Crockpot Lasagna

One of Scott's favorite foods is lasagna. One time we made it in the crockpot, and it was tasty. This was a loose interpretation of Alton Brown's crockpot lasagna.

From: July 2, 2014

Steak on the grill

Scott and I have been wanting a grill for a long time. Right after we moved in to our new place, we were making a few back-and-forth moving trips, and passed a moving sale. On a whim, we decided to stop and check it out. They had a full gas grill for only $75. Score! So we bought it.

One night we made steak on the grill. Served with green beans (from my parent's garden), salad, and homemade wheat rolls. Yum. Scott is a grill master.

From: November 9, 2014

Apple onion soup

We eat a lot of soup around here, especially when it's cold. This one was definitely an experiment and it wasn't bad. Apple onion soup.

From: October 28, 2014

Pesto Tortellini

It's been awhile, blogosphere. But don't worry, Scott and I have still been taking pictures of our food, and plan to update this blog. So prepare for a bunch of posts. And I've decided to start posting recipes too. Mostly for my (our) sake(s), so that I don't have to rely on internet links going bad. Anyway, here goes.

We made some pesto then mixed it together with a standard cream sauce (made using a standard roux and milk). Served over cheese tortellini with grilled squash and salad.

On a side note, I now have this old iPhone, and the camera isn't very good...the coloring on the pictures is all wrong, usually. Trust me, the food didn't look that yellow.

From: October 13, 2014

Happy Fourth!

I really hate cooking in the summer. Especially turning on the oven, but the stove heats you up just as bad (and then I have to pay for AC to cool back down again). We don't have a BBQ grill, so I took the Foreman grill outside and cooked up some chicken in the shade. I seasoned with a home made rib rub. When I remember what I put in it, I'll have to post the recipe.

Rather than turning the oven on for potato wedges, I thought I'd pressure cooker them and run them on the Foreman as well. They ran too long in the pressure cooker (dumb timer didn't start), so I seasoned with Italian dressing and pan fried them instead. At least the oven stayed cool...

Time Traveling Smothered Burritos

E!s mom is the queen of the garage freezer. From jams to produce, all sorts of food spends time in what Julia has dubbed "The Time Machine;" Food enters one month, and magically emerges months later. Since I cooked through all our produce before leaving the country, I left quite a bit of food in our little time machine.

Chicken Enchilada Soup the first time around before our trip

Upon our return, we didn't really have any groceries, so I threw a few jars in the fridge overnight to pull our time travelers out of the wormhole.

Time travelers 

There are dangers to time travel. One of the 2 jars of chicken enchilada soup I froze cracked, making the precious soup inside too dangerous to consume.

There was still plenty of chili, soup and cheese to thaw, wrap in shell and quickly toast for a delicious dinner. I made some brown rice in the background to round out the burrito fillings.

Ma K!s Buttermilk Bluberry Muffins

Now for one of my favorite foods growing up. My mom's famous blueberry muffins have recently been updated with our home ground oat flour treatment. Honestly I think it gives a nuttier, richer flavor to these already rich butter heavy muffins

Even better with more butter on the inside

I'm still experimenting on making these healthier. I ran out of butter the other day and made them with olive oil, which started smoking when cooked above it's smoke point at 400 degrees. Elizabeth likes substituting apple sauce for oil, so we'll give that a try too.

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins
Buttered muffin pan, 2-1/2" diameter 12 medium, muffins*Preheated 400° oven.

• 1  cup sifted regular all-purpose flour
• 1  cup ground rolled oats
• 1/2  cup sugar   (I usually use less)
• 1  tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4  teaspoon salt
• 1/2  teaspoon baking soda
• 1  cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)
• 
  
• 1  egg, slightly beaten
• 1  cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Into a mixing bowl sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir in oats.In a separate container Combine egg, buttermilk and butter.Stir blueberries into dry ingredients and make a well in the center.  
Add buttermilk mixture all at once to dry ingredients.  Stir until all dry particles aremoistened (20-25 strokes).  Spoon into muffin cups filling about 2/3full.  
Bake 20-25 minutes or until well browned.  Serve immediately.