Check out my new website...www.cafecarol.com! I hope to see you there!
In the meantime, I'm leaving these posts from my glory days up for you to enjoy.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Pork Tenderloin
Tonight, we're having pork tenderloin for dinner. I grabbed it at the store this morning because it was on sale, and pork is fairly easy to fix. However, I have only recently learned the art of roasting pork in the oven without drying it out! My favorite thing to do is drizzle a little olive oil over it, then season both sides evenly with salt, pepper, and minced garlic. Then, I place it on a rack in my roasting pan and roast it uncovered in a 350 degree oven for an hour or two depending on the size. If it's a 3lb roast, it generally just takes about an hour. The trick is to take the pork out when it is precisely the right temperature. Once the thermometer reads 145 degrees in the thickest part of the meat, I immediately take it out of the oven and let it rest on the counter for at least 3 minutes before cutting it. The last few times I've fixed it this way, the tenderloin has been juicy and delicious. Let's hope I have the same luck tonight!
I am also going to bake sweet potatoes and cook some apples. I just loved cooked apples with pork! As for our green vegetable, I am waffling between green beans and sugar snap peas...so I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
I am also going to bake sweet potatoes and cook some apples. I just loved cooked apples with pork! As for our green vegetable, I am waffling between green beans and sugar snap peas...so I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
Monday, November 14, 2011
Casserole Craziness
It's been a busy day so far! I spent the morning making food to take some friends of ours who just had a baby. All of the recipes are very easy. Here's what I've made:
Chicken Tetrazzini
1 16 oz box spaghetti
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup green pepper, diced
3 Tbsp butter
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can of milk
4 cups Monterey Jack cheese
5 1/2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
salt and pepper
Cook spaghetti. While spaghetti is cooking, saute onion and green pepper in butter. Drain spaghetti. Mix all ingredients with spaghetti in a very large bowl. Makes 2 9x13 casseroles. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
What I like best about this recipe is that it makes A LOT! That means an extra dish to take to someone, or to stick in the freezer for later. J
Corn Souffle
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can of cream style corn
1 stick butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
Mix all ingredients together well. Pour into greased, round oven proof casserole dish. Bake uncovered in 350 oven for 1 hour.
This corn souffle is soooo good! It rises very high in the oven, so be sure not to put it on the top rack, unless you want to be scraping souffle off your oven!
Broccoli Casserole
1 package chopped broccoli, frozen
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 cup sour cream or mayonnaise
1 T. grated onion
1/2 cheese cracker crumbs
salt and pepper
Cook broccoli 5 minutes. Drain well. Combine other ingredients, except cracker crumbs, with broccoli. Pour into casserole and sprinkle crumbs over top. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
This recipe is from my mom and is tried and true! In other words, you can't go wrong with this one.
One good thing about all of these recipes is that you can easily make lower fat versions of all of them by simply using reduced fat sour cream and reduced fat cheese. I always use the Campbell's Healthy Request condensed soups.
I also made some of those scrumptious pumpkin muffins to take along. Now I just have to resist the temptation to eat one myself!
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
Chicken Tetrazzini
1 16 oz box spaghetti
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup green pepper, diced
3 Tbsp butter
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can of milk
4 cups Monterey Jack cheese
5 1/2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
salt and pepper
Cook spaghetti. While spaghetti is cooking, saute onion and green pepper in butter. Drain spaghetti. Mix all ingredients with spaghetti in a very large bowl. Makes 2 9x13 casseroles. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
What I like best about this recipe is that it makes A LOT! That means an extra dish to take to someone, or to stick in the freezer for later. J
Corn Souffle
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can of cream style corn
1 stick butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
Mix all ingredients together well. Pour into greased, round oven proof casserole dish. Bake uncovered in 350 oven for 1 hour.
This corn souffle is soooo good! It rises very high in the oven, so be sure not to put it on the top rack, unless you want to be scraping souffle off your oven!
Broccoli Casserole
1 package chopped broccoli, frozen
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 cup sour cream or mayonnaise
1 T. grated onion
1/2 cheese cracker crumbs
salt and pepper
Cook broccoli 5 minutes. Drain well. Combine other ingredients, except cracker crumbs, with broccoli. Pour into casserole and sprinkle crumbs over top. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
This recipe is from my mom and is tried and true! In other words, you can't go wrong with this one.
One good thing about all of these recipes is that you can easily make lower fat versions of all of them by simply using reduced fat sour cream and reduced fat cheese. I always use the Campbell's Healthy Request condensed soups.
I also made some of those scrumptious pumpkin muffins to take along. Now I just have to resist the temptation to eat one myself!
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Back to Baking!
Well, it's been a long week, to say the least. My daughter is finally feeling better, thank goodness. I am very thankful for good antibiotics!
Today I was able to get back to baking, and I made a Pumpkin Spice Cake for a potluck luncheon we are having after church tomorrow. The recipe comes from my mother-in-law, who is an absolutely wonderful cook. This is also one of my husband's favorite desserts, so hopefully he can get a piece before everyone else does!
Pumpkin Spice Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 15 oz can pumpkin
Combine ingredients in order listed. Mix well and bake either in a tube pan (greased and floured) at 325 degrees for 1 hour, or bake in a 9x13 inch pan at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Top with cream cheese frosting.
Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
Mix together, then add:
2 tsp vanilla
1 box confectioner's sugar (or 1 lb)
1 cup finely chopped pecans
This cake is moist and delicious, and perfect for fall. With the cream cheese frosting on top, it is pure goodness!!!
Today I was able to get back to baking, and I made a Pumpkin Spice Cake for a potluck luncheon we are having after church tomorrow. The recipe comes from my mother-in-law, who is an absolutely wonderful cook. This is also one of my husband's favorite desserts, so hopefully he can get a piece before everyone else does!
Pumpkin Spice Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 15 oz can pumpkin
Combine ingredients in order listed. Mix well and bake either in a tube pan (greased and floured) at 325 degrees for 1 hour, or bake in a 9x13 inch pan at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Top with cream cheese frosting.
Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
Mix together, then add:
2 tsp vanilla
1 box confectioner's sugar (or 1 lb)
1 cup finely chopped pecans
This cake is moist and delicious, and perfect for fall. With the cream cheese frosting on top, it is pure goodness!!!
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Cough, cough, cough
Well, folks, it's that time of year. The fall season has barely been upon us and already, my daughter has been sick 3 times. The first was that nasty sinus infection she had 2 weeks ago. This past weekend it was a stomach virus accompanied by a fever. And just today we made a return trip to the doctor to leave with the diagnosis of a double ear infection! Good grief!
Anyways, all that said, the cooking has been slim-to-none this week. I've been pulling surprises out of the freezer and Voila! It's dinner! Many moons ago I made a chicken lasagna and froze half of it. Well, that was dinner last night. Tonight, it was teriyaki marinated chicken breasts from Food City. Did I mention they were already marinated? All I had to do was throw them in the oven. Tomorrow I will have to be a little more ambitious, I'm afraid. I have some ground round thawing out for meatloaf, and of course if there's meatloaf then there have to be mashed potatoes!
So, sorry for the lack of posting as well as the lack of creativity! Please forgive me. I have been home with my sweet, puny little girl for 4 days now and am quite clearly suffering from cabin fever.
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
Anyways, all that said, the cooking has been slim-to-none this week. I've been pulling surprises out of the freezer and Voila! It's dinner! Many moons ago I made a chicken lasagna and froze half of it. Well, that was dinner last night. Tonight, it was teriyaki marinated chicken breasts from Food City. Did I mention they were already marinated? All I had to do was throw them in the oven. Tomorrow I will have to be a little more ambitious, I'm afraid. I have some ground round thawing out for meatloaf, and of course if there's meatloaf then there have to be mashed potatoes!
So, sorry for the lack of posting as well as the lack of creativity! Please forgive me. I have been home with my sweet, puny little girl for 4 days now and am quite clearly suffering from cabin fever.
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
Monday, November 7, 2011
Chocolate Pound Cake
Today, my one and only creation in the kitchen (other than cheesy scrambled eggs for my son at breakfast - but I'm not sure that really counts) was a chocolate pound cake. I baked it for a cake walk at the Fall Festival for my children's school. I thought, "Oh, a pound cake will be easy..." After all, you don't even have to frost a pound cake, just drizzle some glaze on it and you're good to go, right? Although this recipe is straightforward, is still took me longer than I had hoped. And sadly, I can't even say how it tasted (the batter was great!) since I didn't get to eat it. This recipe is another one from my mom!
Chocolate Pound Cake
2 sticks butter, softened
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening
5 eggs
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 T cocoa
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan. Cream sugar, shortening, and butter. Add eggs one at a time. Sift dry ingredients. Add to other mixture alternately with milk. Add vanilla. Bake for one hour. Let cool on wire rack for 15 minutes before removing cake from pan.
Boy, I must say that I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the cake came out of the pan fully intact. That's always a gamble in my book. Any kind of glaze will do here, really. I used some vanilla buttercream frosting that I had leftover from my son's birthday cake! I used the ribbon tip on my icing bag and it worked like a charm. A sprinkle of sanding sugar on top added a nice touch, too. Almost sadder than the fact that I didn't get to eat any of the cake is the fact that I forgot to take a picture of it! Can I blame that on sleep deprivation? My sweet daughter has been sick since Saturday, but her temperature was finally back to normal this afternoon, so hopefully things are looking up.
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
Chocolate Pound Cake
2 sticks butter, softened
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening
5 eggs
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 T cocoa
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan. Cream sugar, shortening, and butter. Add eggs one at a time. Sift dry ingredients. Add to other mixture alternately with milk. Add vanilla. Bake for one hour. Let cool on wire rack for 15 minutes before removing cake from pan.
Boy, I must say that I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the cake came out of the pan fully intact. That's always a gamble in my book. Any kind of glaze will do here, really. I used some vanilla buttercream frosting that I had leftover from my son's birthday cake! I used the ribbon tip on my icing bag and it worked like a charm. A sprinkle of sanding sugar on top added a nice touch, too. Almost sadder than the fact that I didn't get to eat any of the cake is the fact that I forgot to take a picture of it! Can I blame that on sleep deprivation? My sweet daughter has been sick since Saturday, but her temperature was finally back to normal this afternoon, so hopefully things are looking up.
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Use the Force, Luke!
Today was a BIG day in our house...my son's 8th birthday party! He requested a Star Wars theme, so I made an R2D2 cake....thanks to my mom and dad, who had the perfect cake pan from a catering business they had many moons ago. It turned out great, thank goodness. For a while there I wasn't sure it was ever going to come out of the pan in one piece!
Oh, I should add that we did put in red candies for his "eyes"...or whatever they are. My Star Wars lingo is lacking!
I was really glad I'd made up the frosting earlier in the week, because that was a real time saver yesterday when it came time to frost the cake. I'm also glad my husband talked me into getting those disposable frosting bags!
So, I do apologize for the lack of postings this week, but as you can see, I've been busy! This cake stuff pretty much wipes me out, so hopefully I'll be back to the usual routine come Monday.
Until next time,
Muncho Mom
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