Scrounging the Fridge

We are going to the beach on Saturday and I bought groceries last week, with the plan of not going again before our trip. So I was scrounging the fridge thinking should I go get us something for lunch? But then I created a yummy treat.

Pizza Tortillas

I took some flour tortillas, put them in a hot dry frying pan to crisp them (I should have crisped them longer). Turned the oven on broil and got out a cookie sheet. After crisping the tortilla, I put them on the pan, layered the tortilla with marinara sauce, shredded mozz, shredded parm, and pepperoni. Next I put the cookie sheet into the over for a few minutes for the cheese to melt, all to heat up, crisp, and brown!!

Cut in 4's and Yum Yum Yum!!!

Sunday Homemade Adventures

We went to the Cheesecake Factory last night. A friend, Heather, suggested their strawberry lemonade, good recommendation girl!! YUM!! So today of course I was wanting some more...so I made a homemade version.

1c of lemon juice

1c of sugar

1c of fresh strawberries (sliced and pulverized in the Magic Bullet with some of the lemon juice)

2 qt of water

I put the lemon juice, sugar, and pulverized strawberries in a pitcher and added/mixed the water. YUMM!!

Then I bought the materials to make a pin I'd seen. Baked Mozz Sticks

Here's the pin I found--> Mozz Sticks

Andrew also tried out his new smoke box on the grill, to smoke some chicken...still awaiting to try the yummyness! 

Homemade Ice Cream

Milk, Vanilla Extract, & Sugar 

Blueberry Cheesecake

A favorite of mine growing up. My grandma, grandpa, and mom all made this:

No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz cool whip, thawed
9 in graham cracker crust (I buy a ready made one-or you can make your own)
10 oz. blueberry pie filling (or choose cherry, etc)

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until well combined. Fold in cool whip, and then put into crust. Spoon pie filling on top. Put in the fridge for 2+hrs for chilling, cut, serve, enjoy, and store in the fridge.

As a child, it was cherry that everyone made, but my grandpa discovered the blueberry, tried it, and has never looked back.

I made this today for the Superbowl tomorrow!   Pictures to come!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I can never find the recipe when I need it, but I have requests to make it, so I am saving it in my blog and going to Pin it to one of my boards!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breast shredded --you can also use canned chicken
1 cup of ranch dressing
1 cup of Franks Original Red Hot or any Hot Sauce
1 8 oz block of cream cheese at room temperature (do not use fat free, 1/3rd less fat OK)
1 package of fancy shredded sharp cheddar cheese, (2 cups or guesstimate)

Mix all of this together in a crock pot and let it heat through, or microwave, or put in a container and heat in the oven.

Cake Creations

I am not a baker...by any means, but I can usually figure things out in the kitchen. However, planning a surprise get together for a friend's birthday of course means a birthday cake! I thought of a cookie cake at first from Nestle Toll House, but then I thought, our budget is tight right after the holidays, what if I make a cake? I have made plenty of cakes growing up, even homemade icing (grandma's recipe), but never a from scratch cake, it's always been a box mix. So when I asked this friend's husband her favorite cake, he of course said Red Velvet Cake. Now I am red velvet cake lover, but I've never made one...so I was SCARED. First to make a cake I've never made, then to make a cake from scratch. I didn't even realize they sold box mixes for red velvet cake, but they do! However, I started this adventure wanting to make it from scratch...so I did!

First, I wanted to get a good red velvet recipe, so I searched online and found a few, but reviews were mixed, so I remembered a friend having a red velvet recipe on her blog. I went and searched her blog and found a recipe for a Red Velvet cheesecake, which seemed way too much, too. Again, never made a cheesecake, didn't want to take on a cheesecake, red velvet cake, and a cake from scratch all at once.

So I used the recipe on this site, minus, the cheesecake part, but it might be a good recipe to try, now that I have the red velvet under my belt.


Red Velvet Cheesecake

Here is a little snap shot of what I did today:

Ingredients and recipe ready

with flash

Cake batter ready to go in the over

Icing ingredients (cream cheese and butter already creamed together a little bit)

making Cream Cheese icing 

final product (very yummy!)

leveling one layer

cooling

silly boy! point of this shot-to try and focus on the cake in front and fuzz out the background (I'm learning)

point of this shot-to try and focus on Andrew and fuzz out the stuff in front of him somewhat! (still learning)

Working on the Final Product: 

Paula Deen trick: Wax paper under the cake, then pull it out slowly after icing, to keep the cake plate clean!

layer 1

frosting

layer 2 

frosted

Pecans on top

Overall: Very successful first attempt at a home made, from scratch red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting! 

An Oliver Original

Andrew made this years ago, and it's become a regular for us. It's what I like to call Italian Chicken Parmesan Chicken and Broccoli Pasta. 

We start with the mix-at-home Italian dressing

Playing with the camera

Cut up the chicken (1 lb)

Chop up broccoli (2-3 stalks) 

Pasta

Boil Pasta (I use Angel Hair Pasta, but any you want will work), cook up chicken (I flavor with spray butter, salt, and pepper), and steam broccoli

Ready to go

Ready

Here's the parmesan cheese

Put noodles (after draining), broccoli, chicken, Italian dressing (any amount you want, but too much can cause it to be very oily), and the grated parmesan cheese. Then mix together. Use as much cheese as you want. 

Serve and top with shredded Parmesan (if desired). 

Yummo!! simple, easy, and an Oliver Original

A Crockpot Meal

So I love my crock pot, it is probably the best registry present we received! I cannot rave about it enough, now if I could get more recipes for it.

I recreate a few of my mom's famous meals by using the crock pot, she of course uses the oven, because she's good like that...I, however, put it in the crock pot when I leave for work and then come home to it being finished (call me lazy, that's ok) :) haha!

One of my mom's meals is a Boston Butt (basically a pork shoulder) cooked with yummy veggies: potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Then on a second go-round, she shreds the Boston Butt to and adds BBQ sauce and buns to make homemade BBQ sandwiches. Usually I only take the Boston Butt, cook it, and shred it for BBQ, but this time I wanted 2 meals out of it. Here's what I do, but this can definitely be changed to fit your tastes.

Put the boston butt in the crock pot all day on low (6-8 hours depending on the size, ours took 8 this time because it was big).

I put the fat side facing up, so the juices will cook down into it, cover it with sage, salt, and pepper!

That's it! It makes it's own juices and doesn't need anything else.

This is about half way into cooking.

Then I peel and chop my carrots....

 

potatoes...

and onions...

Place down the sides and on top 

Add the veggies in the last 1-2 hours. Cover and let it all cook. I usually move the veggies around when they're cooking so they get in the juice, too. I had a huge boston butt this time and 1 or 2 too many potatoes, so I actually took mine and moved them a few times.

The meat should be fork tender and shreddable when it's completely cooked.

Later this weekend or next week, BBQ sandwiches will be happening. Plus we got so much this time, I'll be freezing some of it, too (does great in the freezer), and later it'll make a perfect quick meal.

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Another of my Mom's Favorites is her Roast with Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions

Cooked very similar...except I take a roast and sear it in a hot frying pan on the stove top, on all sides, to create a brown crust. Then I place in the crock pot with some Italian dressing and Worcestershire sauce on top, and again, add veggies towards the end (last 1-2 hours). Sometimes I even take the inside of the crock pot out (the piece that holds the food) and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour for the veggies to cook, covered with tin foil, then take off the tin foil in the last 10 minutes to create a crispy top/edge on the meat and veggies before serving. Again, cook on low originally for 6-8 hours, and the meat will be fork tender, too. YUM, YUM!!