Grandma Joan's Asparagus Patties!

These asparagus patties are a family favorite. My Grandma usually makes them but these days, I've been filling in.  They're a great appetizer for a holiday party or gathering because it's something different than a dip or bread. They're also freezer friendly so you can make a large batch in advance. Just defrost and microwave before serving!!

You could switch things up and swap out the asparagus for any of your favorite vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, or artichoke hearts would work just fine!

Gram's Asparagus Patties

2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and chopped into pieces

6-8 eggs, beaten

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

1 cup locatelli cheese (or more)

Salt and pepper to taste

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Drop the chopped asparagus in and boil for ~15 minutes until soft and tender. Drain and let cool. Pour asparagus into a medium sized mixing bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork until it looks like this:

Next, add the eggs, breadcrumbs, and cheese. Stir until well combined. If the mixture is too wet, add more cheese. If too dry, add another egg (I start with 6). It should look like this:

Heat a large nonstick skillet or electric skillet and cover the bottom with oil. Drop a heaping tablespoon of the mixture into the skillet at a time like this:

Brown both sides - about 3 minutes a side and place on a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt. Serve warm or at room temp!

To freeze: Place in a freezer safe bag and store in freezer. 

To defrost: Place in the refrigerator overnight and microwave until warmed through before serving. 

Enjoy!

Snow Day Snack: BBQ Pork Pizza

It's snowing in South Jersey!!  Wahoo!  I was set to make a big pot of soup this morning but someone (Ahem, Frank) ate all the celery and carrots.  I guess I'm married to a rabbit?  So I improvised and came up with this yummy pizza with the odd mix of ingredients I had in my fridge and pantry.  Guess what?  It turned out delish so I'm sharing with you today.

Before I get to the recipe, the most important thing is that I got to use my Penguin measuring cups...

BBQ Pork Pizza
If you've made pulled pork and have a ton a leftovers, which I usually do, this is a great way to get two meals for the price of one!

pizza dough - you could use homemade, frozen, or from the tube - I used Pillsbury dough from the tube!
2 cups leftover pulled pork (I made pulled pork in the slow cooker this week)
1 1/2 cups good shredded melting cheese like cheddar, Monteray Jack, or mozzarella - I used cheddar
1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce - I used Jack Daniels but we LOVE Sweet Baby Ray's
1 cup caramelized onions*
3-4 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled

*Saute onions in butter with 1/4 cup of sugar until brown

Spread the dough on a greased baking sheet and stretch to reach all sides.  Spread barbecue sauce in an even layer on top of dough.  Layer pulled pork, onions, and bacon on top of sauce.  Sprinkle the top with cheese.  Bake at 425 for 9-13 minutes until crust is golden brown and toppings are melted and warm.

Before the oven...

After the oven...

Happy Snow Day!!

Make This Tonight: Tuna Marinara

If you're anything like me you're forgetful, lazy, prone to procrastination... you get where I'm going with this.  So it's no surprise that I forgot to defrost something for dinner tonight.  Happens at least once (or twice, maybe three times) a week!  No problem!  I have a delicious hearty pasta meal on standby with the help of my stocked pantry.  Hopefully yours is more organized than mine:

Here are some pantry staples I have on hands for nights like these:

• Canned beans - (tonight I'll be using Cannellini beans)
• Crushed tomatoes and mostly ALL canned tomato products from diced, pureed, plum, crushed, etc. 
• Jarred artichoke hearts in water - I buy these in bulk and use them for salads and pasta dishes
• Canned or jarred tuna in water or olive oil
• Anchovies - They add a ton of flavor
• Frozen veggies - OK so these aren't a pantry staple but they're a freezer staple in my house
• Pasta - duh

This is a real "grease-ball" dish as my Mom would say.  Super Italian and yummy.  I like it because it's not just a starchy high carb meal.  It combines lots of protein and veggies making it a complete meal.  I usually make this meal without the artichoke hearts but I love them and had them on hand.  It would be perfectly fine without them.  

Tuna Marinara (my take)
1 lb spiral or ridged pasta like Rigatoni Rigate or Fusilli 
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 15oz can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 small can tuna drained - any kind you like
2-3 anchovies and a small amount of their oil
1/2 cup jarred artichoke hearts, drained and cut in half
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp olive oil

Heat olive oil at the bottom of a small sauce pan.  Add garlic, anchovies and anchovy oil, and red pepper flakes.  Cook until fragrant.  Add tuna and cook ~ 2 minutes.  Add crushed tomatoes.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.  In the last 5 minutes of cooking time add artichoke hearts, frozen peas, and beans to the marinara sauce.  Cook until heated through.  Add sauce to pasta and toss until coated.  

Your Favorite "Grease-Ball",

Meg Loc <3

Angela's Baby Shower!

Ahoy! It's a boy!

We are so excited to celebrate the anticipated arrival of Angela's little boy!  Two weeks ago we threw her a very nautical baby shower.  A great time was had by all.  It just warms my heart to see Angela's belly grow so big! Her little man is due at the beginning of next year and I just can't wait to snuggle and spoil him!  Here are some pictures and recipes from the shower.  We hope you enjoy!

{Angela's amazing cake!}

{Nautical Center Pieces & Favors}

{Her invitations}

{Mom & Dad's special chairs}

{Beautiful Mommy-to-be sipping some water}

{The new parents arrive}

Mom-Mom's Grand kid Approved Chicken Fingers
1 lb chicken breast, cut into strips
4 cups Corn Flakes, crushed
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup of flour
salt and pepper
dipping sauces of your choice!

Preheat oven to 350
1. Cut chicken into strips, season with S & P.
2. Smash corn flakes.
3. Set up breading station: one tray of flour, one of egg and one of corn flakes.
4. Bread the chicken strips: flour, egg, corn flakes and place onto a plate.
5. Arrange strips onto a baking rack over a baking sheet.
6. Cook for about 8-10 minutes a side, depending on the size, flipping half way through.
7. Dip, dunk and eat!

To FREEZE: Complete up to step four.  Flash freeze strips and then place into bag or container.

To EAT: Thaw.  Bake as directed OR fry for extra crispiness!



The Real Deal Mac & Cheese
2 lbs macaroni, cooked and drained
2 eggs, whisked
4 TBSP butter, sliced
24 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
(the more cheese, the better)
whole milk

Preheat oven to 400
1. Cook pasta to al dente; drain and rinse with cool water.
2. Mix pasta with eggs and butter.
3. Mix shredded cheese together in a separate bowl.
4. Assemble the mac & cheese:  a thin layer of pasta, a thick layer of cheese and repeat.
5. Add whole milk (just slightly less than covering the pasta).
6. Bake, keeping an eye on the top layer.  Once that has browned, cover with foil and bake until milk evaporates.
7. Enjoy while HOT!

Stay full!

Chili Cook Off Part 1: Chili Verde

I am so excited to share this recipe with you! It is one of my all time favorites--so different, yet so yummy.  If all chili were as delicious as this, I'd be a chili freak like my husband.

This recipe calls for pork, which I LOVE! I always get whatever is on manager's special or on sale at the market that week...this time I happened to get bone-on thin chops.  I don't even bother to take the meat off the bone--I just let it cook low and slow and the meat will just fall off! Remove the bones before serving! What I think was even better about the recipe this time was that I made it in the crock pot! I have adapted the original recipe slightly and I know it's one that I will continue to make for years! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Chili Verde
{serves 6-8}
2 lbs pork
1 cup onion, chopped
16 oz chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp celery salt
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/2 tsp oregano
1 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP jalapeno
4 TBSP chopped cilantro
1/2 TBSP chili powder
10 oz green enchilada sauce
21 oz canned green chiles (chopped or diced)
1 16 oz jar of salsa Verde
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Brown pork in large pot; remove from pot.  Add onion, saute for 2 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth and simmer for 1 hour (stir so meat does not stick to bottom).
3. Add spices and cornstarch; simmer for additional hour (keep stirring).
4. Add enchilada sauce, chiles and salsa.  Simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Remove pork bones and serve hot! ENJOY!

Crock Pot Instructions:
1. Line Crock Pot with liner.
2. Brown pork in pan and add to crock pot.
3. Saute onions for 3-5 minutes and add to crock pot.
4. Add chicken broth and cover; cook on low for 3 hours.
5. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 2 more hours on low heat.
6. Remove bones and enjoy!

(original recipe: Favorite Family Recipes 2012)

TO FREEZE:
1. Make chili verde according to directions above.
2. Allow to cool completely, divide into gallon freezer bags.
3. Label and freeze.

TO EAT:
1. Thaw completely.
2. Reheat over low heat in a sauce pan on stove, stirring often.
3. ENJOY!

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Freezer Friendly Chili Cook-Off!

When the temps start to drop, I can't think of a better place to be than my kitchen.  Ok, so maybe I'd rather be on a plane to Mexico, in a cozy ski chalet, or snuggled up in my bed - but you know what I mean ;).

                 Ah, my happy place!

The perfect one pot meal for cooler Fall days has to be chili.  I'm actually not a fan of the traditional tomato/beef based version, but I love twists on the classic recipe.  So Meg Lopez, Angela, and I decided to have a chili cook-off, testing out a few non-traditional chili recipes and tweaking them as we go.  Here's what we have cooking for the week ahead:

Chili Verde - Meg Lopez's BEST freezer meal to date ;)

Turkey and White Bean Chili - Angela will be testing this one.

Italian Chili - I'll attempt this one using a mix of sausage, beef, and peppers.

We'll be making them this week for our families so stay tuned for pics, recipes, and, of course, freezing guidelines.  What's your favorite chili recipe?  How do you like to eat your chili?  Here are some of our favorite things to do with chili:

• Dice potatoes into small chunks and roast with salt and pepper.  Once browned and crispy, place them at the bottom of your bowl and top with a few spoonfuls of chunky chili. 
• Make baked potatoes for dinner and top with hearty chili.  It's a meal that will stick to your ribs. 
• An easy freezer meal and delicious casserole, try a corn bread chili bake.
• No time?  Try your chili in the slow cooker. 

In case you're a fan of traditional chili, here's a recipe you'll want to try.  

Angela’s Classic Chili 
 Serves 4-6 
Slow cook- 4 hours on HIGH or on 6 hours on LOW 

Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef 
2 small onions, finely chopped 
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped 
3 cloves chopped garlic 
2 cans (15.5 oz) kidney beans, drained 
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes 
1 can (8oz) no salt added tomato sauce 
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock or broth
3 tablespoons chili powder 
1 teaspoon ground cumin 
1 teaspoon dried oregano
 ½ teaspoon salt 1

Combine beef, onions, pepper, garlic, beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth or stock, 2 TBS of chili powder, ½ tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp oregano all in the slow cooker. Cover the cooker and cook on HIGH for 4 hours and LOW for 6 hours. 2. After cooked for the desired time, stir in remaining 1 TBS chili powder, ½ tsp ground chili powder, ½ tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp dried oregano and ½ tsp salt. Serve Warm and Enjoy!!! You can always substitute lean ground beef for ground turkey or chicken and small white beans (navy beans) for kidney beans. It tastes great either way!

To Freeze:
Cool chili completely and ladle into freezer safe plastic bags and seal.  Lay flat and place in freezer.

To Reheat:
Defrost in the refrigerator overnight (sometimes can take 24 hours).  Reheat on the stove top in a sauce pan or in the microwave.  Heat until until boiling and chili has reached 165 degrees. 

Warming Up with Chicken Soup

We have been so busy these past few weeks…my dad was up from Florida, my cousins were up from North Carolina (who we haven’t seen in years), and we are trying to fill our days with fun Fall activities like pumpkin picking, hayrides and parades!

Today we decided to take Harper to our town’s Oktoberfest at the local park.  Hayrides, games, food and Harper’s personal favorite: pumpkin painting!  She carries her pumpkins and gourds around the house like a prize! I made a yummy breakfast and knew I didn't want to cook for the rest of the day—just family fun time, so I took out my crock pot and some leftover chicken soup from the freezer.  I put the soup in my crock pot (using a liner, of course!) on high and at the last minute I added some dumplings and let them cook up.  DELISH.  My family would eat chicken pot pies until they were blue in the face, but my loyalty is to chicken and dumplings (right, dad?).  

This recipe is different than the other recipes we've used in the past.  While the other recipe is super quick and delish, it uses canned soup, broth and biscuits.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that easy convenience and it’s certainly yummy to eat, but once in a while you just need a home cooked meal from scratch.   This recipe certainly delivers there!  I made the stock from chicken and veggies from our local Amish Market and the dumplings are an easy mixture of pantry staples.   Don’t be scared of making stock…it’s time consuming for sure, but SO SIMPLE.  And really cost effective.  Plus, you get to control the ingredients and seasonings to fit your family’s needs--I go low salt for Joe’s high blood pressure.  I don’t use the chicken from my stock making in my soup.  I find that it just gets way too dry and chalky.  I prefer to bake bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts in the oven (seasoned with a little salt and pepper) and dice that when cooled.  It may seem wasteful, but no one wants to eat dry chicken! But to be a bit more frugal, I will save my chicken bones from oven roasters and make stock using two of them.

Homemade Chicken Stock

1 whole chicken

2 onions, halved

4 stalks of celery

3 carrots (or 1c small carrots)

A few cloves of garlic

2 bay leaves

Pot herbs (rosemary, parsley, thyme, sage)

1 tbsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp whole peppercorns

Salt & pepper to taste

1.       Add all ingredients into a large stock pot.  (I add the insides of the chicken, just make sure to remove them from any bags or wrapping they may be in).

2.       Cover the ingredients by 1 inch with cold water. (No more or it will dilute the flavor.)

3.       Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 6 hours.

4.       Drain stock into a large bowl or pot using cheese cloth (or a clean dish towel works, too).

5.       **Now the stock is ready to be used in a soup OR can be cooled and frozen at this point.**

      To FREEZE: Allow to cool and store in containers.

To EAT: Thaw, reheat slowly over low heat in saucepan. 

Homemade Chicken Soup

Chicken Stock (about 2 quarts*)

3 stalks of celery, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced

1 cup pasta, uncooked

Salt and pepper to taste

1.       Heat oil in a large pot.  Add diced carrots, followed by diced celery and onion.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.  

2.       Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer.

3.       Add pasta and cook according to package. *Add more stock if the pasta absorbs more broth than you’d like.

4.       Add diced chicken. 

5.       Serve and enjoy!

To FREEZE: Allow to cool and store in containers.

To EAT: Thaw, reheat slowly over low heat in saucepan. 

**Special note: When I make a large batch of soup and plan to use some for Chicken and Dumplings I will cook the pasta in a separate pot of water.  I will add the pasta to my bowl and then ladle the soup on top.  I prefer my chicken and dumplings to not have pasta. You can also do this to prevent the pasta from absorbing the chicken broth in the soup. **

 

 

Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken Soup (without the pasta)

2 c. Flour

1 tsp parsley

Salt & pepper

¼ c Ice water + more as needed

1.       Heat the soup until simmering.

2.       In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper and parsley.  Add water a bit at a time and stir.  Should be sticky. (Add more water or don’t as needed.)

3.       Drop spoonfuls of dough into simmering soup.  Allow to simmer for 25 minutes until cooked through. 

4.       Serve warm and enjoy!

{I think it gets better on the second day after the dumplings have more time to soak up the broth!}

To FREEZE: Allow to cool and store in containers.

To EAT: Thaw, reheat slowly over low heat in saucepan. 

What keeps you warm on a cold day?

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