Turkey Noodle Bake

Okay this was good, but it could definitely be great. Next time I will omit the green peppers because we did not like them in this at all. I added them (they were in the original) because I thought it might be too bland. It was a last minute decision and I should have stuck with my gut which told me to omit them. I also doubled the original recipe so that we could have leftovers. I do need to tinker with it as it has potential, but was a little runny and could be slightly creamier. 

Turkey Noodle Bake

adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients

4 cups uncooked egg noodles (I used wide)

1 lb ground turkey

1/4 cup diced onions

2 TBS chopped green pepper

15 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup 4% small curd cottage cheese

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 TBS sour cream

grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. 

Cook the noodles according to the package directions.

In a large skillet, cook onion until it is slightly translucent and add the turkey and green peppers. Cook until the turkey is no longer pink. Stir in the garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Add the tomato sauce and sugar. Cook on medium-low heat for a few more minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the cottage cheese, cream cheese and sour cream. Add this into the turkey mixture and remove skillet from heat. Add in drained noodles. Mix together.

Put noodle mixture in a 9x13 pan, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cover with foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Crash Hot Potatoes

I love these potatoes. They are such a change from stewed or mashed or au gratin. (Can you tell we eat a lot of potatoes?) They do take a little work, but are worth it. I will say that it's almost better to buy the potatoes individually (where you can pick them out) as opposed to pre-bagged. You really want some smaller potatoes with this recipe. Thanks to PW for this potato goodness.

Crash Hot Potatoes

adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

12 whole new potatoes

3 TBS olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Italian seasoning to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 450. 

Add potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Cook until fork tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Best. Pretzels. Ever.

The other day I saw that my friend, Amber, was going to make soft pretzels for her son's birthday party and put it on her blog, This Mommy Cooks. They just sounded so good so I thought "Why not do a grown-up version for hubby's birthday party?!" I think the title of this post says it all. I preferred the plain ones with the Beer Cheese Dip, but people went crazy over the cinnamon sugar ones. You can definitely use this as a base to make many different kinds, some other examples might include jalapeno, cheddar, chocolate chip, etc. For a great video on how to make the pretzels, visit Joy the Baker. 

PS - The recipe I used from Food Network Magazine is one of their "Almost Famous" recipes. It's a copycat of Auntie Anne's pretzels.

Best. Pretzels. Ever.

from Food Network 

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1 package active dry yeast

3 TBS packed light brown sugar

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading

2 TBS unsalted butter, plus more for basting

1 tsp fine salt

1/3 cup baking soda

2 TBS coarse salt

Directions

Warm the milk in a saucepan until it's about 110 degrees; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Dice 2 tablespoons butter and soften; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough seems tight, cover and let rest until it relaxes.) Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.

Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden about 10 to 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Beer Cheese Dip

What should have been the original recipe came from the creative culinary minds of my mother and me at 9 am on Saturday morning while I was driving to the store. I couldn't find a good recipe and so I did what I always do - I called my mom. Needless to say, I screwed it up when I put the seasoning in and was rather liberal when I should have erred on the side of caution. I scrounged in my sister-in-law's fridge, "fixed" it and thus this recipe was born. People thought it was so good they were putting it on everything, not just the pretzels! Great pairing for the Best. Pretzels. Ever. 

Beer Cheese Dip

Ingredients

1/2 cup beer (I used Budweiser)

2 jars of Kraft Old English cheese

3 oz cream cheese, softened

4 oz Velveeta 

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp dry mustard

Directions

In a saucepan over medium heat, scoop out the Old English cheese. Cube the cream cheese and Velveeta. Add them to the saucepan. Stir frequently. Once the cheese is mostly melted add the beer. You can add more or less depending on the consistency that you are wanting. 

**You could also go for a darker beer for more "beer" flavor. Just beware - a really dark beer might      change the color of your dip making it brown or gray and wholly unappetizing. 

Add the seasonings to the cheese mixture and cook for a few minutes more. Keep the dip warm while serving. 

Enjoy!

Birthday Blueberry Muffins

I really only make these muffins once a year and it's usually for my hubby's birthday. He's a huge fan of blueberry muffins and he thinks these are the best muffins ever! I do recommend using fresh blueberries as opposed to frozen. I know, I know - you are thinking "Um it's September and not blueberry season. Not only will they be difficult to find, but outrageously expensive." I agree, but you will not be disappointed. 

Birthday Blueberry Muffins

adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

Topping

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 TBS butter, softened

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. 

Combine dry ingredients for the muffins. Add the milk, vegetable oil and egg. Fold in the blueberries. Fill the muffin cups almost to the top.

With a fork mix together the ingredients for the topping. Sprinkle on top of the muffin batter.

Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden on top. 

Enjoy!

Weekly Menu - September 25-30

So, here we are, the last week of September. Crazy, huh? I feel like it just started. We are starting to get some cooler weather here and I can only hope that it will stick around. The last week has been mid to upper 90s. Um, hello? It's the 3rd week of September. Yeah just thought I'd let you know in case you didn't get the memo. Meanwhile, I'm just going to keep on pretending it's fall weather meal time. 

Turkey Chili

Soft Pretzels with Beer Cheese Dip

Homemade Pizza Dough

Blueberry Birthday Muffins

Honey Mustard Chicken

Hot Crash Potatoes

Turkey Noodle Bake

Steak Diane

The first thing I said after popping a bite in my mouth was "Oh my gosh, this is as good as I remember!" It really is divine. The flavors in the sauce are so perfect. I could have probably licked my plate clean, but I seriously had to restrain myself. Even my picky hubby and my 3 year old niece liked it! As my picture of dinner looked wholly unappetizing as it was taken with my Blackberry since the camera battery was dead, I leave you with a picture of Julia.

Steak Diane

adapted from Julia Child & Company

Ingredients

3 strip steaks

soy sauce

olive oil

black pepper

5 TBS butter

1/4 cup minced shallots

1/4 minced parsley

1 cup beef stock

1 TBS dijon mustard

1 TBS cornstarch

4 TBS Brandy or Cognac

1 1/2 TBS Worcestershire

Directions
Trim out the strip steak and pound it out until it's 1/4-1/2 inches thick. Drizzle with soy sauce and olive oil and rub it in. Sprinkle with pepper. "Roll them up like a rug" says Julia. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more. I stuck mine in the fridge for 3 hours.

You can mix the beef stock, dijon and cornstarch together and let it sit on the counter to save time later. I did this about 45 minutes before I was ready to start cooking. I also mixed together the brandy and Worcestershire at this time and set it aside.

Shallots and parsley can be done ahead of time, just remember to cover them with a damp paper towel.

Over medium high heat, melt 1 TBS butter with 1 TBS olive oil. Saute the steaks just to brown.

In the same pan, add 4 TBS butter and melt. Toss in shallots and parsley. Cook for a minute or so, until slightly translucent. Stir in stock mixture then brandy and Worcestershire.

Whisk and turn down heat to medium-low. Put steaks back in, cover and turn off the heat. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!