Homemade Shamrock Shakes!

Now that we're almost to St. Patrick's Day, who wants SHAMROCK SHAKES?!?

2 C vanilla ice cream
1-1⁄4 C 2% low-fat milk
1⁄4 tsp. mint extract
8 drops green food coloring

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Stop blender to stir with a spoon if necessary to help blend ice cream.

Pour into 12-ounce cups and serve each with a straw.

Be ready for cool weather with this amazing homemade beef stew

3/4 pound shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise
2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 2-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup red wine (I use a good Cabernet)
4 cups beef stock
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram
3 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch slices
1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Season the beef liberally with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large oven-safe casserole dish over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook, stirring as needed, until browned on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Discard any excess oil from the pan and return to medium-high heat. Add the shallots, onions, and celery and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and stir, scraping the bottom and sides with a wooden spoon. Stir in the stock, thyme, rosemary and marjoram. Return the meat and any juices that have collected to the pot. Add the potatoes and carrots, then cover and bake for 3 hours. Stir in the peas and bake for 1 hour. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

(MDG Note: The only changes I make to this are I use 4 large potatoes and I cut them into eighths - quartered pieces seem too large.)

Homemade "Cream of" Soup Base

You know how most "quick" casseroles have cream of chicken/mushroom/whatever soup in them? I usually try to avoid using these canned soups because of the excess sodium, MSG, and other ingredients that I know my grandmothers wouldn't recognize. (BTW, that's my standard when buying canned or pre-made items. If there are ingredients that my grandmothers wouldn't recognize, I don't usually buy it.)

Anyway, I was reading the comments on a blog (sorry, I didn't write down the blog's name - bad MDG! lol) and someone posted a recipe for homemade "cream of" soups. You make the base, then add the flavoring you want/need. GENIUS! I'm going to have to give this a try.

HOMEMADE CREAM SOUP SUBSTITUTE
2 C instant nonfat dry milk
3/4 C cornstarch
1/4 C instant chicken bouillon
2 tsp dry onion flakes
1 tsp each basil and thyme
2 tsp pepper

Combine ingredients and mix well. Store in jar in cupboard. Makes the equivalent of 9 cans of soup.

To flavor: Add mushrooms, celery or onion when cooking to make whatever cream-of-soup you are replacing.

To make the equivalent of one can of soup, use 1/3 cup of the mix and 1.5 cups water and cook until thickened.

Looking for a good "make ahead" Sunday morning breakfast or brunch? How about my Breakfast Bake?

MDG's Breakfast Bake (serves 8)

3/4 lb. bulk breakfast sausage
1/2 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1-1/2 C frozen hash browns (I like the Alexia yukon gold ones)
3/4 C grated cheddar or swiss cheese
1/2 C flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 C milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a square baking dish and set aside.

In a saute pan over medium heat, cook the sausage, onion and pepper, breaking up the meat, until the meat is cooked (7 to 8 mins.)

Transfer the meat mixture (including the fat) to the casserole dish and stir in the frozen hash browns and cheese.

In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Whisk in the milk and eggs until well combined. Pour over the sausage mixture, ensuring even coverage.

Bake uncovered until light brown on top and around the edges, about 35 to 40 mins. (If you want your casserole extra cheesy, you can sprinkle another 1/2 C of shredded cheese on top and bake for another 2 minutes.)

Enjoy!

(Weight Watchers note: If you use 1% milk and don't add the extra cheese, this comes to 7 WW points per serving)

Homemade pizza... it's easier than you think

Friday nights in our house is "pizza night." Typically this means that we order in because, well, that's my usual night off from cooking dinner. However, because we live in Ohio and it's hard to find good pizza (we've found one place that comes close to what I remember from Italy and living in New York), I occasionally make my own homemade pizzas (dough recipe to follow below in comments) for dinner.

The top one is roasted red pepper, fresh tomato, garlic, pepperoni, and cheese, and the bottom one is just pepperoni. Yum!

1 package dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp.)
1 - 1/2 C lukewarm water
3 - 3 1/2 C unbleached flour, sifted
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water. Let sit for 10 minutes until it begins to be foamy. Add 1 cup flour and stir well. Add an additional 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of water and mix again. Mix in 1 tbsp. of olive oil and the salt, 1/2 cup water, and an additional 1/4 cup of flour. The dough should form a ball and be a little sticky. Add more flour or water if it's either too wet or too dry. By this point, you'll probably be using your hands to mix it.

Sprinkle some of the remaining flour onto a board and knead dough on it 8 - 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Form dough into a ball. Oil a large clean bowl with 1 tsp. olive oil and place dough in it, turning so all sides are lightly oiled. Cover with a towel and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

Punch down dough with your fist, turn onto floured board and knead 1 - 2 minutes. Form dough into either 2 or 4 evenly sized balls, depending on what size pizza you wish to make (either 2 - 12" or 4 - 8" pizzas.) You can freeze the dough balls up to a month, individually well wrapped in plastic.

Homemade Brownies (2 ways)

Looking for a way to treat your kids as they finish up the school year?  Heck, looking for a way to treat yourself?  How about brownies?  No, not that stuff that you buy from a bakery or that you make from a box of who knows what.  Real, homemade brownies.  Here are 2 different recipes that turn out the most fabulous little treats you'll eat this week.  So, whether you like cake-like or fudgy brownies, MDG has you covered.

HOMEMADE BROWNIES (original - more cake-like)
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. butter
Mix sugar, cocoa, eggs and vanilla; gradually add flour and salt. When that is mixed, blend in butter. Spread in a 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes.

HOMEMADE BROWNIES (revised - more fudgy)
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C Hershey's chocolate syrup
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. butter
Mix sugar, cocoa, eggs and vanilla; gradually add flour and salt. When that is mixed, blend in butter. Spread in a 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes.

Both are awesomely good!

Recipe of the Day: Italian Chicken and Pasta

1-1/2 lbs. boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/8 C Italian seasoning (or you could use a mix of fresh basil and oregano, if you got it)
1 can Cannelli beans, drained and rinsed
3 pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces
1 quart of homemade spaghetti sauce
1 C shredded Italian cheese blend (I used Sargento's 6 cheese Italian blend)
Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 lb. cooked pasta (I used fusilli, but you could use anything)

Brown the chicken in the olive oil, and cook until done. Add onion and garlic, cook for a few minutes. Stir in tomatoes, seasoning, beans, and bacon. Cook until everything's warmed through and hot. Stir in sauce, cheeses and salt & pepper. Cook until hot, then toss in cooked pasta. Serve with garlic bread and olives on the side. (You could add the olives to the chicken and pasta as well, but one of my kids prefers the olives plain.)