Re-inventing

Lately I have been trying to make more things from scratch as opposed to buying ready made products. I like the idea of knowing exactly what is ending up in my stomach.

This recipe takes part of that, and part of a ready made product. Basically, I had some spiced up chicken burgers and I wanted to use them before they went bad.

I didn't want to make burgers though, so I thought a chili was needed.






I browned up the meat and added good stuff. It turned out pretty good. Not too bad for re-inventing.

One cookie for you, 11 for me :D

The next thing I wanted to tackle was making cookies from scratch. I wanted toffee to be a part of them.

I decided on chocolate, coconut and toffee cookies. I wanted to use part brown sugar instead of pure granulated white sugar, and it was a great idea.

I started with toasting the coconut:



Here are the other ingredients:





These cookies were just sweet enough, and the texture was perfect. I am no longer scared of making cookies that do not come in a tube.





1/2 cup of both white and brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup heath bar bits

Cook on 350 for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy

PIZZA!!!

Since I am trying to cook more and buy less ready made foods, I tried to make a healthy pizza.

I started out with a pasta sauce packed with extra vitamins and some of the usual pizza spices and paired that with mushrooms, olives, turkey pepperoni and cheese.



There's not much to tell about the process, you bake the dough for a few minutes, slather the goods on and bake longer.

What I can say is this was one great pizza!!

Before the oven:



After:

Lemonade

I have always loved lemons, even as a child. My mom would give me slices as a young girl and I would eat them, and of course display the usual funny face.

I can also remember spending summers picking large lemons from my Aunt's lemon tree, cutting them in half and eating them with salt. Delicious!

Anyway, I decided to make lemonade!!

I found a good deal on some organic lemons and and a new product I have been hearing a lot about, agave nectar.



Agave is a bit like honey, but a little less sweet and not as thick.

I dug out this old juicer that my Mom had from what seems to be sometime in the 70's, and started juicing.


A bagful of lemons later, some sweetener and I was in business. It was perfectly tart and sweet.


Doesn't that look refreshing???


2 cups of fresh squeezed lemon juice
7 TB of agave nectar
8 cups water

I'm back!

I know, I know, it's been a while since I have posted.

I can come up with all the reasons, but they are not necessary, here I am now. I have added all of the things I have been cooking. So, if you want to catch up, read below :)

Last weekend I did my normal grocery shopping at Trader Joes and was left without fennel when I finished my shopping.

I remembered that I could stop by the fruit/veggie stand on the way home. I am so lucky that I have a farm I can partake in just a few miles from home.

I get very excited when I go to the farm. I never know what exciting fresh finds they will have. Unfortunately when I arrived they were out of fennel. I asked one of the very nice women that worked there, and she just asked me ""would you like to go out in the field to pick it??""

Now, I have wanted to spend a day in the fields picking whatever goodies I want, but I just haven't made the time to do it. This day I got to go out and pick my own fennel!

It was windy, and I almost fell a few times walking along it, but it was so much fun! In the end I picked 2 beautiful bulbs. Here is a little picture I took:



Also while I was there I picked up some fresh Rosemary. That night I made Rosemary chicken and potatoes. I threw in some mushrooms to bake as well. Very delicious!



I really want to go back soon and get more. I'm really excited about the fruit.

Norwegian Meat Balls

My brother, sister-in-law and nephew came for a visit yesterday, and we had the best time.

I wanted to make something for dinner, and my brother suggested Norwegian Meat Balls.

Our family is from Norway, and my brother is very much into our history. It was no surprise that he suggested this.

I did some research online, and found a recipe that sounded delicious. Now, this is not the most healthy recipe, but we were with family, so it was warranted.

The combination of ground pork and beef was essential, as were the spices. The gravy that it made with the cream was delicious over mashed potatoes! Norwegians know how to eat!
The starting line-up:

Here's my sister in law browning up the meat balls:


End result paired with asparagus. We LOVE asparagus around here:

I started eating before I remembered to take a picture :D

If you want to try something different, try this out!

http://www.food.com/recipe/norwegian-meat-balls-344359

Fun with leftovers

I had a roast, and I didn't know what to do with it. I decided to throw it in the Crockpot with the stems of a bunch of cilantro, a sliced up onion, some garlic and chili powder. I let it cook all day.

When I got home I had tender meat to make tacos. I added the meat to salsa I made out of the cilantro leaves, some tomatoes and lemon juice. I also topped it off with some spiced up sour cream. Pretty tasty for last minute thinking!


Now, I know this post's title is "fun with leftovers", and those are not. I had some meat left over so I wanted to make something the next night.

Instead of making the tacos all over again, I wanted to do something a bit different. I had some yummy butter lettuce so I used that as the base. I added the meat, a couple slices of fresh fennel, some asparagus I grilled up and cheese. It really was a good idea. I also paired it with some pink lemonade I made and put it in this awesome cup my husband got from his sister.


Try this out if you are looking for a great meal to make with an inexpensive cut of meat. The Crockpot really makes the meat tender, and the flavor came out very good.