Pomegranate Ice Cream

Today I decided to try pomegranate ice cream in my ice cream maker. Mine is only a 1.5 quart maker so I had to keep it about a quart of liquid. Unfortunately I never took a picture of the end product...

I wanted to keep it super simple, so here it is:

1 cup 100% pomegranate juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 cups half and half
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Mix everything together. I measured and mixed in the same bowl.

Add to ice cream maker and churn 20-30 mins.

If you want it to be soft, eat it right now!  Otherwise, spoon it into a freezer safe container and freeze for an hour or two until harder.

I love the tangy-ness of adding the lime juice. Next time I will probably cut down on the sugar. Maybe 3/4 cup.
This might be my favorite of the ice creams that I've made so far!


~~~~~

Menu Plan Oct 17th-22

I've been home alone the last two weeks, so I haven't done much cooking. It's no fun cooking for yourself!! I've had lots of wonderful friends invite me over or go out somewhere with me, but the occasional night I've stayed in has consisted of really exciting dinners such as.... toasted english muffin with peanut butter!  Stunning!

This week I'm finally getting back in the swing of things. I am so happy to have my hubby back home. It's been very lonely without him, especially since I could rarely have any communication with him. I don't know how people do it with their husbands gone for months or years at a time. I was going crazy without having him around, and it was only 2.5 weeks!

Ok, on to the menu for this week!

Monday - Lemon-Garlic Chicken with Pasta and Quick & Easy Alfredo Sauce
 --I love this alfredo sauce! It's quick, it uses ingredients I almost always have around the house, and to me, it tastes amazing. It may not be *quite* as good as REAL alfredo sauce, but I love that it is so easy and pretty much fool-proof to throw together! I always add extra garlic... mmmm

Tuesday - Cheese Steak Sandwiches (crockpot)

Wednesday - Gumbo with Chicken & Italian Sausage  (crockpot)
--I looked for a while to find a good gumbo recipe, and kinda pulled several together to create this one. I think it's exactly what I was looking for! dont' forget to add the roux at the end... gives it that something extra special!

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - Argentinian Pork Tenderloin  (cooking the pork in the crockpot)

Saturday - leftovers again, or out to dinner with friends!


~~~~~~~

Homemade Blackberry Ice Cream!

I just bought myself an ice cream maker this week. The end of summer seems like an appropriate time for that, doesn't it?? :-P

Well of course I had to try out my new ice cream maker as soon as it came. I ran across a recipe for blackberry ice cream, and remembered that earlier in the summer when blackberries were in season, I pureed a bunch of them to freeze them for later. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to use them!

Here is the recipe I used... It calls for a custard base, then you add in the blackberry juice/syrup. I didn't strain my puree when I made it, and I didn't feel like waiting for it to thaw before making my ice cream, so I just dumped the frozen blackberry yumminess into the custard base.

...and mixed it all together until it thawed...

...which had the additional effect of cooling off the ice cream mixture enough that I could put it in my ice cream maker and start churning!

It only needed about 20-30 mins of churning to look ready to eat!

We had some for sampling, and put the rest in the freezer to harden up and save for later.

Next time though, I probably will take the time to strain the seeds out of the blackberry puree. I didn't mind them being in there too much, but I think I would like it better without them. All in all, this was a VERY yummy recipe :)

I think I'm going to go pull it out of the freezer and have some for breakfast!

Here's my scaled recipe for my 1.5 qt ice cream maker:

• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• approx 1 cup blackberry puree (see original link for using fresh blackberries!)

Heat half-and-half and sugar in a pan over low heat. Remove from heat when heated through, before mixture starts to boil so the half-and-half doesn't start to curdle.

Beat egg yolks until slightly thick. Slowly pour 1/4 cup of the hot half-and-half mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, to temper them. Then pour the egg yolk mixture into the pan with the rest of the half-and-half mixture.

Cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly (between 5-10 minutes)

Pour heavy cream into a separate bowl. Pour custard through a fine mesh sieve and stir into the heavy cream. Add blackberry puree and stir.

Chill mixture completely. When cool, pour into ice cream maker and churn until frozen (20-40 mins)

Enjoy!

Hurricane Irene's Indian butter chicken!

I have been wanting to try making indian butter chicken (or chicken makhani as I guess it's actually called) for a while now, ever since I had it at the local indian restaurant.

Here's the recipe I used... it turned out really yummy! Although my little makeshift spice packet didn't really hold up too well. I tried to use a coffee filter tied with a piece of thread but it split open at the bottom, so I had to fish out the cardamom pods. It wasn't too difficult, although I may have missed one!

Served this over basmati rice. I forgot to add any salt so I had to add some to my dish when we sat down to eat. It was a tad on the spicy side, so next time I may cut down or leave out the cayenne pepper. Next time I make this, I will also be attempting to make some naan!

Key Lime Meltaways

ok, I don't actually know what a meltaway cookie is.... but apparently I made some. They are nice and lime-y! (and buttery!)

Yum! Here is the recipe...

Homemade pizza sauce

Tonight is going to be homemade pizza for dinner! I like making my own dough, but this time I bought a ball of pizza dough from the store cuz it was barely $1 and that saves me the effort of making it! I had the dough in the freezer, so last night I pulled it out and stuck it in the fridge to thaw. This morning it seemed like it was already pretty much thawed, hooray! (I always worry about things not thawing enough in time.)

Pizza sauce is a big deal to me. It'll pretty much make or break a pizza for me. Especially using store bought dough that's probably very basic and not super flavorful. The last several times I made pizza, I used this basic pizza sauce recipe from food network, and I really liked it. Last time I made it though, I had to make a few tweaks because it calls for oregano and I had just run out and forgot to buy more. So I substituted half and half italian seasoning and thyme, and loved how it turned out! I'm trying my tweaked version again tonight (on purpose this time, haha!) and if I really like my re-creation, it just might be my new standard! So here goes:

Ingredients:

• 1 can (28-ounces) tomatoes (whole, diced, or crushed, depending on how chunky you want your sauce)


• 1 small white onion, finely diced


• 1-2 cloves garlic (I like garlic)


• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme


• 1/2 teaspoon dried italian seasoning


• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional - I like my sauce a little sweet)


• salt and pepper to taste


• 1 T olive oil

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Saute onions for a couple minutes, mince garlic and add to onions. Saute for another minute. Add tomatoes and other spices. Mix well, and cover. Simmer at least 15 minutes until flavors are well blended, stirring often.

Makes about 3 cups of sauce... enough for 2-4 pizzas depending on how big & how saucy you like them! Spread sauce on dough, add your favorite toppings (and lots of cheese!), bake, and enjoy! I will probably bake the dough for a couple minutes before loading up the toppings. Makes it much easier to get it in and out of the oven, at least in my kitchen!

Yum! I am drooling in anticipation! How long until dinner??

Homemade seasoning mixes!

I found these recipes today at $5 dinners and I wanted to share because I was very excited!


Homemade Taco Seasoning
Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Homemade Seasoning Salt
Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

Enjoy!

5 ingredient recipes! - Chicken in Garlic Lime Sauce

Another Vocalpoint recipe that I am planning on trying...

Chicken in Garlic Lime Sauce
This is an easy weeknight dish that can be marinated the night before and baked for a nutritious and tasty meal. You can also use the marinade with tofu or tempeh if you’d like a vegetarian option.

Serves 4

5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or 4 chicken breasts)
1 fresh lime, zest and juice
1 cup chicken stock
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)

1. Marinate the chicken thighs in a plastic freezer bag with half of the lime zest and juice, and half of the garlic for 2 to 4 hours. If you need more liquid to cover the chicken, add ½ cup of water.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the remaining marinade into a small saucepan and add the chicken stock, cornstarch, the rest of the lime zest and juice, and garlic. Whisk vigorously until smooth.

3. Heat the saucepan over medium heat until it reaches a boil, stirring frequently. Spray a 2-quart baking dish with a nonstick spray and arrange the chicken pieces, then pour the sauce over the chicken thighs.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Spoon the sauce over the chicken when serving. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

5 ingredient recipe! - Italian Quesadillas

Found this recipe at Vocalpoint and thought it sounded worth trying!

Italian Quesadillas
Change up your regular quesadillas with some Mediterranean flavors. Eggplant can be substituted for the pancetta or pepperoni for a vegetarian version. Lightly salt sliced rounds of eggplant, let stand for a few minutes, then pat off the moisture and salt with a paper towel.

Serves 4

8 large soft tortilla wraps
12 slices provolone cheese
12 thin slices pancetta, pepperoni, or thinly-sliced eggplant rounds
2 tomatoes, finely diced
2 tsp dried basil (or 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil)

1. Assemble each of the filler ingredients above on four tortilla shells, using 1/4 of each ingredient per tortilla. Gently press a second tortilla on top of the ingredients.

2. Heat a large dry skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully transfer one quesadilla at a time to the skillet and press down firmly with the back of a spatula. When cheese begins to melt and the bottom browns, gently flip the quesadilla to brown the other side. Remove from skillet and prepare the rest of the quesadillas the same way.

3. Cut quesadillas into six pieces and serve with sour cream or marinara sauce.

Nutritional info per serving: 762 calories, 37.2 g fat, 42.5 g carbohydrates, 55.6 g protein, 1.6 g sodium, 74.8% daily value of calcium.

Irish Stew!

Let me start this off by saying I am not Irish, and I don't really think I know any one who is, either. But I really wanted to figure out an Irish Stew that I could enjoy. So here it is...


It's based of of this one here from AllRecipes, and I read through a bunch of the reviews and made modifications from the suggestions of people who reviewed it.

Beef and Irish Stout Stew

Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 8 Hours
Ready In: 8 Hours 30 Minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds beef roast
2 medium potatoes, diced
2 large onions, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
6 oz tomato paste
1 t celery salt
1/2 t dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 t paprika
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 T Worchestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups Irish stout beer (such as
Guinness®)
2 cups chopped carrot (optional)
3 cups beef broth

Add everything to the crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Serve with Irish Soda Bread.

Menu Plan Monday...Aug 31

Monday - spiedies (grilled chicken) and acorn squash from my garden!! :-D They're little but still exciting!

Tuesday - French dip sandwiches au jus! These are so yummy! When I made this previously, with a 1 lb roast, I cut the juice in half and made a few tweaks: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 Worcestershire sauce, 1 can beef broth (french onion flavored), 2 cups water. Spices: ~3 cloves garlic, almost 1.5 tsp dried rosemary, a couple dashes of dried thyme, approx 2 bay leaves. Added a few small sprigs of fresh thyme.

Wednesday - not sure yet

Thursday - not sure yet

Friday - not sure yet

Menu Plan Monday...Aug 24

Here are my ideas for the week, I just don't know yet when we're gonna need/use them. This week is feeling like it's gonna be crazy!

Monday - Chicken parmesean

Tues/Weds/Thurs/Fri - not sure what's needed yet, but probably only 2 out of these 4 days.

Grilled Beef Skewers

and Mexican crock-pot chicken that I didn't get to last week

Saturday & Sunday - leftovers? Maybe I'll make a pot of chili one day this weekend...

Menu Plan Monday...Aug 10

I had this weeks menus ready last week! Yay for planning ahead!

I sorta cheated though (:-P), and used myrecipes.com's 1 list, 5 meals...they plan out 5 meals for you and give you a shopping list of everything you'll need for those 5 meals. I'm surprised I found one that my sorta-picky hubby and I would both enjoy all 5 of them, with only a few tweaks! So here's what I have for the week... actually starting Sunday this week...

Sunday - homemade chicken fingers with arugula and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette

Monday - Risotto with Italian Sausage, Caramelized Onions, and Bitter Greens

Tuesday - subs from Wawa

Wednesday - need it to be ready right when we get home so i'm making Orange-Apricot Pork Chops in the crockpot

Thursday - Italian Meat Loaf with Fresh Basil and Provolone

Friday - Herbed Chicken Parmesan

Saturday - leftovers

hooray! another week under my belt!