Tuna Noodle Casserole

When I was growing up, I loved it when my mom would make tuna noodle casserole. Unfortunately, my dad isn't a huge fan of warm tuna, so it was very rare that we had it for dinner. So she taught me how to make it so I could satisfy my cravings. I remember everyone complaining about the tuna smell whenever I'd heat up the leftovers. Funny enought, my mom actually sent me a recipe recently for a tuna casserole that is a little more refined than what I used to whip up in high school and college. It doesn't use cream of soups, instead it's a white sauce base and the tuna smell and taste is very mild. This was a crowd pleaser at our house and we will definitely revisit it in the future!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1/2 cup butter, divided
1 (8 ounce) package uncooked medium egg noodles
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced (I used 1 can of sliced mushrooms)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained and flaked
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 tablespoons bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree. Butter a medium baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles, cook for 8 to 10minutes, until al dente, and drain.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in the onion, celery,and garlic, and cook 5 minutes, until tender. Increase heat to medium-high, and mixin mushrooms. Continue to cook and stir 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid hasevaporated.
4. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan, and whisk in flour until smooth.Gradually whisk in milk, and continue cooking 5 minutes, until sauce is smooth andslightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in tuna, peas, mushroom mixture,and cooked noodles. Transfer to the baking dish. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in asmall bowl, mix with bread crumbs, and sprinkle over the casserole. Top with cheese.
5. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Asian Drumsticks

I was skeptical about this recipe, but since chicken drumsticks are cheap and the rest of the ingredients are pretty cheap, I figured I give it a shot. And it was great! The chicken really had a lot of flavor- but maybe a little too much cayenne pepper. We'll cut that down next time to 1/2 of the amount. But otherwise, I heard zero complaints and it gave me another recipe to throw in the mix when I have a craving for Chinese Food. We served these with fried rice and the recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens "Dinners for Less" magazine.

Asian Drumsticks

8-12 chicken drumsticks (about 2-3 pounds; I also removed the skin)
2/3 cup frozen pineapple-orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 Tbl soy sauce
1-1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 Tbl packed brown sugar

Place chicken in a resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish. In a small bowl, combine the juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic salt, and cayenne. Reserve 1/3 cup of the marinade for sauce. Pour the remaining marinade over chicken. Seal bag; turn to coat chicken. Marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours, turning bag occassionally.

In a small bowl, combine the reserved marinade and brown sugar; chill sauce until needed.

Preheat oven to 375* F. Drain chicken and discard marinade. Place chicken in a shallow baking pan (I used a baking sheet lined with foil). Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Brush both sides of chicken with some of the sauce. Bake for 15-20 minutes more, or until chicken is no longer pink (180*F; my chicken took about 30 minutes after the initial 25- so make sure to check!), brushing twice with the remaining sauce.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Root Beer BBQ Pork Sandwiches

This was really good despite the fact that it has sweet soda in it! In fact, you can't really taste the sweetness or rootbeer flavor in the pork. It's just a juicy, tender pork roast, that is shreds wonderfully and is perfect as a sandwich filling. You could also use it in a salad or wrapped up in a tortilla with your favorite taco fillings. I used a 2-liter bottle of A&W rootbeer, but you can use cans if you want- it's just cheaper to buy a 2-liter bottle. The only adjustment I think that I'll make next time is to drain the juices from the roast before I shred it and add the BBQ sauce- the meat was just really wet and made our buns really soggy. If your roast looks dry, you could reserve the drained juices and add them back into the roast as needed to help add some moisture. And if you are concerned about the cut of the pork roast- it doesn't really matter. A cut without the bone is easiest for shredding, but even then if you roast has a bone, it should slip out pretty easy once the roast is done cooking. The recipe comes from a freezer meal computer software program called 30 Meals in One Day and it's a welcome addition to my crockpot recipes!

Root Beer BBQ Pork Sandwiches

1, 3 lb pork sirloin roast
1 cup root beer
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups onion, wedges (about 2 small onions; I would thinly slice the onions if you are going to keep the onions in with the pork at the end)
2 Tbl garlic, minced (I used somewhere around 7-8 cloves)
2 12 oz cans root beer (about 3 cups of rootbeer)
1 12 oz bottle chili sauce

Trim any visible fat from roast. Cut roast into 4 pieces and place in slow cooker. Pour 1 cup root beer over roast. Sprinkle meat with the salt and pepper. Add onions and garlic. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours (Low will help the roast be more tender and easier to shred). In a medium saucepan combine root beer and chili sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes or until mixture is reduced to 2 cups. Remove roast and onions from slow cooker. Allow to cool enough to handle. Discard broth (I didn't this time, but I will next time- the buns were soaked by the extra juices). Shred meat and combine with onions (I didn't add the onions back in). Pour root beer sauce over all. Stir to coat. Serve on buns with lettuce and tomatoes, if desired.

Directions for freezing:

Allow to cool completely. Place in freezer bag or container. For individual servings, spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Fill muffin cups with meat and sauce. Cover and place pan in freezer just until frozen. Pop out and place in gallon freezer bag. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw and heat. Line buns with lettuce leaves and tomato slices. Add meat, onions and sauce.

Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

Since my husband was recently accepted into optometry school in Arizona, I've been trying to come up with ways to survive the heat. One of my solutions is to try and use the crockpot more in my cooking to cut down on the amount of heat coming from my oven. So I've been on the lookout for good crockpot recipes, and I am so glad I came across this one. Macaroni and Cheese is always big around my house, and this recipe makes quite a bit. I would say that you could feed around 5-6 adults with one recipe, and that's if you serve it with sides. We had it with peas and orange jello with madarin oranges in it. Adding a roll or biscuit or muffin of sometype would also allow you to stretch the amount if needed. Either way, thanks Lynn from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures for sharing this wonderful recipe! One last thing- if you are wondering about the egg, it just helps the whole dish set up so it isn't soupy.

Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

1 package (16 ounces) elbow macaroni
1/2 cup stick margarine, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted

1 cup milk

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain. Place in a 5-qt. slow cooker (the ingredients will only fill the crock between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way- so if your crockpot is a little bit smaller, it would probably work, too); add margarine. In a bowl, combine the eggs, evaporated milk, soup, milk and 4 cups cheese. Pour over macaroni mixture; stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. (this will vary by crockpot, Lynn's takes about 3 hours and mine took almost 4 hours.)

Dinner Crepes

In this house, we loooooove crepes. We typically have them for breakfast, sometimes for dessert, but I'd never heard of savory fillings until a few years ago. I hadn't really ever bothered to make them for dinner, though, because the only time I'd ever had a savory crepe had left me feeling gypped. Then my Taste of Home magazine came this month and there was a recipe called "Hubby's Favorite Crepes." It's got it all: chicken, mushrooms, sour cream...mmmmmmmmmmm... We had them last week, and really enjoyed them! I have my own crepe recipe, but it's ALL the way over in the kitchen and my apartment suddenly feels huge. This one is from Taste of Home as well.

Crepes~

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. milk (2%)

4 eggs

1 c. flour

1 1/2 t. sugar

1/8 t. salt

8 t. butter

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk milk and eggs. Combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add to milk mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Melt 1 t. butter in 8-in. pan over medium heat. Pour 2 T. butter into center of skillet. Lift and tilt pan to coat bottom evenly. Cook until top appears dry; turn and cook 15-20 seconds longer. Remove to a wire rack. 

3. Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to skillet as needed. When cool, stack crepes with waxed paper or paper towels between. 

Note: I just use some cooking spray to spray the pan rather than melting butter, although I did start out doing it the other way. I just figure it saves on butter and it's fast. Just don't do too much or you'll get crispy edges--which, maybe, you like.

Filling~

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/4 c. chopped onion

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. flour

2 c. milk

2 t. chicken bouillon granules

1/2 t. Italian seasoning

1/4 t. pepper

1/2 c. sour cream

3 T. sherry (cooking sherry is just a low-quality red wine; dark grape juice works fine)

2 c. cooked chicken, chopped

minced parsley

Directions:

1. Cook mushrooms and onion in butter; stir in flour. Add milk, bouillon, Italian seasoning and pepper. Bring to a boil. Stir in sour cream and sherry/grape juice. Reserve 1 c. of sauce to use as a gravy.

2. Add chicken and parsley to remaining sauce. Spoon filling into 15 prepared crepes (I don't think I got that many). Roll and drizzle with remaining sauce.

Chinese Pork, Broccoli and Peppers

Aaah, cooking.... I am finally back on track to be cooking more frequently, which means that there might actually be more posts to read more frequently! To get back in the swing of things, I decided to give a new Chinese food recipe a whirl. This particular recipe is adapted from another library find, "Dinners in a Dash or a Dish" by Jean Anderson. And can I say, this was the BEST homemade stir-fry I have ever made! I think the reason I liked it more than the other ones is that the majority of this sauce comes from soy sauce whereas the other stir-fry sauces I've made were based on chicken broth- which is yummy, but soy sauce has so much more flavor. We will be making this again! I also think that it would be delicious with snow peas thrown in with the broccoli and peppers, as well as some bean sprouts thrown in when you add the sauce. The recipe also stated that it would be good using beef and chicken as well, which means it can be even more budget friendly because you can use whatever is on sale or whatever you have hanging around in the fridge or freezer! I love those kinds of meals!

Chinese Pork, Broccoli and Peppers

1/4 c. soy sauce

3 Tbl. chicken broth (I used 3 Tbl. water + 1/2 tsp. chicken boullion)

1 Tbl. brown sugar

2 tsp. cornstarch

3 Tbl. oil (I used olive oil, but use whatever you have)

1 lb. well'trimmed boneless pork loin, cut into 1/2" strips

1 medium onion, quartered lengthwise and each quarter thinly sliced

1 large garlic clove, finely minced (or use a garlic press)

1 Tbl finely minced fresh ginger (or 1/2 to 1 tsp powdered ginger)

1/8 to 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2" strips

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2" strips

1 to 1-1/2 c. broccoli florets

Combine soy sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar, and cornstarch in small bowl and set aside.

Heat oil in large, heavey skillet or wok over high heat. When hot, add pork and stir-fry until lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Note: The pork will not be completely cooked through at this point since it will be cooked again when you add the sauce to the skillet. With slotted spoon, lift pork to large bowl and reserve.

Add onion, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and greed and red bell peppers to skillet and stir-fry over high heat until onion begins to turn translucent, about 3 minutes.

Return pork to skillet, add soy mixture, and cook and stir just until mixture bubbles, thickens slightly, and turns clear, 3 to 4 minutes. Note: Make sure the pork is cooked all the way through before serving. Serve hot over rice or noodles.

Buttercream Frosting and Cake Decorating Tip

As promised, here is the frosting recipe I used for the birthday cake from last week as well as how I typically decorate my cakes using frosting, not fondant (And don't worry, it's super easy!). I just used a simple buttercream frosting (I used the one from Wilton, and it follows my decorating tip) and then dyed it the colors I needed for decorating. When dying the frosting, I like to use the food coloring gels you can get in the cake decorating section of the craft store because it allows the color to be more bold while using less coloring. Then I frost the entire cake using whatever color I want to be the background of my "artwork". Then I make an imprint in the frosting base using a cookie cutter or other template, like this:

To create your own template, you can draw the design on a piece of paper, cut it out, and then use that as your template, or you can find a picture in Microsoft Word's clip art or on the internet, cut it out, and then trace onto the cake using a skewer or toothpick. I have found that images with clean lines work the best. Then you can either continue cutting your template to trace the inside designs, or if you are feeling artistic, you can free hand it. Then I just pipe the icing onto the top of the cake directly ontop of the lines you created in the frosting. That way, no one will no you traced! I like to start by outlining the area before I fill it in because I feel it gives it a cleaner edge. As for piping decorative borders, I just fake it. But I'm sure you could probably find a tutorial somewhere for that. Or check out a cake decorating book from the library and practice. Here are some pictures of a couple of more cakes I made using this method:

Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened (I used butter)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.) 2 tablespoons milk

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. Yields about 3 cups of icing. If you find your frosting is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar, if it is too thick, add 1 tsp of milk at a time until it is the right consistency.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.