Pineapple Upside Down Cake in a Mug

I've always liked the idea of cake/muffins/brownies/cookies in a mug in the microwave. Mostly, because if I make a whole pan of brownies or such... I'll eat them all. So it's nice to be able to have a treat without having all of the tempting leftovers. Lately, Lydia's really been interested in helping me cook in the kitchen, so we've been doing a lot of these little recipes because she can help me measure all of the ingredients - she doesn't have to wait for a long time for the end result - and it doesn't make a huge mess in the kitchen. We had some leftover maraschino cherries and some pineapple rings in the pantry and this cake was SO good. We may have made it 3-4 days in a row. I have a big soup-mug that I used because the pineapple ring fit perfectly in the bottom, but if I was using a regular mug, I'd just slice the ring on one side and wrap it to fit. 

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake in a Mug

Source: Crouton Crackerjacks

Ingredients:
1 canned pineapple slice
1 maraschino cherry
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose or plain flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp pineapple juice (reserved from the can of pineapple slices)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp beaten egg
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
In a 12oz glass coffee mug, layer the brown sugar, pineapple slice and place a maraschino cherry in the center of the pineapple ring. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients and pour on top of pineapple slice. Microwave on 50% power for 2 1/2 minutes. Let sit 30 seconds, run a knife around the outside of the cake and then turn out onto a plate. Scrape all the syrup from the bottom of the mug onto the cake.

Tetrazzini

This is a great way to use leftover turkey from Thanksgiving but can also be made with shredded chicken. David doesn't like mushrooms, so I cooked everything then added mine at the end. So good.

Tetrazzini
Source: Adaped from Ready Set Eat

Ingredients:
8 ounces dry spaghetti pasta (or linguine/fettuccine)
vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups chopped cooked turkey/shredded chicken
1 can Diced Tomatoes, undrained

4 oz green chilies

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt. Meanwhile, add oil to a large skillet; heat over medium-high heat.
Add onion; cook 3 minutes or until softened. Add mushrooms; cook 5 minutes more or until mushrooms are tender and lightly browned.
Add turkey, undrained tomatoes, chilies, soup, water and half of cheese to skillet; stir to combine. Stir in cooked pasta; heat until mixture is hot and pasta is coated. Top with remaining cheese.

Beef and Noodles

I made a beef roast a couple of weeks ago and was lamenting to David that I always do the same things when I make a roast (delicious things, but the same things). Mostly just roast with potatoes, and french dip sandwiches. Luckily, I came across a few new beef roast dishes to try. I made a few things, but this meal was by far the winner. Like, David couldn't stop talking about this meal. You'd think that I'd suddenly become a master chef rivaling Bobby Flay. It was so funny. I'll let you in on a secret - it's the way I cooked the roast.... and the homemade noodles. 

Melt-in-your-mouth pieces of shredded beef with homemade egg noodles in a salty broth. Comfort food doesn't get much better than this. 

(Don't be scared of the egg noodles, it was actually really easy and SO much less expensive than the frozen egg noodles you can buy at the store and SO much tastier than dried egg noodles. 

Beef and Noodles
Source: Adapted from Spicy Southern Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 lb cooked and shredded beef roast, (recipe below)

Homemade egg noodles, (recipe below)

2 TBS dried onion flakes
3 beef bullion cubes
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp parsley flakes
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp black pepper

1 can cream of chicken soup (or mushroom if your husband likes mushrooms more than mine)
4-6 cups water

salt and pepper to taste
parsley for garnish, optional

Directions:
Prepare egg noodles following recipe below. Set out previously cooked beef roast. (I used leftover beef roast from another meal. If you don't have leftover roast, earlier in the day you will need to put your raw beef roast in the crock pot using the recipe below so that it will be ready at this point.)

In a medium sized pot, combine cream of chicken soup, seasonings (bullion, onion flakes, etc...), and 4-6 cups of water (add more water if you want it more like a soup and less water if you want it to be more like a beef and noodle dish with a smaller amount of broth). Bring to a boil. Add beef and egg noodles. Cook until noodles are al dente (cooked all the way through, but not soggy.)

Serve hot with rolls on the side. If your family is anything like mine, this will be a dinner-time hit!



Egg Noodles
2 cups all purpose flour, plus additional for dusting the board
4 eggs, beaten
¼-1/2 teaspoon salt

http://dineanddish.net/2015/04/easy-homemade-egg-noodles-recipe/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/fresh-pasta-recipe.html

Mound the flour in the center of a clean countertop. Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the eggs and salt. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well. As you incorporate the eggs, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape (do not worry if it looks messy). The dough will come together in a shaggy mass when about half of the flour is incorporated. When the mixture starts to become stiff, start kneading the dough with both hands incorporating all of the flour.

Scrape the area to find any loose bits of dough, then re-flour the surface. Continue kneading, adding flour as necessary, until the dough is thick and smooth in texture.The dough will only take as much flour as it needs, so don't worry about adding too much, the rest will fall off, or stay on the outside covering the dough so it won't stick.

Roll out the dough, until very thin, at least 1/8". (The dough will expand/bubble quite a bit while cooking, so try to get it as thin as  possible. Once your dough is rolled out, use a pizza cutter to slice your dough into thin vertical strips. Make a couple of slices horizontally until your noodles are a desired size.

Remember, fresh pasta cooks much faster than dry pasta. It will only need 3-6 minutes until it's cooked through!

Shredded Beef Roast

2-3lb chuck roast
1 large onion, peeled then roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled then smashed
15oz can beef broth
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
lots of garlic salt and pepper
4oz can chopped green chiles

Directions
Trim large pieces of excess fat from roast then cut into 6-8 big hunks. Add onion, garlic, and beef broth into the bottom of a crock pot then nestle beef into mixture. Sprinkle in chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, and pepper and then place the lid on top and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or until beef shreds easily. Remove beef then shred and place into a large bowl with enough cooking liquid to make it juicy, but not so much that it's dripping. Pull out as many onions as you'd like to include with the beef. Stir in green chiles. Discard remaining cooking liquid.

This Beef and Noodle recipe may also be made as a crock pot meal using the following instructions: 

Crock Pot Beef and Noodles
Place beef roast in slow cooker. Sprinkle seasonings from both recipes on top. Add cream soup and smear on top of roast. Add beef broth.
Put lid on crockpot and cook 9 to 10 hours on LOW.
Remove lid and shred beef using 2 forks. Add noodles and enough water to mostly submerge the noodles.

Cook for 1 hour. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Mexican Rice

A delicious side dish, but bulky enough for a meatless lunch or dinner. Yum! 

Mexican Rice
Source: The Peaden Life

Ingredients:
1/2 Onion, diced
3 cups Rice, cooked
1 can Diced tomatoes, drained
1 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Corn, drained
1/2 cup salsa (to taste, more can be added for desired consistancy)
Salt & Pepper
Cumin
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Onion Salt
Paprika
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Directions:
In a large frypan, saute onion in a small bit of oil. Add rice, tomatoes, black beans, and corn and stir together. Add salsa. Season with about 1/2 tsp each of cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion salt, and paprika.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Top with cheese and serve.

Cinnamon Raisin - Muffin in a Mug

Cinnamon Raisin Muffin in a Mug
Source: Adapted from Bigger Bolder Baking

Ingredients:
5 tbsp flour
1 ½ Tbsp packed light-brown sugar
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp baking powder
⅛ tsp salt

1 egg (or 2 Tbsp applesauce or mashed banana)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp raisins

Cream Cheese Icing
1 Tbsp Cream Cheese or Neufchatel Cheese, softened
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp milk

Directions:
Combine first five ingredients (dry ingredients) in a mug. Add wet ingredients then whisk together with a fork until combined and nearly smooth. Fold in raisins.
Microwave mixture on high power for 1.5 minutes then check cake for doneness. If it is not fully cooked microwave for an additional 15 seconds.
Prepare Cream Cheese Icing by mixing all of the ingredients together in a bowl by hand until smooth. (Make sure cream cheese is soft before combining.) 

Serve warm topped with frosting.

Zucchini Parmesan

I tried eggplant parmesan for the first time last week. It was delicious! I had a bunch of extra zucchini laying around so I decided to try my hand at a zucchini based recreation. I was very pleased with the way that it turned out.  Add this dish to my zucchini-harvest repertoire.  

Zucchini Parmesan
Source: Adapted from Handle the Heat

Ingredients:
3 large zucchini, sliced into 1/3-inch coins
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated and divided in half
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs (I used panko bread crumbs with italian seasoning)
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
1 bottle marinara sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 package spaghetti linguine noodles, cooked & drained

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450. Coat a large baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Blot zucchini coins with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Place zucchini in a medium bowl and drizzle with olive oil, turning to coat each piece. In a separate bowl, combine half the parmesan, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Dip each zucchini coin into the parmesan mixture, turning to coat and pressing the breading slightly to ensure it sticks. Place breaded zucchini coins in one even layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until browned and crisp. 

Reduce the oven temperature to 400. Place noodles in bottom of a 9x13 baking dish and toss with half the marinara sauce. Place a layer of remaining marinara sauce over the top of the noodles. Layer one third of the crisp zucchini coins over marinara, overlapping if necessary. Sprinkle zucchini layer with mozzarella, cheddar and the remaining parmesan. Repeat the layers until the zucchini is gone, depending on the size of your baking dish, ending with a sprinkling of cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

Steak Bites

I had some leftover sirloin steak to use and I came across this recipe from the pioneer woman. Oh my good gracious. She calls them her gourmet steak bites and they taste better than the last 5 steaks I've bought at a restaurant put together. Melt in your mouth goodness. (I didn't even use A1 sauce when eating them if that tells you anything.) I paired this with some garlic mashed potatoes and you would have thought that David was in H-e-a-v-e-n.

Steak Bites
Source: The Pioneer Woman (check out her page for beautiful pictures and some great tips)

Ingredients:
1 pound sirloin steak
Salt & pepper, to taste

Season salt, to taste
2 Tablespoons Butter

Directions:
Cut steak into 1-inch cubes cutting off any fat or gristle as you go.Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and season salt. Toss the meat around a bit to thoroughly coat with the seasonings.

Heat a skillet over medium high to high heat. As the pan heats, add about 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet. Allow the butter to melt, then brown, before you add the meat.

Place some of the meat in the pan in a single layer. It should sizzle loudly when it hits the pan – if it doesn’t, the pan isn’t hot enough. Don’t stir or disrupt the meat for 30-45 seconds. You want it to sizzle and brown on one side. Scoop as many steak bites as you can with your spatula and flip them over. Repeat until all the meat is turned. Cook for an additional 30 to 45 seconds—just long enough to sear the outside of the meat but NOT cook the inside.

Remove the meat to a clean plate. Add a little more butter to the pan and repeat the cooking process with the next batch just as before. Lastly, when all the meat is nicely browned and removed to the plate, pour all that browned/blackened butter all over the meat.

Serve with a side of garlic mashed potatoes.