Teriyaki Pineapple Meatballs and Stir Fry from Costco

Stir fry your veggies of choice in olive oil (1-2 tbsp). 

I usually do them in this order:

onions first, then carrots, celery, brocolli and other veggies that are tougher, bell peppers next and then I add zucchini a little after that.  I stir fry veggies about 6 minutes or until tender but not limp.

If I want green beans, I boil the green beans for 4-5 minutes in boiling hot water until they are slightly tender.  Then I shock them in a bowl of ice and water.  Then I add them to the end of the stir fry cooking time to warm them back up when I put the veggies back in with the meatballs, but not to cook them much longer.

Once vegetables are mostly tender I set aside in a bowl

Then add meatballs to the same pan and start browning them.

When they have been browned 2-3 minutes, add the stir fry gravy.  In a small cup add 1/4 cup water and 2-3 tbsp cornstarch per package of meatballs depending how thick you want your gravy.  Mix that until it isn't lumpy, then add to stir fry gravy.  Let meatballs and sauce warm, when sauce starts to boil, add all veggies back in to warm them up again.

I serve this meal with 1.5-2 cups (pre cooked) rice.

My stir fry gravy:

Taking a pyrex measuring cup 2 cups or great.  These are the proportions:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 3/4 cup water or fill to 2 cup line
I add two heaping spoonfuls of better than bouillon.

Sweeter sauce: I will sometimes do a dash of thai chilli sauce (1 tbsp or so) or 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar if I want the gravy sweeter. Other asian sauces are great too, a tbsp of this or that.

Saltier Sauce: If i want the sauce a little saltier I add soy sauce 1 tbsp at time or better than bouillon one spoonful at a time.

Taylor Osborne's Famous Flan

1 cup white sugar for caramel top

1 14 oz can sweet and condensed milk

1 12 oz can evaporated milk

6 eggs

¼ cup cream

vanilla

Melt sugar in pan and pour into dish and let cool.

Blend sweet and condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream, eggs and vanilla in blender.  Pour into dish on top of hardened sugar.  Cover with tin foil.  Place in water bath.  Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes after water starts to boil.  You can check if it is cooked by shaking it and making sure it is not liquid.

Use knife to cut around edges and let caramel come up sides.  Let cool for a little and then transfer to a plate.

Butternut Squash Shakshuka

This has become a weeknight favorite for Nathan and i. One of the few meals that I want again and again, even if we've had it recently. and even better, it only takes about 20 min. to prep and 20 min. to bake. We get about 6 hearty servings out of this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes with juices (we usually just get diced tomatoes)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into ½-inch pieces. (you could probably use 1 pkg of the costco pre-cubed butternut. We use fresh and freeze the other half of the squash and it turns out just as well from frozen though I think it's best to thaw before adding)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons chile powder
• 2 tablespoons sambal oelek (sounds scary but it isn't. They sell this stuff at the regular grocery store.)
• 
• 8+ large eggs (the original recipe calls for four eggs but that definitely is not enough. We just get in as many as we can fit in the pan...you need at least one per person for a big family!)
• Cilantro leaves with tender stems (for serving)
• Nathan served over pearler couscous. We get the brand Rice Select tri-color pearl coucous. 
• 

• Real Talk: Butternut squash can be a royal pain to peel. If you have a crappy peeler or don’t feel like spending your time hunched over a garbage can, try this. First: Make sure you have a sharp knife. Cut your squash in half crosswise, at the curve where the neck meets the rounded base. Set it upright on your cutting board, then shave off the thick skin long, bold strokes with your knife.
• Note: If you don't have an ovenproof skillet (dutch oven would work well too), you can transfer from your stovetop pan to an ovenproof dish before baking.)

• Preheat oven to 375°. Crush tomatoes by hand (or smash with a fork or potato masher) in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Heat oil in a medium ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Cook squash, onion, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10–15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in chile powder, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high and add sambal oelek and reserved tomatoes; season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and tomatoes are brick red, 5–10 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Using the back of a spoon, make depressions in tomato mixture and crack an egg into each. Transfer to oven and bake shakshuka until egg whites are set and yolks slightly wobble when pan is shaken (your clue that the yolk is still runny), 10–12 minutes.
• Top shakshuka with cilantro and serve.

Romesco Pasta Salad with Basil and Parmesan

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/romesco-pasta-salad-with-basil-and-parmesan

Nathan made this for us last week and it was seriously delicious. Get this into your dinner plans before the delicious summer tomatoes run out!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup raw walnuts
• 3 oz. country-style bread, crust removed, cut into 1" pieces (about 1½ cups)
• 4 whole roasted red peppers from a jar
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, divided
• ½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 1 lb. fusilli giganti (large spiral-shaped pasta), fusilli, or medium shell pasta
• 1 lb. mixed ripe tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces (about 3 cups)
• 4 oz. Parmesan, finely chopped
• 1 cup basil leaves, torn if large (Nathan and I felt like it could have used more basil)

Instructions: 

• Preheat oven to 350°. Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing halfway through, until golden brown, 10–12 minutes. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, process bread in long pulses in a food processor until coarse crumbs form (you should have about 1 cup). Transfer to a small bowl.
• Purée roasted red peppers, lemon juice, garlic, ½ tsp. red pepper flakes, and about one-quarter of the cooled walnuts in food processor (no need to clean) until smooth. With the motor running, very gradually stream in ½ cup oil. Process until thick; season romesco dressing generously with salt.
• Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water (this stops cooking and removes surface starch so the pasta will be less gummy). Shake off excess water and transfer to a large bowl. Toss pasta with half of the romesco to coat; set aside. Finely chop remaining walnuts; set aside.
• Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a medium saucepan over medium and cook breadcrumbs, lemon zest, and remaining ½ tsp. red pepper flakes, stirring often, until breadcrumbs are golden, 5–7 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Toss reserved pasta with remaining dressing, then fold in tomatoes, Parmesan, and reserved walnuts just to distribute. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over pasta and top with basil.

Caramel Apples the Aunt Janel Way, Yum!

From the Kitchen of Aunt Janel who does caramel candy apples every fall:

• Wash apples with soap & water, and make sure the apples are completely dry. The caramel sticks better if the apples are room temp.
• 3-4 bags of kraft caramels, add 2 TBS milk. Microwave a minute at a time until the caramel starts melting if it gets hard to remelt.
• Scrap the bottoms of the apple before putting on the pan so you don't get a pool of caramel at the bottom. 
• Put apples on parchment paper that has been sprayed with pam. 
• Let caramel on the apples set while melting the chocolate. 
• Use almond bark and milk chocolate, and do a double boiler. (Skillet little water, and put saucepan to melt chocolate)
• Roll caramel apple in chocolate and scrape the bottom. 
• Have toppings ready to go. Sprinkle toppings on is easier (our favorite toppings are brown sugar & cinnamon, and crushed oreo)
• The caramel apples keep in the fridge for at least a week. Enjoy!

Yummy Caramel Apple combos:

caramel dipped in melted white chocolate and rolled in a cinnamon brown sugar mix

caramel dipped in melted milk chocolate rolled in m&m's or toffee Skor bars

Easy Way:

If you decide on just buying the kraft Carmel’s from the store I usually buy 3-4 bags. Melt the Carmel’s in a large glass measuring cup (great size for dipping the apple), and put a T spoon of milk or cream with the Carmel’s. Put the microwave on 50% power, and check when  the Carmel’s start to soft and watch it and check and stir often until you get the consistency you need. If this doesn’t make sense just call me.

The Homemade Way:

Homemade Caramel for Apples

from Bon Appetit, slightly adapted by ourbestbites.com

1 pound brown sugar (about 2 cups packed)
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
⅔ cup dark corn syrup
⅓ cup maple syrup (homemade is fine)
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. molasses
¼ tsp. salt

12-medium sized apples
popsicle sticks
assorted toppings for dipping (toffee bits, chopped nuts, crushed cookies/candy
bars, etc.)
Melted chocolate in zip-top bags

Wash and dry apples, place sticks in cores and place on a baking sheet in the fridge to chill. Prepare all toppings in bowls and have them ready to go.

To prepare caramel, combine first 8 ingredients in heavy 2 ½ quart saucepan (at least 3-4 inches deep). Stir with wooden or silicone spatula over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves (no crystals are felt when caramel is rubbed between fingers), occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush or scraping with spatula, about 15 minutes.

Attach a clip-on candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat to medium-high; cook caramel at rolling boil until thermometer registers 236°F, stirring constantly but slowly with clean spatula and occasionally brushing/scraping down sides of pan, about 12 minutes. Pour caramel into a bowl. Submerge thermometer bulb in caramel. Cool to 200°F, about 20 minutes. If it cools too much just heat it up a little.

While caramel cools, line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or buttered foil. (I used parchment paper). Holding stick, dip 1 apple into caramel, submerging all but the very top of apple. Lift apple out, allowing excess caramel to drip back into bowl. Turn apple caramel side up and hold for several seconds to help set caramel around apple. If needed, gently scrape the bottom of the apple to remove excess caramel. Place coated apple on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining apples, spacing apples apart on parchment paper.

By the time you have dipped all the apples, the first ones should be ready to add toppings. Lift one apple from paper and press decorations into the caramel and return to the baking sheet.

If desired dip caramel-coated apples into melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off, then roll in nuts or candy. Or drizzle melted chocolate over caramel-coated apples and sprinkle with decorations. Chill until decorations are set, about one hour. Chill up to one week or wrap in cellophane bags for gift giving.

Yummy. Better and less expensive than Peter's caramel.

Ice Cream Birthday Cake

https://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/hot-fudge-oreo-cupcakes/

Thanks Aunt Janel, our family loves this!

Breaded Pork with Coconut Rice and Veggies

Pork:

1 thin slice of pork loin per person
Italian breadcrumbs
Eggs, beaten w/ 1 tbsp. water
Flour
2 tbsp. butter (8-in cast iron skillet)--generous amount to sort of "fry" the pork
Salt & Pepper

Pound out pork loin to approx. 1/4" thickness.
Prep three bowls--flour, egg/water mix, breadcrumbs (salt and pepper each).
Coat each slice of pork with flour, egg, breadcrumbs (in that order). Allow to sit 5-10 min.
Heat butter and fry each pork til golden and crispy on either side.
Allow to rest on cooking rack over a sheet pan and slice into strips for serving.

Coconut Rice:

3/4 cup coconut milk (the good, thick canned kind from the Asian market)
1/4 cup water
1 cup jasmine rice
1 tbsp. butter
Dash of salt

Toast rice in butter, then add liquid and salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook 10-15 min. until done.

Veggies:

Zucchini
Red pepper
Sugar Snap Peas
Green Onion
Salt & Pepper

Dice all ingredients small and sauté in olive oil until cooked, seasoning to taste.

Coconut Chili Sauce:

Combine approx. 1/2 cup leftover coconut cream + a squirt of sriracha + a few squirts of sweet chili sauce (we just use Taste of Thai brand from the regular grocery store). Drizzle over the top of your meal, yum!

Also garnish with lime wedges.

East 62nd Street Lemon Cake

Found this recipe in the New York Times (the story behind it is interesting!), made it for Easter on a whim, and it turned out delicious! Not to mention, easy to throw together and looks really pretty!

Cake:
Butter or shortening and flour for greasing/dusting the bundt pan
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tbsp. lemon zest

Glaze:
1/3 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
3/4 cup sugar

Instructions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees (I did 350 because my oven has a hard time getting up to heat). Grease and flour 9-inch bundt pan.

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time. (I did this in our Bosch)

Fold in dry ingredients, alternating with milk, then stir in the lemon zest. (I just continued mixing in the Bosch). Pour batter into pan and smooth the top, then bake 1 hour 15 min or until cake tests done. (Mine was done at 65 minutes but that could have been because the oven was a little warmer?)

While the cake bakes, prep your sugar and lemon juice. Right when you pull the cake out of the oven, flip it onto a cooking rack with a sheet pan underneath to catch drippings. Then heat the lemon juice and sugar until sugar melts. Use a pastry brush to brush the lemon/sugar juice over the entire surface of the cake, make sure the cake is still hot. It will be a slow process as the cake slowly soaks up every layer of lemon sugar!

I refrigerated mine overnight and it served well the next day. Just try not to have anything touching the cake since it will kind of pull off the sticky crust when you remove the covering.

Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili

Makes 5 servings (1 cup each)

Ingredients:
20 oz. 93% lean ground turkey
Koster salt, to taste
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves crushed garlic
10 oz can Rotel mild tomatoes with green chilies
8 oz can tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. cumin, or to taste
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. paprika
1 bay leaf
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
Garnish ideas: fresh cilantro, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips

Directions:
In large skillet, brown turkey over medium-high heat, breaking up into smaller pieces as it cooks and seasoning with salt and cumin. When meat is browned and cooked through, add onion and garlic and cook 3 minutes over medium heat. Add Rotel tomatoes, tomato sauce, sweet potatoes, water, cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and bay leaf.

Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until potatoes are soft and cooked through, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1/4 cup more water if needed. Remove bay leaf and serve.

Red Beans and Rice

Not going to lie, this recipe requires some planning, prep, and time. But if you're willing to pay the price, the reward is well worth it! Ask Nathan for more details--he's the expert on this recipe.

Ingredients:
For red beans:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium green bell peppers, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces pickled pork, cut into 1-inch pieces, recipe follows
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 quarts water
1 pound red kidney beans, rinsed and picked of debris

For rice:
3 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups long-grain rice
1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Pickled Pork:
2 cups water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup kosher salt
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard seed
2 tablespoons hot sauce
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
8 ounces ice
1 1/2 pounds fresh boneless pork butt, cut into 2-inch cubes

Directions: 

For rice + beans:

Place the vegetable oil in a 7-quart Dutch oven and set over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, salt and pepper to the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions and celery are semi-translucent and the bell peppers are tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the pickled pork, bay leaves, thyme, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, water and beans to the pot and increase the heat to high. Cook, stirring frequently until the mixture comes to a boil, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat slightly to maintain a steady simmer and continue to cook for another 30 to 40 minutes or until the beans are tender and the sauce is thickened to your liking. If you prefer an even creamier texture, mash some of the beans with a potato masher.

Prepare rice during the last 30 minutes of cooking the beans. Place the water into an electric kettle and bring to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil place the butter into a 3-quart saucepan, set over medium heat. Once the butter begins to bubble, add the rice and stir to combine. Add the salt and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Carefully pour the water over the rice and stir to combine. Decrease the heat to the lowest setting, cover, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve the beans over the rice.

Pickled Pork:

Combine all of the ingredients except the ice and the pork in a 2-quart non-reactive saucepan, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and maintain a simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the ice and stir. Place the pork into a 1-gallon zip top bag and add the cooled pickling liquid. Remove as much air as possible; seal the bag and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 days, turning the bag occasionally. Use within 2 weeks or remove from the pork from the brine and freeze. (Catherine's note: I trim as much fat as possible off of the pickled pork before it goes in to cook, otherwise you'll be running into a lot of gross, fatty bites when you're eating!)

Dark Chocolate Brownies

These brownies are so dark chocolate-y, rich, and delicious! Courtesy of Alton Brown.

Ingredients:
Soft butter, for greasing the pan
Flour, for dusting the buttered pan
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, sifted
8 ounces melted butter
11/4 cups cocoa, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. (He also recommends lining the pan with parchment paper with two edges hanging off so you can easily remove the brownies from the pan, then cut with a pizza cutter.) Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

Roasted Veggies

Really easy! This usually makes two sheet pans worth, so I will prep both one night, roast one right away, and refrigerate the other for dinner the following night. You can make it into as much or little as you want. I don't do anything to preserve overnight aside from just covering with plastic wrap and haven't had issues with potatoes going brown. I haven't ever waited longer than 24 hours to cook so I don't know how it does beyond that. 

Ingredients:

1 large yellow squash

1 large zucchini 

1 medium red onion

1 large sweet potato, peeled

Several small red potatoes, peeled

1 large red bell pepper 

2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed 

5-6 large carrots, peeled 

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Olive oil

Instructions:

I just chop everything up a little larger in size (not finely diced)--it shrinks down a lot while roasting. Toss it all together in a large bowl, then spread in an even layer onto sheet pans--it can be snug but not on top of each other or it won't roast as well. Sometimes I line with foil to make cleanup easier. Drizzle with olive oil and a decent amount of salt and pepper. Then roast at about 375 or 400 for around an hour...I usually take the pan our about halfway and stir things around. You just have to eyeball it to see when it looks done. 

Curry Fried Rice

This recipe is very flexible, just cook as much rice as you need for the # people you're feeding and add the mix-ins, adjusting amounts accordingly. You can easily eyeball everything!  

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rice (jasmine)

3 cups chicken broth 

1/2 red onion diced

1-2 cloves Garlic

1/4 cup fine diced fresh tomatoes

1/4 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup frozen corn

1/4 stick butter

3/4 tsp. curry powder

1/4 tsp. turmeric 

Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Melt butter and sauté onion, then garlic 

2. Add rice, curry powder, turmeric, and salt, sauté to toast rice

3. Add broth and bring to a boil, then cook like normal rice

4. Once cooked, add veggies and salt to taste, then let sit a few minutes before serving

Fried Rice

This probably feeds 8-10 but this recipe is easy to adjust up or down for the # of people you're cooking for. 

Ingredients:

3 cups jasmine rice

About 6 large carrots, diced small

1 yellow onion, diced small

About 3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 bag frozen peas (or however much looks right)

1/2 bag frozen corn (same with amount) 

7 eggs, scrambled (unseasoned) 

1 pkg. Canadian bacon (8 rounds)--small diced

Soy sauce 

Sriracha sauce

Directions:

Cook rice

Scramble eggs until just done, break into small bits 

Sauté onion and carrots til tender, add garlic and cook for a minute or so

Add ham

Add frozen veggies and sauté til heated 

Add eggs

Add cooked rice and mix thoroughly

Season with soy sauce and sriracha to taste