Do not let the name fool you...

This one is delicious.  If you are looking for a good recipe for a Sunday filled with tv watching and cuddling on the couch.  Okay, well John has been gone all week so I am getting a little too syrupy.  Okay once again, here goes.  No photos on this one either but this is really good trust me.  The name you say?  Onion Dip or  Onion Souffle or just plain good.

Onion Soufflé


3 8oz cream cheese, softened


1 bag frozen diced onions


2 c shredded Parmesan cheese (in the bag, not the green canister type)


1/2 c mayo


Defrost onions and roll in paper towels to squeeze out all excess water (very important to get ALL the water out).  Mix together all ingredients.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes (or until golden brown on top) in dish sprayed with Pam. I just use a glass or ceramic pie plate.


Serve with Frito's Scoops, tortilla chips, wheat thins, etc. 

This is one of those recipes that people will ask you to make over and over.  Many people have said "oh I do not like onions", well do not tell them they are in there, (unless there is an allergy to onions of course) let them try this and see what happens.  It is loaded with stringy, cheesy goodness.  The onions shrink down so that you cannot really tell they are there. 

Not your Mommas Onion Souffle. 

I hope you enjoy this tasty recipe. 

How about just a recipe?

Hi All!

I hope everyone has had a great holiday season and everyone is well rested and/or recovered as the case may be, by this time.  Our holidays were wonderful, only thing that could have made them better was to have our other two daughters here but they are happy and healthy where they are so life is good.

I thought I would just post my recipe for Baked Lasagna this afternoon.  I promise to add some photos later, at the very least, of the completed lasagna, right out of the oven.  :) 

But, for now, here comes the recipe

Baked Lasagna
1 lb. lasagna noodles

3/4 lb. cottage cheese (prefer small curd)

2 eggs

1 1/2 lbs. mozzarella cheese

1 1/2½ tsp. salt ½1/2 tsp. pepper

4 Tabs. Parmesan cheese

1 small can tomato paste

1 onion, chopped

1 - 1 1/2 lbs. hamburger

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large can tomatoes (crushed or whole)

1 teas. Salt 1/2 tsp. pepper (to season cottage cheese)
Boil noodles, do not drain, add cold water to pot until noodles can be handled.
Sauce: Brown hamburger, onion, garlic, salt and pepper until meat juices run clear and garlic and onion are almost soft. Add tomatoes, crush tomatoes if using whole tomatoes, to break up any large chunks. Stir in tomato paste stir to mix, do not add additional 1 tsp. salt and ½1/2 ½pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes.
In a separate bowl, mix cottage cheese and eggs; season with 1 1 tsp. salt and ½1/2 tsp. pepper or to taste; mix to incorporate.
Prepare a 13x9” pan by spraying it lightly with Pam or any other cooking spray.
Begin layers by layering one layer of noodles, side by side in pan. Add second layer of hamburger/tomato mixture over noodles. Third layer: add cottage cheese & eggs mixture. Fourth layer: add mozzarella cheese to cover all. Sprinkle on a fairly liberal amount of grated Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, ending with the mozzarella/parmesan layer.
Bake in a 350 degree oven until lasagna is lightly browned, edges slightly crispy and sauce is bubbly. Depending on number of layers 30-45 minutes. If top gets too browned but sauce is not bubbly, cover pan loosely with aluminum foil.

Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

Evelyn

hi all!

omg it has been so long that I have been able to post on my blog.  I am working on recipes and taking lots of photos so it will not be long before I share more recipes.

In the meantime I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderfully Happy New Year!

I hope to post later today.  Wish me luck. 

Ev

hello

Hi everyone,

Not sure exactly who is following my blog but I must apologize for not doing much with the blog.  I have had back problems with resulting back spasms that are no fun at all.  :(  Tomorrow however, I will be going to the doctor to have things checked out.  I have tried lots of home remedy type things but nothing is long lasting enough to get me through this.  Sad to say. 

I should be back in the not too distant future.  In the meantime keep checking back and I will post on face book when I have new recipes to share.  I have taken lots of photos, one is of the lasagna recipe I make quite often.  So stay tuned.

Thanks for being patient to those of you who do check in regularly. 

Hugs to you all,
Evelyn

Monday, Monday....

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!  I hope all the dad's in your lives had a great day too!  But one question comes to mind after each Father's Day: Why does it seem that Father's Day gets stretched to include the entire weekend?  hmmmm Mothers we must protest.  No more just a couple Subway sandwiches for us will suffice!  (not that I dislike Subway or anything), let's go for the gusto and request a meal that will be unforgettable.  What shall we have?  Steak and shrimp scampi, lasagna, meatballs in sauce,  or linguine with clams?  For some reason all of these recipes sound very familiar? Oh I know, I just made them for my husband.  I think I better just request a big double scoop ice cream sundae with marshmallow and raspberries from the local ice cream stand.  I will be very happy just the same and no messy kitchen to clean up either.  My thighs might begin to jiggle a little bit more but oh so worth it on that glorious day we call Mother's Day. ;)

On to today's recipe, I hope you enjoy this one:

Cube Steak with Gravy

The Players: (photo should include a small onion).

Remove any excess fat from cubed steaks  & cut to size; season:

Meanwhile begin to heat oil over medium heat:

Dredge cubed steaks in seasoned flour:

Carefully place cubed steaks into the oil in the pan:

Brown meat on one side; turn to second side, add water and boullion:

Add sliced onion; cover:

All done:

Cubed Steaks and Gravy

1-2 packages cubed steaks, cut to serving size (usually 1 package contain 2-3 large cubed steaks) Shown here was one package with 3 large steaks.

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. garlic powder (opt)

1/2 cup flour, or more as needed to coat meat

3 beef boullion cubes

1/2-1 cup of water

1 small onion, sliced into rings or minced, dried onion

canola oil

Here's How:

Prepare cubed steaks by cutting into desired serving size pieces.  Season meat with salt and pepper as desired, season both sides of meat.

Slice onion into small to medium width rings.

Put about 1/2 to 1 cup flour onto a plate or flat type bowl.  Season with garlic powder if using.

Begin to preheat oil in pan over medium heat, adding just enough oil to lightly cover bottom of pan.

Dredge cubed steaks into seasoned flour, coating each side. Shake off excess flour.

Add cubed steaks to oil in pan.  You can crowd them a little bit in pan as they will shrink.

Cook cubed steaks over medium heat for aproximately 5-7 minutes, until lightly browned.

Turn cubed steaks over to second side, if there is an excess amount of oil remaining, carefully drain.  After 2 minutes or so on second side, add beef boullion cubes and just enough water to go half-way up the sides of the meat.  Move them around a little bit in the water/gravy that is being made to distribute a little bit of the flour into the gravy. 

Cover and let simmer on medium  heat for 20 minutes.  Check to make sure there is enough water in pan, add more if necessary, usually it is necessary to add additional water but start out with a small amount, add as needed.  You will usually only have to add additional water once.  Continue cooking, reduce heat to medium low until meat is tender and onions are fork tender.  Depending on thickness of cubed steaks this could take an additional 15 minutes. 

Transfer cubed steaks to serving dish; keep warm.

Over low heat mix gravy in pan to incorporate, heat through.  Pour into serving dish.

Serve with mashed potatoes or noodles and a vegetable.

Enjoy!

Evelyn

Oven Beef

This is probably more of a feel good, tummy warming, I want more in the cooler weather sort of meal but we enjoyed it the other evening just the same.  And, truth be told, it was pretty chilly here in Chicagoland.  I do not have a recipe, I made it up as I was cooking.  This is one of my Mom's go-to recipes so you know how Mom's can sometimes be "Throw in a little of this, a lot of that and salt and pepper, then throw the whole thing in the oven".  Yep, that is about it.  So I made my own recipe to share.

Oven Beef  (I would like to have a fancier name, but nope, nothing has come to me yet, I will let you know).

The Players:

Not much prep required; this is a really good thing:

Bake covered in oven and serve: 

Oven Beef

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds stew meat, trimmed and cut into serving size pieces

salt, pepper to taste


1 small bag baby carrots, washed if necessary

1 package Lipton Dry Onion Soup mix

1 cup sliced raw mushrooms or 1 jar whole mushrooms, drained

2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I prefer Campbell's)

1/4 tsp. garlic powder or to taste

1 pkg. flat noodles, cooked and drained  (optional)

The easy-peasy how to, you will love this, almost a night off, well not even close but you get the idea.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Prepare stew meat by trimming any excess fat, some is okay.  Rinse meat; pat dry.

Put meat in a large oven-proof casserole or dutch oven.

Add spices to meat, mix to distribute the spices.

Prepare mushrooms, if using fresh, by wiping away any visible dirt.

Add mushrooms, carrots and the soups; mix well to coat meat; make sure the dry soup mix is blended well. 

Cover dutch oven with lid.

Place dutch oven (or oven-proof casserole dish) in oven on middle rack. 

Bake for 3-4 hours, stirring half way through baking time. 

You can increase the oven temperature to reduce cooking time.  Also, check for doneness, depending on the amount of meat you are using, baking time may vary.

If using, prepare noodles according to package directions towards the end of cooking time for the oven beef.  Keep warm until serving. 

Your kitchen will smell wonderful as this is cooking. 

Left-overs are great too. 

Have a great day everyone!

Enjoy,

Evelyn

Brownie lovers come on in..

Hi all!

Well, if there is a time to laugh at me it will be now.  I am going to post a recipe that is so utterly simple you will think I have lost my mind and actually have nothing better to do with my time and yours, except to post this.  But just wait until you try these brownies,  people really will think you slaved over the hot oven to mix these up from scratch.  It will be our little secret, that is how well received these little (or big) depending on if you cut them like I do or in tiny little portions while everyone is looking, then later cut a big chunk for yourself.  Not that I have done this or anything but just saying.  After all we deserve it, we worked so hard making these little pieces of chocolate, dare I say, heaven? 

Here we go, get your pencils ready for this shopping list:

Let's bake some Brownies.

The Players:

Yes that's it.  The trick to these "tastes like made from scratch brownies" is...
I read somewhere that that symbol of three or more periods in a sentence is the most overused punctuation on the internet.  There is a name for it but the name escapes me right now, as so many things are wont to do lately.  But, I digress.  The trick is combining two brownie mixes.   Very important, one must be a Ghirardelli brand mix.  The secret is out!

Mix both mixes together, following package directions:

Pour brownie mix into a 13x9" pan:

Bake until set:

Allow to cool or you will have a gooey, chocolatey mess on your knife:

Well, what do you think?  They really are good and here is another secret, I am not a chocoholic but I do like these, a lot.  Almost as much as my husband or a new little puppy.  :)

Brownies

Ingredients:

1 18.75 Oz. box of Ghirardelli Chocolate, Chocolate Brownie Mix
    (any variety is fine, I used the Chocolate Supreme this time)

1/4  cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

Additional brownie mix make sure it will make 13x9 pan size brownies, it should be labeled as such on the front of the box.  This is what I used this time:

1 19.5 oz. box Family Size Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

2 eggs


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mix one brownie mix according to package directions starting with the 13x9 brownie mix.  Mix well. 

Mix Ghiardelli mix according to package directions.  Mix well.  Add this mixture to the 1st brownie mix batter.  Mix well.

Grease the bottom of a 13x9 pan with vegetable oil or non-stick cooking spray. 

Pour mix evenly into pan. 

Bake at 350 degrees checking after 35 minutes.  These brownies are thicker than your usual brownies so additional baking time will be required.  Turn the pan in the oven about half way through the baking time.  Continue baking until sides pull away from side of pan just slightly and center is set.  You can check by inserting a knife in center.  It should come out clean.  Continue baking until desired doneness.  It can take an additional 15 minutes of baking time.  Just be patient and keep checking on them. 

Allow to cool for at least an hour, if you can wait that long.  Cut into squares and enjoy. 

Let me know what you think. 

Additionally, I have to thank my friend Yo who gave me this top-secret recipe.  Thanks Yo. 

Enjoy!

Evelyn