Courtney's Beef Stew

 

Ingredients and Directions

1. In a Instapot place 1lb stew meat or diced round steak.  Add 1 cup water and cook on the stew setting.  This will make the meat super tender 

2. In a stock pot place: 2 diced potatoes, 2 stalks diced celery, 1 diced onion, 2 sliced carrots

3. Add 1 quart water, and the following spices

    2 tsp beef boullion, 1 tsp celery salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/2 tsp sage and 1/2 tsp oregano

4. Boil until vegetables are tender, add the meat when it is finished cooking 

5. Add 1/4 cup flour (mixed with some of the hot liquid) and boil and stir until thick

Enjoy with sourdough bread! 

Make about 4 servings, I usually double the recipe if I want leftovers. 

Pizza Roses

 

   

For my basic Pizza dough recipe click here

Quick Pizza Sauce Recipe 

1 can tomato sauce

1 can tomato past 

1 can water

1/2 tsp of: 

basil, mined onion, garlic salt and oregano

1 Tbsp sugar

**Heat in a saucepan  

Touchdown Party Favorites

 Here's a compilation of some of my best football party food ideas! Go Chiefs! 

Courtney's Chili

1. Brown 1/2 lb ground beef (remove and discard grease) and add 1 Tbsp steak seasoning

2. In a dutch oven saute 3 sweet peppers and 1/2 small onion until tender

3. Add 1 can pork-n-beans, 1 can of red kidney beans, 1 jar of tomatoes and the ground beef. 

4. Stir in the following spices: 

2 Tbsp Chili Powder, 1/2 Tbsp season salt, 1 tsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp oregano

5. Cover and let simmer for at least 10 min. 

6. Then serve with your favorite fixin's.  My favorites are sour cream, brown sugar, shredded cheese and crushed ritz crackers. 

**For some heat add cayenne pepper

Courtney's Hot Wings

1. fill deep fryer to max fill line with canola, vegetable or peanut oil and turn heat to 375 degree.  (Fry outside to avoid stinking up your house)

2. In a large bowl combine flour and seasoned salt

3. Add wings (40 count) and coat with flour or dredge

4. In a saucepan add 1/4 cup butter, 1 bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce and 2 Tbsp (or more) agave nectar or honey. Turn the heat to medium and stir until butter is melted and sauce is combined.  Turn heat to low to keep warm while wings are frying

5. When the oil it hot add wings (fry in shifts of 6-8 wings of similar size)

6. The wings are done when they float to the top and turn a golden brown color (anywhere from 4-7 or more min depending on size)

7. Remove wings and drain on a paper towel

8. Coat in sauce

9. Serve immediately with celery and ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Yummy Ham Rolls

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree

2. Melt 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter and add 1/2 Tbsp mustard, 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 tsp onion powder and 1/2 Tbsp poppy seeds

3. Place sandwich rolls on a baking sheet and layer ham and cheddar cheese

4. Brush some of the butter mixture on the top of each roll and place on the ham and cheese

5. Brush the remaining butter mixture over the tops of each sandwich

6. Cover in foil and bake for 15 min

7. Remove more and bake for another 10 min

Serve immediately

Soft Pretzels 

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup warm water

4 cups flour

Baking soda

Sea Salt

Directions

1. I a stand mixer combine warm water, brown sugar and yeast.  Let stand 5 min until it become frothy

2. Add 2 cups flour and mix. Then add remaining 2 cups flour and mix. 

3. Using the dough hook attachment, knead until well combine and forms a tight ball

4. let dough rest 5 min

5. Meanwhile preheat oven to 450 degrees and bring 4 cups water and 6 Tbsp baking soda to a boil

6. divide  dough into 12 equal pieces

7. Roll each section into a long string. Twist into pretzel shape.  

8. Place each pretzel into the boiling soda water for about 10-15 sec. Remove and place on a cooling rack.  While its still wet sprinkle with salt.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (6 pretzels per baking sheet)

9. Bake for 8 mins. 

10. Let cool just a bit and enjoy the warm, soft, salty goodness that is a soft pretzel. 

Guacamole 

1. Chop 6 cherry or grape tomatoes, 2 slices of onion, 1-2 Tbsp cilantro and place in a bowl

sprinkle with 2-3 Tbsp lime juice and let soak for an hour or so

2. Mash 2 ripe avocados and add to the vegetables. 

3. Mix and add salt to taste.  

Salsa

Ingredients 

2 large tomatoes or 1 large can of tomatoes

½ yellow or orange bell pepper

1 jalapeno (leave out for mild, add for spicy)

¼ cup diced onion

1-2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

2 Tbsp lime juice

Directions

1. place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until at desired consistency

2. Serve with tortilla chips

*for those wanting extra spice try adding a habanero pepper! 

I Dip, You Dip, We Dip - Dip Recipes Here

I Dip, You Dip, We Dip Game Day Spread

 

Apple Pie Recipe link Here

Six Layer Bean dip

This is a crowd favorite! We usually have it around Christmas time but it is great for anytime! 

Ingredients 

1 can Frito bean dip

¼ cup miracle whip

¼ sour cream

½ packet of taco seasoning

1 can of diced black olives

1-2 cups diced tomatoes (cherry and grape tomatoes work great for this)

1 bag of shredded lettuce

1-2 cups grated chedder/jack cheese

Directions

1. In a small bowl mix together miracle whip, sour cream and taco seasoning

2. Start spreading out layers in a flat platter

a. Bean dip

b. Taco seasoning mixture

c. Diced Olives

d. Diced tomatoes

e. Lettuce

f. Cheese

3. Serve with tortilla chips and watch it disappear

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients and Directions

1. In a mixing bowl mix together 1 brick of softened cream cheese, 2 cups shredded cooked chicken and 1 recipe of Courtney's Hot Wing Sauce (recipe Here )

2. Spread in a glass baking dish

3. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and bake at 350 for 30 min

4. Service warm with crackers, carrots and celery

Mango Crab Rangoon Dip

Ingredients and Directions 

1. In a food processor, dice up 1 package cook crab (real or imitation) and 1 cup frozen mango

2. In a mixer combine crab mix and 1 brick softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce

3. Spread in a glass baking dish and bake for 30 min at 350

4. Top with more sweet chili sauce and serve warm with wonton chips. 

Healthy (er) Options

In this post I'm sharing several recipes that I would consider healthy options.  I like my food to taste good though, so hopefully you will see a healthy balance (pun intended) of both with these recipes.

Mango Flounder


1. Salt and pepper each side of your flounder fillets and lightly dredge (cover) with flour, fry in a small amount of hot oil on each side until lightly crisp and flaky.
2. For the Mango Salsa: dice sweet pepper (or jalapeno if you like a kick), onion, mango and cilantro. Combine in a bowl with lime juice and salt to taste.

Cilantro Lime Couscous
1. Make couscous according to package instructions
2. Add lime zest, lime juice and chopped cilantro
3. Stir to combine



Raspberry Pork 
1. Salt and pepper both sides of each pork chop and saute in a skillet until lightly browned.
2. Allow pork chops to rest 10 min before serving
3. For raspberry sauce: in a saucepan place 1 package of fresh or frozen raspberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and 1 tsp sage.  Turn on medium and allow to simmer until reduced to a thick syrup
4. Strain seeds and pour over pork chops
**Substitute fresh raspberries for seedless raspberry jam to avoid straining seeds

Lemon Rosemary Quinoa
1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions
2. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and rosemary
3. Stir to combine

Bakes Zucchini and Tomatoes
1. Thinly slice zucchini, tomatoes and onions
2. Place in an oiled baking dish with lemon zest, lemon juice and salt
3. Bake at 350 for 30 min. (if you prefer roasted bake at 425 for 20 min)

What the Kale Salad
1. Rinse and remove kale leaves from center stem, shop into bite size pieces and add to bowl
2. Rinse and chop romaine lettuce and add to bowl
3. Add: chopped broccoli, broccoli slaw, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries
4 For dressing combine the following ingredients in a blender and blend for 30 sec.
       1/4 cup water
       1/4 cup white vinegar
       3/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
       1 tsp garlic powder
       1 tsp salt
       1/4 tsp pepper
       1 tsp celery seed
       1/2 tsp celery salt
       (pinch of onion powder for added flavor)
       2/3 cup sugar
       2 tsp horseradish

Pearled Couscous salad
1. Make basil and herb pearled couscous according to package instructions
2. Saute diced zucchini and onions until tender
3. Add to couscous and refrigerate until chilled
4. Add diced cherry tomatoes and Italian salad dressing
5. Stir and serve chilled

Lunch/Dinners on the Go!

Homemade Sandwich Pockets. 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Defrost 16 Rhodes frozen Texas rolls, but don’t allow to rise.  
• Roll each out with a rolling pin until flat
• Add whatever fixings you like 
• Fold and seal dough around the fillings
• Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 min
• Serve immediately or allow to cool completely and store in the freezer in a zip-lock bag.
• Heat in microwave for 45 sec 

Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps

• Assemble romaine lettuce, cooked chicken, ranch dressing, chopped tomatoes, bacon bits, cheddar cheese on a large spinach tortilla
• Roll up, slice and eat

Thai Spring Rolls

• Dip a rice paper wrapper in warm water
• Assemble: Lettuce, cucumber, avocado, shredded carrots, crab meat
• Roll up and double wrap in another rice paper
• Serve with sweet chili sauce. 

Corn Chowder

 I love soup, but I find that when I make a pot a lot of it goes to waste.  I have discovered these great silicone soup freezers and now I can have a different soup each day of the week! You can purchase them on Amazon.  I have a soup making week and then I'm set for months of lunches!

Directions and Ingredients: 

1. Dice 1/2 cup onion and 2 celery stalks and saute (in butter or oil) in a heavy bottom pot until tender. 

2. Add 1/3 cup bacon bits or cooked crumbled bacon

3. Add 2 cups vegetable stock and 2 cups milk

4. Add 3 cups frozen, canned or fresh corn, 1 can of potatoes, diced, 1/2 cup diced roasted red peppers and 2 tsp Mrs Dash (salt free seasoning)

5. Heat over medium heat (careful not to curdle the milk) 

6. To thicken mix 1/3 cup flour or corn starch with 1/2 cup water and add to pot, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Heat until desired thickness is reached. 

7. To freeze for later, pour 1 cup of each in each section of the silicone soup freezers.  Freeze until solid and the pop them out of the molds.  Store in a labeled ziplock bag in the freezer for individual servings.