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Salmon with Honey Balsamic Glaze

17 Jul

I recently bought 2 packages of frozen salmon fillets at Fry’s, the Kroger brand salmon fillets.  On the back of the packaging was this recipe, and I thought I would give it a try.  I am tired of the plain old way I make salmon; brush with olive oil, sprinkle with lemon pepper, and cook on the George Foreman grill.  So, this was a nice change-up for us.  It was all ingredients I had on hand, so it was just a matter of mixing it up and brushing it on the salmon.  While it baked, I made Garlic Green Beans (this recipe, minus the cauliflower and Parmesan cheese).

Salmon with Honey Balsamic GlazeSalmon with Honey Balsamic Glaze
Recipe from a package of Kroger brand Atlantic Salmon Fillets

What you need:

4 salmon fillets, thawed and rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame seeds
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Line a shallow baking pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Spoon mayonnaise into a small bowl.  Gradually whisk in the vinegar until smooth.  Whisk in the honey, sesame seeds, oregano, olive oil, and minced garlic.

Put the salmon in the baking dish, skin side down if there is skin.  Brush the tops and sides of all fillets with the glaze.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-18 minutes, or until the salmon flakes easily when tested with a fork.

 

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Zaycon Foods Buffalo Wings and Chicken Tenders Event

17 Jul

This week, Zaycon Foods had a Buffalo Wings and Chicken Tenders event here in my area.  Since we enjoyed both last time, I decided to get them again.  The wings were pretty much the same, but the chicken tenders were fully cooked this time.

First, here are the Hot ‘n Spicy Buffalo Wings:

Zaycon Foods Hot 'n Spicy Wings

 

This time, they were $3.15 per pound, and came as four 5-lb bags.  Last time, the wings seemed a little on the small side, but this time they are larger and more like what I’ve seen eating out.  These are fully cooked, so they just need to be heated through.

Next, here are the Fully Cooked Breaded Chicken Tenders:

Zaycon Foods Fully Cooked Breaded Chicken Tenders

 

This picture is just half of the case.  I shared this case with a friend, and didn’t get a chance to take a picture until after she’d already picked up her share.  These were $2.19 per pound, and also came as four 5-lb bags.  The chicken tenders are in varying sizes, about medium-sized.  We will hopefully have a chance to try these out in the next few days.

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Broccoli Parmesan Ranch Twice-Baked Potatoes

17 Jul

I really like twice-baked potatoes, but they can be just a bit time-consuming to make.  I think next time, I might put the potatoes in the slow cooker to cook all day, then stuff and oven bake them at night.  For these, I used ranch dressing and broccoli, but there are other variations that could be done as well.  For example, sour cream or cream cheese instead of ranch, spinach in place of broccoli, cheddar cheese in place of Parmesan.  Or, add in some meat like bacon, cooked chicken or cooked ham.  You could make this just as your one-course for dinner having a meat and a vegetable mixed in.

 

Broccoli Ranch Twice-Baked Potatoes

 

Broccoli Parmesan Ranch Twice-Baked Potatoes

What you need:

4 large or 6 medium russet potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
2 cups chopped broccoli
1/2 cup ranch dressing
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Thoroughly wash potatoes and pierce all over with a fork.  Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake for 45-60 minutes until soft.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Once potatoes have cooled, cut tops from potatoes, and scoop out the insides carefully to keep the skins like little bowls.  Mash the insides in a medium size mixing bowl.  Brush the skins with olive oil and return to the baking sheet.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet.  Add onion and broccoli; cook until soft.  Remove from heat and stir in with the mashed potatoes.  Mix in ranch dressing and grated Parmesan cheese.

Spoon the potato mixture into each of the potato skins.  It is fine  for it to come out of the top of the skin.  If desired, sprinkle with more grated Parmesan on top of each potato.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through.

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Loaded Baked Potato Salad

4 Jul

This was part of our 4th of July meal.  I looked around at a few different recipes before settling on this combination.  I think it turned out pretty good!

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

 

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

What you need:

2 pounds red potatoes, skins left on, and diced into 1″ pieces
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
8 pieces of cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus some  for garnish
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
Chives, for garnish (optional)

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Lay potatoes on a baking sheet and spray with a little olive oil. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Allow to cool completely.

Once potatoes are cool, add them to a large bowl and mix in chopped hard-boiled eggs, crumbled bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese.

In a separate small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard.  Pour over the potato mixture and stir in until well coated.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.  If desired, top with more shredded cheddar cheese and chives.

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Summer Squash, Sausage, and Egg Bake

26 Jun

This time of year, summer squash, like zucchini and yellow squash, seem to be in abundance.  One of my all time favorite dishes to make is Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie, either with just zucchini or a mix of zucchini and yellow squash.  However, my husband isn’t real fond of the crust.  So, I had experimented with a mashed potato crust, but still got mixed reviews from the family.  So, I decided to make it crust-less, using this recipe for inspiration.  I decided to use different cheese and not any additional seasoning since I added sausage.  We loved it!  Plus, I’m already working on other variations, no sausage, possibly ground beef, use oregano and basil to season, try out different cheeses.  It’s very versatile to be able to use what you have on hand!  I will hopefully update on my future combinations, but for now, here is the one I made last night.

Summer Squash, Sausage and Egg Bake

 

Summer Squash, Sausage, and Egg Bake

What you need:

1 pound sausage (I used Johnsonville Mild Italian Sausage)
1 small onion
1 medium size yellow squash, cut into thin slices
1 medium size zucchini, cut into thin slices
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 large eggs, well beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a large skillet, brown sausage.  Do not drain fat.  Add onions, yellow squash, and zucchini, and cook until soft and translucent.  Stir in cream cheese until well blended.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together eggs, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese.

Spray a 2 quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour the squash/sausage mixture into the dish.  Mix in the egg and cheese mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until sides are bubbling and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

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Zaycon Foods BBQ and Bacon Events

19 Jun

Last month, Zaycon Foods had a BBQ foods event and I’m just getting around to posting the pictures!  The event included bacon-wrapped pork fillets, Gold Medal beef hot dogs, Gold Medal Polska kielbasa sausages, and pork loin “meaty” back ribs.  I really wanted to get all of it, but settled on the bacon-wrapped pork fillets and the beef hot dogs.

The bacon-wrapped pork fillets came frozen in a 10 pound box, which was 30 fillets, for $39.90 ($3.99/lb).  I split this case with a friend, so we each got 15.  Here is how the case looked:

Zaycon Foods Bacon-Wrapped Pork FilletsAt first, they seemed a little smaller than I was expecting, but actually, they are a perfect size.  I grilled these about a week after getting them, and they were really good.  My husband put his in a bun and had it like a sandwich.  I just cut mine and ate it.  Looking forward to enjoying the rest of these soon!

The Gold Medal beef hot dogs came frozen in a 10 pound package as well, which was 50 hot dogs.  It was $29.90, or $2.99/lb.  I kept this whole case myself, wishing I had gotten another!  Love these hot dogs, they are so good!  Here is how the case looked:

Zaycon Foods Gold Medal Beef Hot DogsThere was a little freezer burn on them, but while I had them out to re-package, some of that melted away.  I put them in packages of 4 and packages of 8.  We’re a family of 4, so I did the 4 for when I grill the hot dogs with something else, like brats or burgers, and the 8 for when we have just hot dogs or friends over.

Today, was the pick up for the fresh premium hickory smoked bacon event.  And, just in time because I’m down to my last couple packages of bacon.  They made some changes from the last event, the bacon is fresh, but was delivered frozen.  Which is fine because it all went in the freezer anyway since I still have some from the last event to use.  It was also packaged differently.  Last time, it was in two 15 pound packages, and this time there were twelve 3 pound packages.  Their reason for this was to make it easier to share the case with friends and family.  I haven’t decided if I will re-package this or not.  I’m sure we could eat 3 pounds of bacon at once, but I don’t think we should!   Anyway, there were 36 pounds total, and it cost $125.64, or $3.49/lb.  I shared this case with a friend, and here is my share of the bacon:

Zaycon Foods Premium Hickory Smoked Bacon

 

Next month, they have a chicken tender event and a ground beef event scheduled.  Definitely getting the ground beef, still undecided on the chicken tenders.

 

 

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FarmBox Fresh: 6/12/2013

14 Jun

I haven’t posted FarmBox picture recently, and since they started offering new items, I wanted to make sure to give an update!  They now are offering items like oats, lentils, peas, raisins, and other items from their sister company, One Degree Organic Foods.  Plus, they provided us with a copy of a new magazine, Edible Baja, which is all about food and drink in southern AZ.  It’s a really neat magazine!

FarmBox Fresh: 6/12/2013

 

So, this week you can see I got the following:

1 Bread – Sprouted Spelt (1.0 loaf)
1 Lettuce – Green Leaf (1.0 head)
1 Zucchini (1.0 each)
1 Squash – Yellow Straightneck (1.0 each)
1 Radish (1.0 bunch)
1 Carrots (1.0 bunch)
1 PantryItems: Rolled Oats Organic (1.0 bag)
1 PantryItems: Raisins Organic (1.0 bag)

Total: $23.50

The carrots and radishes have been great snacks, and I’ve been on a salad kick lately, so the green leaf lettuce is perfect for salads for lunch.  I think I will be making oatmeal raisin cookies with the oats and the raisins, that is, if I don’t eat all the raisins first!  Still love getting fresh food from them, and happy to hear that they are partnering with farms with the same quality values as them to be able to provide more for us who participate in the program.  Looking forward to them offering peaches again soon from a local grower, last year they were amazing!

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Breakfast Biscuit Bowls

9 Jun

As promised, here is the update on my next round of biscuit bowls!

Once again, I used 1 can of Grands biscuits.  This time, I sprayed the small Pyrex bowls on the outside, rolled together 2 Grands biscuits, and spread it over the outside of the bowl.  I lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil, placed the upside down bowls on the sheet, and baked in the oven at 350 F.  After 12 minutes, I started checking them, and mine were finished in 20 minutes.  Time may vary by oven and by what you bake them on.

Biscuit bowls after bakingThen, I worked on the filling.  You can see a peek of the skillet in the picture above.  I started by removing the casings from breakfast sausage and crumbling and cooking in a  large skillet over medium heat.  Once browned, I left the fat in and mixed in small cubes of red potatoes.  I let this cook for a while to let the potatoes soften.  Next, I added in some diced red onion, and cooked until the onions were translucent.  Then, I added in diced mushrooms and chopped fresh spinach.  Once the spinach wilted, I pushed it all up to one side, and on the empty side, added in 6 eggs that I had whisked with a couple of tablespoons of milk.  Once this cooked up and I stirred to scramble, I mixed the eggs in with the rest, giving me this delicious-ness:

Sausage, red potato, red onion, mushroom, spinach, and scrambled egg filling for biscuit bowls

 

Then, assembly time!  My older daughter added grated Parmesan to hers, I added crumbled feta to mine, and my younger daughter and my husband added shredded cheddar to theirs.  I had some filling leftover, so I made a few burritos using large flour tortillas that I had on hand.

Breakfast Biscuit Bowl with Parmesan cheese Breakfast Biscuit Bowl with crumbled feta

 

I was very pleased with how it all turned out, and we will be having this again, and soon!

 

 

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Farmer’s Market Finds: 6/6/2013

6 Jun

We had a lot of fun at Farmer’s Market today!

First, we stopped at the Basic Farm 7 table.  Christie had one of her male baby goats, Tiny Tim, at the market with her today, and she let my kids bottle feed him.  She also had onions, feta cheese, jams and jellies, soaps, and lotions.  I got 8 oz of feta cheese for $4 and a bar of unscented soap with goat’s milk for $5.  Here is a picture of my oldest bottle-feeding Tiny Tim:

Feeding Tiny Tim

Next, we stopped at the Hana’s Japanese Bakery table.  She has a variety of baked items and this week had fresh Japanese green tea leaves.  We chose a bag of black sesame cookies and a bag of lemon cookies.  The cookies are $3 each, or $5 when you buy 2, so that’s why we bought 2 to pay $5.

Next, we headed to the Sanctuary Farms table.  She gave us some samples of her chevre and truffles.  Both are very good!  We bought 4 oz of chevre with garlic and chives for $4.  Next week, I think we’ll be buying some of her truffles, yum!

The girls were hungry, so we headed to a new food truck to the Farmer’s Market, J’s Kitchen.  I have heard a lot of good things about her food, so we finally tried it today.  She had samples of mango and avocado salad and banana and brown sugar spring rolls.  Both were delicious!  We got an order of chicken rice noodles and 6 pork spring rolls, plus 2 bottles of water, all for $8.50.

After we sat to eat, I got Hawaiian shaved ice from the Big Woody’s food truck.  We got the small size, which were $2.50 each.  The girls wanted a rainbow of flavors, and it was really tasty and a nice cool treat on a hot day.

K eating her Hawaiian shaved iceS eating her Hawaiian shaved ice

 

 

 

 

While we ate, we listened to banjo music by Don Van Palta.  He let both girls come up and play a song with him.

K playing banjoS playing banjo

 

 

 

 

Finally, we picked up a quart size bag of fresh blackberries from Bob Dirks, who was at the Information booth.  They were $8, and are delicious!

So, here is a picture of all the goodies from today.  Quart size bag of blackberries, garlic and chive chevre, feta cheese, soap with goat’s milk, black sesame cookies, and lemon cookies.

Farmer's Market Finds: 6/6/2013

Looking forward to having fun again next week, and seeing what other goodies we can find!

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Slow Cooker Spicy 9 Bean and Pork Soup

4 Jun

Last fall, on my trip to Willcox, one of the stops was the Bonita Bean Company.  I have been using the pinto beans I purchased to make Refried Beans, but I also had gotten a 9 bean mix I still needed to use.

9 Bean mix from Bonita BeanIt is a 20 ounce bag containing pinto, cranberry, light red kidney, yellow, black, small red, pink, navy, and Great Northern.  I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer to use, along with some green chile and onion, and decided that all would make a good soup.  And, with beans taking so long to cook, I decided the slow cooker was the way to go to make this.  My older daughter and I thought it turned out really well, in fact, we both had a second helping!  Even though I have it labeled as spicy, it’s a  low level of heat, but still a little on the spicy side.  If you don’t have a bean mix, you can make a mix of your own, a great way to use up small amounts of different kinds of beans!

Slow Cooker Spicy 9 Bean and Pork Soup

Slow Cooker 9 Bean and Pork Soup

What you need:

3 cups of a dry bean mix
1 1/2 pounds pork roast or tenderloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green chiles
2 cups diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt

How to make it:

Put beans in a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker.  Add pork next, then the remaining ingredients.  Cook on high for 5-7 hours, or until beans are tender.

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