Friday, March 30, 2018

Food for Thought

I was cooking away a couple weeks ago; this week not so much.  The calendar seemed full, but when the events aren't yours and you don't have to do the driving, it's amazing how blissful it is.

Looking for fast and fabulous.  Got a few below.


I have a couple of these Enchilada Bubble Up Casserole recipes pinned.  I went to see how similar they are and found they aren't too different - the other one is definitely faster, as this one has a couple items made from scratch:  the dough, the enchilada sauce.  You could certainly make those substitutions, but the dough is really good, and pretty simple.  I already had enchilada sauce on hand - leftovers (this is my recipe) and gauging the sauce in the recipe it looked like it would make about 1 1/4 cup of sauce.  I had a smidge more than that (probably 1 1/3 cup), so I just dumped it all in.  It was really good.  Had good flavor and the dough bubbles were tender and light.  It calls for chicken, I used rotisserie, but you could do ground beef, turkey or go meatless and add extra beans.

I made an Italian Wedding Soup found in 365 Slow Cooker Suppers.  She doesn't have it indexed on her website, but can be found in her book (linked above); I received the recipe via her emailed newsletter.  It was super simple, used pre-made meatballs and had a lot of flavor - though I might cut down on the Italian seasoning, or substitute in some fresh.  It was meant for the slow cooker, so the dried seasonings didn't soften much because I just simmered it on the stove-top.  I've made other recipes from her that are good, so it might be worth it to pick up her cookbook.




I hadn't made pizza in a while, so when I saw this Skillet Pizza with Sausage and Chili Garlic Tomato Sauce I figured why not.  I hadn't made a pan pizza before - I have my pizza stones and my go-to recipe.  My only worry was that the dough would be thick and heavy, but I was very surprised how light and chewy it was.  There was a bit of a mishap while it was rising, but even with that, I think the dough would have still turned out light.  We all loved it - except I put in too much garlic chili for the majority of us.  Next time, I'll cut down the amount and put hot sauce on the side for those who like the fire.




Instant Pot recipe.  Are you surprised?  Easy Balsamic Beef Pot Roast.  I have to say I was a bit worried when I opened the pot and it wasn't fall-apart-tender.  It seemed like it was tough and it definitely wasn't "flaking."  I was more than surprised that by the time I'd gotten it sliced that it was tender (I made sure to slice against the grain.)  I only had half of the balsamic the recipe called for but it still had great flavor.  I opted to do mashed potatoes instead of cauliflower. 

Not a big list of recipes this time, but they're good.

Happy Friday,

Lori

No comments: