Food goodness

I can't remember where I got this recipe from. I think I had found several like it on the web and sort of adapted them. It's a lovely, easy, warming meal that can be thrown together in no time. I've put the approximate amounts I use for just the two of us - for 3 people, you could probably get away with just bulking up the sauce with more chicken and veg, but definitely double everything for four. 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced 1 can of cream of chicken soup 1 packet of taco seasoning* 2 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese 1 pepper (I use red or green, depending on what I have), chopped 1/2 cup frozen corn roughly broken taco shells or tortilla chips *Admittedly, with the cream of chicken soup and taco seasoning and cheese and tortilla chips, it can get a bit salty, so if you're watching your sodium levels, you can get the same effect by making your own seasoning with paprika, cumin, ground coriander and crushed chillies. Preheat the oven to 325F / 170C. He...

In Scotland flapjacks are like chewy granola bars. I made these for my brother's visit expecting them to last most of the week, but they had disappeared within about 24 hours. They're so simple and reasonably healthy - good for kids' lunch boxes, midmorning snacks, or even for breakfast on the go. The recipe comes from Waitrose.com, and I have put the original recipe and the conversions, so hopefully this will make sense. 150g / 5.5oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes 75g / 2.75oz light brown sugar 3 tbsp / 5-6tbsp clear honey** 250g / 9oz rolled oats (I think Quaker oats are rolled - not the instant ones) 170g / 6oz dried berries (I used cranberries and blueberries, but any kind of berry/raisin is nice) 50g / 1.75oz chopped nuts (I used almonds, but again, anything works) **I think the tablespoons here are much bigger - I used 4 US tablespoons, and it wasn't quite enough and bits were too crumbly - the honey helps it stick together, so it's worth using a fair amount ...

From Nigella Lawson. *be sure that your filo is thawed (if frozen) and has been sitting at room temp for 2 hrs before using (this was the mistake I made--it still tasted good but it's a total pain to try and work with frozen filo) 1 t cumin seeds 1 small onion, small dice 2 T olive oil 1/2 t ground tumeric 1 t ground coriander 3 plump zucchini, unpeeled and diced generous 1/2 C basmati rice (I used jasmine rice) 2 1/4 C vegetable stock (or chix stock if you prefer) 2 15 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained scant 1/2 C melted butter 7 oz. filo dough Preheat oven to 400 and dig out an 8" springform pan Gently fry the cumin seeds and onion in the olive oil until the onions are soft. Add the tumeric and coriander and diced zucchini. When zucch. is soft but still holding its shape, add rice and stir, letting the rice become well coated with oil. Add the stock 1/2 C at a time stirring until liquid is absorbed. Once all stock is absorbed, rice should be done. Stir in chickpeas and che...

From Paula Deen Y'all, this is so good. Seriously. It's not low in fat but it doesn't matter--it's delicious. And it's holiday time. Yum! Cake: 1 18 1/4 oz. box of yellow cake mix 1 stick butter, melted 1 egg Filling: 1 15 oz. can pumpkin 1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened 3 eggs 1 t. vanilla 1 stick butter, melted 1 16 oz. box of 10x sugar 1 t. cinnamon 1 t. nutmeg Preheat oven to 350. Combine ingredients for cake and pat into a lightly greased 13 x 9" pan. For filling: in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey.* Serve with fresh whipped cream. * I think I over-baked mine but it's easy to do b/c it's so wobbly when you check it at 40 and 50 minutes. I think an hour should do ...

From Cooking Light , September 2007 This dish was awesome. It was in the 20th anniversary edition of Cooking Light as their best beef dish over the years. We like beef stew in our house, but I usually make it with a brown gravy. This stew had a really different flavor- bright and tangy from the wine and tomatoes. I will definitely make it again. I used stew beef that was already cubed in the grocery store, rather than the chuck roast, and it came out really tender and flavorful. I also used dried herbs, because that's what I had. 2 tsp olive oil 12 garlic cloves, crushed 1 (2 lb) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-in cubes * 1 1/2 tsp salt, divided 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided 1 cup red wine 2 cups chopped carrots 1 1/2 cups chopped onion 1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth 1 Tbsp tomato paste 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme dash of ground cloves 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained 1 bay leaf 3 cups hot cooked medium egg noo...

First an introduction, then a recipe. My friend from college, Kate , is going to be joining the food blog. She's living in Scotland with her husband, so I'm betting recipes come across in metrics. I'll link to a handy converter on the side where we keep our food blog links. So yay! Welcome Kate. Also, I believe we may be getting a few more food bloggers shortly. And now, for the recipe. I made this Monday night when Gwen came to the house, and it was really good. It was a pretty tangy dressing -- at first, I thought I might leave out the lemon next time, but when I ate the leftovers yesterday, it had melded pretty well. Maybe this is a recipe to make one day, eat the next. We ate this with mini croissants and roasted brussel sprouts (some olive oil, salt, garlic, roasted for 20 minutes at 400), but it'd also be good in a wrap for lunch. Waldorf Chicken Salad Originally found here 3/4 cups Greek-style yogurt 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 teaspoons D...

From Simply Recipes (totally my favorite recipe blog lately) Ta da! I finally made a cookie that turned out well! Yay! I took a bunch to work, and everyone loved them. If you follow the instructions and use 2 Tbsp scoops, these cookies are huge and chewy. I made some a bit smaller, and they didn't lose the chewiness like the recipe threatens. Next time I think I'll use dried cranberries instead of raisins, and maybe a bit of cinnamon in addition to the nutmeg. These were really good as is, though. Makes about 18 large chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup light brown sugar, packed 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 cups rolled oats (Quick or Old Fashioned) 1 1/2 cups raisins 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 1 Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large cooki...

This is from one of my favorite bloggers, who originally posted the recipe here . These muffins live up to their name, too -- although I can only imagine how insanely good they'd actually be if you, say, used all the ingredients. I managed to forget the oil and they still were great, albeit oddly sticky and spongy. Next time, I'm going to try to substitute applesauce or something for the oil; the fact that the muffins held up well without it suggests they might adapt easily to (deliberate) messing with them to make them a bit healthier. 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I, Gwen, used 1 c whole wheat and 3/4 c white) 1 1/4 cups sugar 1 tbls baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp ground allspice 1/8 tsp ground cloves 1 can pumpkin [edited to clarify that this should be the ‘regular’ size can of pumpkin, not the large variety — the original recipe calls for 1 CUP of pumpkin so if that’s easier use that measurement] 1/2 cup ...

This a recipe I copied from Isaac's soup recipe book before I quit working there many years ago and it has always been a favorite. Truly, the best soups I ever had were made there and I have yet to find a restaurant that makes such a great variety of tasty homemade soups. This recipe has been adapted from the original 10 gallon version (that's right: 10 gallons) 1 large red pepper, medium chop 1 large green pepper, medium chop 2 medium onions, small chop 1 T olive oil 2 lbs. red fingerling potatoes 3 6 oz. cans of lump crab meat (if you can get it fresh, all the better, but if not, this works well) 3 large cloves garlic 1/2 C Old Bay seasoning scant 1/4 C. crab base (if you can't find crab base and are using canned crab meat, reserve the juice from the crab and add to soup) 2 cans tomato sauce Scrub potatoes and cut into 1 inch pieces. Cover with water and cook until almost done. Drain into a colander and reserve for later. In a large pot, add olive oil, onions and pep...

another tasty recipe from Simply Recipes I wasn't sure I would like this, because I am not a huge fan of peas, but this was pretty tasty. I would bring this as a side dish to pot-lucks, BBQ's, etc. It tasted good and only took 5 minutes to prepare. Can't get much better than that. I did rinse the almonds, even though that seemed weird, and they still tasted good (and a little spicy). Blue Diamond makes a 6oz can of jalepeno smokehouse almonds, which is what I think this recipes is calling for. 16-ounces frozen petite peas (do not thaw) 1/2 cup chopped green onions 6 ounces smokehouse almonds, rinsed to take off the excess salt, chopped (preferably by hand) 8 ounces chopped water chestnuts 2/3 cup mayonnaise 2 tsp yellow curry powder Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Combine the frozen peas, green onions, smokehouse almonds, and water chestnuts. In a separate small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise and curry powder. Gently stir the mayonnaise mi...