Kodiak Casserole

Kodiak Casserole

SERVINGS: 16-20

METHOD: Baked

TIME: Prep: 15 min. (yeah right. if i could chop like a chef maybe. more like 35 or 40 minutes for me)

Bake: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 4 cups diced onions
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 medium green peppers, diced
• 4 cups diced celery (i always leave out celery... just don't like it)
• 1 jar (5-3/4 ounces) pimiento-stuffed olives, undrained
• 1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, undrained
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
• 1 jar (8 ounces) picante sauce
  
• 1 bottle (18 ounces) barbecue sauce (i used elgin meyer's BBQ sauce... our FAVORITE)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3 to 4 cups medium egg noodles, cooked and drained
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, onions and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the remaining ingredients except cheese.
Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour or until bubbly. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving. Yield: 16-20 servings.



this is huge! i put it in two casserole dishes, as i don't have a dutch oven... dan said he thought the meal was just ok ("but thank you so much for making a lovely dinner...") but i thought it was pretty good. anything with an entire bottle of BBQ sauce in it is usually pretty darn good.

Discriminatory Lasagna

White Lasagna

SERVINGS: 14-16

METHOD: Baked

TIME: Prep: 25 min. Bake: 30 min. + standing

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef (i used ground turkey... it's white :)
  
• 1 cup finely chopped celery (left it out)
  
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 package (7 ounces) Gouda cheese, shredded
• 2 cups (16 ounces) 4% cottage cheese
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 8 ounces lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
• 12 ounces sliced or 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Minced fresh parsley

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook the beef, celery and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic. Cook for 1 minute or until garlic is tender; drain. Stir in the cream, cream cheese, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper; cook and stir over low heat until blended.
Gradually add cheddar and Gouda cheeses, stirring until cheese is melted; remove from heat. Combine cottage cheese and egg; set aside.
Layer half of the lasagna noodles in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Top with half of the meat sauce, half of the cottage cheese mixture and half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients.
Bake at 375°, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 14-16 servings.

this is pretty big, so i made half and froze half. a nice change from regular lasagna. aaaand now i am in love with gouda cheese. yum.

and to answer a frequently asked question: no, i do not take the pictures of the food. i can only wish to have the photography skills, not to mention all the themed background items and such... you can thank tasteofhome.com for the pictures. and so can i.

"Better than Mix" muffins

I made 4 different items (2 types of muffins, a bread and a cake) for a birthday party I threw Friday night. These muffins stole the show. Crazydelicious.

Raspberry Cream Muffins

SERVINGS: 12

TIME: Prep: 15 min. Bake: 25 min.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 cup finely chopped vanilla or white chips
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

In a small bowl, toss raspberries with 1/4 cup sugar; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with cream, just until moistened. Stir in chips and reserved raspberries. TIP: Gently stir the raspberries into the batter, so they don't break apart.
Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Combine brown sugar and remaining sugar; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen.

I added a few extra raspberries. One cup just didn't seem like enough!!

I made them again and brought them to a friend, and had to make a double batch... One batch to keep :) I couldn't stand to see them all go out the door :)

Just a thought

Have you ever sat in church and heard someone say they're thankful for their trials? I have to admit I would always kind of roll my eyes when people said this because who in their right mind would actually be happy to have things go wrong for them?

Well, it's happened. I may have joined their ranks. Here is why:

For the past .... hmm... almost 3 years now I have had foot pain in various places and varying degrees in my right foot. This came about because I really love to go on walks and took my boys almost every day on walks around the neighborhood. I had not yet fully become a convert to the "good shoes doctrine", and I ended up messing up a perfectly good foot. So after dealing with this for these three years, going to numerous doctor visits, getting old-lady shoe inserts, gel-filled floor mats, and even a couple cortisone shots, it seems that I am finally on the mend. And, may I add, I am a full convert to the gospel of always wearing good shoes. Maybe even evangelical about it. But after all of this, getting to go on a walk with very little foot pain seems like such a blessing. It makes my soul happy.

I've now been on ~2 mile long walks 7 days in a row and I am not suffering because of it. I used to not even be able to stand to make dinner without being in pain for hours afterward. So this is a big deal to me.

To be, or not to be

Today at lunch, George looked around the table and said, "We have five people in our family. When we have Sam, we will have 6." Sam, of course, is our next baby. Now to clarify, I am not pregnant and I don't know when I will be.... George has just been talking about Sam since the day I had Henry. He talks about him like he's as real as you and me. He just hasn't gotten here yet. But he's coming. And we will share our toys with him just like we do with Henry.

Before I had Henry, I had a thought- maybe a feeling or just an idea - I don't know exactly what - that I would have 4 boys. George, Ben, Henry, and Sam. So when I got pregnant with Henry I really felt like I knew it was a boy and he would be Henry. And of course, he was. Given the track record of the Prince family, I'm betting the odds are pretty high that the next baby will be our little Sam. George talks about him so much that I almost feel like I know him already. He really likes dragons and knights and wants to eat watermelon. He just doesn't exist yet.

It'll be really interesting to see what happens.

Sewing and Thinking

I really like to sew. I don't do it as often as I should, but when I do I am reminded again of why I love it. Part of it is the sense of accomplishment. Knowing I made something beautiful all by myself. Even the idea of starting something and finishing something when my life is full of jobs that never seem finished. Another draw is the uninterrupted time to sit and think. I love watching the material pass by and hearing the drone of the machine. Quality time.

The other day I was sewing some pillow covers for my living room. I had told my friend Sarah that I wanted to make some pillow covers for my living room and she called me and told me there were some lovely kitchen towels at Target that sounded just like what I was explaining to her. I went, and they were perfect! So as I sat there piecing them together, I just kept thinking how excited I was to have them and how beautiful they were. As the project wore on, it also struck me that they looked vaguely familiar... more on that in a minute...

A seemingly unrelated thought: as a child, it always bothered me how people in the 70's could possibly think that those greens, browns, oranges and yellows were in any way attractive. HOW?? It bothered me for years. I just thought the whole decade should just be trashed. Everything was so ugly. I even hated visiting old church buildings that had the pews done in that nasty orange color. Who in their right mind had chosen that?? I remember wondering what had possessed my parents to buy that ugly yellow 1976 toyota corolla, or that avocado green fridge. I remember especially hating orange and brown together. I had a hand-me-down outfit in orange and brown and I remember being ashamed to wear it. Worst combination ever.

Now for a few pieces of evidence against me, as we put the above thoughts together:

Exhibit A: The corolla I thought was so ugly: (one like unto it)





Exhibit B: The dreaded green fridge. (one like unto it)


















Exhibit C: recently remodeled upstairs boys bathroom:
















Exhibit D: The rug by my back door.















and finally
Exhibit E: My new pillows. Note the color combination of the pillows, as well as the color of the couch and the curtains. And what shade of green is that in the rug?














































Hm. Well. There you go. Guess they weren't so crazy after all :)

Tonight's fare

Mexican Spaghetti Sauce

TIME: Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 jar (26 ounces) meatless spaghetti sauce
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen gold and white corn, thawed
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Hot cooked spaghetti

Directions:

In a large nonstick skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
In a large saucepan, combine the spaghetti sauce, beans, tomatoes, corn, salsa, chilies, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir in beef mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes. Serve with spaghetti. Yield: 10 servings.

This recipe was huge! Everyone liked it, including Henry!! Enjoy!