Sunday, February 26, 2012

Freezer Meals (Mostly Crockpot)

My daughter and I spent an hour and half prepping meals today to fill our freezer. Here is what we did:
Chicken Teriyaki
Pork Loin Teriyaki (used the same ingredients - teriyaki marinade, broccoli, carrots & pineapple, then added pork to one, chicken to the other)
Chicken Tacos
Beef Tacos (onion, peppers, salsa - one with chicken and one with browned ground beef)
Shredded Roast Pork (BBQ sauce, can of cola)
Pineapple Skirt Steak (pineapple, olive oil, lime, garlic and soy sauce)
2 bags of meat sauce
While she chopped and put together the most of the bags, I browned ground beef for tacos, meat sauce and lasagna, browned sausage for sauce and lasagna, cooked the sauce and put together the lasagna.

We labeled the bags and will just pull one out and pop in the crock pot when needed. I can't believe how easy it was with 2 of us doing it together and how much we got done. Yeah!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Crockpot dinner party

For our school silent auction the big push is hosting an event. So I am hosting a crockpot dinner and prep night. The idea is that some adults will join me for an evening. I will provide dinner (from the crock pots) and supplies we will do prep so they also go home with bagged meals that can be frozen, when needed pull out, put into a crock pot and have a meal or such. That is the big concept. Menu ideas :

Appetizers

Soup
Chocolate Fountain (caramel or marshmallow creme in the crockpot to go with.)
Crockpot Carmel 

To keep it simple and easy, the prep meals to go will be the corn chowder and Fejoida. I will also probably send them home with a jar of caramelized onions. I will include all recipes. I am trying to come up with a non meat option along the lines of Fejoida. We will also have bread and salad with the meal. 
Any help or suggestions would be great, I'm a little worried about being overwhelmed.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Wings

Ingredients
5 1/2 pounds chicken wings, split and tips discarded
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle chile sauce
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 drops hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon salsa
2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt

Directions
1.Place chicken in slow cooker. In a medium bowl combine the chile sauce, lemon juice, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, salsa, chili powder, garlic powder and salt. Mix together and pour mixture over chicken.
2.Cook in slow cooker on Medium Low setting for 5 hours.

From http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-slow-cooker-chicken-wings/

I would make them spicier next time. More hot sauce! I also removed them from the crock pot and broiled them as we like our wings crisper and "drier". They were so easy and very tasty!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Cupcake Bowl

 
I modified my Car Bomb Cupcake recipe slightly to take it to a neighbor’s for the Super Bowl. First, I added 2 tablespoons of Jameson’s to the ganache, because, really, what’s a car bomb without the whiskey? 



Second, I made a more kid-friendly chocolate-peanut butter version by making chocolate-peanut butter ganache for the filling and peanut butter buttercream for the top.



Finally, I made them all in miniature so everyone could try one of each.



Mini car bomb cupcakes
makes 24 regular or 48-60 mini cupcakes
1 c stout (such as Guinness)
2 c butter, divided, plus 1 T
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c flour
2 c sugar
1½ t baking soda
3/4 t salt
2 eggs
2/3 c plain nonfat yogurt
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 c heavy cream
1 T Irish whiskey (such as Jameson’s)
4 c powdered sugar
4 T Irish cream (such as Bailey’s, I use homemade)
Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake cups with liners. Bring stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and yogurt in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 17 minutes (12-15 minutes for mini cupcakes). Cool cupcakes on a rack completely. (At this point, you can freeze the cupcakes, well wrapped, up to two weeks.)

Make the filling: In a double boiler, melt chocolate and cream together, stirring until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon butter and Irish whiskey and stir until combined.

Make the frosting: Whip 1 cup butter in the bowl of an electric mixer for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Irish cream and whip it until combined and fluffy.

Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Put the ganache into a piping bag or plastic bottle, poke the tip into the top of the cupcake and squeeze until some comes out at the insertion point. (Also, at this point, you can freeze the cupcakes, well wrapped, up to two weeks.)

Ice and decorate the cupcakes: Put the frosting into a piping bag or plastic bag. Using a decorative tip, or just cut the corner off the plastic bag, and put dollops of frosting on the cupcakes. Drizzle any leftover ganache over the tops. Filled and frosted cupcakes will keep in the fridge for a day.


Mini chocolate-peanut butter cupcakes
makes 24 regular or 48-60 mini cupcakes
1 c stout (such as Guinness)
2 c butter, divided, plus 1 T
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c flour
2 c sugar
1½ t baking soda
3/4 t salt
2 eggs
2/3 c plain nonfat yogurt
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 c heavy cream, plus 4 T, divided
½ c plus 2 T creamy peanut butter, melted, divided
4 c powdered sugar
Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake cups with liners. Bring stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and yogurt in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 17 minutes (12-15 minutes for mini cupcakes). Cool cupcakes on a rack completely. (At this point, you can freeze the cupcakes, well wrapped, up to two weeks.)

Make the filling: In a double boiler, melt chocolate and cream together, stirring until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon butter and 2 T melted peanut butter and stir until combined.

Make the frosting: Whip 1 cup butter in the bowl of an electric mixer for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, add ½ cup melted peanut butter, continue whipping. Finally, drizzle in the heavy cream and whip it until combined and fluffy.

Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Put the ganache into a piping bag or plastic bottle, poke the tip into the top of the cupcake and squeeze until some comes out at the insertion point. (Also, at this point, you can freeze the cupcakes, well wrapped, up to two weeks.)

Ice and decorate the cupcakes: Put the frosting into a piping bag or plastic bag. Using a decorative tip, or just cut the corner off the plastic bag, and put dollops of frosting on the cupcakes. Drizzle any leftover ganache over the tops. Filled and frosted cupcakes will keep in the fridge for a day.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

Therese can't wait to make these and they come from a box mix. http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/cake/peanut-butter-cups-cupcakes.html?p=1

These will have to wait as tomorrow we are having "Big Blue" Velvet cupcakes http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/233138/blue-velvet-cupcakes/ and Lemon Lime Cupcakes. Go Giants.

Friday, February 3, 2012

NE Patriots vs. NY Giants Superbowl

What are you making for Superbowl Sunday? While we will be rooting on the Pats, we are thinking we'll make food to honor both teams. NE Clam Chowder (Mom's recipe) seems like a must. In addition to that, for NY, we had a few thoughts - either pizza (a classic and a favorite of all of us) OR Holland's idea of "NY Street food," such as soft pretzels and hot dogs, OR Brendan's idea, "NY Deli".

I'll report back on what we choose, but would love to hear what others are making.

Prep Sunday for a Week of Meals

SELF magazine had an article this week about prepping for an hour on Sunday and cooking all week. The recipes were for one, but I increased them to feed my family of 6. I did not do the entire program, but we enjoyed 3 meals - the Chicken with Black Bean Mango Salsa (I added a little peach as well, I think next time I'd add a little red pepper for color also), the Drunken Sausage (after browning the sausage, I threw it all in the crockpot for the day, worked great!) and finally, the Cheesy Shrimp. All were big hits with the entire family!