Make your own cookbook?

This is one of the coolest things i have seen in a while. Its a place you can make your very own cookbook! sign up is free and you can pick already done recipes or you can take your very own and have them done for the book. It looks like it cost $35 to have the book printed and this gives you 100 recipes spots to use. I don't think you have to use it on the same book either? hmm i will look more into this, but wow i just think this is great! I have a nice assortment of my own recipes and have been forever trying to find a really nice way to store and keep them.. I'm a messy cook lol I am going to play around with it a bit i think but i wanted to share it because it looks like its a beta stage so it must be new ;)

Cooking Times for Beef, Pork, Chicken and Fish

First thing first ~ source~
FDA Center for Food

Do not roast food at temperatures below 325° F - bacteria may grow while cooking at this low temperature. Never cook a Thanksgiving turkey overnight in the oven below 325° F.

Now that is out of the way :) lets move on. I wanted to make a very easy fast chart for cooking time lines. I remember when I first really started cooking and never knew what temperature to cook meat at or for how long.. I would run around trying to find my betty Crocker cook book that was like 10 yrs old that was handed down to me in the first place JUST to see how long and how hot to put the pork in the oven! Ok so I still some times have to do this LOL. So this was my motivation to make this list.
I never found it helpful to be told " cook it to 160 degrees" hmm ok I don’t have a meat thermometer and if I did were would I stick it?? So I have always tried to find the "cook at 350 for 40 min" and ok if I cut into it and its red… BACK in the oven it goes!

Just to be totally correct though if you have a meat thermometer its not a bad idea to use it:)

I have added links below also so that if you want some more in-depth info you would have it for all the other stuff. I'm lazy and just want to post the "main" stuff you might need to look up ;) nice of me hu!

beef roast
oven 325* 30min per pound ~internal 160 degrees~
….more on beef….

Pork roast
oven 350* 20-30 min per pound ~internal 160 degrees~
….more on pork…..

Whole Chicken
oven 350* 30 min per pound works perfect for me ~internal 160 degrees ( see a trend with this?)
….more on chicken….

fish... tricky tricky one! basic guide line i found
oven 230* 5-7 min per cm for fresh ~ 10-12 min per cm for frozen
( my favorite ? sear the fish in a hot pan first then pop into the oven at 350* for 5-7 min to finish. you have a great crunch on the outside and flaky on the inside.. but careful i do tend to like my stuff VERY well cooked )
.... all the ways to cook fish here ...

I'm sorry i can not be helpful on sea food. I never cook it and have no earthly idea what to do with it! fish is the only thing that i some times try to cook. I hope this was vaguely helpful and that the links provide the "real" info for you!

Baking Substitutions

Well I know there are always times when you REALLY want to make a recipe but find your self on item short! Some things can be substituted for other things and I have tried to find a few of those for you. What started this for me was the Buttermilk.I have NEVER ever bought buttermilk, until recently I would not have been able to tell you what it was use for or in.. but now of course I have found quite a few that need it.. grrr so I went hunting. I found some of the most common stuff that you might in a pinch need to substitute. There are some great sites out there with SO MUCH substitution info! Its crazy. you can almost bake a cake with all substitutions LMAO.... I wonder how that would turn out....

any way on to the few main substitutions I thought might be helpful to you.

Allspice 1 tsp.
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Baking powder 1 tsp.
• 1/3 tsp. baking soda and 5/8 tsp. cream of tartar

Baking Soda 1/2 tsp
. 2 tsp double-action baking powder

Brown sugar 1 cup
• 1 cup sugar plus 1 tsp. molasses

Buttermilk 1 cup
.1 cup milk + 1tbs vinegar or lemon juice

Condensed milk
.in a saucepan combine a cup of evaporated milk with 1 1/4 cup sugar. Heat untill dissolved. Can save for a few days in the fridge.

Cream of Tarter 1/2 tsp
.1/2 tsp white vinegar or lemon juice

Brown sugar 1cup
.1cup white sugar plus 2 tbsp of molasses

White sugar 1 cup
.1 1/3 cup brown sugar
.1 1/2 cup powder sugar

Yogurt, plain 1 cup
.1 cup sour cream
.1 cup buttermilk

lazy banana bread

Well damn, its been a week now and my shoulder is still in knots. I have been trying to not do anything involving a rolling pin :). Now we are sick so this week I don't fill ok with baking for the fire station guys.. What if i got them sick? omg! so I am just dieing wanting to bake!

What can i do that is easy but still baking ! well i have cake mix in the backing area, and bananas .... hmmmm....

Lazy banana bread:
what do i need:


1 box of white/ yellow cake mix
2 mushed up bananas
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon

what do i do:

Now, easy mix it all in a bowl
Now poor in greased pan(s)
Now bake at the temp on your box... the ketch ? I had to bake it for 1 hr.. must have to do with the bananas in it lol. Or my stove... soooo i Started checking after 35 min ( from the box time) and then 15 min after and so on. I used two pans for mine.


Ok so i don't have a pic to share.. It did not last long enought! It was so light and airy ( i think i over whipped it in the mixer lol but that is how we love it). It tasted like banana bread only not as dence. I think you could put a little more cinn and nutmeg to the mix, I'm going to try it next time.

This is FAMILY APPROVED!

Sourdough Honey Whole Wheat Bread

wow that is a mouth full. This is such a good recipe. Its a dense bread but the honey gives it just the right sweetness. Im really pleased with this find. I stole this from cooks recipes check them out!

so lets see first you will need your starter. the recipe said to let it sit for 5 days before using but i could only wait 3 and it still came out great. Its now in the fridge waiting to be feed every week!

sourdough starter:
what do i need:

1/2 cup warm water
1 (1/4 oz ) package active dry yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons
2 cups warm water
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 tablespoons sugar
what do i do:

Now sprinkle yeast over the 1/2 cup warm water, stirring to moisten yeast. Let is sit for about 5 min to foam up
Now combine the flour, sugar and remaining warm water in a small bowl, stir until smooth
Now add yeast mixture
Now move into a glass container or crock
Now cover opening with cheesecloth and set aside at room temperature for 5days
Now refrigerate for 2 more days, now it is ready ( remember to stir each day)
Now as you use the starter always replenish it by replacing each 1/2 cup starter with 1/2 flour and warm water.
Now your starter should be stirred once a day and "fed" once a week
Now to feed it you will take out 1/2 a cup of starter and replace with 1/2 cup flour mixed with warm water


the hard part? waiting!

ok so your week has passed and NOW you get the good part!

sourdough honey whole wheat bread:
what do i need:

1 (1/4 oz) package active dry yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons
1 cup warm water
2/3 cup sourdough starter mix
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
4 cups whole wheat flour

what do i do:

Now turn the oven on to 400 degrees
Now dissolve yeast in warm water
Now mix together the yeast, sourdough starter, honey, salt and shortening togather
~ now as i see it you have 3 choices at this point~
1. put it all in your bread machine so you don't have to do any of the work! and just use the dough setting
2. dump it in your stand mixer and dump all 4 cups of flour in and then knead by hand for a few min to finish it off .
or 3 the one i do add 3 cups of flour, i find it easer to finish the dough off buy hand with the last cup of flour to get a good fill for when its done and not over do it , dump about 1/4 of your remaining flour on the counter and dump your still wet dough on it.coat your hands in flour and start the kneading. you will end up using most the cup , keep kneading until not sticky anymore and elastic.
either way you will end up done!
Now grab a bowl and poor some oil in it, you will want to be able to coat the whole ball of dough with it.
Now cover it up and let it rise!
Now its doubled its size.. 30-45 min
Now PUNCH IT!
Now shape it ( i used a normal loaf pan )
Now put in the pan and cover ( i spray top with butter cooking spray to keep from drying out )
Now about 30-45 more min to double and in the oven it goes 400 degrees for 35-40.

This is a wonderful loaf! I am not usually a fan of sourdough but this recipe just might make one one. enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Broth err stock...broth? LOL

ummmm chicken broth! It is used in so many things! My main dishes that I need this for is my chicken pot pie, chicken noodle soup and chicken ginger soup. ( boy i just got ideas for two more post! ) I had been just buying the large cans when i went shopping for my needs but then one day i came across this amazing sale on whole chicken.. something i don't normally use, i have always been partial to the bagged skinless chicken breast.

So after i came up with the ideas on what the heck to do with the bird i was going to make chicken noodle soup with the carcass.. why waste any of it! ..... now in the past when i did this ( for some unknown reason ) i always dumped the water that the chicken had simmered in for hours to cook the chicken off the bone.. to then refill the pot with canned broth.. why did i do this? i don't know i must have been under the impression that the water the chicken had been cooking is was.. bad! Well not anymore! I will not waste all that goodness anymore!

so this is how i have been making it, if you have a different way please share i am always looking for ways to improve my food!!!

chicken broth:
what do i need:

one chicken carcass, whole chicken or chicken pieces ... you could use any chicken on bone that you wanted but i think the bone is a big part of it here.
4 gloves or garlic
1/2 onion
salt 1 tsp
lots of water

what do i do:

now get a pot to simmer your chicken in
Now add everything in the pan
Now add the water to cover all the chicken , in not a carcass then at least 6 cups of water i believe is good.
Now bring to a boil and then lower the heat to just simmer it and simmer for 4-6 hrs ( i use such a long time because i have been starting mine in the crock pot at night before bed and then finishing it in the morning when i get up, i just put on low)
Now get a bowl big enough to hold all the water and a drainer and a towel
Now put the drainer on top of your bowl
Now put the towel or cheese cloth in your drainer
Now empty your pot into the drainer
Now unless you are using this in the next couple of days let it cool so you can put it into its container to freeze
Now if you are using the chicken from the carcass let it cool then start your dissecting



Ok as you can see this is a terrible simple recipe and i have ideas on how to jazz it up but i think it may depend on the dish I'm going to use it for.. i really loved the flavor the celery game my soup last time so i was thinking if i cooked it in the broth AND the soup i would help intensify the flavors.. same with the carrots. I'm not sure that flavor would be the best with the chicken ginger soup.. maybe. well I guess what I'm saying is that you can jazz it up if you know what flavor is going to work with you meal you plan to make with it.

while surfing around i found Kate's global kitchen on global gourmet and it has a nice basic chicken stock also which i think i will actually try next time. visit her site and check out this recipe.

Basic Chicken Stock

From Kate Heyhoe's A Chicken in Every Pot: Global Recipes for the World's Most Popular Bird (Capital Books, Fall 2003)

Makes about 2 quarts

In this stock version, a whole chicken is used. You may, after the first hour, remove the flavored meat from the carcass and reserve for another use, then return the carcass to the pot and continue cooking. Or, just leave the whole bird in and let everything simmer for the full time.

1 (4 to 5 pound) whole chicken, without giblets
1 tablespoon salt
2 medium onions, quartered
2 carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
3 sprigs parsley
2 bay leaves
5 black peppercorns

1. Place all ingredients in a large pot. Fill with 3 quarts water or enough to cover the chicken. Bring the water almost to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low. Simmer partially covered 1 hour, skimming off any foam or scum that rises.

2. Remove the chicken and pick off the meat. Return the carcass to pot. Simmer uncovered another 1 to 1-1/2 hours. (Or, continue to simmer the whole bird, meat and all.)

3. When the stock is cool enough to work with, strain it through cheesecloth, discarding the carcass, herbs, and vegetables. Refrigerate covered for up to 3 days, or freeze for 6 months. Fat will congeal on the surface when cold, which actually helps preserve the stock; remove and discard it before use.

Variation: Chicken Stock from Bones & Pieces
Instead of a whole chicken, substitute 5 to 6 pounds chicken wings, backs, ribs, and other bony parts (including feet if you can find them). Simmer continuously for 2 hours.

Home made chicken noodle soup!

first sorry about no photo.. lol lazy today and completely forgot until i sat down do to this! you don't want to see the left over piece of celery in the bowl do you? so this time i added celery to it, this is the first time because i normally do not like celery in my food, but now i see why, its the flavor. It added something more to the broth.

first i made home made chicken stock but before i started that i just used the big can of it from the store :) Ill have to make a post for the chicken broth and link it.

you can use either a chicken carcass, or even raw chicken legs or what ever part of the chicken you were able to get your hands on.

chicken soup:
what you will need:

chicken! cooked, raw.. what ever. I like to either use the carcass of a already used chicken OR like 6 chicken legs /shrug im weird this way.
3-5 carrots, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces .. all depends on how much carrots you like :) go with 4 if you need spacifecs.
2 celery cut into small pieces
garlic 4 cloves
1/2 onion
salt
pepper

what to do:

Now get a large pot OR crock pot ( my fav )
Now put in the chicken, garlic and cut up onion in pot
Now add enought water to cover and over about 2 in, unless its a carcass then just cover
now bring to a boil and simmer for 4-6 hrs ( i like to put it in the crock pot over night )
Now get a bowl , strainer and a towel or cheese cloth
Now put the bowl in the sink and the drainer over it and the towel in the strainer and poor you pan of chicken in it to drain the clear broth into the bowel and catch the rest in the towel
Now wash your pan out really fast of any lose crap and put the now clean broth back in the pan
Now the fun part, wait for the chicken to cool and dissect it! save as much meat as you can and discard the rest.
Now this is preference on my part but i put the chicken in the fridge until an hr before serving so that it dose not all brake down in the soup. I tried this the last two times and it works nicely, i add it with the noodles. If you think that is stupid :) please put the chicken in now!
Now add your carrot and celery
Now add salt and pepper
Now cover and WALK AWAY!
Now 2-6 hrs have passed depending on when you are serving dinner
Now taste broth and re season if needed
Now add the chicken if not in already and the noodles
Now wait 30-40 min and eat!

Zucchini Bread

Well I have been wanting something new and mom suggested Zucchini bread soooooo here i go! I know i have eaten this before .. a LONG time ago and I don't remember it being to bad.

So we ( my daughter and I ) went to making up the batter, which comes out very thick at the end. After getting the batter to go into the pan LOL and cooking for an hour it looked great. nice and brown on the outside, and nice and moist inside. I suppose that i was a little prejudged before i tried it tho because i expected it to be pretty sweet like banana bread. Its not to sweet. so the first bite was a pondering moment. it taste good, i could taste all the good spices ( they used like pumpkin pie spices ) and i used hazelnuts because its what i had on hand and it taste pretty good with it. I my first piece i was like HMMM what do i think of this. LOL I did go back for another piece and totally enjoyed it more this time.. my hold back on the first bite was i expect "SWEET" and its not out there like that. So after thinking it over i decided that i liked it enough to post it. The true test tho will be tonight when the "man" tries it! LOL

so lets get to it!


turn your oven on to 350 degrees

Zucchini bread,
what do i need:

2 cup sugar 3 eggs 1 c oil 1 tbsp vanilla 2 c coarsely grated, peeled, loosely packed zucchini ( 2 med zucchini worked for me, i
peeled then and grated then roughly choped them on the cutting board t
to make smaller pieces )
2 c flour 1 tsp salt ( OMG I FORGOT THE SALT IN MINE!!! SHIT)
1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp baking powder 1 TBSP cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp cloves 1 c chopped nuts 1/2 c raisins (i didn't use)

what do i do:

Now if you have not already turn the oven on to 350
Now in lrg bowl ,beat eggs until frothy ( i don't know why! )
Now add sugar, oil and vanilla to the eggs and beat until thick
Now stir in zucchini
Now shift dry ingredients and add to zucchini mix to it
Now stir in nuts and raisins
Now grease two 9x5 loaf pans
now bake 1 hr

walla!

The Perfect Crust

The Perfect Crust
what you need:

3cup flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup +2 tbs shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vinegar
5 tbs water

what you need to do:

Now get a bowl and add shortening, flour and salt and combine with your hands until you get what resembles fine crumbs.
Now get a small bowl and lightly beat the egg
Now add the vinager and water into the egg bowl
Now sprinkle the egg mixture onto the flour mixture
Now with a fork mix until you have a dough
Now rap in plastic and put in fridge for 30 min
Now roll out the dough ( this will make 2 9in pan pie crust for bottom AND top )

( for rolling out the dough what works for me is to use wax paper - put a few drops of water on the counter and put the wax paper over it so that it dose not move, now put the dough on the paper, now put the other paper on the dough and roll out your circle ... this is so far the easiest for me )

Now put one crust on the bottom of your pie pan and bake, i baked at 400 degrees for 15 min
Now fill with pie filling
Now put top crust on
Now poke a few holes for air to escape with a fork
Now sprinkle lightly with sugar
Now bake for amount directions have for your pie

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie from Home Baking Association

I was really worried to try this. I love pecan pie so much and did not want to make something that turned out substandard to what i wanted to eat lol if that makes since and omg pecans are not cheap! Well mom came to visit today and she is also a lover of pecan pies so what better time to try this out. Well i was pleasantly surprised that it turned out so awesome!

First get "The perfect crust" to use for this recipe

Pecan Pie
What you need:

3 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter melter
1tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pecan halves
1 9in baked pie shell

What to do:

Now preheat oven 400 degrees
Now in medium bowl beat together eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter, vanilla and salt
Now arrange pecans on the bottom of the pie shell
Now carefully pour egg mixture over pecans ( they will flout up to the top )
Now back on bottom rack at 400 degrees for 30 to 35 min, use a toothpick and when it comes out clean its done
Now take out and let cool to set ( boy I found out that it has to cool to totally set so it will not look firm enough until cool )

Blackberry Cobbler

Blackberry Cobbler

Woot i found the crust i like and the cobbler is great! Its my first pretty pie lol i don't want to cut into it! But i have to if i want to find out if its worth blogging to you all about.

I LOVE IT! The crust is so perfect. light and crispy, but so easy to cut. The blackberry's came out better then i hoped. It's thick enough to hold up after cut and not totally ooze out into the empty spot left in the pan . Its got a mild sweetness so that you can fully taste the blackberry's but no tartness of them. I am completely thrilled with this! So very easy to make also!

use the crust link to find this wonderful crust!

" The Perfect Crust "

Blackberry Cobbler filling: from WikiHow
What you need:

2 1/2 cups blackberrys
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs flour
1/4 cup water

What You Need To do :

Now preheat oven at 365 degrees
Now get a sauce pan
Now add the blackberry's and sugar and bring to a low boil about 10 min
Now desolve the cornstarch and flour in the water and mix into the pan
Now bring back to a low boil and keep stiring until it thickens a little more
Now get your prepared pie pan with the cooked bottom crust and poor the blackberry mix into it
Now cover with you waiting top crust
Now poke your holes in the crust
Now sprinkle with a little sugar
Now turn oven down to 325 degrees and bake for 25 min
Now let pie cool to make sure your filling is "set"


NOW EAT!

Pork Fried Rice

ohhh yes! I love chicken fried rice from my husbands favorite pho restaurant but duplicating it sucks. I found a recipe on about.com on one of there cooking emails, Its not perfect, lol I know the restaurants must use something else in the sauce but i just don't know what! This is a really good one tho, my family loves it for dinner. I like to make it with pork.

I'm going to repeat the recipe that is on about.com for the lazy guys hehe

what you need:

rice!3 or 4 cups ( I love my rice cooker! We use jasmine rice its so yummy. so i do are normal family amount of rice.)
2 lg eggs
green onion
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce ( i use both soy sauce and oyster sauce but its just as fine with out the oyster sauce )

and what every meat if any you are going to cook with it. Fried rice is one of those fun things you can add just about anything into it.. modern casserole? hmmm

what do i do:

Now cook your rice if you don't have it left over
Now chop up your onions
Now scramble you eggs in a small bowl
Now heat your wok or deep pan
Now add some oil and fry your meat if using
Now remove the meat to another bowl
Now add 1 tablespoon oil to pan and cook the rice to make sure its heated
Now add you seasonings ( i end up using more soy sauce then called for but that is our taste )
Now move the rice out of the middle of the pan and put the eggs in... leave it alone for a min or so to cook
Now mix it in with the rice
Now add your onions and meat !

YUM!

Potatoes for michelle

My sister in law an i were having coffee the other day and we happened to talk about food like we always end up doing. We were talking about are fried potatoes and how to get them crispy WITHOUT cooking them to the bottom of the pan at the same time. I FOUND IT! well... ok so my husband has been telling me forever how but did i listen.. no!

ITS BUTTER!

haha ok michelle here is my potato recipe made crispy~

what you need:

Potatoes cubed small ( we use 6 med potatoes for are family of 5 )
Sweet onion ( i use a slice off the onion and dice it, i still dont like TO much onion but the flavor of the sweet onion is great!) optional
1/2 a red pepper ( if im going all out on them i use this otherwise for most dinners i skip the pepper) optional
3 slices of bacon ( if your haveing bacon with dinner just cook a few strips in the potatoes ) again optional
salt
pepper
seasoning salt
evoo ( extra virgin oil) once around the pan
2 tablespoons butter

I know there are lots of optionals on this list and they come out wonderfull with just the potatoes and seasonings, if you have the stuff and want to kick it up an notch ( I LOVE YOU EMERIL! ) then you can use any of the optional singling or together.

what to do:

Now turn your pan on med and do once around with the evoo.
Now add the cubed potatoes
Now add your salt, pepper and seasoning salt and mix
( if using bacon, red peppers or onion put in now)
Now add your butter and mix it all up well
Now cover and walk away... YOU HEARD ME WALK AWAY! :)
Now 10 minutes later go back and flip and check tenderness and spices. If they are tender like you want them do not put the top back on because we don't need the steam, other wise cover and check in about 5 minutes...then another and so on until you reach your tender point put the lid in the sink.
Now did you taste? need more salt? pepper? do that now
Now let cook it another 10 min and flip once then cook until you get the crisp level you want. at this point they are done but you are just browning to taste.

Now your ready to dig in! I hope they come out as good for you as they did for me!

some trial runs

Ok so I decided that I was going to make some banana bread and coffee cake for the family and the firemen that we had wanted to start baking for. The guy that took the bread last week was so thrilled that we did it and it just made me fill warm and fuzzy ( ok doesn't hurt that he was a hunk! I mean really is that part of the test to get in?) to give back to people that risk them selfs every day for us. I wish there was a police station close to use also but /shrug lol i would just be helping with the donut image if they were!

the banana bread recipe is a tried and true family favorite so there was no worry on making this but the coffee cake is a new one... i mean there are HUNDREDS of recipes out there and everyone has one out there so its completely hit and miss until you find one you like... god i should just get a betty crocker book but what fun would that be.

ok here we go

Banana bread
what u need:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup bananas.. ok so i have never measured mine i use 3 large bananas mushed
1 teasp baking soda
1/2 teasp salt
1 1/4 cup flour
pinch of cinnamon

what do i do?

Now turn on your oven to 350 d
Now grease 2 loaf pans
Now cream the shortening , sugar togather
Now add the eggs one at a time to blend well
Now in a seperat bowl mix your flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon togather
Now add the flour mix slowly to the creamed stuff
Now blend for a min or so to blend it well
Now split it between the two pans
Now bake for about35- 55 min at 350... (test with the toothpick my oven is freaky and dosnt listion to what the book tells them for time to cook.)




now the coffee cake.. IM SORRY MICHELLE! i cant post the recipe . Its not horrible but its not that great and I would hate to give you a less them "tried and true" I will look more tonight and maybe have a working one for you tomorrow! ( michelle is my talented crafty sister-in-law who is a coffee addict with me!) The batter was to thick i think and the cake when cooked was not sweet enough. the topping was yumm tho! brown suger and HAZELNUTS ground up with a pinch of cin.. i may keep that part and find a new cake part.


enjoy the banana bread folks I know I will!

Baked Chicken

So, what did you have for dinner? WEll I made some great baked chicken. I made this a couple of weeks ago and my husband just raved about it so it was a keeper.The key? Lemons. Yup, Lemons shoved up a chickens behind LOL.

I was pretty worried about ( and still kinda am) cooking with whole chickens, I cheat and get the bags of boneless chicken breast. Great for everything but I found these for a killer price so decided it was time to work with them.

I believe i found this off of food network at one point and filed it away with all the other .. hmm that looks good, but never tired recipes.. i have a lot ! Well here we go

like all mine they are fairly versatile.

what you need:

1 whole chicken
1 lg lemon or 2 sm lemons
salt, pepper and what ever chicken seasoning you nomaly use. I use "Durkee grill creations Chicken Seasoning... ya well I know we are not grilling but it works for me!

what to do?

Now Turn on your oven to 350 degrees.. this is what my chicken bag told me to do..... The other stuff I'm not sharing.
Now Clean out the neck and ( gag ) inerds of your bird and rinse it out with cold water.
Now cut your lemon(s) in half and stuff it inside the bird.
Now salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.
Now put some tin foil on the pan (or get out the bag if your useing that instead )
Now place the chicken in the pan with its little legs facing down. You want the back bone up to you and the breast to the pan.
Now being very giving sprinkle the outside of the chicken with your seasoning and salt and pepper
Now cover with foil for the first 1/2 of the baking if you want to have a lighter crispy outside like i do. ( otherwise you can leave the foil off and crisp up the top.. go ahead i don't have to eat it !)
Now bake for 20 - 30 min PER POUND of your chicken, mine were 4 lb's and i cooked it for 1 hr 45 min. So i say start with 20 min per pound and if its not done go for another 15 and see.

Now???

Now you have a juicy juicy chicken! YUMM, We like to have mashed potatoes and steamed veg's with are chicken. I save the carcase to make chicken broth.. stock.. broth.. OMG what is the difference again? I make chicken juice for my soup! LOL I am very technical....

maybe chicken juice will be my next cooking blog!

OH BOY DINNER TIME!

Pan Lasagna

Ok here is an easy yummy dinner recipe. I think if found this in one of the many food magazines I skim threw. Its suspiciously a lot like spaghetti but with the different noodles LOL but i think i prefer this one more, seems heartier to me.

SO how do i make it you scream!

ok here we go!

one pound of ground beef
one box of lasagna noodles ( you can use either no boil ones or the normal ones..only difference is the time to cook )
one can of your favorite spaghetti sauce ( i like traditional prego because i don't care for the large chunks of stuff.. when i do use the others i run it threw the food proseser to liquefy)
a small amount of dices onion ( i love sweet onion but again what ever you like! )
2 cloves of garlic nicely minced ( LOOK MA! I KNOW COOKING TERMS NOW!)
and i use 1 1/2 to 2 jars of water ( use the jar from your sauce to measure )
salt, pepper and red chili flakes ( im not so adventurous so you use what ever you like here )

ok so now i have the stuff on the counter
.. umm what do i do with it all!

ok my friends! i grab a large pan, one that i would cook my soups in. basically you want a nice deep pan for the sauce to be live in.
Now heat it up on MD and put in a bit of EVOO ( extra virgin olive oil for you non rachal ray watchers... the shame!) and your onion and garlic and cook that up for a min.
Now throw in your beef and brown it up! here is were i add my measly spices :) you throw in what ever is on your spice rack now.
Now that its cooked you want to drain out all that yummy goodness they call fat!
Now add your choise of sauce to the pan ( i have of coures liquefied mine to a nice red sauce :) and the added water. you can start with just one jar if you want
Now i brake my noodles up to put them in. i brake it up 3 or 4 times
Now give it a mix and if the noodles are not covered well add more water and cover it.
Now turn to high to get a nice boil going and turn back to M or MD to keep it going.
I figure about 20 min and theres dinner, just check the doneness of them noodles

remember to stir it so that the noodles not cook to the bottom of the pan... ya umm i forgot one time LOL.

yummm dinner ;) now YOU MUST find a veg to serve with it or some mother will show up and make you eat your peas. ohh and we know mr!

Yumm Bread!

I was telling you about this bread the other day as i was throwing myself a rather large pitty party :) and i wanted to share the recipe. It actually started as a white bread recipe for two loafs but this year when i went to make it i realized..after starting it.. that i really didn't have more white flour! i had about 1/2 that was needed and that was it... hmm so either i through it away or i mess with it a bit and see what happens... I hate to waste stuff :) soooo i pulled out the wheat flour and the rolled oats and made a new bread. It came out REALLY good! It probable helps that we eat wheat bread now anyways lol but this came out soft and yummy!

so here we go! I want to share the yummyness!
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first the ingredients.

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 packages instant active dry yeast ( i used just normal yeast and if u don't have the packs and just the jar its 2 1/2 tsp per package)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp salt ( I use two but david likes his salt! )
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1 cup of water
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
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2 large eggs
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2 - 4 cups white flour ( I know that is a big diffrance in flour but stay with me here )
2 cups wheat
1 cup rolled oats ( you can cut this out and just add another 1/2 cup of flour )

ok now you know w hat you will need, let me tell you how to put it all togather.

1.combine the top portion , flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the mixing bowl you will be useing to mix all the dough ( I use my kitchen aid mixer.. got to love that thing! )

2. heat the second portion in a saucepan, the water, milk and oil. your not looking to boil it here just to warm it all up I belive this is to help activate the yeast faster ( i have found with other recipes that ask you to heat the liquid i like it better )

3. lightly beat your eggs up and add to the flour then the warm liquids on top of it and mix this up for about 3 minutes on medium.

4. now add in your 1 cup of oats and 2 cup of wheat bread and mix it up well. now take the rest of your flour and i add it 1/2 cup at a time until It's handable to start the kneading.

this is were i had problems forever was when to start the kneading and when it was done . So what i do know is take it out when its just a tinny bit sticky still and i flour my counter VERY well and my hands and drop the dough down and start kneading it. ( bring the right corner in and with the heal of your hand push it out and away from you , turn slightly to the left and bring the right corner in againd.. repeat )

I will add about 1 -2 cups of flour in at this point. I just keep kneading it until it stops being sticky and needing more flour. when i can do5 or 6 turns of the dough with out coming away with a sticky palm then your good to go.

now i take a large bowl and add about 2 tablespoons of oil to it and drop your dough in there and roll it around so the whole thing is very well couted ( to prevent drying which will give you a hard hard crust ) now put some plastic rap on the dough or a towel on top works just as good... you just want to keep the air OFF and the oil ON. now walk away and leave it for about 45 min to double in size.

PUNCH IT DOWN! lol i like that part. take it out and divide it in to and form into what ever loafs you want. you can use bread loafs or cookie sheets to make round loafs

let it stand for another 30 min to rise again and i will spray the loafs with cooking spray at this point to again keep the top from drying out and avoiding the dry rock crust that i use to get and recover then.Turn on your stove at this point to 375degrees. You want that stove nice and hot for the first rise in the oven.

Now my other trick to keep a soft yet brown crust is to use tin foil on my loafs for the first 1/2 of the bakeing . This way you get the first rise ( the first 10 min of the baking is when your yeast go CRAZY and that is were you get your puff in your bread)
then I remove the foil to get the nice brown top on it.

you want to cook at 375 degrees for 45 min ( i have cooked both loafs togather at this time and they came out done) cove with the foil for 20 min then remove to brown.
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WALLA!

maybe later ill give you my POTATO BREAD recipe :)

I put the lines in so it would be easer to copy and past to print .. Im not to blog smart yet and have no idea how to make a printer friendly page :(