possessions he has given you. Second, thank the Lord if you have a small space. That is just less to clean. Third, remember that all of this is temporary, but that God has put into each of our hearts the desire to create just as God created. Create, using your own abilities or as you might call them unabilities, and enjoy every little space.

Our First Year in New York State - Home #4

This was our 4th home in Horseheads, NY

When we moved to New York where my husband became a pastor, I probably had the most space to work with, and I really tried to make our home a place that was comfortable and where I hoped to entertain those in our church. Coffee is a passion of my husband and I, so our coffee nook is something that we enjoy.

I love white on white and wood. I'm not sure what the style is that uses this the most, but I had my little area of it in this home. I love to use a combination of antique pieces with new to give an eclectic look.

I really enjoyed taking the large space of our living room and breaking it up into little area. It really made it a homey space. I'm very thankful for this opportunity to decorate and develop my style as I worked on this rental home.

Here is our kitchen eating area again. It's similar to in Maine, but you will notice a new painting. I love original art, and it's not easy to come by. At one of the specialist's offices that Trenton went to, this painting was on the wall. I had admired it on our first visit, but when I came back it was gone. I asked about it, and the specialist ended up giving it to me. It's a picture of Paris that actually could be mistaken for New Orleans. It's quite a whimsical piece that the Lord saw fit to have given to me without me expecting it. 

When we moved to New York, I really wanted to take the time to make our bedroom a beautiful place.

This was our half bath. I love the cobalt blue that you see on the top shelf. I ended up collecting quite a bit more before we moved. I also enjoy the paper weights my dad has been collecting. I have three of them displayed on the top shelf.

This is our full bath. I enjoyed using a mounted print of one of Van Gough's paintings of Cherry Blossoms in combination with canisters from my grandparents and roses that were from a street vendor in Charleston. Again, you can see my eclectic taste.

This is the space we made for Trenton. He had a lot of equipment at the time for his special needs, but this space was the right size. We later created a Mickey Mouse room for our other son Braydon. Unfortunately I don't think I took pictures. He has quite a collection of Mickey Mouse both new and vintage. It will be in his new room as well.

Moving is not an easy process, but creating a home out of a house is something that I love to do.