Life with the Family O

Tag: Recipes

  • Giving Thanks

    So many wonderful things about the Fall but the one that causes us to pause, be reflective and spend time with loved ones is the best. Thanksgiving brings up so many warm and fuzzy feelings. I love it, it is so necessary to stop and reflect and be thankful to God for everything He has given us. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells: “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  For me, unfortunately thanks is not my natural reactions to most situations that I am not completely happy with. Thanksgiving makes me stop and truly ponder all He has done for me.

    This year we invited my in-laws over for an intimate late afternoon dinner.  Last year was my first time hosting Thanksgiving.  I really enjoy it, who knew?

    I did my research and picked the very best recipes I could find. The In-Laws brought the turkey and stuffing. I made all the traditional favorites (links to recipes at bottom of post) like mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, creamed corn, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and rolls.

    I set the table with stuff from my craft bin, not too shabby…

    thanksgiving table

    Ooops, missing a plate!

    For the kids table, I made it super special with an Iron Man tablecloth 🙂

    thanksgiving kids table

    The kids each received a gift bag with Thanksgiving stamps and a homemade stamp book, also a personalized turkey for a place holder.  The adult placeholders were simple construction paper tents with dollar tree leaves.

    thanksgiving

    All in all, it was a fantastic day with yummy food, football and family! Plenty of reasons for giving thanks.

    Recipes:

    Pioneer Woman Creamy Mashed Potatoes – made these the day before, just like the recipe

    Yummy Sweet Potato Casserole -I added a few marshmallows to mine

    Green Bean Casserole

    Homemade, Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce – made the day before, this was a HUGE hit

    Best Sugar Cookie Cutouts Recipe – I made these with the kids 2 days before Thanksgiving

    And last but not least…. Brown and Serve Rolls from Kroger. I did not have the courage to make homemade bread. These are always a hit with everyone so why mess with perfection?

    All in all, it was a great day! I am thinking of trying to pull of a Christmas Dinner next. Stay tuned!

  • Super Yummy Beef Enchiladas

     

    Go to Recipes > You’ll Want This One.

    As I’ve said before, I cook for picky eaters—#MyKids. There are only a few meals that every single member of my crew will eat without complaint, and this is one of them: Beef Enchiladas. Well… technically it’s Cheesy Beef Green Chili Enchilada Stacks—but who’s got time for that name?

    Let’s just call them Beef Enchiladas and move on.

    They’re a little different than your standard rolled-up, red-sauced version. Truth is, I only like my mom’s red chili. She makes the ultimate savory-spicy red chile that I haven’t figured out how to replicate (Mom, if you’re reading this—help a girl out!).

    So instead, I make mine using our generations-old family Pork Green Chili recipe—and let me tell you, it does not disappoint.

    Once that chili is simmering and smelling like heaven, brown your ground beef. Then it’s time to build those stacks. Cut up about 10 corn tortillas into strips and layer them across the bottom of your baking dish.

  • “Tie-Dye” Cupcakes

    Recently I made a Rainbow layer cake for my son’s birthday.   I had a box of cake mix leftover and thought I would try making a cupcake version of this cake.

    I made the White Cake Mix and then divided it into 4 bowls, I dyed each bowl and then scooped spoonfuls into muffins cups.

    tie dye cupcakes

    tie dye cupcakes

    tie dye cupcakes

    I baked for 15 minutes at 350.  They kids loved them.  Looking back, I wish I would have swirled the colors around a little bit with a toothpick.

    I did not frost them, too messy and less sugar.  If you make these, share your link in the comments please, I would love to see them!

  • Delicious White Sandwich Bread Recipe

    Stop the presses! This bread is delicious…and it’s easy to make!

    I admit, we only buy whole wheat bread from the store but I don’t buy wheat flour. When I make homemade bread it’s always artisan bread, never a loaf. Well, the time came that I needed sandwich bread for lunch and realized we were out. So I went to my trusty friend Google and found this amazingly easy King Arthur recipe.
    homemade sandwich bread

    I mixed up all the ingredients in my Kitchen-Aid and followed the easy directions.  A couple of hours later my boys were eating the most delicious grilled cheese sandwiches along with homemade tomato soup.

    You must make this! It is so easy and so very, very good.

    King Arthur White Sandwich Bread

    • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons water to 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water*
    • 1 heaping tablespoon honey
    • 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
    • 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
    • 2 tablespoons soft butter
    • 4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
    • 1/3 cup Baker’s Special Dry Milk or 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk granules
    • *Use the lesser amount in summer or humid climates; the greater amount in winter or drier climates.

    Directions

    1. 1) Mix all of the ingredients in the order listed, and mix and knead — by hand, or using a stand mixer — to make a smooth dough. It won’t be particularly soft nor stiff; it should be smooth and feel bouncy and elastic under your hands.
    2. 2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or other container. Cover it, and let it rise at room temperature until it’s very puffy, 1 to 2 hours.
    3. 3) Gently deflate the dough, and shape it into a fat 9″ log. Place it in a lightly greased 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.
    4. 4) Cover the pan, and let the dough rise for 60 to 90 minutes, till it’s crowned 1″ to 1 1/2″ over the rim of the pan. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
    5. 5) Bake the bread for 20 minutes. Tent it lightly with aluminum foil, and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, till it’s golden brown. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center will read 195°F to 200°F.
    6. 6) Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out onto a rack to cool. When completely cool, wrap in plastic, and store at room temperature.
    7. Yield: 1 large loaf, about 18 servings.

    Your family will love you even more!

    Click here to see this recipe and many others on King Arthur’s website.

  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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    Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
    Do you love chocolate chips the way I love chocolate chip cookies?  I love them so much that I have tried tons of recipes with variations on ingredients.  Let me tell you that this is the best recipe I have ever come across.  I got it years ago from my favorite recipe site allrecipes.com
    Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies submitted by Clarice Schweitzer
    • 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
    • 1 cup chunky peanut butter
    • 2 egg
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 cup old-fashioned oats
    • 2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

    In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars; beat in peanut butter, egg and vanilla. Combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute before removing to a wire rack.

    ENJOY!  So good dipped in milk or coffee.  Will quickly become a family favorite.  These are also so easy you can throw them together for potlucks, get togethers, etc.

  • Try This Orange Chicken Recipe

    Orange_chicken_recipes

    Can you believe I grew up never, ever eating Chinese food?  In my twenties, a friend took me to a Chinese restaurant and I order sweet and sour chicken.  It was delicious, unlike anything I had ever eaten.  Paired with egg fried rice?  Hello, yummy, I was sold.  Over the following years I acquired a taste for Szechuan Beef, Sesame Chicken, Egg rolls, Dumplings, you name it, I loved it.

    After my husband and I got married we ordered it maybe 2 or 3 times not much but sometimes.  Recently, my husband started going with his co-workers to a Chinese restaurant by his work for lunch.  He brought home some Orange Chicken and WOW! I couldn’t stop eating it!

    On a side note we don’t eat out as a family very often.  We think it is way more cost effective and healthy to make homemade meals.  So my challenge was to come up with a good Orange Chicken recipe.  Of course I went right to my go-to recipe site, The Pioneer Woman.  I go to her site first when I am looking up recipes.  SCORE, she has an Orange Chicken recipe! So I figured that would be a good one to start with.

    I used chicken thighs just like she recommended.  The only I will change next time is I will use about 1/2 the amount of fresh ginger. My husband loved it and so did I!  Thanks Ree Drummond for ANOTHER amazing recipe.

    Orange Chicken Recipe

    You soak it, fry it, dry it, fry it again and then toss it in the most amazing Orange Sauce ever!  Top with green onions.

     

    Orange_Chicken_Recipe

     

    Highly recommend, this is so delicious.  We served over rice but will be using lo mein noodles next time!

     

  • Chili Cheese Eggs

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    chiles
    YUM. I must start this post off by telling you how totally in love I am with green chiles, you know the kind, especially if you are from Colorado or New Mexico. These are special green chiles and come from New Mexico and Southern Colorado.

    They come in varieties like Pueblo, Dynamite, Hatch, Pueblo Mosco – those are the best ones. Usually in late Summer through the Fall you will see stands all over Denver, all equipped with these huge roasters. As soon you step out of your car the aroma is heavenly.

    All this to say, I want to share one of my favorite recipes. I make this recipe for Bible Study, our Moms Group, a ministry meal and as a family favorite.

    2 (16 ounce) packages shredded Cheddar
    cheese **I used Mexican combo – monterey, colby, etc***
    2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile
    peppers, juice reserved
    12 eggs *** I used 17 and would recommend more than 12**

    DIRECTIONS:
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
    2. In a 9×13 inch baking dish, place 1/2 of the shredded Cheddar cheese. Top with green chile peppers. Top the chiles with the remaining cheese.
    3. In a blender, mix eggs with the juice from the chile peppers. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese mixture.
    4. Bake in the preheated oven 30 to 40 minutes. Cool before cutting into squares.

  • Homemade Chocolate Sauce

    Chocolate Milk

    We love to use chocolate sauce in house, whether it is for chocolate milk or ice cream sundaes, we go through it way too quickly.  Pinterest is the source of my latest inspiration, of course.  The thought of making my own was appealing because there are like 4 ingredients  that go into it. No extra “junk”.  While looking for a list of ingredients in Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce (they do not list it on their website) I found this very informative post:  Ingredients in Hershey’s.

    Why buy chocolate syrup when you can easily make your own with just:
    1 1/2 cups sugar
    3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (your favorite brand)
    1 cup water
    dash of salt
    1 teaspoon vanilla

    Whisk the sugar, cocoa and salt together, place in a sauce pan with the water and bring it to a boil while stirring consistently. Reduce heat and cook for about 1 minute. When it’s cooled enough to add to your container stir in the vanilla then store in the refrigerator!

    Banana Split

    Delicious and Healthier than Store Bought 

    Which would you rather have:

    Cocoa Powder
    Water
    Real Vanilla Extract
    Real Sugar
    Salt

    		 OR High Fructose Corn  Syrup
    Corn Syrup
    Potassium Sorbate (preservative)
    Imitation Vanilla
    Mono-diglycerides
    Polysorbate 60
    xanthan gum (corn)

    It is healthier and more economical to make your own chocolate sauce.

    My husband has been making his morning mochas with it and the kids are using in their  milk.

    It is delicious.

    mocha

  • Green Chile “Smothered” Burritos

    Burrito Lovers Special

    smothered burritos

    This is a meal that has always been a tradition in our house when I was growing up.  Here in Colorado we eat a kind of green chile that you don’t find in many other parts of the country.  It is a pork green chile and it comes from “New Mexican” food.  My Mothers family is from Southern Colorado and before that from Northern New Mexico and Spain prior to that.  This type of cuisine is a hybrid of deliciousness.  The base for most of the foods are green chiles, like Hatch, Anaheim and Pueblos.  I prefer Pueblos, then Hatch, then Anaheim.  In Colorado you will find Chile Roasters on almost every street corner from late August to mid-October.  Read here for our tradition of picking up bushels for the year!!

    The list of delicious food you can make is endless.  I will start sharing more recipes as I continue to go through our family cookbook.  This time I made classic Smothered Burritos.  We call them smothered because they are covered in Pork Green Chile, yum.

    This is the recipe we use in my family, however, in this particular recipe I have modified and updated it.

    ingredients for green chileIngredients

    chile base mixChile Base

    Browning flourBrowning the flour, most important step!  See the brown, carmely color starting to develop?  That is perfect!

    Adding PorkAdd diced pork, brown

    browning porkBrown the pork

    chilebaseBlend Chile base, add to pan with browned pork

    burritosInside:  homemade refried beans, sour cream, cheese

    Pork Green_chile

    This is the Green Chile looks like when done

    Smothered Burritos

    Smothered_burritos

    Recipe:

    Lobato Family Green Chile, modified by Mrs. O

    1.5 lbs Pork Tenderloin, diced

    4 cups Chicken Broth

    2 cans Rotel (medium)

    1 large can of Green Chiles

    1/2 small can of Jalepenos

    2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

    3 tbsp Flour

    1 tsp Garlic Salt

    1 tsp Onion Salt

    1 tsp Salt

    Dice pork, heat oil in pan, add flour, stir until brown.  Add diced pork, cook until brown.  In blender mix: 1 can chicken broth, Rotel, Jalepenos, Green Chiles, Salt, Garlic Salt, Onion, BLEND.

    When pork and flour have browned add the blended ingredients, last can of broth and the water.  Bring to a boil, then let simmer for at least 1 hour.  I let mine cook for around 2 hours.  It is even better the next day!

    For burritos, construct burritos with refried beans, sour cream and cheese. When chile is done, pour over burritos add cheese, cover and bake for 2o minutes at 350.  After 20 minutes, remove cover and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese bubbles.

     

  • Cheesy Lasagna

    lasagna

    Lasagna, yum! Who could argue that? Now, I don’t have it very often, maybe once every few years .  I had never made it.  My husband has been asking me to make it since we got married, I decided it was time to try.  I do love it, and making it very cheesy and delicious.  It is one of those recipes I have felt intimidated to make though.  I headed to Allrecipes.com and searched by ingredient.  I did this because I wanted to make it with lowfat cottage cheese instead of ricotta.  I came across this one, Cheese Lasagna.  I modified it a bit…

     

    lasagna sauceSpaghetti Sauce, Green Chiles, Jalapenos, Cottage Cheese, Italian Seasoning

    lasagna sauceSauce, blended

    cooking lasagnaMaking layers: noodles, sauce, mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan

    cooking lasagnaCovered tight

    cooked lasagna

    Baked and delicious!