Chocolate Covered Strawberries

These came out really nice. We melted a decent quality chocolate down by using a double broiler to prevent the chocolate from scorching. We lined egg cartoons with plastic wrap so we had someplace to lay the strawberries after they were dipped. This worked out really well! They were just divine!

Meatloaf isnt boring

I like to make mini meatloaves. They bake quickly and I can tailor them to fit different family members. They are kid friendly because kids love their "own" of everything. The kids usually prefer regular ol' mini meatloaf, but the grown ups like a creative twist.

Tonight I made the adult mini meatloaves all different. I made one with jalapeno, one with bacon, one onion, and one green pepper themed. Add in chopped bits of your chosen item to the actual loaf, then so you can tell them apart, and for an awesome pro look, drape a circle of onion on the top of the onion loaf, cup a thick slice of green pepper on the top of another, line 3 jalapenos on the top of one too.

Other ideas:
Cheese --experiment with different kinds blue cheese, Colby-jack, pepper-jack, cheddar
Cherry peppers
Shredded carrot
Peppers -red, green, yellow, orange
Salsa

Pork Neck Bone Stew

We fed 9 people (incl. 4 little kids) with this. Good eating, all homecooking! Neck bones are cheap and yield more meat than you'd expect.

1 pound pork neck bones sprinkled with seasoning salt and 11/2 cup water
-slow cook in crock pot on low 6 hours or until meat falls off bone, then set to warm until you want to make the stew. Turn off and cool bones a while before making stew. DO NOT throw out the broth!

Assemble stew in large pot and boil:
3-4 cups water
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1-2 1/2 cup chopped red potatoes (more or less to taste)
1/4 cup chopped onion (I actually use a bit less because I have a kid that doesn't like onion chunks)
Several tablespoons barley 4-6 Tbs
Several tablespoons slow cooking rice 4-6 Tbs (I use Jasmine rice)
few shakes of seasoning salt
1-2 tsp of salt
1tsp black pepper
2 Tbs onion powder

Boil covered until all veggies are soft and barely is soft (barely takes longer than rice)
While this cooks take your neck bones and separate all meat from them. Use two bowls one for the meat, the other for the bones. BE CAREFUL to get all little bone fragments. Set meat aside. Go through the broth in slow cooker and remove all bone fragments as well.

When stew veggies are soft turn off and add all meat and broth to your age stew pot. Stir and taste, add salt if needed, add water if you want. The flavor should be rich but may need to be diluted a little depending on your quality of neck bones. Ours were great.

My husband ate his with bread. Everyone asked for more! Yum!

Beef Barley Soup

This is so hearty and filling! Perfect for the fall and winter months ahead. Most of the dinner things I make I just make after reading a few recipe ideas and then trial and error.

I start with a nice roast, I salt it and cook it all day (or night) with chopped celery, onion and a carrot and about 2 1/2 cups of water. Slow cook until it's falling apart.

I pull roast apart and cut up into small pieces. I use as much of the meat as I want for the soup and save/freeze or eat the rest.*  In a crock pot with meat and *broth I add about 2 cups of mixed veggies (corn, peas, carrots, green beans), *1/2 cup of barley, salt, dashes of pepper, as much water as I want. Barely will thicken soup. I will add beef flavor (MSG free) if needed, I taste and see. You may want it brothy enough that when you refrigerate leftover it doesn't all get sucked up before you reheat and eat again.

(You can add tomato pieces if you want, I have kids that don't want that in theirs. I usually add a splash of garlic and some shakes of onion powder, I add those things to almost everythng for flavor.)

I simmer on low for several hours, until barely is super soft. Add salt to taste. This is normally a salty soup. I always cook with less salt and add more when we are eating.

*ideas for the extra meat: freeze and use in a future soup batch, make shredded beef tacos, make a sandwich. Feed it to a  pack of hungry kids that just eat in with lunch the next day.
*If you feel your broth is too fatty then refrigerate just the broth and skim some fat off the top when it hardens. Then make soup.
*Sometimes I add 1cup of  barley to stretch it, as I feed 9 people!

Grilled Cajun Chicken

Tonight we used the Cajun mayo from last nights salmon patty burgers. We slathered it all over chicken breasts. I made slits in the chicken breasts to get it inside too. Then My husband grilled them to perfection outside. We had a simple ranch green salad on the side, it made a quick and totally delicious dinner!! Kids loved it!

To make the mayo simply add any cajun seasoning to mayo and whip with a fork. Grill will care! Yum! 

Cream of Potato Corn Chowder with thyme

I cook down about 8-14 cubed (Yukon Gold) potatoes and a diced onion with enough water to cover them. When done I add:

•  about a cup of milk
• stick of butter
• a few handfuls of frozen corn
• a few shakes onion powder and a dash of garlic powder
• a palmful of thyme
•  salt to taste
• dash of pepper
• 2 tbs chicken flavor (Tones brand NO MSG).

I mash this up a bit leaving huge chucks of taters and some smaller ones. Simmer everything into a yummy hearty soup. I make sure it's plenty "brothy" because it's good that way, plus the starch thickens when it's refrigerated.

Crispy Brown Salmon Burgers

Last night my hubby and I made perfectly browned salmon burgers with green pepper in them with Muenster cheese delicately melted on top! Was delicious, especially with the Cajun mayo we whipped up for the bun. I want more!

 For the salmon burgers I add to one can of salmon, 2 eggs, a sprinkle of shredded cheese, a handful of corn from the freezer, seasoned bread crumbs, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning, a dash of cayenne pepper, diced green bell pepper (red is ...super tasty as well). Form small thin burgers and brown on each side in lightly oiled skillet. Don't make "burgers" too thick or they will be mushy! If you want a bigger patty put two thinner ones on your bun. For the Cajun mayo we just mix Cajun seasoning in mayo and whip with fork. Serious yum.