Blueberry Pie

Summer is right around the corner. It is time for fresh fruit and yummy homemade pies. I love fresh apple pie, blueberry pie, and so on. This is one of my favorites. Today, I went to the farmers market and they had THREE Quarts of blueberries for $5.00!!!!! Of course, I could not pass. I made this as soon as I came home. I still have one more quart of blueberries.....We will see what I make. Just to let you know, this pie turned out so good. It was fresh and so yummy. I served it with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream

BLUEBERRY PIE

The crust:
(The crust recipe is from Allrecipes.com)

4cps flour
3TB sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cp. of vegetable shortening
1/2 cp. cold water
1 egg

1. I use my food processor. I throw the first 4 ingredients in the processor. I process the dough until it like a coarse meal.
2. I whisk the egg and water. I add it slowly to the dough and process.
3. Put the dough in fridge for 2 hrs.

The berries:

5 cps. of blueberries
the juice and zest of one lemon
1 cp. sugar
3 TB of cornstarch
1 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

1. I put these 6 ingredients together and toss. Let it sit.


When the dough is done. I separate it into two parts. The first part I roll out and have enough to fit the bottom. Put the dough on the greased pie pan. Add the filling.
I then roll out the second pie crust and make a lattice crust. Then I top with 4 TB of melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon. It makes a nice crust on the crust.......

Enjoy.

The best Risotto EVER! Shrimp and Brocoli Risotto

First of all, I just started making risotto about a year ago. Since the first time....I fell in love. Risotto is so amazing in many ways. It is so versatile. It is so creamy and filling. I love it. I would love to make a wild mushroom risotto, but my husband hates mushrooms. Anyway, my four year old daughter even asks for risotto. I bought shrimp this week and decided to try to make it into a risotto. Not to mention, I tried to make my own shrimp stock. I just have to say. This rocked. (Not to toot my own horn.) Enjoy!

Shrimp Stock

3 Quarts of water

1 whole head of garlic, cut in half

2 onions (cut in wedges and throw it in the pot, don't need to take the skin off)

2 carrots

All of the shrimp casings, heads and tails

salt and pepper to taste

Boil all together for 2 hrs.

My Shrimp and Broccoli Risotto

2 TB olive oil

2 onions (smaller yellow onions, about 1 cp.chopped)

2cps Risotto rice, Arborio

1/2 cp. white wine

4-6 cps. stock (The stock must be hot)

1/2 cp butter

1 1/2 cp. parm cheese ( I used fresh Parm in a chunk and grated it myself)

1 15 oz. can of fire roasted tomatoes (Hunts)

salt and pepper

3cps. chicken stock

1 cp. Broccoli

1lb shrimp

1. Heat the oil in a pan on Medium-High heat. Toss the onions in the oil. (You want to hear a sizzle). Add the rice and cook for about a minute. Add the wine and cook for another minute.

Add the stock one ladle at a time. Stir. You must stir the entire time. Add another ladle after each ladle has been absorbed by the rice. When it reaches the consistency that you enjoy add the diced tomatoes and let this absorb into the rice. Add the butter and parm. and stir. This will help make the consistency even more creamy. YUMMY

2. While you are preparing the risotto. Boil about 3cps. of chicken stock and add the Broccoli and Shrimp. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the shrimp turns pink.

3. When risotto is at the consistency that you like add the shrimp and Broccoli and serve right away.

Orange Cajun Salmon

Finally the summer is here! It has been in the upper eighties for the last two weeks in FL. I need refreshing, fresh, and satisfying meals. Plus, I must admit with the crazy economy I am trying to cut back on my grocery spending. This is a cheap but so yummy.

Try it yourself....ENJOY

Orange Cajun Salmon

1 1/2lbs of salmon

3 Tb. Cajun seasoning

2 tsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. oil

1/3 cp. orange marmalade

The juice of one lemon

1. Combine the Cajun seasoning and brown sugar in a small bowl. Rub it onto the salmon.

2. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the fish (flesh side first) done on the hot oil. (2-3 minutes per side) Pull the fish out of the pan (It does not need to be cooked all the way. It will continue to cook in the marmalade.

3. Add the marmalade and lemon juice to the sauce pan and mix it. When it is melted add the fish back into the pan flesh side down. Cook until caramelized and cooked through (3-4 min)

I served this with fresh corn on the cob from the farmers market and my honey mustard potatoes.

My Honey Mustard Potatoes.

6 potatoes, cut in wedges

2 onions

salt and pepper

1/4 cp. of honey mustard salad dressing

1. Turn the oven to 420. Add the potatoes, onion, salt, pepper and oil. Toss to coat.

Bake for about 40 min. I like them brown and crispy. You showed check them and flip.

2. As soon as they come out of the oven toss the potatoes in the dressing.

Not Your Momma's Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is altered from a recipe I found in the cookbook Easy Everyday Favorites. I have made this quite a few times and always a huge hit. My kids love them of course. These cookies taste gourmet. Like the kind you would spend 2 dollars a cookie on. These cookies are quick, easy and awesome. I hope you enjoy them as much as my kiddos do.

HUGE Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 cps. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 sticks of butter

2 cps. brown sugar

1 cp. white sugar

3 TB vanilla extract (PURE)

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 cp. caramel and choc. chips

1 cp. butterscotch choc. chips.

1 cp. heath chips

1. Preheat oven on 320 ( REMEMBER THIS: These are bigger and take longer to cook. You do not want to burn the bottom)

2. Sift the dry ingredients together

3. Cream the butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs together.

4. Combine dry ingredients with creamed ingredients. Add the three chips.

5. Use 1/4 cp of batter for each cookie. Put on a greased baking sheet. (Need to be AT LEAST 3 in. apart)

6. Bake for about 15 min. COOL AND EAT!!!!!!

Taco Bar!!!!!

My Taco Meat:

1 TB canola oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 red bell, chopped
1.5 lbs ground sirloin
1 15oz. can of Enchilada Sauce
1 packet of taco seasoning.

1. Add the oil and brown the veggies. Add the ground sirloin. Brown. Drain any grease. Add the Sauce and seasoning packet. Cook for a little longer.

My Guacamole

2-3 TB of red onion
2-3 TB of cilantro
2-3 TB red bell pepper
2 TB Jalapeno (optional)
pinch salt
1-2 TB lime juice
3 avocados.

1. Throw the veggies in a food processor. Then add the avocados and mash them with a potato masher. Add the lime and salt. Mix.
(I sometimes roast the bell pepper and garlic and put it in my guac. It taste amazing. It is only when I have time or company.)

Spiced Blackbeans

1 15 oz. can of black beans
2 jalapenos
1 clove garlic
1/4 cp. onion
1 TB canalo oil

1. Add the oil and saute the veggies. Add the beans and cook for 20 min.


On the bar:

2 cps. Lettuce
2 cps. Cheddar cheese
My Homemade salsa (Below)
My Spiced Black beans
My Guacamole
2 cps diced tomatoes
1/2 cp diced jalapenos
Of course, the ground beef.
I used both hard corn taco shells and soft flour shells.


I just put each in their own dish....Self serve.
My daughter tried tacos for the first time tonight...She loved that she could make her own and she loved them. It is a great idea to do with kids. Add your own condiments...Enjoy!!!!

Leftover Ham Recipe 2: Cuban Sandwich

1 loaf of Cuban bread

1 lb pork, (I cooked a small tenderloin for an hr. with a BBQ rub on 350)

1 lb. of thinly sliced ham

1/2 lb. Swiss cheese

pickles

mustard

1. I cut the Cuban bread in half then sliced it lengthwise. I then put three slices of cheese on each side. Then I added the meat (as much or as little as you want). Topped it with pickles mustard. I closed the sandwich and used my sandwich press. If you do not have a sandwich press use a cast iron frying pan.

Leftover Ham Recipes: Navy Bean Soup

2 TB Canola Oil

2 Onions, chopped

2 Carrots, chopped

2 Celery stocks, chopped

4 cps. chicken stock, low sodium

3cps. water

1 cp. milk

Ham bone

3 15oz. cans of navy beans.

2 cps. chopped ham

1 tsp. cayenne (optional)

1. brown the veggies in the oil. Add the stock, water, milk. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer for until the liquid evaporates by half.

This is sooo good.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast....

What can I say? My family loves cinnamon rolls. I make a ton and we usually eat them for desserts too. These rock. I make them often. They are a little time consuming. I usually make them at night. Let them rise and then put them in the fridge. In the morning I wake up and throw them in the oven. So simple. The best smell ever waking up in the morning.

Cinnamon Rolls

1 egg, room temp.
1 cp. hot water
1/4 cp. oil
1/3 cp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cp. bread flout
1 1/2 tsp. active yeast

1. I add this in a bread machine. In this order. If I did not have a bread machine I would probably put it in my food processor until formed into a ball and then let it rise for an hour.
2. Now this is where you roll it out and add all the goodies
1 stick of butter at rm. temp
1/2 cp. white sugar
1/2 cp. brown sugar
2 TB. cinnamon

3. Roll the dough out in a long rectangle. Add half of the butter. Then top with the sugars and cinnamon. Then begin to roll it like a jelly roll. As I roll it I add a little butter to the other side with the other half of the butter.
4. When finished rolling the cinnamon roll start cutting into about 1-2 inches thick. Put on a greased baking sheet.
5. Let the dough rise another hr. until it is doubled in size.
6. Ready to bake. 350. for about 15-20 minutes. I like mine a little soft in the middle.

Icing:

I just add 2 1/2 cps. powdered sugar, 2 TB milk, 1 tsp. vanilla. ( You can add cream cheese too. But my husband prefers no cream cheese. It is yummy, though)


Finished Product.....Enjoy!!!!

P-I-Z-Z-A

This is a staple at my home. My kids and my husband love homemade pizza. I make this about twice a month. Alex, my four year old loves the entire process of pizza making. I let her help roll out the dough and put the toppings on. The only problem is .... I can't get her to stop eating the peperoni. Tonight I made three different types of pizza. I had leftover pulled pork, so I made pulled pork and smoked Gouda pizza. I made the traditional cheese and peperoni. Lastly, I made garlic and Roma tomato pizza. I made a ton of pizza because we tend to nibble on it all weekend. I hope you enjoy the recipes!THE TRADITIONAL PIZZA

The Dough:

1/2cp. + 2 cps of hot water
package of yeast
pinch + 3 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 cp. yellow corn meal
2 TB olive oil
8 cps. of flour (bread flour)
(I know this sounds like a lot. It is. I usually make three pizzas and still have dough left over. With the leftover dough I make pizza rolls, Stromboli or freeze it.)
1. Add the 1/2 cp water, yeast and pinch of sugar. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
2. Add 2 cps of hot water, sugar, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the yeast mixture and the corn meal. Add the flour one cup at a time. Knead until elastic.
3. Sit a bowl for 2 hrs. Until it doubles in size.
4 Separate into four equal balls. (Here you can either leave in four equal balls or roll it out and form into pizza pans and put in the fridge) Put the dough in the fridge 4 hrs-Overnight. I usually make the dough in the morning. Let it rise the 2 hours and then put it in the fridge until dinner time. I also usually form the dough onto cookie trays with a little olive oil and more corn meal at the bottom of the pan. It also prevents the sticking.

The Sauce:

1 8oz. can of paste
1 8oz. can of water
2 tsp fresh oregano
1 tsp. fresh basil
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1tsp. sugar
1/4 cp. parm cheese.

1. Add all ingredients and cook in a sauce pan until it is all combined. I heat until warm and incorporated.

When the dough is done (The 4+ hrs in the fridge) top with the homemade sauce, 4 cps. fresh mozzarella shredded and fav. toppings. My daughter loves peperoni.. I top the pizza with fresh parm and some shredded oregano.
****My husband and daughter love their peperoni crispy. To make sure it is crispy add the peperoni to a frying pan for a few minutes until lightly browned.

I always bake my pizza @ 415 until it is brown around the edges and the cheese is bubbly
My Madres Pizza

3-4 tsp. olive oil
3 fresh garlic cloves minced
2-3 Roma tomatoes
4 TB fresh basil
1/3 cp. fresh parm cheese.
salt and pepper

1. Add the olive oil to the pizza. Make sure all of the surface has olive oil. Add the garlic. Top with the tomatoes, then basil and last add the parm cheese.
I usually add just a little crushed red pepper.
Bake on 415 until brown. (10-15 minutes)
Smoke Guoda and Pulled Pork Pizza

3-4 tsp. olive oil
3 tsp. bbq rub
Leftover pulled pork, about 3 cps.
8 0z. smoke Gouda
Red onions (1/2 onion)

1. Add the olive oil to the pizza crust. Make sure that the crust is covered. Add the bbq rub. Top with the leftover pulled pork. Shred the Gouda and top the pizza. Add the red onion rings on the top.
2. Bake on 415 for 10-15 minutes.

This pizza was awesome.