Moon Breakfast

This is an old family favorite that we had as kids growing up.  It is similar to Dutch Babies, but I think made with less eggs, which causes it to create more "moon craters" than Dutch Babies when cooking.  I'll write out the wording on my original recipe card from my mom cuz its fun to read how she writes out recipe cards sometimes.   I love getting new recipes online and I like writing out my recipes for others online, but sometimes nothing beats an old recipe card written in your mother's or grandmother's handwriting!


Moon Breakfast

Melt 1/2 cube butter, (margarine) in 13 X 9

Beat: 2 eggs

     Add:           1/2 cup flour
                        1/2 cup milk
                        dash of nutmeg
                        dash of salt

Pour in pan over butter and bake 400 degrees   10 - 15 minutes
Serve with powdered sugar and syrup. 

Another way to get eggs in for kids.  Tastes similar to french toast.   It cooks up like the surface of the moon - hence the name - fun to watch through glass oven door!

Moroccan Chicken Couscous

A few years ago I had given this recipe to a friend and she recently told me that she makes it all the time and it is one of her family's favorites.   So I decided to dig it out and try it out again.   It is pretty delicious, though it reminds me a lot of Tuscan Chicken Artichoke recipe I posted in October, just with a Moroccan flare instead of Tuscan.   


I'll post the recipe how it is written, but I ended up throwing all of the ingredients except the zucchini and couscous in the crockpot cooking on low for 6 hours.  I doubled the amount of spices for crockpot cooking.  I threw the zucchini in 30 minutes before dinner and let it cook up.   I then took all of the ingredients out of the crockpot with a slotted spoon so all of the juice was still in the crockpot.   I then dumped the box of couscous in the crockpot and let it cook up which took about 5 minutes.   Then I poured the couscous into the bowl of chicken and mixed it all up together, which made for one pot cooking (ya easy clean-up).


Moroccan Chicken Couscous

8 bone-in skinless chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 pounds)  I used bone-in thighs the first time I made this recipe, but prefer boneless chicken cut in chunks,...makes life so much simpler.
3 carrots, cut into 1 1/2" chunks
3 onions, thinly sliced  I think 1 onion is plenty, but if you want to be onion happy, go ahead
1 (14 oz) can whole tomatoes, drained   I used diced since you chopped them up anyway
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
2 zucchini halved crosswise and quartered lengthwise
1 box couscous

In a dutch oven (or other 5 quart pot with a tight fitting lid), combine the chicken, carrots, onions, tomatoes, chickpeas, stock, 3/4 cup water, the ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.  Break up the tomatoes with a spoon.

Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Cover, and cook for 15 minutes.   Add the zucchini, and cook until the chicken is cooked through, yet still tender, about 15 minutes more.

Follow box directions for cooking couscous.  Divide the couscous evenly among 4 bowls.   Spoon the chicken, vegetables, and broth on top.  Serve immediately.

Holiday Tea

This is my favorite holiday tea.  It reminds me of a warm sangria with the dark rum and burgundy wine mingling with the heady spices and citrus juices.  And its a great way to use Two Buck Chuck from TJ's. 

I start serving this at Halloween for our open house, where it is known as "The Weather Outside is Frightful Tea".  As Thanksgiving comes along, I serve it after dinner and call it "Thankfully its Nap Time Tea".  And over Christmas, it becomes quite refined as a "Dickens English Tea".

After you make it and serve it to your guests, you'll see why it is such a favorite with all my friends.  Just be sure to follow the directions before you make it.

Start to finish time:  less than 45 minutes

Ingredients:

3 cups strong tea
2 - 750 ml dry red wine
1 - 750 ml dark rum
1 lb. superfine sugar
1 juice orange
1 juice lemon

• Heat wine, tea and fruit juices (NOT the rum or sugar) in a chafing dish or saucepan, but do not boil.
• Transfer to a chafing dish, a crockpot or a heatproof punch bowl.
• Here's where it gets fun: Put sugar into a large ladle and saturate with rum. If ladle is not large enough for all the sugar, put remainder of sugar in serving bowl.
• Ignite rum in ladle and pour blazing into punch. Yep, get a match and gather the kids around to watch this amazing recipe. Stir well, extinguish flames, and then pour remainder of rum into punch.
• Stir again and serve. I keep it warm in the crockpot. Not very fancy, but keeps it warm.

Indian Tacos

Click here to view these pictures larger

This is a family favorite recipe. It was the meal that was always requested when we would come home for the weekend in college. It isn't the quickest meal to make, but definitely well worth it and kids love it! I decided it make it the other night for my family and I was surprised how fast I put the meal together, but then again I did use pre-made chili. So far, the record for the most "tacos" eaten goes to some good friends of mine in the midwest that I made them for, who I think put down 12 in one sitting. (yes, they are that good.) We also love to eat the indian bread with some honey butter on top of it.

Indian Tacos

Chili sauce:

1# ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1 can kidney beans

Saute onion in pan in small amount of oil for about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic sauteing for another minute. Add beef cooking until brown. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and kidney beans. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Indian Bread:

1/2 cup sugar

1 package yeast

1 tsp salt

2 cups warm milk

2 eggs

Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add sugar and salt. Then beat in eggs and mix.

Then add:

3 cups flour

1/2 cup (1 cube) margarine, melted

Then add:

2-3 cups more flour until dough texture. Knead.

Pull out 1 ball of the dough. Stretch with hand to make a flat round bread dough. Fry in pan covered with hot oil about 45 sec.- 1 minutes per side. Top bread with honey butter or your favorite taco toppings.

Monster and/or Tinkerbell Soup

My friend told me yesterday that she made her kids spinach soup the other day. The first thing they ask is if there was spinach in it. She said if she had said "yes", they wouldn't have touched it with a ten foot pole. So instead she served it to them calling it Monster Soup for her son (5 1/2) and Tinkerbell Soup for her daughter (3 1/2). They LOVED it!!! She said they both had 3, yes, THREE servings of it, all the while saying it was the best soup they had ever eaten. So that's all it takes to get your kids to eat veggies!! A name change! I have read on those expert sites that it can be a good idea and works for some kids. Love to hear your feedback on this one!


I don't have a picture for a couple of reasons. First my computer crashed (again) and I'm on either library or husband work computer (if he brings it home at night). So downloading pictures is tough. Then I was afraid that if I actually tried this on my kids it might completely backfire enough that I would be embarrassed to share. It was such a great idea I had to write about it before trying. Though it did cross my mind to put some water in one of my white bowls, add green food coloring, take a distant picture and call it good.


MONSTER TINKERBELL SOUP

Cream of Spinach Soup

Ingredients

2 cups chopped fresh spinach - packed - (or 1 10-oz package frozen spinach, thawed)
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
3 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (about 1 pound)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
1 1/2 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes (or vegetable bouillon cubes for vegetarian option)
2 cups half-and-half (regular milk or even rice milk works here, too)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup sour cream
Optional: chopped chives and/or ground allspice for garnish (pixie dust and guts?)

Method

1 In a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté onion in butter for 3 minutes or until limp. Add potatoes, chicken broth, water, and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add spinach and cook for 2 to 4 minutes longer until spinach is tender.

2 Working in batches, purée soup mixture in a blender. Return to saucepan. Whisk in half-and-half, salt and pepper.

3 Over low heat, bring to just before simmering. Whisk in the sour cream. You may want to use an immersion blender to get the sour cream fully incorporated.

This soup can be served hot or chilled. Garnish with chopped chives, sprinkles of allspice, or a dollop of sour cream.

Serves 6 to 8.

Turnovers

My alternative title for this recipe is: A Way To Use Up Leftover Cottage Cheese. I don't like cottage cheese, never have, probably never will, that and I also don't eat dairy right now either. For some very strange reason I got it in my head that maybe my kids would like it. They eat and like a lot of strange things that normally wouldn't seem like kid food. So I thought they might like cottage cheese. When I served it to them for the first time, I even topped it with peaches, the extra syrupy kind. Well, I didn't fool them. One bite was all it took and they wouldn't even drink out the liquid syrup. I tried, but don't blame them. I think it tastes like curdled milk, yuck! So now what to do with a large container of cottage cheese. Since I don't eat dairy, lasagna was out of the question, besides, I don't really like it in lasagna either. Then I remembered this super easy recipe from my aunt for Turnovers. The cottage cheese is so hidden, you'll never know it is in there. My aunt makes them every Easter. She also does them much smaller into these perfect triangles and then drizzles them with runny frosting. Mine ended up quite large, weren't rolled pie-crust thin, took about 15 minutes to bake, and had some funky spots on them, but the best part: The kids loved them! I was scared for a moment cuz they were just eating the apple pie filling out of the middle, but they ended up eating the whole thing. Score!

Turnovers
1 lb butter
1 lb cottage cheese
4 cups flour
Pie Filling (use your favorite)

Mix ingredients together. Chill for 1 hour. Roll out thinner than pie crust. Cut into squares. Spoon a little pie filling in center. Fold over until covered. Fork edges to seal. Cook 350 degrees, approx 10 minutes (until golden brown.)

Super Easy- Oh- So- Tender Pork Chops

My sister wanted me to post this recipe as it is very easy and tasty. I haven't tried it so I don't have a picture, but it sounds simple. Unfortunately it isn't dairy free. We'll have to see if joyfullytiredmom knows of a substitute for "cream of" soups. I'd also be interested to see if it would transfer over to the crockpot for those two hours of simmering. Love to hear feedback from you if you try it.


Oh- So- Tender Pork Chops

Brown pork chops (bone in or boneless) at high heat, on both sides in a large skillet.

Combine 1 can cream mushroom, 1 can cream of celery, bit of water, some dried onion.

Pour over pork chops and simmer for 2-3 hours.

Makes a yummy gravy! Serve over mashed potatoes!

VERY TASTY!

Chicken Picatta

I'm trying to spend 1 hour a day organizing my life:  photos, FASD notes, kids clothing, kids toys, address info, and of course, recipes.  The benefit is I'm tossing useless stuff (or stuff less-used) and discovering wonderful things that had been hidden in my piles of stuff.

This recipe was one of those treasures. I used to make this frequently, then miss-piled it. Yuuuummm, I'm so glad I sorted it out. You will be too when you discover how simply delightfully fresh it is.

I was given this recipe a long time ago by a dear friend, Judy M. I've updated a few things to my liking and am happy to share this with new friends.

Gather up these few ingredients, put on some rice or pasta, toss a salad, and you'll have a 30-minute meal your family will request again.

Prep time:  about 15 minutes

Cook time:  10-15 minutes

Serves:    4 adults easily

Ingredients

1 egg
3 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup flour (or rice flour)
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ cup butter
2 tsp chicken bouillon base
½ cup boiling water
4 chicken breast, skinned, boned, flattened

Directions:

• Beat egg with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and place in pie pan.
• Combine flour, paprika and garlic in another pie pan.
• Dip flatten chicken breast in egg mixture, then in flour mixture.
• Heat skillet, then brown chicken in butter until light brown on both sides. 
• Dissolve bouillon base in water, add remaining 2 T's of lemon juice to skillet. 
• Cover and simmer about 5-7 minutes on low to medium heat.
  

Giveaway of Organic Breakfast Goodies

If you are into dairy-free foods like me, you'll want to check out this blog from One Frugal Foodie and enter for a chance to win  a 2 month supply of organic breakfast food.  There's typically always great dairy-free (DF) and gluten-free (GF) links and ideas on this site too.

Flu Fighting Soup

I made this soup a couple of weeks ago when we all were healthy and thought this soup would be as good for fighting a cold as chicken noodle soup, plus it is just plain yummy. The sweet potatoes are chalk full of Vitamin C, the spice clears out your sinus, and the ginger settles your stomach, plus a bunch of other good for you stuff in there. Well, now our house has finally caught the bug that has been going around so I'm planning on whipping up a batch. I'll have to let you know how it works. The only thing I would change is I only added one teaspoon of the curry paste and it was still too spicy for the kids, so I would add that at the end according to individual taste. Here's to staying healthy!



Spicy Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Makes: 4 servings

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 3 large potatoes), rinsed
1 T vegetable oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
1- 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (I was overly generous with my piece, but I like ginger)
1 T red curry paste (found in the international section of markets)
1 15-oz can unsweetened coconut milk
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 1/2 T lemon juice
1 t salt
1 T sesame oil
1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the sweet potatoes on an oven rack and bake for 50 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and let cool. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion and ginger until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk and broth and gently bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Skin the potatoes and cut into 1" chunks. Add the potatoes to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and salt. Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Drizzle the sesame oil evenly over the servings. Garnish with the cilantro.