Grilled Cheese Burger

Ingredients:

2 hamburger patties

4 pieces sourdough or french bread

Shredded cheddar cheese as much as you like

Sliced red onion and tomato if you like

Make It:

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. While pan is heating salt and pepper your hamburger patties, put them in pan cook 4 minutes per side. Remove patties from pan and set aside. Wipe out pan, butter one side of each piece of bread, place butter side down in pan. Add cheese(as much as you like) then onion, then pattie, then more cheese and tomato slices. Top with other piece of bread, press down on sandwich to bind it, flip over and cook until all cheese is melted and bread is browned. Do the same again for the other burger. This is a recipe for 2 but can be easily doubled or tripled depending on how many you are feeding. Enjoy!

Menu for October 5th- October 11th

Monday: Tamales, green salad

Tuesday: Pizza

Wednesday: Grilled cheese burger, green beans

Thursday: Marinated chicken, pasta with zucchini

Friday: Baked penne, sauteed chard

Saturday: Party!

Sunday: Shredded beef tacos, mixed beans

Dessert of the week: Chocolate chip cookies

Fresh and Easy Grill Pack

For all of you that are busy! This is great for 10 bucks you get 4 italian sausage, 4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken drumsticks, and 4 hamburger patties. The chicken is marinated and is good cooked in the oven or on the grill. I use the sausage in pasta sauce. My kids don't eat burgers so I get 4 dinners for us out of this. I love it!

Menu for September 28th- October 4th

Monday- Baked chicken, sauteed zucchini, biscuits

Tuesday- Beef tacos, green salad

Wednesday- Leftovers(I don't usually do a leftover night but we had a lot this week)

Thursday- New york steaks, mashed potatoes, butter carrots

Friday- Cheeseburgers, fruit salad

Saturday- Pork loin chop, steamed cauliflower, cheese bread

Sunday- Pizza, green salad

Pearsauce!

I bought 15 pounds of pears last week, the kids love them! We ate as many as we could in one week and once they were almost over ripe I made them into pearsauce.

Ingredients:

Pears(as many as you want to use)

You will need a big pot with a little bit of water and a steamer basket and a blender.

Make It:

Take the pears, core them and cut them into good sized pieces. Put the pot over high heat and once water is boiling turn down heat a little and add pears to steamer basket, cover. Cook until pears are tender 6-10 minutes. Turn off heat. Spoon pears into blender, blend until smooth, add add some of the water that you steamed them in if you need to. Be careful though it can get thin really fast. Continue until all are blended and smooth. I put a jar of it into the fridge for the week and froze a bag of it, to enjoy in the winter. The rest I froze as baby food.

I divided it into an icetray and put in the freezer. After it is frozen I pop it out and place in sandwich bags. At meal times I take out two cubes, defrost them and serve.

Abundant Harvest Box

In the box this week we got to many plums to count! We also got 6 pears and 1 cantaloupe. 1 head of green leaf lettuce, 1 bunch of green chard and italian parsley, 4 beefsteak tomatoes, 1 carton cherry tomatoes, 6 carrots, 3 zucchini, 10-12 potatoes, lots of jalapenos, 4 bell peppers, and radishes. Since we have gotten carrots 2 weeks in a row I will take what I had leftover from last week and make baby food. Also i'm going to freeze the bell peppers.

Seasonal Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

Pear, grapes, apple, plum, and pomegranate

Make It:

Cut all fruit into small pieces. Peel pomegranate and get all seeds out. Mix all together in a bowl.

Enjoy!

A little info about pomegranates, it is a little difficult to get the seeds out. Once you do though they are very good, sweet and a little sour. Also they are very high in antioxidants, contain vitamin c, vitamin b5, and potassium.

Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cut into small strips

2 or 3 bell peppers assorted colors(depending on how much heat you like you can also add poblanos, anaheims, and jalapenos) cut into strips

1 onion cut into strips

1/2 packet taco seasoning with about 1tblsp chili powder and cumin added to it

If you like you can also add mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, and squash or zucchini

1 lime

Flour tortillas

Assorted toppings(sour cream, avocado, pico de gallo)

Make It:

Heat a wok or large iron skillet over high heat. Toss chicken with seasoning until coated. Spray pan with pam, turn heat down a little. Put chicken in the pan, cook quickly stirring often, should take about five minutes, pour onto a separate dish. Put pan back over heat, spray again, put veggies in pan(if using mushrooms, tomatoes, or squash add them after you have cooked the peppers and onions because they are tender and will get mushy) cook quickly stirring often. Cook 2 or 3 minutes, you want them to be crisp tender. Add chicken back to pan and stir to combine. Squeeze lime over fajitas, stir. Heat tortillas. Serve fajitas in tortilla with toppings. Enjoy!

Chili Macaroni

In an effort to save time the day I made the mac and cheese I cooked a whole box of macaroni noodles. I used 1/2 that day and stored the second 1/2 for this recipe. Also this is a recipe that could easily be doubled to feed a crowd, and can be made ahead and reheated.

Ingredients:

1lb. ground beef

1 big green bell pepper or 2 sml diced

1 onion diced

1 jalapeno diced(optional)

1 can diced tomatoes or 2 cups homemade diced tomatoes

2 to 4 tablespoons chili seasoning, add 2 then taste and add more if you ned too

1c. red chile sauce

1c. cheddar cheese

Make it:

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add beef, cook until browned, drain. Add onion and peppers cook until softened. Add tomatoes let simmer(small amount of bubbles) for ten minutes. Add chili seasoning, stir to combine, add chile sauce. Simmer ten more minutes and taste, add more seasoning if it needs it. Turn broiler on high. Pour macaroni into a casserole dish and sprinkle cheese on top. Put under broiler until cheese is melted(watch closely it happens fast). Enjoy!

Bacon Mac & Cheese, Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 box macaroni noodles cooked

1c. cheddar cheese

4oz. 2% velveeta

1 head cauliflower cut into individual florets and boiled until tender

4 pieces bacon cooked until crispy

2c. milk

2tblsp. flour

2tblsp. butter

Make It:

Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add butter, once butter is melted, add flour. Whisk to combine, slowly add in milk, whisking constantly. Once milk is combined and there are no lumps stop whisking and allow to come to a low simmer(little bit of bubbles). Stir occasionally to prevent bottom from burning. Once bubbly turn down heat a little and let sauce cook until thickened. Add velveeta and stir till melted and combined, do the same with the cheddar. In a separate pot add noodles, crumbled bacon, and 3/4 of the cheese sauce. Stir to combine. Pour the rest of the sauce over the cauliflower when you serve it. Enjoy!

Menu for September 21st-27th

Monday- Grilled steak, lobster, baked potato, green salad

Tuesday- Grilled marinated chicken,bacon mac & cheese, cauliflower with cheese sauce

Wednesday- Pizza(homemade or take out)

Thursday- Chicken fajitas, refried beans

Friday- Sushi

Saturday- Chili macaroni, green salad

Sunday- Tri-tip, chili, mashed potatoes, fruit salad

Dessert of the week: Jessicas Cupcakes!

Basic Cooking Tip of The Week 2

How to fry a taco shell:

To make 12 taco shells, heat 3/4 oil over medium high heat, it should be hot enough in 3 minutes. Add the tortilla like this

Then lift up one side and fold in half like this
Then flip to the other side
Cook each shell this way until they are light brown on both sides, transfer to a paper towel lined plate, so they can drain off any excess oil.

Enjoy with your favorite taco fillings!

Steak Tacos

Ingredients:

2 steaks(I use top sirloin or new york) cut into bite size chunks

1/4c. taco seasoning(homemade or packaged)

1/4c. water

1 lime

14 corn tortillas, fried

Toppings-finely chopped cilantro, diced onion, sriracha thai chili sauce or salsa, avocado, grated cheese

Make It:

Heat a large skillet to medium high, toss steak with taco seasoning. Spray pan and add steak. Cook about 3 minutes until browned, stirring to get an even brown. Add water bring to a low simmer and reduce heat to low, stir occasionally, cook 5-10 minutes until sauce thickens. Meanwhile in a small sauce pan heat oil and fry tortillas. Prep toppings. Squeeze lime on steak and stir. Take a taco shell add meat, cheese, sriracha, cilantro, onion, one piece of sliced avocado. Enjoy!

A little info about sriracha, its a thai chili sauce you find in the asian food section at the market. It is spicy and a little sweet. Start with a little. After a couple trys you will love it! I put it on tacos, mix it in soy sauce to pour on rice, add to stir fry sauce, dip steak in it, and put it on my sushi.

Abundant Harvest Box

I decided to add a new feature to the blog! I want to show you guys what yummy veggies and fruits I get in my box. I really think its a great deal. I switched my subscription from a small box to a large box. The plan was to take everything out and take a picture. I got so excited about how much good stuff was in it that I forgot to take the picture! So here is a list:

25-30 october sun plums(I didn't count but it was alot)

4 pomegranates, 1 bag dark grapes

4 zucchini, 3 lg tomatoes, a container of cherry tomatoes

1 lg head cauliflower, 1 eggplant, 6 carrots

12-14 sml potatoes, 1 head of romaine, 1 head of green leaf, sage

1 cantaloupe, 6 sml bell peppers, 1 basket green figs

All organic! When you make the decision to eat seasonal, local and mostly organic you have to think ahead! I used the tomatoes, 2 carrots, and 1 zucchini to make a pasta sauce that I froze. I also shredded 2 of the zucchini and froze them to use in cakes, breads, and other stuff in the winter. I will be freezing some bell peppers and onions the next time I get them. At some point I will have to learn to can things but i'm not quite there yet.

Basic Cooking Tip of The Week

How to make mashed potatoes:

You will need one good size russet potato per person. In a large pot boil enough water to cover potatoes. Peel potatoes, if you like the skin you can leave a little on. Chop into about 2 inch pieces. Add to water, boil until tender enough for a fork to pierce potato easily. Drain, put potatoes in a stand up mixer, back in pan or a large bowl. Now the rest you do by your taste. Add butter, milk, salt and pepper. If using a stand up mixer, use the paddle, and turn on low. If you don't have a stand up mixer you can mash potatoes in a large bowl with a potato masher. Or you can use a hand held mixer. Beat or mash potatoes and other ingredients until smooth. Taste them once smooth and add extra butter, milk, salt or pepper as needed. Enjoy!

Cheesy Tot Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces and cooked

2 carrots peeled and diced

1/2 onion diced

1/2 head broccoli cut into small pieces

2tblsp flour

2c milk

2tblsp butter

4oz velveeta

1c cheddar cheese

25 frozen tater tots

2teas thyme

Make It:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a small saute pan to medium heat, spray in some pam, add carrots and onions. Cook over medium low heat until softened. Add chicken stir to combine, keep over heat until chicken is warm. Meanwhile heat a saucepan over medium heat add butter, once butter is melted, add flour stir for 30 seconds to cook flour a little. Add milk whisking constantly, once combined cook over medium low heat until slightly thickened(about 5 minutes). Add velveeta stir until velveeta is melted. Pour chicken mixture into a 9x9 casserole dish, sprinkle thyme over it, add broccoli. Pour cheese sauce over chicken mixture, stir to combine. Sprinkle cheese on top. Then cover with tater tots. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tots are golden brown. Enjoy!

Menu for September 14th -20th

Monday- Shake and Bake drumsticks, Mashed potatoes, Summer squash saute

Tuesday- Pizza(homemade or take out), Green salad

Wednesday- Steak tacos, Red pepper strips

Thursday- Cheesy tot chicken casserole, Fruit salad

Friday- Steak stir fry, Rice

Saturday- Birthday party

Sunday- Patty melt, Sliced tomatoes, Corn on the cob

Dessert of the week: Ice Cream Sundaes

Basic Cooking Tip of The Week

How to make a pork loin chop

Preheat oven to 375. Preheat an iron skillet or basic saute pan to medium high heat. Season chop with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and granulated garlic to taste(feel free to experiment with the seasoning to get them the way you like it). Put in pan and brown, 4 minutes per side. Put on an oven safe dish, place in oven and cook for 20 minutes. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

Guacamole Burgers

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef to make 4 patties or 2 depending on how big you like them

1 avocado pitted and mashed in a bowl

4 slices swiss cheese

Sliced red onion

Hamburger buns

Condiments of choice

Make It:

Form patties and put back in refrigerator until time to cook. Preheat bbq or cast iron skillet to medium high. Slice onion and mash avocado, prep any other veggie or condiment you choose to use. Put patties in pan or on grill, cook 4 minutes per side(for medium) cook longer for more well done, add cheese turn off heat and cover till cheese is melted. Grill buns a minute or until lightly toasted. Serve with onion and avocado. Enjoy!

Chicken Spaghetti Skillet

I usually make pasta two times a week, we only eat half a box per meal. So I cook a whole box with the first meal. Then use the rest for the second meal.

Ingredients:

1/2 box spaghetti

2 chicken breasts cut into small pieces

1/2 head cauliflower(precooked in boiling water until softened, or steamed)

1/4 c. white wine

1/4 c. chicken broth

1/2 red onion diced

Salt, granulated garlic and pepper to taste

1c. shredded parmesan

Make It:

Heat a large pot over medium heat, add chicken cook until browned. Add onion, and cook until softened. Add cauliflower, broth, wine and seasonings, stir and bring to a simmer(medium amount of bubbles). Cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spaghetti, stir, cook until heated thru. Add parmesan stir to combine. Enjoy!

Pot Beans

Ingredients:

2 cans chili beans

1 can baked beans

1 bell pepper diced

1/2 onion diced

1 tblsp garlic

1 jalapeno diced(optional)

1 tblsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teas. crushed red pepper

Make It:

Heat a large pot over medium low, spray with cooking spray, add bell pepper, onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Cook until softened, stirring occasionally. Add beans and seasonings, stir to combine. Bring to a low simmer(small amount of bubbles) cover, cook for thirty minutes stirring every ten minutes. Uncover and cook another fifteen minutes. Enjoy!

Menu for September 7th -13th

Monday: Bbq tri-tip, Beans, Corn on the Cob

Tuesday: Pork loin chop, Rice, Broccoli

Wednesday: Pizza(homemade or order)

Thursday: Chicken spaghetti skillet, Bread, Fruit salad

Friday: Out for Sushi

Saturday: Bbq chicken, Baked Potato, Green salad

Sunday: Guacamole burgers, Corn, Green salad

Dessert of the week: Oreo ice cream cake