Stir-Fried Leeks with Salt & Pepper Shrimp

Ingredients
* 2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
* 1 tsp kosher salt
* 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
* 1 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 tsp sugar
* 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
* 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
* 3 leeks, biased sliced, white and light green parts only
* 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
* 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
* 2 tsp soy sauce
* cooked brown rice, optional

Directions
1. Combine the sesame seeds, salt, pepper flakes, pepper and sugar.  Pat the shrimp dry and toss in the sesame seed mixture.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil over medium-high heat.  Stir fry the shrimp until pink, 1 -2 minutes per side.  Remove the shrimp and keep warm.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the same skillet over medium high heat.  Stir in the leeks and stir fry for 3-4 minutes.  Add the red pepper, broth and soy sauce.  Simmer for a minute or two.
4. Add the shrimp back into the pan, enjoy!

Notes
I cannot believe how much we enjoyed this!   I was expecting to like it, but Ryan, Owen and I really loved it!  The shrimp were a bit spicy, but not overwhelmingly so.  If you really like your things hot, you could increase the pepper flakes to 1 tsp, but I thought that might be a bit too much for me!  It will seem like a lot of leeks, and a small amount of peppers.  But the leeks will give off a lot of liquid and cook down quite a bit.  Next time I will probably increase the red bell pepper a bit to balance it a little more.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
*  1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1 1/2 - 2 cups grated zucchini
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
1. Grease and flour an 8 x 4 loaf pan.  Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl.  Add the flour mixture and beat until no streaks of flour remain.  stir in the zucchini and walnuts.  Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
4. Bake the loaf for 50-60 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes, then remove the bread and let it finish cooling.

Notes
I halved the original recipe.  If you double it, you can use 3 eggs, and 3- 3 1/2 cups of zucchini.I also read some people replacing half the oil with applesauce, so feel free to try that.  This single loaf to 56 minutes to cook in my oven.  I jumped the gun on removing the bread and a small part of the bottom remained in the pan.  I got it out and put it pack together and let it cool upside down for a little while.  After flipping it and cutting it, it seemed to have stayed together.  Next time I will let it cool for 20 minutes in the pan (not 3)!

Chunky Potato Soup

Ingredients
* 4 cups of red potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
* 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
* 3 tbsp butter
* 3 tbsp all purpose flour
* 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
* ground black pepper
* 3 cups milk
* 1/2 tsp sugar
* 4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
* 1 cup cubed cooked ham

Directions
1. Boil the potatoes until tender, about 9-10 minutes.
2. Before draining, reserve 1 cup of the liquid.  Then drain and set the potatoes aside.
3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent and soft, but not brown.
4. Add the flour to the saucepan and season with red pepper flakes and black pepper. Cook 3--4 minutes.
5. Gradually add the potatoes and the 1 cup potato liquid.  Then add the milk and sugar, and stir well.  Add the cheese and ham.
6. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.  Serve and enjoy!

Notes
I made this for dinner one night when we had a volleyball game to go to in the afternoon.  I prepped all the ingredients ahead of time, including cooking the potatoes. It was then really easy to throw together after we got home.  I had skim milk and 2% and used both, but I think any kind of milk will work.  I made popovers to go with it, and let the soup continue to simmer while the popovers cooked, so I probably simmered the soup 40-45 minutes.  Everyone loved this!

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Ingredients
* 3 cups AP flour
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 tbsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 3 tbsp poppy seeds
* 1 1/2 cups plain or vanilla yogurt
* 2 eggs
* 1 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest
* 8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375. Generously spray your muffins tins or use liners.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds together in a large bowl.
3. Whisk together the yogurt, eggs and lemon zest.
4. Gently fold in the yogurt mixture to the flour mixture.  Then fold in the butter.
5. Fill the muffin tins to the top.  It is a thick batter, but don't worry.  Don't overfill.
6. For regular sized muffins, bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  For mini muffins, begin checking at 9 minutes and 30 seconds.
7. While the muffins and cooking, mix the lemon juice and 1/4 cup of sugar. Heat over low heat until the sugar dissolves.  When the muffins come out of the oven, brush each muffin with the lemon syrup.

Notes
This batter makes between 12-16 regular sized muffins, and between 36-40 mini muffins.  We made them mini, and then after we filled 24 we made a mini loaf pan sized loaf.  The loaf overflowed!  If you try that, put a baking sheet under the loaf pan to catch the overflow.  The loaf tool about 55 minutes to cook through; I put some aluminum foil over it after 35 minutes so the top didn't burn.  Although it didn't come out as beautiful as I would have liked, I can adjust that for next time (don't fill the loaf pan to the top!).  My kids loved these as much as I did!  Yum!

Stove Top Mac 'N Cheese

Ingredients
* 1 lb small shells of elbow macaroni pasta
* 4 tbsp butter
* 2 eggs
* 12 oz evaporated milk, divided
* dash - 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
* 1 tsp kosher salt
* fresh black pepper, to taste
* 3/4 tsp dry mustard
* 12 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water as directed on package.  Drain (reserve 1/2 cup of the water if you desire, just in case you need it!)
2. Return the pasta to the pot, add the butter and toss to coat.
3. Whisk together the eggs, 6 oz of the milk, the cayenne, salt, pepper and mustard powder.  Stir this into the buttered pasta.
4. Add the cheese and the remaining 6 oz of milk.  Stir over low heat until the cheese is melted, approximately 3 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

Notes
I used 2% evaporated milk and it worked well.  If you want to use the regular it may even turn out creamier!  Also, I kept about 1/2 cup pasta water before I drained it just in case I felt I needed to thin out the sauce, but I didn't need to use it.  But always better to grab the water before it goes down the drain then realize you need it!

Spinach, Arugula & Apple Salad

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette
* 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
* 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
* 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
* 1/4 tsp black pepper
* 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Ingredients for the Salad
* 6 cups spinach or arugula, or a mix
* 1 granny smith apple cored and thinly sliced (unpeeled)
* 1 oz shaved Parmesan
* 1/4 cups chopped walnuts

Directions
1. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients.
2. Toss the salad ingredients.
3. Dress the salad, or pass the dressing separately.  Enjoy!

Notes
We only had spinach on hand, so we just used that, but I would do a mix of the two next time.  You could substitute the apple for another kind, perhaps Pink Lady, but you want the apple to be on the tart side with a good crunch.  You can also toast the walnuts if you want, but I didn't, and we still thought it was great!

February 28, 2014

The last day of February.  Can you believe it?  The winter isn't over out here; the typical daily high temperature is supposed to be around 41 and we haven't seen any temperature close to that in ages.  More snow expected this weekend...what a surprise. 

With all this cold weather out slow cooker has been getting a workout!  This week, one of our most highly rated keepers is a slow cooker pork recipe.  One of my sisters passed me this recipe and we are so thrilled she did!  We made it and everyone was raving over the results.  We even had plenty remaining after dinner to use in one of our favorite leftover meals, pork and caramelized onion quesadillas.  This pork takes a long time in the slow cooker, but if you can't make the timing work (you mean you don't want to get up in the middle of the night to turn it on?), it is very forgiving and also heats up great.  So maybe out it on before you head to bed, and then turn it off in the late afternoon and just leave it.  Don't shred it until dinner, and I think it still will be warm!  Or toss the shredded meat into the oven and heat it up that way.  No matter how you make it work for your family, you likely will really enjoy this recipe!

We also did some baking this week, with mixed reviews.  We made carrot zucchini muffins.  They were pretty tasty, and the kids loved them, but not super special, so I'll keep looking for a recipe that really stands out!  We made applesauce pancakes, and they were good, but a little heavy actually, so I will keep working on that recipe.  We made some oat flour banana bread which was a keeper, and I swear, Owen ate about 2/3 of the loaf!  This was really tasty, and if you like oatmeal, then you will probably love the flavor of this banana bread.  I was looking for a banana bread that was a little out of the ordinary, and this was it.  Delicious!

This coming week I am planning on challenging myself to a pantry/freezer meal planning week.  I want to see what we can make, both tried and true or new recipes, from what I have on hand.  Probably a lot of our favorites, but I am hoping to try out a new soup or main dish as well!  Wish me luck!

Happy Cooking!

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