Tasty Spanish Rice

 Servings: 4

Total cook time -- 45 minutes

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spanish-Rice-II/Detail.aspx

• 6-10 slices bacon (fatty beef would also work i think)
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth (i used 1 cup broth, 1/2 cup red cooking wine)
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
• 1 teaspoons red pepper powder, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (don't use too much or it'll taste weird)
• 1/2 tablespoon basil
• creole seasoning -- until desired spiciness is reached

1. Cook bacon in a greased, deep skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, pepper and shallot and saute until bacon is nearly cooked.  Add rice, and cook until rice is browned and onions are tender.
2. Stir in broth and tomatoes. Season with red pepper, cumin, salt, garlic powder, basil, and creole seasoning . Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed. 
3. This is an awesome side dish.  I also think mushrooms would saute well into this recipe...and more tomatoes would be ok too.

pizza casserole

servings: 7
preheat: 350
ready in: 1 hour

ps this is not my tablecloth

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked egg noodles (can substitute other pastas)
• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bell pepper, chopped (doesn't matter what color)
• 1 cup sliced pepperoni sausage
• 16 ounces pizza sauce
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
• some green onions, chopped 
• olives

Cook noodles in salted boiling water.  Add a little olive oil if they are especially old and dry (like mine are haha)
In a large frying pan, cook beef, onion, garlic, green onion, and pepper until meat is browned and onions are cooked.  I added meat tenderizer and mcormick hamburger seasoning to the hamburger, which had been frozen, and it helped a lot.
Stir in noodles, pepperoni, pizza sauce, olives, and milk--mix well. Pour into glass baking dish.

Pizza Sauce (I didn't have any so i made some).  Mix together until smooth:

• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon spicy crushed pepper
• creole seasoning (a nice spicy/salty seasoning)

Bake for 15 minutes, then top casserole with mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Bake until cheese melts.
This is really pretty tasty.

the best steak marinade

This marinade is incredibly tasty. It will work on many meats, but I think it is  best for steak personally.
servings: 8

note the bacon wrapped around this delicately grilled steak...delicious

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup lemon juice--use fresh if possible
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1/2 tablespoon montreal steak seasoning
• 2 tablespoons barbeque sauce
• 4 tablespoons dried basil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper (or any kind, really)
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic not optional
• italian salad dressing (optional)
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

Put ingredients in the blender, and blend until everything is well mixed. If you don't have a blender, you can put everything in a ziploc bag and shake it for a minute to mix everything up.

Refrigerate meat.  The longer you let the meat marinade, the more flavorful and tender it will be. 

special italian lasagna

This recipe is dedicated to janel--I hope you like it  :)
Recipe yield--one pan of lasagna

The finished lasagna

Janel had the idea of taking pictures as I cooked this one, and so I tried to snap some pictures of the different ingredients I used (and I threw in quite a few, big surprise).  

I'm going to put together an ingredients list, but I am going list the ingredients with the pictures.  Each picture essentially represents a separate phase or portion of the recipe.  There is definitely room for some experimentation in this recipe.  My version is fairly spicy, but please make it the way you like it  :) 

• preheat oven to 400 (this step comes especially early in my mustard yellow, 60s-style oven)

Saute us!

• 1/3 red bell pepper, chopped
• minced fresh garlic (about 4 or 5 cloves)
• chopped onion--i used about 1/2 an onion
• sliced mushrooms
• diced shallot (for stronger onion taste)
• spicy sausage--i used 1/2 tube
• thick sliced bacon--a few slices, diced
• meat tenderizer--recommended if using frozen meat
• oil for frying

Coat a frying pan with pam or whatever--only a masochist wants to clean up a sticky, charred sausage after cooking.  Saute with oil--add more if onions do not cook quickly enough.  Cover frying pan with a lid, but be sure to stir the mix every few minutes.

When the sausage is browned, bacon is cooked and onions are no longer raw, begin adding sauce ingredients.

sauce and spice time!

• can of tomato sauce 
• dry oregano
• basil--put enough in!  :)
• italian seasoning
• fennel seed (optional, but i have some so i threw it in)
• spicy pepper flakes
• cooking wine--i used red burgoundy, but white will also work (if you don't have any cooking wine, apple juice or a spoonful of sugar will work too)
• tomato, chopped
• green onions -- chopped
• spinach--optional healthy addition

Stir tomato sauce, oregano, basil, italian seasoning, fennel seed, pepper, and chopped tomato into the frying pan. Add wine to sweeten sauce, and to add moisture if sauce is too dry.  Cover with lid and allow to simmer until thick.  (If your in a rush mix cornstarch with cold water and then add to sauce--this will make it thicken much quicker).  Add green onions last.

Add lasagna noodles to a pot of salted boiling water.  Cook pasta until it is almost done (al dente), and then strain and rinse. Set aside.

While tomato/meat sauce is simmering, mix the following in a medium mixing bowl:

• milk, maybe 1/4 cup (any whippable cream will work)
• parmesan and ricotta cheese--at least 1 cup
• one egg
• parsley flakes
• dry oregano
• basil pesto
• cream cheese--the more, the richer
• sour cream--one scoop
• garlic powder--don't listen to what dad says, it'll be good  :P

Mix ingredients together until there are no lumps of cream cheese.

CHEESE!!!  Mix and match

• mozarella, shredded
• provolone, shredded
• colby or monteray jack, shredded
• white chipolte cheddar (not required, but I had some on hand so i used it)
• cheddar--optional

Grease baking or casserole dish thoroughly. Add noodles, meat sauce, and white cheese sauce in layers.  Additional cheese may be added to each layer if extra space is available. Top with shredded cheese--the more the better this will taste.  I know cheese is pricy, but its worth it...trust me.

Cover and bake until lasagna is bubbly and cheese is well melted,

bon appetite!

Try not to go back for seconds--I dare you!

I got a lot of ideas for this from two different recipes on allrecipes, feel free to experiment and make this dish exactly the way you want to.  Be sure to scale recipes similar if you take ingredients from different ones.  Here are the major sources for this recipe-- 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Worlds-Best-Lasagna/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Lasagna/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

pictures i found on my camera

da kitty!

 This is my stove while I'm cooking pancakes. I also have a couple spices on top of it  :p

 These are some pictures I found on my camera that are pretty sweet.  Not really cooking related, but still pretty awesome

Amazing Mashed Potatoes

these mashed potatoes rock. you guys will have to tell me how you like them  :)

servings:  3-4

RED GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

• 8 medium red potatoes, cubed 
• 2 teaspoons crushed garlic (I didn't have any, so i oven roasted some fresh garlic)
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup whipping cream or half and half
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon steak seasoning (I put in more hehe)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• some onion powder
• optional -- cream cheese
•    - peppers, for roasting with garlic
• 
  
• 
  

1. Place the potatoes into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Add the crushed garlic and lemon pepper to the water for flavor Bring to a boil, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.
2. Drain the potatoes, and add the butter. Mash until the butter is melted. Mix in the half-and-half, sugar, steak seasoning, garlic powder and remaining garlic. Mix potatoes with an electric mixer until smooth.  If you don't have a mixer though you can just mash it up with a fork until it is ready

peanut butter banana bread

a lot of this comes from a banana bread recipe on allrecipes.  this recipe is calculated for one big loaf of bread.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
• 1 or 2 Tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 Tablespoon cream cheese
• 2+ Tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• a pinch cinnamon powder 
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• chocolate chips (for treat version)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter brown sugar, cream cheese, cinnamon and whipping cream.  I added vanilla butter nut concentrate because i'm out of regular vanilla.  Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended, and add chocolate chips if you want to. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture; but just to moisten--don't stir it too much. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
 

 This recipe is quite good.  It reminded me a bit of coffee cake, but it definitely has its own unique flavor. Enjoy!

super blt -- another good sanwhich

sandwiches have become quite a staple in my diet, and recently i ran across a recipe for a delicious one on allrecipes. its really good, and ive added in some changes i made to this recipe when i made it

BLT ---  thanks for this picture mom

--calculated to serve 2  hungry people

• 8 slices bacon
• 8 slices bread, toasted
• 1/4 cup guacamole (get spicy if you can  :)
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 5 lettuce leaves (spinach goes well with lettuce if you're feeling healthy)
• 4 slices tomato
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 1/4 green pepper, chopped
• 2 or 3 chopped red potatoes
• olive or vegetable oil 

In a frying pan with a lid, fry the bacon, onions, pepper, potatoes, and any spices or herbs you wanna throw in. I also threw in some barbecue sauce after the bacon cooked a bit.  It was good, but I put the sauce in too early and it baked into a bit of a mess on the pan  :\

Spread the guacamole on 4 slices of toasted bread and the cream cheese on the remaining 4 slices. You can eat the fried potatoes and onions to the side or in the sandwich--its good either way
Arrange the lettuce, tomato, and two pieces of bacon on top of 4 slices of bread and top with the remaining slices.

This sandwich is really quite tasty, I hope you all enjoy it.