Category Archives: In my kitchen

recipes, tips,and knowledge gleaned over years of preparing thousands of meals

Roasting marshmallows…..

Posted on 08/05/2013 | Leave a comment

We had a great weekend, as we usually do, lots of time spent outside playing t-ball with the children, having a BBQ, swimming–usually but it is only 68 degrees for August:(, and then we have a fire to roast marshmallows for a nice fun wind down to our day.

We have always used the regular type cylindrical marshmallows, but this time we used the flat square ones. They worked so wonderfully. I don’t know if my children all of a sudden became experts at toasting marshmallows, because they almost always burn them, but these didn’t burn as quickly. They turned a nice roasted brown color and then didn’t puff up and make a mess. A nice “clean” roasting marshmallow so to say.Definitely something to try next time you think of roasting marshmallows with your children.

Poor boy subs recipe

Posted on 08/04/2013 | 15 comments

Nothing beats homemade subs for a nice family picnic. These are a great alternative to the traditional meat, cheese, and bread combination. Try some for your next picnic. Note you can also prepare these beforehand and then freeze them. They thaw nicely and then you bake them in the oven.

In a small mixing bowl combine 1 pkg cream cheese, 1/2 stick butter, 2 T minced garlic, and 2 squirts of mustard.

This is your sauce that will be spread on your bread For my sub buns, I use the italian loaves from Meijer, but you can use Hoagie buns, or even regular hot dog buns. Spread one half of the bread with your sauce mixture. Add your favorite meats to it. We do one with chicken breast, salami, and provolone cheese The other one we like ham, salami, and swiss cheese. Close up and then wrap it in tin foil. Place in 350 oven for about 30 minutes. You want your cheese to melt. To serve you can then add shredded lettuce, tomatoes, mild pepper rings, and pickles.

15 Comments

Posted in In my kitchen, sandwiches

Tagged kitchen, recipes, sandwiches

Whipped potato salad recipe…a twist on a classic salad

Posted on 08/03/2013 | 3 comments

I have grown up eating potato salad and everyone has their own versions of this. But for the most part everyone chops up their potatoes into little chunks. Well when I married my husband and I made potato salad for the first time, he was like “what is this?” He was used to whipped potato salad. I have never heard of that, but I diligently found out how to make it. And I can honestly say, it has been my favorite way to make this staple picnic food. Try it for your next potluck, I am sure people will love it!

You will be needing the following ingredients.

potatoes
hard boiled eggs
chopped onion
chopped celery
miracle whip
sweet pickle relish
mustard

Depending upon how much you need to make, you may have to adjust your quantities. This recipes is what we make for our family of 12.

First you prepare a 10 lb bag of potatoes as you would for mashed potatoes. You peel, cut, and cook them until tender. Drain out as much water as possible and then beat them with your mixer. Add about as much milk as you would if you were making regular mashed potatoes. I add about 1-1 1/2 cups of milk. You don’t want them to be super thin, but you don’t want it to be really thick. You can always add more later. So do less instead of more.While your potatoes are still hot, add about half of a jar of miracle whip to your mashed potatoes. Add about 5 heaping Tablespoons of sweet pickle relish 6 whole hard boiled eggs, no need to chop them the mixer will do that. about 3 squirts of mustard or 3 Tablespoons of mustard for those that don’t “guesstimate” add salt and pepper. I add about 1 teaspoon of each Add 1 whole diced onion. You can add 2 stalks of diced celery, I just did not have any today.
Mix until combined. If it appears too thick, add some more milk. Taste it, if you want more relish flavor add some, if you want more mustard add that. You then refrigerate until serving time. Sometimes I do not add enough ingredients and then when I go to serve it, I just taste and then add them in. Today I did not add enough relish so I just stirred it in.

photo attribution and link thedutchbakersdaughter.com

3 Comments

Posted in In my kitchen, salads

Tagged bbq, kitchen, picnic, recipes, salads

honey whole wheat bread recipe

Posted on 08/01/2013 | 39 comments

**update this was called Ezekiel bread–the name of the recipe I had got it from. But I have learned it is not Ezekiel bread. I changed it to what I would call it.

This is a wonderful, light and sweeter tasting bread. It is a favorite of our families. Very simple to make.

3 pkg yeast
5 cups warm water
1 T plus 2/3 cups honey
2/3 cups oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 t salt
4 c flour
1 c wheat germ
6-8 cups more flour

First get your yeast mixture going. I add 1 cup warm tap water, 3 pkg yeast (or 3 T if you are using the bulk mix), and 1 T honey.

While your yeast is rising, I add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl.

4 cups warm water, 2/3 cups honey, 2/3 cups oil(I use coconut), 1/2 c sugar(I use raw), 2 t salt. I then add my yeast mixture and whisk away. Then add 4 c flour(I use white whole wheat) and 1 c wheat germ.mix it with your mixer, a whisk, anything that you have will workAfter you have mixed it for about 3 minutes you can add the rest of your flour, 1-2 cups at a timeKeep on mixing the flour into the dough.You will have a nice spongey type dough. I knead it right in the bowl, no need to mess up your countertops. Transfer to a greased bowl and flip it, to coat the top of the dough.Let it sit and rise for an hour or more, just keep punching it down until you are ready to form into loaves.I use stainless steel pans, they cost more, but I have had these for years. It is better for your health, they clean up well, and they are very durable. Invest in a few if you can. Grease your pans before adding your dough.Let rise until the dough almost fills the pan. Then you can preheat your oven to 350 degrees.Place in the oven for 40 minutes. When done let sit on counter for about 10 minutes. Then I pop them out of the pans, if they do not come out right away I just set them on their sides and they will release as they cool.

These freeze well if you are not able to eat them all in a few days. We love ours with butter and homemade freezer jam.

39 Comments

Posted in breads, In my kitchen

Tagged breads, kitchen, recipes

salisbury steak recipe

Posted on 07/26/2013 | 5 comments

This is one of my favorite childhood recipes. A nice hearty meal for your family. We mix the meat up when we do our once a month shopping and then freeze the patties until we use them during the month.

1 lb ground beef
1/3 c bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt, pepper
1 egg

Mix above ingredients together and form into patties. I then place them on cookie sheets to freeze them individually before placing them into ziploc baggies. But if you are ready to make them today, form them into patties and place in a baking dish in the oven.

Now you want to brown these patties. You can do this in a skillet on the stove top but if you are like me and do not have much time, I just let the oven do the work. I turn it on 400 and let it cook these patties to perfection. For about an hour. I test all my meat with a thermometer to make sure it is cooked properly.

After it has browned and cooked, you can make your gravy. The pictures show the amount that our family uses but if we are following the recipe, I will give the measurements for that, dbl or triple as needed. In a saucepan bring 2 cups of water to a boil with 2 Tablespoons of beef bouillon. For flavor you can add some diced onions, garlic, and mushrooms at this point. Dried or fresh whatever you have on hand. I like to add some pepper as well about 1/2 tsp. After it has boiled you can thicken it by whisking in 2 T cornstarch that has been mixed with 2 T water. I then add 1 -4oz can of cream of mushroom soup.