Hash Browns, Regular, Smothered, Covered, Chunked, and Diced

It's Friday.  Hooray!  It's dinner time.  Boo!  What should we have?  I didn't want to go to a lot of trouble, but we were hungry.  For what?  It's always my decision somehow.  If I ask Dan what he wants, he always says "What do you want?"  So, I just may as well make a decision.  What do I want?  Something easy, but tasty.  Hmmmmmm.

Do you know what was on my mind?  Waffle House fried potatoes!  Have you ever eaten at a Waffle House?  We stop there often when traveling because the food is consistent, inexpensive and you can be in and out in nothing flat - not lots of waiting like there is at so many sit down restaurants.  They cook the food right in front of you, and they serve breakfast 24/7.  Yum.

Now,  you know,  I have never met a potato I didn't like.  Seriously.  But, there is only one thing better than fried potatoes and that is fried potatoes with onions.  The Waffle House goes a little further with their hash brown potatoes.  This is how they list it on their menu.  You can get them: Regular, Large or Triple,  All the Way, or:

smothered - sauteed onions
covered - melted cheese
chunked - grilled hickory smoked ham
diced - grilled tomatoes
peppered - jalapeno peppers (or you could use bell peppers)
capped - grilled mushrooms
topped - Bert's chili
country - sausage gravy

When you place your order, they yell to the person on the grill:  "one order regular, smothered, covered, chunked and diced" if that's the way you order them.  That is the way I fixed them tonight!
Can I tell you how good they were?  Well, I will.  They were amazingly good - and easy to fix.  It took me a total of 20 minutes to have this wonderful dinner on the table.

You could put any toppings you like on hash brown potatoes.  Yes, anything your little heart desires.  Here is how I made these for our dinner tonight.

First, I chopped a medium onion, diced about 10 cherry tomatoes (they're hard to see in the red bowl), diced some deli ham, and grated about 1/3 block of cheddar cheese.  Whatever you are going to add, have it prepared beforehand, because the cooking part goes pretty quickly.

I used 1/2 a bag (about 15 ounces) of frozen hash brown potatoes.  I try to keep frozen hash browns in the freezer at all times.  They are great when you want a meal in a hurry.  No peeling and chopping, which is what I usually do.

Using a large skillet, put in a good amount of vegetable oil and let it get really hot, until it starts to ripple.  I would say 1/4 cup, depending on how many potatoes you are going to fry.  Start with 1/4 cup, you can always add more if needed.  Add the potatoes and spread out in the skillet.  Add the onions at this time because they take the longest to cook.  If you are going to use chopped bell pepper, add it also.  These two items take the longest to cook.

Let the potatoes brown on the bottom before you stir.  Once they start to brown, stir them so that you bring the brown potatoes to the top and the uncooked potatoes are on the bottom.  Stir as needed with a spatula so that you scrape all that brown goodness off the bottom of the pan.  You know that crispy, crunch part?  mmmmmm  When the onions become translucent and the potatoes are getting good and brown, add the ham and tomatoes.  Stir thoroughly so they will get good and hot.  Salt and pepper to taste.  The last think to add is the cheese.  Sprinkle it over the top and let it melt.  Remove the pan from the stove and you are ready to serve!

You now have Regular, smothered, covered, chunked and diced potatoes.  This is a complete meal and we have left overs for breakfast.  I simply added some fresh fruit and a nice piece of buttered toast.  Just like the Waffle House only better because we didn't have to leave the house.   If you don't want meat, don't add it.  Add any ingredients you think would be tasty.  I would use red bell pepper, but they don't agree with Dan.  Needless to say, we didn't miss them.

Anytime you need a quick and scrumptious meal, think about trying a meal like this.  You could add eggs on the side if you wanted and make a complete breakfast for dinner.  These potatoes would also be great for breakfast or brunch.  They are so easy to make and so good to eat.  Yum. Yum. Yum.

Next time you want a fast, easy, tasty meal, give these a try.  You will make them again.  Yes, you will.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

You can fix this meal faster than you can drive to a fast food restaurant and go through the drive through.  Fixing food at home does not have to be a chore.  It can be quick and delicious.

Zucchini Cranberry Bread or Muffins

Oh, the post holiday catch up as I like to call it.  Restocking the pantry, doing grocery shopping and other necessary errands.  It is nice to be back in a routine, don't you think?  Today was beautiful and sunny with a temperature that was not too cold.  A light coat and scarf was all that was needed to enjoy the out of doors.  I was SO glad to see the sun.

My goal and motto for this year is to "simplify".  Yes.  It's time to pare down some more, lead a kinder, gentler life.   Why do we all have so much "stuff"?  When we moved here two years ago this month (where does the time go?) we got rid of so much "stuff."  Many, many trips to the Goodwill and Salvation Army, things given to those who could use them, even putting things out on the curb for people to take.  And where are we now?  Full to overflowing again.  How does this happen?  So, it's time to simplify, pare down, share what we have, organize and get rid of the unnecessary.  This is a process that we must stay on top of!  It is not only necessary, but quite enjoyable.

One of my chores yesterday was to clean out all the left overs and odd things that accumulate in the refrigerator.  You know that stuff I'm talking about right?  You have to get rid of the old, to make room for the new in your life.  In the drawer was one lonely, huge zucchini.  It was perfectly good and I wanted to use it in some way.  So, I decided to make some wonderful zucchini cranberry bread.  This is an easy recipe and is soooooo good.

Did you know that zucchini is really a fruit?  We tend to use it in savory dishes most of the time and think of it as a vegetable.  It's not.  It is delicious grilled, sauteed or steamed.  There are so many uses for zucchini and it is super nutritious.  Zucchini also makes a super sweet, delicious bread.

To add to the flavor, I added some dried cranberries.  Do you like cranberries?  I happen to love them - that combination of tart and sweetness from the berries is very appealing and yummy to me.  Did you know that cranberries are white until they ripen?  Most people know they grow in acidic bogs in the Northern part of our country and they are harvested by flooding the bogs which causes the fruit to float to the top so they can be captured.  But, did you know they are considered one of the super fruits?  Yes they are, absolutely full of anti oxidants.  Even better.  The more color something has, the better it is for you.

Cranberries are mostly associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas, but they are available all through cool weather and dried cranberries are available year round.  They are a wonderful snack and can be an alternative to raisins.  If you don't like them, you don't have to add them to the bread.

Here is what you need to make this bread.

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2.5 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini  (I used a box grater, grated very fine)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 TBSP vanilla (yes, a tablespoon)
1 cup cranberries - if using fresh, chop the cranberries - I used dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Mix all the ingredients using a whisk or spoon.  Try not to over mix or bread could be tough.
Grease and flour 2 9x5 loaf pans or spray two muffin tins with cooking spray.

Fill each loaf pan 3/4 full.  Same for muffin tins if making muffins.

Bake bread for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

If making muffins, bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center muffin comes out clean.

This bread is easy to make and is extra good with a cup of coffee or hot tea.  Even the grandsons ate it (just don't tell them it has zucchini in it).  After working at the homeless shelter, I feel bad about throwing any usable food away knowing there are so many people who are "food insecure".   So, if you find yourself with one large zucchini and don't know what to do with it, try this recipe.  It is worth the time and effort!  Better yet, share a loaf with a friend, family member or neighbor.  They will love you for it.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify.

Henry Thoreau

 

Fresh Blueberry Muffins - Yum, Yum

Happy New Year!!  Here's hoping 2013 is going to be an auspicious and fabulous year for one and all. We waved goodbye to 2012 and never looked back.   Everyone survived the end of the Mayan calendar (hooray) and we headed right on in to 2013 with a big smile on our face.  Can you see me brushing my shoulders off, waving goodbye as I forge ahead into the new year?  Here is hoping you can and will do the same.  Bye Bye 2012.  It was nice knowing you.

Now, the holidays are over and the gloom of January sets in.  Gray days.  Cold weather.  I'm really not a fan, but did you know that January is national soup month?  Yippeeeeee!  Who doesn't love soup?  I could eat it every day - seriously - even in hot weather.  Soup is delicious and nutritious.  You can get lots of veggies in one pot and that means you don't have tons of pots and pans to clean up after the meal.  If you make the batch big enough, there are left overs (sometimes for days) and soup tastes better as it melds and meshes all the flavors together.  Soup can also be frozen to enjoy at a later time.  Mmmmm, mmmm, mm.

During the "post Christmas let down", some of the family came down with the grippe, the creepy crud.  You know, the scratchy throat, hacking cough, runny nose misery.  Kids, parents, Pawpaw and Uncle Ty.  So Grandma whipped up a batch of home made chicken noodle soup, also know as Jewish penicillin.  Yes, science has found that chicken broth has medicinal value in relieving congestion.
(www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/10/001018075252.htm).  You can find a recipe for home made noodle soup on my blog post of September 17.  We just finished up the last of this batch for dinner tonight.  It is just perfect for these miserable January days.

To go along with the chicken noodle soup, I made a batch of fresh blueberry muffins.  Super.  Delicious.  Blueberries are known as one of the super foods high in antioxidants and are also really good for our immune system.  It's beneficial that they taste really good too.

Here is what you need to make these muffins:

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups unsifted all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 - 2 cups fresh blueberries (dust with flour so they won't sink in the muffin batter)
1.5 tsp vanilla

Topping:  cinnamon sugar (2 Tbsp. cinnamon, 1 Tbsp. sugar)

preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Cream the softened butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, 1 at a time.  Mix thoroughly.

Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture until thoroughly combined.  Add the milk and vanilla.  Add the flour dusted blueberries.  (don't skip this step, it keeps the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins).

Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray.  Fill each cup 2/3 full.  Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.  Bake 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center muffin come out clean.

Let me tell you, these hit the spot with that home made chicken noodle soup.  They would also be delicious to serve for breakfast or brunch, or as an afternoon snack.  If you have a muffin monster at your house, give these a try.  It's a great way to start the new year.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

If you reduce stress, eat a healthier brain diet [singling out foods like spinach,blueberries and salmon], get aerobic activity each day, that is going to protect your brain and possibly lower your risk for Alzheimer's disease or at least delay the outset,

~ Gary Small

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries - Fabulous for New Year's Eve

Do you love cheesecake?   Strawberries?  Cheesecake with strawberry topping?  Then here is the perfect recipe for you that is SO much easier than baking a cheesecake.  Really, these are so simple and absolutely divine.  These would be perfect for New Year's Eve or a football Sunday or for dessert or just because.

Our youngest son has spent the last year living in California.  He made these one night for a backyard movie night and said they disappeared almost instantly.  I suggested he make some for Christmas Eve and let me tell you - they are as good as he said, maybe even better.

These cheesecake filled strawberries are really easy to make and here is what you need.


About 28 strawberries (we used 2 boxes)
1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
4 TBSP powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cut the tops off the strawberries, wash and dry them,  and hollow them out with a pairing knife.  

To make the filling, beat the softened cream cheese with a mixer until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar and vanilla.  Mix until well incorporated.  Take a small zip lock bag and make a small cut to remove the corner.  We used a piping tip in the bag, but you don't have too.  It just makes it a little fancier.  Fill the bag with the cheesecake filling and pipe some filling int each strawberry.  Do your very best not to eat them all while you are making them.  That, my friend, will be a challenge!

Serve.

That's it.  How much easier is that than making a cheesecake?  You can also crush some graham crackers and dip the filled berries if you want.  We didn't want.  Your choice.

Not only are these beautiful to look at, they are amazingly delicious and easy to make.  What could be better?  Easy.  Delicious.  Beautiful.  Everyone will think you slaved for hours and hours making these.  Just don't give away the secret that you didn't.

While looking on Pinterest, I saw several variations on this theme and the one idea I might try next time is to dip the berries in chocolate after you fill them.  Chocolate covered cheesecake filled strawberries?  Oh my, oh my, oh my.  That would be somewhat like gastronomical heaven I think.

New Year's Eve is just around the corner and you might really want to consider these.  They are fruit after all and everyone needs fruit.  Right?  And, some cheesecake.  Right?  And, maybe some chocolate.  Right?  In these you get all three in one delicious bite.

Give these a try.  You are going to be SO glad you did and if you have to eat gluten free, these are right up your alley.  Just make sure your vanilla is gluten free.  Make.  Eat.  Enjoy.   It will make ringing in the New Year that much more enjoyable.  Thanks Tyler!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

It's time to ring out the old and ring in the new.   May we increase in wisdom, love, and compassion and decrease our fears and judgements.  donna

Next, It's New Years Eve - Try Some Spinach Parmesan Dip

Hello everyone!  We survived December 21, 2012, to celebrate a joyous Christmas.  Thankfully, the Mayan calendar just repeats.  Here's hoping your Christmas was wonderful as well.  Now that the hooplah has died down a bit (just a bit, there is more to come on Saturday), it's time to kick back and think about New Year's Eve.

Do you go out?  Do you have plans?  Do you share the evening with friends, family or just your special someone?  Do you have a potluck or prepare everything for a party yourself?  Whew, there is always so much to think about and plan.

I thought today I would start you with some New Year's Eve ideas for delicious snacks that we have been enjoying for years.  For Christmas Eve, I made our favorite spinach dip.  Our youngest son Tyler and I are BIG fans of spinach dip.  Since he was just a little fellow, he and I have always shared spinach dip as an appetizer when we go out to eat.  Actually, we have eaten spinach dip for our dinner on several occasions.  Why?  Because it is SOOOOO good.

This recipe comes from my St. Louis Days, St. Louis Nights cookbook that is one of my favorites.  The copyright in the book is 1994, so I have been making this delicious dip since then and it never fails to please.  Here is what you need:

1 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
1 1/3 cups grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 jar drained artichoke hearts (optional - we love them)
salt and pepper
thinly sliced jalapeno peppers, optional

Defrost and squeeze excess water out of spinach.  Mix together spinach, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, onion, garlic, cream cheese, and mayonnaise.  Season mixture with a little salt and pepper to taste.  (I actually don't add any).  Place in a greased casserole dish.  Top with thinly sliced jalapenos, if desired, and remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.  Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.  MMMM, MMMM, delicious!!

My friend Don's son got married a few years ago and I made a huge pan of this for his wedding shower.  It was a major hit - there wasn't any left.  Everyone wanted the recipe and so I gladly shared.  It is not only easy to make, it is easy to eat waaaaay too much of it.  I just keep telling myself it's spinach and spinach is good for you, right?  That's my story and I'm sticking too it.

This recipe is easy to multiply.  For Christmas Eve, I doubled the recipe for our family.  For Don's son's wedding shower, I made a roasting pan full and it tasted just as good as the original recipe.  Just make sure your pan is big enough to hold whatever you make.

Give this fabulous recipe a try, you are going to like it!!  Hopefully, we won't be buried in snow or ice come New Year's Eve and everyone will get to have a good time.  Here's hoping 2013 is a wonderful year for all of us!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.  ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Yellow squash, Onions, Rotel and Baby Spinach Satuee'

It turned cold today with really gusty winds blowing.  A few times I thought I might have to get out my ruby red slippers.  At least the cooler weather makes it seem a bit more like Christmas.  It's hard to get in the spirit when the temperature is 70 degrees.

Grandma has been working her fingers to the bone, let me tell you.  My goal was to hand make as many Christmas gifts as possible this year.  That means I have spent a lot of time at the sewing machine making puppet theaters, seat belt pillows, super hero capes and hooded towels just to name a few things - all for the grandsons.  We also made giant bubble blowers and beautiful beaded hand held bubble blowers that will be given with really cute buckets to hold the bubbles and a bubble recipe for making giant bubble solution.  Let me just say, I will be making myself a seat belt pillow (they are awesome) and a giant bubble blower.  Who doesn't love bubbles?  There will be tutorials coming for these things, but probably not before Christmas.  I am just frantically trying to get it all done.  The boys will be receiving a few things from the store, but the majority of things are one of a kind, hand made originals.

While sewing away this afternoon, I had to think about dinner.  What we were going to have?   I decided fish sounded really, really good.  So, I put some that I had frozen in a bowl of cold water to thaw.  You can find my recipe for fried fish on my blog post of January 12, 2012.  Then there is the proverbial question of what to serve with it.

Do you stand in front of your refrigerator and look and look, trying to figure out what to fix?  Then, you close the door, walk away, come back, open the door and stand there looking and looking, like there is going to be something totally different in there?  Hopefully,  I'm not the only one who does this.  While looking in the refrigerator for the second time, I had to get serious.  Hmmmmm, there was some yellow squash, zucchini squash, a bag of baby spinach, onions, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.  Decisions, decisions.  I chose the yellow squash and spinach and dedicated the zucchini for zucchini bread which I will be making later - recipe to follow.  Now what?

I diced up an onion and minced a clove of garlic.  I put the big sautee' pan on the stove and put a couple of rounds of extra virgin olive oil in the pan and turned the heat on.  This is one of those "wing and  a prayer" dishes which means I am making it up as I go.

I put the diced onion in to sautee' and cut the three large yellow squash into 1 inch pieces.  When the onion was nearly translucent, I tossed in the garlic and squash.  I let the squash cook until tender.  Now, how to flavor it?  I used a little salt and fresh cracked black pepper, a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar and dusted everything with grated parmesan cheese.  It was looking good and smelling really good.  Now what?  I opened a can of Rotel, drained it and added the contents of the can.  After letting that heat through, I added a bag of baby spinach and let it wilt down.  Not only was this dish colorful, it was delicious!  What a quick and easy side dish.  We all know that colorful food is good for you, full of antioxidants and vitamins.  Even better!

Here is what you will need to make this dish:

1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 large yellow squash, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 bag baby spinach leaves
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
Grated parmesan cheese to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Dinner was quick and easy tonight which is exactly what I needed.  There is one more sewing project to be finished and then hopefully I am done with that.  There are still a few other projects that need finishing, but I am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.  Hip hip, hooray!

Do you have all your shopping done?  Gifts wrapped?  Cookies baked?  If you do, lucky you.  Me, not so much, but we are getting there - one gift at a time.  Saturday is cookie baking day with the grandsons.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

When things are hectic, you can still take time to make a delicious meal.  They don't have to be elaborate meals, just flavorful, delicious and nutritious.  Due to all the stress this time of year, it's very important to eat healthy food.

 Happy holidays one and all.  One week from today is Christmas day.  Where has the time gone?  Where has the year gone?  Tempus fugit is the Latin phrase.  Time flies - that is my only explanation.  As I get older, it really seems to be the only explanation.  Remember waiting breathlessly, eagerly?  Counting the days until Christmas?  I'm counting the days all right, just hoping I get everything done in time.

In the midst of all my projects for our grandsons, I had one in mind for myself that I had been trying to get done to fill in that big blank space on top of our entertainment cabinet.  I had seen this on Pinterest and fell absolutely in love with it.  This is exactly what needed to go in that big blank space.  The idea came from a blog called Beyond The Picket Fence.  Her's is stunning, made on old barn wood.  Unfortunately I was fresh out of old barn wood.  We spent some time looking in antique shops and even the Habitat ReStore where I have found some great things for projects in the past.   No luck this time.

Dan had made me some 2' x 2' pieces of MDF on frames for another project that had not come to fruition, so I decided to use one of those.  The big problem with MDF is it is so smooth, it has absolutely no grain to work with.  What to do, what to do?

Dan had made a simple frame on the back by nailing pieces of 1 1/4" trim to the MDF to give it support  and made it look more finished from the sides.  To make the wood look old, he used a screw driver and made gouges all over the wood.  He tried using a hammer to make dents in the wood.  MDF does NOT dent.  So, I took a power sander and some really rough sandpaper and roughed up the top of the wood, then used a wood rasp to rough up the edges of the board.  It's not ideal, but really looked great when finished.

Next, I used some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in graphite and dry brushed in on the MDF for a base coat. I did not want a solid, finished painted piece of wood.  It needed to look distressed and old.  The next layer of paint was some flat black that I applied using a rag.  Then a layer of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Chateau Grey which has a greenish tint to it applied with a sock.  Final layer was some more flat black lightly applied with the inside of a tube sock which was sort of like terry cloth.  These paints all dry very quickly so I was able to do the layers between working on another project.  For the final step, I used some sand paper and lightly sanded over the wood so different colors of paint showed through.  This is how the finished piece looked at this point.  This took about an hour and a half total.

To make the star, I drew a 5 pointed star in the center of the board with chalk and Dan put a long screw in the wood at the tip of each point.  Using double sided satin ribbon, I started at the top and followed the star  to finish at the top and tied a knot and cut the ends in inverted points.  The original had a big shoe lace type bow at the top, but I didn't have enough ribbon.  Oops.  That's what happens when  you are winging a project.   I like this just fine though.  If you want a big bow, get at least 4 yards of ribbon.

This is absolutely gorgeous and so easy to make.  It took about an hour and a half from start to finish.  Not bad for a beautiful one-of-a-kind art project.

Ack, look at that crooked candle.  Should have double checked before taking this picture.  Perfectionism is my enemy.

If you know my love of all things stars, you will understand how happy simple projects like this make me feel.  This will live on our entertainment center even after the Christmas decorations are all removed.  The picture doesn't show how pretty the sheen of the ribbon is against the black wood.  Simply lovely.

This would be a great gift for anyone.  You could do the star in any color ribbon, I just happen to love red.  If you had old wood, even better.  I will continue to look for old wood whenever I have the chance, because now I have a lot of other ideas for it!

It's time for Grandma to get back to the workshop.  There is so much to do and so little time left.  Tempus Fugit.  The sewing machine sings a siren's song.  Really!   Have you never heard it?  I hear it in my sleep.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School reminds us that time is precious.  Use it wisely.  Be kind and loving to all those around you.  Cherish each moment, spend time with those you love.  Be grateful.  Share what you have.  Be good to yourself.  You will not pass this way again.