Hamburger Steak with Noodles

Every once in a while you come home from work and began looking for that super easy yet tasty recipe that everyone in the family seems to like.... well, if that's the case then you gotta give this one a try!  I started with a pound of ground meat (I used turkey) but you could easily use beef.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of ground meat

1/2 cup of French Onion Soup 

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1 egg

Mix the ingredients together and shape into patties.  Cook over medium/high heat.  Once done, remove the hamburger patties from the heat and add the remaining French Onion Soup along with 1Tbsp of flour.  Stir the mixture together and allow it to cook.  Once the mixture thickens to resemble gravy return the hamburger patties to the heat and reduce to low heat.

Cook noodles (according to package instructions) as many as you prefer to go with your number of hamburger steaks.  Serve the hamburger steaks over the egg noodles once everything is finished.

Catfish Fillets with Homemade Tartar Sauce & Mashed Potatoes

Nothing seems to satisfy your appetite like a delicious piece of southern fried catfish unless of course it comes with homemade tartar sauce and some southern style mashed potatoes.

Since I'm not a big fan of spending hours in the kitchen to get a good southern-style meal I made it as easy as possible on myself.

This picture and the one below shows the size and color of the (cooked) catfish fillets really well.



Also, I tend to like my mashed potatoes somewhat "thicker" and the pictures show the "thickness" of the mashed potatoes really well.

I used a paper plate (so there were fewer dirty dishes) and seasoned the fish with season salt and some pepper then breaded it with a standard 'seafood' breading.

Also, I used a paper towel to pat my fillets dry.  You can tell from the picture to the left they've been dried off a bit.

I used a pair of tongs to flip the fillet around in the batter and get a good coating.

Make CERTAIN your grease has reached the frying point before beginning to cook your fish.  Otherwise, your batter may come off and your fish could be greasy.



After battering the fillets fry them in about a 1/4 inch of vegetable grease.  You only need enough to cover the bottom of the skillet really well.

Once you notice the bottom edges are a golden brown (or as brown as you prefer) it's time to flip the fillets and continue cooking on the other side.

Cook for 3-4 minutes on the opposite side keeping a check on the bottom until they are a golden brown color.

Now it's time for the Homemade Tartar Sauce:

You will need equal parts of mayonnaise and sweet relish.  If you prefer a "chunky" tartar sauce you can use more sweet relish than mayo.  If you like a tart/tangy taste to your tartar sauce use a 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice for every cup.

And for my potatoes, I used red potatoes (not peeled) and boiled till done.  Mash with a potato masher (or mix with a mixer) and salt and pepper to taste.  Add milk and butter to make your potatoes as creamy as you prefer.  When I'm eating mashed potatoes with seafood I like to add about 2 Tbsp. of Horseradish.  It gives the potatoes a nice "kick" and adds a punch of flavor that I especially enjoy with seafood.

Beautiful Landscapes

Our condo on the beach had some of the most beautiful hedging I think I've ever come across as far as hotels and condo's are concerned.  I've posted some of the pictures below.  Between the pools, landscapes and manicured lawns and gardens I couldn't decide which pictures to post first..... so, I posted them all.... Enjoy!

 View of the pools and lazy river from the balcony.

Brick sidewalk with hedges and ground cover along the "lazy river."

Better view of the square hedges along the "lazy river."

I love the pattern of the bricks that make up the sidewalk.

The view from below the balcony.  The rocks are a covering for a french drain.

Good view of the sidewalk, ground cover and shrubs... wish the ones at my house looked like this!

Grouper Filets with Wild Rice

Ahhh... I'm still basking in the glow of a fading summer sun on the beaches of Orange Beach, Al while enjoying some fresh home-style seafood cooking.  My husband surprised me with some Grouper fish filets so I set about finding a recipe that would satisfy my seafood tastebuds.

Ingredients

1) Grouper Filets
2) 1 Box of Uncle Ben's long grain wild rice (or 2 if you prefer
3) 1 Tbsp of butter for each filet
4) Emeril Lagasse's "Essence" seasoning

I started with some of Emerli's "Essence Seasoning" which is basically a blend of salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and rosemary.  I'm sure there are probably more herbs and spices that I haven't mentioned but these are the major spices and seasoned BOTH sides of the Grouper filets rather generously.  Spread approximately one Tbsp of butter over the top of each filet. My grouper filets looked like the ones below.

Grouper Filets seasoned with Essence and topped with butter

I baked them at 375 degrees for about 20-30 minutes.  Cook time will vary depending on the size of your filets.  These filets are actually a pretty good size.  You can tell from the picture above that two filets took up most of a 9x12 pan.

When the top of the fish is completely white (like in the picture) it's a good indication the fish has finished cooking.

Prepare your rice according to package instructions and once finished place your grouper filets over the rice.  I added a few cooked carrots to my dish for a healthy nutritious touch.

Southern Pear Dumplings

During our recent vacation to the beach we elected to rent a condo and do some or our own cooking!  Well, that turned out to be a great idea! Especially after my mother found a recipe for "Southern Apple Dumplings."  The only problem was we didn't have apples but we did however, have plenty of pears.  So we opted to use pears instead and make some "Southern Pear Dumplings."

Ingredients

1) 1 can of crescent rolls
2) pears, peeled and sliced
3) 1/4 cup of sugar
4) 2 tsp of cinnamon
5) 1/2 Mountain Dew
6) 1 stick of butter

Melt a stick of butter in a 9x9 baking dish.  Roll the pear slices up in each crescent roll and place them in the 9x9 dish on the melted butter.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and then pour in your mountain dew.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the crescent rolls are golden brown in color.

Chicken Asian Stir-Fry

Well I'm at it again... cooking things I may or may not like!!  But hey, if you're a foodie such as myself you'll give anything a try at least once!

I came across this recipe at www.kraftrecipes.com.  If you haven't checked out this site you NEED to.  It is awesome when it comes to simple, easy, flavor-filled recipes.

This was one of their NUMEROUS stir-fry chicken recipes... and I have to say, the thing I like the most is that it was QUICK AND EASY.... and for an amateur cook such as myself, the phrase "quick and easy" means a lot!  I also thought the flavor was delicious and knew right away this would be a dish I could easily take as a left-over to lunch the following day and still enjoy!

You start with the following Ingredients:

1/2lb. angel hair pasta
2-3 cups of broccoli (or any other veggie you prefer)
2 chicken breasts -(sliced thin or chopped into chunks).. mine were already chopped and cooked

Seasoning Ingredients:
1/2 cup of Sesame Asian Toasted salad resign
2Tbsp of Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp of ginger
1/2 tsp of garlic

Mix all of the seasoning ingredients together.  Cook pasta according to package directions and during the last 3 minutes of cooking add broccoli ... I opted to use some frozen broccoli that I had on hand so I added my broccoli for that last 7-8 minutes of cooking.

If your chicken has not been previously cooked and chopped, place your chicken ( in small pieces) into a skillet coated with non-stick spray.  Cook until 1/2 way done and then add your seasoning ingredients and continue cooking until the chicken is completely done.  Then add your pasta & broccoli (or substitute veggie) mixture and stir together until all seasonings are incorporated and the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Add the pasta & broccoli mixture to the chicken and then stir together until fully incorporated.  Remove from heat and top with 1/3 cup of dry roasted peanuts and a drizzle of the Sesame Toasted Asian salad dressing.

Burlap Candle Centerpiece

This craft was extremely easy and looks great for Fall!  All you need is some floral wire (or a wire coat hanger for that matter) some burlap and a charger.  I added a tall orange pumpkin scented candle which I thought matched the burlap beautifully.

The picture below shows the floral wire I used.  Regardless of what you use, simply "thread" the wire through the burlap until you have a "full look" that covers all visible floral wire so that it's not visible.

I placed the centerpiece on a deep brown charger (or plate as some people prefer to call it)... and there you have it... a warm, glowing and beautiful Fall centerpiece.

Breakfast Quesadilla

This recipe turned out better than expected!  I was in the mood for a "different" breakfast when I decided on a breakfast quesadilla.

Ingredients:

Enough sausage to make one sausage patty - cooked & scrambled
2 flour tortillas
2 eggs
Enough shredded cheese to make a "glue" and hold everything together

Layer the ingredients starting and ending with shredded cheddar cheese.  Then top with another tortilla shell and cook over medium-high heat in a buttered skillet until cheese is melted and quesadilla is warm all the way through.

Home News Center

I have long needed a neutral spot in my home where everyone can make notes regarding what's needed, what we're out of or even what it is they want.

So.... that led me to explore Pinterest and tons of other blogs in search of a craft (affordable one at that!) which could accommodate all of my needs!... Also, did I mention I was hoping these could also be used as gifts!


Well..... here's my "Home News Center" / "Gift for Others" -- at some point.

I started with a dollar store cookie sheet and painted it black.  Afterwards, I embellished it with a "flower clip" - in the upper left corner... and then used a key with a ribbon attached (which I hooked a pen too).  

I used hot glue to attach the key and also to attach the flower clip in the left corner of the cookie sheet.

After attaching the Flower Clip in the upper left corner of the cookie sheet with hot glue I used a piece of paper from the notepad to display the flower clip.

This is the magnetic notepad.  I liked it from the beginning because there is a magnetic strip on the back which makes it usable for the purposes of a "home center" cookie sheet.

I then used a piece of Scrap Book paper to glue to the bottom of the cookie sheet in order to add some color and dimension.  There is also an "n" glued to the right side of the cookie sheet.  I chose to include this because I found numerous letters such as these on clearance one day at Michael's.!!!  Since then, I just decided I would collect those $1 items for use in future crafts... and this is exactly where I found my "Flower Clip", notepad, the letter "n" and my ink pen.

At this point I attached small hair clips to the "flower from a jar lid" craft in order to use when necessary..... the small flower hair clip here is proof that this is all you need to attach a coupon, receipt, ticket... etc to your home "news center."

This small hair clip can be used to attach useful
information to the "flower lid label" made from jar lids

From this picture you can see the "key" has been hot-glued to the top of the painted cookie sheet and that the ribbon attached to the key has been used to secure a key to for future uses.

This is a picture of the "jar lid flower" that I have used to attach a hair clip too.  I like this pick because is shows how easy it is to "clip things" even if all you have is a "baby hair pin."

From the pictures above it is easy to tell that simple jar lids and felt material are all you need to begin the project.  Cut your felt, and according to picture instructions cue a "circular flower" out of felt material and later "glue it" to the center of a mason jar lid in order to create the "flower" look in the pics above.

And finally the finished product!!  I included the letter "n" because my nieces last name begins with "n".