Sourdough Bread and other things…

What a weekend!  Here where I live, Ohio, we experienced our first major snow storm this weekend.  Last year, we had snow all winter…more snow than we had in a long, long time.  We have been pretty fortunate this winter in that we were having a mild winter…until Sunday morning.  It started snowing at about 12 am Sunday morning and it snowed all day….and all night until about 10 am today.  All together I think we received about 12-14 inches.  Thankfully today, I was able to work from home! This is a picture from Sunday morning when I work up:

So, I took myself to the grocery store (which I loathe) and got a few things.  One of them was a 4 pound beef chuck roast.  I came home and put it in the oven to make barbeque beef.  Three hours later on 350 degrees and it was falling apart.  Then Sunday morning I put some premade (store bought) meatballs in my crock pot with a jar of spaghetti sauce and a can of tomato soup for later in the week to have meatball subs.  Well–I didn’t think about what I would eat the bbq beef sandwiches or meatball subs on, so I ended up making these sourdough bread rounds/buns:

They are glorious, so good…and if you wanted to make regular bread you can.  It’s a simple recipe and always turns out great.

Sourdough Bread Starter

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

2 cups warm water

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.  Add flour, salt and sugar; stir in 2 cups of warm water.

Mix well.  Cover bowl, stir often for the next 72 hours.  After 72 hours, store in an mason

jar in the refrigerator and occasionally shake jar to mix.

Sourdough Bread

2 packages active dry yeast

1 1/4 cup warm water

1 cup sourdough starter

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil

5 1/2 – 6 cups flour

Mix yeast, warm water and starter, let it get bubbly.  Add sugar, salt, eggs, and oil and mix well.  Add flour, knead until

smooth and elastic.  Put dough in a greased bowl and cover, letting rise in a warm place.  Punch down and make

bread as desired, letting rise again covered until double.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 – 35 minutes.

Add 1 cup flour and 1 cup water to starter mix to replace the starter you used for bread, mix well and put back

in refrigerator.

I also decided to try my blueberry muffin recipe in another way:

I made it into a bundt cake instead of muffins, and it turned out way better, although I had to bake it a lot longer, almost an hour.  You can find the recipe here.

I have been in a cooking mood lately!  I also made crockpot lasagna for a coworkers birthday, and it turned out fabulous, even though I don’t have a picture.  Here’s how I made it:

Crockpot Lasagna

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained

1 large container cottage cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 jars spaghetti sauce

1 can tomato soup

1 package lasagna noodles (regular kind)

Mix cooked beef, spaghetti sauce, and tomato soup together.  Mix cottage cheese and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese together with Italian seasonings (garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano etc).  Layer as follows: meat mixture, lasagna noodles (uncooked), cheese mixture (repeat 3 times) and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.  Cook on high for about 1 1/2 hours and turn down to low for 2 1/2 more hours or until done.

I have to admit that this recipe gave me anxiety, because you have to work and adjust the noodles to fit.  I didn’t like it.  But it tasted fabulous and it was a big hit!!!

Keep Simply Delighting!!!

 

 

 

 

Staying in on a snowy Sunday

We are in the middle of a mini snow storm.  It’s cold, windy and snowy out.  Yesterday I ran errands and got a few things for the week.  I am not a big fan of grocery shopping, so I tend to only really go on a big shopping trip every 2-3 months.  When I do that, I stock up.  And I mean stock up.  I spend about $400 to stock up my pantry and freezer and pick up fresh items every week or other week.

So, yesterday I needed to get some stuff for a potluck at work this week (I am making crock pot lasagna…more on that this week) and some items for this week.  I wanted to make some queso so needed a few things.

After I got home, what I had in mind for dinner quickly went out the window, and I ended up making one of my favorite salads.  It’s a version of Cabbage Crunch Salad–and it was so yummy.

I know it’s not a great picture but here’s how you make it:

cabbage–sometimes I use broccoli-slaw (precut)

1 carrot, grated

1 granny smith apple, peeled and chopped

craisons

slivered almonds

uncooked ramon noodles, broken up

The dressing is:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 packet of chicken ramon noodle flavoring

Today, I made some homemade refried beans (you can find the recipe by clicking here), and some queso dip.  The queso is super easy…just take a block of velveeta cheese, a can of rotel, and some browned ground beef and mix it in a crock pot.  Let it melt together and it’s perfect for a dip or for a snack or for dinner.

So that’s what I did today.  Check out the blog later this week for crock pot lasagna!

Keep Simply Delighting!

 

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

I can’t even believe that I am blogging this, but I made scalloped potatoes and ham for dinner.  The reason I say this is because I do not like scalloped potatoes and ham.  I am not a fan at ALL of white creamy sauces.  I don’t like cream of anything soups, white gravy, or (and yes, I’ll pause for the collective gasp after I say this) alfredo sauce.  But…this recipe and dinner tonight was AMAZING.  And easy.  And only roughly 500 calories a serving.

Here’s the recipe:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups nonfat milk

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

8 cups chopped and peeled potatoes

4 cups chopped ham (I used leftover Honeybaked spiral ham from Christmas that I had in my freezer)

1 teaspoon pepper

2 cups shredded cheese

Brown butter in large nonstick skillet, add flour and mix into a rue and let get brown, but make sure it doesn’t burn.  Add milk, stirring and bring to a rolling boil.  Add onion and garlic powder and pepper.  Stir.  Add potatoes and bring back to a boil.  Add ham and 1/2 of the shredded cheese, mix well.  Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.  Dump everything from skillet into baking dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.  Remove foil and continue to bake another 30 minutes or until bubbly, thickened and looking incredibly yummy.

I served mine with just a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.  Oooh so yummy.

Keep Simply Delighting!

Turkey Spinach Lasagna

Tonight for dinner, I made something I have never made before: turkey spinach lasagna.  I was a little leary of this new recipe that I found but put my own spin on.  BUT…it was incredible.  Creamy, rich, and healthy!

Here’s the recipe:

1 lb ground turkey

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups marinara sauce

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

1 10 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed, drained well and chopped

1/4 cup parsley

2 egg whites

1/4 t salt and pepper

12 lasagna noodles, cooked

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in large sauce pan.  Add the turkey and brown.  When turkey is browned, add the marinara sauce and continue to simmer.  Cook lasagna noodles until done.  Mix in a large bowl spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, egg whites, parsley, salt and pepper until combined.  In a 13 x 9 inch baking dish, spray with non stick cooking spray and layer 3 noodles, half the ricotta mixture and then 1/3 of the marinara sauce mixture.  Add 3 more noodles, the rest of the ricotta and 1/3 of the marinara sauce.  Add 3 more noodles and the rest of the marinara.  Add 3 more noodles, and top with the mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting.  I cut mine into 12 pieces.  Also I added red pepper flakes to my marinara sauce for a little heat.

This is definitely a keeper!

Keep Simply Delighting!

Yumminess Everywhere!

Tonight for dinner, I made homemade barbeque chicken pizza.  It is Super Bowl Sunday, after all.  Believe me, it was incredible.  I dipped it it blue cheese dressing and it was just like I was eating some wings.  AMAZING.   Here’s how I made it:

1 package of pizza dough mix (prepared as the directions say)

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped (mine was the left over cornish hens from Christmas that I had in my freezer)

1 cup barbeque sauce (mine was homemade)

1 cup shredded cojack cheese

Homemade BBQ Sauce:

1 1/2 cups ketchup

3/4 – 1 cup brown sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and chili powder

Heat until comes to a boil and sugar is dissolved.  Let cool and thicken.

Put it all together and bake.  It was fabulous.

 

I made more #scrappytripalong blocks today.

These blocks come together so quick.  I love it.

My favorite block so far.  I love those little porcupines.  Aren’t they cute?!!?

I started another quilt today as well, and made several blocks, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.  I had to stop sewing because I became engrossed in Downton Abbey that I had DVR’d….it’s my first season but I am hooked.

Keep Simply Delighting!

Simple Sundays!

I love Sundays.  It truly is my favorite day of the week.  Worship, family time, football, afternoon naps, time to do whatever you please…that’s what Sundays are for.

Today, among doing other things, I spent my Sunday doing several loads of laundry, running to the store, cutting some fabric (see tomorrow’s post), and making homemade vegetable soup for this week’s main meal.  It’s not what we had for dinner tonight, but it’s what’s for lunch and dinner at least a couple days this week.

I forgot to take a picture of the soup, sorry.

I had lots and lots of frozen vegetables from my parents’ garden and my brother’s garden.  Also, I had several bags of frozen vegetables that I wanted to use up that were taking precious space in my freezer.   So…here’s the recipe:

Homemade Veggie Soup

3 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes (I put my kitchen shears inside the open can and chop them up more)

2 15 oz cans of tomato sauce

1 10,75 oz can of tomato soup

1 lb of ground sirloin, browned

2 cups frozen corn

2 cups frozen (or fresh) chopped carrots

2 cups of green beans

I also added 2 2/3 cups of frozen mixed veggies and 2 cups of frozen green beans I had just hanging out in the freezer open.

Various spices, such as Italian seasoning, minced onion, garlic powder and salt and pepper.

You can also add a couple peeled, diced potatoes, but I just forgot.

Keep Simply Delighting!

Beef Pot Pie

I should have taken a picture of this when it came out of the oven, but I didn’t think about it until after.  But…this is my beef pot pie I made from scratch last night (mostly).  Here is the recipe:

Filling:

9 oz of steak (I used venison), cut into bit size pieces

1/2 of an onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

12 cups of beef broth (I made my own)

4 gravy packets

In a soup pan, bring the broth to a boil.  Add mixed veggies and potatoes and bring back to a boil.  Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet, brown meat, onions and garlic.  When the broth mixture comes back to a boil, add cooked meat, garlic and onions, and gravy packets and mix.  Cook another 10-15 minutes.  I added some flour/water mixture to thicken it up more.  You want that mixture to be thick like a stew.  Also, just a warning, this always makes more than enough for one pie.  I actually only used a third of this mixture for my pie, and froze the rest in 2 separate containers.

Once the mixture is cooled down some, put it in a pie crust and bake.  You can make your own pie crust, or use a premade crust you purchase at the grocery.  For me, it’s just easier to purchase one.

Bake at 450 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Keep Simply Delighting!

Waste Not, Want Not

So many people I know are always asking me how I figure out what to cook for meals, how I grocery shop so inexpensively and how I hardly waste anything.  Well, it’s because when I plan my grocery list, it is strictly off of a menu I plan for two weeks.  Whatever the menu is, that’s what I buy.  And, I tend to buy things that I can use in other meals.

For instance, I made a roast on Sunday.  It was an English Roast, and it was about $12 total.  We had the traditional roast, carrots and potatoes Sunday, then again on Monday, and last night I made a beef, rice, mixed vegetable medley.  Normally, I would make spanish rice with leftover beef too.  So, while I paid $12 for this roast, it was three nights of dinner.  And, the broth from the roast is in the freezer, which will make great stock for soup or gravy.

 

2012 Wrap Up!

Happy Holidays!  Above is a picture of the cornish hens my Mom made for Christmas dinner.  Aren’t they gorgeous?

I am enjoying some wonderful time off.  The company I work for closes during the week between Christmas and New Years as a benefit to their employees, so I am spending some well needed time just doing whatever I want.  I spent the Christmas holiday with my parents at their home, and they are currently in town on their way passing through to Florida for the winter.  This week my parents helped me hang curtains and pictures on my walls of my new place.  It finally looks homey and “together” here at home.

My Mom and I were talking about all the projects I have done this year.  In an attempt to wrap up this year, here is my list of projects for 2012.  Remember, I really only started “for real” quilting this year. 

1. My niece Leah’s quilt

2. My pink lap quilt

3. My Mom’s queen size quilt (top is done, working on the quilting now)–includes shams and 2  12×12 throw pillows

4. My niece Brianna’s quilt

5. My niece Gabby’s quilt (top is done-needs to be quilted)

6. My friend Melissa’s “Believe” quilt

7. My friend Chelsea’s lap quilt

8. My Mom’s Shortcake lap quilt

9. My Mom’s Christmas lap quilt

10. My great-nephew Parker’s quilt

11. My great-nephew Maxton’s quilt

12. My great-niece Baby J’s quilt

13. Several bibs and birth cloths for both Max and Baby J

14. A quilted bag for Baby J

15. My friend Pam’s quilt

16. My Americana quilt (top is done-need to quilt)

17. My Mom’s star quilt

18. The girl embroidery quilt my Mom and I collaborated on (needs to be quilted)

19. My Christmas quilt (top is done-needs to be quilted)

20. My Mom’s purse and sunglasses case

21. My Mom’s crochet hook case

22. 9 ruffle scarves

23. A friend from college lap quilt (top is done–needs to be quilted)

24. My friend Shannon’s lap quilt

WooWee….I think that’s it.  What a list.  As I was making it, I was shocked myself at how much I did.  12 finished quilts, and several others that are done and just need to be quilted.  Amazing. 

I am currently thinking about what projects I want to do this year.  I think I am going to be a bit more intentional about how/what I sew this year.  I am not going to buy any new fabric until my stash is gone.  There are a couple of projects that I want to try or work on…so you’ll see them coming! 

Thanks for making 2012 so great.

And always…always…Keep Simply Delighting!

 

Randomness

Do you ever feel like you are in just a funk?  Or a rut?  Like nothing you do satisfies your creativeness that you have locked inside?  Well, ever since I moved (really since my sewing machine broke), I have gotten out of the habit of sewing like crazy.  It’s just weird.  And bad, because I have so many UFO’s and new stuff I want to make!  And, I have several small little projects that need to get started and finished before the holiday.  So, in an attempt to jump-start my creativeness again, I pulled some fabric from my stash (which I don’t have a lot of, anyone willing to donate I would love it!).  I am making a sunglasses case.  The fabric below will be the outside.

It’s hard to tell but that’s an aqua color and red, with some grey as well.  I love how they look together.  My plan is to put it together tonight. 

On a side note, I live 3 minutes from work now, so I am able to go home on my lunch.  Twice this week, I have put dinner in the crock pot.  Tonight we are having stuffed peppers!  This summer my Mom, niece Emily and I made them and froze them.  It’s nice to just pull them out of the freezer, put them in the crock pot, cover them with stewed tomatoes (canned from tomatoes from my Dad’s garden) and when I get home, they will be done!

As always, keep Simply Delighting!!