Shannon's Cooking Blog

Beef and Rice Teriyaki

2009-03-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

2 lb flank steak (about 2 large steaks)
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 tablespoons honey
10.5 oz can beef broth
1 teaspoon ginger root, grated
3 Cups of rice or box of Uncle Ben's Rice
2 cups of brocoli florets or snap peas

Directions:

1. Slice steaks diagonally across the grain into 1/2 x 1-inch strips and place in a shallow pan or large bowl.
2. Mix all ingredients except rice and veggies and pour over meat. Let marinate 1 to 2 hours, turning 3 or 4 times.
3. Grill or bake meat at 350 for 45 minutes (I did it via oven and it came out really good)
4. While cooking the meat, make the rice occording to directions (Dan doesnt like plain white rice so I made Uncle Ben's )
5. Boil vegetable of your choice until tender (I used snap peas this time, will try brocoli next time)
6. Add the vegetables to the rice and place on a plate
7. Lay strips of meat across the rice and vegtables and serve

Herb and Cheese Bread

2009-03-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

I made this receipe using my Kitchenaid Mixer. Once I tried a regular white bread from scratch, it was fun to add different ingredients. This bread recipe is really yummy!

Ingredients
yield 2 loafs

2 pkg active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water

4 1/2 cups flour cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp fresh chopped basil or 1 tsp dry basil
2 tsps fresh chopped oregano or 1/2 tsp dry oregano
2 tsp fresh chopped thyme or 1/2 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp fresh minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion soup mix
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

3/4 cup cold water

Directions
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water.

Place flour, basil, oregano, thyme, garlic, salt, in bowl. Attach spiral dough hook and mix 30 seconds on speed 2. Stop & scrape bowl.

Continue on speed 2 and slowly add yest mixture & cold water, mixing for 30 seconds. If dough is still sticky, add an additional 1/2 cup flour. Knead on speed 2 for 3 minutes.

Place dough in greased bowl, cover and let rise in warm place for 1.5 to 2 hours (or until doubled in size).

Punch down dough to remove all air bubbles. Shape dough into long loaf and place onto greased baking sheet or loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 to 1.5 hours.

Bake at 375 F for 30-40 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

Chocolate Cheesecake

2009-03-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

FILLING:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

TOPPING:
1 cup whip cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 TBSP cocoa

I used a pre-made crust for this cheesecake and it was good.

Directions

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in vanilla; mix well. Melt chocolate chips and stir them in. Pour into prepared crust. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set.
Remove from the oven; increase temperature to 425 degrees F. Combine the whipped cream, brown sugar,cocoa and vanilla until smooth. Spread over warm cheesecake; sprinkle with Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Broccoli Bread Pudding

2009-02-23T11:06:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

6 pieces of Italian Bread, cubed
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp Thyme
1 dash of salt
1 dash pepper
1 package frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1 12 oz jar roasted red peppers
1 cup shredded Italian Cheese
6 oz of deli ham, cubed

1. Spray a 8x10 baking dish (or equivalent, I used my oval baking dish) with Pam
2. Layer 3 pieces of Italian bread on the bottom of the baking dish
3. On top of the bread, layer the brocolli, roasted red peppers, ham and cheese
4. Add the last 3 slices of bread to the top
5. In a bowl, mix the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and thyme
6. Pour mixture over entire dish
7. Cover with foil and put in the fridge for atleast 2 hours or overnight
8. Bake at 400 degrees for an hour. Take of foil and bake another 5 minutes, until bread browns

Serves 6 people

Baked Potato Soup

2009-02-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

6 baking potatoes
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of chicken broth
4 cups whole milk
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup bacon bits, divided
4 green onions, chopped
10 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Directions

Cook potatoes until they are soft either in the oven or microwave, whichever you choose (I did mine in the oven)
In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk in milk, cream of chicken soup and broth.
Cut up 4 of the potatoes and put in blender. Add the milk mixture and blend lightly. Mixture should still have some potato lumps.
Pour mixture back into saucepan and add salt, pepper, 1/3 cup bacon bits, 2 tablespoons green onions and most of the cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated.
Chop of the remaining two potatoes and add to the mixture to give some more texture.
Serve topped with remaining bacon, onions, sour cream and cheese.

Makes 6 bowls

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2009-02-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1. 4 chicken breasts, unthawed
2. 1/2 cups of green pepper, red pepper and onion, chopped
3. 1 cup of mozarella cheese
4. 1 cup spinach, chopped
5. Italian Bread Crumbs
6. 1 egg
7. Oil

Directions:
1. Butterfly cut the chicken breasts and then pound them out with kitchen hammer so they are flat and thinner
2. Layer the peppers, onion, cheese and spinach on each of the chicken breasts (for a time saver, I used Hanover's frozen pepper and onion mixture and just thawed it and dried it out)
3. Close up the chicken breasts
4. Dip each breast on both sides in a beaten egg and then dredge through the bread crumbs
6. Cook on each side until the bread crumbs are brown
7. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes

I actually made this dish twice and the second time, I added some pepperoni inside the chicken and it was so good!

Confession: I deleted the picture from my camera but here is one from the website I got the receipe

Spaghetti Sauce and then Chicken and Zucchini Pasta

2009-01-25T13:25:00.000-08:00

I made homeade spaghetti sauce and then used it in the recipe included in this post.

Sauce recipe:

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 (28 ounce) can tomatoe sauce
1 small can tomatoe paste
4 teaspoons dried basil
4 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1-2 cups water, depends on desired thickness

Directions for Sauce:

In a large saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper and garlic. When onions are clear, stir in tomatoe sauce, tomatoe paste basil, oregano, chicken broth and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2-3 hours. Add water, as needed, for desired thickness.

Once I made the sauce, I then used a chicken breast, a small zucchini, a half cup of grated parmesan and 2 tbsp of italian seasoning to make the rest. I simply browned the chicken breast and zucchini in a non-stick pan with some oil. Once browned, I sprinkled the cheese and italian season over them and let them cook for 20 minutes. Finally, I cooked up some noodles, poured sauce over the noodles and then added the chicken and zucchini mixture. It was really good!

Zucchini Bread

2009-01-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup grated carrots (optional)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Sift together flour, salt, sod

a, cinnamon, baking

powder.
Beat eggs. Add and mix well sugar, vanilla, and oil. Add zucchini to egg mixture. Add dry ingredients, mixing well. Stir in nuts if desired. Pour into 2 ungreased loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175

degrees C) for 1 hour.

Note: I personally like the carrots in my zucchini bread, it gave it some more color and additional flavor.

Crescent Chicken and Spinach

2009-01-12T07:04:00.000-08:00

2 Cups of Cubed Chicken. (If its cooked, you only need to bake this for 20 minutes. If its uncooked, its 40 minutes)
1/2 package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 medium onion, diced;
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese,
3/4 c. cream of cream of chicken soup(undiluted);
1 packages crescent rolls (I used the new Pillsbury SHEET dough, its the crescent dough but without the cuts in it)

Directions:
1. Put chicken pieces into a large bowl. Add spinach, onion, cheese, soup.Mix well.
2. Place crescent rolls on GREASED cookie sheet, leaving triangles of dough attached to each other. Pinch seams of dough together to make one large rectangle of dough.
3. Place chicken mixture down the center of the rectangle of dough, leaving a margin of dough on either side of mixture.
4. Cut with a knife from the chicken mixture out to the edge of the rectangle on either side, making strips that are still attached to the dough underneath the chicken mixture. (So basically you'll have a "log" of the mixture down the middle of the dough and then you'll cut strips coming from the middle of the dough so that you can criss cross them, as mentioned in the next step)
5. Overlap the strips over the entire length of chicken mixture for a criss-cross effect.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes (or 40 if you dont cook the chicken first). Let rest 5-10 minutes before cutting to serve.

Before Picture- With the strips cut on the side

All done. Sorry for the un-plated photo, we just cut it and ate right from the pizza stone

Kielbasa and Potatoes (FIRST RECIPE!)

2009-01-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1 package of Kielbasa
1 large onion
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup chicken stock
3 medium size potatoes
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp dry rub
1 14 oz can tomatoes
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Slice potatoes and layer the bottom of crockpot. Add salt and pepper
2. Cut kielbasa into 2 inch pieces and layer over the potatoes
3. Slice onions and layer over the kielbasa
4. In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, garlic, chicken stock, spicy rub and brown sugar
5. Pour mixture over the onions
6. Cook in crock pot for 4-6 hours

Picture in the crockpot

Picture of the meal plated

Some notes:
1. It makes enough for 4 people or 2 people with leftovers the next day.
2. For a spicy rub, I use Weber's spicy grill seasoning. Its so good!
3. I sprayed the bottom of the crockpot with Pam to ensure the potatoes didnt stick and they didnt.

Hello, this is my cooking blog

2008-12-03T11:48:00.000-08:00

As part of my 101 things to do in 1001 days, I have decided to create a cooking blog. Exciting stuff! My goal is to post a new recipe with photos per week. Enjoy!