New favorite recipe site....simply amazing!

Well, fall is officially here today. I was able to wear my new fall sweater and pulled out my favorite warm jacket. It is this time of the year when I crave good ole' comfort food. That might be what contributes to my small weight gain every winter=).

Last night I made my first new soup of the fall, which I will post later. First, I want to tell you about a new website I found today. It is especially a great website for people who do not cook much but are wanting to learn. The website is thepioneerwoman.com. She uses photos to not only show the ingredients but to also show step by step instructions on how to make the recipe. She a humorous way of writing the recipes and talking about it. I think I am going to be making recipes from this website alot this fall/winter!!! I hope you check it out and enjoy the website as much as I do.

Adventures in Canning-zesty salsa

So we finally did it! We got our supplies and picked produce from our gardens and came together to can for the 1st time. Although it was not the smoothest first experience, we did our best and figured out what we need to make it easier next time. For our next attempt I bought a wide-mouthed canning funnel and a magnetic wand. If you are wanting to try canning but are scared it is actually quite easy. I took a class at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and was shocked it was so simple. So as our economy continues to go down, canning is a great way to stretch a buck and fill up your pantry! This is the recipe I got from Whole Foods and what we used for the salsa we canned.

Zesty Salsa (makes about 6 pints)

• 10 cups chopped, seeded, peeled and cored tomatoes (about 6 pounds)
• 5 cups seeded and chopped long, mild green chilies, such as Anaheim (about 2 pounds)
• 2 1/2 cups seeded and chopped hot chilies, such as Serrano or Jalapeno (about 1 pound)
• 5 cups chopped onions (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 1 1/4 cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 3 tablespoons salt

1. Wash 6 pint jars and fill with hot water until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.
2. In a large saucepan, combine tomatoes, chilies, onions, garlic, vinegar, cilantro, and salt. Bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, for ten minutes or until slightly thickened.
3. Ladle hot salsa into jars one hot jar at a time, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles, and adjust head space, if necessary, by adding more salsa. Wipe rim with a clean, damp cloth. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. Process in boiling water canner for 15 minutes.

Notes

• To get skin off tomatoes, cut a slit across the skin and then drop the tomatoes into boiling water until skin starts to peel back.
• We did not have a water canner so we just used a normal stock pot. When you can you have to make sure the cans are totally covered by the boiling water. So you need to use a very deep pot.

Broccoli and Parmesan Casserole

I found this recipe a while ago for a broccoli casserole and have been wanting to try it. I think it is always good to find new ways to make vegetables so they don't get boring. Especially if you have children, there is no better way than to mix the vegetables with cheese! This recipe is from my Cooking Light magazine, so even though you would think the cheese sauce would bump up the calorie count it is only 150 calories for a 1 cup serving. I really liked this recipe, it had great flavor and was easy to make. I think this one is a keeper!

Ingredients

• 8 cups coarsely chopped broccoli florets (about 2 pounds)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
• 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup reduced-fat shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons diced pimentos, drained
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• bread crumbs

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cook broccoli in boiling water 3 minutes, drain
3. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Place flour, salt and dry mustard in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, gradually add the milk and chicken broth, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook for about 8 minutes until it is thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and add shredded cheddar cheese and 6 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese, stirring until melted. Stir in pimentos and pepper. Add broccoli, tossing to coat.
4. Spoon the broccoli mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
5. Sprinkle enough bread crumbs to lightly cover the broccoli. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Spray top of casserole lightly with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until bubbly . Let stand for 5 minutes before serving

• After the cheese sauce was done I actually put one squeeze of dijon mustard in it too, gave it a nice flavor if you like mustard.

Pissaladiere my way!

Any day of the week, few meals hit the spot quite like a pizza and a glass of wine or beer=). In the South of France, they kick back with a flaky onion tart called pissaladiere. Like pizza, it's bathed in olive oil and infused with fresh herbs-just hold the cheese and tomato sauce. I served this with a green salad and my favorite zucchini crisps. I changed the recipe a bit and used a Pillsbury pizza crust (instead of puff pastry) which are found in the cooler case where you would find the biscuits and cinnamon rolls. This would be an awesome and quick appetizer if you were having a group of people over, just cut into small squares.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1-2 onions, thinly sliced
• 2 sprigs of thyme, plus 1 tablespoon leaves
• 1 sprig rosemary
• salt and pepper
• 1 can of Pillsbury pizza dough or (1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed)
• 16 pitted small kalamata olives, halved
• 16 grape tomatoes, halved

Directions

1. In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and the thyme and rosemary sprigs; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, partially covered and stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened and browned, about 25 minutes. Discard the herb sprigs and mix in the additional thyme leaves.
2. Meanwhile , place the pizza dough on a non-stick cookie sheet.
3. Pre-heat the oven according to the directions on the pizza dough.
4. Spread the onions evenly over the pizza dough and sprinkle with the olives and tomatoes. Bake until the edges are golden brown. The dough I bought was about 17 minutes at 400 degrees.
5. Slice into quarters; serve warm or at room temperature.

Spanish Rice

I was craving spanish rice the other night to go with our tacos but didn't have one of those crummy boxes of rice so I decided to figure out how to make up my own recipe. I first cooked 2 cups of rice in my rice cooker and put in chicken stock instead of water. If you don't have a rice cooker go buy one, they make the perfect rice every time. While my rice cooked I sauteed up a half an onion and garlic in a pan, until the onions were soft. When the rice was done I added it to the onions in the pan. I also mixed in a small can of diced green chilies, about 8 ounces of tomato sauce. I seasoned to to taste with cumin, chili powder, and salt/pepper. Then I transfered to a pyrex and keep warm in the oven until the tacos were done. This rice was very good and very easy.

BLT night

Tonight I stole a tradition our good family friends do every year. Since they have been married they have grown tomatoes in their garden and every year the first ripe tomato they get they make BLT's with. When we started our garden I told Brian I wanted to do the same. BLT's have always been one of my favorite sandwiches, and in college at WWU, BLT night was always my favorite. So tonight was the night we started our annual BLT tradition. I went to the store bought a good package of apple wood smoked bacon and a watermelon.

Some people don't like cooking bacon because it makes you stink, so my advice is to cook it in the oven like they do in restaurants. You will not stink and you will get perfectly cooked bacon. I put the oven at 425 and laid the bacon on a baking sheet. You will have to pour off some grease and flip them half-way through. Should take about 12 minutes, just make sure to keep an eye on it to the crispiness your prefer.

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes,and Goat Cheese

Every meal we eat right now has tomatoes in it, luckily we love tomatoes. This morning I wanted to use up the rest of the herbed goat cheese we had in the fridge that I knew wouldn't last many more days. So I went to the garden and picked a handful of cherry tomatoes, which I cut into halves. Then I scrambled up 4 eggs and 1 egg white with a little bit of milk, seasoned with some pepper (I don't salt my eggs until after they are cooked because Rachael Ray says they can get tough). When I make us eggs I usually give about 2-2 1/2 eggs per person. I dropped the tomatoes in first so they would cook alittle, then poured the eggs on top. I let the eggs cook about half way through then I put in the crumbled goat cheese, about 10 basil leaves that I tour up, and a little bit of fresh mozzarella I also had.

I served this with some orange slices and breakfast potatoes by Simply Potato. If you haven't used Simple Potato before I would strongly encourage you to try this product. It is very handy to have this if you want to make a quick breakfast. These are the breakfast potatoes that I also use in my One Dish Breakfast, that was one of my first recipes I blogged about. So if you are growing tomatoes and are running out of things to do with them try out this breakfast.