Product of the Week: Pampered Chef Classic Batter Bowl

I am going to start a new addition to my blog. Every week I will try to remember to post a little blurb about one of my favorite baking, cooking, kitchen, sewing, craft products.

http://www.pamperedchef.com/images/product/resized/2230_enlarge.jpg

This week is a Pampered Chef product called the Classic Batter Bowl. I love this bowl because it is great for mixing, measuring, storing and even baking! There are measurements on the side of the bowl.  It has a lid and it is nice and sturdy glass.  The best part is that you can bake a cake in it! Do you need a football cake for the Super Bowl?  Bake a cake as directed in the bowl and then cut it in half. The two halves make a football shape!

I have to clarify that I am in no way benefiting from posting anything about these products!

If you are interested in a Classic Batter Bowl, I order all of my Pampered Chef products through a friend, of a friend, of a friend etc.  Here is her website. Click Here!

Chicken Florentine Bake

My friend Emily also has a cooking blog, which you can find here. I made this recipe last night and made some changes so that Fly Boy would eat it.  The biggest change was that I used broccoli instead of artichokes.  It was really yummy!

8 oz. dried bow tie pasta
1 small onion, chopped (I used minced onion)
1 Tbsp. butter
2 eggs
1-1/4 cups milk
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (8 oz.)
1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (I used broccoli)
1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1/2 cup oil-packed dried tomatoes, drained and chopped (Emily used fresh tomato)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (We both skipped the topping)
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. butter, melted


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In medium skillet cook onion in 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat about 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; set aside.


2. In bowl whisk together eggs, milk, seasoning, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Stir in chicken, Monterey Jack cheese, artichokes, spinach, tomatoes, half of the Parmesan, cooked pasta, and onion. Transfer to a 13x9x2-inch baking dish or 3-quart rectangular casserole.


3. Bake, covered, 20 minutes. In small bowl combine remaining Parmesan, bread crumbs, paprika, and melted butter. Sprinkle mixture over pasta. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes more or until golden. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Peanut Butter Brownie Pie

I made this, ate it and almost died.  It was so yummy and rich.  Fly Boy said it should be more peanut buttery (not a word, I know).  I told him he was crazy.  The recipe is from http://www.justapinch.com/.

1 bx fudge brownie mix
1 pkg deep dish frozen pie crust (thawed)
1 c creamy peanut butter
1 pkg of cream cheese (8 0z.)
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 sm tub of whipped topping


Mix brownie mix according to directions on box. Spread 1/2 cup of the mix into one thawed pie crust ( you can always make brownies with the rest). Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and brownie is set.

While cooling, mix the cream cheese (best mixes if cheese softened to room temp.) with the powdered sugar. Mix until creamy then mix in the peanut butter until well blended. Mix in 1/2 of the tub of whipped topping until well blended.

Spread the mixture into the crust when it is completely cooled.

Spread the remaining whipped topping over the filling and if you wish you can top it with miniature peanut butter cups. (I just topped with chocolate chips)

 Refrigerate for at least an hour and enjoy.

Fish Tacos with Feta

I know at first this may sound gross but I was in Texas with Fly Boy's family and we went to this place called Fuzzy Taco (or something like that) and I ordered the Fish Tacos...and they had feta on them.  At first I thought that was gross but I love feta so I tried it and I loved it.  I adapted a recipe I found at http://www.pinkofperfection.com/
since we don't have fresh fish here in middle America.  It was yummy and Fly Boy loved them too (he even ate them with feta!)

4 frozen tilapia fillets (I used the garlic and butter Gorton's Fisherman brand)
1 can of chopped green chilies
3 tablespoons lime juice

Guacamole or sliced avocado
sour cream
cilantro
salsa
lettuce
Feta
6 inch flour tortillas

Cook the tilapia fillets as directed on the package but add the can of green chilies and lime juice over top of them while they bake.

When the fish was completely cooked I scraped off the chilies because Fly Boy has issues with chopped anything mixed with "meats".  If your Fly Boy doesn't have issues leave the chilies on.  I also drained off the excess juice.

Break up the fillets into bit sized pieces.

Heat tortillas in the oven for 5 minutes.

Create your taco with the desired toppings and enjoy!!

For those of you who can find fresh fish and that have husbands that will eat things like tomatoes etc here is the recipe I adapted : http://www.pinkofperfection.com/2009/06/taco-tuesday-fish-tacos/

OMG Beef and Broccoli

If you could see the ridiculous amount of recipe books in my house you would think I spend hours going through them to find the recipes that I make.  Well, I have to admit that I also get daily recipe emails from Better Homes and Gardens so every few days I scroll through hundreds of recipes and try to decide what looks good enough (and easy enough) to make! I have neglected my recipe books but I may amp up the blog to feature recipes from the same website/book each week. Just a thought.  When I look for recipes I have to consider: the time it will take to make it, how many ingredients it has in it, will Fly Boy (aka my husband) eat it, is it really bad for you?

I don't usually make things with steak in them. I have a hard time cooking beef/steak the correct way, it is sometime expensive and honestly not that great for you.  However in my recipe scrolling I found this lovely, quick, easy, yummy, amazing, cheap (ok you get the idea) recipe for beef and broccoli.  I made it and there were NO leftovers. It was a hit and now I will share it!  PS THANK YOU CAMPBELL'S!!!

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak or beef top round steak, 3/4-inch thick, cut into thin strips
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets
4 cups hot cooked rice

1.Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and stir-fry until well browned.

2.Stir the soup, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder and pepper in the skillet and heat to a boil. Stir in the broccoli and cook until it's tender-crisp. Serve the beef mixture over the rice.

From Campbell's Soup

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

Ok, my husband and I have a salmon problem...we just cannot get enough!!! I found YET another amazing glaze for the salmon from Taste of Home.

http://blogs.glam.com/glamspirit/files/2010/09/SalmonFilets-500.jpg

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp butter

1 tsp honey

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 lbs salmon

Cook the sugar, butter and honey in a sauce pan over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in oil, mustard, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Cool five min. Brush over salmon in a foil lined baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. 

Don't worry if you make too much glaze...I doubled the recipe before I realized I had wayyyyy less salmon for even one recipe of glaze but it still came out amazing!!!



Enchilada Meat Loaf

This was a quick and easy recipe I found in an email. It is from Better Homes and Gardens.  I used ground turkey instead of ground beef.  I also did not use the cheese (I forgot to put it on) and I used onion flakes instead of chopped onion because my husband does not like onion in things.  I topped it with guacamole, sour cream and salsa!  Don't judge this recipe by the picture I took below...it tastes really good!

1 egg, lightly beaten
1 medium onion, finely chopped ( I used minced onion)
1/4 cup bottled salsa
2 Tbsp. chili powder
3 cloves garlic, minced (I used minced garlic in a jar)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 8.5 oz. pkg. corn muffin mix
2 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
Bottled salsa (optional)
Guacamole
Sour cream


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl combine egg, onion, 1/4 cup salsa, the chili powder, garlic, and salt; add ground beef and mix well. Shape into a ball and place in a 9-inch pie plate. Flatten meat mixture to a 6-inch circle; set aside.

2. Prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions. Spread corn muffin batter over meat mixture in pie plate. Bake about 50 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meat loaf registers 160F. Remove from oven. Halve cheese slices and arrange on top of the corn muffin mixture. Cover loosely and let stand 10 minutes before serving. If desired, serve with additional salsa, guacamole and sour cream. Makes 6 servings.


This recipe and others from Better Homes and Gardens can be found here!

Icing Recipes

In the fall I took a cake decorating class and I had more problems with the baking and making the icing than the decorating.  I am not sure what my baking issue was because I have made cakes before with no problem but I could not seem to make a cake and get it out of the pan.  The other issue I had was I hated the icing we had to make.  Let me remind you that I LOVE ICING!!! This icing (to me) was gross. It tasted like it had wayyyy too much shortening in it.  After some research of other icing recipes, I think the recipe we were given to make did have too much shortening (or maybe I was making it wrong?) In any case, a teacher I work with made a cake the other day and the icing was AMAZING.  She said the recipe came from the back of the CH Cane's Sugar box.  I went to the website and found a whole list of icing recipes so I thought I would share!


CLICK HERE!

http://www.verypink.com/Images/jingles/candh.jpg

Spicy Shrimp Pasta

Easy. Yummy. Quick. I will give you the long way and the short way. The recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens.

My quick way:

12 oz cooked, peeled, de-tailed shrimp
Pasta of your choice (Enough for 3 big servings)
2 cups of fresh broccoli
Half of an 8oz jar of Sun Dried Tomatoes
Crushed red pepper to taste
Basil

Cook pasta as directed.  Thaw shrimp by running water over it in a colander.  Steam fresh broccoli. (I use a Pampered Chef Micro cooker). Pour 1/4 cup of the oil out of the sun dried tomatoes.  In a skillet heat the shrimp in the oil.  Season with crushed red pepper and add sundried tomatoes.  I drained the oil after the shrimp cooked because I did not want the meal really greasy.  Add broccoli and season with fresh or dried basil.  Mix the shrimp, broccoli, tomato mixture with the cooked and drained pasta.

The long way from Better Homes and Gardens:

8 oz. dried angel hair pasta
3 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 6.5-oz. jar sun-dried tomato strips with Italian herb packed in oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 lb. frozen, peeled, and deveined shrimp with tails, thawed and drained
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil

1. In 4-quart Dutch oven cook pasta with broccoli according to pasta package directions. Drain; return to Dutch oven. Cover to keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, drain tomatoes, reserving oil. If necessary, add olive oil to equal 1/4 cup. In extra-large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add shallots; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until tender. Add shrimp and crushed red pepper; cook and stir 2 minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes; cook and stir 2 minutes until shrimp are opaque.

3. Toss shrimp mixture with cooked pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle additional olive oil. Transfer to serving bowls. Sprinkle snipped fresh basil. Serves 4

Greek Couscous with Chicken Two Ways

Ok so I think I should change the name of my blog to "The Lazy Housewife" because I have all of these recipes I want to try to make but some of them have a lot of steps/ingredients and just don't have the patience for that type of cooking.  With that said my friend Emily posted this recipe on her blog and I wanted to try it.  I bought the ingredients (I had to chase down some artichokes here in OK) and began cooking when I realized I DON'T HAVE TO DO ALL OF THE STEPS!!!! So here it is...Greek Couscous with Chicken...the long way and the lazy way.

The lazy way:
Cooked chicken breasts
1 packages of Near East Whole Wheat Couscous with Garlic and Olive Oil
6 oz green beans, trimmed and halved
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta
1/3 up kalamata olives, halved
2 tbsp lemon juice


Prepare Near East couscous as directed on the package.  Right as your stir in the couscous to the boiling water, add the green beans to the water along with the couscous.  Let that sit for a few minutes. Chop up artichokes and tomato and add to couscous.  Add other ingredients as desired ( I left out olives).  Cut up your piece of chicken and serve it on top of or next to couscous mixture. Top couscous with feta.



The long way:

Greek Couscous with Chicken

courtesy of Family Circle Magazine

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous
1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
6 oz green beans, trimmed and halved
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta
1/3 up kalamata olives, halved
2 tbsp lemon juice
1. Heat oil in a medium nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook onion, oregano and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook 4 minutes.
2. Stir in couscous and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and 1 cup water to pot and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 12 minutes or until water is absorbed. Add green beans to pot for last 5 minutes of cooking.
3. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, chicken, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, feta, olives, and lemon juice and serve immediately.

Reading Comprehension and Graphic Organizers

Here are some links to already made reading comprehension selections with questions.  Some of the other links have graphic organizers. Again these are 3rd grade level but I am pretty sure other levels are available.





Super Teacher Worksheets


NCSU.edu


Time for Kids Graphic Organizers


And some MORE!

Spinach Manicotti

I will have to try this recipe again with a few adjustments but overall it was yummy.  The recipe was from a Martha Stewart magazine I get for free since I used Wedding Wire or The Knot.  I think it is called Everyday Food.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/

You need:
8 Manicotti "shells" cooked
1 15oz container of ricotta cheese
1 10oz package of spinach
Salt
Pepper
Lemon Zest
1/2 Cup Parm Cheese
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese (I did not use this but I would add it)
Pasta sauce


Thaw and drain the spinach if you bought it frozen or cook and drain it if you bought fresh.  Mix spinach with ricotta. Season with salt and pepper.  Add Parm cheese and lemon zest (I left that out).  I would add 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese to the mixture as well.  Mix ingredients well.  The recipe said to scoop mixture into a gallon size freezer bag and cut the corner of the bag and squeeze into the shells.  I was lazy and just slit the shells open and stuffed them :-).  Anyway, stuff the shells which ever way you please and lay them in a baking pan.  Top shells with pasta sauce and cook at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  We had this with Italian turkey sausage.

Pizza Crust From the Pioneer Woman and My Buffalo Chicken Pizza

We like to have home made pizza and I have had problems finding a crust I like.  This one from the Pioneer Woman is pretty good!!!!


Pizza Crust


■1 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast

■4 cups All-purpose Flour

■1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

■⅓ cups Olive Oil

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.


In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for at least an hour. Use right away or store in the fridge until you need it.
Cook at 500 degrees for 11 minutes or until crust is browning.
Recipe is from here!


So I like to make buffalo chicken pizza. It is simple and it is good!



You need:
Franks Red Hot sauce
Half of the pizza dough from The Pioneer Woman
Ranch
Cooked chicken cut in cubes
Monterrey Jack cheese


Roll out the pizza crust on a pan that has been coated with veggie oil.  Spread a layer of Franks over the dough. Top with chicken.  Drizzle Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing over the chicken.  Drizzle more Franks over the chicken.  Top with the Monterrey Jack cheese.  Cook for 11-13 minutes or until crust begins to brown.

Math Review

Here are some good daily math review books with worksheets that I have seen used in my school....

Math 4 Today

One worksheet has four or five rows and students complete one row each day and at the end of the week the entire sheet has been completed. This is a good way to review previously taught skills.


Math Minutes

Ten problems on one sheet that review different math skills.  This is more spread out and less intimidating than the Math 4 Today.


Drops in the Bucket

This worksheet is organized by skill and the review skill in labeled on the worksheet unlike the other two; however to me it looks a bit crowded.


All of these companies have "reading" review sheets as well that you can buy separately.