Delicious, CHEAP Dinner

I made the best dinner last night. Too bad I had to eat it all by myself. My husband and kids won't eat fish. I probably could have gotten my daughter to eat it, but she ate earlier. I made myself a Tuna Burger. I actually made up this recipe myself! I made it once before, and meant to write it down and never did, so I had to try and remember what I put in it last time. When I sat down with hubby I was oohing and ahhing over it. "This is sooo good! I think I could sell this in a restaurant!" Hubby didn't seem too impressed, so I just had to share it here. I served it with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Believe me, the picture doesn't do it justice. I hope someone will try it and let me know how it came out. So anyway, here's how I made it:

Tuna Burgers

1 can albacore tuna (This is the trick. You need the albacore to make it chunky.)

1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon green onion (Last night I used red onion.)

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 tablespoon Miracle Whip (or mayo)

First put the tuna in a bowl without breaking it apart. Then add the rest of the ingredients on top. Carefully mixed it together with a fork, slightly pulling apart the tuna, without mashing it (you want the burger to have lots of chunks of tuna in it). Then add a little more bread crumbs, just until you can scoop up the mixture. Place half of the mixture on a plate of bread crumbs, sprinkle more on top, and shape into a patty. Drizzle olive oil on top, and place in grill pan on med. high heat. Drizzle more oil on the top side. When it gets nice and brown, flip and cook until that side gets brown. Place the burger in a bun and top with ranch dressing mixed with hot sauce. If you like tuna burgers, try this. It's so cheap and easy to make. Yummy! I'm so impressed with myself!

On other notes, for Christmas I got my husband a subscription of Golf Digest magazine. He just got his first issue this week. He's a happy golfer now. Did you know you can buy subscriptions on EBay? My sister told me once before how cheap they are, so I decided to check it out. I found 1 year of Golf Digest for $2.79 and free shipping! I just looked today and they have 3 years for $3.79 with free shipping! They say the reason they're so cheap is because they make all their money with their ads, not the magazine itself. I got Parents magazine for the past 14 years. I thought about $9.00 was a good price for it. I looked up the price on EBay today and it was $5.95 for 3 years and free shipping! If you get any subscriptions, look up the price there!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

When you have four kids, your house seems so quiet and calm when two of them are gone. Thursday night was ski club for my oldest two, and my husband went with them, so I decided to make some homemade soft pretzels since I had some free time. I got the recipe from my mother-in-law years ago. They came out great, so I decided to try them again. Rolling out each pretzel did take some time, but if you have your kids help, it could go a lot faster. They might even enjoy doing it!


Pretzels Recipe:


1 1/4 cups water (room temperature)
1/4 cup oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast


Combine ingredients into bread machine. Set on dough cycle.

Next, place dough on floured surface and divide into 4 parts. Divide those four parts into six pieces.

Roll each piece into a rope about 18 inches. Shape the rope into a circle, overlapping about 4 inches from the end. Twist the ends where dough overlaps. Lift the ends across to the opposite edge of the circle. Moisten and press ends to seal. Place on greased cookie sheet.

Let rise uncovered until puffy, about 20 minutes.

In a 3 quart saucepan, bring 2 quarts water and 1/3 cups baking soda to boil. Simmer a few at a time for 10 seconds on each side.

Place on greased cookie sheets. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 425' for 12 minutes until browned. Remove from cookie sheets and serve with mustard or cheese sauce.

My kids loved them. They were very happy to find these after a day of skiing.

On other notes, I'm going to change my blog layout this weekend! Leslie reminded me of this when she asked me how my resolutions were going. I looked at my list and decided now is the time. My sister is in town this weekend, so she is going to help me hopefully tomorrow. I definitely need a change. She's also trying to convince me to show pictures of my family. I'm thinking about it. Check back soon to see my change!

Kid's Favorite Meatloaf

When I first got married, my mom gave me one of her cookbooks because I had NONE. This is the one she gave me. I have really gotten my use out of it! Can't you tell? I love the recipes because they are pretty simple, but very good at the same time. Some of my favorites include: zucchini bread, peanut butter cookies, chili, beef stew, and meatloaf.

All my kids just love my meatloaf. They actually fight over who gets the last piece. Well OK, I guess not ALL my kids. I don't count my 7 year old because he only eats the healthy meats like hot dogs, pepperoni, bologna, chicken fingers, and chicken wings. But anyway, this really IS a great kid favorite recipe. My 11 year old once told me he doesn't know why kids always groan about meatloaf because he loves it so much. I told him it was because they haven't had MY meatloaf. The secret to it is the ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard topping. It's a cheap recipe, and I always have the ingredients for it on hand.

Meatloaf

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs (I use about 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs.)

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons snipped parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground sage

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1/4 cup ketchup (This cookbook still calls it catsup!)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon dry mustard (I usually used prepared.)

Preheat oven to 350'. Combine eggs and milk; stir in crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, sage, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add beef; mix well. Pat into a 8x4x2 inch loaf pan. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Spoon off excess fat. Combine ketchup, sugar, and mustard; spread over meat. Return to oven for 10 minutes.

Christmas cookies

Here's another one of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes. Not only is there lemon in it, but there's a little orange, too. It makes them super yummy. This is my 11 year old's favorite. He just reminded me about making them. I forgot all about them. I got the recipe from Margaret Peterson in the Taste of Home magazine. If you've never read it, it has lots of really delicious country style recipes. I think I've tried recipes from every single issue that I own!

Shortbread Lemon Bars

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
3/4 cup cold butter

FILLING
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon baking powder

TOPPING
2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In food processor, combine flour, confectioners' sugar, and lemon and orange peel. Cut in butter until crumble. Process until mixture forms a ball. Pat into a greased 13x9 baking pan. Bake at 350' for 12-14 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned.

Combine filling ingredients. Pour over hot crust. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until set.

Combine topping ingredients. Spread over filling. Bake 7-9 minutes or until topping is set.

Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate overnight. Cut into bars. Makes 3 dozen.

Christmas cookies

I just started baking my Christmas cookies last night, so I thought I'd share my favorites each time I make them:

Peanut Butter Kisses

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 ounces kisses or peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350'. Beat shortening and peanut butter. Add sugar and brown sugar. Then add egg, milk, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add this to mixture. Shape into balls. Roll in sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes. Immediately place kiss or peanut butter cup on each cookie. Cool on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen.

*This is SUCH a good recipe because it uses extra peanut butter. I can't stop my kids from eating them!


Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

2 1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter

1 egg
2 cups chocolate chips (12 ounces)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
10 ounces toffee bits

Stir together flour and brown sugar.Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs.Add egg, mix well. Stir in 1 1/2 cups chips. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture.Press remaining mixture onto greased 13x9x2 baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Pour condensed milk over hot crust. Top with 1 1/2 cups toffee bits. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture, then 1/2 cup chocolate chips on top. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup toffee bits. Cool and cut into bars.

*These are one of the faster cookies to make. I usually bake these along with another kind of cookie. They are my husband's favorite.

At Home Date Night

My husband and I love to go out to eat and see movies. The problem is it's expensive and we have to find a babysitter. That's why we only go out once in a great while.

Instead of going out a lot, my husband and I have a date night at home every Saturday night. First we make dinner for the kids, usually something simple that they enjoy (sloppy joes, hot dogs, hamburgers, ham, etc). Then when the kids are done eating and go off to play or watch TV, my husband makes some cocktails and we cook a nice meal together.

I still try to make something simple, but I make it a little more special than our weekday meals. Last night we made grilled pork tenderloin, butternut squash, and salad with honey mustard dressing. It was so good. This is a great meal that doesn't cost too much and is simple to cook! We get everything ready, put the youngest to bed, then grill and eat in peace.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin
olive oil
garlic powder
oregano
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper flakes

Just rub as much of the spices as you like on the tenderloin and grill until pink in the center!

Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash
butter
maple syrup
salt
pepper

Cut the squash in half and scoop out seeds. Lay skin side down in baking pan with a little water on the bottom. Put butter, a little maple syrup, salt, and pepper on top. Cover with tin foil and bake 350' until soft (about 1-1/2 hour). Scoop the flesh of the squash out into a bowl to serve.

Honey Mustard Dressing

1 cup olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Whisk ingredients together and pour on salad when serving.

For the salad I used Boston bibb lettuce, a little red onion, 1 tomato, sweet red pepper, crispy bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese. I pour lots of honey mustard dressing on it so I have plenty to dip my pork into. So simple. So delicious!

What do you do with the pumpkins that you carved after Halloween. Don't throw them away! Try cooking them. Fresh pumpkin makes the best pies, breads, soups, and pumpkin rolls. It's sooo easy! Just cook them like you would any other squash. Wash it, cut it open with a sharp knife, and remove the seeds. Don't forget to save the seeds. They taste yummy cooked too. Cut up the pumpkin into smaller size pieces and place in cake pan with a little water. Cover with tin foil and bake 325' for 1 1/2 hours or until it pierces easily with a fork. After it's cool, you can just scrape out the flesh and let it rest in a colander to allow some of the water out. So easy! Try the fresh pumpkin next time in your favorite pumpkin recipe instead of canned pumpkin.

Here's my favorite Pumpkin Bread recipe (all 4 of my kids eat it up):

5 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
15 ounces fresh pumpkin (I just estimate from looking at a can)
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 packages cook and serve vanilla pudding
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin. Beat until smooth. Combine the
remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and gradually beat into pumpkin mixture.
Pour into 2 greased loaf pan. Bake at 325' for 75-80 minutes.

This is sooo yummy my whole family loves it! To make it extra fattening spread butter on your slice. Don't forget how health pumpkin is for you!