Crispy Potato Cakes or Patties

Do you have left over mashed potatoes and would like to eat them in a different way other then just "mashed" ? Well, here is your solution!!!

The other night I made this awesome patties and my husband could not stop eating them, they were so good and a different way to eat mashed potatoes. Know that you can put anything you want in them but since it was my first time making them I decided to make them plain, but next time I will try them with cheddar cheese and bacon in them, Yummy!!!!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups mashed potatoes

1 egg, beaten

1 onion, minced

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. butter

Preparation:

Mix together mashed potatoes, beaten egg and onion in a medium bowl. Add flour, cheese, salt and pepper and stir.

Over medium heat, heat olive oil and butter in a medium size nonstick frying pan. Drop about 1/4 cup of the potato mixture into the frying pan, patting it into 3 inch circles that are 1/2" thick. Cook until bottom is browned and crisp, about 3-4 minutes. Carefully turn the patty over and cook the second side until brown and crisp, 3-4 minutes. Serve with ketchup or salsa.

Of course I didn't serve it with ketchup, I made a delicious baked tilapia fish and some buttered sweet peas. My husband enjoyed dinner so much and I did too.

Hope you enjoy making them and eating them just like I did. Have an awesome weekend!!!!

Homemade Pulled Pork Pizza

I had been wanting to learn how to make pizza dough at home but had been scared of the process it has to go through. Yes!!! the yeast, the rising and so on.

Last Saturday I pulled myself together and said today is the day!!!! The day I'm going to be brave and make it, no matter what.
So I gathered all my ingredients and went at it. OK, I made it and the first mistake I made was putting it in the refrigerator right away; of course it didn't rise :(. I was so disappointed. but talking to a friend she told me that in order for it to rise it needed to be in a warm place so Monday morning I took it out of the fridge and put it inside my oven (not on) and like two or three hour after my dough had doubled in side, I was soooo excited and proud of myself.

OK, so now I couldn't wait to make pizza!!! but guess what we had for dinner yesterday? YES!!! pizza. I had taken out some pork so I put it in my pressure cooker for one hour and the shredded it, cut some onions and peppers, some olives and some pepperoni I had in the refrigerator.
Spread out my dough in the baking plate, pour some red sauce, mozzarella cheese, the veggies, the shredded meat, cheddar cheese and put it in the oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

Here is my pizza just before going in the oven, I thought it looked pretty good even before it was ready to eat.
And now look at it just out of the oven and ready to be eaten!!!

Look at that crust!!!! It was crispy on the outside and very soft on the inside. I thought it was delish. My husband enjoyed it too and took 4 pieces to work and I'm eating some as I'm writing right now.

Here is the dough recipe (MAKES TWO CRUSTS):

1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast

4 cups All-purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt 

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours or until dough has doubled in size. Store in the fridge until you need it. ***It's best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

NOTE: You can add garlic, basil, pepper or any other seasoning to your dough for more flavor if desired. 

Enjoy and have an awesome day!!!!

Chicken Salad Croissant

I know it's been a while since I posted some of my delicious meals but here I am again bringing you ideas on what to make for dinner.

Yesterday I made a really good chicken salad, yes!!!! it was the bomb :) and I wanted to share the recipe with you.

You'll need:

2 chicken breasts

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon onion powder

1 stalk of celery, diced

½ small white onion, diced

3 hard boiled eggs, diced

1¾ cups Mayonnaise 

¼ cup sweet relish

Butter Bakery Croissants

Lettuce

Tomato

Instructions:

Season chicken breast with black pepper, salt, onion powder and garlic powder. You can also add more spices if you like. Place chicken in a large skillet.

Add water or chicken broth and simmer covered on medium heat for 7 minutes per side or until done.When chicken is done, let it cool and shred. Set aside.

In a bowl add chicken, onions, celery and eggs. Toss to combine. Stir in mayonnaise, sweet relish and more seasonings if you want to enhance the flavor.

Remember to taste it as you mix in the seasonings to check for the perfect balance. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Overnight is best to maximize all the flavors. Sandwich between a buttery bakery croissant with lettuce and tomatoes.

Enjoy it with some chips, fries, grapes or just by itself, it's super good. Always remember to add your own touch to it and make it your own. 

Have an awesome day!!!!

Stuffed Chicken Wrapped in Bacon

Hello again!!!!

Yesterday I was in the mood for some chicken and some bacon. I as was looking through recipes to find the perfect combination of both I came across this wonderful recipe that I tweaked and made my own. Here it is, enjoy!!!

 Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts

2 slices extra sharp cheddar cheese or shredded cheese

½ bell pepper cut in small pieces

½ onion cut in small pieces

½ tomato cut in small pieces

4 pieces bacon

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Instructions

Carefully cut open chicken breasts with a long thin knife. You'll want to butterfly them, but be careful to not cut yourself or pull the knife up or down to get an uneven cut.

Season inside with salt and pepper.

Cut cheddar slices in half so you can lay them inside chicken and not overhang.

Mix bell pepper, onions and tomatoes.

Lay into chicken, fold chicken back up.

I added the cheese after I took the picture and forgot to take another one, upss!!!

Carefully wrap chicken with bacon.

If you are having a hard time, you can use a toothpick to keep the chicken closed and the bacon from sliding off- but that is totally optional.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, check chicken's internal temp.

When chicken is cooked thoroughly, set to broil and crisp bacon under broiler for about 2 minutes.

Serve with veggies and a salad, rice or other side dish and enjoy!

Note: I had two big chicken breasts and cut in half, so I made four stuffed chicken breast instead of two. I also used shredded cheese instead of slices (that’s what I had at home) and added a little bit of garlic powder on top of my ready to bake chicken. 

If you are looking for an easy recipe, this is it!!! It was so good and moist, my hubby loved it and took the other two pieces to work. 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Pepper Steak & Baked Sweet Potato

Went for a walk with a friend and started talking about the menu for the day, I knew I wanted to do steak but wasn't sure how to make and what side to make with it. As we were talking we both got plenty of ideas on what to make for dinner and when we finished our walk and I came home I was totally excited cause we had figured out our dinner menu for the day.

Pepper Steak Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

 1 medium onion, chopped

 2 large bell peppers, sliced into thin strips

 2 cloves garlic, minced

 1/3 cup soy sauce

  1 1/2 pounds flank steak, cut into thin strips ( I seasoned my meat beforehand)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, bell peppers, and garlic in oil until tender-crisp, stirring frequently. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pour soy sauce, then add beef. Cook beef, stirring frequently, until done, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in cooked vegetables, and cook another 10 to 15 minutes.

Note: Tweak it and add your own touch to it. If you want a thicker sauce stir in a little flour or cornstarch before removing from heat. 

I wanted to make my dinner look different and so I decided to cut the sweet potato and pour the pepper steak and sauce in the middle, that gave the sweet potato a different taste.

My husband was delighted and thought it was very pretty but delicious at the same time. He enjoys sauce on almost everything so when he saw all the sauce on top of the sweet potato and running on his plate he was very excited and ready to eat it. 

You can probably eat two sweet potatoes, but one was enough for me. Enjoy and have an awesome day. 

Pepperoni & Cheese Crescent Rolls

Feel like eating pizza!!! Well, last night I did but wanted to do something fun here at home. I had gone to the store earlier in the day and bought a can of crescent rolls because I had seen something on Pinterest that look pretty interesting and yummy. Yes, some crescent rolls filled with pepperoni and cheese. Doesn't that sound good to you!!!

When it was time for dinner I just got some pepperoni and cheese put it on each triangle and rolled them up. Made a red sauce to dip it in (yes, just like bread sticks) and a salad to go with it.
Of course, I had to change my crescent rolls a bit and like always used what I had at home to save a little bit on the recipe. The original recipe had mozzarella cheese sticks but I just used shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese that I had in the refrigerator and they came out really good.

mmmmm!!!! Can you see the cheese coming out?

Let me tell you that my husband loved this little croissants, he was so excited that I even made the dipping red sauce. It was so funny and exciting seeing him eat this!!!

I can tell you that this was extremely good and easy to make. Go ahead and buy your can of crescent rolls and just add the pepperoni and cheese and follow the instructions in the can. For the sauce I just used spaghetti sauce and added some Italian dry seasoning, garlic salt and a little bit of garlic powder and cooked it in the microwave for about 3 minutes on high. Isn't it easy!!!!

Enjoy and have an awesome weekend!!!!

Healthy but Tasty Lasagna

Want to avoid the carbs in a lasagna? Want to eat something healthy but tasty at the same time? Well, my friends you have found the recipe.

Look at this delicious piece of lasagna full of goodness!!!

Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 lb 93% lean beef  (any meat you want) (I used shredded pork)

3 cloves garlic

1/2 onion

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

3 medium zucchini, sliced 1/8" thick

15 oz part-skim ricotta

16 oz part-skin mozzarella cheese, shredded (Sargento)

1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano ( I used shredded cheddar, that’s what I had at home)

1 large egg

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, brown meat and season with salt. When cooked drain in colander to remove any fat. Add olive oil to the pan and saute garlic and onions about 2 minutes. Return the meat to the pan, add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer on low for at least 30-40 minutes, covered. Do not add extra water, the sauce should be thick.

Meanwhile, slice zucchini into 1/8" thick slices, add lightly salt and set aside or 10 minutes. Zucchini has a lot of water when cooked, salting it takes out a lot of moisture. After 10 minutes, blot excess moisture with a paper towel.

On a gas grill or grill pan, grill zucchini on each side, until cooked, about 1-2 minutes per side. Place on paper towels to soak any excess moisture.

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and egg. Stir well.

In a 9x12 casserole spread some sauce on the bottom and layer the zucchini to cover. Then place some of the ricotta cheese mixture, then top with the mozzarella cheese and repeat the process until all your ingredients are used up. Top with sauce and mozzarella and cover with foil.

Bake 45 minutes covered at 375°, then uncovered 15 minutes. Let stand about 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

Note: I cooked my pork in the pressure cooker for an hour, then when it was cold enough I shredded it. I also used peppers and fresh tomatoes cut in small pieces. Added the garlic and seasonings to a hot pan with olive oil and then added the onions, peppers and tomatoes, cooked them until soft and then added the meat.

I pour some of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the pan and then placed the zucchini slices on top, then the meat, then the ricotta cheese mixture and so on. I topped it with shredded cheddar cheese.  

Doesn't this look tasty!!!! Full of meat and veggies. Always remember that you can add your tweaks to the recipes, I know that's what I do. 

This is my version of Zucchini Lasagna, Enjoy!!!!