Next stop is…

Our next stop on our “Around the world in 80-ish recipes” is the Mediterranean. Several weeks ago, my mom found a really great sale at Albertson’s when they were switching over to fresh market, and bought a ton of really cool stuff that I had never used before, like capers. Well, ever since then I have wanted to make some thing with those capers. Well, tonight was the night. I found a recipe in a cookbook I borrowed from the library. It was chicken with lemon and capers. Upon reading the recipe, I was unconvinced that it would turn out. Well, I REALLY wanted to use those capers, so I decided I’d give it a shot. The recipe was relatively simple to make, all you had to do, was dip the chicken in some eggs and flour and fry them up in some butter. Then, for the sauce, you melt some butter in lemon juice and add the chopped capers, and bon appetite! You have a wonderful, flavorful meal. Well, I still wasn’t convinced, but when you combined the sauce, with the chicken, and the artichokes I made, it was quite delicious. My whole family said it was wonderful and that I’d have to make it again in the near future.

A Night of Firsts

Tonight was definetly a night of firsts! It was the first night for "Around the World in 80(ish) recipes." I decided to start out in our very own America. I found this wonderful cookbook at the library called five ingredient fix. For dinner tonight was salmon with butternut squash BBQ sauce and corn. Upon reading the recipe, I was skeptical to say the least. But it actually turned out quite nice. I just used some butternut squash that we froze last summer, instead of the butternut squash soup. The BBQ sauce completed the salmon. So, it was the first time I ever cooked on a grill by myself (the only other time was pineapple) The other part of the dinner was char-broiled red onions. I was really skeptical about this part as well, but I really liked it! You basically slice some red onion rings and then season them with salt and pepper and broil them. It was really good...and this is coming from someone that usually doesn't like plain onions. I was really surprised at how well this meal turned out! It was definetly intersting!

I'm Back!!

     Its been a long time since I've posted! (I think the word "slacker" comes to mind?) My life just got really busy, and I got a little bored, so I took a break from my blog...but then I realized how much I missed it! So, here I am, ready for a fresh start. There have been a lot of new additions to my kitchen since last time I posted, but two of my favorites are our steak knives from Ikea. I absolutely love them! Our old knives didn't cut very well, but these new ones cut the steak like butter! (they're in the picture of dinner, if you want to see them) My other favorite is the black and white striped aprons, also from Ikea. Before we got them, I had a hard time getting our aprons to fit properly, but these ones adjust! You can make them any size, and they are amazing!

     I've decided to start a new project. "Around the World in 80 recipes" (although it will probably be more like "Around the world in 10 recipes" but 80 recipes just sounded better...  :) But, for tonight, while I am still planning that menu, I decided to do a quick and easy, light, 'spring-y' recipe.

     I cleaned out my refrigerator early today, (yes, I finally did it!) and found a lot of leftovers, so I did a leftover night. I couldn't find any recipes that had what I was looking for (except for a drink that I will go over later) so I kind of just made it up as I went, and it actually turned out pretty good! I had half a bag of fresh veggies that were almost ready to go bad, so I steamed them (which keeps more vitamins in the vegetables than if you boil them) and seasoned it with some Lawry's seasoned salt (I love that stuff) and various other spices I found in my spice cabinet. After that I went and found some Tilapia in the freezer. I have tried (and tried, and tried) to make Tilapia in a frying pan without it drying out and falling apart, but it never works! It still tastes good, it just looks like shredded fish, which isn't very appetizing. I tried a different approach today though, that worked really well. I baked it in the oven. After I had preheated the oven, I poured some olive oil over a cooking sheet and then placed the tilapia on the cookie sheet. I went to the spice cabinet and (this is my favorite part) did the "Sniff and Dash" method. What you do is smell each spice and if it smells good, you sprinkle some on, if it doesn't you put it back. Well, finally the Tilapia was all prepped and -to the tune of Popcorn popping on the apricot tree - I opened the oven, and what did I see? German pancakes my sister left for me! Yes, that's right. On Easter, my sister made German Pancakes and left them in the oven to keep them warm, but apparently forgot to take them out. Oops! :) Well, now that the oven had been vacated, the fish could cook in peace! And the best news of all, it didn't fall apart and it was moist.

     Now for the last component, the drink. I found some cherries and cherry juice that my grandma gave us in the fridge and decided to make a drink. I looked of my favorite cookbooks of all time, the Taste of Home Cookbook. I don't know which one it is, but it is about an inch and a half thick and it is a compilation of their most popular recipes. In it was a cherry/lemonade thing. However, we didn't have the frozen lemonade or limeade that it called for, so I improvised. :) I put some lemon juice, and a lime drink mix and some grapefruit juice in with the cherries and some canned pear juice and it turned out pretty good! It was tart, but refreshing.

     All in all, this was a really light meal, perfect for spring time!

Recipe Number 10

I just got back from a road trip with my family last night, so I haven't been able to post for a while. Tonight I made Shephard's Pie. It was delicious. There's not much to say, except that it was quick, easy yummy! It's really nice because it uses staples in our pantry so we can whip up a quick, easy dinner anytime.

Recipes Number 8 & 9

For dessert I made "Summer Harvest Fresh Fruit Pie." The recipe said that you could use any kind of fruit for the filling so I went out and picked some fresh nectarines from the garden. It was really good. The pie crust didn't really work though, because it was too crumbly, so I made a different pie crust recipe that turned out really good, except that it was too thick. The other problem with this recipe was that the pie dish that was had was too shallow and this pie was loaded! So next time I'll have to find a different dish to put it in. But the overall pie turned out really good.

Recipe Number 7

Well, it’s been a while since I've posted, but my mom was dominating the kitchen last week to do her canning and vetoed any cooking. I did help her with the canning though, and that was pretty fun. We made pickled beets, honey spice peaches, and peaches with rum (as an ice cream sauce, but don't worry, all the alcohol was cooked out.) For my recipe today, I made "Little Pink Chicken." It was SOOO good! It’s like a sweet and sour sauce chicken. But you deep fry the chicken first and then add the sauce. But my mom and I tasted the chicken after being fried and it was way good without the sauce, too. My whole family loved it and it was really nutritious. This meal is definitely one that will be made in the future!

Recipe Number Six

For my recipe today I made key lime pie. It was delicious. The only problem was we couldn't find key lime juice at the grocery store, so we bought key limes instead. I ended up squeezing the juice out of 40 key lime halves for over ten minutes. My fingers were very sore, but it was definitely worth it. We even found some bottled raspberries in our foodstorage and added it on top for a sauce. Everyone in my family loved it and I can't wait to make this recipe again.

Recipe Number Five

Today I tried making some guacamole. It was interesting. We had some jalapenos out in the garden, so I used those instead of storebought ones. The guacamole turned out good, but it was extremely spicy, which is kind of weird, since the only spicy thing I put in was two jalapenos, which is what the recipe called for. Next time, I'll try just one pepper and hope it isn't so hot.

Recipe Number Four

Over Labor Day weekend I went camping up in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho with my family. I took a recipe called "Cowboy Caviar" with me and made it one of the nights for after dinner. Three of my little cousins, who got bored, decided to help me. Their "help" resulted in this recipe, which usually takes 45ish minutes, took an hour and a half or more. But it was definetly fun and my whole family loved it. It is a dip that has several kinds of beans, corn, hot sauce and tomatoes in it, plus a few secret ingredients. ;D

Recipe Number Three

Today I decided to try a recipe called "Fruit Smoothie". It was really quick, easy and filling.It is a very versatile recipe, because you can change the yogurt and berry combinations to have tons of different smoothie recipes. The recipe called for banana, fruit, yogurt, flaxeed, a frozen juicbox, sugar, vanilla, and pineapple, but I tweeked it a little bit. :D I put in banana, fresh blackberries and nectarines from the garden, some vanilla yogurt, flaxseed (we need something healthy in it, right?) the juicebox, the sugar and the vanilla. It turned out really good, and was very sweet, even though there was hardly any sugar in it. This recipe will be added to my favorites, because it is healthy and easy!

Recipe Number Two

Day one, recipe two. Oh boy. I decided to try Chapel Fudge for dessert. So, feeling pretty confident, I got out the needed ingredients and started following the directions. My fudge pretty much failed from the start. I think (but I'm not sure) that the problem was that I used organic sugar (not refined and coarser). The end result was a lumpy, runny, crunchy brown glob. It was a disaster. I wish I knew what I did wrong. Well, it was bound to happen sometime. If anybody has any suggestions, I would really appreciate them because I would like to know what went wrong.

Recipe Number One

Day one, recipe one. Off to a good start. Today I made Bistek for dinner. Bistek is a recipe from the Philippines. The name, coming from the words beef and steak. The recipe called for London Broil steak, but, upon looking in the freezer, I discovered we were fresh out of it. So, I substituted the London Broil for some cube steak I had on hand. The recipe was fairly easy, and it tasted amazing. My family tried it, and now its a favorite. Bistek is stir-fried steak with onions in it, and it can be served over rice. I did all this, and added some frozen vegetables I found in the freezer. Served over the rice this recipe qualified as "YUMMY!"

P.S. I forgot to take a picture of the Bistek before everyone ate it, so this is just one I found on the internet.