Turkey Stroganoff

Two posts today! Aren't you all special? I figured I'd finally share my go-to recipe for stroganoff. You CAN use beef in this if you want (or chicken, or whatever!) but I generally use turkey. I almost always have ground turkey on hand instead of ground beef just because it's so versatile. It's hearty enough that you can use it in just about any recipe that calls for ground beef, and light enough that you can also use it in place of chicken. It's like.. magic meat! I love turkey. Plus it's generally leaner than hamburger. Double plus! This recipe is one that has become loved in our dinner rotations just because it's easy and cheap. I buy the 3 or 5lb chubs of meat and freeze it in half pound blocks, then defrost as needed. Need a pound? Throw two into the fridge the day before. Need half a pound? Just throw one in! Or you can do like me, since I rarely actually plan that far ahead, and just defrost it in the microwave when you need. I only use a half pound of meat for one pot, but you can most definitely add however much you'd like. Again, this is a money-stretching meal for us. If I had it my way, I'd add the whole 3lbs to one pot probably. Maybe some day I will. This is also a very versatile recipe. I use chicken stock and cream of chicken soup, but you can most definitely use vegetable stock instead, and you can use cream of mushroom or celery instead of chicken if you prefer. If you like mushrooms in your stroganoff, you can add them in with the meat and onions to saute them. I refuse to eat fungus, however, so we make ours sans mushrooms. 

Ingredients: 
1/2lb ground turkey
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1/4-1/2 cup sliced mushroom (optional)
4 cups chicken stock 
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp paprika
5 cups uncooked dried egg noodles (the curly type, not long thin)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (optional)
Corn starch and milk (optional, see directions for info and measurements)

Directions:
Brown meat, onions and mushrooms in a large pot. Add remaining ingredients except corn starch/milk and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium and let simmer for about 10 minutes until noodles are done. 

Here's the fun part. If the sauce isn't as thick as you'd like it (we like ours fairly thick), you can make yourself a slurry of 1 part corn starch to 2 parts milk. Keep in mind that a little goes a long way. I mix 1 1/2 tsp corn starch to 3 tsp milk in a cup and pour in slowly. You'll probably want to just mix in a little bit at a time until you get to the consistency that you want. Drizzle a bit in, stir, and let it cook for a minute or two and thicken up. Repeat until you're where you want to be with it. Keep in mind too that it will keep thickening a little bit as it cools, so don't make it TOO thick. 

Serve with a bit of cheese sprinkled over the top if you like. I happen to be a cheese fiend, so we put some in the stroganoff and on top. Because why not? 

Note: I realize that this isn't a "traditional" stroganoff, but it's still pretty tasty. Plus it's something that both my picky kids AND my picky husband will eat, so it's a winner in my books! 

Onion Basil Hot Dog or Hamburger Buns

My last attempt at hot dog buns wasn't exactly my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, the Pretzel Hot Dog Buns were pretty awesome according to everyone else in my house. I'm just still not a pretzel person. This time, I decided that I was going to make some for myself. Pregnant women are allowed to do that once in awhile, right? Right. Everyone else thought they were awesome anyways, so it was definitely a win-win situation. I made 12 with this recipe, and they were great for the smaller (cheaper) hot dogs, but for anything larger like a brat, I would cut it down to 10 for the recipe to make them a bit sturdier.

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
1-2 tbsp dried minced onion
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp yeast

Directions:

Put ingredients into your bread machine according to directions for your particular machine. (They're currently in the order that mine and most other machines call for.) Set machine to dough setting, and let it do it's thing! 

Once the dough cycle has run, remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and separate into 10-12 equal sized pieces and shape into the appropriate shapes. Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Let rise covered by a towel for 1 more hour in a dry place (I preheat my oven to 200º, then shut it off immediately and stick the dough in it to rise). Once risen, brush the tops with melted butter and bake at 375º for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Let the buns cool to room temperature, and then dig in! 

Honey Oat Beer Bread (And roasted veggie pasta!)

I LOVE my bread machine. I love fresh bread, but I've never had the patience to wait for things to rise (and now, I don't quite have the shoulder to knead anymore. Getting old is the pits!), so I never really made anything other than quick breads. My family however, took pity on me last Christmas and bought me a bread machine. We went for several months without buying bread. I think we all gained a few pounds too though.. I've since gone back to buying our daily bread from the grocery store (sorry, but I don't think anything can top $0.88 loaves..), but every once in awhile I break out the machine and make a couple of loaves of GOOD bread. I found some mixes on close-out the other day, and that got me to bring it out. I made one of them, and then decided I needed to make a good from-scratch one too before I put it away again. I've always had an affection for honey wheat bread, an affection for beer bread, and an affection for oat bread. Why not combine them all? The machine I have came with a recipe booklet, so I found a beer bread recipe for the bread machine, and then tweaked it to my liking. Here's the result:

Ingredients:

(2lb loaf recipe)
1/2 cup + 2tbsp water, room temperature
1 cup beer 
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp + 1 tsp white sugar
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour (bread flour, if you have it, otherwise AP works just fine!)
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

Place ingredients in machine in the order listed above. Make a small well in the flour for the yeast. Set machine to 2lb white cycle and then.. Leave it alone! Seriously. Watch it during the first mixing cycle to make sure you don't need to add a little more flour or a little more beer (or water, whichever. I added a little extra beer). Once it's done, try to resist and let it cool for at least a few minutes before slicing it up. You'll tear it. Do as I say, not as I do. I tore it. I can't help it. I love fresh bread! 

Oh, and it also goes remarkably well with a plate of roasted veggie pasta:
Roast an assortment of veggies on a sheet tray at 425º with olive oil, salt and pepper until fork tender, dump into 1lb freshly cooked pasta. Add a drizzle of olive oil, dried minced garlic (or fresh if you have it!), a dash of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce, and some salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm! And with a slice of fresh bread. YUM! 

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

I'm Italian. (At least partially). Italian food was always big in my house growing up, and I can usually get my kids to eat it, so pasta is a staple in our house too now. Plus it's easy. Usually I boil a box of pasta then just throw in a jar of sauce, and maybe some sort of chicken or ground beef if I'm feeling fancy, but I thought I'd be adventurous tonight. We were browsing Cost Plus World Market today, and I found a bag of some YUMMY looking spinach pasta "nests".

I also happened to find a recipe for fettuccine alfredo this morning too. Match made in heaven? I think so. 


I wasn't originally going to post about this, but (as an after thought, looking into my very empty bowl) realized just the epicicity of this sauce. Yes. That's a word. Or at least it is now. Even if it's only in my "crazy words I make up" dictionary. I didn't quite have enough parmesan shreds on hand, so I improvised (SHHH don't tell my husband!) with a little ricotta. Add in some spices of my choice, and voila! EPIC ALFREDO.


Ingredients:


1/2 cup butter/margarine (1 stick)
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1/4 cup ricotta
1/2 tsp garlic powder (could subs a clove or two of fresh garlic too)
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
salt & pepper to taste


Directions:


Heat the butter and half & half over medium heat in a large sauce pan until butter is melted. Add the cheeses and stir until melted and bubbly. Add the seasonings and simmer for 1-2 mins until thickened slightly. Add pasta of your choice and toss to coat, serve warm.

Excuse the crappy pictures. Please refer to the above comment about pictures not really happening because we all scarfed our food. This last bowl was my 2 year old's. Thankfully only one kid is eating like they're growing. I can't afford to feed AND clothe both of them in growth spurts anymore! My 3 year old however ate two full bowls of this. And four pancakes this morning. And french fries and chicken nuggets for lunch. SWEET JESUS. 


Anyways. Like I said. This was epic pasta sauce. It was the perfect amount for about 8-10oz of pasta, so you could maybe double it if you're doing a full pound? The ricotta adds the perfect little bit of subtle texture and creaminess that the cream and parmesan can't. PERFECTO. 


Okay. I'll leave you all with that for now. Next round of stuff to post? Blueberry Lemon Cheesecakes. Stay tuned!

BBQ Beef Roll-ups

I work. A lot. And I have two VERY hungry, growing kids. Oh, did I mention how picky they are? Yeah. Dinner sometimes can be a challenge. This, however, is possibly one of the simplest things I've ever made. Our local grocery store had their pre-made shredded BBQ meats on sale as I was looking for dinner after work, and that was shortly after I passed the refrigerated croissant dough that was also on sale. Needless to say, between that and the remnants of the Costco bag of shredded cheese I knew was in my refrigerator, I knew what to do! The best part about this is that you could do anything really with it. I used butter croissants (because we all already know my affinity for butter), shredded beef (because hubby doesn't like pork, and I didn't feel like chicken), whatever type of cheese you have on hand (or none at all!). Heck, you could even add in some bacon! YUM! Who doesn't like bacon? 


They're messy. I'll warn you now. But oh-so-good. 

Ready? Hungry yet? Good! 


Ingredients:


1 can refrigerated croissant dough
1/2 cup (give or take) shredded BBQ meat
1/4 cup shredded cheese


Directions:


Preheat oven according to directions on croissant package.


Unroll  dough to triangles. Place about a tablespoon of filling at the top of each triangle, and sprinkle with cheese. Mine were different size triangles (yeah, yeah, yeah, so I buy the off-brand..), so I  had to adjust for the variations. 

Roll up from the wide end.

Place them on a foil lined cookie sheet, evenly spaced. Once all are filled, throw it in the oven for the time specified on the croissant package. (Yours won't look this full if you use one package. My kids are monsters that eat like we'll all starve tomorrow..)

Bake until golden brown on top. Let cool for a couple minutes, then serve! (Keep in mind that the center will be HOT for awhile. Learn from my desperation.)

Again, there are so many variations of this that you'll possibly never be bored. Possibly. If you're not like I am. Otherwise you'll be sick of it after two nights in a row. 




If anyone else thinks of any other fun variations of these, let me know for sure!

Crock Pot Jambalaya

Everyone has their "comfort food" that they remember from their childhood. Mine was my dad's jamabalaya. His was a very intensive 2 day long version (or all day if he started early enough). Me? I don't have the time nor patience for it. I've made it once, but I just can't do it all the time. It dawned on me recently though that instead of making my own chicken stock, I CAN use premade stuff, and why not just throw it in the crock pot to let it do the work itself? Sounds like a plan to me! I used different veggies than I remember when I was a kid, but there isn't really a set veggie combo that you need to stick to, just whatever strikes your fancy (or is on sale!). Here's my version!


Ingredients:


3-4 smallish carrots (or maybe 1-2 large? I used organic "rainbow" carrots in mine for fun)
1 whole green bell pepper
1/2 large onion (or a whole if you're an onion person)
1lb good smoked sausage (I use Fletcher's double smoked)
1/2 - 1 lb chicken breast
2-3 cups chicken stock
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp creole/cajun seasoning (I actually used the Famous Dave's seasoning, close enough, right?)
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp minced garlic (dried) or 1 tsp minced garlic (fresh)
2-3 cups uncooked rice


Directions:


There is no specific size to chop your vegetables. I like mine a bit smaller, so I chopped all of my vegetables to around 1/2" to 1" size. Once rinsed and chopped, throw the veggies into the crock pot. Chop the sausage and chicken next. The sausage I chopped into quarters, then into about 1/2" pieces. Again, it's all a matter of preference. The chicken breast I chopped into about 1" pieces. Toss the meat in the crock pot next, then toss all the ingredients to mix them. Next, add the rest of the ingredients, minus the rice. If you are using regular rice (not the instant kind), you could probably throw it in right away. If you are using instant rice, wait until about an hour before serving (or maybe 2 if you've got it set to low), otherwise you will wind up with a mushy mess. A very tasty, mushy mess. 


Unfortunately, this isn't one of those "set it and go" type crock pot dishes if you put the rice in right away. Once that gets put in, it needs to be stirred at least every hour or so to make sure it isn't burning to the bottom. If you throw everything else in though right away, then the instant rice an hour or two before serving, you should be okay. 


Cook on high for 3-5 hours, or low for 7-9 hours.


Variations: 
-You could add some baby shrimp towards the end, maybe 15 or 20 minutes before it's ready? Could also add some lump crab meat.




This turned out just like I remember my dad's, and I didn't slave in a hot kitchen for a day or more to make it. My husband had family over when I made this, and they tried it, though skeptical, and decided that it was surprisingly delicious and went back for more. I had far more of it than I probably should have too.. SO worth it though!