Dilly Beans

First I'd like to say I am at a loss. I have misplaced so many food photos I could cry. Or, what I actually did, throw a fit and not blog for two weeks. But I digress. I must share these with you because I can't stop eating them!

So what is a dilly bean? It's a "pickled" green bean spiced with cayenne pepper. It is a great add on to a relish dish or a snack with beer. I also eat them with a sandwich in place of a pickle. 

Before you start, make sure you are using clean, sanitized jars and lids. Make sure to keep the mouth of the jar clean and try not to touch the mouth with your hands. Have a large pot of boiling water ready for the jars (that possibly holds all four quart jars.)

INGREDIENTS (makes four quarts)

(for each jar)
2 pounds trimmed green beans
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic
2 heads dill

5 cups water
5 cups vinegar
1/2 cup course salt

1. In each quart jar put the beans, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, garlic cloves and heads of dill.

Please note that I went way too light on my first batch here. The beans should be packed as tightly as possible.

2. In a sauce pan, boil the water vinegar and salt.

3. Fill the jars with the liquid. Put on the lids and process in boiling water for 15 minutes.

See how these jars above shrunk up so much? And he ones below stayed packed? That is the difference. 

In two weeks you can refrigerate and enjoy your dilly beans! My fav!!

Holy Guacamole!

I pretty much love any kind of dip. Especially mexican inspired. I have to hit up the farmer's market this weekend to get some great tomatoes and jalapeños to can my own salsa but since I have no patience, I had to whip up some guacamole!

INGREDIENTS

2 avacados, halved, pitted and scooped
Juice of two limes
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 teaspoon diced garlic
a palm full of fresh diced cilantro

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mash together with a fork. I like mine pretty chunky.

This recipe is simple and tasted great. I also like to put a bit of salt and pepper in the guacamole and some people like to add some diced tomatoes. It's soooo goooood!

This lasted a half hour. Now I'm focused on how much veggies a single person can carry through a farmer's market without falling over. I might have to enlist my BF to help carry some tomatoes!!

Avocado Pesto Pasta

I love pasta. I love pesto. I LOVE fresh avocado. Obviously this recipe was a no brainer. I had to try it. I have it printed out in my stash of "must try" recipes but there is no indication of where I got it from. But just for reference, this is not my original recipe. 

INGREDIENTS

1 pound pasta

1 bunch fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup pine nuts

2 ripe avocados peeled and pitted

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh tomatoes to top the dish with

1. Boil your pasta as directed.

2. Meanwhile, blend the basil, pine nuts, avocados, lemon juice, garlic and oil in either a blender or food processor.

3. Season with a little salt and pepper. 

4. Drain the pasta when it is done cooking and mix in the dressing. Top with the tomatoes and enjoy! 

This is another pasta dish with warm noodles and a cool sauce. The avocado is so creamy and delicious with the basil. I bet I could add a little grilled chicken and have a dinner right there. Mmmm... :) So easy and so tasty!

Super Mac with Venison Steak

I'm not going to sugar coat this. This mac and cheese recipe isn't going to be good for you. It tastes amazing, with four cheeses, bacon... please excuse my drool. 

And this steak came together by accident. It was venison steaks given to me by my dad and the only marinade recipe I found that I had all the ingredients for. 

INGREDIENTS

Mac N Cheese

5 pound tray of pre-made frozen macaroni and cheese, thawed (I used GFS brand)

1 cup diced bacon

1 12 ounce container of feta crumbles

1 1/2 cups shredded white cheddar

1 cup grated parmesen cheese

1 cup chives

1 cup parlsey

1. Thaw the tray of macaroni and cheese over night in the fridge.

2. In a 9x13 baking dish, put all the ingredients and mix well.

3. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or until bubbly.


INGREDIENTS

Steak Marinade (for two large steaks)

1/2 cup brown mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons diced garlic
salt and pepper

1. Thaw the steaks, if frozen. Put all ingredients in a plastic bag with the steaks and squish around. Marinade for two hours.

2. Take the steaks out of the fridge and let come to room temp.

3. Put on the grill or in a grill pan on medium/high heat.

Now here is where I was pushed out of the kitchen. I'm not allowed to grill because that's a boy's territory lol.

So, if I can assume, grill the steaks a few minutes on each side. Look for dark grill marks and cut the center for doneness. Or use a meat thermometer.

Now, I forgot to take a picture of the macaroni and cheese when it came out of the oven and this is the best pic I have but, it was amazing. I served it for Christmas Eve originally and everyone LOVED it. The cheeses were amazing and the bacon added a nice salty flavor!

And don't get me started on the steaks. First, they were nice and pink (my preference) and the marinade wasn't overpowering but nice and present still.

A Grilling Snack

Sorry for the delay. Lots going on here. I'm going to be doing two wedding cakes, a going away cake (or maybe cupcakes!) and I've been sick.

Madness aside, I wanted to share a really good snack I discovered searching google images for bbq ideas.

Grilled Potato Slices

INGREDIENTS

Sliced Raw Potatoes
Olive Oil
Seasoning Salt (I used a garlic herb mix with extra garlic salt)

1. First slice the potatoes and place in a bowl.

2. Cover with enough olive oil just to coat and sprinkle on seasoning.

3. Place slices on the grill at a medium heat (if your grill does that) Once the potatoes start to brown, flip and finish grilling.

These were surprisingly good. I wasn't sure they'd make it to the blog but they were addictive! I dipped mine in a bit of ranch and served with burgers. The outside has a nice flavor and crisp and the inside is soft and creamy.

Delish! An easy side dish!

Chips!

If there's a bag of chips in front of me... I'll eat them... all. That is why I keep no chips in my house. When I was trying to come up with something to make as a side for my BLTs I thought how nice it would be to have some chips... so I made some!!

Baked Potato Chips

INGREDIENTS:

Washed potatoes
Olive oil
Salt

1. First, slice the potatoes nice and thin. I used this mandolin I have. Super easy. Oh, and preheat the oven to 400 F.

2. Then blanche the slices of potato in a bowl of water for five minutes. 

3. Place the slices on a paper towel to drain. 

4. On a large baking sheet, toss the slices with just enough olive oil to coat and spread out into one layer. Sprinkle with salt. 

5. Bake in the oven at 400 F for 12 minutes, half way through you'll need to flip the chips. (Sorry about that Paul! Hope you enjoy the chips!)

I found that the tray placed on the bottom browned up nicely and the little bit of brown meant the chip was perfect and not soft in the middle. These were crispy and tasty and irresistible and they were all gone quite quickly! I used three potatoes for two people and threw away one tray of too brown chips and there was still enough to share. :)

Homemade Mac N Cheese with Chicken Fingers!

Who wants a comforting, warm meal? I DO!!!!!

I spent all day baking and cooking and concocting today... more posts to follow but the meal that I must post was the dinner I made. Does anyone else look at the kid's menu sometimes and think how good all that food sounds? Well today all I wanted was something off the kid's menu so... Mac N Cheese and Chicken Fingers it is!!!

Chicken Fingers:

INGREDIENTS

3 Chicken breasts

1 Cup Italian bread crumbs

1/2 Cup Parmesen cheese

4 TBSP butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Thaw the chicken breast, if frozen. Cut into strips and set aside.

3. Mix parmesan cheese and bread crumbs in a bowl.

4. Melt butter in a separate bowl.

5. Dip chicken in butter then in the dry mix. Coat all side and put on a baking sheet with parchment paper.

6. Bake for 30 minutes and serve with a great sauce!!

The best part about this recipe is that it's easy! The second best part is that it was sooo moist even when baked that I couldn't wrap my head around it!

YUM!

Mac N Cheese

INGREDIENTS (for two servings)

1/2 pound of dry pasta

2 TBSP butter

2 TBSP flour

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp ground mustard

1 Cup milk

1 Cup shredded cheese (I used a colby jack mix)

1. First, boil pasta, drain and set aside.

2. While boiling the pasta, melt butter on low heat.

3. Add all dry ingredients and whisk until smooth and thick.

4. Turn heat up to medium/lo and whisk in milk. Whisk until thick and creamy.

5. Take off heat, whisk in cheese and pour over noodles.

This was super creamy, had great homemade flavor and I really needed to make twice what I did! Delish!

Enjoy!

Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups with Pesto Crescents

Recently I realized that my pantry, freezer and fridge are PACKED with food. Yet, on many days I look in there and think, "there's nothing in here to eat". lol. So I started planning meals based on what was in my house the day before and really thinking of COOKING dinner. I know, I know, you're thinking "you have a food blog woman!" and I know, but some days I just don't want to cook.

But today was an awesome semi-homemade inspired day... enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

6 lasagna noodles

12 ounces frozen spinach

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

4 ounces cream cheese

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

about 2 cups pasta sauce

Crescent roll dough

1/2 cup pre-made pesto

Here are the things I found in my pantry and fridge and decided to make into a great meal!!

Pesto Crescents:

1. Open crescent rolls and preheat oven to the described instructions.

2. Lay out crescents and spread a layer of pesto on each.

3. Roll each and place on a baking sheet. Set aside. (Or bake now for 10-12 minutes depending on instructions and set aside while the rest is cooking)

Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups:

1. Boil a pot of water and cook noodles to al dente. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

2. Microwave the spinach for about 1 1/2 minutes. Put on a paper towel and drain out all the liquid.

Like so.

3. Mix spinach, room temperature cream cheese, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Looks delicious already!

4. Spread the mixture over the length of a lasagna noodle.

5. Pour some of the sauce into a baking dish to just cover the bottom.

6. Roll up noodles with filling and place seam side down in the dish.

7. Cover with the rest of the sauce and add cheese if you desire (who doesn't love more cheese?)

8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. 20 minutes in is when I put the crescents in to cook.

The crescents with pesto smelled soooo good when they came out!!

Serve!

These were awesome! The filling was my favorite part! Very creamy and cheesy and the pesto in the crescents added a nice flavor to a boring old side!! This is what I ate... for my first serving!!