Sausage Cabbage Skillet

I had bought a cabbage but didn't really know what to make with it other than coleslaw. We have been trying really hard to eat more vegetables with our meals (I think I've said that many times, but oh well!!!) and this was a good opportunity to make a good meal with it.

I started searching for the perfect recipe, one that both of us will enjoy. My husband is not a fan of sausage but in this case he loved this because I didn't put a lot in it. 

This is what I found on my search for the perfect recipe.

Ingredients

1 pound smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1 large head cabbage (4 pounds), coarsely chopped

2 medium onions, chopped

3 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon paprika

3 to 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

Directions

In a Dutch oven, brown the sausage in 2 tablespoons butter; remove and set aside. In the same pan, saute cabbage and onions in remaining butter until onions are tender.

In a small bowl, combine the tomato sauce, sugar and paprika; pour over cabbage mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes and reserved sausage. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Yield: 8-10 servings.

I for sure added a couple more things to this recipe and made it my own. I didn't use sugar, simply didn't see the need for it. I added pepperoni and instead of 3 cans of tomato sauce I used real tomatoes and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce. I cooked the potatoes separate and mixed them with the cabbage after the were cooked. But I want to remind you that you can adjust the amounts just like I did, because I didn't want to make this for 10 people when we're only 2.  It came out really good!!! 

Enjoy and happy cooking!!!!

Meatloaf and The Best Mashed Potatoes Ever

Yesterday was my birthday!!!!!

I got to go shopping!!! How exciting :) My husband took me to a fancy restaurant and we had so much fun. I am so blessed!!!!

OK, so Thursday night I made a really good meatloaf and the best mashed potatoes ever and I know you want to know the recipe so here it is.

Ingredients:

1 egg, lightly beaten

2/3 cup 2% milk

1 cup bread crumbs

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup finely shredded carrot (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1-1/2 pounds ground beef

Ketchup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine first eight ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into a loaf, pour some ketchup on top and spread over loaf. Place in a greased 9x5-in. loaf pan. Bake for 60-75 minutes and let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

The mashed potatoes are so easy to make but I'm going to give you the link from where I got it so you can see it done step by step. You won't be disappointed!!!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/11/delicious_creamy_mashed_potatoes/

Pepperoni Lasagna Roll-ups

One of the recipe books I bought had a picture of this awesome looking dish and when my husband got home and saw the book the first thing he said was "AWWWWW, I want this!!!
Now, what do you do when you get such a reaction?!! Of course, you go out of your way to make it and put some extra loving in it. I know that's what I did!!!

What you'll need:
3 servings
Prep: 25 min-Bake: 25 min
3 lasagna noodles
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon minced chives
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
24 slices pepperoni
3 slices Swiss cheese, cut into thirds
1 cup meatless spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Cook the noodles according to package directions; drain. Combine the ricotta cheese, chives, oregano and basil; spread 1/4 cup over each noodle to within 1/2 inch of edges. Top with the pepperoni and Swiss cheese; carefully roll up.

Place seam side down in a greased shallow 1-qt baking dish; top with spaghetti sauce.

Cover and Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle roll-ups with the Parmesan cheese. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

OK, now let me tell you some changes I made to the recipe. I mixed shredded mild cheddar cheese into the ricotta mix instead of using the Swiss cheese, added some tomato slices to the roll-ups, didn't use chives (didn't have it at home) used pepper and salt instead and added some dried parsley to it. I also doubled the recipe because I wanted to have left overs for the next day.

Let me tell you that it was soooooo good that my husband enjoyed every bite of it. The flavor was exquisite and all the other tasty words you can find. The veggies you see in the picture I baked them with salt and pepper and a little bit of olive oil covered for 45 minutes or until they are soft enough for you.
The next day I went to my parents and took some of the left overs to them. Later in the day my mom sent me a text telling me they were very good and that my dad ate almost all of the pasta. Great compliment from the person that taught me all the basics, my mom!!

Have an awesome day and happy cooking!!!!

Spinach & Cheese Empanadas

I'm becoming such a housewife and cooking lover that the menu for the next day comes to my mind so easy. Well, I think it comes easy because I buy recipe books on sale :) and look through them with such an excitement.

I paid less then $6.00 for each of them. I was so excited!!

OK, let me get back to the real reason of this post, my empanadas or hot pockets. 

Thursday night I already had planned Friday's dinner and I was so excited about it that I even woke up earlier and went grocery shopping (by the way, buying your groceries in the morning is the best time). When I got home immediately went to the kitchen and started getting these delicious pockets full of deliciousness made. 

What you'll need:

5 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, drained and crumbled (drippings reserved)

1 1/2 pounds fresh spinach leaves, washed

1/3 cup minced onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup cottage cheese, farmer's cheese, or ricotta cheese

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup shredded cheese (any type)

1 pack frozen dough for pastries 

Directions:

Cook your bacon in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and reserve the drippings. Heat 1 teaspoon of the reserved bacon drippings in a medium nonstick skillet and, when hot, add the spinach. Cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach is wilted and has released its liquid, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the spinach to a colander to drain. When the spinach has cooled enough to handle, squeeze to release any excess water, then transfer to a cutting board and finely chop. Set aside.

Add 2 more teaspoons of the bacon drippings to the same skillet, then add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft but not browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the reserved spinach, crumbled bacon, cottage cheese, salt and pepper to taste and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a mixing bowl and allow to cool thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Divide the spinach filling evenly among the dough circles and add one tbs of shredded cheese to each one. Using your fingers, lightly moisten the edges with some of the beaten egg, then fold 1 side over so that the edges meet, and press to seal. Crimp the edges using the tines of a fork and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all of the empanadas are assembled. Brush the tops of each empanada with some of the beaten egg and fry or bake uncovered until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. I fry my empanadas they come out crispier then when you bake them. 

It sounds like a lot of work but it's worth every bit of it. This empanadas look so good and they are not even fried yet!!! I placed them in the refrigerator until it was time for dinner and 20 minutes before I fried them, they turned out delicious.

Every bite of it was a burst of flavor in my mouth, bacon makes everything taste better. My husband really enjoyed it and took one to work the next day. 

You really don't need anything else to go with them but if you want a side, I would recommend baked beans, just a simple salad or potato salad but again you can play around with it, it's your dinner!!

Let me tell you something before I go. You can buy the pastry dough and fill them with whatever you want. Meats, cheese only, sweets, really!!! anything you know you will enjoy. 

Have fun, enjoy them and happy cooking!!!!

My Version of Eggs Benedict

Breakfast!!! Sunday has come and I usually like to make a sit down breakfast for me and my husband. We normally have cereal during the week cause he goes to work pretty early.

Today I decided to surprise him with something different and made my own version of Eggs Benedict.

What you'll need:

Serves 8

1 can flaky biscuits or english muffins
8 eggs
4 slices of bacon (cooked and cut in small pieces)
1 roma tomato (cut in small pieces)
1/2 sliced onion
1 pack country gravy

Directions:
Cook your biscuits according to the instructions on the can. Follow the instructions on the pack to prepare your gravy. Cook your bacon until crisp or how you like them best and throw in the onions and tomatoes.Fry your eggs until they are over easy.

Assembly:
Put one biscuit in a plate, pour some of the gravy on top of the biscuit , put a fried egg on top and top it off with some of the bacon mixture. You can add cheese to eat as well but to be honest it really doesn't need it. Do the same with all of the other biscuits (I only made 4)

This was delish!!!! We enjoyed it sooooo much and it was very tasty. I would definitely make this breakfast over and over again.

Have a restful Sunday!!!

Pork Chops Italiano

We bought our first patio set and I have been wanting to use it and eat dinner outside but something always happens and we have to change plans. 

Yesterday I had planned to make it happen and even went out and cleaned the table, set the lamp and had the perfect picture in my mind on how I wanted everything to look. One of the things I wanted to do was grill some pork chops while enjoying our new chairs, but something happened; yes, the sky got super dark, rain started to pour down and  my perfect picture seemed very blurry :( .  

I had to go to plan B and make my pork chops inside differently then the ones I had planned just in case  it wouldn't stop raining. As I was almost done cooking my pork chops on the stove top the rain stopped and the sky seemed relieved and of course I was "Oh man!!!! I should've waited"

Here is the recipe for my Pork Chops Italiano:

3-4 bone-in pork loin chops (3/4 inch thick and 8 ounces each)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
4 slices mozzarella cheese
1 medium green pepper, cut into rings

Directions:
Sprinkle pork chops with pepper. In a large skillet, brown chops in butter on both sides; drain. Combine the tomato sauce, water, Italian seasoning and basil; pour over chops. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until meat juices run clear.
Top each pork chop with cheese and green pepper. Cover and cook 3-5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

  The only thing I didn't do was the cheese and pepper because I didn't have mozzarella at home. But it was delicious!!!!

To finish of my eating out story, let me tell you that everything worked out OK and we had an awesome outside dinner.

The rain cooled down the 90 degree weather we had and made it more enjoyable. We could here the birds singing and the rain drops from some of the trees around us. The Lord always goes ahead of us!!!

We enjoyed our pork chops with some raw broccoli and cauliflower dipped in green onion dip. It was delicious and healthy.

Enjoy your day and happy cooking!!! 

Vegetable Stir Fry and Oven Baked Chicken

Not much to say about this other than "It was delicious and super healthy"

This is one of the reasons I like to have different kinds of fresh vegetables at home, I like to make healthy choices once in a while.

Here's what I used for my stir fry: carrots, zucchini, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms. My husband is not a fan of mushrooms so whenever I cook them I get to eat them all ( yummy!!!).

As you can see I have my chicken seasoned and ready to go in the oven. I always like to get my ingredients ready so when it's time to start making dinner I just have to pop in the oven and get my pots and pans.  

 For my chicken I used a little bit of lemon juice, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Ahhh!!! I also used a little bit of my Dominican seasoning and placed it in the oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Your house will smell so good like mine did. When my husband got home and opened the door the first thing he said was "it smells so goody in here, I can't wait to try that"

 This is how my veggies looked while I was cooking them. I used one tablespoon of butter to fry them but you can use olive oil. I also added salt and pepper to taste. Doesn't it look good!!!!

And when it was time to sit at the table this is what we had in front of us.

YUMMY!!!!!! The chicken was so tender,tasty and moist and the veggies were full of flavor. I will definitely make this again and again.

Enjoy!!!! Have a good day. :)