Made From Scratch Tuesday 3/1

What a week! Have you guys been a busy as I have? In all the craziness of last week, I had a few chances to whip up some meals that were pleasing to everyone. The fish tacos went over great, as did my Tetrazzini.
I followed the recipe below from www.leftoverchicken.com, with my changes in italics.

Turkey Tetrazzini

Note: May be made 1 day ahead.

1 T. flour

1 T. butter

1 c milk

¼ t salt

¼ t pepper

¼ t paprika (sometimes my stomach doesn't like paprika, so I cut this out)

¼ t sage

¼ t dry mustard

Few drops onion juice (onion juice? I diced one small onion and sauteed it with the mushrooms)

1 t. lemon juice

2 c. cooked chicken, cut in pieces (I used turkey, chopped into pieces, didn't measure, but it was enough to serve 5 in the end)

¾ c cooked spaghetti (I cooked some angel hair pasta, again didn't measure)

½ c chopped fresh mushrooms (I used 2 portebella mushroom caps)

2 T. butter

¼ lb. grated Parmesan cheese (I used about 1/4 c.)

2 c. chopped spinach

Sliced, fresh mozzarella

¾ c butter bread crumbs

Make a medium white sauce of the flour, butter, milk and salt. Add the pepper, paprika sage, mustard and onion & lemon juices to the white sauce and heat to the boiling point. Add chicken turkey, spaghetti, spinach, parmesan cheese, and mushrooms and onions which have been sautéed in the butter. Fill 2 individual greased casseroles or one larger casserole with the mixture and top with mozzarella cheese and bread crumbs. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the crumbs are very brown and ingredients are warmed through.

What goodies have you been cooking up this week?
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. My only content rule is it has to be made from scratch.
3. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code on the top right of my sidebar.

Fish Tacos

Fish tacos are something I've been curious about, but had never tried. So when Meijer had tilapia on sale last week, I figured this was the perfect time.

I started out by cooking the fish on the stove in the juice of one lime. At the same time, I heated the tortilla shells in another pan. Now, for the toppings!

I love lime juice on my tacos, so I sliced up one lime in addition to the juice I used to cook the fish in. For the onion, I wanted the flavor, but didn't want it to be overpowering, so I went with green onion. Instead of lettuce, I picked up some arugula. I really like the flavor of arugula and thought it would be perfect with these. Keeping with the unintentional green theme, I chopped up one avocado.

Now, to give them the taco feel, I decided to use a bit of the Philly cooking cream on the shells. I went with the Santa Fe style. Have you guys tried this stuff yet? OMG AMAZING! Love it! The first night I used it, I followed the recipe on the container, but we didn't use all of it. It had just enough spice to give the fish tacos the right flavor without taking over the fish. Here's the finished result:

 

Unfortunately, the husband didn't like them. That's too bad for him; I thought they rocked. I guess next time I make them he'll be eating cereal for dinner. 

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!




This post was also linked to

Made From Scratch Tuesday 2/22

Wow! Lots of fantastic recipes from last week! This week I'd like to try something out. If you'd like your post tweeted, please follow me on twitter (@jenperfla) and mention Made From Scratch Tuesday in a tweet. No pressure here, just a thought as I'm trying to embrace Twitter.

This week, we had some awesome Lamb Chops that I fixed for Ott,A's Iron Chef Challenge sponsored by American Lamb.

We also had some delicious trout and stuffed mushrooms.

 

I cooked the fish in lemon juice and olive oil and seasoned it with lemon pepper seasoning, salt and pepper. So simple, yet so tasty! The mushrooms were stuffed with one egg beaten, chopped spinach, mozzarella and feta cheese. Then I baked them at 375 for 25 minutes. 

What goodies have you been cooking up this week?
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. My only content rule is it has to be made from scratch.
3. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code on the top right of my sidebar.

Greek Lamb Chops

Ott,A  is at it again with another Iron Chef Challenge! This month is sponsored by American Lamb. Last year, the husband and I made it our mission to try one new food a week. Lamb came up during the summer, so this was actually our second time eating lamb. We enjoyed the first time, so the husband was really excited to see what I was going to create this time.

I started with this recipe, but altered it and used it as a marinade.

Here's what I used:

 

4 lamb chops (provided by Ott,A)
Salt and pepper
Rosemary
Garlic (I had small cloves, so I used two)
Lemon Juice
Olive oil


Combine all ingredients in ziploc bag and marinate 4 hours.

Later that night, I got out my grill and put the lamb chops on.

After a few minutes, I flipped them over and sprinkled with feta cheese.

The acid from the lemon juice really cut through the meat making it so tender! It practically fell apart in my mouth! We paired these with a spinach salad and rosemary potatoes. It was a delicious dinner we both enjoyed.

A big thanks to Ott, A and American Lamb for sponsoring this event!

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Made From Scratch Tuesday 2/15

I feel like I've been out of touch for so long! I was suffering from the plague last week, so if you linked up and I haven't been to visit you yet, I apologize; I'm trying to make the rounds. I did see several fantastic recipes though and I can't wait to see more!

Over the weekend, I was finally starting to feel human again, but didn't want to risk contaminating anything, so I had the husband take care of meals. Thankfully, he can follow directions and didn't do too bad! He really is a good husband. He even made the marshmallows I was dying to try out! Doesn't he look cute in my apron?!

 It was a learning experience for sure! He had to learn what a sifter was and its purpose.

 He finally understands my love affair with my mixer.

 He left the cookie cutters to the little one.

He decided to dust some of them in cocoa so he'd have chocolate marshmallows. Want the recipe and directions? Check it out here at The Farm Girl.

I hope you all have been feeling much better than I have!
Oh, and he even had flowers delivered to me at work today!

What goodies have you been cooking up this week? 
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. My only content rule is it has to be made from scratch.
3. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code on the top right of my sidebar.

Made From Scratch Tuesday 2/8

So this last week, we were dealing with ICEPOCALYPSE 2011. With the looming fear of losing power, I was cooking up a storm so we'd have food in case I was without my stove for a few days. I baked a couple of loaves of bread to get us through. (What's new, right?) Now, I'm sitting here with bread we need to eat, but honestly, I'm kinda tired of sandwiches and I have a hard time getting motivated on Saturdays when we don't have kids, so it looks like we've found a solution! Stuffed French Toast! The best part about this is you put it all together the night before. Then you just pop it in the oven the next morning. 

What You'll Need:

Slices of bread (amount will vary depending on the size of pan and number of layers)
4 oz mascarpone cheese
1 jar peach marmalade (amount needed will depend on number of layers you choose)
4 eggs
1 to 2 cups milk (depending on how eggy you like your french toast)
Cinnamon
1 T vanilla

Start by mixing the eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Dredge bread slices through mixture and lay in the bottom of a glass baking dish.

In a separate bowl, whisk 4 oz mascarpone cheese and at least one cup peach marmalade. Pour this mixture over first layer of bread.

Add a second layer of bread that has been dredged through milk/egg mixture. Then top with additional peach marmalade, if desired. We did this because it added extra sweetness and cut out the need to add syrup after we baked it.

Then top with another layer of bread and sprinkle some cinnamon.

Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, bake at 375 for 45 minutes. It's a no brainer the next morning! 

What goodies have you been cooking up this week? 
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. My only content rule is it has to be made from scratch.
3. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code on the top right of my sidebar.

Have you linked up with Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent recipe linky? I've been linking mine up for a couple of weeks now and have found some FANTASTIC recipes! These ladies sure know how to make a fantastic dish!
Would you like your recipe linky to be showcased on Made From Scratch Tuesday? Email me at jenperfla (at) gmail (dot) com. 

Almost Homemade Dinner #2

Remember the post a did not too long ago with that awesome tortellini? Well, I have another! This time I used the spinach and ricotta filled tortellini. And you're going to love how easy it is!

 What you'll need:

Spinach and Ricotta tortellini dinner for 2
2 Roma Tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
parsley and feta cheese to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add in tortellini. In a large pan, saute onion and garlic.

Add salt and pepper. When onions are sauteed, remove from heat and stir in tomatoes, parsley, and cheese. Cover, but do not return to heat.

When tortellini is fully cooked, drain and add to pan. Toss and serve! How easy is that? And wonderfully delicious!


Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

The Tail End of the Storm

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Weathering out the Storm

 Like 2/3 of the country, we're hanging out at home during this storm. We survived round one, now we're waiting on round 2, aka the "catastrophic" part. The husband is obsessed with weather. This guy will watch the weather channel over any sporting event. Crazy, right? Consequently, we've spent the last few days hearing all the different meteorologists describe this storm in various ways. The NWS is calling is potentially catastrophic. The Weather Channel is calling it "crippling". Facebook is calling it "Snowpocalypse 2011". I understand we all need to be prepared, but I think it's time they all put down the thesaurus. We get the picture. It's going to be rough weather. But, I think it's important to find the beauty in any situation, so here are some pictures from round one.

 We've already had some areas losing power, so we're prepared. I may go through blogging withdraw, but we'll survive!


Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!