Ham Bone Soup

 I've never been a fan of split pea soup so what else do you do with a ham bone?  I searched and found this https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/ham-bone-soup/

Just a couple of tweaks.  One difference is that I cooked on low for like 10-12 hours but I'm sharing on my blog because my nephew and a couple of others have asked for the recipe and I can never remember what blog I found it on.

And, she does mention it but something I learned from another recipe where the beans would NOT soften is you REALLY need to make sure NOT to add tomatoes until the beans are cooked.

This soup freezes well and has a nice rich flavor.  Everyone who I've shared it with, loved it.

What you'll need:

1 onion peeled and chopped (I used a purple onion)

3 carrots washed, quartered and sliced (I leave the peel on for extra nutrients)

1 ham bone

20 oz bag of dried bean soup mix.  I honestly think it was called multibean soup or something like that.

8 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 t dried thyme

1 T minced garlic

3 cups of diced ham, my ham bone had meat on it too so I think I only added a cup?

15 oz can petite diced tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse beans thoroughly and set aside seasoning packet for later.  I didn't get a seasoning pack the last time I made it and it was fine.

Place everything except diced ham, tomatoes and seasoning packet in crockpot.  Cook on low for 8-12 hours.  

Remove ham bone from the slow cooker.  Chop up any ham that is falling off the bone, stir in diced ham, tomatoes, seasoning packet, salt and pepper.  

Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes to heat through.

Alivia

Sometimes a little girl just needs a bunch of Barbie cakes:)  This was quite a few years ago but I had the photos saved in my drafts but Barbie cakes are probably the easiest cake you'll ever make if you have the pans for the skirts.  Order the Barbie bodies from Amazon (no legs, just a peg) and use a star tip to frost on the skirt.  Smiles, smiles everywhere!

Mocha

Should be called MMMMMMMMMMMMMMocha:)  Quarantine called for desperate measures, homemade mocha  KIDDING..Kinda but it was a yummy and EASY thing to figure out and a real money saver IF I had been drinking these once a day from my favorite coffee shop.

So, here's what I used.

1 1/2 C hot coffee (I use a dark roast.  I also tried this with cold coffee since I prefer cold drinks and that is a HARD no.  Mix it hot, let it sit 10 minutes and pour over ice if cold is your thing.)
1/2-1 T Whipping Cream
1 T Baking Cocoa
1-2 T Creamer (you decide how sweet you want it)

 Put all the ingredients into something that you can shake.  In my case, a fancier mason jar.  Shake, shake, shake!

 Pour into your favorite coffee mug and put $5 in your savings account:)

Hockey Cupcakes

I found these in my drafts too.  I made these for Max's high school hockey team.

Print out a copy of the school logo

Put waxed paper over the logo

Melt some chocolate melts in your team color, pour melted chocolate into a squeeze bottle that you get at Michael's (think ketchup bottle at a restaurant) and squirt chocolate to cover the logo.  Chill, peel gently and stick onto cupcake before serving.  Don't put these in until you're ready to serve or they can melt and break.

How I got the striped look with icing?  Take a throw away piping bag that has a star tip on the end.  Take a wooden skewer and run food coloring up the side of the bag in a line.  Three lines around the bag.  Fill with frosting.

Start squeezing frosting on cupcake in a clockwise pattern finishing in the center.  Top with chocolate logo.  Impress your friends:)

Chicken Dijon...or as the Kjome kids know it...Chicken in Cream Sauce;)

Because my kids don't like mustard I didn't tell them that dish that they both love contains it.  Got this from one of my hockey moms and it has been in the regular rotation since.  Serves great over rice or pasta or wanna be healthy?  Throw it over your favorite veg!

What you'll need:

4 Skinless Chicken Breasts

2 T Butter

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder

Dijon Style Mustard

Sauce

2 T Butter

1 medium Onion chopped (you can leave these out)

1/2 C Mushrooms chopped (you can leave these out)

1 C Cream or Milk (I used half and half or if I'm feeling sassy, heavy cream)

2 T Lemon Juice

Salt and Pepper

I double the above because my family really loves the sauce

Melt 2 T Butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat (you don't have to use cast iron, but I was going for one pot cooking)

 Rough chop mushrooms and onions

 Season chicken and put into melted butter, cook for 3-4 minutes

 Flip chicken and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes

Remove chicken from pan and put to the side.  See that it's raw in the middle?  That's ok, you're going to finish cooking in the oven. 

 Throw last 2 T butter in pan and melt with juices over medium heat

 Toss in the onions and mushrooms and cook for about 3-4 minutes until softened and the mushrooms are browning up.

 Mix in the cream (or half and half or milk...just don't use fat free here, it will taste ok but it will have a curdled look which isn't very appetizing)

 Cook for a few minutes on low heat until it starts to thicken.  Turn off heat and mix in lemon juice.  Taste to see if you need any seasoning.

 Generously spread Dijon mustard on chicken breasts.  I don't know what "generous" is but this is what it looks like to me;)  You can cut chicken into chunks or halves if you want for easier serving.

Put back into pan covering with sauce.  Remember I doubled my sauce, if you didn't, you wont have quite as much.  

If you are using a different pan the "real" directions say to put into a sprayed 8x8 pan and cover with sauce.

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Serve over your favorite and enjoy.  Reheats great for leftovers but doesn't freeze well.

Kjome Hash

My favorite breakfast is some type of hash because you can do an easy fridge clean and it's always yummy!!

You can use packaged hashbrowns but I was out so I cubed a couple of peeled potatoes.

Put potatoes that you seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder and 1/4 chopped onion into a pan with a 1/4 cup water over medium heat.  Cover and cook until water is gone, you'll only need to do this with cubed potatoes, helps them cook through.  Add couple tablespoons of your favorite oil or butter and fry until crispy.  Season to taste.

Throw in the fridge!  In this case it was some chopped peppers, spinach, chopped tomatoes and some left over chopped bacon (sometimes I use ham or steak or chicken..whatever is in the fridge) and diced avocado. Give it a good toss.  If you don't like crunchy peppers, add them when you add the butter to the potatoes so they have time to soften while the potatoes crisp up.  You can also throw in some of your favorite cheese if you want.  Season to taste.

Fry two eggs to your liking.  I like over medium because it makes kind of a sauce for the hash.  Top your hash and squirt your favorite hot sauce and serve!!

Siracha Wontons

Easy Appetizer

One package won ton skins

Two packages Cream Cheese (I use Low Fat)

2-5 Tablespoons Siracha (keep adding until you have the heat you like)

Mix cream cheese and siracha.  Put one tablespoon down middle of won ton skin.

Wet edges with water and fold making a triangle.

Wrap around your finger and seal with a little water.  Fold over triangle top.

Like this

Fry in Crisco or Vegetable oil that is 350 degrees or when you drop one in, it pops right to the top.  Fry until golden brown.  Serve!!

Halloween Cake

My BFF had a big birthday awhile back and I wanted a yummy pumpkin cake since pumpkin is her favorite.  I found one here:  https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2017/10/11/best-pumpkin-cake/

She loved it, as did everyone at the party.  I used melted yellow chocolate melts for the moon.  The witches are made of fondant I cut with a new exacto knife from a stencil I made on the computer.  The frosting was just my regular buttercream.

What you'll need

4 Eggs
1 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Sugar
1 C Oil
15 oz Pumpkin

Mix together and then add
2 C Flour
1 t Baking Soda
2 t Baking Powder
1/2 t Ginger
2 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Nutmeg
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Cloves

Pour into greased cake pan. Bake at 350 for (check your pan directions, this orange one baked for 50 minutes, the black one was about 35) or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

The Dinner Table

I've been told I'm old fashioned because I think it's important to sit around the dinner table and talk.  Been told on more than one occasion "there is NO way you did that when you were busy with sports and dance". 

I'm here to tell you we did.  A single working Mom with 2 extremely busy kids ate around a table at least 4 days per week. It wasn't always a real meal, it wasn't always at "dinner" time.  Depending on the day, it was fast food, PB&J or cereal but we sat together because I think it's important.  I was raised that way and it's a tradition I think is important.

But here was the problem.  One adult, two kids "sat" together and that wasn't working for me so I started the tradition of telling three things from our day around the dinner table.  Three things since the kids were old enough to talk.  You were allowed (encouraged) to ask questions of the "thing" or like a lot of times they were stated one by one around the table until 3 had been shared.  One might say what they had for lunch, one might tell how they did on an assignment, Mom might tell you about the sale on cereal at the store and why we now have 8 boxes of cheerios;)  Everyone who sat at our table had to indulge me with their three things.

Flash forward to the college years.  I am a firm believer that you fill your child's tool box and you let them go into the world and do their thing.  At first I left them alone because I didn't want my sadness to leak out into my voice and/or make them home sick.  Then it kind of became the norm: texting and phone calls here and there, love you boxes of their favorites mailed to let them know I was thinking about them, lots of hugs when they came home.  I knew they were busy with their new routine and their respective sports so I let them be busy.  And, then one Sunday night when I was missing them extra I decided to text 3 things and to my surprise they both "replied all" with their 3 things.  Hearts and thumbs up attached to messages and all felt right in the world again.  We now share three things from our week on Sunday night. 

Traditions don't have to be done in the exact same way to continue.  Make them your own, make them work for you but please make them!

Quiche

Impress your guests or yourself with this simple quiche.  Excellent fresh out of the oven or reheated later.  You can use any combination of veg, meat or cheese.  If you're using mushrooms, I find it best to give them a quick saute on the stove.  The ingredient list below is just what's in this one and your "guide".

Here's what you'll need:

Deep Dish pie crust (you can buy frozen, follow package directions for one crust pie) or any pie crust you make or buy

6 eggs

4 T Milk

1 cup Heavy Cream

Handful of spinach, chopped

1/4 C combo diced peppers and onions

1/2 C meat (fry 8 slice so bacon and chop or buy a thick cut of deli ham and dice up)

1/2 - 1 C of cheese..haven't found a flavor that I haven't liked in quiche so just use your favorite

1 t Salt

1/2 t Pepper

1/4 t Cayenne

Layer your crust with meat, veg and spinach.

 Top with some cheese.  I used cheddar and jalapeno havarti.

 In a 2 cup measuring cup crack 6 eggs, add 4 T milk and then fill to the 

2 Cup mark with heavy cream.  

 Dump into a bowl, add salt, pepper and cayenne.  Whisk until combined.  At this point you can also mix in a small handful of shredded cheese, I used colby jack.

 Pour over your ingredients in the pie crust.  Use a fork to move the ingredients around (put fork lightly in, don't puncture crust and give a wiggle) so that the egg mixture fills in throughout the crust.

 Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes until the middle is set and the edges just slightly browned.

That's it.  I like mine topped with some Sriracha but you can eat it as is.  Enjoy!

It worked!!

I started this blog years ago in the "hopes" that when my children, nieces, nephews needed/wanted a recipe, I could just send them here.  The comfort foods they've grown up with, the sweet treats for no reason and pieces of advice that I'm not too sure get many hits are all here. 

I found out awhile back that they've been checking it out and cooking which made me smile because my idea actually WORKED!!  But yesterday in the midst of all this crazy quarantine, I received a text from my son's girlfriend.  "Hi.  Max and I were wondering what we need to make your fried rice and how to make it"?  I make it so often, I don't even think about it anymore, how was I going to text out the way to do it??  And, then I remembered MY blog, LOL.  I panicked for a second, did I have that one on here??  Luckily I did and I was able to text the few things I do differently and all was right in the world for a second.  I was able to "make" something for my son, one of his comfort foods even though he is a 1,000 miles away, quarantined in a house that isn't mine.

As I focus on the positive that my family is safe (and have food they like;)  I decided to also focus on updating this blog with a few new recipes so they are there when they need them.  Stay tuned and thanks for checking in!