From my Kitchen Friday: Calzones!

Friday night is Pizza night, and after several different attempts I have yet to find a really good pizza crust recipe. But, I have found an awesome calzone recipe, and for the last several weeks we have had them on Pizza night. It is so yummy, and since we each get our own, the kids get to pick what they want and make their own.

You want to know the secret? The dough is made in the bread machine, so it's so simple!

Have a great weekend!

From my Kitchen Friday: Broiled Tilapia

This recipe is incredibly simple. I came inside last night to begin preparations for my broccoli-stuffed chicken breast dinner, but when I got the chicken out of the fridge it was still frozen. So, I switched gears to broiled tilapia, because the fish comes out so tasty, and it is very easy to make. This fish is a favorite even with my kids! I knew I was going to make rice (the slower cooking kind, not instant), so I got my tilapia out of the freezer and set it on a cookie sheet on the stove-top to thaw while the rice was cooking.

Of course, I always have a helper (or three).

Once you are ready to cook the fish (my fish was thawed in some places and still a bit frozen in others, and it still cooked perfectly in just a few minutes), brush it first with melted butter, then sprinkle a mixture of seasoned salt and bread crumbs followed by a sprinkle of finely-chopped almonds.

Put under the broiler for 6 to 7 minutes. The fish is done when is comes apart easily with a fork. I served mine with pan-cooked broccoli and rice. Everyone had extra helpings!

Broiled Tilapia
Tilapia fillets
2 Tbsp butter, melted
seasoned salt
bread crumbs
finely chopped almonds

1. Grease a pan that is suitable for broiling. Place fish on pan and spread with melted butter. Combine seasoned salt and bread crumbs (the exact measurement doesn't really matter, it just depends on how seasoned you want your fish to be) and sprinkle onto the buttered fish. Sprinkle on finely chopped almonds.
2. Place pan under broiler for about 6 minutes. You will want to keep a close eye on it, because the fish will cook quickly. It is done cooking when it flakes apart easily with a fork. Serve immediately.

You will want to be ready to serve the fish when it comes out of the broiler, because it gets cool (and therefore nasty not as tasty) quickly.

Enjoy!

Posted on Feasting in Fellowship Fridays

From my Kitchen Friday

And so it goes.

Meal Planning Made Simple
The Meal Plan
Cookbooks I Use

From my kitchen Friday: Busy mom's lasagna

Last night was comfort food night, and on the menu was lasagna. The problem was that I didn't have enough time to pre-boil the noodles, and as it was I was already running late. I decided to take a big chance and made up the whole lasagna with the uncooked noodles (regular noodles, not the "no boil" ones, I can never bring myself to pay the extra money for them). After assembling the dish, but before I put the extra cheese on the top, I very gently poured 1 cup of water over the whole thing. Then I put the shredded mozzarella on top, covered it with aluminum foil, and baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes. I then took the foil off and checked the noodles. Perfect! I baked it uncovered for a bit longer to brown up the top.   

At some point in the baking process, I put an old cookie sheet on the rack under the rack the lasagna was on because it was boiling over a bit.

I'd say it was a little messy, probably because of the water, and I would maybe add a little less next time, but it was no messier than a lasagna you would buy at the store and bake. Then again, isn't lasagna always messy?

Anyway, it was delicious! The noodles were perfectly cooked, and I have a feeling I will be using this lazy version every time! And may, in fact, make it more than I usually do because it was so easy! Everyone loved it :)

Happy Friday!

From my kitchen Friday: Family movie night favorite

I think the favorite part of family movie night is the popcorn!

Corn popped in coconut oil tastes so good! Plus I add nutritional yeast, garlic salt, and a little extra salt. I spray it first with extra virgin olive oil so everything sticks. It was all gone by the end of the movie! In this picture, I had already taken out bowls full for Libby, Hudson, and Remi!

Enjoy your weekend!

From My Kitchen Friday (and some outside fun)

What is the best way to use up a whole loaf of bread so fresh that it was still steaming when I sliced it? Turn it into french toast for Wednesday "Brinner Night!" Of course!

We have been getting several hours of warm and sunny weather (in between the cold mornings and evenings), and we are taking full advantage. Remi even had her first face-plant on the sidewalk today. 

And the kids asked for hop-scotch, so I made one up for them. I know it's not technically how it's supposed to be, but it worked for them!

Garlic and olive butter

I made some garlic and olive butter the other day that was just awesome. Ever since a bad case of pneumonia went through my kids earlier this year, it seems like their immune systems have been struggling to keep up. One of the things I have been doing to try to naturally boost their germ fighting abilities is to give them lots of garlic. Fortunately, my kids like this stuff :)
At first I was just planning on making some garlic butter to put on fresh bread for the kids, but then I remembered a yummy olive butter that I had at a restaurant and loved one time. I didn't think my kids would be crazy about the olive part, so I made their garlic butter first and then added olives to the left-over butter for me.
To make the garlic butter, I finely chopped up 4 cloves of fresh garlic, and sauteed/roasted them over low eat in just a dab of olive oil in a small skillet (so that it was basically dry cooking). I put a lid over top of the garlic as it was roasting and stirred every minute or so. I cooked just until the garlic was softening and starting to smell yummy. I added the garlic to about 3 to 4 Tbsp of room temperature butter (I knew I was going to do this ahead of time, so I set out my butter while I was making the bread) and mixed it together, adding just a pinch of salt.
I only had about a tbsp of butter left once I had buttered my three kids' pieces of warm bread, so I added another few tbsps more of the plain room temperature butter. Then I got a spoonful of green olives, finely shopped them, and added them, with another pinch of salt, to the garlic butter. 

 This was delicious!

 This was the first round, and each of us had seconds. The kids actually preferred the olive butter to the garlic butter. Now you can see why I need to make bread two loaves at a time :)

From my Kitchen Friday

This is lunch our-style: tortilla chips and the very last bit of our homemade salsa, chunks of cheese from our new favorite Amish bulk food store, and fresh veggies and dip. Mmmm!

Happy Friday!!

From my kitchen

Sick 2 year old on my lap during all of her awake hours for the past 3 days = a quick "From my kitchen" Friday post. I hope you don't mind :)

German Pancake with Strawberries

Ground beef substitute

My kids are picky meat eaters, and pretty much always have been. They really have never liked any ground up meat, and the only way this affects me is when it comes to recipes for ground beef. Most of the time I either quit making something or find another way around it (adding chunks of chicken rather than shredded chicken, etc).  However, we really like Mexican dishes, and Italian dishes with meat sauce, so I was happy to find a substitute for ground beef that my kids are cool with! It is made with bulgar wheat, which I have never used before making this. I found it in the health food section of our local grocery store. If you can't find it, I'm sure you could inquire about getting it in stock. My Libby will tell you that she doesn't like beef and instead eats bulgar wheat. I also like the idea of have a "meatless" meal without really realizing it. 

 First you pour your bulgar wheat in a pot.

 Then you chop up your onion and garlic (I always use more garlic than what is called for)

 Add onion and garlic with the rest of the sauce ingredients (tomato juice, water, pecans, molasses, and taco seasoning) in a blender.

I don't prefer to use store bought taco seasoning, because I try to stay away from pre-packaged stuff when I can, so I found a recipe for making my own, which I love. 

Blend it all up until it's smooth...

and add it to the bulgar.

Cook it for 15 minutes, and then let it sit for an hour, and it has a consistency very similar to ground seasoned beef. The first time I made this, my husband saw it in fridge and thought it was beef. It also freezes well. This is great for many things! I made it into homemade spaghetti sauce for dinner last night. I used half the batch and put the rest in the fridge to make taco "meat" for taco salads tonight.

Bulgar Burger (recipe from Healthy Choices cookbook)

2 C bulgar wheat

1 C water
1 C tomato juice
1/2 med. onion, cut into pieces
1 garlic clove
1 C pecans
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp taco seasoning

Place bulgar in kettle. Blend all other ingredients in blender until smooth. Stir blended ingredients tino bulgar in kettle. Cook over medium heat for 15 min, stirring frequently. Let set for 1 hour with lid on. Use immediately, or can also be frozen.

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From my kitchen

Fresh bread cooling, working on a casserole to bake in preparation for lunch after church the next day, and dough in the bread machine for yummy whole wheat rolls. That's a full afternoon, even with a helper!